The Italian's Doorstep Surprise
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Honora looked up at Nico, who was watching her with dark, inscrutable eyes.
“Never,” she whispered.
CHAPTER FIVE
“THANKS FOR NOT blowing my cover,” Honora said as he packed her small overnight bag into the Lamborghini, then helped her into the car. “I’ll tell them the truth after they’re back from the honeymoon.”
“I’m glad to have you stay with me tonight,” Nico said honestly. It had been a lucky break, he thought. And with a little more luck, by the time Patrick and Phyllis returned from their honeymoon, the fake engagement would be a real one.
“Do you mind dropping me off at a hotel?” she asked as he got into the driver’s seat.
He looked at her. “Hotel?”
“Just for one night, until they’re safely married and away.” Her green eyes looked sad. “Otherwise he might cancel his wedding if he thinks he’s still stuck with me.”
He frowned. What a strange way to put it. “Stuck with you?”
She looked out the window at the dark city, lights sparkling hollowly against the glass. “I’ll figure something out by the time they’re back. Find a new place to live.”
“Or come live with me.”
“And I’ll need a new job,” she said, as if she hadn’t heard. She gave him a crooked smile. “You need a new gardener for your rooftop terrace.”
He snorted. “You’re the mother of my child. I’m not hiring you as a gardener.”
Honora looked at him, then sighed. “I guess you’re right. It would be awkward. But I need to do something. Two weeks isn’t very long.”
“I’ll always provide for you, Honora. You and the baby both.”
Her green eyes looked sad. “Thank you, but the last thing I want to be is a burden.”
Was she serious? “You’re not—”
“And I know you promised Granddad you’d come tomorrow and be a witness at their wedding, but you don’t have to. I can ask Benny instead.”
Nico’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Rossini?”
“He’s a friend,” she said, a little defensively.
Friend or not, Nico made a mental note to tell his residential staffing manager, Sergio, to reassign the young chauffeur to a different job on the other side of the world. He didn’t care what or where, as long as he wasn’t around Honora.
Nico protected what was his. And she was his.
He just needed more time to convince her of that.
“Are you hungry?” he suggested suddenly.
She grinned. “I’m pregnant. I’m always hungry.”
“How about Au Poivre?”
She looked at him incredulously. “That fancy place downtown?”
“They make a good steak.”
Honora snorted. “Sure, if you don’t mind paying two hundred bucks for it. And don’t you have to book a table six months in advance?”
“What sounds good to you, if not steak?”