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“I love you.” She whispered, as surprised at her words as I was. “I never said it out loud before.”
“You love me?”
“Ever since I can remember.”
“You said it was a crush, Pina. Puppy love. Childish.”
A sad smiled showed up in the corner of her mouth. “I lied.”
“There’s not much to love.”
“You’re joking.” She blinked. “You’re Garon Caputo. Women throw themselves at you.”
“I’m not… I’m the youngest brother, I’m not like them. Women throw themselves at me because they know that while my brothers are serious men, I don’t turn their filthy advances down. I’m fucked up and broken and if you love me, Pina, if youreallylove me, then you’re wasting it.”
“Oh, Garon.”
“Tell me again.”
The only women who ever said those words to me were my mother and my sister and I never thought I’d live long enough to hear them from someone else. But here we were, with this beautiful doe-eyed girl I’ve known all my life who is pregnant with my child, telling me she loves me.
A serene sensation fell over me and my mind stood still. It was blissful, finally walking out of the chaos in my head, away from the voices who told me everything wrong about me.
“I love you, Garon Caputo, even if you never will.”
I flinched and looked at her to find the remorse, but instead I saw something that looked a lot like surrender.
“Pina, I can’t. I don’t feel things.” Just anguish, pity and anger, and she should feel grateful none was directed at her.
“I gave up on the fantasy of you loving me a long time ago, Garon.” Still, she didn’t give up on me. She was here, she let me in, she gave me her virginity, and her love, and peace, and a child.
Pina Bernoulli changed my life forever and once the realization settled in, I pulled her to me and crushed my mouth over hers. I tasted her soft lips while my hands held her tight. Pina let her head back, opening herself to me. Mine. My peace. The mother of my child.
I pulled back and took her face in my hands admiring her soft, feminine features. She was beyond beautiful and too damn sexy for me to be able to handle it and if she weren’t in a hospital bed, I’d have her on her back with her legs hanging around my neck.
Slowly, I moved my hands down her body down to her abdomen, but I couldn’t feel anything. It was too early and her stomach was flat, but we both knew that our child was growing there. I felt lion pride roaring in my chest, for if I didn’t do anything else worthy in this life, I made this kid who would be my legacy.
“What now, Garon?”
“Now?” I touched her cheek slowly and then kissed the same spot. “Now we’re going home,Piccolina.”
Chapter 9
Three days after I left the hospital with a pregnancy test and a clean bill of health, my entire life in Rome was packed up and loaded into a plane. I only had a suitcase and my dog, but Garon didn’t let me touch anything and ordered Arno to take care of my luggage for me.
That first night after we found out about the pregnancy, he took me to his hotel and sent his men to babysit my dog. Not much happened between us since that scorching kiss we shared before he told me I was going back to Palermo. We just drifted through the past few days, tip toeing around one another. He touched me every time he had the chance, he held me to sleep, but neither of us tried to seduce the other.
I didn’t feel any different. It was too early to tell I was with child, maybe it was too early to feel it too, or maybe I was just terrified of the fact that I was going to have a child with a man I completely loved but he could never love me back. Every night I looked in the mirror, trying to imagine how I would look with a bump, but my imagination didn’t stretch that far.
Now, sitting comfortably in Giovani Caputo’s plane, I was mostly overwhelmed because we were about to land in Palermo—back home—and I had no idea what was waiting for me there. My name was disgraced and now I was coming back carrying the next Caputo child. I was pretty sure no one was going to be happy about that.
“Piccolina.” Garon’s gruff voice broke my trail of thought while he moved Panini from the seat next to mine to take his place.
“He was sleeping there.” I said and Panini growled at Garon.
“He can sleep on the floor. Beat it, Dog.”
“Stop calling him dog.”
