Chapter Twenty
Yet again, my father seems to be waiting for me as I come home. I had told him that I was going out with Luca, so he’s probably expecting an update.
There really isn’t much of an update. I had hoped that we’d be meeting to discuss the baby and our lives further, but he just wanted to propose a business deal. Typical Luca Baldini.
I boil the kettle for tea, and we sit down to chat.
“How is Luca?” My father starts the conversation on a soft note, aware of the tension of this whole situation.
“Did you manage to smooth things over? Is he accepting of the baby now?” My father’s biggest fear may just be that his only daughter is left to raise a bastard baby all on her own, which would mean I’d rely heavily on him.
He doesn’t know that the thought of my life ended up like that scares me even more than it scares him.
I won’t allow my baby to be shunned by the Baldini family. Nor will I be paid to disappear from Luca’s life.
“He’s fine. He’s asked me to play the part of his partner while the Mexicans are here next week. They took a liking to me, and he’s worried that the deal will go south if they arrive and I’m not there,” I explain.
“I have agreed, so I’ll be staying at the Baldini’s for the weekend, until the Mexicans have left.”
“They’re coming here?” my father asks. I nod. Luca hadn’t fully explained why or how he had convinced them to come to his home. I did wonder if he was thinking straight.
It’s easy for the two of us to go to them and pretend we’re a couple, but much harder when there are so many other people who know about us. My mind jumps to a thought of Grazia.
Will she keep up the pretense? If I know Luca— and by now, I’m pretty sure I do—he’s not going to allow his sister to ruin this for him, so I doubt she’ll end up being a problem.
I want to speak to Grazia about everything, make her see that things are not as bad as she thinks they are. But she’s blocked my number, and I haven’t had the courage to show up at the mansion since the blow-up.
“He offered me money, quite a bit, as if it’s an actual job,” I tell my father.
“But I won’t take it. I want him to see that we can be a couple, that I can help him with his work and be his real partner—in everything. He needs to understand that before this baby comes.” I hadn’t said anything to Luca about the money, because if I had, I”m sure it would have just ended in a fight.
My father nods, but doesn’t say anything. He might be fighting the urge to convince me to take the money, but I wouldn’t listen anyway.
I need to figure things out with Luca soon. We have a child on the way, and I refuse to have this baby grow up without its dad.
Ginny would have wanted us to do better.
***
“Going somewhere fancy?” my hairdresser asks as she pins up my golden locks.
“Sort of.” I smile. “We have a family party.”
“Ah lovely, dear. I must say, your hair is looking stunning! Have you been taking vitamins?” she asks.
I shake my head no, but it’s a lie. I’ve started taking all of the recommended pre-natal vitamins, I want to keep this baby as healthy as I can.
Leaving the hair salon, I move on to my nail appointment. It’s important that I look my best tonight. I need to show the Mexicans, yet again, that I am worthy of being Luca’s lady, but I also need to show Luca what he could have if he just rethinks the whole proposal idea.
I’ve bought a brand-new dress for tonight. It’s a lot more revealing than the one I wore in Mexico, and it’s royal blue, a color I know Luca loves. I’ve also bought a new pair of stilettos in the same color, and my nails will match.
I’m confident that most of the eyes will be on me tonight, and if that doesn’t make Luca at least a little jealous, I don’t know what will.
I spend three hours getting my nails done, and have to rush home to get dressed and do my makeup. Standing in front of my mirror, even I’m impressed with what I’ve managed to pull off.
I rub my belly, thankful that just for now, the pregnancy isn’t showing yet.
I hope that before my bump does show, Luca and I can reconcile. This baby deserves both of its parents. And I would love nothing more than to raise it in the same house that Ginny raised the Baldini siblings.
That garden is perfect for tiny feet to run through and enjoy the sun. The Baldini house also has the best security, and with Luca getting so deeply involved in this Mexican deal, any blood family of his is going to need to be well protected.
“Don’t worry, baby,” I whisper. “Your daddy and I will sort out a family home soon.”
Grabbing my keys on the way out, I shout to my father that I’ll see him in a couple of days, and get into my car, heading to the Baldini mansion.
As soon as I enter the door, Luca hands me a piece of paper and tells me to follow him to his office.
“Emelia, that’s the story in your hands. There’s a bunch of easy dialogue to follow, and all expectations I have of you tonight.” I look down at the piece of paper he’s given me.
“I did fine when we were in Mexico together,” I say to him. “Do you really think I need a play-by-play script for this weekend?”
“Yes, and a big part of this agreement is that you follow it.” He’s speaking so harshly, he sounds like the Luca that came back from Mexico the first time. I feel tears prick my eyes, but this makeup is too good for me to ruin it.
“You have your usual room,” he continues. “That’s where you’ll stay. It’s right next to mine, so Carlos and his wife, and the others, will barely notice. I don’t want you speaking of the…baby.” He swallows hard on that word.
“And please remind yourself that this is all for show. If I say something, touch you, or even give you a look that makes you feel like everything is fine between us, it’s an act.” His steel blue eyes burn a hole through me, I can tell that he’s still hurt, but he’s masking it with indifference and it’s breaking my heart.
“I understand, Luca, I do. But please can we talk before we go ahead with this? I am carrying your baby and that’s not going to go away…” I take a step towards him and he holds his hand out to stop me.
“I am aware. And once this deal is fully secured—as in, we have the shipment in our own warehouse—I will have time to deal with you and your…situation. But for now, this is the job, and I need you to focus. Can you do that?”
“I can.” I look down at the dark wood floor, battling with myself and losing in the face of his cold blank stare.
“Good. Also, I have asked Grazia to make herself scarce while Carlos and his men are here. I cannot have an emotional outburst ruining this for me. I’m going to ask that you also don’t seek her out, and if you two happen to end up in the same room, I want you to leave.”
“You want me to avoid speaking to my best friend?” I ask, almost laughing at the ridiculousness of this entire situation.
“Grazia has no interest in speaking with you right now, Emelia. And if you do confront each other, I expect chaos. I can’t have that right now. Is that easy enough to understand?”
I can’t take his condescending tone any longer. “Why are you being like this?” I burst out.
“We were good! You know that what we were becoming was real. I don’t know why you’re all of a sudden acting like I forced you to have sex with me. Which time do you think was my grand plan? In Mexico, when you had your way with me all over our room, including the balcony? Or on your private jet, on our way to Paris, when you had me almost comatose from cumming? Were those all ‘orchestrated’ events?”
“No, they weren’t,” he replies simply. “But I believe Grazia and what she heard, and I believe that your father would be only too glad for you to be carrying a Baldini heir.”
“And you believe that I forced you to not wear a condom?” This time I do laugh, but Luca’s face tells me that was a bad idea.
“We’re not having this conversation, Emelia. I want this house ready for the Mexican party, and that includes you. It looks like you are ready, so I would suggest you take your bags to your room and come down in a couple of hours. And again, leave Grazia alone.” He sits down at his oversized Italian handcrafted desk and starts working on something I can’t see.
I look down at my dress and high heels. I thought if I showed up already dressed to the nines and ready, I could soften his attitude towards me before the Mexicans arrived.
Looks like I was wrong. He hadn’t even mentioned how good I look, which is stinging my ego just a bit.
I decide not to argue with him anymore. I leave his office, take my bags up to the room I have spent so many nights in, and head out into the garden. I doubt I’ll run into Grazia.
This house is huge, and I heard something about her taking over Ginny’s bedroom, which is on the opposite side of the house to my room.
I stand in the lookout house, remembering the night that Luca and I first found each other, my mind picturing again how he had touched me, kissed me, sent that mind-blowing orgasm through me.
Ginny said that it was hard for Luca to love, and I am sure that the guarded act he”s putting on now is because of this. I just have to show him that I can be everything he needs in a wife and more. That a life with me and our baby will offer him all he’s ever wanted, the respect and love he deserves, and a brand-new chance at a happy life.
I know that my original plan might have been a horrible way to get into his heart, but I hadn’t known how soft Luca Baldini could be.
If I had thought that I could win his heart with nothing more than a few nights listening to him, I would have tried that ages ago.
But now we know each other better, he knows that I can be trusted with his associates, I know that he has what it takes to win the game and financially secure us for life.
We’re going to be a power couple, I can just see it.