Casanova In Training (34 page)

He looked more nervous than she’d ever seen. He rubbed his hands along his thighs and leant forward.

“I’m sorry about today.”

She rested her hands over her stomach—almost like that simple touch would protect her unborn child. Assuming the test had provided the correct result. There still remained a chance—a small percentage—that it wasn’t true.

“Sorry for what? That you were put on the spot? Or that it came out at all about you not even wanting me?”

Her voice sounded foreign to her. Rasped and tired. She knew this man should be treated with respect, like she’d always done, but at this particular junction in time forgiveness and kindness weren’t her top priorities.

Pain leached into his expression but he didn’t apologise again. “I did what I did, Jaydee. I’ll win no Father of the Year awards but I’ve always done my best by you.”

His best. Was this the future for her own child? Her career taking so much precedence the child would suffer?

“Really? Is that how you justify your actions? You were doing your best?”

He leant back and crossed his arms. She knew the expression.

“You were different from Vivian in that you didn’t try to keep my smarts contained.” A sneer crossed her face. “But then…you had ulterior motives for the freakishly smart child who’d been dropped in your lap. Didn’t you? Otherwise, there is no difference in you two. Not to me.”

To her immense surprise, he nodded. “I did. I admit it. I had plans for your intelligence. But that is the past. I want things to change between us, Jaydee. I want to be a father to you—learn how to be a father—and a grandfather to your baby.”

He stood and moved before her where he reached out and took her hand. “I know it’s a lot to digest and for me to ask, but please think about it. And, while you’re doing that, I want you to go home. You need to be in your place. Had I known about your pregnancy I never would have had you come out here. I’ll arrange a flight for you. Go home. Rest. And think about what you want to do next.”

He crouched before her, still holding her hand. “I wish I had been better. For what it’s worth, Jaydee, I always have been extremely proud of you and I’ve always loved you. Despite my inability to show you that very thing.”

Her father walked away after squeezing her hand. Never looking back, he vanished from sight. She heard a door slam and assumed he’d just driven away. Less than thirty seconds later, Gio stepped from the duplex and joined her on the back porch.

“What’s next?” he asked after a while.

She closed her eyes. “I’m going home.” This was one time she wouldn’t even try to insist that Dr Thompson let her finish out the work here. He had been right—she did need to go home.

“Damn it, Jaydee!” His outburst brought her eyes open. He leaned against the railing and shook his head. “When exactly are
we
supposed to talk? I have to report to base in forty-eight hours. You’re not making this easy on me and, honestly, I’m losing patience. You’ve already scheduled your doc appointment to after I leave, so I won’t know. Can we not just
talk
about this?”

He was absolutely right. “Come with me.” The words had slipped free before she could call them back.

Gio faced her. “Come with you? Okay. You’ll have to tell me the nearest airport so I can arrange a flight.”

“We’ll make sure you get back. That’s not a problem.” She got to her feet. “I should get some packing done.”

He stared at her. Assessing. “Can I help?” he questioned.

“Please.” She led him to the second room closet. Stuffed in there were boxes and she sighed and waved a hand. “Never mind. They’ll do it. I just need…”

He followed her into her bedroom and joined her once she sat. When he draped an arm around her she didn’t argue, just silently accepted his strength. She had nothing left at that point.

Gio spent the night and she, in turn, spent it in his embrace. Her dreams were tumultuous but, every time she woke, his voice and touch were what calmed her. The plane ride in the wee hours of the morning was quiet as well. When they landed at oh-eight-hundred, a dark SUV with tinted windows waited for them.

“Welcome home, Dr Amos.”

“Thank you, Travis.” She gave him a smile even as Gio slid his arm around her.

Travis stowed their bags as they climbed in the back. She sighed and rested her head against the seat. Home. So close, she could taste it. Gio reached across the leather seat and took her hand. They hadn’t talked on the flight—she’d felt nauseous and slept.

“You live here?” Gio asked when they turned in her drive.

“Yes.”

Travis left them and their bags before driving off. She stared at her three-storey A-frame log cabin. A lake was down to the left behind the house and the large windows in the front offered a majestic view of the Cascade Range.

“Jesus, sweets. This is amazing.” There was awe in his voice.

She smiled, glad he found her sanctuary as appealing as she did. “Thank you.” The cool crisp air flowed over her and helped to energise her.

Side by side, they walked up the steps to the wraparound porch to the front door. She entered a code and a series of clicks echoed before the door swung open.

Hardwood floors were covered here and there by area rugs. She made her way to the staircase, Gio following behind her. On the second floor, she stopped and made her way past the five extra rooms until she reached the master suite at the end of the hall.

Her spacious bedroom was accented with daffodil yellow, whites, and a deep violet. French doors on one side opened out to her balcony and had yellow and white sheers with the darker purple, heavy curtains tied back to allow in the light. Bag down, she walked by the large picture window on the other side towards the doors and opened them before standing out on her balcony to stare out at the crystalline lake below.

She was home. The feeling of peace flowed through her.

A few moments later, strong arms settled around her waist and she leant back against Gio’s rock-hard chest. His fingers splayed over her belly and she settled her hands over his.

“You have a beautiful place, Jaydee.”

“Thank you.” The breeze blew around them and she shivered. It was decidedly cooler here than it had been in Virginia, yet she wasn’t cold. Not with the man behind her who held her like she was his everything.

“We’re having a baby together, sweets. I want to be a part of his or her life. And yours.”

She mulled over her thoughts and said, “If I am pregnant, I’m not having an abortion, nor will I give the child up for adoption.”

“But you don’t want to marry me.”

Trouble was, she did. So bad, she could taste it. But she didn’t believe she had what it took to make their marriage work in the long run, and didn’t want him to ever regret marrying her.

“I don’t think you really want to marry me.”

His body tensed. “I’m getting tired of you telling me what I want, Jaydee. I know my own mind.” He turned her in his arms, so the balcony was at her back, and braced her in with his body. “Answer yes or no.”

She waited and he stared. “Okay, what’s your question?” she asked, a bit disconcerted by the intense way he watched her.

“Do you love me?”

Her heart pounded so loudly she was sure he could hear it. “I…I…I—”

“Yes or no, Jaydee.”

“Yes.” Her response was so soft she could barely hear it.

“And I love you. That’s all that matters,” he whispered before his mouth slanted over hers.

With a sigh of surrender, she sank into him. He lifted her in his arms and carried her back to her bed where he laid her back. Gio drew away and stared at her, his eyes molten.

“I love you, Jaydee. Never forget that. Never.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Gio stood looking out of his barracks window. He could see the hustle and flow of the base and sighed. He’d missed being in a combat squadron, or so he’d thought, right up until it had taken him from Jaydee. And their unborn child.

He’d been here for going on two months now and she’d sent him an email message confirming her pregnancy. He still looked at the email and wished he had been there to accompany her to the doctor.

“You okay, man?” Lizard asked from behind him.

He rested his head on the glass pane. “Not really.” He sighed. “Man, I thought I wanted to be back here. Flying high in the skies, being in combat but…”

Lizard clapped him on the shoulder and leaned against the window as well. “You’re about to be a father for the first time. It’s understandable.”

“I want to be her husband.”

“Really?” He laughed. “I’d not noticed.”

“I don’t know how else to convince her she’s the one I want.”

“Look at her examples of family, Gio. She’s not even known you for a year and she had that type of conditioning since day one. I think it will take a bit more than just you saying the words for her to see what a real family is like.”

Lizard’s words made sense and he gave himself a mental smack. No longer could he ignore what he knew. Yes, he’d seen it, he’d known for a while now that he loved her, but how could he have not registered her need to see how a family should act?

“That’s it. She needs to see what a family is like. A real family.” A wry grin and he winked at Jason. “Thanks, Lizard.” He hurried to his cell phone and flipped it open to place a call. His friend left the room.

“Hello?” a deep voice said.

He frowned and said, “I need to talk to Tiziana.”

“Oh sure, hang on.” Muffled voices then a gentle, feminine one.

“Hello?”

“Who’s he?” he growled.

A deep sigh. “Giovanni. What a surprise. I don’t hear from you in months and, when you do call, you feel the need to ask who answered my phone. How are you, big brother?”

“I’m… I’ve been better. I need your help, sis.”

“I’m intrigued. What do you need?”

“I need you to go to Oregon and check on someone for me.”

“Giovanni, really? What makes you think I can just drop everything and fly out to check on one of your…um…whatevers. And who the hell do you know in Oregon?”

He bit back his growl of frustration. “It’s not just anyone, Zia.”

She laughed. “Wait, let me guess, you love her.” Maybe this had been a mistake. He strove for patience. His silence must have been understood for she said, “Oh my God. You do love her. Or think you do.”

“She’s pregnant with my child, Zia. And yes, I love her. I just need you to go see if she’s okay. I can give you the address. I won’t be going anywhere for a few more months.” No sound came from the other end of the phone. “You there, Zia?”

“Ye…yes I’m here. Did you say she was pregnant with your child?”

“You know damn well that’s what I said. Now, can you help me out?”

“I can go in a while, after I take care of what’s on my plate. Unless you need me there immediately. Who is she?”

He leant back against the wall before sliding down to settle on the floor. With a deep breath, he began to fill his sister in on who this woman was to him.

* * * *

Two days later, he and Lizard ran across the tarmac to where their bomber waited for them. The fuelling truck passed them heading the other way. They’d just completed some training exercises and had finished for the day when the call came in. They had a mission. Shrugging back into the flight suit he’d taken off moments before he’d showered, Gio met Lizard on the way out of the door. The air was cold on his damp hair as they hurried along.

The other members were scurrying along as well to their respective planes. Once settled they took to the sky like a flock of black birds, armed to the nines, and struck out for their bombing target. The sun had set and so they blended in perfectly with the dark sky. Three B-2s and three F-22s for support streaked along, maintaining radio silence.

Tension ran high the nearer they got. He continually glanced to his screens as they flew. The target tonight was an ammo dump and a flight facility headquarters. Yes, he should be fine—this should be a surgical strike and they were high enough up to escape detection but still…he worried. No pilot worth his salt didn’t. It was part of the job. There was always a possibility of being shot down.

They never deviated from their course and he could hear Lizard softly counting down until the time came to release their payload. He took a moment and peered to his right to where Lizard sat. The man offered up his fist and they fist-bumped before getting back to the task at hand.

“Eagle One, we’ve got bogies coming in fast and hot. Seven o’ clock.”

He didn’t even take time to swear. Shit happened. “Roger that, Red One,” he told the pilot of the F-22.

“Steady on to target, we’ll handle them. Red Three will continue to escort.”

“Roger that. Good huntin’, boys.”

“Likewise, Eagle One, likewise.”

He noticed two of the Raptors peeling off to deal with the credible threat. Gio breathed slow and easy as they continued on their approach to the target. Lizard beside him counting it down. He allowed the familiarity of it all to finalise him being in ‘the zone’ for the remainder of their mission.

On the radio, he heard the dogfight between the Raptors and the enemy. MiGs, if memory served him.

“Contact in five minutes,” Lizard said.

“Copy that, five minutes,” he repeated.

He flipped the necessary switches and readied to press the release button. They counted down and dropped simultaneously. On their screen, they could see the flare from the huge explosion, but their joy was cut short by another announcement.

“We’ve got company, boys. It’s like they knew we were coming. Shit…six bogies. Three at eleven o’clock and three at one o’clock.”

Fuck. Those first ones must have been a decoy. “What’s your ETA, Red One?” he asked as they did one-eighties and headed back towards home.

“We’re still engaged, Eagle One. Can you lead them back this way?”

“We’re coming fast and they’re on our six.”

“Eagle One, this is Big Pappi. We’ve launched other birds and they’re on the way.”

He shared a look with Lizard in the interior—it was mostly dark but the panel lights offered them a bit of illumination. Enough that their gazes met and, when he got Lizard’s nod, he replied in kind. He knew what they needed to do.