Doris O'Connor (27 page)

A knock at the door made her grab the sheet.
She pulled it right under her chin, just in time for room service
to appear.

“
Good afternoon, madam. Here is
your late breakfast as ordered. Enjoy.”

“
But I didn’t order
anything?”

The young woman just smiled and moved the
serving trolley right up to the bed, next to Kitty. The aroma of
freshly brewed coffee made Kitty feel slightly queasy. She reached
for the orange juice instead and sipped it slowly, mindful of her
churning stomach. Damn, this weekend was not the time for her to go
down with a tummy bug!

“
Will there be anything else,
madam?”

“
No, thank you.”

Kitty clenched her teeth as a wave of nausea
hit her out of nowhere, and she closed her eyes to shut out the
spinning room.

“
Are you ok, madam?”

“
She’ll be fine. I’ll take it from
here.”

Alex’s deep voice was right next to her, and
she gratefully leaned into his warmth as his strong arm came round
her shoulder. She felt him take away from her the glass she had
been still clutching in a death grip.

“
Don’t think that’s doing you any
good. Here, let me take that. Do you need a bowl?”

Kitty shook her head.

“
No, I’ll be fine, just felt really
dizzy then, but it’s passing. I’m sorry, Alex. I haven’t been
feeling great the last few days. Guess I’m coming down with that
tummy bug that has been making the rounds. Lousy timing, I
know.”

“
A tummy bug you say? Well, that’s
too bad.”

The edge in his voice sent a shiver of unease
down her spine, and she gingerly opened her eyes to look at him.
Thank goodness, the room was standing still again.

Alex studied her thoughtfully. His hair was
wet, his shirt plastered to his skin, as though he’d been caught
out in the rain that was still pelting against the windows of the
suite. Where had he been?

Kitty’s heart missed a beat when he ran one
hand through his hair, his stretching muscles clearly visible
through the clinging fabric of his shirt. Tummy bug be damned, if
he kept that up she would just have to jump him again. He hadn’t
shaved, and the stubble on that chiseled chin made him look mean
and sexy as hell.

Alex sighed.

“
Something else on your mind,
Kitty?”

Kitty threw him a coy glance. Okay, something
was definitely off here. Instead of the wicked smile she was
expecting, he leaned back in his chair, his face
unreadable.

“
Is something wrong,
Alex?”

“
I opened that package Mamma left
for us when you were sleeping. Can you guess what was in
it?”

Oh no, did he have to? The thought of what
might have been in there filled her with silent dread.

Kitty shook her head. “I’m sure I don’t want
to know, Alex!”

“
Well, there was this!” Alex held
up an impossibly skimpy school-girl’s outfit, and Kitty breathed a
sigh of relief. That could have been so much worse.

“
Is that it? If you’d seen what she
was looking at in the shop—” Kitty blushed just
remembering.

“
That wasn’t all. There was also
this.”

Kitty gasped when Alex put the little velvet
box in front of her.

“
Go ahead, baby. Open
it.”

****

Alex watched Kitty closely for her reaction.
The Victorian diamond engagement ring had been in his family for
generations. It was passed down every time the oldest son married.
He had asked his mother for it last week, and he smiled ruefully at
her ingenious timing. Clearly Mamma knew things he didn’t. And from
the looks of it, maybe Kitty didn’t, either. Only one way to find
out.

Her green eyes shimmered with tears, the hand
holding the box shaking slightly as she looked at him.

“
Urm Alex, is this… what I think it
is?”

“
That depends.”

He hated doing this to her, but he had to
know. She looked so confused.

“
Depends on what, Alex? I don’t
understand.”

“
Whether you’ve been keeping
something from me.” He produced the pregnancy test and put it in
front of her. “Why would Mamma put this in there, too?”

Kitty went so pale he thought she was going to
faint again, and he cursed himself for all kinds of fool. She burst
into tears, looking terrified, clambered off the bed, and ran to
the bathroom.

****

Kitty was on her knees. The dreadful retching
had finally stopped. Alex let go of the hair he’d been holding away
from her face, and his strong arms lifted her on his lap. Kitty
closed her eyes and snuggled into his warmth, whilst he murmured
soothingly into her ear in Italian.

She couldn’t be pregnant, not again. Not like
this.

Alex’s deep voice made her look up. “I’m
sorry, my love. I thought you were holding out on me. You weren’t,
were you?”

Kitty shook her head into his shoulder. Fresh
tears threatened. “I can’t be pregnant, Alex. I just can’t! How can
I be?”

Alex chuckled softly.

“
Would you like me to draw you a
diagram?”

“
This is no laughing matter, Alex.
What if…” Kitty couldn’t bring herself to finish that
sentence.

Alex framed her face in his large hands and
made her look at him. “What if?”

“
Alex, I haven’t been taking any of
the vitamins you’re supposed to, just like last time. And well,
what if?” Kitty hated herself for even thinking it. “What if there
is something wrong with this baby?” She couldn’t look at him as she
faced her deepest, darkest fears. She couldn’t do all of that
again.

“
Kitty, look at me.”

She shook her head, but Alex cupped her chin
and gently but firmly lifted her head until she had no choice but
to look at him. The expression in his incredible eyes was so
sincere that some of her dread left her.

“
If that happens, we’ll deal with
it together. You, me, Noah, Mamma, hell, the entire Giovanni clan
will be there with us, if we want them to or not. I love you, Kitty
Jenkins, and whatever happens, as long as I’ve got you, I can face
anything. Will you face it all with me?”

“
Are you asking what I think you’re
asking me?”

“
I’d go down one knee, but I can’t
manage that yet. This is all coming out wrong. I was going to do
this over a romantic dinner, and instead, well.” Alex shook his
head as though disgusted with himself. “You deserve so much better
than me like this, and you’ve got to know this may be as good as it
gets. Call me a selfish bastard, but I need you so much, Kitty. You
have no idea how much.” His voice broke, unshed tears in his
eyes.

Kitty just looked at him in wonder. She hadn’t
imagined him saying he loved her after all.

His whole body tensed around her, and she took
his precious face in her hands, putting all the love she felt in
the kiss she gave him.

Alex was breathing heavily when he smiled at
her.

“
Does that mean your answer is
yes?”

Kitty threw him a haughty look.

“
I can’t recall having been asked,
Alex.”

He sobered, took her hand and pulling that
incredible ring out of his pocket made Kitty’s heart sing by
asking, “Kitty Jenkins, I want to spend the rest of my life with
you. Will you please do me the great honor of becoming my
wife?”

Epilogue

“
Happy Birthday to you, Happy
Birthday to you, Happy Birthday, dear Gianni, Happy Birthday to
you!”

One year old Gianni clapped his hands
excitedly as his mother helped him blow out the candles on his huge
birthday cake. The assembled Giovanni clan erupted into loud
cheers, causing the little fellow to bury his head into Francesca’s
shoulder.

Alex looked around his family with a huge
smile on his face. He felt utterly and completely at peace. Stella
smiled at him from across the room, and he closed his eyes, sending
a silent prayer up to his Pappa. If only he could have met them, he
would have loved Kitty and his grandchildren.

Having Kitty accept him as her husband had
been the happiest day of his life, and they had spent the rest of
that remarkable weekend making up for lost time. His mother had
been delighted on their return, seeing the engagement ring on
Kitty’s finger and wasted no time planning the most elaborate
wedding ever. But she had reckoned without his Kitty and her fiery
temper, even more in residence thanks to her pregnancy.

He chuckled, remembering some of the
spectacular arguments the two of them had had over the wedding,
making Noah and him hide away until the storm passed.

They had reached a compromise in the end. He
had married his beautiful siren in the Church where his mum and dad
had been married before them, but instead of the huge affair his
mother had planned it was the quiet do Kitty had wanted. Just a
handful of their close family and friends had been in
attendance.

Kitty had looked stunning in an off the
shoulder ivory dress that cleverly disguised her growing bump.
Kitty had asked Stella to walk her up the aisle, and Alex had never
felt prouder, seeing the two of them walking towards him. Noah had
trailed behind them, taking his role as ring-bearer extremely
seriously, his tongue poking out in his concentration. Richard had
stood up as his best man, but it was the moment he had stood up out
of his wheelchair that was forever etched in his mind.

Kitty’s face had been priceless when he had
limped the short distance towards her, taking her hand in his,
before turning around to face Father Flannigan.

“
You’ve been holding out on me
again, Alex.”

He couldn’t remember much of the service at
all, but the long, slow, painful walk down the aisle he would never
forget. He had been leaning very heavily on Kitty by the end of
that long walk, but it had been so worth it to be able to kiss the
happy tears off her face.

Life had not been rosy after that. Kitty had
had a tough pregnancy, made worse by the fact that she refused to
have an amniocentesis. So the worry about possible health issues
had never been far away.

The unmistakable sound of his son exerting his
lungs brought Alex back to the present with a smile, and he went in
search of his wife.

He found Kitty sitting in his mother’s old
rocking chair. Alessandro, named after his grandfather, was
nursing, his little brow furrowed in his eager concentration,
whilst his twin sister was fast asleep on Kitty’s
shoulder.

Alex never grew tired of that sight, and he
bent down to kiss Kitty tenderly with all the love he felt for them
all. He took Rosetta off her mother and, murmuring endearments in
the newborn’s ear, shifted her onto his own shoulder.

Gianni came dashing past just then as fast as
his little legs could carry him, a harried-looking Francesca
running after him. Kitty and Alex both burst into laughter when his
sister erupted into a long string of furious Italian, as Gianni’s
birthday cake went flying everywhere.

Some things never changed in the Giovanni
clan.

The End

www.dorisoconnor.com

Other Books by Doris
O'Connor:

Lure of the Blood

Evernight Publishing

http://www.evernightpublishing.com