Page 46 of Nobody's Girl

She heard Penn call for her. “Just peeing, darling, I’ll be right there.” She used the toilet and washed her hands. Climbing back into his bed, she pulled him into her arms, resting his head on her chest. “Are you okay?”

Penn looked up at her, his dark eyes full of pain. “No. I’m not. I came home a few days ago and found her. I called the paramedics but it was too late for her. She was pregnant and…oh god…”

He was about to break down again but Tamara wanted him to say the words out loud. “Who, darling? Who died?”

He squeezed his eyes shut and wrestled with his emotions before finally meeting her gaze. “My sister. My sister died. They think she fell down the stairs but I don’t know why she was even using the stairs, the elevators were working and…oh my god, Tamara, how the hell am I supposed to face this? Face her husband when he comes home?”

Tamara was in shock. His sister? Oh Jesus H. Christ…not his girlfriend …or his child… She didn’t have to fake the shock on her face and Penn, misreading it, fell into her arms again. “I wanted her to meet you, to know you. She would have loved you. She and I…we were all each other had until she met Jake. Our parents were long gone, and finally she had found him, married and got pregnant all in a year. He’s military, stationed in Afghanistan. I spoke to him yesterday. He’s destroyed.”

“I’m so sorry, my love.” Tamara didn’t know how she felt – her victory was lessened, certainly, but now, she knew…Penn had no-one else but her.

As her distressed lover buried his face in her neck, Tamara Rutland began to smile.

Chapter Twenty-two

Adria wrapped her son in a warm embrace. “Darling, it’s so good to see you. How was the honeymoon? And where is my beautiful daughter-in-law?”

Ivo tried not to show how shock he was at his mother’s appearance. In the two weeks since he’d seen her, at his wedding, she seemed to have lost more weight. Her cheekbones were prominent and there was a grey pallor to her olive skin. He tried to smile. “Sofia’s just down the hallway, talking to her ex-step-father. She wanted to tell him herself that she wanted nothing more to do with him. She’ll be along soon.”

“Good, good. I have missed the two of you.”

Ivo looked around. “Where’s Dad?”

Adria rolled her eyes. “Out buying me gifts, I should think. Poor Walter, he really doesn’t know how to handle my illness, so he tries to do what he does best. Spoil me. It’s very sweet, but I really don’t need any more diamonds.” She sighed and sat down. Ivo sat opposite her, his heart thumping uneasily against his ribs.

“Mama…don’t hide from me. The cancer is worse, isn’t it?”

Adria hesitated then nodded. “I’m afraid so, Piccolo. Darling, it’s spread to my liver, and to my brain.”

Ivo closed his eyes, fighting back a roar of grief. His beloved mom was telling him she was going to die. “How long?” His voice was scratchy, gruff. Adria took his hands.

“A year, maybe less. Darling, all I ask if that we make my time as fun as possible. You have given me so much joy all of your life, and now with your lovely Sofia, and my grandchild soon to be born.”

“God, Mama, I wanted mine and Sofia’s children to know you too. This isn’t fair.”

“Ivo Zacca…life isn’t fair. You should know that by now. It doesn’t work out the way we plan. Do you think I wouldn’t have rather stayed married to Walter? Yes, we both were unfaithful, but we should have fought to stay together, maybe in an open marriage. Such things were frowned upon though.” She drew in a deep breath as Ivo studied her.

“You still love Dad.”

“I never stopped, nor did he stop loving me. We just didn’t want to make our lives off-kilter, for you. We divorced because it seemed the best way, and then we were both free to sleep with who we chose without bitterness. But your father is and will always be my darling love.”

Ivo nodded slowly. “I understand that feeling now. With Sofia.”

Adria smiled. “You both have a lot of getting to know each other, but yes, I feel it in my bones. Sofia is the one for you.”

“More than Clemence ever was?”

“I adore Clemence, but no, you and she were not destined. She is a scientist, you are a man of the arts. Sofia is your true heart.”

Ivo smiled at his mother, although his heart was breaking. “I still can’t believe you’re sick, Mama.”

“The cancer hasn’t robbed me of my fight, darling. I’ll ignore it until I can no longer.”