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Accidentally Pregnant!
Rebecca Winters
The Italian’s baby bombshell!Two months ago, Irena and Vincenzo spent a heady week together. Their connection was instant, deep, strong. Yet it could never last – she was destined to marry another. But now Irena is pregnant and alone… Vincenzo has never forgotten Irena. When he hears of her plight he takes control the only way he knows how: by offering marriage!Living in Vincenzo’s Mediterranean palazzo seems idyllic – but Vincenzo’s about to discover that the tiny baby inside Irena actually does belong to him!
MEDITERRANEAN DADS
These billionaires swap bachelorhood for fatherhood!
Meet Andreas Simonides and Vincenzo Antonello.
Andreas and Vincenzo are known to the world as billionaire bachelors who are more comfortable driving fast cars than pushing prams, signing contracts than singing lullabies…
But that’s about to change when two feisty women, with adorable babies in tow, are catapulted into their lives!
In August we met gorgeous Greek Andreas in:
DOORSTEP TWINS
And this month it’s proud, passionate Italian Vincenzo’s story:
ACCIDENTALLY PREGNANT!
Accidentally Pregnant!
By
Rebecca Winters
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
REBECCA WINTERS, whose family of four children has now swelled to include five beautiful grandchildren, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the land of the Rocky Mountains. With canyons and high alpine meadows full of wild flowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favourite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her Mills & Boon® Romance novels, because writing is her passion, along with her family and church.
Rebecca loves to hear from her readers. If you wish to e-mail her, please visit her website at www.clean romances.com
Dear Reader,
Not long ago I saw an ad on television from a travel company. The message went something like this: “Sometimes when you go away, you try things you’ve never tried before. You eat things you’ve never eaten before. You find a part of yourself that never came out before.” Having travelled a great deal, I found the clever ad resonated with me and gave me the idea for Accidentally Pregnant! My cautious, careful heroine Irena travels to Italy, where out of the blue she undergoes a life-changing transformation. But the journey that helps her get in touch with her real self isn’t without emotional peril.
Read this sequel to Doorstep Twins.
Enjoy!
Rebecca Winters
Chapter One
Greek CEO of the Simonides Corporation, Andreas Simonides, thirty-three, astonished the corporate world by marrying unknown, twenty-six-year-old American, Gabriella Turner, in a private ceremony on Milos.
THE AUGUST HEADLINES in the Corriere della Sera caught Vincenzo Antonello by the throat. While in town he’d bought a newspaper before stopping off for lunch, never dreaming what he’d read when he opened it. In a gut reaction, his hands gripped the edges of his Italian newspaper so tightly, it started to tear down the middle.
“Papa? Are you mad?” His six-year-old son had stopped eating his pasta salad to stare at his father.
“No.” Vincenzo caught himself in time. “It tore by accident.”
“Oh. Can we go to the park now and play soccer?”
“In a minute, Dino. Let me finish my coffee first.”
Sources close to the Simonides family have closed ranks on the press, but one rumor has floated that the elusive couple are honeymooning in the Caribbean and won’t be available for pictures or comments for some time to come.
The CEO’s former Greek girlfriend, Irena Liapis, daughter of Athenian newspaper magnate Giorgios Liapis, was expected to become the bride of the brilliant Simonides tycoon. Since the surprise announcement, it has been learned that the twenty-seven-year-old Ms. Liapis, who heads the monthly lifestyle section of her father’s newspaper, has resigned her position and dropped off the scene. Her location is unknown at this time.
An icy hand seemed to squeeze Vincenzo’s lungs until he couldn’t breathe. Since early July when Irena had returned to Greece, he’d honored her wishes by not going after her. Every day he’d expected to hear that she and the great Simonides were married.
When Vincenzo had first met her, he’d damned the man’s very existence and had baited Irena constantly about her alleged feelings for the man she intended to marry. Those feelings had not stopped her spending one blissful night with him, though, Vincenzo thought angrily. He had hoped and believed that the night had been earthshaking for her, too, and that it had erased her desire for Vincenzo’s nemesis.
But these headlines proved he’d only been deluding himself. Somehow he’d thought this was the one female on the planet who’d been different.
“Irena!”
“I know it surprises you to see me.”
Deline hugged her. “Only because I thought you’d already left for Italy. Why didn’t you phone that you were still in Athens?”
“I—I didn’t dare,” she stammered.
“Not dare?” Her best friend’s brown eyes looked at her with concern. “Come in and we’ll talk.” Irena moved inside. “I just finished feeding the twins. They’re out in the garden room in their swings. Leon will be sorry he missed you. He left for work a few minutes ago.”
“I know that, too. I came earlier and purposely waited until I saw his car disappear.”
Deline had been guiding her through the Simonides villa, but after hearing that comment she spun around and put a hand on Irena’s arm. “The minute I saw your face I could see something was terribly wrong. What is it that is troubling you, Irena?”
“My biggest fear right now is that your house staff will know I stopped by and mention it to Leon. He just can’t know I came here!”
Unspoken words flowed between them. Deline was already reading between the lines and realized that whatever had brought Irena to the villa, it was deadly serious.
“The maids won’t be in until this afternoon. The only person around at the moment is my housekeeper, Sofia. I’ll find her right now and tell her that your visit is to remain private. She is a valued staff member and can be trusted, I’m sure. However, I will make it clear that if any of the staff or my husband hear about you having come over, she’ll be in serious trouble.”
No one ever had a better friend. “Thank you, Deline.” They hugged again.
“I’ll be right back.”
As she darted away, Irena walked into the garden room. The five-month-old twins were in their swings facing each other. Each had a plastic toy and seemed perfectly content, but when they saw Irena, their little arms and legs started moving faster in excitement.
Irena knelt down next to Kris, who’d come through his heart surgery so well, you’d never know he was barely out of the hospital. She kissed his cheek, then turned to Nikos. Both beautiful black-haired boys had been made in Leon’s image. Most people would assume Deline was their mother due to her black hair and olive skin.
But others who knew the Simonides clan well were aware of Leon’s slip during a rough spot in their marriage. It had been a one-night mistake in a state of inebriation with Thea Turner, a Greek-American woman, now deceased, that had produced his beautiful children.
Incredibly, Deline, who was pregnant with Leon’s child, had loved him enough to forgive him and take him back. They were now a family of four with another baby on the way.
“Problem taken care of,” she announced as she hurried back in the room.
If only that were true…
“Tell me what’s wrong,” Deline begged after sitting on the sofa.
Irena eyed her dear friend who would have been her sister-in-law if fate hadn’t stepped in to change lives.
Overnight, nothing was the same as it had been before. Leon’s twin brother, Andreas, was the man Irena had thought she would be marrying. But two months ago she’d gone to Cinque Terre in Italy for her job and had met another man. So strong was the attraction and feelings between them, she hadn’t wanted to leave him.
When she had returned to Greece to tell Andreas the truth, he had been unavailable because of some mysterious circumstance. Irena had soon learned that Thea’s half sister, Gabi Turner, had appeared on the scene and Andreas had taken one look at her and had broken it off with Irena. The next thing she knew Andreas had married the blonde American woman and had just left on his honeymoon.
“Irena Liapis—Talk to me!”
Her body started to shake. “I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“What?”
“You’re not going to believe it. I don’t believe it.”
“It’s that bad?”
“Much worse.”
“Are you dying?”
Irena knew it was a serious question. “No, but at least it would solve my problem.”
Without warning Deline jumped to her feet. “That’s never a solution!” she scolded. “I was about to say that unless an incurable disease is about to take your life, nothing else you could tell me would rival what I’ve lived through while I decided whether to stay with Leon or not.”
“Try this. I’m pregnant.”
Deline paled. “Andreas’s baby…”
After a brief pause; “Probably,” she answered in a shaky voice.
Her friend’s eyes widened with incredulity. “What do you mean probably?”
“The doctor worked out the dates with me. He’s ninety percent sure it’s Andreas’s, but it could be another’s. Oh, Deline, what if it’s Vincenzo’s baby?”
“Who’s Vincenzo?” Her friend’s loss of color alarmed her so much, she guided her back to the couch where they could both sit.
“Vincenzo is a man I spent all my time with when I was in Italy doing my article for the paper. He is handsome and…Oh, what a mess!” Irena let her head drop into her hands, a sudden feeling of despair washing over her.
“How long have you known you were pregnant?”
“I’ve felt queasy for the last week and finally went to the E.R. yesterday. I thought maybe I’d come down with flu or something. The doctor there referred me to an ob-gyn who confirmed it this morning before I came here. I’m six weeks along.”
She’d begged the doctor to go over the dates again…and again. When she’d left Greece for her newspaper assignment in Italy, she’d only slept with Andreas, the man she had assumed she would marry on her return to Greece.
But those ten days in Italy had changed the course of her life forever. There she’d met Vincenzo, had been hit hard and fast with feelings she had never experienced or felt before. So much so that she’d extended her stay to be with him and hadn’t wanted to go back to Greece…or Andreas.
Her friend’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Irena. No matter what, you’re going to have a precious baby.”
“I know.” Moisture glazed Irena’s cheeks. “I want it more than anything in the world.” Wanted it to be Vincenzo’s…she added silently.
“Of course you do.” Deline squeezed her arm gently. “What are you going to do?”
Irena took a deep breath. “I know one thing I’m not going to do. Andreas will never learn the child I’m carrying is his, if it is his. I’m going to another OB this afternoon to get a second opinion. I have to be sure.”
“I was just going to suggest that you see another doctor. This is too important.”
“Oh, Deline…I want so much for Vincenzo to be the father.”
“But if the next doctor tells you the same thing—”
“If he does, I still refuse to hurt Andreas and Gabi. You and Leon had to live through a nightmare when he came to you with the news that he’d fathered Thea’s twins. I don’t want to start another nightmare for them. They’re in love. Andreas couldn’t marry her fast enough. They’re on their honeymoon making plans for their future. I won’t do that to them.”
Deline sat there shaking her head in disbelief.
“I want to be on my honeymoon with Vincenzo. I want to be able to tell him I’m carrying his baby. Sometimes I wonder how you got through it, Deline. I was so crushed for you.” The twins were adorable, but they should have been Deline and Leon’s.
“I’ll never forget you were there for me.” Her voice shook.
“I don’t mean to bring up the past to hurt you. I just can’t do that to them.”
Deline got to her feet. “The truth has a way of coming out, Irena. What if everything had remained a secret until years down the road? I’m not so sure our marriage could have withstood such a blow then. At least we’re starting out with the truth now, before our own baby is born. And Leon has been so good to me—incredibly kind and understanding. Patient, you know?”
Irena understood. “Believe me, I’m thankful things are working out for you so well. But think, Deline—Maybe Gabi is pregnant already. I’m afraid of history repeating itself.”
Her friend groaned.
“Wouldn’t my news be a lovely belated wedding present for the two of them after they get back from the Caribbean…I can’t do it to them.”
“One day he’ll find out, and when he does…” Deline actually trembled. “I know Andreas. Leon’s brother is noble to a fault and he’ll always care about you, but if you were to keep knowledge of that kind away from him and then he discovered it—especially after what he went through to make sure Leon was united with his own children—” She shook her head again. “I’d fear for you, Irena.”
Put that way, so did Irena. She cleared her throat. “There’s one way to handle it so he never finds out. That’s what I came over to talk to you about.”
“What? Move to another planet?”
“Not quite so far away. After I returned from Italy, I resigned my job at the newspaper. My plan had been to break it off with Andreas before I went back to Riomaggiore to be with Vincenzo. That’s where I’m going now. What I’m hoping is that he meant what he said and still wants to marry me.”
“Still? You mean in ten days you got to a point that he asked you?” Deline cried out aghast. “Not that you aren’t the most beautiful and intelligent woman I’ve ever known. Any man would want you, but if he knew about Andreas—”
“It sounds complicated, I know. He didn’t exactly ask. It more or less came out. But when I left, I couldn’t give him an answer until I’d talked to Andreas first, and you know what happened next. He was totally involved with Gabi!
“When he told me about her, it struck me then that Andreas and I had never been in love, otherwise Gabi couldn’t have stolen his heart any more than Vincenzo could have stolen mine. Vincenzo warned me that if I’d gone through with that marriage, it wouldn’t have worked, that one day I would regret my mistake—he was right.”
Deline stared at her before an odd expression broke out on her face. “What kind of a man could have caused you to fall for him so completely in a ten-day period, you want to marry him and wish it was his baby you’re carrying?”
Irena averted her eyes.
“Come on. Out with it.”
“His name is Vincenzo Antonello. He’s an irreverent bachelor who’s Italian down to the roots of his hair.” Curly, untamed, overly long black hair. “He either walks or drives his used Fiat if he has to go any distance.” Irena smiled at the memory, so different from her life where she had grown up in a world of luxury villas, elegant cars, limo service and helicopters.
“He was assigned to give me and my photographer a tour of the liqueur manufacturing plant in La Spezia where he works. As he was putting me back in his car, he said he liked it that at five foot eight, I was closer to him in height. ‘There’s more to grab hold of.’”
His deep laughter had rumbled out of him along with the words spoken in heavily accented English. Insufferable, arrogant, but with those blue eyes piercing you through black lashes.
“Our whole meeting was absolutely crazy, Deline. The whole time I was there, he spent every waking hour with me. We laughed and ate and walked and talked. I’ve never talked with anyone else so much in my whole life. I don’t think either of us got any sleep.
“We hiked, we played, we strolled. He bought me flowers and little gifts. I was showered with them. He…bewitched me.”
Six feet of proud, hard-muscled male, handsome as the devil he mocked. The antithesis of political correctness.
Irena had grown up cautious.
He was a Catholic, albeit not a good one, he’d admitted with a rakish white smile. She didn’t espouse one particular religion. Irena believed in the emancipated woman who could be powerful in the corporate world.
“He has an opinion on everything and isn’t afraid to express it.”
No worshipper of money, Vincenzo. As long as he made enough at his job, he was happy to let someone else handle the financial nightmare of being a CEO. Irena came from a monied background. Her parents’ very existence was defined by wealth.
“Vincenzo went out of his way to show me his village. Our walks in the hills took all day because he kept pulling me down to kiss me. On my last night there I ended up at his apartment in Riomaggiore. It was very small and simply furnished. He fixed me an Italian meal to die for.
“We drank wine and danced on his veranda until it got dark. When he picked me up and carried me to his bedroom, it seemed entirely natural. I’d stopped thinking because these overwhelming feelings had taken over. Before I flew back to Greece, he said something totally ridiculous to me.”
“What was that?” Deline had been watching and listening, spellbound.
“‘We are opposites in every conceivable way, Signorina Liapis. I think we should get married.’”
“Irena—”
“He shocked me, too. He enjoyed doing it on a regular basis.”
“What did you say to him?”
“From the beginning he knew how things stood with me, that I’d loved Andreas Simonides for a long time and expected to be his wife soon.”
“How did he handle that?”
“He laughed at me. ‘Love? If you two truly loved each other, you would be married by now and not here with me.’”
Irena bowed her head. “I have to tell you, Deline. Those words pierced me because I realized he was speaking the truth. Andreas and I had been drifting. If I’d felt for him what I felt for Vincenzo, I wouldn’t have let my career take precedence over being with him whenever possible.
“Vincenzo kept firing truths at me. ‘What is love, anyway? A word. It can mean anything you want it to mean at the moment. Then again it can mean nothing at all.’
“I asked him if he didn’t believe in it. He shrugged his shoulders and did that Italian thing with his hands and arms. Then he said, “‘I believe in forms of it. Who couldn’t love a child, for instance?’”
“When I told him he was impossible to talk to, he said, ‘Why? Because I don’t conform to your misguided idea of perfection or feed you what you’re used to consuming? Have you ever taken a good look at yourself?’”
Deline shook her head. “I can’t believe he dared.”
“He dared more than that. ‘Ms. Liapis,’ he said. ‘You are like the geese that fly in chevron formation—cool and unflappable, you cruise above the world with your fine-feathered family unit as you were taught to do, careful not to be diverted by other species of birds or natural disasters.’
“‘But I must tell you it would be fascinating to watch what would happen if just once you took a different course and had to wing it on your own.’”
“He didn’t say that!” Deline cried.
“Oh, yes, he did, and his remark stung. When he started to make love to me, I didn’t want him to stop. More than anything in the world I wanted to know his possession. He was a virtual stranger, yet nothing about him seemed strange. Everything we did felt right. It was like I’d met my soul mate.”
In a rare moment of pique Irena had risen to the bait and had done something foolish, if not dangerous, in order to prove he was wrong about her before she flew back to Athens. It had shocked her to the core, considering that from the moment he’d agreed to show her and the photographer around, she’d wanted to take him seriously, but was afraid.
Irena got to her feet. “After my new doctor’s appointment this afternoon, I’m going to go back and tell Vincenzo he was right about everything. My being there will prove that I’ve taken a different course and want to be with him. We have this intense attraction and connection. It will be liberating to be able to admit it. If he meant what he said about getting married, I want it, too.”
“What will you tell him about the baby?”
“The truth. As much as I’ve been told by the doctors. He has the right to know everything, including the fact that Andreas met someone else, too. If he can’t forgive me for going back to break it off with Andreas, then he’s not the man I thought he was.” She bit her lip. “If he wasn’t being serious about marriage, then I’ll have to leave Europe.”
“Where will you go?”
“I have no idea.”
“Oh, Irena. I’m frightened for you.”
“So am I. I’m terrified”
“Come on, Dino. You can do it.”
“I’m scared, Papa.”
Vincenzo could see the fright in his son’s dark brown eyes. His medium-size six-year-old would only come as far as the edge of the hotel pool, but he wouldn’t jump into his arms. No bribe would entice him. “Then what would you like to do before we leave?”
“I don’t want to leave. I want to live here in Riomaggiore with you.”
When Dino said it in that forlorn little tone, it gutted Vincenzo. “You know you can’t, Dino. Come. We’ll walk down to the beach and watch the boats.”
“Okay,” he demurred sadly.
“Would you like to go for a ride and catch some fish?”
“No. I just want to watch.” Dino claimed he loved the water, but when it came right down to it, he couldn’t bring himself to enjoy it. By now Vincenzo had hoped his son would have overcome some of his fears, but since his ex-wife, Mila, had remarried six months ago and moved to Milan from Florence, they seemed to have grown worse.
“Let’s go!” He levered himself onto the tile. When both of them had slipped on their shirts and sandals, Vincenzo grasped Dino’s hand and they descended the steps beyond the pool area that led down to the sea.
Tomorrow was the last day of his boy’s one week summer vacation with him. Only a little more time left before he had to drive him back to Milan. Then the one weekend a month of visitation would begin again until his week in December. So much time apart from his son was killing him.
Before Mila had moved to Milan, Vincenzo had made that once a month sojourn to Florence where she’d lived with her family and Dino since the divorce. He’d found a small hotel located near the Boboli Gardens where you could look out over Michelangelo’s city. The delightful spot had become a second home to him and Dino.
The hotel he’d picked out in Milan didn’t feel like home to them. Neither did Milan itself, but rules were rules and had been set in concrete. Vincenzo was only given one week in summer and one week in December before the Christmas holiday to be with his son on his terms.
Nothing would change until Dino turned eighteen, unless of course Vincenzo married again. Such an eventuality would upset a small universe of people in more ways than one.
But after letting his father dictate an ill-fated marriage the first time around, he was through with the institution. His only choice was to bide his time until Dino was old enough to plead for a change in the visitation rules. Then Vincenzo would go before a higher court and appeal the decision. Hopefully that day would come years before Dino was considered an adult.
Later, as they walked along the cliffside path of Via Dell’Amore between Riomaggiore and Vernazza, his son cried, “Look, Papa. The sun fell into the sea.”
“Do you think it scares all the fish to see a big light shining under the water?”
That brought the first laugh of the evening to Dino’s lips. “No. You’re funny.”
Vincenzo looked down at his boy. He was the joy of his life. “Are you tired after all our walking? Do you want me to carry you on my shoulders up these steep steps?”
“I don’t think they’re steep.” He trudged up ahead of him, then turned around. “What’s steep?”
Laughter poured out of Vincenzo. “Almost straight up and down.”
“Sometimes I think I’m going to fall over.”
“You keep going up first then. If you start to tumble, I’ll be here to catch you.”
“I won’t fall. Watch!”
His strong legs dashed up the steps to the winding road that led to Vincenzo’s apartment. Dino had straight brown-black hair and brown eyes like his mother’s. His body type, like Vincenzo’s, had been inherited from their Valsecchi line.
Of course Vincenzo thought his boy brilliant like himself, and good-looking like Vincenzo’s mother. The Antonellos had a proud nose and firm jaw. All in all his Dino was perfect.
“I’ll beat you to our house,” he cried before hurrying up the last part of the road to the apartment jutting out from the cliff. From their balcony giving out on the Mediterranean, they’d spent many an hour looking through the telescope at swimmers and boats. When the sky was clear enough, they could pick out the constellations among the stars.
Dino ran around to the front door with Vincenzo not far behind. To his surprise he heard his son say, “Buonasera, signorina.” They had a visitor. Walking around the purple bougainvillea, his heart skipped a beat because he’d spotted the one woman he never expected to see again. His thoughts reeled.
In the fading light her glistening black hair fell like a curtain from a center part to her shoulders covered in a sleeveless lavender top. Standing there on those gorgeous long legs half-hidden in the folds of her white skirt, the impact of Irena Liapis on his senses had never been more potent.
“Buonasera,” she answered with a discernible Greek accent.
“Who are you?” Dino asked, but by then her startled eyes, dark as poppy throats, had come into contact with Vincenzo’s. Since he knew she couldn’t understand Dino’s Italian, he took over, but he had to be careful what he told him. Everything would get back to the boy’s mother.
“This is Irena Spiros from Greece, Dino,” he explained. “She doesn’t speak our language. That means we have to speak English to her.”
“But I don’t know many words.”
“That’s all right. Do the best you can with what you’ve learned. We’ll find out how good your tutor has been.”
“Okay.” Dino turned and shook her hand. “Hello, Ms. Spiros. I am Dino and this is my papa.”
She looked startled to hear her mother’s maiden name used and Vincenzo could tell that she was also shocked to discover he had a son. But she recovered enough from both surprises to smile at him. “Hello, Dino. How are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m six. How old are you?”
She laughed softly. “I’m twenty-seven.”
“Dino,” Vincenzo whispered in Italian. “You should never ask a woman her age.”
He bit his lip.
“It’s all right,” she said to Dino, having understood without translation. “You’re a very smart, polite boy.” Her eyes lifted to Vincenzo, a question in them, and he saw a glint of something undecipherable; anxiety maybe. He decided to enlighten her.
“When you came to Riomaggiore two months ago, my son was with his mother and stepfather in Milan. I’ve been divorced five years.”
“I see.” She studied him intently. “Dare I tell you he’s adorable and that one day he’ll grow up to be even more handsome than his secretive father?”
Something about her was different. He had yet to discover what it was. “You mean as secretive as the almost Signorina Simonides? According to the newspaper, she hasn’t been available since the CEO himself sailed away with his new American bride.”
He thought she might blush, or at least look away. Instead she said, “Touché.”
Her lack of outrage was as surprising as it was intriguing.
Dino turned to him. “Papa? Can she come in?”
“Would you like that?”
“Yes. She’s nice.”
Agreed. “Then I’ll ask her.” He shot her a glance. “He wants to know if you would like to come in.”
She pondered the invitation for a moment. “Only if it doesn’t interfere with your plans.”
“Signorina Spiros wants to come in,” he whispered to Dino, then moved forward to unlock the door.
Irena went inside but she feared her heart was pounding so loud, Vincenzo could hear it. After spending the last night of her business trip here two months ago, she knew his apartment fairly well. Comfortably furnished with a view of the sea to die for from the balcony, she found it incredibly charming. But something new had been added.
On the kitchen counter was an assembly of little boys’ toys. The kitchen table had half a dozen board games sitting on top, one of matching cards still in progress. In the living room lay a soccer ball in one corner. A small golf club with plastic balls had been left in another corner. She saw a little bicycle propped against the outside railing near the telescope, all signs that a boy lived here.
Vincenzo had a son, but he’d never said a word about him. He came up behind her. His body was close enough she could feel his warmth. “Dino wants to show you his room.”
She walked down the hallway to the door he’d opened for her. When she’d been here before, Vincenzo had indicated it was the guest bedroom, but he’d carried her past the closed door to his own room.
Inside she saw a lot more toys placed around, but what she noticed were framed pictures, some small ones on the bedside table and two large ones on the wall. They showed Dino and his father taken at different times and seasons.
Irena walked over to one of the photos where they were up on the turret of a castle in winter. Father and son were so attractive in their ski gear, she smiled. “I like this one.”
“That is Svizzera.”
“Switzerland?” she clarified. When he nodded she said, “Do you like castles?”
Vincenzo stood in the doorway. He translated for his son. “She wants to know if you like castles.”
Dino looked up at her earnestly. “Yes.”
“Do you have any soldiers? Or should I say knights?”
His son looked to him for help. After another translation Dino said, “I have um…forty.”
“Forty?” she cried with a smile. “That’s molto!”
When she spoke the Italian word, Dino laughed and rushed to a large case that he opened to show her all of his toy knights inside. She picked out one in full body armor and held it up to examine closely before putting it back. “This is an amazing army of warriors you have here.” Vincenzo translated, causing Dino to beam. He was precious.
“Come in the living room,” her host murmured. She moved past him and felt his gaze sweep over her. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
“Neither one, thank you. I ate at the Lido Hotel before I came here. It’s where I’m staying whilst I’m here.”
“Did you come to Riomaggiore by train?”
“No. I flew to Genoa, then rented a car.”
She moved through the apartment to the kitchen table. One of the games of jumping monkeys needed no translation; Irena wanted a little more time to gather her thoughts so she opened the box. When she smiled at Dino, he scrambled around the other side of the table to help set things up. He seemed eager to play.
After she took a seat, Vincenzo found his place at the end of the table and they started the game. For half an hour they scrambled to make the monkeys cling to the spinning trees. Dino taught her to say scimmia for monkey.
Irena really got into the game, causing Vincenzo to step up the competition. Dino let out a shriek of laughter, followed by Irena’s. Things came down to every man for himself with Vincenzo’s continual chuckle adding to the fun. Pretty soon all the monkeys lay on the table or had fallen on the floor.
As she helped put the game away, she checked her watch. She’d been here long enough. It was time for his boy to be in bed. So far Vincenzo had said nothing of a personal nature in front of Dino, but naturally he wouldn’t. Irena knew absolutely nothing about the dynamics between him and his ex-wife, he hadn’t even mentioned his marriage the last time she had been here. Doubt filled her that maybe she didn’t know Vincenzo as well as she had imagined. What if she had totally misjudged their relationship? She walked around the table and put a hand on Dino’s shoulder. “Thank you for letting me play. Now I have to go. Buonanotte, Dino.”
In the next instant he ran over to his father, letting go with a volley of Italian. A conversation ensued before Vincenzo eyed her in amusement. “My son doesn’t want you to leave. I told him we’d drive you down to your hotel.”
“That’s very kind, but not necessary.”
“I’m afraid it is,” he came back in an authoritative voice. “Now that it’s dark, a woman who looks like you out alone on a summer night is a target for every male from fourteen to a hundred years of age.”
Irena tried to repress a smile. “Only a hundred?”
His black brows quirked. “You’d be surprised.”
Actually she wasn’t. Young or old, the male of the species was the same in Greece, but perhaps not as unique or fascinating as the Italian standing in front of her.
It warmed her heart when Dino took hold of her hand and led her outside past the mass of flowers growing in profusion everywhere. The pale blue Fiat was practically invisible. Vincenzo had parked it right up against the rear of his apartment to make room for other cars, which she’d observed were rare in the village when she’d come here the first time.
While she stood by with Dino, his father started it up and pulled out on the pathlike road so they could get in. Dino hopped in the back and strapped himself in his junior seat. Vincenzo reached across the front to open the passenger door for her and then they were off.
He drove at normal speed, but the dangerous curves and twists of the steep road made it seem like they were moving too fast past houses painted in oranges, pinks and yellows.
“You’re as nervous as you were before,” he said in his deep voice. “Don’t worry. I could maneuver this cliff with a blindfold on.”
She believed him, but had to admit she was relieved when they reached the parking area of the hotel. Before she could move, his hand left the gearshift to cover hers. It sent heat up her arm. “I’m taking Dino back to his mother tomorrow. Come with us, then we’ll talk.”
“All the way to Milan?”
“It’s not that far.”
Irena didn’t look at him. “Do you think that would be a good idea? You know what I mean.”
“Are you worried about my ex-wife? Don’t be. If taking you with me were a problem, I wouldn’t have suggested it. You did come to see me, did you not?”
She couldn’t deny it.
“Dino enjoys your company.” He kept talking as if she’d responded.
“Your son is like every child. They’re happy with anyone who pays attention to them.”
“True, but you turned him into a friend when you took the time to see the things in his room and remark on the castle. That’s his favorite picture. With you along for the ride, the trip will turn into an exciting adventure for him.”
He squeezed her fingers a little tighter before letting go. “Do I need to add how much I’ve longed to be with you again? Two months have felt like an eternity. Naturally I don’t expect it has felt that way to you. Otherwise you wouldn’t have gone back to Greece, leaving me without any hope of ever seeing you again.”
Vincenzo had no idea of the depth of her feelings. But when she’d discussed her plan with Deline, she hadn’t known he had a son. The very fact of Dino’s existence altered the situation drastically.
Yet Vincenzo’s words let her know nothing had changed for him personally. That tiny window of opportunity was still open for them to talk. If she didn’t seize on his invitation, she might be sabotaging her only chance to salvage her life and that of the baby growing inside her.
The second doctor she’d gone to see hadn’t been as convinced it was Andreas’s baby. As he’d explained, pregnancy and conception were not hard and fast rules. It was just as likely to be Andreas as it was Vincenzo’s and no one could actually tell her this for certain, especially since she’d only slept with Andreas twice! No doctor could be one hundred percent certain based on a few fleeting encounters. The agony weighed heavily with Irena, more so every day, and she knew that she had to talk to Vincenzo about the situation. If only she could be sure that baby was his!
“How soon do you want to get away to Milan?”
“We’ll pick you up at nine.”
Irena nodded. “How do you say tomorrow in Italian?”
When he told her, she looked over her shoulder. “Domani, Dino.” She got out of the car and hurried toward the hotel.
Chapter Two
IRENA LAY AWAKE FOR a good part of the night. Her demons wouldn’t leave her alone.
Though she’d been a career woman since college, in the back of her mind she’d always imagined that one day she’d get married and have children. Somewhere along the way Andreas had become part of that fantasy.
Over the years their families had been good friends and had often remarked that the two of them possessed the qualities for the kind of match that would last. Irena had thought so, too, but once they had begun seeing each other seriously, Andreas had waited a long time before making love to her. Their intimacy had been satisfying but not explosive. This had caused her to lose some confidence.
She recognized early that he was a cautious man. His reputation for not making mistakes put him, rather than his twin brother, Leon, at the head of the Simonides corporation once his father had to step down.
Though he’d assured her she was the only woman in his life, it hurt that he hadn’t wanted to get engaged. He’d said he didn’t believe in engagements. They’d know when the time was right to marry. She’d mistakenly assumed that the heavy responsibility placed on him as the CEO had dictated the amount of time they spent together.
If she were honest, she had to admit that between the hours he put in, combined with the travel she did for the newspaper, their relationship had suffered. When Vincenzo had pursued her so ardently, she’d been flattered and hungry for the attention.
But their ten days together and their one night of passion had turned into something more intense than a mere holiday fling. She knew then that her feelings for Vincenzo ran deep and now, seeing him again with his small son, those feelings were magnified. There was no question that Irena wanted this baby. She wanted it with all her heart and soul. And after witnessing Vincenzo’s love for Dino, a part of Irena also longed for her baby to be Vincenzo’s, too. But by the time she’d awakened at the hotel in Riomaggiore this morning, she’d changed her mind about following through with her agenda.
What she’d been planning since leaving the doctor’s office was the act of a desperate woman. A pregnant one, she amended as she took the prenatal vitamins and antinausea pills he’d prescribed.
It was no use lying to herself. How could she think for one second that Vincenzo would feel the same way about her once she told him she was expecting a baby who might or might not be his child? He already had a darling six-year-old son of his own.
After brushing her teeth, she looked at herself in the mirror. Who did she think she was kidding?
What she needed to do was fly to someplace off the radar like Toronto, Canada. Her parents would understand she was trying to get over her heartache and wouldn’t pressure her while she determined to make a new life for herself.
Toronto had a large Greek community. She could fit in using her mother’s maiden name and have her baby. When it was a year old, she would go back to Athens, pretending to be a divorced woman. At that point she would be able to raise her child with no one the wiser and her secret forever safe.
Having made that decision, she dressed in white cotton pants and a silky, light blue blouse that tied at the side of her waist. The outfit would be comfortable to wear on the plane.
Before doing anything else, she wrote a note to Vincenzo explaining that it had been nice to see him and his little boy, but her plans had changed unexpectedly and she needed to make a flight.
Once she’d brushed her hair and slipped on her sandals, she was ready to check out of the hotel. It was only a short drive to the airport to return her rental car. If Vincenzo hadn’t come to the hotel by then, she’d leave the note with the concierge.
At quarter to nine she arrived at the front desk and looked around. No sign of him. She paid the bill and left the note before walking out to the parking lot with her suitcase.
To her shock she discovered black-haired Vincenzo lounging against the driver’s side of her car, causing a tumult of emotions inside her. How had he known which rental car was hers?
Tan cargo pants outlined powerful legs. In a claretcolored polo shirt with the kind of short sleeves that emphasized his hard-muscled arms, he could sell millions of magazines to any female who saw him on the cover.
He flashed her a stunning white smile. “Good morning, Irena.”
“G-good morning,” she stammered. “Where’s Dino?”
“Buongiorno!” his son cried. When she turned, she saw him hanging out the window of the Fiat parked in the next row. She’d been concentrating so hard on getting away, she hadn’t noticed his smiling face. He wore a cute white shirt with a big green dragon on the front. “How are you this morning, signorina?” He had that question down pat.
“I’m fine, Dino. How are you?”
“Wonderful!”
Vincenzo had probably taught him that word this morning. He said it with such an endearing accent. Her gaze swerved to blue eyes studying her beneath a sun growing hotter by the minute. He stood straight and moved toward her.
“Follow us to Genoa so you can return your car before we head for Milan.”
She took a quick breath. “Vincenzo—something’s come up and I can’t go with you after all. I left a note for you at the desk when I checked out…I have to leave, Vincenzo.”
His jaw hardened. “I have no intention of reading your note, and you can’t leave…not yet. You made Dino a promise to come with us. He wants to show you Rapallo’s castle in the sea, built to repel pirates. He hasn’t stopped speaking of it—you can’t disappoint him.”
One more look at Dino’s expectant expression and Irena agreed. The only thing to do was drive to Milan with them. After Dino had been dropped off, she would ask Vincenzo to drive her to the Milan airport. She could leave for Canada from there.
“All right. A few more hours won’t matter in the scheme of things.” She reached for the key with the built-in remote and unlocked the door. He opened it and helped her inside, submitting her to another intimate appraisal before closing it. With an increased pulse rate, she started the car and waited to follow him.
During the short trip to Rapallo on the Italian Riviera, Dino turned in his junior seat and waved to her from time to time, making her smile. She waved back. When they reached the town, they parked in the historic center and ate gelato while they walked around the harbor.
She told Vincenzo to tell Dino that the tiny, picturesque castle out in the water looked like a toy castle. His son laughed and pulled her hand as they walked across the short causeway to explore it. Soon after, he begged her to ride the cable car up to Montallegro. Who could say no to him?
Along with other passengers they were treated to a panoramic view of the Golfo del Tigullio. After a lovely lunch at the restaurant on top, they took the funicular back down to their cars and drove on to Genoa where she returned hers to the rental company.
Vincenzo put her suitcase in the trunk of the Fiat where he’d stowed Dino’s cases.
The sight of them and a bag of toys brought a pang to her heart. In a little while the two of them would have to part company.
Clearly Vincenzo adored his son. As for Dino, he was crazy about his papa. How hard for them to have to be separated, yet Dino had a mother who must be missing him horribly.
More than ever Irena realized that in a few short months she, too, could be faced with a similar situation. If Andreas was the baby’s father and he discovered the truth, then Irena would be forced to share visitation and the raising of her baby with him. But if Vincenzo turned out to be the father, then what would the future hold for them? Vincenzo already knew the pain of having to say goodbye to his child because of visitation; would he want to go through that again with this baby?
En route to Milan, Dino kept her entertained by teaching her a couple of simple children’s songs in Italian. Vincenzo translated. She knew her accent was terrible, but she tried hard to memorize them and sing along. He corrected her here and there. By the time they reached the outskirts of the city, she could sing them without help.
“Bravo, signorina.”
She shifted in her seat to smile at Dino. “Grazie. You’re an excellent teacher.”
He said something to his father in rapid Italian. Vincenzo answered back. Irena couldn’t resist looking at him. “What did your son say?”
“He wishes you were his English tutor. Mr. Fallow was born in England, and moved here ten years ago. According to my son, he’s strict and grumpy because of a sore hip. You’re a much better teacher and you’re very nice. He wants to know if you would you like him to teach you Italian.”
Laughter escaped her lips. “I can’t imagine loving anything more. How much does he charge?”
A smile lit up Vincenzo’s blue eyes before he translated for his son. His boy giggled, then whispered something to his father.
Filled with curiosity she looked at him. “What was that all about?”
“He wouldn’t say no to a chocolate bocci ball.”
“Ah. A chocolate lover. I’ll remember that, but what will his dentist say?”
This time Vincenzo chuckled hard. After he told Dino, all three of them were laughing, but it slowly faded as they were allowed through a security gate. Soon they pulled up in the courtyard of a luxury villa hidden from the road by foliage.
“I’ll be right back.” Vincenzo slid from the seat to get his son’s bags.
Irena stayed in the car while Dino scrambled out of the back to come around to her door. She opened the window and shook his hand. “Thank you for a wonderful day, Dino.”
“Thank you, too. You like Papa?” He looked worried. Of course he was wondering what was going on between her and his father. Did he want her to like his parent, or did he wish she’d go away and never come back? What would Dino make of a new baby brother or sister? A trickle of unease settled over Irena. Her baby could affect so many people’s lives. She shook the feeling off and turned to Dino again.
“Yes, and I like you.” She poked his stomach with her index finger.
He reacted with a grin. “Ciao, signorina.”
“Ciao, Dino.”
She watched the two of them carry all his stuff to the front door of the villa. A maid answered and let them inside. Assuming Vincenzo would be a while, she rested her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes.
Though she knew what she was going to say to him when he came back out, she was full of trepidation. They hadn’t been alone since she’d walked up to his apartment yesterday. Without Dino as a buffer, she didn’t know what to expect from Vincenzo, and she had no idea how he was going to react to her news.
Vincenzo hunkered down in front of his son. “We had a good time, didn’t we?”
“Yes. I loved it! Will Irena be with you the next time I see you?”
“I hope so.”
“I do, too. She makes you happy, huh.”
Vincenzo smiled at his son’s insight. “Yes.”
“Did you know she’s afraid of the water, too? She told me while we were looking out of the castle window.”
So…his son had an ally. “But she doesn’t seem to mind heights because she liked the cable car ride.”
“I know. So did I. She’s fun!”
“I agree.”
Lowering his voice to a whisper Dino said, “She’s beautiful, too, but don’t tell you know who I said so.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t. Now before you know who comes downstairs, give me a hug.” He felt Dino’s arms wrap around him and squeeze him hard. “I’ll see you at the end of the month.”
“I wish we could do stuff more often.”
“But this is working, right?”
As Dino nodded and wiped his eyes, Mila appeared in shorts and a top, looking immaculate as always. His son broke away and ran toward her, giving her a big hug. She kissed his head before flicking her glance to Vincenzo.
“You’re later than I expected.”
In a gush of excitement, Dino told her all about their outing to Rapallo with Signorina Spiros. Vincenzo was perfectly happy for his son to take over and explain.
Mila’s expression hardened. “Take your things upstairs, Dino. I want to talk to your father alone.”
“Okay.” He turned to Vincenzo. “I love you, Papa.”
“I love you, too.”
He grabbed his sack of toys and started up the steps. When he’d disappeared from sight, Mila turned to him. “You’ve never introduced Dino to another woman before. How important is she to you?”
“Very.” Last evening he’d come close to cardiac arrest when he’d seen Irena at his front door. If he wasn’t mistaken, Mila lost color.
“And she’s Greek?”
“Dino’s already said as much. Now I have to go, Mila. Irena is waiting for me.”
“She’s here?”
“Sì. She is in the courtyard in my car.”
“How dare you bring her here, Vincenzo! And how dare you sleep with a woman in the apartment while Dino’s there on visitation!”
“Save your anger, Mila. She stayed at a hotel.”
“I forbid it, Vincenzo.”
Vincenzo felt his own anger toward his ex-wife bubbling to the surface. “Forbid what? I’ve obeyed every edict of the visitation stipulation to the letter. There’s nothing in it that states I can’t be with a woman in my car or my own apartment in Dino’s presence. My life has nothing to do with you anymore, Mila.”
“We’ll see about that!”
“If you and your father want to throw more money away talking to your attorney, I can’t stop you, but I promise you’ll be wasting your time.”
“You won’t be so smug when I tell your father and he gets the judge to alter the stipulation.”
“That’s not going to happen. Ciao, Mila.” With Irena’s arrival, Vincenzo now held the trump card and he would use it.
“Don’t you walk out on me yet!” Her strident voice had risen higher. “I’m not finished!”
“If you aren’t, you should be. Dino has missed you. Don’t keep him waiting.”
He left the villa, knowing he’d put the handcuffs on Mila for now. It was always a wrench to walk away from his son, but for once someone was waiting for him. He found himself somewhat breathless as he got back in the car and turned to Irena. Elation filled him that they were finally alone.
The richness of her black hair held his gaze, but it hid part of her features. He leaned closer to smooth it behind her ear, unable to resist touching her before starting the car. He studied her beautiful Grecian profile for a prolonged moment before pulling beyond the gate and out onto the main road.
“I took this week off from work to be with Dino and don’t have to report until tomorrow morning. Let’s make the most of the time.”
She stirred restlessly. “Vincenzo—I think we need to talk. You need to know the reason why I came…I didn’t want to say anything in front of Dino.”
“It’s enough that you’re here.”
“I’m being serious.”
“I never thought you weren’t.”
“Please listen to me. I won’t be staying in Riomaggiore. I’m on my way to Toronto. If you’d be kind enough to drive me to the airport, I’ll be grateful.”
She was running away again. This time he wouldn’t let her. “I thought you quit your job at the newspaper.”
“I did.”
“Then what’s in Canada?”
“Another job away from Greece.”
“If that’s what you’re looking for, I could offer you a public relations position at the plant in La Spezia.”
He watched her hands clench together. “I don’t speak Italian.”
“I would teach you.”
“Vincenzo—” she cried in frustration. “I stopped to visit you because I knew you would see the headlines about Andreas’s marriage to Gabi. It was important to me that you didn’t think I was a total liar.
“When I left Riomaggiore, I went back to break it off with Andreas. After I met you, I knew that my relationship with Andreas was doomed—you were right about that. Andreas figured it out for himself, too.”
Vincenzo was silent for a moment before speaking. “Be thankful Simonides acted on his instincts.”
“Whether he did or didn’t, I acted on mine and slept with you. That was the turning point for me.” The attraction between them had been too powerful. They’d just gone with the moment.
He turned onto a road leading into a park. As soon as he could, he pulled to the side and shut off the engine before giving her his full attention. “Now tell me why you showed up at my door. The truth.” Vincenzo was no one’s fool.
“You’re so sure I had an agenda?”
His penetrating blue eyes searched hers. “Let’s just say you and I have a strong chemistry. Whatever the camouflage, I believe it brought you back.”
He was right about the intensity of their physical longing for each other. “What if I told you the camouflage is hiding a compelling problem that has caused me to veer off course and fly alone?”
“I’m listening.” He knew she was referring to the analogy about the geese.
Her heart thudded at the thought of her own daring. “Were you serious when you said you thought we should get married?”
“Perfectly.”
She moaned. “That wasn’t a fair question to ask you since the circumstances aren’t the same as they were two months ago. I didn’t know you already had a son and a troubled marital history.”
“That’s one way of putting it.”
“I—I’m sorry your first marriage didn’t work out—” her voice faltered “—but it’s not just that. There is something else I need to tell you, something…”
“What is it, Irena? What is it that has changed since our last meeting?” Vincenzo was again silent for a moment, clearly in deep thought, before his gaze shifted to Irena once more. “Irena, are you pregnant…with my baby?”
Shocked at his insight, Irena lowered her head, hating what she had to tell him. “I’m pregnant, Vincenzo, but I don’t know if the baby is yours. I’ve been to two OBs for opinions. Both worked out the timetable with me and came to the conclusion that we can’t be sure either way who the father is.”
“Simonides doesn’t know?” Vincenzo was a proud man. She’d been expecting that question and was prepared for it.
“I only came from the second doctor yesterday afternoon before I flew here.”
“And he’s on his honeymoon…” Vincenzo’s eyes narrowed on her face. “How soon do you plan to tell him?”
“I don’t.”
“As in never?”
“If you think that makes me an evil woman, I’ll understand.”
“Since I know you’re not, why in heaven’s name wouldn’t you tell him? He has the right to know.”
“It’s a long, complicated story.”
“I doubt it rivals my own.” There he went again alluding to a life that she knew next to nothing about. “Go on.”
“Look, Vincenzo. I’ve wasted enough of your time. I shouldn’t have come here. Please just drive me to the airport.”
“Not until you explain.”
Irena threw her head back, causing her hair to resettle around her shoulders, and closed her eyes. Then she took a deep, cleansing breath before she began to speak. “It all started over a year ago when Leon, Andreas’s brother, and Deline, Leon’s wife, had a very serious quarrel. He was working long hours as Andreas’s assistant, was hardly ever at home and it hurt Deline a lot. She accused Leon of neglecting their marriage and her. She wanted to start a family, but hadn’t been able to get pregnant and things were bad between them.
“They separated for a couple months. When Deline told him she was thinking of making the separation permanent, Leon was so hurt he got his friends together and took out the Simonides yacht. His friends invited some women on board and everyone got drunk. Then a terrible thing happened.”
For the next little while Irena relived the nightmare that had come close to destroying so many families. “I still don’t know how Deline is handling it. Besides being pregnant with Leon’s baby, she’s taking care of the twins he fathered on board the yacht with Thea Turner that night.”
“She must love him very much.”
“She does. I believe their marriage has a good chance of making it. But if I were to tell Andreas about our baby, it could destroy not only him, but his marriage, too. Gabi’s an innocent in all this and went through hell when her half sister died in childbirth. Until Gabi contacted Andreas, she was the one who took care of the twins for the first four months of their lives. If this baby is Andreas’s, how would this news affect her?”
Vincenzo moved his hand to play with the ends of her hair. “The more the plot unravels, the more it sounds like my own complicated family saga.” This was the second time she’d heard him mention anything about them.
“All the families have been in crisis, including mine. My parents had been counting on my marriage to Andreas. They’ve been grief stricken since he married Gabi. They think I’m heartbroken over it! If they knew it was his baby, they’d insist he take responsibility.
“And Andreas would insist on taking control, because that’s the way he’s made. But then everyone would get in on the act to make things right with me. Nothing would ever be the same again.”
Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. “It would ruin so many lives—that’s the reason why I have to keep this a secret from Andreas.”
Vincenzo cocked his dark head. “Does anyone else know you’re pregnant?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“If we’re going to get married, I insist that everyone believe the baby is mine.”
Irena gasped. “Vincenzo, what I said earlier…You don’t want to marry me! Especially not now.”
“Irena, the baby you carry has as much chance of being mine as Andreas’s. As you have explained, he already has a wife, therefore I insist on taking responsibility. You need a husband, the baby needs a father and I need a wife.”
“Vincenzo…”
“I’ll ask you the question again. Does anyone else know you’re pregnant besides me and your doctors?”
“Yes.”
“Who is it?”
She bit her lip. “It’s Deline.”
Vincenzo rubbed the side of his jaw. “Under the circumstances she’s probably the only person you know who could be trusted. Do you think she’d be able to take our secret to the grave?”
Our secret. Irena couldn’t fathom that he was really considering the idea of marriage to her, especially after what she had just told him.
“If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t have told her in the first place.”
“Does she support you in keeping this from Andreas?”
“No. She’s afraid that if I don’t tell him, it’ll come out one day anyway. But she would never betray me.”
“Can you trust the doctors not to contact Simonides? He’s too well-known for them not to make the connection.”
“I did what you did when you told Dino my last name was Spiros. How did you know that by the way?”
“When you came before, I saw the name on your passport. Irena Spiros Liapis.”
She blinked. “I’m surprised you would remember.”
“I’ve forgotten nothing about you, Irena.” His velvety words melted through to her insides.
“When I went to the E.R., I told them my name was Irena Spiros. I was referred to the OB under the same name. Including the doctor I saw yesterday, none of them has any idea I was the other woman mentioned in the headlines about Andreas.”
“Then it’s settled. We’ll be married as soon as I can arrange it. Since you don’t subscribe to any religion, we’ll say our vows in a civil ceremony.”
“Stop, Vincenzo!” She shook her head. “You’re going way too fast for me…and yourself.”
“Don’t presume to tell me my own feelings, Irena. If it had been possible, I would have married you when you were here before.”
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Rebecca Winters
The Italian’s baby bombshell!Two months ago, Irena and Vincenzo spent a heady week together. Their connection was instant, deep, strong. Yet it could never last – she was destined to marry another. But now Irena is pregnant and alone… Vincenzo has never forgotten Irena. When he hears of her plight he takes control the only way he knows how: by offering marriage!Living in Vincenzo’s Mediterranean palazzo seems idyllic – but Vincenzo’s about to discover that the tiny baby inside Irena actually does belong to him!
MEDITERRANEAN DADS
These billionaires swap bachelorhood for fatherhood!
Meet Andreas Simonides and Vincenzo Antonello.
Andreas and Vincenzo are known to the world as billionaire bachelors who are more comfortable driving fast cars than pushing prams, signing contracts than singing lullabies…
But that’s about to change when two feisty women, with adorable babies in tow, are catapulted into their lives!
In August we met gorgeous Greek Andreas in:
DOORSTEP TWINS
And this month it’s proud, passionate Italian Vincenzo’s story:
ACCIDENTALLY PREGNANT!
Accidentally Pregnant!
By
Rebecca Winters
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
REBECCA WINTERS, whose family of four children has now swelled to include five beautiful grandchildren, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the land of the Rocky Mountains. With canyons and high alpine meadows full of wild flowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favourite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her Mills & Boon® Romance novels, because writing is her passion, along with her family and church.
Rebecca loves to hear from her readers. If you wish to e-mail her, please visit her website at www.clean romances.com
Dear Reader,
Not long ago I saw an ad on television from a travel company. The message went something like this: “Sometimes when you go away, you try things you’ve never tried before. You eat things you’ve never eaten before. You find a part of yourself that never came out before.” Having travelled a great deal, I found the clever ad resonated with me and gave me the idea for Accidentally Pregnant! My cautious, careful heroine Irena travels to Italy, where out of the blue she undergoes a life-changing transformation. But the journey that helps her get in touch with her real self isn’t without emotional peril.
Read this sequel to Doorstep Twins.
Enjoy!
Rebecca Winters
Chapter One
Greek CEO of the Simonides Corporation, Andreas Simonides, thirty-three, astonished the corporate world by marrying unknown, twenty-six-year-old American, Gabriella Turner, in a private ceremony on Milos.
THE AUGUST HEADLINES in the Corriere della Sera caught Vincenzo Antonello by the throat. While in town he’d bought a newspaper before stopping off for lunch, never dreaming what he’d read when he opened it. In a gut reaction, his hands gripped the edges of his Italian newspaper so tightly, it started to tear down the middle.
“Papa? Are you mad?” His six-year-old son had stopped eating his pasta salad to stare at his father.
“No.” Vincenzo caught himself in time. “It tore by accident.”
“Oh. Can we go to the park now and play soccer?”
“In a minute, Dino. Let me finish my coffee first.”
Sources close to the Simonides family have closed ranks on the press, but one rumor has floated that the elusive couple are honeymooning in the Caribbean and won’t be available for pictures or comments for some time to come.
The CEO’s former Greek girlfriend, Irena Liapis, daughter of Athenian newspaper magnate Giorgios Liapis, was expected to become the bride of the brilliant Simonides tycoon. Since the surprise announcement, it has been learned that the twenty-seven-year-old Ms. Liapis, who heads the monthly lifestyle section of her father’s newspaper, has resigned her position and dropped off the scene. Her location is unknown at this time.
An icy hand seemed to squeeze Vincenzo’s lungs until he couldn’t breathe. Since early July when Irena had returned to Greece, he’d honored her wishes by not going after her. Every day he’d expected to hear that she and the great Simonides were married.
When Vincenzo had first met her, he’d damned the man’s very existence and had baited Irena constantly about her alleged feelings for the man she intended to marry. Those feelings had not stopped her spending one blissful night with him, though, Vincenzo thought angrily. He had hoped and believed that the night had been earthshaking for her, too, and that it had erased her desire for Vincenzo’s nemesis.
But these headlines proved he’d only been deluding himself. Somehow he’d thought this was the one female on the planet who’d been different.
“Irena!”
“I know it surprises you to see me.”
Deline hugged her. “Only because I thought you’d already left for Italy. Why didn’t you phone that you were still in Athens?”
“I—I didn’t dare,” she stammered.
“Not dare?” Her best friend’s brown eyes looked at her with concern. “Come in and we’ll talk.” Irena moved inside. “I just finished feeding the twins. They’re out in the garden room in their swings. Leon will be sorry he missed you. He left for work a few minutes ago.”
“I know that, too. I came earlier and purposely waited until I saw his car disappear.”
Deline had been guiding her through the Simonides villa, but after hearing that comment she spun around and put a hand on Irena’s arm. “The minute I saw your face I could see something was terribly wrong. What is it that is troubling you, Irena?”
“My biggest fear right now is that your house staff will know I stopped by and mention it to Leon. He just can’t know I came here!”
Unspoken words flowed between them. Deline was already reading between the lines and realized that whatever had brought Irena to the villa, it was deadly serious.
“The maids won’t be in until this afternoon. The only person around at the moment is my housekeeper, Sofia. I’ll find her right now and tell her that your visit is to remain private. She is a valued staff member and can be trusted, I’m sure. However, I will make it clear that if any of the staff or my husband hear about you having come over, she’ll be in serious trouble.”
No one ever had a better friend. “Thank you, Deline.” They hugged again.
“I’ll be right back.”
As she darted away, Irena walked into the garden room. The five-month-old twins were in their swings facing each other. Each had a plastic toy and seemed perfectly content, but when they saw Irena, their little arms and legs started moving faster in excitement.
Irena knelt down next to Kris, who’d come through his heart surgery so well, you’d never know he was barely out of the hospital. She kissed his cheek, then turned to Nikos. Both beautiful black-haired boys had been made in Leon’s image. Most people would assume Deline was their mother due to her black hair and olive skin.
But others who knew the Simonides clan well were aware of Leon’s slip during a rough spot in their marriage. It had been a one-night mistake in a state of inebriation with Thea Turner, a Greek-American woman, now deceased, that had produced his beautiful children.
Incredibly, Deline, who was pregnant with Leon’s child, had loved him enough to forgive him and take him back. They were now a family of four with another baby on the way.
“Problem taken care of,” she announced as she hurried back in the room.
If only that were true…
“Tell me what’s wrong,” Deline begged after sitting on the sofa.
Irena eyed her dear friend who would have been her sister-in-law if fate hadn’t stepped in to change lives.
Overnight, nothing was the same as it had been before. Leon’s twin brother, Andreas, was the man Irena had thought she would be marrying. But two months ago she’d gone to Cinque Terre in Italy for her job and had met another man. So strong was the attraction and feelings between them, she hadn’t wanted to leave him.
When she had returned to Greece to tell Andreas the truth, he had been unavailable because of some mysterious circumstance. Irena had soon learned that Thea’s half sister, Gabi Turner, had appeared on the scene and Andreas had taken one look at her and had broken it off with Irena. The next thing she knew Andreas had married the blonde American woman and had just left on his honeymoon.
“Irena Liapis—Talk to me!”
Her body started to shake. “I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“What?”
“You’re not going to believe it. I don’t believe it.”
“It’s that bad?”
“Much worse.”
“Are you dying?”
Irena knew it was a serious question. “No, but at least it would solve my problem.”
Without warning Deline jumped to her feet. “That’s never a solution!” she scolded. “I was about to say that unless an incurable disease is about to take your life, nothing else you could tell me would rival what I’ve lived through while I decided whether to stay with Leon or not.”
“Try this. I’m pregnant.”
Deline paled. “Andreas’s baby…”
After a brief pause; “Probably,” she answered in a shaky voice.
Her friend’s eyes widened with incredulity. “What do you mean probably?”
“The doctor worked out the dates with me. He’s ninety percent sure it’s Andreas’s, but it could be another’s. Oh, Deline, what if it’s Vincenzo’s baby?”
“Who’s Vincenzo?” Her friend’s loss of color alarmed her so much, she guided her back to the couch where they could both sit.
“Vincenzo is a man I spent all my time with when I was in Italy doing my article for the paper. He is handsome and…Oh, what a mess!” Irena let her head drop into her hands, a sudden feeling of despair washing over her.
“How long have you known you were pregnant?”
“I’ve felt queasy for the last week and finally went to the E.R. yesterday. I thought maybe I’d come down with flu or something. The doctor there referred me to an ob-gyn who confirmed it this morning before I came here. I’m six weeks along.”
She’d begged the doctor to go over the dates again…and again. When she’d left Greece for her newspaper assignment in Italy, she’d only slept with Andreas, the man she had assumed she would marry on her return to Greece.
But those ten days in Italy had changed the course of her life forever. There she’d met Vincenzo, had been hit hard and fast with feelings she had never experienced or felt before. So much so that she’d extended her stay to be with him and hadn’t wanted to go back to Greece…or Andreas.
Her friend’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Irena. No matter what, you’re going to have a precious baby.”
“I know.” Moisture glazed Irena’s cheeks. “I want it more than anything in the world.” Wanted it to be Vincenzo’s…she added silently.
“Of course you do.” Deline squeezed her arm gently. “What are you going to do?”
Irena took a deep breath. “I know one thing I’m not going to do. Andreas will never learn the child I’m carrying is his, if it is his. I’m going to another OB this afternoon to get a second opinion. I have to be sure.”
“I was just going to suggest that you see another doctor. This is too important.”
“Oh, Deline…I want so much for Vincenzo to be the father.”
“But if the next doctor tells you the same thing—”
“If he does, I still refuse to hurt Andreas and Gabi. You and Leon had to live through a nightmare when he came to you with the news that he’d fathered Thea’s twins. I don’t want to start another nightmare for them. They’re in love. Andreas couldn’t marry her fast enough. They’re on their honeymoon making plans for their future. I won’t do that to them.”
Deline sat there shaking her head in disbelief.
“I want to be on my honeymoon with Vincenzo. I want to be able to tell him I’m carrying his baby. Sometimes I wonder how you got through it, Deline. I was so crushed for you.” The twins were adorable, but they should have been Deline and Leon’s.
“I’ll never forget you were there for me.” Her voice shook.
“I don’t mean to bring up the past to hurt you. I just can’t do that to them.”
Deline got to her feet. “The truth has a way of coming out, Irena. What if everything had remained a secret until years down the road? I’m not so sure our marriage could have withstood such a blow then. At least we’re starting out with the truth now, before our own baby is born. And Leon has been so good to me—incredibly kind and understanding. Patient, you know?”
Irena understood. “Believe me, I’m thankful things are working out for you so well. But think, Deline—Maybe Gabi is pregnant already. I’m afraid of history repeating itself.”
Her friend groaned.
“Wouldn’t my news be a lovely belated wedding present for the two of them after they get back from the Caribbean…I can’t do it to them.”
“One day he’ll find out, and when he does…” Deline actually trembled. “I know Andreas. Leon’s brother is noble to a fault and he’ll always care about you, but if you were to keep knowledge of that kind away from him and then he discovered it—especially after what he went through to make sure Leon was united with his own children—” She shook her head again. “I’d fear for you, Irena.”
Put that way, so did Irena. She cleared her throat. “There’s one way to handle it so he never finds out. That’s what I came over to talk to you about.”
“What? Move to another planet?”
“Not quite so far away. After I returned from Italy, I resigned my job at the newspaper. My plan had been to break it off with Andreas before I went back to Riomaggiore to be with Vincenzo. That’s where I’m going now. What I’m hoping is that he meant what he said and still wants to marry me.”
“Still? You mean in ten days you got to a point that he asked you?” Deline cried out aghast. “Not that you aren’t the most beautiful and intelligent woman I’ve ever known. Any man would want you, but if he knew about Andreas—”
“It sounds complicated, I know. He didn’t exactly ask. It more or less came out. But when I left, I couldn’t give him an answer until I’d talked to Andreas first, and you know what happened next. He was totally involved with Gabi!
“When he told me about her, it struck me then that Andreas and I had never been in love, otherwise Gabi couldn’t have stolen his heart any more than Vincenzo could have stolen mine. Vincenzo warned me that if I’d gone through with that marriage, it wouldn’t have worked, that one day I would regret my mistake—he was right.”
Deline stared at her before an odd expression broke out on her face. “What kind of a man could have caused you to fall for him so completely in a ten-day period, you want to marry him and wish it was his baby you’re carrying?”
Irena averted her eyes.
“Come on. Out with it.”
“His name is Vincenzo Antonello. He’s an irreverent bachelor who’s Italian down to the roots of his hair.” Curly, untamed, overly long black hair. “He either walks or drives his used Fiat if he has to go any distance.” Irena smiled at the memory, so different from her life where she had grown up in a world of luxury villas, elegant cars, limo service and helicopters.
“He was assigned to give me and my photographer a tour of the liqueur manufacturing plant in La Spezia where he works. As he was putting me back in his car, he said he liked it that at five foot eight, I was closer to him in height. ‘There’s more to grab hold of.’”
His deep laughter had rumbled out of him along with the words spoken in heavily accented English. Insufferable, arrogant, but with those blue eyes piercing you through black lashes.
“Our whole meeting was absolutely crazy, Deline. The whole time I was there, he spent every waking hour with me. We laughed and ate and walked and talked. I’ve never talked with anyone else so much in my whole life. I don’t think either of us got any sleep.
“We hiked, we played, we strolled. He bought me flowers and little gifts. I was showered with them. He…bewitched me.”
Six feet of proud, hard-muscled male, handsome as the devil he mocked. The antithesis of political correctness.
Irena had grown up cautious.
He was a Catholic, albeit not a good one, he’d admitted with a rakish white smile. She didn’t espouse one particular religion. Irena believed in the emancipated woman who could be powerful in the corporate world.
“He has an opinion on everything and isn’t afraid to express it.”
No worshipper of money, Vincenzo. As long as he made enough at his job, he was happy to let someone else handle the financial nightmare of being a CEO. Irena came from a monied background. Her parents’ very existence was defined by wealth.
“Vincenzo went out of his way to show me his village. Our walks in the hills took all day because he kept pulling me down to kiss me. On my last night there I ended up at his apartment in Riomaggiore. It was very small and simply furnished. He fixed me an Italian meal to die for.
“We drank wine and danced on his veranda until it got dark. When he picked me up and carried me to his bedroom, it seemed entirely natural. I’d stopped thinking because these overwhelming feelings had taken over. Before I flew back to Greece, he said something totally ridiculous to me.”
“What was that?” Deline had been watching and listening, spellbound.
“‘We are opposites in every conceivable way, Signorina Liapis. I think we should get married.’”
“Irena—”
“He shocked me, too. He enjoyed doing it on a regular basis.”
“What did you say to him?”
“From the beginning he knew how things stood with me, that I’d loved Andreas Simonides for a long time and expected to be his wife soon.”
“How did he handle that?”
“He laughed at me. ‘Love? If you two truly loved each other, you would be married by now and not here with me.’”
Irena bowed her head. “I have to tell you, Deline. Those words pierced me because I realized he was speaking the truth. Andreas and I had been drifting. If I’d felt for him what I felt for Vincenzo, I wouldn’t have let my career take precedence over being with him whenever possible.
“Vincenzo kept firing truths at me. ‘What is love, anyway? A word. It can mean anything you want it to mean at the moment. Then again it can mean nothing at all.’
“I asked him if he didn’t believe in it. He shrugged his shoulders and did that Italian thing with his hands and arms. Then he said, “‘I believe in forms of it. Who couldn’t love a child, for instance?’”
“When I told him he was impossible to talk to, he said, ‘Why? Because I don’t conform to your misguided idea of perfection or feed you what you’re used to consuming? Have you ever taken a good look at yourself?’”
Deline shook her head. “I can’t believe he dared.”
“He dared more than that. ‘Ms. Liapis,’ he said. ‘You are like the geese that fly in chevron formation—cool and unflappable, you cruise above the world with your fine-feathered family unit as you were taught to do, careful not to be diverted by other species of birds or natural disasters.’
“‘But I must tell you it would be fascinating to watch what would happen if just once you took a different course and had to wing it on your own.’”
“He didn’t say that!” Deline cried.
“Oh, yes, he did, and his remark stung. When he started to make love to me, I didn’t want him to stop. More than anything in the world I wanted to know his possession. He was a virtual stranger, yet nothing about him seemed strange. Everything we did felt right. It was like I’d met my soul mate.”
In a rare moment of pique Irena had risen to the bait and had done something foolish, if not dangerous, in order to prove he was wrong about her before she flew back to Athens. It had shocked her to the core, considering that from the moment he’d agreed to show her and the photographer around, she’d wanted to take him seriously, but was afraid.
Irena got to her feet. “After my new doctor’s appointment this afternoon, I’m going to go back and tell Vincenzo he was right about everything. My being there will prove that I’ve taken a different course and want to be with him. We have this intense attraction and connection. It will be liberating to be able to admit it. If he meant what he said about getting married, I want it, too.”
“What will you tell him about the baby?”
“The truth. As much as I’ve been told by the doctors. He has the right to know everything, including the fact that Andreas met someone else, too. If he can’t forgive me for going back to break it off with Andreas, then he’s not the man I thought he was.” She bit her lip. “If he wasn’t being serious about marriage, then I’ll have to leave Europe.”
“Where will you go?”
“I have no idea.”
“Oh, Irena. I’m frightened for you.”
“So am I. I’m terrified”
“Come on, Dino. You can do it.”
“I’m scared, Papa.”
Vincenzo could see the fright in his son’s dark brown eyes. His medium-size six-year-old would only come as far as the edge of the hotel pool, but he wouldn’t jump into his arms. No bribe would entice him. “Then what would you like to do before we leave?”
“I don’t want to leave. I want to live here in Riomaggiore with you.”
When Dino said it in that forlorn little tone, it gutted Vincenzo. “You know you can’t, Dino. Come. We’ll walk down to the beach and watch the boats.”
“Okay,” he demurred sadly.
“Would you like to go for a ride and catch some fish?”
“No. I just want to watch.” Dino claimed he loved the water, but when it came right down to it, he couldn’t bring himself to enjoy it. By now Vincenzo had hoped his son would have overcome some of his fears, but since his ex-wife, Mila, had remarried six months ago and moved to Milan from Florence, they seemed to have grown worse.
“Let’s go!” He levered himself onto the tile. When both of them had slipped on their shirts and sandals, Vincenzo grasped Dino’s hand and they descended the steps beyond the pool area that led down to the sea.
Tomorrow was the last day of his boy’s one week summer vacation with him. Only a little more time left before he had to drive him back to Milan. Then the one weekend a month of visitation would begin again until his week in December. So much time apart from his son was killing him.
Before Mila had moved to Milan, Vincenzo had made that once a month sojourn to Florence where she’d lived with her family and Dino since the divorce. He’d found a small hotel located near the Boboli Gardens where you could look out over Michelangelo’s city. The delightful spot had become a second home to him and Dino.
The hotel he’d picked out in Milan didn’t feel like home to them. Neither did Milan itself, but rules were rules and had been set in concrete. Vincenzo was only given one week in summer and one week in December before the Christmas holiday to be with his son on his terms.
Nothing would change until Dino turned eighteen, unless of course Vincenzo married again. Such an eventuality would upset a small universe of people in more ways than one.
But after letting his father dictate an ill-fated marriage the first time around, he was through with the institution. His only choice was to bide his time until Dino was old enough to plead for a change in the visitation rules. Then Vincenzo would go before a higher court and appeal the decision. Hopefully that day would come years before Dino was considered an adult.
Later, as they walked along the cliffside path of Via Dell’Amore between Riomaggiore and Vernazza, his son cried, “Look, Papa. The sun fell into the sea.”
“Do you think it scares all the fish to see a big light shining under the water?”
That brought the first laugh of the evening to Dino’s lips. “No. You’re funny.”
Vincenzo looked down at his boy. He was the joy of his life. “Are you tired after all our walking? Do you want me to carry you on my shoulders up these steep steps?”
“I don’t think they’re steep.” He trudged up ahead of him, then turned around. “What’s steep?”
Laughter poured out of Vincenzo. “Almost straight up and down.”
“Sometimes I think I’m going to fall over.”
“You keep going up first then. If you start to tumble, I’ll be here to catch you.”
“I won’t fall. Watch!”
His strong legs dashed up the steps to the winding road that led to Vincenzo’s apartment. Dino had straight brown-black hair and brown eyes like his mother’s. His body type, like Vincenzo’s, had been inherited from their Valsecchi line.
Of course Vincenzo thought his boy brilliant like himself, and good-looking like Vincenzo’s mother. The Antonellos had a proud nose and firm jaw. All in all his Dino was perfect.
“I’ll beat you to our house,” he cried before hurrying up the last part of the road to the apartment jutting out from the cliff. From their balcony giving out on the Mediterranean, they’d spent many an hour looking through the telescope at swimmers and boats. When the sky was clear enough, they could pick out the constellations among the stars.
Dino ran around to the front door with Vincenzo not far behind. To his surprise he heard his son say, “Buonasera, signorina.” They had a visitor. Walking around the purple bougainvillea, his heart skipped a beat because he’d spotted the one woman he never expected to see again. His thoughts reeled.
In the fading light her glistening black hair fell like a curtain from a center part to her shoulders covered in a sleeveless lavender top. Standing there on those gorgeous long legs half-hidden in the folds of her white skirt, the impact of Irena Liapis on his senses had never been more potent.
“Buonasera,” she answered with a discernible Greek accent.
“Who are you?” Dino asked, but by then her startled eyes, dark as poppy throats, had come into contact with Vincenzo’s. Since he knew she couldn’t understand Dino’s Italian, he took over, but he had to be careful what he told him. Everything would get back to the boy’s mother.
“This is Irena Spiros from Greece, Dino,” he explained. “She doesn’t speak our language. That means we have to speak English to her.”
“But I don’t know many words.”
“That’s all right. Do the best you can with what you’ve learned. We’ll find out how good your tutor has been.”
“Okay.” Dino turned and shook her hand. “Hello, Ms. Spiros. I am Dino and this is my papa.”
She looked startled to hear her mother’s maiden name used and Vincenzo could tell that she was also shocked to discover he had a son. But she recovered enough from both surprises to smile at him. “Hello, Dino. How are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m six. How old are you?”
She laughed softly. “I’m twenty-seven.”
“Dino,” Vincenzo whispered in Italian. “You should never ask a woman her age.”
He bit his lip.
“It’s all right,” she said to Dino, having understood without translation. “You’re a very smart, polite boy.” Her eyes lifted to Vincenzo, a question in them, and he saw a glint of something undecipherable; anxiety maybe. He decided to enlighten her.
“When you came to Riomaggiore two months ago, my son was with his mother and stepfather in Milan. I’ve been divorced five years.”
“I see.” She studied him intently. “Dare I tell you he’s adorable and that one day he’ll grow up to be even more handsome than his secretive father?”
Something about her was different. He had yet to discover what it was. “You mean as secretive as the almost Signorina Simonides? According to the newspaper, she hasn’t been available since the CEO himself sailed away with his new American bride.”
He thought she might blush, or at least look away. Instead she said, “Touché.”
Her lack of outrage was as surprising as it was intriguing.
Dino turned to him. “Papa? Can she come in?”
“Would you like that?”
“Yes. She’s nice.”
Agreed. “Then I’ll ask her.” He shot her a glance. “He wants to know if you would like to come in.”
She pondered the invitation for a moment. “Only if it doesn’t interfere with your plans.”
“Signorina Spiros wants to come in,” he whispered to Dino, then moved forward to unlock the door.
Irena went inside but she feared her heart was pounding so loud, Vincenzo could hear it. After spending the last night of her business trip here two months ago, she knew his apartment fairly well. Comfortably furnished with a view of the sea to die for from the balcony, she found it incredibly charming. But something new had been added.
On the kitchen counter was an assembly of little boys’ toys. The kitchen table had half a dozen board games sitting on top, one of matching cards still in progress. In the living room lay a soccer ball in one corner. A small golf club with plastic balls had been left in another corner. She saw a little bicycle propped against the outside railing near the telescope, all signs that a boy lived here.
Vincenzo had a son, but he’d never said a word about him. He came up behind her. His body was close enough she could feel his warmth. “Dino wants to show you his room.”
She walked down the hallway to the door he’d opened for her. When she’d been here before, Vincenzo had indicated it was the guest bedroom, but he’d carried her past the closed door to his own room.
Inside she saw a lot more toys placed around, but what she noticed were framed pictures, some small ones on the bedside table and two large ones on the wall. They showed Dino and his father taken at different times and seasons.
Irena walked over to one of the photos where they were up on the turret of a castle in winter. Father and son were so attractive in their ski gear, she smiled. “I like this one.”
“That is Svizzera.”
“Switzerland?” she clarified. When he nodded she said, “Do you like castles?”
Vincenzo stood in the doorway. He translated for his son. “She wants to know if you like castles.”
Dino looked up at her earnestly. “Yes.”
“Do you have any soldiers? Or should I say knights?”
His son looked to him for help. After another translation Dino said, “I have um…forty.”
“Forty?” she cried with a smile. “That’s molto!”
When she spoke the Italian word, Dino laughed and rushed to a large case that he opened to show her all of his toy knights inside. She picked out one in full body armor and held it up to examine closely before putting it back. “This is an amazing army of warriors you have here.” Vincenzo translated, causing Dino to beam. He was precious.
“Come in the living room,” her host murmured. She moved past him and felt his gaze sweep over her. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
“Neither one, thank you. I ate at the Lido Hotel before I came here. It’s where I’m staying whilst I’m here.”
“Did you come to Riomaggiore by train?”
“No. I flew to Genoa, then rented a car.”
She moved through the apartment to the kitchen table. One of the games of jumping monkeys needed no translation; Irena wanted a little more time to gather her thoughts so she opened the box. When she smiled at Dino, he scrambled around the other side of the table to help set things up. He seemed eager to play.
After she took a seat, Vincenzo found his place at the end of the table and they started the game. For half an hour they scrambled to make the monkeys cling to the spinning trees. Dino taught her to say scimmia for monkey.
Irena really got into the game, causing Vincenzo to step up the competition. Dino let out a shriek of laughter, followed by Irena’s. Things came down to every man for himself with Vincenzo’s continual chuckle adding to the fun. Pretty soon all the monkeys lay on the table or had fallen on the floor.
As she helped put the game away, she checked her watch. She’d been here long enough. It was time for his boy to be in bed. So far Vincenzo had said nothing of a personal nature in front of Dino, but naturally he wouldn’t. Irena knew absolutely nothing about the dynamics between him and his ex-wife, he hadn’t even mentioned his marriage the last time she had been here. Doubt filled her that maybe she didn’t know Vincenzo as well as she had imagined. What if she had totally misjudged their relationship? She walked around the table and put a hand on Dino’s shoulder. “Thank you for letting me play. Now I have to go. Buonanotte, Dino.”
In the next instant he ran over to his father, letting go with a volley of Italian. A conversation ensued before Vincenzo eyed her in amusement. “My son doesn’t want you to leave. I told him we’d drive you down to your hotel.”
“That’s very kind, but not necessary.”
“I’m afraid it is,” he came back in an authoritative voice. “Now that it’s dark, a woman who looks like you out alone on a summer night is a target for every male from fourteen to a hundred years of age.”
Irena tried to repress a smile. “Only a hundred?”
His black brows quirked. “You’d be surprised.”
Actually she wasn’t. Young or old, the male of the species was the same in Greece, but perhaps not as unique or fascinating as the Italian standing in front of her.
It warmed her heart when Dino took hold of her hand and led her outside past the mass of flowers growing in profusion everywhere. The pale blue Fiat was practically invisible. Vincenzo had parked it right up against the rear of his apartment to make room for other cars, which she’d observed were rare in the village when she’d come here the first time.
While she stood by with Dino, his father started it up and pulled out on the pathlike road so they could get in. Dino hopped in the back and strapped himself in his junior seat. Vincenzo reached across the front to open the passenger door for her and then they were off.
He drove at normal speed, but the dangerous curves and twists of the steep road made it seem like they were moving too fast past houses painted in oranges, pinks and yellows.
“You’re as nervous as you were before,” he said in his deep voice. “Don’t worry. I could maneuver this cliff with a blindfold on.”
She believed him, but had to admit she was relieved when they reached the parking area of the hotel. Before she could move, his hand left the gearshift to cover hers. It sent heat up her arm. “I’m taking Dino back to his mother tomorrow. Come with us, then we’ll talk.”
“All the way to Milan?”
“It’s not that far.”
Irena didn’t look at him. “Do you think that would be a good idea? You know what I mean.”
“Are you worried about my ex-wife? Don’t be. If taking you with me were a problem, I wouldn’t have suggested it. You did come to see me, did you not?”
She couldn’t deny it.
“Dino enjoys your company.” He kept talking as if she’d responded.
“Your son is like every child. They’re happy with anyone who pays attention to them.”
“True, but you turned him into a friend when you took the time to see the things in his room and remark on the castle. That’s his favorite picture. With you along for the ride, the trip will turn into an exciting adventure for him.”
He squeezed her fingers a little tighter before letting go. “Do I need to add how much I’ve longed to be with you again? Two months have felt like an eternity. Naturally I don’t expect it has felt that way to you. Otherwise you wouldn’t have gone back to Greece, leaving me without any hope of ever seeing you again.”
Vincenzo had no idea of the depth of her feelings. But when she’d discussed her plan with Deline, she hadn’t known he had a son. The very fact of Dino’s existence altered the situation drastically.
Yet Vincenzo’s words let her know nothing had changed for him personally. That tiny window of opportunity was still open for them to talk. If she didn’t seize on his invitation, she might be sabotaging her only chance to salvage her life and that of the baby growing inside her.
The second doctor she’d gone to see hadn’t been as convinced it was Andreas’s baby. As he’d explained, pregnancy and conception were not hard and fast rules. It was just as likely to be Andreas as it was Vincenzo’s and no one could actually tell her this for certain, especially since she’d only slept with Andreas twice! No doctor could be one hundred percent certain based on a few fleeting encounters. The agony weighed heavily with Irena, more so every day, and she knew that she had to talk to Vincenzo about the situation. If only she could be sure that baby was his!
“How soon do you want to get away to Milan?”
“We’ll pick you up at nine.”
Irena nodded. “How do you say tomorrow in Italian?”
When he told her, she looked over her shoulder. “Domani, Dino.” She got out of the car and hurried toward the hotel.
Chapter Two
IRENA LAY AWAKE FOR a good part of the night. Her demons wouldn’t leave her alone.
Though she’d been a career woman since college, in the back of her mind she’d always imagined that one day she’d get married and have children. Somewhere along the way Andreas had become part of that fantasy.
Over the years their families had been good friends and had often remarked that the two of them possessed the qualities for the kind of match that would last. Irena had thought so, too, but once they had begun seeing each other seriously, Andreas had waited a long time before making love to her. Their intimacy had been satisfying but not explosive. This had caused her to lose some confidence.
She recognized early that he was a cautious man. His reputation for not making mistakes put him, rather than his twin brother, Leon, at the head of the Simonides corporation once his father had to step down.
Though he’d assured her she was the only woman in his life, it hurt that he hadn’t wanted to get engaged. He’d said he didn’t believe in engagements. They’d know when the time was right to marry. She’d mistakenly assumed that the heavy responsibility placed on him as the CEO had dictated the amount of time they spent together.
If she were honest, she had to admit that between the hours he put in, combined with the travel she did for the newspaper, their relationship had suffered. When Vincenzo had pursued her so ardently, she’d been flattered and hungry for the attention.
But their ten days together and their one night of passion had turned into something more intense than a mere holiday fling. She knew then that her feelings for Vincenzo ran deep and now, seeing him again with his small son, those feelings were magnified. There was no question that Irena wanted this baby. She wanted it with all her heart and soul. And after witnessing Vincenzo’s love for Dino, a part of Irena also longed for her baby to be Vincenzo’s, too. But by the time she’d awakened at the hotel in Riomaggiore this morning, she’d changed her mind about following through with her agenda.
What she’d been planning since leaving the doctor’s office was the act of a desperate woman. A pregnant one, she amended as she took the prenatal vitamins and antinausea pills he’d prescribed.
It was no use lying to herself. How could she think for one second that Vincenzo would feel the same way about her once she told him she was expecting a baby who might or might not be his child? He already had a darling six-year-old son of his own.
After brushing her teeth, she looked at herself in the mirror. Who did she think she was kidding?
What she needed to do was fly to someplace off the radar like Toronto, Canada. Her parents would understand she was trying to get over her heartache and wouldn’t pressure her while she determined to make a new life for herself.
Toronto had a large Greek community. She could fit in using her mother’s maiden name and have her baby. When it was a year old, she would go back to Athens, pretending to be a divorced woman. At that point she would be able to raise her child with no one the wiser and her secret forever safe.
Having made that decision, she dressed in white cotton pants and a silky, light blue blouse that tied at the side of her waist. The outfit would be comfortable to wear on the plane.
Before doing anything else, she wrote a note to Vincenzo explaining that it had been nice to see him and his little boy, but her plans had changed unexpectedly and she needed to make a flight.
Once she’d brushed her hair and slipped on her sandals, she was ready to check out of the hotel. It was only a short drive to the airport to return her rental car. If Vincenzo hadn’t come to the hotel by then, she’d leave the note with the concierge.
At quarter to nine she arrived at the front desk and looked around. No sign of him. She paid the bill and left the note before walking out to the parking lot with her suitcase.
To her shock she discovered black-haired Vincenzo lounging against the driver’s side of her car, causing a tumult of emotions inside her. How had he known which rental car was hers?
Tan cargo pants outlined powerful legs. In a claretcolored polo shirt with the kind of short sleeves that emphasized his hard-muscled arms, he could sell millions of magazines to any female who saw him on the cover.
He flashed her a stunning white smile. “Good morning, Irena.”
“G-good morning,” she stammered. “Where’s Dino?”
“Buongiorno!” his son cried. When she turned, she saw him hanging out the window of the Fiat parked in the next row. She’d been concentrating so hard on getting away, she hadn’t noticed his smiling face. He wore a cute white shirt with a big green dragon on the front. “How are you this morning, signorina?” He had that question down pat.
“I’m fine, Dino. How are you?”
“Wonderful!”
Vincenzo had probably taught him that word this morning. He said it with such an endearing accent. Her gaze swerved to blue eyes studying her beneath a sun growing hotter by the minute. He stood straight and moved toward her.
“Follow us to Genoa so you can return your car before we head for Milan.”
She took a quick breath. “Vincenzo—something’s come up and I can’t go with you after all. I left a note for you at the desk when I checked out…I have to leave, Vincenzo.”
His jaw hardened. “I have no intention of reading your note, and you can’t leave…not yet. You made Dino a promise to come with us. He wants to show you Rapallo’s castle in the sea, built to repel pirates. He hasn’t stopped speaking of it—you can’t disappoint him.”
One more look at Dino’s expectant expression and Irena agreed. The only thing to do was drive to Milan with them. After Dino had been dropped off, she would ask Vincenzo to drive her to the Milan airport. She could leave for Canada from there.
“All right. A few more hours won’t matter in the scheme of things.” She reached for the key with the built-in remote and unlocked the door. He opened it and helped her inside, submitting her to another intimate appraisal before closing it. With an increased pulse rate, she started the car and waited to follow him.
During the short trip to Rapallo on the Italian Riviera, Dino turned in his junior seat and waved to her from time to time, making her smile. She waved back. When they reached the town, they parked in the historic center and ate gelato while they walked around the harbor.
She told Vincenzo to tell Dino that the tiny, picturesque castle out in the water looked like a toy castle. His son laughed and pulled her hand as they walked across the short causeway to explore it. Soon after, he begged her to ride the cable car up to Montallegro. Who could say no to him?
Along with other passengers they were treated to a panoramic view of the Golfo del Tigullio. After a lovely lunch at the restaurant on top, they took the funicular back down to their cars and drove on to Genoa where she returned hers to the rental company.
Vincenzo put her suitcase in the trunk of the Fiat where he’d stowed Dino’s cases.
The sight of them and a bag of toys brought a pang to her heart. In a little while the two of them would have to part company.
Clearly Vincenzo adored his son. As for Dino, he was crazy about his papa. How hard for them to have to be separated, yet Dino had a mother who must be missing him horribly.
More than ever Irena realized that in a few short months she, too, could be faced with a similar situation. If Andreas was the baby’s father and he discovered the truth, then Irena would be forced to share visitation and the raising of her baby with him. But if Vincenzo turned out to be the father, then what would the future hold for them? Vincenzo already knew the pain of having to say goodbye to his child because of visitation; would he want to go through that again with this baby?
En route to Milan, Dino kept her entertained by teaching her a couple of simple children’s songs in Italian. Vincenzo translated. She knew her accent was terrible, but she tried hard to memorize them and sing along. He corrected her here and there. By the time they reached the outskirts of the city, she could sing them without help.
“Bravo, signorina.”
She shifted in her seat to smile at Dino. “Grazie. You’re an excellent teacher.”
He said something to his father in rapid Italian. Vincenzo answered back. Irena couldn’t resist looking at him. “What did your son say?”
“He wishes you were his English tutor. Mr. Fallow was born in England, and moved here ten years ago. According to my son, he’s strict and grumpy because of a sore hip. You’re a much better teacher and you’re very nice. He wants to know if you would you like him to teach you Italian.”
Laughter escaped her lips. “I can’t imagine loving anything more. How much does he charge?”
A smile lit up Vincenzo’s blue eyes before he translated for his son. His boy giggled, then whispered something to his father.
Filled with curiosity she looked at him. “What was that all about?”
“He wouldn’t say no to a chocolate bocci ball.”
“Ah. A chocolate lover. I’ll remember that, but what will his dentist say?”
This time Vincenzo chuckled hard. After he told Dino, all three of them were laughing, but it slowly faded as they were allowed through a security gate. Soon they pulled up in the courtyard of a luxury villa hidden from the road by foliage.
“I’ll be right back.” Vincenzo slid from the seat to get his son’s bags.
Irena stayed in the car while Dino scrambled out of the back to come around to her door. She opened the window and shook his hand. “Thank you for a wonderful day, Dino.”
“Thank you, too. You like Papa?” He looked worried. Of course he was wondering what was going on between her and his father. Did he want her to like his parent, or did he wish she’d go away and never come back? What would Dino make of a new baby brother or sister? A trickle of unease settled over Irena. Her baby could affect so many people’s lives. She shook the feeling off and turned to Dino again.
“Yes, and I like you.” She poked his stomach with her index finger.
He reacted with a grin. “Ciao, signorina.”
“Ciao, Dino.”
She watched the two of them carry all his stuff to the front door of the villa. A maid answered and let them inside. Assuming Vincenzo would be a while, she rested her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes.
Though she knew what she was going to say to him when he came back out, she was full of trepidation. They hadn’t been alone since she’d walked up to his apartment yesterday. Without Dino as a buffer, she didn’t know what to expect from Vincenzo, and she had no idea how he was going to react to her news.
Vincenzo hunkered down in front of his son. “We had a good time, didn’t we?”
“Yes. I loved it! Will Irena be with you the next time I see you?”
“I hope so.”
“I do, too. She makes you happy, huh.”
Vincenzo smiled at his son’s insight. “Yes.”
“Did you know she’s afraid of the water, too? She told me while we were looking out of the castle window.”
So…his son had an ally. “But she doesn’t seem to mind heights because she liked the cable car ride.”
“I know. So did I. She’s fun!”
“I agree.”
Lowering his voice to a whisper Dino said, “She’s beautiful, too, but don’t tell you know who I said so.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t. Now before you know who comes downstairs, give me a hug.” He felt Dino’s arms wrap around him and squeeze him hard. “I’ll see you at the end of the month.”
“I wish we could do stuff more often.”
“But this is working, right?”
As Dino nodded and wiped his eyes, Mila appeared in shorts and a top, looking immaculate as always. His son broke away and ran toward her, giving her a big hug. She kissed his head before flicking her glance to Vincenzo.
“You’re later than I expected.”
In a gush of excitement, Dino told her all about their outing to Rapallo with Signorina Spiros. Vincenzo was perfectly happy for his son to take over and explain.
Mila’s expression hardened. “Take your things upstairs, Dino. I want to talk to your father alone.”
“Okay.” He turned to Vincenzo. “I love you, Papa.”
“I love you, too.”
He grabbed his sack of toys and started up the steps. When he’d disappeared from sight, Mila turned to him. “You’ve never introduced Dino to another woman before. How important is she to you?”
“Very.” Last evening he’d come close to cardiac arrest when he’d seen Irena at his front door. If he wasn’t mistaken, Mila lost color.
“And she’s Greek?”
“Dino’s already said as much. Now I have to go, Mila. Irena is waiting for me.”
“She’s here?”
“Sì. She is in the courtyard in my car.”
“How dare you bring her here, Vincenzo! And how dare you sleep with a woman in the apartment while Dino’s there on visitation!”
“Save your anger, Mila. She stayed at a hotel.”
“I forbid it, Vincenzo.”
Vincenzo felt his own anger toward his ex-wife bubbling to the surface. “Forbid what? I’ve obeyed every edict of the visitation stipulation to the letter. There’s nothing in it that states I can’t be with a woman in my car or my own apartment in Dino’s presence. My life has nothing to do with you anymore, Mila.”
“We’ll see about that!”
“If you and your father want to throw more money away talking to your attorney, I can’t stop you, but I promise you’ll be wasting your time.”
“You won’t be so smug when I tell your father and he gets the judge to alter the stipulation.”
“That’s not going to happen. Ciao, Mila.” With Irena’s arrival, Vincenzo now held the trump card and he would use it.
“Don’t you walk out on me yet!” Her strident voice had risen higher. “I’m not finished!”
“If you aren’t, you should be. Dino has missed you. Don’t keep him waiting.”
He left the villa, knowing he’d put the handcuffs on Mila for now. It was always a wrench to walk away from his son, but for once someone was waiting for him. He found himself somewhat breathless as he got back in the car and turned to Irena. Elation filled him that they were finally alone.
The richness of her black hair held his gaze, but it hid part of her features. He leaned closer to smooth it behind her ear, unable to resist touching her before starting the car. He studied her beautiful Grecian profile for a prolonged moment before pulling beyond the gate and out onto the main road.
“I took this week off from work to be with Dino and don’t have to report until tomorrow morning. Let’s make the most of the time.”
She stirred restlessly. “Vincenzo—I think we need to talk. You need to know the reason why I came…I didn’t want to say anything in front of Dino.”
“It’s enough that you’re here.”
“I’m being serious.”
“I never thought you weren’t.”
“Please listen to me. I won’t be staying in Riomaggiore. I’m on my way to Toronto. If you’d be kind enough to drive me to the airport, I’ll be grateful.”
She was running away again. This time he wouldn’t let her. “I thought you quit your job at the newspaper.”
“I did.”
“Then what’s in Canada?”
“Another job away from Greece.”
“If that’s what you’re looking for, I could offer you a public relations position at the plant in La Spezia.”
He watched her hands clench together. “I don’t speak Italian.”
“I would teach you.”
“Vincenzo—” she cried in frustration. “I stopped to visit you because I knew you would see the headlines about Andreas’s marriage to Gabi. It was important to me that you didn’t think I was a total liar.
“When I left Riomaggiore, I went back to break it off with Andreas. After I met you, I knew that my relationship with Andreas was doomed—you were right about that. Andreas figured it out for himself, too.”
Vincenzo was silent for a moment before speaking. “Be thankful Simonides acted on his instincts.”
“Whether he did or didn’t, I acted on mine and slept with you. That was the turning point for me.” The attraction between them had been too powerful. They’d just gone with the moment.
He turned onto a road leading into a park. As soon as he could, he pulled to the side and shut off the engine before giving her his full attention. “Now tell me why you showed up at my door. The truth.” Vincenzo was no one’s fool.
“You’re so sure I had an agenda?”
His penetrating blue eyes searched hers. “Let’s just say you and I have a strong chemistry. Whatever the camouflage, I believe it brought you back.”
He was right about the intensity of their physical longing for each other. “What if I told you the camouflage is hiding a compelling problem that has caused me to veer off course and fly alone?”
“I’m listening.” He knew she was referring to the analogy about the geese.
Her heart thudded at the thought of her own daring. “Were you serious when you said you thought we should get married?”
“Perfectly.”
She moaned. “That wasn’t a fair question to ask you since the circumstances aren’t the same as they were two months ago. I didn’t know you already had a son and a troubled marital history.”
“That’s one way of putting it.”
“I—I’m sorry your first marriage didn’t work out—” her voice faltered “—but it’s not just that. There is something else I need to tell you, something…”
“What is it, Irena? What is it that has changed since our last meeting?” Vincenzo was again silent for a moment, clearly in deep thought, before his gaze shifted to Irena once more. “Irena, are you pregnant…with my baby?”
Shocked at his insight, Irena lowered her head, hating what she had to tell him. “I’m pregnant, Vincenzo, but I don’t know if the baby is yours. I’ve been to two OBs for opinions. Both worked out the timetable with me and came to the conclusion that we can’t be sure either way who the father is.”
“Simonides doesn’t know?” Vincenzo was a proud man. She’d been expecting that question and was prepared for it.
“I only came from the second doctor yesterday afternoon before I flew here.”
“And he’s on his honeymoon…” Vincenzo’s eyes narrowed on her face. “How soon do you plan to tell him?”
“I don’t.”
“As in never?”
“If you think that makes me an evil woman, I’ll understand.”
“Since I know you’re not, why in heaven’s name wouldn’t you tell him? He has the right to know.”
“It’s a long, complicated story.”
“I doubt it rivals my own.” There he went again alluding to a life that she knew next to nothing about. “Go on.”
“Look, Vincenzo. I’ve wasted enough of your time. I shouldn’t have come here. Please just drive me to the airport.”
“Not until you explain.”
Irena threw her head back, causing her hair to resettle around her shoulders, and closed her eyes. Then she took a deep, cleansing breath before she began to speak. “It all started over a year ago when Leon, Andreas’s brother, and Deline, Leon’s wife, had a very serious quarrel. He was working long hours as Andreas’s assistant, was hardly ever at home and it hurt Deline a lot. She accused Leon of neglecting their marriage and her. She wanted to start a family, but hadn’t been able to get pregnant and things were bad between them.
“They separated for a couple months. When Deline told him she was thinking of making the separation permanent, Leon was so hurt he got his friends together and took out the Simonides yacht. His friends invited some women on board and everyone got drunk. Then a terrible thing happened.”
For the next little while Irena relived the nightmare that had come close to destroying so many families. “I still don’t know how Deline is handling it. Besides being pregnant with Leon’s baby, she’s taking care of the twins he fathered on board the yacht with Thea Turner that night.”
“She must love him very much.”
“She does. I believe their marriage has a good chance of making it. But if I were to tell Andreas about our baby, it could destroy not only him, but his marriage, too. Gabi’s an innocent in all this and went through hell when her half sister died in childbirth. Until Gabi contacted Andreas, she was the one who took care of the twins for the first four months of their lives. If this baby is Andreas’s, how would this news affect her?”
Vincenzo moved his hand to play with the ends of her hair. “The more the plot unravels, the more it sounds like my own complicated family saga.” This was the second time she’d heard him mention anything about them.
“All the families have been in crisis, including mine. My parents had been counting on my marriage to Andreas. They’ve been grief stricken since he married Gabi. They think I’m heartbroken over it! If they knew it was his baby, they’d insist he take responsibility.
“And Andreas would insist on taking control, because that’s the way he’s made. But then everyone would get in on the act to make things right with me. Nothing would ever be the same again.”
Hot tears rolled down her cheeks. “It would ruin so many lives—that’s the reason why I have to keep this a secret from Andreas.”
Vincenzo cocked his dark head. “Does anyone else know you’re pregnant?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“If we’re going to get married, I insist that everyone believe the baby is mine.”
Irena gasped. “Vincenzo, what I said earlier…You don’t want to marry me! Especially not now.”
“Irena, the baby you carry has as much chance of being mine as Andreas’s. As you have explained, he already has a wife, therefore I insist on taking responsibility. You need a husband, the baby needs a father and I need a wife.”
“Vincenzo…”
“I’ll ask you the question again. Does anyone else know you’re pregnant besides me and your doctors?”
“Yes.”
“Who is it?”
She bit her lip. “It’s Deline.”
Vincenzo rubbed the side of his jaw. “Under the circumstances she’s probably the only person you know who could be trusted. Do you think she’d be able to take our secret to the grave?”
Our secret. Irena couldn’t fathom that he was really considering the idea of marriage to her, especially after what she had just told him.
“If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t have told her in the first place.”
“Does she support you in keeping this from Andreas?”
“No. She’s afraid that if I don’t tell him, it’ll come out one day anyway. But she would never betray me.”
“Can you trust the doctors not to contact Simonides? He’s too well-known for them not to make the connection.”
“I did what you did when you told Dino my last name was Spiros. How did you know that by the way?”
“When you came before, I saw the name on your passport. Irena Spiros Liapis.”
She blinked. “I’m surprised you would remember.”
“I’ve forgotten nothing about you, Irena.” His velvety words melted through to her insides.
“When I went to the E.R., I told them my name was Irena Spiros. I was referred to the OB under the same name. Including the doctor I saw yesterday, none of them has any idea I was the other woman mentioned in the headlines about Andreas.”
“Then it’s settled. We’ll be married as soon as I can arrange it. Since you don’t subscribe to any religion, we’ll say our vows in a civil ceremony.”
“Stop, Vincenzo!” She shook her head. “You’re going way too fast for me…and yourself.”
“Don’t presume to tell me my own feelings, Irena. If it had been possible, I would have married you when you were here before.”
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