Page 6 of Baby Mine

He hesitated. “I have to learn to pleasure you all over again, in a gentler way.”

She stared at him. Her blood thundered in her ears. He had to learn? He was willing to? She swallowed, trying to contain her rising emotions. “Um, that’s not necessary. We shouldn’t…”

Renzo moved off of her. “I shouldn’t have been so fast to make love to you, especially when you’ve just arrived. Get some rest.”

“What?”

Just like that, he kissed her forehead and rose. She watched in confusion as he walked to the bathroom, retrieved his clothes, and began to dress.

“You’re not seriously going to walk out now, are you?”

He paused near the door and turned to face her. When his gaze swept her naked body from head to toe, she clutched the sheets, not nearly satisfied.

“Make no mistake, Jada. I will have you, all of you, again and again, but first you rest.”

“I can’t believe you. Renzo…”

He shut the door quietly behind him as he left, and she threw a pillow, wishing it was a brick and that it had cracked him in the head. Who did he think he was? Against her better judgment she’d let him in and jumped him as soon as he’d settled into the bathtub. He had promised to take her all night, and she’d not put up a fuss. Then he just called it all off because she was pregnant?

“Jerk,” she screamed into a second pillow and shut her eyes. Well tomorrow would be different. She’d have the conversation with him that he wanted and then fly home. The fact that he was richer than anyone needed to be didn’t sit right with her. What she had to do was convince him the baby would be better off without his interference in his or her life, because the alternative did not bear even considering.

Chapter Three

Ettore studied his shoes while he stretched out on the couch in Renzo’s office, hands folded behind his head. Renzo raised an eyebrow at his younger brother, but as usual, Ettore ignored him.

“Was there something you needed, Ettore?”

His brother grinned. “Oh nothing. Just wondering if you’re really going to keep that woman here.”

“That woman happens to be the mother of my baby,” Renzo ground out.

Ettore remained silent for a few moments. “Wow, what happened in our homeland that made you like this?”

Renzo sat down at his desk and shuffled through some papers. He hitched his shoulders and rolled his head. Still the tension didn’t ease. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Ettore sat up. “Don’t you? I’ve never seen you so trusting, so ready to believe whatever a woman tells you. I’m not saying she’s lying—”

“I’m glad for your sake you’re not saying that.”

“Come on, you have to admit, big brother, you’re behaving differently with her. You came home and didn’t say a thing to the rest of us about her. Never even heard her name. On top of that, you’re always careful. Since you’re not tossing her out on her pretty little ass, I’m thinking you weren’t this time. So, I have to assume this is unusual. Aside from that, you know Uncle won’t like it.”

“I don’t give a damn if he doesn’t. As a matter of fact, he gave me an earful last night about what he thinks of Jada. I informed him, as I’m telling you, stay out of my personal affairs.”

Ettore had never backed down from him despite their age difference of ten years, and he didn’t this time either. His brother stood and walked over to his desk to lean heavy hands on it. “What you do affects us all, Renzo—in business and in your personal life.”

Renzo grunted. What his brother said was true. He maintained controlling interest in the family business, including all of their extensive holdings, from wine to beer. If he had a child, that interest would fall to his heir. If anything happened to him prior to having a baby, then it would fall to Ettore. Uncle Gianni had always exercised influence with Ettore, and if Renzo wasn’t around, he had no doubt his uncle would find a way to take Ettore’s inheritance. Renzo kept hopin

g with a bit more age, his brother would settle down. Unfortunately, up until now, Ettore considered him a rival. Nothing Renzo had attempted so far had worked to win his brother over to his side.

He had to admit he’d been deliberately lax with Jada, but he also knew she’d fallen in love with him. He had decided to give her some time before he sought her out again, but she’d taken him completely by surprise showing up on his doorstep. Her actions let him know without a doubt that she was the one. Now that she was here, he had no intention of letting her go.

“If there’s nothing else,” Renzo informed his brother, “I have to meet with a client. I’ll be out of the house a few hours. I expect Jada to be treated with the respect and care she deserves.”

Ettore shoved his hands into his pockets and turned toward the door with a grin on his face. “I’m sure she and Nicoletta will be best friends before the day is out.”

Renzo bit off the expletive he’d been about to utter. He and Ettore both knew Nicoletta would never accept Jada. The woman made no secret about the fact that she wanted him as a husband. His father and hers went back to childhood as friends, and that made her almost a member of the family. She would always have a place at his table if she wanted it, but she would never be his wife. The problem was he had always allowed her her fantasies. He needed to be plain, and right now might be as good a time as any.

Renzo checked his watch. He had a little time before his appointment. Being an early riser, Nicoletta would probably be just finishing with breakfast. She’d spent the weekend at his house because her family home lay two hours away. He left his office in search of her. As he strolled down the hall, music reached him from the intercom that connected each room in the house. His mother enjoyed soothing classical pieces when she baked with the cook. Hearing her raised voice in annoyance made him shake his head, and he took an alternate route to the sunroom to avoid passing the kitchen. The elevator motor started up, and he wondered who would be using it since only his mother bothered with the contraption.

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