Page 21 of Pregnant in the Italian's Palazzo

‘I know it’s not what either of us had planned.’ She spoke from between her clenched fingers. ‘I know that I have options. But my first thought was that I hope it’s okay. I want it to be okay, I want it to be healthy. I know that’s probably crazy.’

‘It’s not crazy. I hope it’s okay too,’ he said, feeling the truth of his own words.

‘It’s probably barely the size of a seed. How can something so tiny have such an instant impact on everything?’ She looked down at her stomach and he found himself following her gaze. They sat in silence for a moment, the weight of their situation bearing down upon them in equal measure. But then Aria placed her hand unconsciously over her stomach and Nysio felt something raw and primal roar to life within him.

This woman was going to carry his child. They were going to become parents. As progressive as he claimed to be, he felt the urge within him to bundle her close and demand she remain nestled in his bed for the next few months for her own safety. The memory of the night before didn’t do much to relax his mood. She had been about to fly back to London this morning, despite his offer for her to stay. She had made her feelings on the matter clear.

Something of the intensity of his thoughts must have shown upon his face because when she looked up at him, she immediately sat up straight and frowned.

‘You’re not about to demand that we get married or something, are you?’ she said, in the same tone that one might ask, ‘You’re not about to murder me, are you?’

Nysio remained silent, not having considereddemandingit, as such.

‘Is this reverse psychology?’ he asked, running his thumb across her knuckles and feeling his eyes drift to the bare skin of her third finger. ‘Do you want me to demand marriage, Aria?’

‘Of course not!’ She stiffened, pulling her hand back and cradling it as though he’d burned her. ‘I just thought that’s what stereotypical brooding Italian guys usually do in these situations.’

‘I’ve never been in this situation before, have you?’

‘No.’ She relaxed slightly, but still gave him another sidelong glance for good measure. ‘I suppose there’s no rush to think about logistics yet. I can still return home today as planned and we can...keep in touch. Make plans on how we can make this work together when the time comes.’

He stood up suddenly, feeling adrenaline fill his veins at her mention of her boarding that damned passenger plane she’d insisted on booking with her own money. ‘Do you intend to discuss our child’s future via text messages?’

‘Don’t be cross. It’s very early still. We can carry on with our lives as normal, for a while at least.’

‘Normal,’ Nysio repeated, feeling his pulse quicken as she stood up and walked towards the windows. ‘What is normal about the fact that you are carryingmychild and you’re already planning to leave the country before we’ve even properly discussed it?’

Aria inhaled on a gasp, her fists tightening by her sides as she stared at him for a long moment. ‘You sound like a caveman.’ She gritted the words, her clenched teeth becoming visible for a moment before she walked away into the bedroom.

He followed her. ‘Aria...you cannot claim to want to be together on this while simultaneously walking away from me at every chance.’

‘I didn’t say I wanted to be together, I said we couldworktogether.’ She stared at him as though he were the one being completely irrational. ‘I have a bank appointment next week about the backing for my lingerie line... I haven’t even thought of what effect this is going to have on all of that yet. I just lost a pretty steady job so it’s not ideal timing for me to be pregnant... I—I just need some time to think. Can you just give us both that?’

Nysio reached out and placed a hand on her arm. ‘Calmate.Relax. Deep breaths, remember? You need me to count your fingers?’

She let out a weak laugh at the reminder of their first meeting and Nysio decided that questioning her any further in this frame of mind was simply going to make her spiral further.

He folded his arms and watched as she moved past him to gather the things into the case he’d had couriered over from the hotel while they awaited the doctor. With every folded garment she placed in the case, he felt his own resolve tighten. She wanted time, she’d said. Well, he would be the one to give it to her. As much time as she needed to understand why a long-distance co-parenting plan was simply not possible in his world.

Like it or not, Aria Dane had just become a more permanent fixture in his life than he’d ever imagined. A fact that he felt strangely at ease about, for someone who’d been so hell-bent on remaining a bachelor for the rest of his days. Having a family might not have been in his plans recently, but now that it was happening, he knew what he wanted.

As he guided her out into his waiting car, he knew that she was not going to be happy with what came next, but if the alternative was letting her leave...he’d risk her anger.

CHAPTER EIGHT

ARIAKNEWTHATshe was being too quiet on the drive, that they should be communicating with one another before her flight left, but it had seemed that the reality of their situation was sinking in more and more with every mile, making her hyperaware that there was actually a tiny life growing inside her.

It should be positively illegal for a man to look as cool, polished, and collected as he did in his open-collared black shirt and charcoal trousers combo. His shoes today were a deep tan, embroidered with delicate symbols upon the sides that looked almost like hearts.

His hair was still slightly damp from his shower, and her enhanced sense of smell meant that she could make out every different note of his shampoo. Or maybe she was just imagining that? It was far too early for her to be feeling anything like that, surely.

She closed her eyes, praying that she could hold herself together long enough to get through this goodbye, even as every muscle in her body screamed at her to cancel her flight and stay in Italy for longer. But she couldn’t do that. Not when she could tell that Nysio was harbouring some archaic sense of chivalry.

She startled, feeling warmth covering her hands where she had been twiddling her thumbs and picking at her cuticles.

‘Calmate, tesoro.’Nysio spoke quietly from beside her as he put his hand back on the wheel. ‘You will wear your fingers away.’

She looked across at him, suddenly realising that she now carried the heir to an empire that had stretched back for centuries. She had no idea if he had ever planned to have children of his own, if he was as panicked as she was.

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