Rome for Always (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Collection) (18 page)

Iyana looked uncomfortable. She probably took note that
Arie hadn’t even bothered to offer her a seat but remained standing herself,
watching and waiting. When she spoke her voice was hesitant. “I know you
probably hate me and you have every reason to. I came here to tell you how
sorry I am for all the trouble I’ve caused.”

Arie’s eyes narrowed. “Did Rome put you up to this?”

“No, not at all.” Iyana shook her head vigorously. “He
doesn’t even know I’m here. Please don’t tell him I came to see you. He hates
me enough already. I just…I just had to see you to explain that he had
absolutely no idea how I felt about him.” She drew in a deep breath then let it
out with a heavy sigh. “I know I gave the impression that there was something
between us but it was a lie. I only did that because I envied what you had. I
was hurting so…I wanted you to hurt, too.”

As Arie watched, Iyana drew her bag in front of her, as
if protecting herself. “Rome is a good man. He doesn’t deserve to lose you
because of me. He did nothing wrong. I just wanted you to know that.”

For the life of her, Arie didn’t know how to respond. What
do you say to the person who successfully screwed up your life, made you think
the man you loved was a cad, and then showed up out of the blue to sing his
praises?

“I’m not here to ask you to forgive me,” the woman said,
filling the awkward silence. “I just wanted to set things straight. Thank you
for seeing me.” She turned to go but then she paused and turned to look back at
Arie. “And like I said before, I think it’s best if you don’t tell Rome I came
to see you. I doubt he would appreciate my dropping in on you like this.”  She
turned away again and took a step toward the door just as it swung open.

“Arie, I’m tired of this. I have to see you.” Rome burst
into the room, looking flustered and impatient. “Why are you avoiding m-?” He
came to an abrupt halt, the words hanging in the air as his gaze fell on Iyana.
His brows lifted in surprise then, just as quickly, they fell, gathering into a
dark scowl. “You again? Haven’t you done enough? What mischief do you want to
make now?”

His gaze flashed to Arie. “Are you okay? Did she try to
hurt you?”

Then, before she could even respond he was back on
Iyana, demanding to know what she was doing there. “Give it up, Iyana,” he
growled. “Coming here to harass Arie is not going to make me love you. In fact,
if you’re trying to make me hate you, you’re doing a damn good job.”

With the fascination of an observer at a street brawl
Arie watched as, with every word Rome uttered, Iyana seemed to wilt right in
front of him, slipping deeper and deeper into despair. She stood frozen,
staring at Rome in obvious shock and pain.

All of a sudden Arie couldn’t take it. Right in the
middle of the tirade she walked over to the crestfallen Iyana and put a hand on
her arm. She looked over at Rome and gave a quick shake of her head, which
meant he’d said enough. “There’s no problem here,” she told him. “Iyana and I
were just having a little talk. Now make yourself comfortable,” she said as she
steered the shell-shocked woman toward the door, “while we ladies finish our
business outside.”

And as they went out she slid a comforting arm around
Iyana’s shoulder, knowing that Rome must think her the craziest woman on earth.

***

A whole week passed before she was able to clear Iyana’s
look of devastation from her mind. The woman had caused her pain but that
didn’t stop Arie from feeling sorry for her. That was why she’d comforted her
in the face of her fiancé’s fury.

Of course, on the day of the incident as soon as she’d
returned to the office he’d demanded to know what the exchange had been about.

“The woman loved you, Rome. We both know that now. Mind
you, she went about things the wrong way, but what you said,” she shook her
head, “you were pretty tough on her. What she did was wrong but she’s human.”

A couple of seconds passed as Rome seemed to contemplate
her words but then he cocked his head to one side and this time he was regarding
her with a hint of bewilderment. “You’re not angry with her?”

Arie lifted her shoulders then let them fall. It wasn’t
so much a shrug as a movement reflecting her own confusion. “I guess I don’t
hate her. For a moment I put myself in her shoes and I thought, why wouldn’t
she fall for you? I can’t be the only one who sees what a great man you are.”
Then she smiled. “Not to mention, deliciously handsome.”

That made Rome smile, too, the granite in his face
softening. “So you’ve forgiven her?”

The question made Arie think and, to her own surprise,
the answer came back positive. “I guess I have. I don’t respect what she tried
to do when she found out about me but I can’t hate her for it.” Then she
shrugged. “Nobody’s perfect, right?” 

With a smile, Rome went to her and pulled her into his
arms. “Except you,” he said as he dipped his head to give her kiss. “You’re one
in a million.”

That had made her feel good but even more important she
was relieved that things were now back to normal between the two of them. Now
they were one week closer to their wedding and, most exciting of all, Maya
would be home at the end of the month.

That evening Rome swung by the house as they’d planned. There
was so much to do. They were preparing for a wedding and a family, both at the
same time. Thankfully, the decoration of the nursery was already done but they
still had to get one or two pieces, such as a changing table and a diaper pail,
then they would be ready to welcome their daughter into her new home.

Her fiance was all smiles as he walked in the door. “How’s
my favorite girl?”

She happily walked into his embrace. “How’s my favorite
guy?”

He kissed the top of her head then gently put her away
from him and held out a brown box. “I’ve got something for you.”

Her eyes lit up. “What is it?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea.”

She laughed. “You’re the one giving it to me. If anyone
should know what’s in that box it should be you.”

“But this box came from Amazon, delivered to my office
this morning, with your name on it. You didn’t order anything from them?”

“Nope, not that I can recall. And even if I did, why
would I give them your office address?”

Rome gave her a weird look. “You’d better stay here,” he
said, heading off in the direction of the kitchen. “I don’t want you near when
I open this box. Can’t be too careful.”

“And what about you?” Arie began but Rome had already
disappeared, leaving her standing there, uncertain and just a little bit
scared.

Seconds later he called out to her. Immediately she
scurried off toward him, heart pounding just a little, but when she saw his
huge grin her apprehension melted away.

“What is it?” she asked, curiosity now getting the
better of her. She went over to peer into the box but Rome saved her the
trouble when he lifted out something soft and puffy and yellow and held it up
high.

“It’s for Maya,” he said. “Her first little blankie.”

“From your parents?” She took the note he held out to
her. She peered at it then read out loud, “I know what you did for me. Thank
you for your forgiveness. Here is a gift for the little one. Wishing you safe
delivery. God bless! Iyana.” Her gaze flew to Rome. “Iyana?”

“Iyana,” he said with a smile. “It looks like she wants
to help us welcome the baby home.” Then he chuckled. “One day she overheard me
say something about the baby so I guess she put two and two together. 
Apparently, she thinks you’re pregnant. ”

But that wasn’t what had caught Arie’s attention. She
looked back at the note. “I know what you did for me?” She lifted her gaze and
gave Rome a pointed look. “When I asked you to use your contacts to get her
another job I didn’t want you to tell her. You said you wouldn’t.”

Immediately, he lifted his hands as if in self-defense. “I
didn’t. I swear. She must have guessed.”

She pondered that for a second and then she nodded. “She
probably did.”

But then Rome broke into her thoughts. “Why did you do
it, Arie? After what she did, why did you ask me to help her?”

She smiled then took the blanket from Rome’s fingers and
began to stroke its softness. “Iyana has a lot to worry about right now. You
told me she’s caring for her sick grandfather. Now is not the time for her to
be without a job.” She gave him a gentle smile. “I’m glad you were able to
help.”

“No, you did it.”

She nodded. “We both did.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

When the day finally came for Maya to be delivered into
Arie’s care she was as nervous as a kitten. What if the baby refused to come to
her? What if she cried and clung to her nurse instead? It was only Rome’s
constant reassurance that kept her from crumbling. She wanted this so badly. She
prayed everything would be perfect.

And, to her relief, it was. As if she remembered Arie
from the earlier visit, as if she knew this was her rightful place, Maya
settled herself in her new mother’s arms and immediately proceeded to pull on
her hair.

Rome laughed out loud. “I guess we know what fascinates
her. As long as she’s got your hair to pull on, she’ll be fine.”

The flight back home was a happy one, with Arie singing
to her daughter during the times when she was awake. She kept tickling the
baby’s legs and playing peek-a-boo.  Sometimes she would entertain her with
‘The Wheels on the Bus’ and ‘This Old Man’. Other times she would just stare at
her and smile.

“She’s grown so much,” she said to Rome as he reclined
the chair and watched them, a satisfied smile on his face.

“She’s all of twelve months old now,” he said. “Our
‘big’ little girl.”

“I know,” Arie breathed, as she stared at the baby in
wonder. “Time flies so fast. Before you know it you’ll be beating the boys from
our door.”

That made Rome wince. “Let’s not even go there. Let me
enjoy her childhood before you remind me about the teenage years. Not looking
forward to it.”

Arie reached over and patted his arm. “Aaw, did I scare
you? You never know. Maya may be an angel all the way through. Who says she has
to turn into a defiant teen?”

Rome gave a snort. “It’s not Maya I’m worried about. It’s
those damn boys who’ll be fishing around.”

Instead of sympathizing with him, Arie gave him a look
of reprimand. “Rome, you said the ‘D’ word. Watch your mouth, sir. We have a
baby now.”

“Right. Sorry.” Looking suitably chastened he went back
to singing ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ while Arie played out the actions and Maya
babbled and laughed.

Arie soon found out, though, that taking care of a
little one wasn’t all songs and laughter. When they got to New Orleans the
first few days were great because Rome had taken time off from work to spend
with them at the house. After he went back to his duties it was a whole
different story. What she hadn’t anticipated was how exhausted she would be,
getting up to feed Maya and rock her back to sleep two, sometimes three times a
night. For some reason the baby refused to sleep through the night. She’d taken
leave from work so the days she spent bonding with the baby were a charm. It
was the nights that proved the killer. She could hardly wait until the wedding
when Rome would join them and then he would share the nighttime duty. Hopefully.

Arie knew this was one of the many adjustments she would
have to make, being a parent. There would be things she would sail through with
ease and then there would be stumbles along the way. There was no guarantee
that parenthood would be stress-free. In fact, it was sort of a given that it
wouldn't be, but she was ready to take on each and every challenge headfirst.

A couple of weeks before the wedding she had a
particularly difficult time, though. Maya had been fussy all day and now that
night had fallen she just would not sleep. Arie was finally able to put the
baby in her crib just after seven o’clock and, tired from dashing after the
child all day, shielding her from all the dangers she seemed determined to
explore, at eight o’clock she climbed wearily into bed.

She was just drifting into sweet sleep when a noise
jerked her awake. “Maya?” she mumbled then the sound shrilled again. It wasn’t Maya.
It was the phone.

Still groggy she reached over and grabbed the receiver. “Hello?”

“Arie, it’s Vittorio. How are you, my dear?”

For a second she thought she was imagining things. Vittorio
being nice? What had wrought such a miracle? “I’m fine, Vittorio. Is everything
okay?” She hoped he wasn’t calling and being nice because he had some bad news
to break to her. “Is everything all right with the family?”

“Perfect,” he said immediately, “except for one thing.”

Frowning, she propped herself up on one elbow. “What’s
that?”

He cleared his throat. “Lily and I were talking and we
decided we’re not coming to New Orleans for your wedding.”

Arie’s heart tightened. She’d known it all along but to
hear it from Vittorio’s lips was still a blow. She would never be accepted by
the family. Now they were boycotting her wedding. But why did he have to sound
so happy at the telling? “Oh,” she said, nonplussed. “I’m sorry to hear that.”