Italian Billionaire's Black Love (BWWM Interracial Romance) (12 page)

He wanted to call Eve and tell her the news, but it seemed too soon to be jumping for joy. Even though he had his issues with Sabrina, he wouldn’t be the man dancing on her grave. He would just wait to explain to her that they could finally be together. The idea of sharing a life with Eve and watching their child grow brought a smile to his face. He couldn’t wait to get home to her. As soon as he figured out funeral arrangements, he would go straight to her.

He’d been going crazy not talking to her, but she hadn’t called, so he assumed she didn’t want to talk. Even as he thought it, he felt a small niggle in the back of his mind that said he should have called her. She was having a difficult pregnancy, after all. He pulled out his phone to call and saw Valentino was calling. “Hey, Valentino, I can’t talk right now, I was just about to call Eve.”

There was a long pause. “That’s actually why I’m calling you.”

Panic set in immediately at the wary tone he heard on the other side of the phone. “What’s up? Is something wrong? Tell me!”

“Well, you know I’ve been out on a couple dates with Carla, right? Anyway, I was there the other night and I overheard her talking on the phone to some guy, Marcus, and she said ‘take care of it, she’ll be there until the baby is born.’” Valentino let the words sink in since his brother was suspiciously silent. “I guess it could have been another pregnant chick, but…” he trailed off unsure if he should continue.

“But?”

“Don’t be mad, but I just left the hospital, I’m actually sitting in the parking lot right now. She’s in there, and I talked to her.”

Alessandro listened as Valentino told him how Eve had experienced premature labor and had checked herself into the hospital a few days after he left for Seattle. The labor was stopped with medicine, but Dr. Baker put on her bed rest until she gave birth. He sucked in a breath as he listened.
A few days
. “What happened to start the labor?”

“She said she didn’t know. She’d checked in on the salons, stopped for takeout, and woke up with stomach cramps. It all sounded pretty harmless, but apparently she’d still been experiencing problems even after you left.”

There was no way Valentino could have known but those words gutted him. Of course, she was still experiencing problems – she was still supposed to be relaxing around the clock. But with him gone, she had to do things for herself. “Dammit! Thanks for letting me know, Valentino. I’ll try to get on a plan in the next few days.” There was a loud silence on the other end and Alessandro sighed. “What is it Valentino?”

“Well. Okay, Eve was nice to me. You know how charming I can be,” he smiled, “but she asked me not to tell you. She said she’d call you when the baby was born.”

He screamed his frustration into the bleak Seattle sky. “I’d be home in hours if I could little brother, but-”

Valentino cut him off. “But what? Eve is laid up in the hospital with
your
baby and you’re up there again with that succubus. Get your priorities straight.”

“Sabrina died this morning.”

Valentino paused then asked, “So why are you still there?” He explained his reasons and his brother responded, “So hand that off to her parents and get your ass back down here before the only relationship you have is a civil ‘hello’ when you pick up and drop off your kid.” Valentino hung up.

Time to go home.

Chapter Fourteen

“Carla…don’t ever…get pregnant. It…sucks.” Even speaking was a burden as contractions ripped through her body. They were coming long and hard, but, dammit, they were still about eight minutes apart. “If one more cheery nurse tells me to ‘hang in there,’ I’m going to tie my IV around her neck and strangle her to death.

Carla doubled over with laughter. “I’m sorry for your pain, Eve, I really am, but damn you’re funny when a tiny human is ripping your insides to shreds.”

“Hey, Carla, come closer I want to tell you something.” She motioned her over. They both laughed again when Carla shook her head and backed away. Another contraction hit and she spent the next minute screaming and groaning. “Okay. Done.”

Carla came closer and patted her friend’s hair. “You’re doing great, girl. Have you called Alessandro yet?”

She gave her friend the evil eye. “I’m kind of busy at the moment. When I’m not I’ll give him a ring.” She would
not
give him a ring. If he ever remembered he had a child she would never deny him access, but she wouldn’t be calling him anytime soon. He’d left her high and dry for fifteen long days without so much as a text message to check on her – on his baby.

“But Eve,”

“Nope,” she cut her off quickly. “Not a discussion we’re having today. He’ll know when he needs to.”

Carla bit into her bottom lip. “I’ve been seeing Valentino,” she blurted out.

Eve rolled her eyes. Of course, she was seeing Valentino. He was young, hot, and charming as hell. “He was in bed with you when I called?” She nodded. So, Alessandro probably already knew and if he was in town, he’d be here soon. “You’ve been here for more than an hour, Carla Simone Macklin.”

“I thought you’d want him here. He’d come rushing through the door with his hair standing on end, declare his love for you, and tell you you’re beautiful while you push this baby out.” She bowed her head in shame. “I’m sorry, Eve.”

She laughed. “Carla, if your heart wasn’t in the right place, I swear I’d cut it out and eat it right now.”

“Um, gross.” Another contraction ripped through Eve and this one lasted a lot longer than the others. Carla checked her stopwatch app, then announced, “Six minutes.”

One minute to go. Soon she would be holding her baby in her arms and the last nine months of hell would be a distant memory. Eve rubbed her belly. “Hurry up and come out baby. Mama’s eager to meet you.”

“Yeah, your daddy is, too.”

She looked up and sucked in a breath at the sight of Alessandro standing in the doorway looking ten kinds of mad and fifty kinds of sexy. “Alessandro, what are you doing here?”

His long legs at up the few feet that stood between them. “You’re having my baby.”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. It was so good of him to remember she was having his baby. “All of a sudden that means something to you again?”

“I’m just going to head out,” Carla said and inched toward the door.

“Carla, you stay right here unless you want to join those chipper nurses on my list!” She stopped walking and took a chair in the corner.

“You actually thought I wouldn’t be here?”

She could see the anger flaring all over his handsome face, but she couldn’t stop. He’d hurt her and if she let him, he would continue to do so. “How the hell would I know? I haven’t seen or heard from you in two weeks, so you can turn around and come back in another two. I don’t need you here right now.”

“That’s too damn bad, you got me!”

“I don’t want you, okay? Get that through your thick fucking skull! Go back to Seattle or anywhere but here. Just get the hell out of my face!”

Alessandro stumbled as though her words had physically struck him. He couldn’t believe her words. They were angry and filled with hate. Looking at her face, he knew he’d lost her. The most disturbing sound he’d ever heard ripped through the air and he turned to see Eve’s body contorted in pain. “Eve! Are you okay?” He turned to Carla and asked, “What’s happening to her?”

“Contractions. Four minutes. Good news, Eve, we’re good to go. I’ll go get the nurse.”

Eve squeezed Alessandro’s hand to help her ride the powerful contraction through to the end, her breathing technique long forgotten under the pain. “Oh, oh. Oh.” She relaxed back onto the bed and took in the pained expression on his face. “I’m fine, Alessandro.”

“The hell you are! You screamed like you were being split in half and you aren’t even pushing yet.”

He was so adorable in his concern, and she wished things were different between them. “Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon and we’ll have a son or daughter.”
Too bad we won’t be one big happy family.

“I’m so sorry, Eve. I never meant to neglect you or the baby, but Sabrina was sick and-”

She cut off his explanation, unwilling to let his wife ruin this day for her. “I don’t want to hear it, Alessandro, not now. This is my day, go somewhere else and talk about your
wife.
”

Before he could say any more, Dr. Baker entered with a bright smile. "Today’s the happy day! Are you both ready?”

“I’m ready, and he’s leaving,” she said with as much happiness as she could muster. The silence was awkward as Alessandro got up to leave.

He kissed her forehead. “Good luck, Eve. I love you.”

The tears came before she realized what was happening. “I love you, too, Alessandro, and I’m sorry.” He nodded and left the room.

***

Twenty minutes that felt like a lifetime later, Alessandro was walking back into the delivery room to hold his baby girl.
A girl
.

“Oh, Alessandro, she’s so beautiful.”

“
You’re
beautiful,” he said and he meant it. Her hair was slicked back in a ponytail, but her skin still glowed from the rigors of childbirth. She looked tired, but so happy with tears in her eyes. “Can I see her?”

“They took her to clean her up and get her vitals. She’ll be back in a few minutes.” She smiled up at him, her earlier anger gone. “She’s so beautiful, Alessandro. She has your lips, your nose, and your hair. Her eyes are brown like yours, but with gold flecks like mine.”

His heart squeezed tighter and tighter with her words. He leaned into her and pressed his lips to hers. “Thank you.”

“Thank you. She’s wonderful and you gave her to me.”

“God, I love you so much, Eve. Please let me talk, at least until she gets here. Okay?” She nodded and he told her everything about Sabrina’s infection and death, his fight with her parents, and her quickie funeral. “They held everything up out of spite. I should have just acted without them.”

“You’re too good a man for that, Alessandro. It’s why I love you.”

His shoulders fell. “Even though you wish you didn’t.”

“Yes. Do you know how it felt to wait quietly while the ambulance came to pick me up, to not freak out because I had to rely totally on myself? To sit in that hospital room alone day after day while you were tending to your wife?” She wiped away a few tears. “I don’t like feeling like that and it’s not easy to forget. But I do love you, so much.”

“Tell me there’s still a chance for us, Eve, please.”

“There is,” she whispered just as the nurse wheeled the baby in.

“Here’s Julianna, come meet your papa,” she handed him to Alessandro.

“Julianna?”

Eve smiled up at him. “Julianna Mae Scotti.” When a tear slipped down his cheek as he looked in awe at his daughter, Eve knew she would give him another chance. Give
them
another shot at being a family. She hadn’t had much family growing up and this was her chance to make a family with the man she loved.

“She’s incredible, so beautiful.” She was the perfect blend of her mama and papa. “I’m your papa, Julianna, and you are the most beautiful little girl the world has ever seen.” He cradled her in his arms and leaned down for another kiss.

“I’m so in love with you, Alessandro. Say you’ll help for these next few months.”

He saw everything she wasn’t’ saying – the next few months would allow them to rebuild their relationship without the specter of his wife hanging over them. “I’ll help. Forever.”

She smiled and kissed his lips and their daughter’s forehead. “Forever. That sounds like a good start.”

THE END

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