Best Laid Plans (19 page)

“Is this Francesca Abbey?”

The voice was professional, smooth and all too female. Frankie felt her jealousy stir. “Speaking.”

“Hello. My name is Anna Taylor, I’m Rocco Mamione’s wife. Rocco is the solicitor for Mr. Gianluca Caristo, and he asked me to give you a ring. I understand you’re having some problems with your boss?”

When her boss said she was connected, she’d been telling the truth. What the hell was going on, right now? “Hi. Yes... Well. You know that, well... Luca hasn’t always been on the straight and narrow.”

However Frankie pictured her, Anna’s tone gave away that her eyebrows were somewhere near her hairline at this moment. “As far as I understand, he’s just a chef.”

“My boss basically warned me that I couldn’t marry him and be part of the police force. That I needed to pick a side.”

“Does Gianluca have any convictions in this country?”

“I’ve checked. There’s nothing on him here.”

“He hasn’t got a record in Italy either,” Anna said quietly, more to herself than to Frankie. “Does your boss know you’re pregnant?”

“She can’t miss it,” Frankie said morosely, looking down at her distended stomach. Anna gave a growl of disapproval.

“All right, can you scan and email me a copy of your contract and your employee handbook?”

“For?”

“I just want to make sure my information is correct. Oh, and send me your boss’s email too.”

“Why?” Frankie asked, spots of panic dancing before her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll copy you into any email I send. But boundaries must be re-established. Your boss seems to have forgotten hers.”

“Okay. Thank you. Um, how much do I owe you for this?”

“Oh, this is pro bono. No one bullies pregnant women on my watch. Send me that information sharpish, Francesca. We don’t want a repeat of today, do we?”

Frankie nearly saluted. “No. No way! Thanks again.”

“No problem.”

Frankie did as Anna had bid from her smartphone and finished picking at the sandwich Luca had made her along with the rose hip tea she’d ordered to calm her nerves. By the time she got back to the office, there was a shiny, unread email from Anna to her boss. Frankie read, half in horror, half in admiration. The threat was unsaid, but if Frankie’s boss wanted to avoid a shit storm equalling the media force of the Macpherson report, she’d leave Frankie alone to enjoy her work. Frankie trod on eggshells around her boss for a good week after that email, but to her boss’s credit, Luca was never mentioned again and it seemed that Frankie’s job was safe.

“Anna is a freakin’ legend,” Frankie told Luca before they went to dine at the hotel that would be hosting their wedding.

“I would expect her to be.”

“Although it does mean one less wedding invitation. I’m not sure how she’d cope sitting next to Anna or Rocco at a table and both of them pulling her to pieces. Be like a child with a line of ants, sunlight and a magnifying glass.”

Luca took her hand and led her out of the flat. “That can only be a good thing. Tony’s already suspect about your bridesmaids.”

“Hey, without them I wouldn’t be getting married. Kate and Pardeep stay.”

“Wasn’t going to argue with you.” He grinned.

“What is it you need?”

Frankie sighed and rubbed both hands over her huge belly. It was miles apart from her life before with Leon—wherever that cockroach was. Being with Luca was like being at the centre of a storm. The world sped around them, bustling past, but in the centre, in the quiet it was just the two of them and right then, for simply asking her what she needed, Frankie couldn’t have loved Luca more. “Well, in what was my old room I need my chest of drawers. I love that chest—it’s from a vintage fair. And my rocking chair.”

“I thought that was in storage?”

“I have two. And that other rocking chair is a beast. I really want that in the nursery.”

Luca leaned down to kiss her on the lips. “Don’t pout at me, sweetheart, it’s important to you, so I’ll get it.”

“If my mum says anything, tell her to go jump.”

Luca blinked. Oh, that look meant he was going to say a lot more than just
go jump
. She had laid out plans to return to Balham and get the last of her belongings. They had just moved into the new house, and while it had to be the fastest purchase ever and she was sure there were a billion things wrong with it, they’d sacrificed for a quick move and they were already two days into the “kitchen refit.” It meant they had to eat out every night, which was fun at first, but since Frankie had turned into what Kate had labelled as
super slut
it wasn’t convenient to Frankie’s need for an orgasm on the hour. She had unashamedly driven around the beach ball to Luca’s restaurant to be
pampered

“I feel like a rent boy,” Luca said, laughter in his eyes. Frankie pulled down her dress.

“You’re always fully compensated, so shush.”

Given they were two months from doomsday, where if God was good, she’d have a Caesarean and her vagina would remain undamaged, Frankie wanted everything to be ready. The nursery was going to be decked out like the treasure scene from
The Goonies
. Without the rotting pirate skeletons, of course, and she wanted the chest of drawers which would fit the babies’ clothes, changing materials and the theme. The rocking chair would make a twin of the one that was sitting in storage.

“Chest of drawers, rocking chair. Anything else?”

Frankie could only get her hands around her almost husband if he stood to her side. “Yeah, we need to bang before you go.”

“Francesca.”

“What? Look, the way I see it, get it now, because you’ll have to wait about six weeks to get me to open the gates of heaven and then you’ll be crying about opportunities you threw away.”

He laughed. “Persuasive as always. Let me tell Tony to move his ass and help.”

Frankie went on her tiptoes to draw him into a kiss. “Half an hour, I promise.”

Tony had brought a truck with him this time. “What more possible furniture could the two of you use?”

“Just two things my fiancée needs, and I won’t deny her.”

Tony snorted. “Do you ever?”

“Why would I? She’s perfect. Come on, we’re only going to Balham for two pieces and we’re done.”

“What will you do if Her Royal Bitchiness is there?”

Luca cracked his knuckles. “Tell her straight.”

“Is that wise?”

“You actually like your mother-in-law because she’s a decent person. Mine’s a straight-A certifiable nut. How do you throw your thirty-three-year-old daughter out of your house when she needs you?”

“It might also be that you’re going to get married. Without her.”

“She got an invitation, didn’t she?”

Tony winced. “That’s not the point. I can’t even begin to describe what would solve that woman, but her exclusion from every part of her daughter’s life since she met you would be a good place to start.”

Luca sent him a look of absolute incredulity. “What the fuck?”

“Yeah. You started it. Frankie talks to Lyds. Lyds couldn’t keep a cold to herself. Lyds is also now as broody as hell.”

Luca said abruptly, “Look, it’s not me. The problem with Francesca’s mother was there long before I showed up.”

Tony spared him a dirty glance. “Getting Francesca pregnant didn’t help. Did it? Be honest, come on.”

Luca sighed. While a little bit of his cousin was right, the rest was just irritating. “I’ll try and be civilised. The operative word being try.”

Tony failed to suppress the burly laugh that mocked Luca’s efforts as they trailed through London to Balham. Luca hadn’t a clue whether Joanne Abbey had changed the locks, but something in him told him she was still waiting for Francesca to come crawling back with apologies and tales of how Luca had “done her wrong.”

They parked outside the house, with enough room to get the furniture into the back.

“Let’s see how this goes,” Luca said, retrieving the key Francesca had given him and storming to the front door. Before he could even use the key, the door was wrenched open.

It was hard to see how Francesca was at all related to the little woman that stood before him, other than the fact that her skin was a deeper shade of cinnamon than Francesca’s.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“Francesca’s fiancé,” Luca answered. “I need to collect some furniture.”

Joanne folded her arms over her chest. “She didn’t leave anything when she abandoned me.”

Luca barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “A rocking chair and a chest of drawers.”

Joanne shook her head. “Doesn’t ring any bells.”

Luca shoved his hands in his pockets, trying not to display his irritation. “Do you mind if I look? Francesca is very fond of the rocking chair in particular. She’d like to have them in the nursery before our boys arrive.”

Joanne blinked. “Boys?”

“Yes, we’re having twins.”

Joanne lowered her shoulders and stepped to the side. “Come in.”

Luca stepped inside and made his way upstairs, whistling to Tony. Tony tipped his head towards Joanne and jogged to what was Francesca’s bedroom. It still smelled faintly like his sweetheart. “There we go. Chest of drawers. Rocking chair.”

“Take the chair first and I’ll see if there’s anything in the chest,” Luca suggested. Tony heaved the chair under one arm and saluted sarcastically. “Shut up, I’ll get you a beer.”

“Beer? You’d better cook me a four-course meal for this bullshit.”

Luca chuckled and started opening the drawers. He dialled Francesca simultaneously.

“Hi Lucky. Are you there already?”

“Yeah, there wasn’t anything else, was there?”

“No. The drawers should be empty. Clothes I shoved into the back of my car when I left—it was just those pieces of furniture I couldn’t fit into my Mini.”

“Good. Then we’ll be home with them in a while.”

“Did she say anything?”

Luca heard movement behind him and turned to see Joanne standing there, worrying at her top lip. “No, but I have a feeling that’s about to change.”

“Is that Francesca?”

“Tell her to fuck off!” Francesca bellowed in his ear.

“No, sweetheart, that’s not nice. Let me call you back.”

“Grr. Fine.”

He ended the call. “Anything I can help you with, Ms. Abbey?”

“When’s the wedding?”

Luca lowered his lashes for patience. “We sent you an invitation. The wedding’s in two weeks’ time. It’ll be good if you can come.”

Joanne huffed, “I’m sure Francesca doesn’t want me there.”

“She wouldn’t have sent the invitation otherwise. I was fully against it, because you upset her. I don’t want her upset. It’s not good for her, it’s not good for our boys.”

“So I’m not supposed to say anything when she does something stupid?”

“Having two babies is
not
stupid. It is a blessing. You’re her mother, not a prison guard. She needs support. If you can’t do that, if you can’t pretend for a few hours that you are happy for your daughter, do us all a favour and stay away.”

Joanne looked stunned. “You can’t talk to me like that!”

Tony came back into the room. “Making friends? Good-o.”

“She’s my daughter!” Joanne flashed.

“Act like it,” Luca retorted, tucking his phone into his pocket.

“No, really,” Tony said. Luca knew his cousin was serious. He didn’t claim parental rights on just anyone.

“I will know if you’re intent on causing trouble at our wedding because I will personally remove you from the grounds. Just so everyone is on the same page.”

Luca nodded to Tony, and with one at either end they grabbed the chest of drawers. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Abbey,” Tony said with the glee of a schoolboy.

“I know what you’re allergic to, remember that,” Luca warned him. A glance behind him saw Joanne sitting on Francesca’s bed looking morose. Far from feeling mean or pitying her, Luca wondered how he’d held back from telling her exactly what Francesca hadn’t dared to for years.  

The first contraction, Frankie dismissed as Braxton Hicks. Why wouldn’t she—it was five in the morning the day she was getting married to her gentle giant. It didn’t even hurt that badly while she was getting her makeup done and the bridesmaids all came to sit in her hotel room. She fought back tears at all of them in their blue-green dresses—the same colour as Luca’s eyes. At that moment, she realised just how much she loved each and every one of them. There was Lydia, who had thrown her the most raucous and yet sober hen party with the help of Kate and Pardeep, the same mischievous two who kept her working until her maternity leave kicked in. Then there was Gina Da Canaveze, aka Little Miss Intimidating. Frankie wouldn’t have been best pleased about her working with Luca if she hadn’t witnessed firsthand how they tore strips out of each other. Or to be fair, if she hadn’t met Gina’s husband. Not that Frankie ever needed to look anywhere else with her darling Luca, but a woman could appreciate fineness when it was in her vicinity. And Nick was fine with a few “h”s in the middle.