Page 22 of Pregnant in the Italian's Palazzo

‘Aria, I can hear your thoughts speeding along. Everything is going to be fine.’

‘How could you know that? I’ve been taking antacids for my nausea all week. I drank a little wine with dinner. I haven’t been taking any prenatal vitamins.’

He frowned, nodding once. ‘My mother told me she didn’t know that she was pregnant with me till she was four months along. She was just eighteen and quite the wild child. I’m sure she did much worse before she found out.’

The admission was effective in stopping her overloaded mind, making her turn her stunned focus on him. ‘Were you both okay? Was the pregnancy uneventful?’

‘She was an unmarried teenager from an upper-class Sardinian family. Although she married my father pretty quickly, I doubt anything about that time in her life could be considered uneventful.’ He let out a harsh laugh that didn’t quite meet his eyes. Then he reached out again, taking her hand and waiting until she met his eyes fully. ‘She was fine and I was born healthy. And look at me now, a perfect strapping man in his prime.’ He let her go and gestured to himself with false bravado, the expression on his face so stern it made her laugh involuntarily. She let out a sigh of relief, nodding once.

Without words, his expression seemed to convey the multitude of emotions passing through her in that moment and she felt the stranglehold of control she’d been clinging to begin to slip.

Aria exhaled a long slow breath and covered her face with her hands, peeking out at him through her fingers. ‘I can’t even keep a houseplant alive, let alone a baby. Do you know how many ferns I’ve killed through sheer negligence?’

‘Aria, I promise you will not be doing this alone. We will be figuring this out together.’

She looked up at him, feeling a wave of gratitude for the fact that, despite their lack of communication regarding how they would be proceeding, not once had he wavered in his support for her about their unnamed bean. She closed her eyes, thinking she might nap for a bit, but startled when she felt the car jostle off the motorway and onto a narrow mountain road.

‘This isn’t the way to the airport.’

‘We’re not going to the airport. We need some time to discuss how things will be, going forward.’

How things will be.

The phrase made her sit up straight in her seat, her throat convulsing slightly as she strained to get words past her fury. ‘Turn this car around,now.’

He remained stubbornly focused on the road, ignoring her. By the time the car slowed and passed through wrought-iron gates, her muscles were sore from the anxious tension. A large stone wall spanned for miles and she read the wordsPalazzo Bacchettiengraved deep in the stone. Tall cypress trees lined the long avenue in perfect formation, interspersed with tall golden lamps and sculptures. But when they passed through a second set of gates and she was presented with the enormous sprawling palace she stopped breathing for a few seconds.

Nysio Bacchetti lived in a palace. An actual, real-life Renaissance palace.

Her momentary awe didn’t last for long though, and when the car came to a stop in the beautiful courtyard, she immediately threw off her belt and stepped out, slamming the door behind her pointedly.

‘Aria,’ Nysio warned. ‘Calmate, per favore.Stress is not good for you or the baby.’

‘Well, then, stop doing things that you know will stress me out!’ she snapped. ‘I’m not suddenly made of porcelain, simply because I’m pregnant. I will not be ordered around and ferreted away somewhere for safekeeping until I give birth to your heir.’

‘You expected me to just allow you to return to England this morning without even discussing our situation properly?’

‘You are not in a position to decide what I amallowedto do simply because I’m pregnant.’

‘Pregnant withmychild.’ His eyes were twin pools of cold obsidian, dark and unwavering. ‘I’ve tried hard to be patient and rational here, so as not to overwhelm you. But I am a very wealthy and powerful man, Aria. There are measures that people in my position need to take to ensuresafetyfor their families. To ensure that my vulnerabilities are not exploited or used. Like it or not, you and our baby have just become my biggest vulnerabilities and I have to protect you.’

‘So that’s it? I don’t even have a choice?’ She stared at him, feeling her jaw clench.

‘You said you needed time. Well, I’m asking for the same. We both want the same thing...space to figure this all out. I’m just asking that we do it here, together, so that I can keep you safe. Both of you.’

She felt caged in, as if she were a bad mother already if she didn’t take this time to process and decide upon their child’s future. She knew he was right, that there were so many things to decide upon.

Aria stared up at the stone building, the sprawling land surrounding them. Sprawling land that seemed to be surrounded by a very high brick wall as far as the eye could see. She wasn’t even sure if they were in the city any more, to be honest, it was so quiet, peaceful and beautiful. A beautiful prison.

Was this really happening?

‘I told you I have plans in motion back in London and a meeting with the bank to get to. I can maybe push things out by a week, but that’s as much as I’m willing to do.’

‘Most people wouldn’t see an unexpected stay in thispalazzoas such a tedious endeavour.’ He pushed agitated fingers through his dark curls, his expression shifting. ‘All I’m asking for is a little time.’

It felt ridiculous to keep having the same argument over and over again, and so she did something she almost never did. She gave in.

‘One week.’ She looked up at the façade of thepalazzo, feeling a shiver course down her spine.

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