The Italian's Doorstep Surprise

Nico turned to her. “What do you want? Herbal tea? Hot apple cider?”

She could only imagine how much trouble that would make for the poor cook. Poor woman would probably be forced to go out and pick apples in the rain. “I want you to leave me alone.”

He said to his butler, “Herbal tea. With organic milk.” Turning to Honora, he confided, “Calcium is good for the baby.”

“Oh, is it now.” As if she hadn’t just spent the last six months reading every baby book and going to doctor’s appointments, while he’d only known about it for, like, ten minutes and already considered himself the expert. She couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice as she added, “Tell me more about what my baby needs.”

As the butler disappeared, Nico looked at her calmly. The firelight flickered over the hard, handsome planes of his face and the five-o’clock shadow over his square jawline. “A father, for a start. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I did! I told you that I tried. I sent multiple messages to your office in Rome in February.”

“Saying you were pregnant?”

“Just saying it was personal, urgently asking you to return my call.”

He stroked his chin. “I don’t answer desperate messages from women I don’t know. Since I didn’t remember our night together, or your name...”

Irritated, she set her jaw. “I also left messages with the housekeeper at your new villa, since I heard you’d sold your apartment in Rome. I asked you to call me back as soon as you arrived.”

“The Amalfi Coast is hours from Rome. I never stayed there. I slept at the office.”

“What?” That explained why Luisa had sounded so doubtful every time Honora called.

“I have a sofa in my private office. A shower. There was no need for me to leave.”

“You slept at the office? For six months?”

“I was working,” he bit out. His handsome face was full of shadows. “I was fine.”

It sounded awful. When had Nico become a workaholic without a soul? He’d always been intensely focused on work, but in the past, he’d at least found some time for fun, whether that meant extreme sports or getting himself engaged to world-famous movie star Lana Lee.

Honora told herself she didn’t care. The state of his soul wasn’t her problem. “The point is, I did try to tell you. When I never heard a response, I realized you weren’t interested in anything I might say to you. So I decided to raise this baby on my own.”

His eyes narrowed. “Now that I know, I will give you and the baby everything. Including my name.”

“It’s not necessary. We’re good.”

“Good? Good how?”

It was a question Honora had often asked herself in the middle of the night when she couldn’t sleep for worrying. Her cheeks went hot. “I have a job.”

“Doing what?”

“I work in a flower shop. People need flowers,” she added defensively at his incredulous look.

“I’m sure they do, but I can’t imagine it’s enough to support you and the baby.”

“I’m also working my way through community college.”

“Studying what?”

She looked at the floor. “General education courses.” It was a sore point. Honora still hadn’t figured out what she wanted to do as a long-term career. She’d been unable to convince herself to study something she hated, just because it would pay, as her accountant friend Emmie had. “I’ll figure something out.”

Nico let that pass. “Does your current job even have maternity leave? Benefits?”

Honora bit her lip. Her boss, Phyllis Kowalczyk, was a retiree with few employees. The flower shop seemed more like a labor of love than a growing, profitable business. “Um. I’m not sure...”

“You’re probably still living with your grandfather.”