Rome for Always (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Collection) (3 page)

Rome shook his head. He looked like he’d been struck
dumb anyway. That suited Arie just fine. She had a lot to say.

She drew in her breath and then she began. “You already
know that I never had a family, that I grew up in foster care.”

He nodded but still said nothing. He just sat there
watching her, his eyes wary.

“I’ve always wanted a family,” she said but then she
looked away. The way that came out, it sounded pathetic. Why did her voice have
to crack when she said the words? The last thing she wanted was for him to feel
sorry for her.  She cleared her throat and tried again. “I wanted a family and
one day I decided to do whatever it took to have one. I decided to adopt.”

She looked at him then, trying to gauge his reaction but
he was looking back at her with enigmatic eyes, dark pools that she could not
read.  She bit her lip and then she continued. “I contacted a private adoption
agency. It took a while but then they introduced me to the sweetest little girl
you ever saw. The moment I saw her I fell in love.” She blinked, trying to ease
the sudden pricking in her left eye. “I told them I wanted to be her mommy and
they said I could. And then…they went back on their word. They said…they’d
found the perfect family and I couldn’t have her anymore.”

She stopped abruptly. Her voice was beginning to tremble
and she knew if she went on she’d soon be a sobbing mess. She wasn’t usually so
weepy but when it came to the tiny baby she thought she would never see again,
she was like a jiggly bowl of jelly, an unstable, emotional wreck.

Rome frowned. “You didn’t sign a contract?” He’d spoken,
breaking his vow of silence, but Arie didn’t mind. He was asking a question,
actually holding a conversation with her, and for that she was grateful.

“No,” she said, her voice full of regret, “we didn’t get
that far. I guess that’s why they felt they were within their rights to accept
someone else.”

She shook her head as the painful memory came back. “It
was a really rough time for me. It was a while before I could resign myself to
the fact that I’d lost her. It hurt so much that I didn’t apply to the agency
again. I was too scared for it to happen all over again.” She sighed but then
tilted her head and gave Rome a tiny smile. “And then I met you.” The smile
widened just a little bit. “I fell in love again, but this time it wasn't with
a baby.  It was with the most wonderful man on earth.” She almost laughed when
Rome actually looked embarrassed. “It’s true. For me, at least. The sun shone
so bright when you came into my life.”

That made Rome chuckle. “I should hope it was shining
bright long before that.”

“You made it shine even brighter and now…” she paused,
not knowing how to express what she wanted to say next, “and now the sun could
shine even brighter for me…or it could fade.”

Rome sat back in the chair but his eyes never left her. “Meaning?”

Arie swallowed. “Rome, the agency called and told me
things didn’t work out with the family they’d chosen.  The couple decided they
didn't want her after they found out her birth mother had been a smoker and the
baby may have health problems or special needs.  That's why the agency
contacted me again." She clasped her hands in front of her. "They
said the baby was mine if I still wanted her. I was so happy. I didn’t hesitate.
I told them I want her. I’m sorry, Rome, but I still love her. Very much.”

Rome said nothing, his eyes on her so intense and dark
and unreadable.

“I’m so sorry. I should have consulted you before I gave
them my response. I know that. It’s just that, at the time I was so excited, so
relieved. I wanted to provide a loving home to this special little girl and finally
my dream was coming true. I couldn’t turn her away.” She looked away and then
she sniffed. “I didn’t want her to go through what I went through...or worse. I’m
sorry.”

“Don’t be. You made a decision so the only thing left is
for you to stick with it.” Rome’s tone was serious and when Arie glanced at him
she could see that his face was serious, too.

She heaved a sigh. “I know. It’s just…” she dropped her
eyes and bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling, “…I wanted to have my
cake and eat it, too.” Then, no matter that she was trying her hardest, her
face crumpled like a leaf and the tears began to flow. “I wanted so much to be
your wife, Rome. Why do I have to choose?”

Arie was sobbing now and, not knowing what to do with
herself, she stumbled to the sofa and sank down onto it then covered her face
with her hands. “I love you so much, Rome. I don’t want to lose you.

“Arie, my darling, what are you talking about? Why would
you have to lose me?”

Rome’s voice cut through the thick, gray fog of her
tears. When she felt his arm curve around her shoulder she turned her face and
pressed it into his chest, her body shaking with her sobs. “I can’t…” she
gasped. “I can’t have you, not when I’ve changed everything. Now I have the
baby.” She hiccupped on the last word. She was trying so hard to be calm,
trying to tell him everything so he could know what she was going through, but
she was failing miserably.

“Hush.”

Her face pressed against the softness of his shirt, the
warmth of his body soothing her frazzled nerves, Arie felt Rome’s hands on her
hair. Gently, he stroked until her shaking stilled and she settled into his
arms.

“Look at me, Arie.” His voice was gentle but firm. His
caress stilled then he put a finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. “I
love you, Arie, and if this baby is important to you then she’s important to
me, too.”

Arie sucked in her breath as she stared up at him. “What
are you saying?” Dared she hope?

“I’m saying, don’t think you can back out of this
wedding, little Miss Angelis. I’m not letting you go so don’t think you can use
this as an excuse.” He was smiling down at her as he gazed into her eyes.

“You mean…I can keep her? And you, too?” She held her
breath, waiting for his reply. What he’d said sounded like he was leaning
toward a ‘yes’ but it was too good to be true.

Rome laughed. “If it will make you happy, I’m all for a
readymade family.”

And then he pulled her back into his arms and squeezed
her tight. “Arie Angelis, I love you.”

And those last three words, so simple yet so powerful,
were all Arie needed to hear. From here on she would have two wonderful people
to love and, as far as she was concerned, she could not have been more blessed.

***

“Good morning.”

At the sound of his greeting Iyana looked away from the
computer screen and glanced up at Rome. Her brows raised, she gave him a look
of suspicion. “You’re in a good mood today,” she said, cocking her head to one
side, her dark eyes roaming his face. “A real good mood. Why?”

Rome shook his head then shrugged. “What? A man can’t
smile in the morning?”

She gave a snort. “A man can smile, just not this man. This
early in the morning you’re always as sore as a bear.”

“Who, me? Where did you get that impression?” Rome gave
her an innocent smile.

“Let’s not go there,” she said coolly. “Just tell me
what’s changed, to put you into such a mellow mood.”

Rome just shrugged.

“So you’re Mr. Pleasant today,” Iyana said, folding her
arms across her chest. “I don’t like it.”

That made Rome laugh. “All right, Miss Grumpy. I’ll try
to keep it down.” Still laughing, he walked away from Iyana’s door, leaving her
to stew in the mystery of his change of mood.

It was a fact. He was in an unusually cheerful mood
today and he knew why. To his relief, Arie was not backing out of the wedding. Within
months she would be his wife and at the ceremony they would have the most
beautiful flower girl of all, even though someone would have to carry the tiny
tyke down the aisle.

When he got to his office Rome deposited his computer
bag on top of the desk and picked up the yellow pad on which Iyana had
scribbled some messages. There was a message from the Asia division, a reminder
about their annual sales meeting. There was one from the PR agency that had
handled the Australia launch and one from his father. The last one took
priority over all others.

Dropping into his chair, he reached for the phone and
dialed. It took a few rings but his father eventually answered, his big voice
booming into the phone. “
Mio
figlio
, why don’t you answer your
cell phone? I called three times this morning.” 

“Sorry, Papa. I put it on silent and forgot. I’ll fix
that right now before I miss any more calls.” As he spoke, he reached into his
breast pocket and pulled out the phone.

“Too late,” his father said. “Maria dropped by for a
visit and she wanted to say hi to you. Of course, we couldn’t find you.” The
last sentence was said with a hint of reprimand.

“Maria?” Rome was racking his brain, trying to figure
out who the visitor was. His father was speaking as if he should know. “Somebody
from Cerveteri?”

“Shame on you, Rome. Don’t you remember your cousin, Maria?
She’s the one who used to tease you when you couldn’t read as well as she could.
Remember?”

“Oh, that Maria. Yeah, I remember her.” Not that he
wanted to. He’d been six and she’d been eight and she’d been a royal pain in
the posterior, a snooty little know-it-all who went out of her way to show how
smart she was. She made it a point to traumatize him with her intelligence. No
wonder he’d blocked her from his memory. “I haven’t spoken to her in years. What
did she want?”

“I told you, she wanted to say hi.”

“Why?”

“Now, Rome, let’s be gentlemanly. Maria is your cousin. She’s
family.” Again, there was that reprimand in his voice, but then he chuckled. “All
right, I admit it. There was another reason she came by.”

“She won the Nobel Prize for literature?” Rome asked
drily.

“Not quite, but something like that. She wanted to be
the one to give us the news. She won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction and is
moving to the States to focus on her writing career. Says if you’re serious
about your writing, New York is the place to be.”

Rome gave a grunt. He knew it. She’d only dropped by to
gloat. But then he shrugged. If that was what made her happy…

Then a thought came to him. “Hey, isn’t the Pulitzer
Prize restricted to Americans?”

“Maria is American.”

“No, she’s not. She grew up in Viterbo.  In fact, Tio
Giovanni still lives there.”

“Yes, but she was born in Hartford, where her parents
were living while her mother studied at Yale. I thought you knew that.”

“I had no idea,” Rome said. “Born on the Yale campus,
was she? Now I know why she’s such a brain. It must be something in the air.”

Vittorio laughed. “Or in the genes. Her mother’s a
neuroscientist, after all.”

“Yeah,” Rome conceded with a sigh. “That, too.”

By this time Rome had had enough of talking about Maria.
Time to change the subject to more important things, things that included the
soon-to-come arrival of a brand new baby.

“Papa, I have a surprise for you,” he said. “Are you
sitting down?”

There was a pause then Vittorio gave a grunt. "I
don’t like the sound of this. When somebody asks if you’re sitting down it’s
not usually to deliver good news.”

“Rest assured, Pa, this time it’s good.” Rome had
absolutely no doubt about that. In fact, he was dying to share his good fortune.
“Pa,” he said, unable to keep the smile from his voice, “in less than a month
I’m going to be a father. I'll have a daughter and her name is Maya.”

“
Scusi
? What are you saying? Your fiancée, she is
pregnant?”

Rome laughed. “No. That’s what I thought when she told
me but it’s nothing like that. Before we met she applied to adopt a baby and
she just got word that she’s been approved. Isn’t that great?”

Vittorio’s reaction was nothing like what Rome was
expecting. He’d thought his father would be shocked and then curious, plying
him with all kinds of questions, but silence? That, he wasn’t prepared for.

After a long while Rome frowned. “Are you still there?”

“I’m here,” came the answer but where he’d sounded
relaxed and jovial before, Vittorio’s voice was now so tight he almost sounded
angry. “You are not serious, I assume. You’re pulling my leg.”

“No, I’m not,” Rome said, his frown deepening. “I’m dead
serious. Why? Is there a problem?”

“I’m surprised you would even ask that. Of course
there’s a problem.” Now Vittorio wasn’t sounding ‘almost angry’. Rome knew that
tone very well. When his voice started vibrating that meant he was pretty angry.
“I had my reservations when you surprised us with this whirlwind engagement but
now I'm one hundred percent sure it's a mistake.  When a woman starts a
relationship by keeping secrets from you that’s a bad sign. A terrible sign. A
woman like that cannot be trusted.”

“What are you talking about? I would trust Arie with my
life.” If it had been anybody else who’d made that remark he would have blasted
him with all the force of his fury. He would not let anybody badmouth Arie and
the only thing saving Vittorio right then was the fact that he held the
position of 'father'.