Chapter 23
ARIA
I’m still riding the high that today turned out to be as we make our way home from the appointment. It was definitely an unexpected surprise, and I had no idea that Enzo even made the arrangements to get us in to see the doctor.
Though I’m glad, because he gave me a thorough checkup that put my mind at ease. Our baby is developing nicely, and I’m glad that none of my earlier months of stress affected her well-being.
Gosh! This all still feels kind of surreal, even though my stomach is huge with the evidence of my little girl in there. I can’t wait to meet our little nugget.
Having a family of my own with someone I love is all I’ve ever dreamed of. I had almost given up on it ever happening, but as they say, miracles do happen.
“I have another surprise for you later,” Enzo says, my hand clasped in his as we make our way back home.
There are two SUVs with us. One in front of ours and one behind that are filled with his men, plus two in our vehicle.
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to having this much security around me. Yeah, I had a guard or two when I was living with my father but Enzo has more, taking the whole security thing up a notch. He says it’s all for my protection though.
“What surprise?” I ask, excitedly.
“You’ll see later,” he teases.
“I hate surprises,” I grumble.
“Then why is your whole face lit up, Principessa?” he questions with a chuckle. “Trust me, you’re going to love this one.”
“How about a teeny tiny little clue then?” I ask with a pout.
“Nope.”
“Oh, alrighty. I guess I’ll just have to wait since you won’t even give me a clue,” I grumble.
“Good girl,” he winks, and damn, why did it feel like his words went straight to my core?
I swear I’ve never been hornier in my life.
But, being around this man has my hormones all over the place.
Plus, with him looking the way he does, it doesn’t take long to get me all hot and bothered, which he notices as well. “Something wrong, Principessa?”
“Nope. Nothing’s wrong. All good over here,” I tell him.
The asshole has been teasing me all day long, after he made me come in the shower this morning. He’s been touching and kissing me, and these hormones have not been helping at all. He’s driving me crazy, which I guess is his plan.
When we pull up to the garage, he gets out with his men, looking around to make sure there’s no one in hiding, waiting for our arrival because an attack can happen anywhere and at any time. Once it’s all clear, he helps me out of the vehicle.
He gives his men their orders before he walks us over to the elevator. When we step into the penthouse, he walks me over to the seating area that faces the city skyline.
“Sit. I’ll go get our lunch ready,” he tells me, and my stomach chooses that moment to rumble. At this point, it’s a late lunch. “I guess my baby is hungry already.”
“This baby is always hungry,” I grumble. “At this rate, I’ll be as big as a house.”
“Doesn’t matter, baby. You’ll still be perfect,” he says with a huge grin on his face before he walks to the kitchen. I hear him puttering around for a few minutes before he comes back with two plates filled with roasted vegetables and salmon, along with some chocolate cake. Yum!
“You don’t have to eat the same things I do, you know?”
“I know. But I don’t mind,” he states.
“This smells amazing! Remind me to thank Dorothy later. And thank God you brought cake too, or I would have had to stab you,” I joke.
He laughs like I just said the funniest thing ever. “Why on earth would you want to stab your hot-as-hell husband to be?”
“I know you’re supposed to eat healthy during pregnancy, but a girl still deserves some sweet treats once in a while,” I tell him in all seriousness. “Otherwise, I’ll get cranky and no one wants that.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, babe.”
“Good, see that you do,” I say with a huge smile on my face.
When we’re done eating, he takes our plates into the kitchen before coming back and helping me off the chair. We move to the other set, the one that faces the television. He lies back, pulling me into his arms so that we’re cuddling while he puts on a movie for us to watch.
“I’m sorry I didn’t take you out for lunch,” he murmurs a moment later.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not. It won’t always be like this. I just don’t want anyone to see you around until I have my ring on your finger so everyone knows that you’re mine.”
“Possessive much?” I ask with a quirk of my brows.
“Hell yeah! I’m not leaving anything to chance.”
“Aw, so sweet.” I laugh. We spend the rest of the afternoon cuddling on the couch until dinner time. Before I can ask what we’re having for dinner because I’m hungry again, Enzo’s phone buzzes.
“Yes. Send them up,” he says into the phone after answering. A few minutes later, there’s a knock on the door, and Enzo gets up to open it.
“Your surprise is here, along with dinner.” He smiles.
“Oooh, I’m ready!” I say with excitement, sitting up on the couch. From where I’m sitting, I can’t see the door, but I hear footsteps coming my way a second later. I look up in time to see Giana and Bruno following behind Enzo.
“Giana!” I scream with excitement. She looks the same as the last time I saw her, a crooked grin spreading across her face and the same messy ponytail she’s always sporting. Looking at her, it’s like no time at all has passed.
She quickly puts down the bags she was carrying and rushes over to me.
I’ve just managed to get to my feet when she pulls me in for a hug, our arms tight around each other.
Well, as tight as it can be with my huge belly between us.
Though it’s a hug, I hope it conveys how much I missed her these last few months without her.
Just thinking about it has tears instantly welling in my eyes.
We continue to hold on to each other, squealing for a few minutes longer before Enzo clears his throat and Giana lets go of me.
“We’ll be in my office while you two enjoy girl time,” Enzo says, walking over to me and placing a kiss on my forehead. “Don’t forget to eat your dinner.”
Damn, I really fucking love how this man takes care of me. I know it’s only been a couple of days, but in that time, he’s shown me what our life will look like.
He’s always making sure I’m okay. He asks me how I’m doing and how I'm feeling, he makes sure I eat, and he’s always by my side, except for that first day when he went to the office.
I know he’ll eventually have to go back to work because he’s running a billion-dollar empire, but for now, I’m loving all the attention I’m getting.
He and Bruno leave for his office on this floor, leaving Giana and me alone. She pulls me in for another hug, and when she lets go, I just stare at her.
“Oh my God! What are you doing here? How are you even here?”
“Wait, let me hang this up before we talk,” she says, pointing to the garment bags she brought with her.
“There are a couple of rooms down the hall past the kitchen. You can put them in one of those,” I direct and she quickly walks away before coming back a few minutes later.
“Let me hand those two their dinners and get ours too before we settle in,” she tells me, going off again. When she comes back, she takes our food out. We have steak and potatoes along with asparagus for dinner tonight.
“Please tell me you at least got some snacks for us too,” I beg.
“Of course. It wouldn’t be girls’ night if we didn’t have some snacks to carry us through the night. Though you’re not allowed to have too much.”
“Damn. Way to suck the fun out of things,” I joke.
“It’s called self-preservation. Your man would kill me if I let you eat too much junk food,” she informs me.
“Yeah, you’re right about that. He takes overprotectiveness to a whole new level.”
“That’s definitely a man in love. Of course, he wants to make sure you’re safe at all times.”
“You look exactly the same. I’ve missed you so much over the last couple of months. I couldn’t even call you because I didn’t have a phone.”
“I missed you, too, sweet cheeks. And don’t worry, I wasn’t expecting you to call. I didn’t think your father would allow that to happen because he’s such a prick,” she huffs. “By the way, you look freaking amazing! I can’t even believe how big your bump has gotten already. May I?”
“Sure,” I reply, after she asks if she can touch my bump.
“Do you know what you’re having yet?”
“Yes…”
“Well, what is it? Don’t keep me in suspense here, woman!” She laughs.
“It’s a girl!”
“Oh my God! I’m so happy for you!” she squeals.
“Thank you,” I tell her, happiness radiating off me in waves.
“Is Enzo happy it’s a girl?” she asks, and I know where she’s coming from. We’ve heard horror stories about some of the men in the Mafia circle. Some of them have beaten their wives or mistresses because they weren’t pregnant with a son.
“He is,” I answer, and can’t help the huge smile that crosses my face. I’m so fucking lucky!
“See?! I told you, you had nothing to worry about by telling him you’re pregnant.”
“Yeah, yeah. You were right, oh great wise one. At the time, I was worried he wouldn’t want to be tied down with a baby, you know? I didn’t even tell him anything. He’s the one who found me and discovered I was pregnant. I was so big already, I couldn’t hide it at all.”
“I know he was looking for you.”
“How?”
“Yeah, I’m about to get to that, Miss Impatient. I guess after he discovered you had vanished, he had Bruno bring me to his office, where he questioned me. Sadly, I didn’t have anything useful to give him. You know your father didn’t let anyone know where he was sending you,” she recounts.
“Yeah, I know. There was nothing else you could have done at the time.”
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t do anything while he was beating you when he found out you were pregnant. I was so worried about you though, wondering if the baby survived, and I’m so fucking happy to see that she did,” she tells me, wiping away some of her tears that have fallen.