His Expectant Lover (13 page)

After slipping her feet into a matching pair of white, satin pumps, she hesitated before stepping out of the dressing room. Was she being silly? Was this the most ridiculous, poorly thought out action she’d ever done?

Then she remembered Antonio’s kiss and she tried to push aside all doubts. This was going to work! She loved him! She loved him so much!

But was this smart? Definitely not! What happened to her resolution to not marry him?

She was biting her lip, trying to decide what to do. This was a stupid move, she suddenly realized. Stupid and impulsive and she should slow down. There was no doubt that she loved Antonio. This had been true since almost the first moment she’d seen him in the audience during that long ago fashion show. Goodness, if she could go back in time and decline that job, would she?

Her hand fluttered to her stomach. No. She would still do it all the same way again.

Knowing that, she thought about the afternoon. Should she really marry a man who didn’t love her? Just for the sake of their baby?

Probably not.

Was she going to do it?

A knock sounded on the dressing room door before her mind could answer that question. Opening the door, she almost gasped when she took in Antonio’s amazing figure clad in a black suit with a white shirt and white, silk tie. He looked…awesome!

“Goodness, you clean up well,” she breathed, her eyes moving up and down his tall body.

He chuckled and took her hands in his. “I can see that you’re having second thoughts but I’m not going to let you worry about this. It’s going to be good.”

She pulled back when he started to walk out of the bedroom. “But Antonio…”

He stopped and turned back to kiss her again. He saw the wariness in her eyes and felt the tension vibrating her slender figure. There was nothing he could do until he could get her to the altar. It was all arranged and he wanted her there, right beside him.

“Come with me, Andie. It’s going to be okay.”

She hesitated for one more moment, then sighed with resignation. She loved him. Surely her love could be enough for both of them. Pushing aside all of her doubts, she accepted that this was her life. She loved him enough. It would have to be enough!

A twenty minute ride only added to her confusion. “Where are we going?” she asked as he continued to hold her hand in the back of his limousine.

“We’re going to get married,” he told her softly, squeezing her hand again. “I wish I could give you some champagne, but that will have to wait until our honeymoon.”

Andie tried to laugh but she didn’t think they would be having a honeymoon any time soon. And really, what was the point? She was marrying him today, but it wouldn’t be a real marriage. She would love him until her last breath, but she knew that he was marrying her because of the pregnancy. He was marrying her because he knew it was the right thing to do. At least in his mind.

When they drove out of the city into the countryside, she looked up at him again but he wasn’t giving anything away. Then they pulled up outside of a beautiful, stone church that had to be at least two hundred years old.

“This is amazing,” she sighed with a sad smile. If only this were real, she thought. “I assumed we would just be married in a judge’s chambers.”

He pulled her out of the car and laughed softly. Bending lower to kiss her, he said, “Now that’s no way to get married,” he told her and tucked her hand onto his arm. He nodded to someone and music started flowing out of the stone church. Andie looked up at him, but he only winked back at her.the groupies.

He led her gently forward. One step at a time, they made their way carefully across the stone pathway and up the well-worn steps of the church. The scent that hit her caused her first surprised reaction and she looked up at Antonio again. “What did you…?”

He only pulled her deeper into the church and Andie gasped with delight. The church was so small that perhaps only fifty people could fit inside. But there was only a minister and two others standing at the front of the church as well as an organist on an old pipe organ playing music. But what was more breathtaking was the church. It was filled with flowers and candles. There was no electricity in the church apparently but it was possibly one of the most romantic scenes she’d ever seen.

“Oh, Antonio,” Andie sighed, happiness at how thoughtfully he’d arranged this wedding making her weepy. “It’s beautiful.”

“No, you’re beautiful, Andie. I’ve been a complete idiot but I’m going to make it up to you. Today.”

They walked hand in hand down the aisle then stood in front of the minister. And it started. Slowly, reverently and with great emotions welling up inside of her, she promised to love, honor and cherish Antonio Alfieri for the rest of her life. When he slipped the ring on her finger, she felt the tear escape from her lashes.

And then it was his turn. “I promise to love, honor and cherish Andie Knight for the rest of my life. I promise to show her how much I love her every day of my life and never give her any doubt that she is the only woman who has ever made me feel like this. I promise to shower her with love and happiness, every day of her life.”

Andie heard his voice, heard his words but the impact of what he was promising was the most precious thing. She couldn’t believe he was actually saying them and looked up into his dark, blue eyes. “Really?” she whispered, unware of the tears flowing down her cheeks at the promise.

“I love you Andie Alfieri,” he said, his voice husky and gravelly. “And I hope you can forgive me for being such an idiot and not realizing it sooner. All I knew was that I had to have you, had to possess you but I didn’t translate that into love. And I’m a fool for putting us through that for months. Can you ever forgive me?” he asked, his hand coming up to touch her cheek gently.

“I love you too,” she whispered, and all of her suppressed feelings came out in her words and through her eyes. “I love you so much!”

The minister cleared his throat and the two of them looked back at him. Antonio just chuckled but he tucked Andie under his arm, holding her close while Andie blushed.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” he said with a distinct twinkle in his eye. “You may kiss the bride,” he told Antonio.

Andie and Antonio were completely unaware of the witnesses that were crying tears of happiness at the love between these two strangers.

It was the most perfect wedding they’d ever witnessed!

Andie held Raphael in her arms, biting her lip as the time quickly approached to hand him over. “Maybe we should wait a while,” she said to Antonio.

Her husband had known that this was going to happen. “Why don’t we just bring him with us?” he suggested.

Andie looked up into Antonio’s eyes, gratitude making her tears flow. “Really?” she breathed.

Antonio chuckled. “Yes. Really. We can bring his nanny along. The house is big enough.”

She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder with gratitude. “Thank you,” she whispered. They were scheduled to leave for their delayed honeymoon in an hour and she’d just been holding her little man, too sad about the idea of leaving him. “Oh, thank you.” And she reached up to kiss him.

Antonio wasn’t going to let her get away with just a measly peck. “If you want me to bring Ms. Winslow along,” he said, referring to Raphael’s nanny, “then you’d better give me more incentive than that.”

Andie laughed. “Give me five minutes,” she whispered.

A moment later, she walked out of their bedroom, handing their one year old son off to the nanny who was already packing for their trip. Coming back into their bedroom, she laughed with delight. “Oh, thank you!” and she leapt into his arms.

Antonio caught her easily and carried her over to the bed, swishing everything off a moment before he laid her in the middle. “You’re a wonderful mother, Andie,” he said. “But you’re also my wife and I’m warning you, Raphael is going to have to be with Ms. Winslow more often than not.”

Andie laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Ah, but you are a wonderful father, my love,” she said, snuggling into his embrace eagerly. “And you’re just as bad about playing with him as I am.”

His teeth pulled her shirt up and he enjoyed her laughter almost as much as he enjoyed the anticipation of making love to her again. “True, but we won’t be working.”

She smiled, knowing exactly where his mind was going. “I’m not going to get to see much of Grand Cayman this time around, am I?” she asked, her body already on fire for him.

His look promised her everything she wanted and her stomach tightened with anticipation. “Not during the day,” he told her. “You’re not bringing your computer,” he told her, thinking of how she was a writing maniac most days with readers demanding another story already.

“And you’re not answering your phone,” she ordered, lifting her legs to cradle him more perfectly against her.

“I won’t answer my phone,” he promised her. “I will spend my time focusing on you and this delectable body that has fascinated me ever since the first moment I saw you.”

Andie laughed, delighted with her life now. She had two books out, both of which had reached the best sellers’ list. She had a handsome, amazing husband with whom she was crazy in love. And she had a son who was growing so fast that she wanted to halt time so she could savor every moment with him.

Suddenly, Antonio froze. “What’s wrong?” she asked, looking up at his startled face.

He thought about his brothers. “I was just wondering…” he started to say, but then thought about it more. “No, they wouldn’t…”

“What’s wrong?”

Antonio looked down at the woman he loved, and who had filled his life with love and happiness. The memory of his brothers’ weddings, or more specifically, the pranks he’d played on them after their weddings, jumped into his mind. “I just…after each of my brothers’ weddings the other three of us sort of…”

Andie became wary now. “What did you do?” she demanded, lifting up on her elbows.

Antonio looked down. In this position, her breasts were pressed closer to him and he wasn’t strong enough to resist their allure. “It is probably nothing.” And he bent lower, intending to take one full breast into his mouth.

Andie’s hands reached up and caught his head, stopping him before he reached his destination. “Antonio, what did you do?”

He knew that tone of voice. He wasn’t getting out of this discussion. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t enjoy trying though. “I might have done something to a car.” He kissed her neck. “Or to food.” He kissed her shoulder, smiling when she shivered underneath him. “Or to a hotel suite.”

That last one startled her and she pulled back. “A hotel suite?” she demanded more of an explanation.

He shrugged one of his enormous, muscular shoulders. “Not all were my idea,” he promised.

She wasn’t going to let him get away with that. “Antonio, what on earth could you do to a hotel suite?” she demanded.

He sighed and rolled to his back, pulling her with him so that she was on top now. This position gave him a greater ability to use his hands. Her shirt was gone despite her efforts to stop him. “Well, that one was sort of my idea.”

Andie grabbed his wrists, holding him back from touching her breasts. It wasn’t going to work since she’d donned one of those bras that was almost not even there. The lace that cupped her breasts was almost completely see-through. “What was the idea?” she asked, holding his hands back from his goal.

Antonio let his hands drop, landing on her jean-clad thighs. But it was only a side-step to his ultimate goal. As soon as she relaxed her guard, his hands moved to her waist. “We took out all the comfortable surfaces, including the bed.”

She looked down at him, stunned at his confession. “You took the hotel bed out of the hotel suite?” she asked, trying to clarify because the idea was too crazy.

“And all of the pillows on the sofas, the chairs and everything else that might be…” he grinned, “comfortable for certain activities.”

Andie shook her head. “You’re an evil man,” she told him, leaning over so that her hands were balancing her on his chest. “But you’re also handsome and amazing and…” she gasped when his hands slid up her waist, cupping her breasts. “And I love you.”

He would have chuckled at her breathy reply, but he was too intent on making love to his wife. He thought about waiting until they were finally on their much anticipated honeymoon, but when she kissed him back like that, there was nothing he could do but roll her back underneath him and finish what they’d started.

A long time later, Antonio carried Raphael in his arms as they descended from his plane, reveling in the warm, humid temperatures of sunny Grand Cayman. Something was wrong, he thought, noticing the hangar doors that were closed. Normally, unless there was a hurricane coming, the doors were open as maintenance on various planes was being done. But now, all of them were closed.

“What’s wrong?” Andie asked, instantly sensing a tension in him that hadn’t been there a moment before.

Antonio pushed his sunglasses higher on his nose. “Nothing,” he told her, strapping Raphael into the car seat of the Jeep. “Ms. Winslow, when we get to the villa, make sure that you have everything you need,” he told the nanny who nodded her head efficiently. “We’re staying on the northern side of the island which is about a forty-five minute drive from the main city. But we’ll send someone to get anything that is missing.”

They drove around the island, Andie enchanted with the scenery that was mostly created by coral reefs. Raphael clapped his hands behind her, excited by all the water. He loved to swim and was laughing as the wind whipped through the windows.

But Andie knew that something wasn’t quite right with Antonio. He was still tense and looking around. Not really noticing the scenery, but focusing on things, as if he were taking stock in some way.

When they pulled into the driveway of a huge, white house, Andie wasn’t sure why Antonio didn’t get out of the Jeep. He just sat there, looking at the house in a strange manner.

“Okay,” she finally asked, “What’s going on?”

Antonio sighed and looked down at her. “I don’t know. But I have a really bad feeling about this.” He thought about telling her that they should turn around and go back home, but the excitement lighting up her eyes told him he couldn’t do it. She’d been thrilled at the idea of coming to the island for months now, researching all the great places to swim and snorkel, even asking if there was a way for her to scuba dive. He hadn’t had the heart to tell her that he hadn’t anticipated them leaving the villa for the entire two weeks they were here.

She put a hand to his shoulder. “Let’s just go inside and see what it is like,” she urged him. “If something is wrong, we’ll leave.”

He nodded, agreeing with her and stepped out of the vehicle. He took hold of Raphael again, then grabbed Andie’s hand as he led them up the stairs to the villa. The housekeeper greeted him at the doorway and he instantly knew that his instincts had been right on target. But he still wasn’t sure what the problem was.

As soon as they stepped out onto the patio that surrounded the pool, he groaned. Andie looked up at him, trying to figure out what was wrong, but she jumped a foot in the air as a group of people jumped out and yelled “Surprise!”

Andie looked around, seeing all of her sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, most of them with a drink in their hands and bathing suits already on. All the kids were there too! In total, there were an additional fifteen people in the villa that was supposed to be quiet and secluded.

Dylan, Davis and Marcus stepped forward, handing Antonio a beer. “You didn’t think we’d let you get married without facing the consequences of your pranks, did you?” he said.

Antonio took a long swallow of the beer, avoiding a groan. “Not really,” he grumbled. A moment later, the music started up, a catering crew appeared out of the corners of the house with delicious foods and Andie was given a drink with a lot of fruit poking out of the top. She laughed, delighted, as she took a sip of the deliciously cold concoction.

“I’m guessing this is payback?” she said, leaning against his hard chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Yes. And I think I’m going to kill every last one of them.”

Dylan’s wife Georgette reached up and kissed his cheek, then gave Raphael a big kiss too. “Oh, it is so much less than you deserve,” she told him, then hugged Andie. “Come on,” she said and grabbed Andie’s hand. “Our mission is to throw you the wedding celebration party that this big guy denied you the first time.”

Antonio walked over to where his brothers were leaning against the bar, all of them in ridiculous flowered shirts with a beer or something stronger in their hands and all with grins that told him he was getting off easy.

“At least you have beer instead of apple juice,” Davis told him and took a long swig of his own.

Dylan chuckled. “Actually, that was my idea,” he said. “But at least you were able to get into your car.”

Marcus raised his glass of scotch in the air. “That was mostly my idea,” he admitted. “And you guys had a bed. That was pretty cruel,” he grumbled to his brothers, still not forgiving them for that prank.

The others were silent and Antonio just stood in front of them, smiling. “Okay, that one was me,” he said as his grin widened.

The four men laughed as their only sister walked up to join the group. “You guys must be causing trouble,” she said and took Antonio’s beer from him, taking a long sip before handing it back to him.

“We’re all innocent of everything.”

She rolled her eyes. “Not even in your dreams,” she replied back.

Jemma and Damien walked up, Damien’s arm around his wife’s still slender waist. “I’m proud of all of you,” he said, looking at his five children with love and pride. “I consider myself honored to such wonderful children.”

“We’ll have to build a bigger house,” Jemma said, thinking of Christmas vacations and summer months spent with all of her grandkids. “And I can’t wait.” She went around and hugged each of her children, wiping her eyes at how happy they all made her.

“But Antonio thinks he’s gotten off easy.”

Jemma rolled her eyes. “You’ve invaded his honeymoon, you horrible son,” she said to Dylan.

Davis wasn’t going to agree. “Nope. I think he got off too lightly. We’re definitely going to have to plan something tortuous to get back at him.”

Marcus looked over at his wife who was sitting with Andie, Georgette, Kate and Juliette. “If he’d scared off Juliette, you might have a point,” he said, referring to his beautiful wife who sensed he was looking at her and stopped in mid-sentence, smiling in his direction. The other wives got the same feeling and looked as well.

Antonio saw the love in Andie’s eyes as she adjusted their son on her lap. Her smile was incredibly bright and he felt a swell of love for her. He couldn’t believe he had been so stupid as to not recognize what he was feeling for Andie was love. What an idiot. But he was also grateful that he hadn’t lost her. He couldn’t imagine his life without her now.

Looking around at his honeymoon villa surrounded by his family, he had to admit, it wasn’t what he was expecting this week to be like, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.

He wouldn’t tell his brothers that though. They all thought this was his punishment for all the pranks he’d either organized or participated in after their weddings. But as he laughed at something Dylan said, he knew that he wouldn’t have this celebration any other way.

Yes, life was pretty perfect. Invasive family and all.