Page 37 of The Baby His Secretary Carries

“Her breasts were inyourface, too,” he reminded her. “She shows them to everyone.”

After a beat, she muttered, “I felt like I’d stumbled into a nudist colony.”

They were both chuckling as the doors opened, but her humor fell away very quickly.

She was still bothered by the interaction. He could tell.

“Molly—”

“We have to meet Travis and Imogen, don’t we?”

“Yes,” he agreed, accepting that this conversation was too important to have on the fly. He would wait until they were back at the villa, where there would be no interruptions.

He had the sense of walking up a dune of sand, though. Every footstep should have gained him ground, but it slipped away beneath his feet instead. The harder he tried to climb it, the slower his progress became.

He hated this feeling. This lack of surety. It took him back to a time when nothing in his life had been stable. When the people who were supposed to be constants in his world were only consistent in letting him down.

Marry her. Keep this one.

It wasn’t his grandfather’s voice this time. It was his own.

Otto was looking infinitely better when they returned. He was able to move into a chair for his meals and was in very bright spirits. He even dressed long enough to meet Travis and Imogen when they came for lunch before they flew back to Milan and their children.

“I think I’ll be able to attend your wedding,” Otto told Molly when he made it all the way to the terrace for breakfast the following morning. “Have you set a date?”

“Um...no.” She silently pleaded for Gio to tell him.

They’d had a busy few days, fitting in playing tour guide with the other couple between the demands of work.

“I don’t have much time left,” Otto scolded with dark humor. He sent Gio an incisive stare that belied the fact that he was barely able to hold his espresso cup in one hand. “Plan a big reception if that suits you, but marry quickly. Before she changes her mind.”

Oof. Apparently, Otto really was feeling stronger if he was throwing down gauntlets like that at his grandson.

“My mother is a midwife,” Molly blurted. “It’s hard for her to get away without a lot of notice. I couldn’t possibly marry without her and my sister here.” Patricia actually worked through a clinic to ensure they always had coverage for expecting mothers. She had also lightened her patient load this year so she could be responsive to Molly’s potential needs.

Otto brushed off that excuse with blasé confidence. “Gio will find someone to step in for her. The two of you are already going through the motions of starting a family. Take it seriously.”

“Nonno!” Molly covered her blush with her hands, not surprised he knew she wasn’t using the bed in the room she’d been given, but not expecting him to be so brash about mentioning it.

“Since you seem back in fighting form, we’ll go to the London office for a few days.” Gio transferred his hooded look to Molly. “That will give you a chance to close your apartment. We’ll discuss the wedding date while we’re away.”

Since she actually did need to close her flat, she didn’t argue.

They arrived in London later that afternoon. Nelo had flown with them on Gio’s private jet and Molly had been busy arranging for Nelo’s counterpart from New York, Avigail, to meet them for an all-hands meeting with their London colleague, Yu. They were gelling as a squad, but she thought it would be good for all of them, including Gio, to work together for a few days.

“If you want a team-building exercise, have them close your apartment for you,” Gio suggested after they dropped Nelo at his hotel.

“Ew. No.” She had asked her neighbor to empty her refrigerator of perishables the day after she’d flown to Genoa. “I already have a moving company arranged to put everything into storage. I need to collect a few personal items, though. Maybe I’ll spend the night, so I can be sure I have everything.”

She could use a night away from him, to recalibrate. The more time she spent with him, the more they made love, the more she wished this could be her life. She needed to remind herself that was not only impossible, but it also wasn’t somethinghewanted. They had agreed this was an affair. Temporary.

“Drop me and I’ll meet you at the office in the morning.”

She was dreading the office. She had left with Gio very abruptly, before her promotion to being his executive assistant was even announced. Instead of that news, she had come out as his fiancée who was leaving the company. The coworkers who had reached out with congratulations had definitely been fishing for more information.

“I’ll stay with you to help,” Gio said, nodding for her to give the driver her address. “There can’t be much? You gave Ilario a list of everything you wanted to be waiting at the town house.”

Then Gio had added to it. Some poor maid was probably unpacking boutique deliveries as they spoke.

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