Rome for Always (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Collection) (7 page)

And that was when he saw the piles of bags and boxes in
the backseat, on the floor, in the passenger’s seat and when she opened the
trunk, in there, too.  He pulled up short. “What happened? Where’d you get all
this stuff?” His jaw gone slack, he turned to look at her. “Did you buy all this
in one day?”

She had the grace to give him a guilty look. “I got
carried away.” And then she brightened. “But look, I got the cutest little
dresses for Maya Bella. I’ll show you.” And before he could budge she’d flung
open the back door and was pulling out bags stuffed with clothes in pink,
white, yellow, and flowery patterns that had his eyes crossing.

She was pulling a polka dot dress from one of the bags
when he stopped her. “Wait. Let’s take this inside. I have a feeling this is
going to take a while.”

And, true to his word, it did. After Arie moved the car,
pulling right up to the front door, Rome spent the next ten minutes going back
and forth between the car and the living room, transporting bags, boxes and
even a cardboard tube. “What’s in this?” He held it up as he dropped an
overflowing Gap Kids bag onto the sofa.

Arie looked up from where she sat on the floor, legs
splayed, as she carefully opened boxes and laid her ‘darling’ outfits on the
coffee table, putting them all on display. “Oh, that’s a picture I’m going to
frame. It’s a hummingbird drinking from a bottle. It will be so cute in the
nursery. Open it.”

"In a sec,” he said, dropping it on top of the
already overcrowded sofa. “There’s still a lot more to bring in, remember? Let
me at least get the stuff in before nightfall.” He was shaking his head as he
turned to go back outside but he was smiling, too. Arie had already turned her
attention back to the baby clothes, not even sparing him another glance. Every
time she opened a new package her eyes lit up and her lips spread in a smile. She
was happy and that was the best home coming gift he could ever want.

After he'd emptied the car Arie took a break just long
enough to whip him up a grilled cheese and tuna sandwich. “That’s it?” he
asked, feigning disappointment. “Is this all I get from my gourmet caterer of a
fiancée? What about the filet mignon? What happened to grilled salmon?”

She laughed. “You’ll get that tomorrow. Right now we
have more important things to do, like sorting all of Maya’s things.”

He gave an exaggerated groan but then he flopped down on
the one free chair in the room, sandwich in hand, and chomped down on the
morsel that was so delicious he had to lick a finger when it was all gone. He’d
been teasing Arie when he grumbled about the grilled cheese and tuna sandwich. She
knew it was his favorite and she made sure the house was never out of the stuff.

His hunger pangs assuaged, he took his plate to the kitchen
and when he got back he stuffed his hands in his pockets and surveyed the
living room. There were baby girl clothes and knick-knacks spread out on every
available surface. He shook his head. “One thing’s for sure,” he said with a
crooked grin. “Maya Bella won’t ever have to worry about what to wear to baby
daycare.”

Arie smiled then reached up to release her hair from the
band she’d used to hold it in a ponytail. She let the blonde curtain cascade
around her shoulders then reached her hands up to massage her nape, a move that
made the fullness of her breasts swell against the soft fabric of her blouse.

As simple and as innocent as it was, that move was a
keen reminder that food wasn’t the only thing he’d been hungering for. Arie had
sidetracked him with all this baby business but now he wanted to focus on her.

He gave her a slow smile. “C’mere,” he said. “For all
the work you’ve given me, you owe me a kiss.”

But Arie did the unexpected. Instead of running into his
arms like he thought she would she shook her head and laughed. “No way, tuna
breath. No kisses for you.”

“What? You’re denying me?” He was doing his best to
sound offended but he was failing miserably. When his chuckles spoiled it he
knew, where acting was concerned, he would never make the grade. Any hopes he
had of giving Orlando Bloom a run for his money were hopelessly dashed.

“Sorry,” she said with a grin, not looking sorry at all.
But then she took pity on him and came over to wrap her arms around his waist
and gaze up into his eyes. “You know I love you, don’t you?”

Slowly, he nodded. “I know you do,” he said softly, “but
not as much as I love you.”

That made her shake her head and smile. “Not possible.”

He responded with a smile of his own but behind that
smile was a maelstrom of turbulent thoughts. There was something he had to do,
something he had to say. He only hoped Arie would go along with it.

“I’ll prove it,” he said, his smile dissolving in the
seriousness of the moment.

She cocked her head to one side. “How?”

“I want to take you to Italy with me. A week from today.
To meet my parents.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “But I thought you
said…later…at the wedding?”

He shook his head. “No. I want you to meet them now. It’s
very important.”

That made her frown. “Why?”

“I…” He’d been about to say, because I need them to know
you the way I know you, I need them to see who you really are. But he didn’t. Arie
would never understand. “I just think it’s time.”

He’d thought that explanation would be enough. After
all, it was expected that he would present his bride-to-be to his family. Surely
she would understand that.

But when he looked into her eyes, instead of acceptance
and instead of understanding, what he saw there was fear.  And for the life of
him he couldn’t understand why.

Which, as much as he tried to fight it, lit a spark of
apprehension inside him. Was it possible that his father had guessed right? Did
Arie have something to hide?

CHAPTER FIVE

“Arie, they’re calling you to the front. Hurry up.”

“Huh?” She whipped around when she heard her name. “What?”

Farah, who’d been working the event with her all
afternoon, put a hand on her boss’s shoulder and turned her toward the banquet
hall. “They want to thank you for your impeccable service. They loved it. Now
go on before they change their minds.”

To the sound of applause and a little shove from Farah,
Arie stumbled into the room then drew in a quick and steadying breath and
pasted a broad smile on her face. She hadn’t been prepared for this one bit. It
wasn’t every day the caterer was called on for special acknowledgement.

Still, one had to rise to the occasion so, straightening
her back and holding her head high, she walked with confidence and poise like
this sort of attention was no big deal whatsoever.

To her surprise, New Orleans Lighting Company presented
her with an elegant plaque on which her company name and logo were engraved,
right above a declaration that Talk Of The Town represented service ‘par
excellence’. She’d catered their conference every year for the past five years,
never once expecting greater thanks than the knowledge that they were satisfied.
Still, it felt good knowing they appreciated her enough to give her special
recognition.

She gave the briefest of acceptance speeches – later she
wouldn’t even be able to remember a word of it – and fled back to the comfort
of her catering team, all twelve of them applauding along with the diners as
she exited the room.

“Whew,” she breathed as she slipped past Farah and Paul
and handed her plaque to her head chef. “Here, Marcel, take care of this for
me, will you? I’ve been so distracted all day I don’t want to lose it.”

“You got it, boss,” the lanky man said with a grin. “Wouldn’t
want you sticking it in the oven, right?”

At his words her entire crew burst out laughing and all
Arie could do was throw them a haughty glare and flounce off down the hallway
toward the kitchen.

Yeah, she’d been distracted all right, and they had every
reason to laugh. Why wouldn’t they, when she’d been making dumb mistakes all
afternoon, the worst of which was when she’d been busy giving directions to one
of the servers and stuck the centerpiece in the oven. It was Farah who rescued
the unfortunate flowers from a fiery fate.

It was a wonder the event had gone so smoothly, what
with the leader of the team feeling like her mind had gone for a walk and left
her body to fend for itself. And it was all Rome Milano’s fault.

Arie was grumbling to herself as she gathered up her
things. She had to get out of there. She needed space to think.  After giving
her staff clean-up instructions she bid them a hasty goodbye and headed for her
car. Maybe a drive on the highway would air her head out. Better yet, maybe she
should just go home.

But, creature of habit that she was, before she realized
it Arie was pulling into the parking lot of her office. She shook her head then
gave a sigh of resignation. She was too distracted to even play hooky. So sad.

That left her with only one thing to do – go on in and
drown her fears in work, work and more work.  Her plan backfired, though,
because when she walked in Lena was waiting for her, a look of concern on her
face. “Let’s go into my office,” she said as soon as Arie walked in. “We need
to talk.”

Arie was tempted to roll her eyes but instead she
followed her business partner, her demeanor as meek as a lamb. She knew it
would be useless to fight. When Lena wanted answers, Lena got answers, and that
was that.

“What’s going on?” The words were out of her mouth
before Arie’s bottom even touched the chair. “You’ve been like Alice in Wonderland
these past couple of days. Something’s going on. Spill it.”

Arie grimaced and shook her head then opened her mouth
to speak. She didn’t get far.

“And don’t give me your usual story that everything’s
okay and it’s nothing. Farah called me. She told me what happened at the
luncheon.”

Arie frowned. She wouldn’t have tagged the girl as a
tattletale. She could only hope she hadn’t told Lena everything. “What did she
tell you?” she asked, dreading the answer.

“Everything,” Lena replied, her tone like the perfect
school marm. “The forgotten napkin rings, the 'little-girl-lost' look and the
baked flowers.”

“They weren’t baked. They were rescued in time.”

“Just barely.” Lena’s brows fell. “And they shouldn’t
need rescuing, either. What’s going on, Arie? Where’s your head?”

It was the hint of frustration in Lena’s voice that made
Arie decide to give in. She would break her vow of silence because, in all
fairness to her partner, she had to explain her bad behavior. And besides, she
needed to get things off her chest. She needed to talk.

She drew in her breath then let it out on a sigh. “I’m
in trouble, Lena.” She said the words like they were a death sentence. “Big
time.”

That made Lena’s brows lift in surprise then the concern
returned to her eyes. “What is it? Let me know so I can help.”

Arie shook her head. “Sorry. You can’t help me with this
one. When you’ve got a test to take you can’t take your friends along. You’ve
got to deal with it by yourself. You know how it is.”

“No, I don’t know how it is. Now stop confusing the heck
out of me and tell me what you mean.”

Arie shook her head again and gave her friend a wry
smile. “Want to go to Italy with me?”

“Say what?”

“I said, do you want to go to Italy with me? Rome wants
me to go to Italy to meet his family and I’m scared out of my wits.” Arie was
not ashamed to admit she was the biggest coward this side of New Orleans. “I
don’t wanna go,” she wailed and gave Lena a pout that would compete with any
two-year old's.

“I don’t get it. Why wouldn’t you want to go? It’s not
like you’re some bum Rome would need to keep hidden till after the wedding.”
Lena gave a snort. “You’re a saint. What have you got to be scared of?”

Arie shrugged then turned her palms up like she was
already accepting defeat. “What if they don’t like me? What if I’m not good
enough for their son?” Then, as the most worrying thought filled her mind, she
folded her arms across her chest. “What if they have a problem with my baby?”

That made Lena fold her arms, too, but instead of the
words of sympathy Arie was expecting, the next words she heard were a reprimand.
“And what if they do?” her friend asked. “You’re not going to abandon your
child or your fiancée because of that, are you?”

“No, of course not,” Arie snapped. “What kind of dumb
question is that?”

“I’m glad you think it’s dumb.” Lena’s eyes flashed as
she leaned forward. “Whether they like it or not, you’ve got a child. Going to
Italy and dealing with them now is the best thing you could do. Get it out in
the open. You want absolutely no surprises at your wedding.”

Arie thought about that for a moment. Lena was right, of
course. Practical as ever, she believed in a full frontal attack on all
problems. “Okay, L, as much as I hate the idea I’ll go.”

Lena gave a satisfied nod. “You do that,” she said. “Just
be brave. Whatever will be will be.”