Accept My Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Single Parent Pregnancy Romance (5 page)

“
Getting
married is a big deal, Mama,” Rafael said as he reached for his
glass. “I can’t just go out there and bring someone into
my life. It’s not a loaf of bread I am buying or anything like
that.”

“
That
is not what we are saying, Rafael....” Paolo started before
Rafael ran his fingers through his hair. By that time, he’d
heard enough and he was not about to give them another opportunity to
say whatever piece of shit they thought they had to. Already, he felt
like he was doing them a favor by being there.

“
Look,
Mama. Papa,” he started. “You made it very clear I was
cut off if I did not give up on my dreams. And you even went ahead
and cut me off which was fine because I was a financially sound
person. And now that I have proven that I can stand on my own two
feet without you, you finally feel the need to barge in again.”

“
We
are not barging in, Rafael,” Susanna said.

“
Your
mother is right. We are simply concerned,” Paolo said as he
looked at Rafael.

There was a long
silence before Rafael finally spoke.

“
And
what is it that brought about this ‘concern’?”

He noticed a brief
look between his parents before his mother spoke.

“
This
party you are holding this weekend,” she started.

“
You
mean the day after tomorrow?” he asked and she nodded.

“
Yes,
that very one. I have noticed that the guest list is all about the
who’s who in the same tabloids I am talking about.”

Rafael shrugged.

“
I
don’t understand what you are driving at, Mama.”

“
This
party Rafael, it is exactly the kind of situation your mother and I
have been talking about. The kind of distractions you don’t
really need,” Paolo pointed out and Rafael sighed loudly. This
was it. That was the last straw.

“
Papa,
Mama...I came for dinner as you asked because I respect you. But I
did not come here for advice on my business or love life,” he
said.

“
But
you don’t even have a love life,” Susanna pointed out.

“
Are
you sure about that?” he asked and Susanna and Paolo exchanged
a knowing look.

“
Is
there something you want to tell us?” she asked and he shook
his head.

“
You
know, your mother and I have been thinking, the Benassi girl would be
a perfect addition to the Imperioli family,” Paolo said and
Rafael laughed, rubbing his temples.

“
And
there it is,” he muttered under his breath. “You always
have a woman in mind for me.”

“
That’s
because the women we see you with are usually...” Susanna
started before her voice trailed off.

Rafael
raised an eyebrow over the other wondering what she was about to say.
He could almost read his mother’s mind. It could have very well
been the same thing he had been hearing for the last five years of
his life. The girls he chose were not good enough. The girls he chose
were a little loose. He knew that the dreaded words were coming. Any
second now.

“
I
know you feel like there is a lot of pressure on you but Alberto and
Penelope are very happy together and even he didn’t think it
was a good idea for his parents to fix him up but hey, we came
through,” Paolo said, smiling.

“
Well,
I am not Alberto,” Rafael said matter of factly.

“
We
know that but you are the elder brother, Rafael.” Susanna
leaned forward. “Are you really going to let your brother take
your place in everything. Even the business?”

Rafael took another
deep breath.

“
Mama,
I already said it more than once. I love what I do and it is more
profitable than I ever thought it would be.” He took one last
sip of his wine. “And it is a critical moment in my company
right now. I
will
not
walk away when
it needs me the most.”

“
We
are not asking you to walk away from the company, we are just asking
you to take a front seat in protecting the family fortune,”
Susanna said.

“
By
setting me up with Isabella Benassi?” Rafael asked. “I
mean, she is nice and everything but she is definitely not my type.”

“
Rafael,
no one ever ends up with their type,” Paolo said and Rafael
smiled when he saw the way his mother looked at him. “But they
eventually grow on you.”

“
I
am not willing to settle for someone I don’t love, Mama. Papa.”
He shrugged. “And why are you talking as if I am the next king
of the Imperioli Dynasty?”

“
Because
the Imperioli Dynasty as you put it is a four hundred billion dollar
estate. We need to know that we can trust you with it,” Paolo
said.

“
Papa,
I turned fifty million dollars into a one hundred and eighty billion
dollar business. And if you still have a problem with the way I
choose to live my life, then that’s on you because I am
beginning to think that this is about a business deal between the
Imperioli and the Benassi businesses than getting me to settle down.”
He looked at his mother and then his father. “Protecting the
family fortune is something that I will do but everything right now,
is exactly as it should be.”

“
Exactly
as it should be? With those wild parties you throw?” his mother
asked shaking her head. She turned her attention to her husband. “I
told you getting him an American education was not a good idea.”

“
Mama,
I am sitting right here,” Rafael said matter of factly. “Plus,
Alberto got the same western education.”

“
He
still knows what is important. Family first, Rafael,” his
mother said and he pushed his chair back and his mother opened her
mouth to speak but she never said anything. Rafael walked to where
she was and kissed her cheek before he looked at Paolo. “Don’t
worry too much. Life is too short.”

“
Are
you leaving?” Susanna asked and Rafael smiled.

“
Like
you said, I have a party to plan,” he said as he made his way
out.

He could
hear his parents talking behind his back as he made his way to the
door but he was not willing to wait and listen to whatever it was
that they had to say. At that point, he didn’t think that they
had anything to say that was worth his time. He loosened his tie as
he walked towards his car.

“
Where
to, Mr. Imperioli?” his driver asked as he held the door open
for him.

“
Home,”
he said, almost snapped. His heart seemed to be racing by the time he
got into the car. He was breathing hard and fast. He actually
surprised himself every time he managed to get through a meal with
his parents.

First it was cutting
him out because they thought if they denied him access to his trust
then he would have no choice but to go back to the family business
but that was the last thing he wanted to do. Nothing meant more to
him than simply pursuing his own dream of building an empire that
didn’t count on his surname. Fortunately for him, he was quite
the financially responsible brother unlike Alberto.

Ever
since he got access to his trust, even though he seemed to be
partying hard to the public, he had been putting away chunks of his
trust in a private account. A nest egg, he thought. But as soon as he
heard of a large chunk of land in the Black Elk reservation being
sold off in Texas, he knew there was more to it than met the eye. And
soon enough, he knew exactly what was underneath the whole idea of
selling the reservation. Oil.

And that
was what he did. Pour almost every cent he had into the Texan oil
fields and it had paid off. But that was not enough for his parents.
And he was beginning to think that there wasn’t anything that
could ever be enough.

“
Dante,
have the caterer meet me at my place in twenty minutes,” he
said to his driver as he leaned back.

“
Of
course, Mr. Imperioli,” Dante said.

*****

It had been four days
in Turin and Amanda was already beginning to feel at home. She had
actually taken the time to walk around the city and take a number of
photos. She had even sampled a couple of restaurants. As it turned
out, the best five star rated spots were actually not as good as the
street food. She could not wait to try out all the authentic Italian
restaurants but at the same time, she could not help but wonder what
‘fried pizza’ was like. And that was not it. As it turned
out, street dumplings were so much more tastier than the dumplings
she was used to having back in the States. She had just walked back
into Emilia’s apartment when she heard the all too familiar
sound of the washer.

“
Hey,”
she called out as she made her way into the kitchen. “You are
not working today? Again?” she asked, looking at Emilia.

“
Well,
it is good to see you too,” Emilia said smiling.

Amanda walked up to
the kitchen counter and placed her camera bag and handbag on the
counter.

“
You
know exactly what I mean,” she said.

“
And
how is that exactly?” Emilia asked.

“
You
have been home from work since my second day here,” Amanda said
as she took a bottle of water in the fridge. “You do know that
I don’t need a babysitter, right?”

Emilia looked up from
the tomatoes she had been dicing.

“
I
know that.”

“
Really?”
Amanda asked and Emilia nodded.

“
Yeah,
really. But my annual leave was two years overdue so I took it.”

“
Conveniently
around the same time I am visiting,” Amanda said opening the
water bottle. “Is there something you should be telling me?”

Amanda
took another sip of her water as she looked at her friend. She could
tell when she was giving bullshit and this was one of those times.
She took another long sip as Emilia put the knife down and took a
long deep breath. And almost immediately, Amanda could tell what she
was going to say. She always knew what Emilia had in mind in times
like these. When she was down and distressed, when she had a lot
going for her. She always knew that something like this, being in a
position that made her question everything she knew that it would
always bring out the empathetic Emilia.

“
I
know what you are thinking love, and trust me, I am okay,”
Amanda said and Emilia shrugged.

“
I
know you want to believe that you are okay but honestly I have seen
enough to know that you are just trying to make yourself feel
better.” Emilia bit her lower lip and shook her head. “I
am not saying that you need to go into deep mourning or anything, all
I am saying is that this is a sensitive time for you. And I am here
for you.”

Amanda smiled.

“
I
know you are. Maybe this would be a good time for you to advise me on
how I am going to get out of that joint ownership of the house.”

“
That
can wait,” Emilia said. “I mean, I can talk to a few
people in the real estate market back in New Jersey. I still have a
few contacts back in the States that I can rely on but you shouldn’t
be thinking about that right now.”

“
Well,
I will have to think about it sooner rather than later. I need to
have a home to go back to and it cannot be the same place I saw my
ex-boyfriend being ridden by a person I used to think was a friend
while her husband is out God knows where risking his life on behalf
of her sorry ass.” Amanda took a long deep breath. “I
honestly don’t...I can’t go back to that house.”

“
Don’t
worry. We can work out a nice apartment for you to go back to after
all this is over,” Emilia said. “Meanwhile, you can still
work out something here that will keep you busy.” She looked at
her camera bag. “I can see you already got off to a great
start.”

“
Great
start does not even begin to explain it,” Amanda said in a soft
voice as she took her camera out of its bag. “I was out trying
to get something to eat and imagine to my surprise when I found out
that street food is not just in Asia.”

She began scrolling
through her gallery before she handed Emilia the camera.

“
Wait.
This is the Veneria Reale,” Emilia said in an obviously
surprised tone. “How did you even get in there?”

“
Apparently
the name Amanda Pearson is a big deal around here. I mean...all I
needed to do was drop my name and just like that everything was done.
They let me in to take my photos and they even gave me some stuff
from the gift shop,” Amanda said smiling.