Page 11 of Pregnant in the Italian's Palazzo

‘What part might that be?’

‘The whole awkward morning-after part.’ She finally looked at him, her smile a little too bright and not quite meeting her eyes. ‘So I’m going to make it really easy, I’ve already asked the crew to call me a cab.’

‘Easier for whom?’ he heard himself say.

‘For both of us, I suppose. This way, there are no empty promises or small talk. I get to my presentation on time and you get to go back to your fancy billionaire life after taking this...detour.’

‘You think I see you as a detour?’

‘No. I just mean that it was all very unexpected and neither of us was in the market for anything more than one night. Right?’

He allowed silence to follow her question, his mind stumbling over the threads of his own intentions. He remembered holding her in his arms, in between the copious rounds of sex they’d shared. They had laughed, they had spoken of trivial things, never getting too deep. But still, he’d got the impression that she had been hurt badly in the past. She’d told him that she didn’t date much now as a result, that she was focused on her career. But if he asked to see her again, would she assume that he was offering her more than just a casual affair?

Once upon a time, he had been supremely sure that one day he would settle down and marry, continue the family line. But now...now that he knew his position, his very identity as the Bacchetti heir, was built upon nothing but lies...he knew that he would never put his own child in that position. The darkness of his thoughts must have shown on his face, he realised with chagrin as he looked up to find Aria still studiously avoiding his gaze.

‘Well...’ Aria shuffled awkwardly on one foot. ‘Thank you for everything.’

‘You’re thanking me as though I have provided you with a service of some sort.’

‘A very efficient service, if that helps?’ Her laugh jarred his nerves with how false it sounded. Gone was the confident, honest siren from the night before and in her place was someone he had no idea how to read. Those walls he had had to work so hard to dismantle the night before had clearly sprung right back with extra reinforcements.

‘I’m confused... Have I misread something?’ she asked, just as a second chauffeur-driven car slid up beside his own. His ever-efficient crew had been all too eager to help his guest, it seemed. The driver stepped out and called her by name, taking the suitcase from her hands and stowing it efficiently in the rear before holding open the passenger door.

‘My presentation starts in less than an hour, so I asked the crew to call me a car. I assumed that you would have things to do.’

‘Youassumedthat I make a habit of sleeping with women and disposing of them like trash. I promised to deliver you to your interview.’ He gestured to the car behind him. ‘And that’s what I plan to do.’

‘Oh... That’s very kind of you. But completely unnecessary. I came to your aid back in Manhattan, and you felt obligated to repay me. Last night was amazing, but there’s no need for either of us to make out that it was more than a pleasant distraction for us both.’

Her words should be giving him comfort, but instead he found himself holding back from lifting her back up onto the jet... He scowled, watching as she turned to him and for a moment he feared she might reach out and shake his hand. He had never experienced this before; any entanglements he’d had in the past had been ended by him. Was that why this felt so uncomfortable? Was he so privileged and entitled that he was balking at the idea of her being the one to walk away? Perhaps he needed to ensure that he was the one in control.

He took her hand, meeting her eyes in the golden morning light. ‘What if I asked you to come and join me in Florence for another weekend of...pleasant distraction?’

‘Why would you do that?’

‘Why not?’ He shrugged. ‘It could be fun.’

She seemed to deflate at his answer. ‘I could really like you, Nysio, if I let myself. But I’ve learned that when I like someone, I really like them and, well... It tends to just get me hurt. I don’t think either of us is prepared for this to get any more complicated than it already is.’

With a final kiss on his cheek, she got into the car and was gone. Nysio scowled again, not quite pitiful enough to watch the car’s departure across the tarmac. The jet’s interior was a quiet welcome, Gianluca appearing predictably at his side to ask if he’d made a decision on their flight plans.

‘Get us slotted in for the next departure time to Florence,’ he said, aware that his tone was far surlier than necessary.

‘Back to our usual routine this week, then?’ the older man asked.

Nysio nodded, feeling far less satisfaction with the idea of returning to his old normal than he’d ever thought possible.

CHAPTER FIVE

ARIA’SPRESENTATIONWENTwithout a hitch as she knew it would. Fake it till you make it was her motto and by the time she was walking out of the conference room full of executives she was filled with hope that this was actually going to happen for her. The strange aches and twinges in her body had lasted for a few days, a crude reminder of her wild night of passion every time her mind tried to convince her it had all been a mirage. She spent the rest of the next two weeks working extra hard on her usual projects as her team awaited the results of their evaluation.

Of all of the outcomes she’d expected, it wasn’t to walk into work the following Monday morning to find that their entire clothing department had been made redundant. Moving to an online-only model had been one of the biggest terms thrown around. She’d cleared out her desk in a daze and found herself at home sitting on her couch by lunchtime after a tearful goodbye.

News of the shocking lay-offs had made global news and, one week later, flowers had appeared on her doorstep accompanied by a small box containing a golden necklace that almost exactly matched the one she had misplaced on the jet. It was not the same one, she could tell, because this one was clearly infinitely more expensive.

The note read:

My offer still stands. If you find yourself with time for another adventure, the city of Florence will await you.

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