Page 32 of The Baby His Secretary Carries

“Grazie. But find Paolo. He wants to say hello and Lauren is eager to meet you,” Vittorio said with a wink at Molly.

“I seated you with my brother and his wife, Imogen,” Gwyn added. “She’s also American and very funny. I think you’ll like her.”

Molly was touched they’d gone to such trouble to ensure she was comfortable and entertained. Gwyn was right, too. Imogen was very witty. She lived with her husband, Travis, in New York. They had two children, six-year-old Julian, who was precocious, and three-year-old Lilith, who was a dreamer, often getting lost in her own imagination.

“I’m quite sure that Julian is setting us up for a water-damage bill as we speak, but Paolo insisted we leave our children with their four and Gwyn’s two. That’s ten children in an ancestral mansion full of priceless art. Paolo organized a clown and an extra nanny, as if that’ll be any help. Lion tamers, Paolo!That’swho you call. Am I right?”

Despite her jokes, Imogen was visibly pregnant and ecstatic with it.

“I notice you’re not drinking, either,” Imogen said, leaning close with a cheeky side-eye.

“I don’t actually drink much. Alcohol gives me a headache,” Molly lied. She was dying to compare pregnancy notes. It was one of the few things she was truly missing in this process.

“So much for Gwyn’s theory for your sudden engagement. Tell me more about Genoa. We visit Italy at least once a year, but we always stay with Gwyn and Vito, either here or at the lake. We really should see more of the country. I say that, but I’ll have a newborn in five months so when would that even happen?” Imogen rolled her eyes at herself.

“How long are you here this trip?” Gio asked, proving that he’d been dividing his attention between their conversation and the one he was having with Travis. “We’re at the villa in Portofino with my grandfather. My apartment in the city is empty.”

“That’s kind of you to offer, but you don’t want a pair of children tearing up the place,” Imogen said with a wave of her hand.

“Immy.” Travis waited for her to turn her head, then looked at her with heated adoration. “I love our children with all my heart, butIdon’t want our children tearing up his place. Not if I could have you to myself for a couple of nights. Gwyn will keep the kids, I’m sure.”

“That’s quite the anniversary present for her, isn’t it?” Imogen joked, but Travis was already walking away.

Moments later, it was settled. The pair would fly to Genoa with them in the morning and stay for two nights.

“That was nice of you to offer your apartment to Travis and Imogen,” Molly said to Gio, when dinner was over and they were dancing.

“Her husband is a useful connection.” He shrugged it off. “And you seem to enjoy her company. See? My world isn’t so different from yours.”

She stifled a wild “Ha!” since there was a small orchestra providing the music and she was waltzing for the first time since being forced to take stilted, uncomfortable lessons in middle-school PE classes. If he hadn’t been so skilled at leading, she would be stumbling onto his toes.

She was fighting the urge to crane her neck at all the starlets and royalty circulating the room, but others weren’t being so polite. Despite the warm welcome Gio received when he introduced her, nearly everyone here viewed her as a curiosity. She could tell.

All of that faded away, however, when the music switched to an instrumental of a modern tune, one that was sensual and had Gio drawing her closer.

As his hand rested at the small of her back and his thumb shifted in a lazy caress against the sensitized nerves there, she felt herself melting into him. Her head grew heavy and sought the firm plane at the front of his shoulder. Lingering traces of his aftershave against his throat made her feel drugged.

“Are you trying to seduce me?” She picked up her head when the song wound down and he kept his arms around her, not moving them off the dance floor.

“I hope I’m succeeding.” His fingertips skimmed up her arm and across her bare shoulder, lifting a shivering wake of goose bumps. “Mio Dio, I want to kiss you.” His gaze was so intent on her lips, they stung with anticipation.

She wanted that, too. But not here, like this. She wanted to be alone with him, where their kisses could progress to...

She dipped her head, fingers playing with the ruffle beneath his bow tie. She was very aware how short her window of time with him was. When Ursula had been fitting her, she had given Molly’s midsection a curious moment of study, but the pins between her lips had kept her from asking questions with anything but her eyes.

Time was sifting like sand through her fingers. Molly had to wring out every minute that she could with him.

“It would only be for now.” She peeked up at him and a small rasp entered her throat as she added, “You know that, right?”

“Let’s take it one day at a time.” He drew a tantalizing pattern in the hollow beneath her ear, but there was a faint curl of smugness to his lips.

Her heart pounded as they slipped out of the party without saying goodbye. In the elevator, he pressed her to the wall, caging her with his arms. She lifted her mouth in offering. His head dipped past her lips as he ducked to set a hot kiss against her neck.

A ragged groan left her, one of denial and enjoyment and agony at the delicate way he opened his mouth and sucked a damp spot against her skin. A flush of heat poured into her chest, making her breasts feel swollen. Her nipples stung.

She felt his smile against her tender skin. His teeth moved in the barest scrape of a wolf reminding his mate that he was dangerous, but would never hurt her. When his nuzzling gaze worked up to her chin, he leaned his hips into her abdomen, letting her feel that he was already hard.

“I’ll be careful with you, I promise, but you’ll tell me if I need to stop.”

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