New Arrivals: His Expectant Mistress: Accidentally Pregnant! / One-Night Pregnancy / One Tiny Miracle...

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.”

She took a shaky breath. “Without my having met your son first?”

“I would have introduced you. The three of us would have spent the day together before I asked him if he wanted to watch us get married.”

Irena averted her eyes. “Whether he approved of me or not, he would have said yes because he loves you. He’ll do anything to make you happy.”

“But I wouldn’t marry a woman unless she could make him happy, too.”

“You hardly know me, Vincenzo. We hardly know each other.”

“I know one of the most important things about you, Irena. You have an exceptionally kind nature that spoke to my son. After last night and today, Dino knows it, too. Shall I tell you what he whispered to me in the foyer before Mila appeared? He said he hoped you would be with me at the next visitation.”

Her eyelids smarted. “He’s very sweet.”

“You took the time to play with him and make him feel like he was an important person.”

“All children are important.”

“Not everyone feels that way inside. I watched you with him last night. You put him at ease.”

“I’m glad.”

“Glad enough to marry me and help me raise my son while I father our baby?”

She avoided his gaze and stared out the side window. “It couldn’t be that simple, Vincenzo.”

“Of course not. I never suggested otherwise. We’ll be one of those families of this generation that fits all the odd parts into one new whole. Hopefully it will work, but there are no guarantees.”

Irena let out a sad laugh. “We’re nothing alike.”

His eyes grew hooded. “You and Andreas came from the same world, but you didn’t make it to the altar. I wasn’t as lucky as you, Irena, and didn’t escape in time. My family thought I should marry someone like me, and you see what happened. I think being opposites with no expectations will be very good for us.”

He’d said that before.

“I was in lust with you the second you walked in my office. That hasn’t changed.”

Her heart jumped. His honesty shocked her, but it was also that quality which had first attracted her. And his looks…She couldn’t deny how physically appealing he was to her. Knowing he was already a father, having met his son, it surprised her that she found him more desirable than ever. But she couldn’t allow that magnetism to blind her to the realities of the situation.

“I don’t care what you say about Dino liking me. If we were to marry, he would feel another loss. You say you only get to see him one weekend a month and twice a year for a week. If we were to marry he would then have to share that precious time he has with you with me. The poor little darling would be so hurt.”

In the next breath Vincenzo pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair. “Once we’re married, everything will change for the better for both of us.”

“Vincenzo—we can’t even think about it without Dino having a part in the decision.”

“I’m way ahead of you, so this is what we’ll do.” He lifted his head, forcing her to look at him. “There’s a hotel nearby where I always take Dino when I’m in Milan on visitation. I’ll drive you there now and then I’ll bring Dino back with me. We’ll have an early dinner together and tell him our plans.”

Everything was moving too fast. “That sounds good in theory, but you’ve only just dropped him back with his mother. What if she has arranged something special for him? He hasn’t been home in a week.”

A tiny nerve hammered at the edge of his mouth. She noticed it appeared when he was unusually tense. “If she has plans, it will be a first. As for my needs, this time they’ll have to take precedence.” After pressing a warm kiss to her lips, he let her go with reluctance and started the car.

Chapter Three

BE THERE, ARTURO.

“Vincenzo! I saw your name on the caller ID and couldn’t believe it. We haven’t talked in ages. What can I do for you?”

“I need my attorney’s help.”

“Of course.”

“I’m in Milan and am driving over to Mila’s villa right now to pick up Dino. It’s imperative I take him out for a few hours, then I’ll return him. She’s going to refuse because I only just brought him back from our holiday in Riomaggiore, but something’s come up and it’s vital I talk to him alone. Be the master counselor you are and call her attorney to let him know my special circumstances.”

“I’ll get on it right now.”

“Grazie, Arturo.” He clicked off.

Whether Arturo could reach Mila’s attorney or not, Vincenzo had no intention of letting his ex-wife thwart him. She was already worked up because Dino had told her about Irena. He could just imagine the fireworks when he showed up at the door in a few minutes, but this was one time he didn’t care, because hopefully it would be the last time he or Dino would ever be at her mercy in the same way.

“Signore?” The maid looked surprised to see him at the door.

“Would you tell Mila and Dino I’m here to see them.”

“Sì.”

He moved inside the foyer and shut the door. The noise resounded in the tomblike interior. Pretty soon he heard the patter of feet.

“Papa!” Dino came running into his arms.

Mila followed. “What are you doing back here?”

“Something important has come up. I need to talk to Dino for a little while. I hope you don’t mind.”

She had to think about it. “You can go in the salon.”

“No, I meant I need to talk to him away from here, Mila.”

“I don’t want him leaving the house.”

“Do you have plans for him?”

“We don’t, do we, Mama?” Dino piped up.

“That’s not the point, Dino.”

“Then it won’t matter if I take him for a few more hours. I’ll have him back in time for bed.”

“You’ve had your week with him, Vincenzo.”

She didn’t care that their son could hear this. Much as Vincenzo hated it, she’d left him no choice. “Legally I have the right to be with him until nine tonight. I bring him back early as a consideration to you, Mila. Go ahead and call your attorney. By the time you reach him, I’ll have brought Dino back.”

He glanced at his son. “We’re going out to dinner.”

“Can we get pizza?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“With her?” Mila demanded.

Vincenzo didn’t answer. Dino walked out the door with him. It closed hard behind them.

“Mama’s real mad.”

“I’m sorry about that. She’s missed you a lot.”

They got in the car. “Are we going to eat with Signorina Spiros?”

“We are.”

“Did she want me to come?”

“I’ll say. In fact, she refused to eat with me unless you came.”

A smile broke out on his face.

“Hey—our hotel!” he cried a few minutes later. “Is she waiting in our room?”

“Yes.”

Irena thanked the clerk in the gift shop and took the two presents she’d bought back to the hotel room. Vincenzo had told her it was the one he and Dino always stayed in. They pretended it was their home away from home. The more she was getting to know him, the more she realized what an exceptional father he was.

If Vincenzo was the father of her unborn child, it would have no better parent. But she was getting ahead of herself. First they needed to broach the subject of marriage with Dino. These things took time.

Under the best of circumstances, his son might need months, even a year, to get used to the idea. Unfortunately Irena didn’t have that long with a baby on the way. She still hadn’t given up the idea of going to Canada.

Her ears picked up the rap on the door. Nervous over what was to come, she turned in time to see the two of them enter the room. It suddenly hit her they could be her future husband and stepson. As the thought penetrated, she was overcome by a myriad of emotions ranging from anxiety that it couldn’t work, to excitement that it might.

“Hi, Dino!”

His brown eyes smiled. “Hi, signorina!”

Vincenzo’s gaze traveled from one to the other. “I’ve just told him we’re going to have dinner here. I’ll call the kitchen. He wants pizza. What else would you like?”

“Salad? Coffee?”

He nodded and picked up the house phone to place their order.

“Come over here, Dino.” She’d put one of her gifts on the table. When he joined her, she told him to open it. Out of the bag came a canister of fifty pickup sticks. “Have you ever played this before?”

When he shook his head, she looked at Vincenzo. “What about you?”

A gleam entered his eyes. “Once long ago. We called it Shanghai.”

“Well, the game I know works like this.” She opened the top and put all the sticks in her hand. Then she placed it on the table and let the sticks fall. Picking out the black stick she said, “The trick is to remove each stick one at a time so the others don’t move. The person who can remove the most sticks is the winner.”

She got busy and loosened ten sticks before disturbing some. Dino couldn’t wait to be next. The game entertained all of them until their meal was wheeled in on a tea cart.

While they ate, Vincenzo took over in the translation department. “Dino? We brought you here to discuss something very important. It’s about me and Irena.”

“What is it?” Above his lips he had a milk moustache.

Irena exchanged a private glance with Vincenzo and they both smiled. “Do you know how you always ask me how come I’m not married and I always tell you it’s because I haven’t found the right woman yet?”

He nodded. “But now you’ve found Irena, huh.”

When Vincenzo explained what Dino had said, Irena expelled the breath she’d been holding.

“Yes. We want to get married right away. How do you feel about that?”

Once the question was posed Dino said, “Can I see you get married?” He’d asked it without hesitation. Vincenzo translated.

“We do everything together, don’t we?”

Dino nodded. “Will Grandpa be there?” More translation.

“Not this time. Irena’s family won’t be there, either, because we’re doing this too fast for everyone to get ready.”

“It’s not too fast for me!”

The look in Vincenzo’s eyes as he translated said it all.

“Will Father Rinaldo marry you in the little church down the road?”

“I don’t know. That’s up to Irena.” He explained what his son had asked.

Dino looked at her with entreaty. “It’s a very pretty church,” he said in English.

Irena didn’t feel comfortable about that. Although she had strong feelings for Vincenzo, their marriage was going to be one of convenience first and foremost. Neither of them had expressed feelings of love for each other and they were really only marrying for the baby’s sake. Vincenzo didn’t even know if the baby was his or not!

“I tell you what, Dino. Your father and I will talk it over before we decide. Would that be okay with you?”

He let the subject go and asked another question before getting out of his chair to come and stand by Irena. He stared at her with an earnestness that melted her heart and asked her something in Italian. Again Vincenzo explained.