The Baby Bombshell

“Just water. Thank you.”

“Do you think our boys are going to handle another separation so soon?” He handed her the bottle and sat down by her.

“Probably not, but in all honesty, will there ever be a good time?”

Giovanni took a long swallow. “I’ve been asking myself the same question and the answer comes up no.”

They needed to make the decision to separate for good and get on with their individual lives, but the thought upset her too much. “Still, we don’t have to worry about it today. You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to make it possible for us to enjoy this fabulous time together.”

“Give me a minute to carry the hamper back to the car, then I’ll help you put the babies back in the strollers so we can leave.”

By nine that evening, the day out for the picnic had come to an end. They’d returned to the villa, where the babies had been bathed, fed and put to bed. After thanking Stanzie for the delicious packed lunch and the dinner she’d served upon their return, Valentina said good-night to Giovanni.

When she reached her room, she texted her brother.

Rini—I’ll be home tomorrow around ten. Spoke to Papà. I’ve told him to expect me and Vito tomorrow. Lov u.

She’d kept the message short. Rini would vet her on the flight to Naples.

Valentina looked around the bedroom and decided to get packed. Afterward she showered and washed her hair. A day at the Villa Rufolo meant she’d picked up some sun. It felt good.

Once she’d blow-dried her hair, she put on a nightgown and got ready for bed. A knock on the door prompted her to slip on her robe. She tied the sash and walked over to open it. Giovanni’s dark gaze drifted over her, sending her heart palpitating.

“I didn’t realize you were ready for bed.”

“We’ll both be up in the night. I thought I’d better catch as much sleep as I can.”

Lines darkened his handsome features. “When do you want to leave in the morning?”

I never want to leave.

“I texted my brother and told him I’d be back around ten.”

“Then we ought to get away by eight thirty.” She nodded. “Valentina?”

“Yes?”

“I had a wonderful time with you. It was an extraordinary day.” He stood too close.

“I agree. I’ve been hoarding the memories.”

“I don’t want it to end.” His voice grated.

She put her hands in her robe pockets in order to hide her nervousness. “I don’t, either, but now that the babies aren’t so upset, we know we have to make that final break.”

“Says who?” he challenged.

Valentina averted her eyes. “Says everyone. Conventional wisdom.”

“I’ve been doing things all my life to please other people. For once I want to do something I want to do.”

She let out a sigh. “When I was thirteen, one of my teachers was lecturing our class about the rules. She said you can do whatever you want in here as long as it doesn’t hurt you or anyone else. It made a lot of sense.”

“I had a teacher who said the same thing, but we’re talking about our children. They had a different start than most children. Why don’t we capitalize on what has happened?”

If her heart pounded any harder, he’d be able to hear it. She lifted her head. “What are you suggesting?”

“That we go on seeing each other.”

“It won’t work, Giovanni. If we don’t stop this now, Vito will always be looking for you. That’s not fair to him or Ric.”

“Even if it will make them happy?”

“They’ll be happy. Give them a few days away from us and they won’t remember us anymore.”

His eyes flashed. “You want to make a bet?”

“Giovanni—” She shook her head.

“Let’s give it two more days and then see how they react apart from us. I don’t want you to leave.” He unexpectedly cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lips.

His mouth on hers sent a bolt of electricity through her body. With a soft gasp she moved away from him. “We mustn’t do this. It won’t work. We have to say a final goodbye tomorrow.”

“You could rearrange the time with your father.”

“I could, but I won’t and you know why. Now I’m going to say good-night.”

She closed the door and leaned against it, terrified she’d give in to anything he had to say. Valentina touched her lips. He’d awakened a new longing in her. If she did what he was asking, then she’d be putting her own selfish need ahead of her son’s needs. What Giovanni was asking just wasn’t possible.

Rini had warned her it wasn’t a good idea to see Giovanni again. She’d thought she could handle it. She’d wanted to handle it for the babies’ sake, but she hadn’t counted on caring for Giovanni to this extent. After Matteo, she thought she’d learned her lesson and couldn’t imagine ever getting close to another man again. The love for her baby would be all that mattered to her.

After another minute, Valentina opened the door again so she could listen for Ric. Then she turned off the light and slipped out of her robe. Once in bed, she buried her face in the pillow. That way she could smother her tears. Tomorrow she would have to be strong. Tonight she couldn’t help but give in to the emotions roiling inside of her.

Giovanni’s kiss was all she could think about. Ever since the hospital, he’d infiltrated her thoughts. Her Vito had gotten his start with the kind of exceptional man she hadn’t known existed. It was all turned around. Now there were two babies she loved with every atom of her body. Worse, she’d fallen deeply in love with Giovanni. There was no other explanation for the reason he’d taken up lodgings in her heart.

CHAPTER FIVE

A WEEK LATER when Giovanni saw the name on the caller ID, he picked up. “Stanzie?”

“Forgive me for disturbing you at work. I know I’ve done it every day this week, but I don’t think Riccardo likes me or Paolo. If you want to hire a nanny, maybe you should.” He could hear in her voice she was close to tears.

There was only one woman Ric wanted when Giovanni wasn’t there. This business couldn’t be allowed to go on. “Of course he likes you, but he’s still not used to the change. I’ll be home early and we’ll talk.”

After he got off the phone, he alerted his pilot, then told his assistant to reschedule any appointments because he was leaving for the day. A half hour later he’d hired a limo with a car seat for an infant to drive him from the helipad in Positano to the Montanari villa. He told the chauffeur to wait.

Giovanni used the wrought-iron knocker to bring someone to the door. If it was Rinieri himself who answered, so be it, though he imagined he was still at work. With no results the first time, he knocked again.

When the door opened, he heard a gasp. “Giovanni—” Valentina held Vito in her arms. She sounded like she was out of breath and had hurried to the door.

“I had to see you, but if I’d phoned, I feared you wouldn’t pick up.”

The sound of his voice must have brought Vito’s head around. The second he saw Giovanni he made jerky arm movements and started to cry. Though she held him fast, he kept looking at Giovanni instead of hiding against her and cried harder.

“He wants you,” she murmured. “He’s been looking for you all week. Go ahead and hold him.”

Giovanni didn’t need an invitation. He drew him into his arms and cuddled him against his chest and shoulder. “It’s only been a week, but you’ve grown!” Vito cried a little longer, then rested peacefully against him. “I’ve missed you, too, Tiger.”

He glimpsed tears in Valentina’s eyes. She looked tired but beautiful in a sleeveless top and shorts. “Your bonding with him was so strong. Rini doesn’t fill the bill, wonderful as he is.”

Rejoicing that she’d admitted it, he tried to give Vito back to her, but he clung to him. “I’ll tell you why I’m here. Stanzie called me at work a little less than an hour ago and said I needed to hire a nanny because Ric doesn’t like her or Paolo. I told her I was coming home. After we hung up I flew straight here, knowing what needs to be done. Ric misses you terribly. Nothing has been the same since you left the villa.”

She wiped her eyes. “Maybe you could bring Ric here and I’ll take care of both babies for a few days. Then I’ll take Vito there and you can watch both of them for a few days. It would mean rearranging your work schedule.”

He shook his head. “That won’t work and you know it. I’m as exhausted as you are trying to comfort Ric, so I’ve come to ask you to move in with me. For how long I have no idea. Unfortunately the babies had just enough time to get attached to both of us, so instead of trying to fight the obvious, let’s get together for the sake of their happiness and our sanity.”

Valentina eyed Vito. “It’s true that if I tried to take him from you right now, he’d have a meltdown.”

“Ric was having one when Stanzie called.”

An anxious expression broke out on her face. “If we get together now, it can’t be for too long. Otherwise it would cause too much damage to the children and I wouldn’t be able to handle it. But there’s another risk. You know how people talk. I was never married. People would say I was a loose woman using you for what I could get out of you.”

“People could say I got rid of Tatania because I’m a womanizer who wanted you and that’s why we’re divorced. None of it’s true.”

“You admit it could create a scandal both our families would have to live with.”

“My parents learned a long time ago I make my own decisions.”

“But your mother-in-law—”

“No matter what, she wants to be a grandmother to Ric. I say to hell with what anyone else thinks! Our babies were switched at birth and nothing has been normal about it.”

After a pause, she said, “I know what Carlo would say. Get over it and lead your own lives.”

“And Rini?”

She looked away. “He hasn’t said anything, but he’s aware of how Vito has behaved. H-he knows how much I mourn the loss of Ric,” she said, her voice faltering.

“If you asked your father, what do you think he’d say?”

“To follow my heart. That has always been his advice.”

“Did you ask his advice about Matteo?”

“No. I already knew he wouldn’t approve of my getting involved with a professor so much older.”

That was news to Giovanni. “How much older?”

“Twenty years.”

That explained a lot about the engineering professor having a midlife crisis with a student as utterly delectable as Valentina. No doubt it fed his ego to seduce the daughter of one of the celebrated Montanari engineering family.

Giovanni nuzzled Vito’s neck and kissed him. Her fragrance went where the baby went. “He gave you a beautiful son.”

She swallowed hard. “He did.”

“So what does your heart say now?”

There was an interminable silence while he waited for her answer. When she looked at him, he saw more tears. “You already know the answer or I would have closed the door on you before Vito got the chance to realize who it was.”

Relief swept through him in waves. “I have a limo waiting. Go ahead and do what you have to do to get ready. I want time to play with Vito. We’ll walk around out here.”

“I’ll have to leave a message for Rini and a note for Bianca. She went to the market.”

“Take your time. You don’t have to bring everything yet. There’ll be other days to come back for more things. We’re in no hurry.”

He wandered around the courtyard, admiring the explosion of flowers and Rinieri’s exquisite taste in buying this two-story villa. Its design reflected a bygone era of elegance and refinement. Like Giovanni, Rinieri had his own helipad at the rear of the estate, but he wouldn’t have been so presumptuous as to use it.

When he saw Valentina come out the front door, he strapped Vito in the car seat, then helped her put her things inside. She disappeared once more for the carry-cot. While he’d waited for her, she’d changed into white pants and a top of navy-and-white stripes that outlined her womanly figure. The sight of her ignited all his senses.

Once everything and everyone were installed, he instructed the driver to take them back to the Positano helipad. He let Vito cling to his finger. She studied the two of them. “Look how excited he is to be with you.”

“If you think he’s happy, wait till Ric discovers you on the premises.” Their eyes met. Her tears were gone.

“I pray we’re doing the right thing, Giovanni. Down the road—”

“Don’t think about that,” he interrupted her. “Let’s enjoy the here and now. The future will take care of itself.” He had plans for them, but after her experience with Matteo, he didn’t want to make a wrong move.

Within minutes they lifted off for the short flight to his villa in Ravello. Though he’d bought it and made it his own, he’d never felt like he’d really come home until the helicopter set them down.

Paolo and Stanzie were out in the garden that bordered the swimming pool, tending Ric. They waved when they saw him climb out. But he hadn’t come alone. When they caught sight of Valentina, Stanzie cried with excitement and hurried toward her with Ric.

“Welcome, Valentina!”

“It’s good to be back, Stanzie.”

Ric heard her voice. Just like Vito, he started wiggling to get to her. This time Giovanni’s eyes filled to see the way he cried and burrowed into her neck. His son knew exactly where he wanted to be. He took after Giovanni in that department. This moment was one he’d treasure all his life.

Valentina rocked Ric in her arms. Over his little head with its black hair she looked at Giovanni. Without being able to resist he said, “Remember that bet I made you a week ago?”

She nodded. “They do remember us and it’s been a lot longer than two days.”

“If you hadn’t been such a terrific mother, Ric wouldn’t have suffered so much. I say we all go for a swim.”

“Won’t the water be too cold for them?”

“We’ll pull them around on the rafts.”

Her blue eyes lit up. “That sounds fun. I’ll hurry inside and change. Come on, Ric. You can help me.”

Stanzie wasn’t ready to give up Vito.

Giovanni followed Valentina into the house with her suitcase. After he set it inside her room, he headed for his own room to change. He threw off his suit and tie, so anxious to get outside he didn’t care about anything else. After pulling on a pair of brown-and-white trunks, he grabbed some towels and hurried out to the back patio.

A couple of children’s toy plastic rafts rested against the wall. He tossed them in the water.

“Come on, Vito. We’re going for our first pool ride.”

He smiled at Stanzie, who gave him up. Hugging him to his chest, he carried him into the pool. After settling him on his back in the middle of one of the rafts, Giovanni started moving it around at the shallow end.

“Don’t be scared. Your mommy’s going to be out here in a minute with your brother.” That was the second time the word had slipped out. While he moved him around he caught sight of Valentina walking toward the pool with Ric. Her long legs and the way she filled out her white one-piece bathing suit knocked the wind out of him. She walked down the steps into the pool and put Ric on his back on the other raft.

* * *

Giovanni pulled the raft over to her. “I told you guys this was going to be fun.”

The babies were so shocked by what was happening, they forgot to cry. Valentina saw their expressions and laughed so hard it infected him. From the beginning they’d shared the same sense of humor. It was just one of the many things he loved about her. If there was heaven on earth, this was the place.

The next half hour of play was pure delight. As long as the babies could see both of them, they were mesmerized. Valentina had put him in the same condition. When he saw those eyes glittering like sapphires above the water as she watched him, he almost had a heart attack.

He swam over to her. “What do you say we take them in and feed them?”

“I was just going to suggest it. One dark head and one blond. Aren’t they adorable?”

Giovanni’s emotions were running all over the place. He grabbed Ric while she reached for Vito. Together they took the babies inside and up the stairs. Then she carried Vito and headed for the nursery in the pants and top she’d worn earlier. Giovanni had slipped into his room to put on shorts and a shirt.

They sat down and fed the babies. Ric finished first. His eyes were closed as Giovanni placed him in the crib with the fish mobile and turned it on. Very soon after Vito had finished, too. As she left the nursery to put him down, she said in a hushed voice, “We’ll have to get a mobile for Vito so he won’t feel left out.”

“Shall we drive into town and get one? While Stanzie and Paolo keep watch, let’s eat dinner out.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t leave the children yet.”

“We won’t be gone long, and I’m the one starving now.”

“So am I,” she confessed. “Give me a minute to change into something more appropriate.”

* * *

Valentina freshened up and decided to wear one of her sundresses with cap sleeves in a pale pink. She met him at the Maserati parked at the side of the villa where a garden of white moonflowers gave off a beguiling scent.

“I feel like I’m wandering in a fantastic dream.” Her eyes had fastened on Giovanni. He looked incredible in charcoal trousers and a silky dark vermilion sport shirt. Open at the neck, she could see the dark hairs on his well-defined chest. She wanted to be in his arms so badly it was killing her.

“I’m taking you to my favorite restaurant at a hotel where Grieg stayed during his travels here. It’s rumored he never wanted to leave Ravello.”

“Of course he didn’t. I adore Grieg. During my pregnancy I must have listened to his first piano concerto dozens of times.”

He drove them out to the main road past flowered terraces and hanging gardens to the village center and pulled into the parking area reserved for the hotel patrons. Twilight had descended.

The maître d’ showed them out to a patio with candlelit tables overlooking the spectacular villa gardens. Sculptured topiary trees surrounded the fountain playing below. The sight took her breath. Grieg’s music, “Wedding Day at Troldhaugen,” could be heard in the background, adding to her sense of entrancement.

Giovanni’s eyes gleamed like jet between black lashes as he reached for her hand across the table. “Will you let me order for you?”

“I’d love it.”

“Some women wouldn’t like that.”

“I’m not some women.”

“No, you’re not.” He squeezed her hand before letting it go.

Soon they were feted with swordfish piccata, a dish wrapped in ham and roasted almonds. The sumptuous meal came with kale, polenta and risotto.

After one bite, she exclaimed, “I’ve never tasted anything so delicious. The presentation looks too good to eat, but I plan to devour everything anyway.”

Giovanni’s laughter warmed her heart. They lingered over the predessert and the dessert served at the end with coffee. She passed on the wine, too drunk on the atmosphere with a man like Giovanni to get any more euphoric, but he fed her the last chocolate petit four. Her lips tingled as they brushed his fingers, causing her to hunger for his kiss.

Quite a few of the diners who recognized him nodded and stopped to shake hands. He introduced Valentina, but made no explanations about her. One of the men who’d come to their table assessed her in a way that made her blood curdle. Giovanni noticed and cut the other man off. The gossip would already be starting, but Giovanni didn’t worry about lighting his own fires and made no excuses.

Female heads turned everywhere they walked. His striking features, not to mention his tall, well-honed physique made her the envy of the evening. With hands clasped, they strolled through the winding alleyways filled with flowers and shops. Valentina had reached a new high with this incredible man.

Before they left the town, they visited a children’s shop. The young woman at the counter where they bought a mobile and some toys for the boys to chew on couldn’t take her eyes off Giovanni.

Before heading back to the car, they stopped at another shop for two bottles of limoncello, a favorite product in this land of lemons. “One of these is for Paolo and Stanzie. The other is for us.”

“I had it once years ago.”

“From the lemons here in Ravello?”

“I’m sure not.”

“Then you’re in for a treat. Tonight is a special occasion. After we get home, I thought we’d drink a toast to our time together. May it last.”

If only that were possible.

Right now Valentina couldn’t relate to the life she’d led before meeting Giovanni. She felt like she’d been brought to an enchanted mountain by a prince right out of a fairy tale. Everywhere she looked, bursts of flowers in every color hid exquisite villas and palazzi. Cypress trees formed picturesque silhouettes against the night sky. From dizzying heights she looked down the many sloping gardens to the sea and breathed in the delightful fragrance of citrus and rose.

But the most tantalizing fragrance of all came from the soap Giovanni used, combined with his own male scent. She was drawn to it the way a bee zoomed in on an orange blossom, wanting its nectar, the food of the gods.

He could be a Roman god, but she was thankful he wasn’t. Otherwise he wouldn’t have brought her to dinner or fed her dessert from his own hand. The contact had sent spirals of desire through her body.

As they reached the villa, she noticed a thumbnail moon climbing in the velvet sky. “This has been a perfect day and a perfect night, Giovanni.”

“Almost perfect,” he muttered. “I’m sorry Claudio made you uncomfortable. He’s a gossip, and he’s known as a womanizer, who wished he’d been the one sitting next to you tonight.”

“Please don’t apologize for his behavior. It—”

“It happens all the time?” he finished her words. “I know. A man wouldn’t be a man if he didn’t notice you. I’m the lucky one.”

She sucked in her breath. “You’re very good for a woman’s ego. Thank you for tonight. It’s one I’ll never forget.” She heard her own voice quiver from emotion.

“It’s not over yet.”

They went inside the sunroom. “Stay here. I’ll get two aperitif glasses.” He took one of the limoncello bottles with him.

She put their sack of purchases down on the table while she waited.

Soon he returned. “I checked on the children. They’re sound asleep. Stanzie and Paolo are happy with our gift and have gone off to have their own celebration.” He opened the other bottle and poured them each some liqueur. She took one, he picked up the other.

“I’d like to make a toast.” He stared into her eyes. “To our partnership, which I’ve wanted since the first day at the hospital.” He clicked her glass and drank.

His admission caused her hand to tremble as she sipped her drink that looked like liquid sunshine. “Giovanni, I—”

He stopped the flow of words with a touch of his finger to her lips, fanning the flame he’d ignited at dinner. “Can you imagine a time when we won’t be partners? Not every baby switch has a happy ending as we’ve learned after reading all the research. Our children deserve the very best from both of us. We owe it to them and each other for the rest of our lives.”

She pondered what he’d said. Partners had been an interesting choice of words. When he’d asked her to move in, he’d said he didn’t know for how long. Giovanni was used to thinking in business terms. In the metaphoric sense she agreed they’d be partners for a lifetime because of the link to the children. But in a literal sense she didn’t see them staying together longer than a month.

By then Ric would have grown attached to Giovanni. Vito would be old enough for the separation, since she planned to move back to Naples to finish her studies. The winter semester would be starting in September. There were good day-care centers suggested by the university. Valentina would make inquiries and find the one that suited her best.

Thank goodness for student loans. After she graduated and got a good job with an engineering firm, she’d pay it off. Knowing that Giovanni worked in Naples, she expected he’d come to see Vito, so that bond wouldn’t be broken. She’d see him and Ric from time to time. It could all work.

“I’ll think about everything you’ve said. Thanks again for the lovely evening.” She put the glass down. Get out of here, Valentina, before you can’t. “Now I’m headed for bed.”

“Buonanotte.”

Valentina’s heart thundered in her chest all the way to her room. There’d be little sleep for her tonight. But to her surprise, she did sleep until Vito awakened for his bottle at four.

Around seven she got up and dressed in jeans and a top, expecting that Giovanni would have left for work. But when she carried Vito down the hall to the nursery, she found him feeding Ric. He was clean shaven and wore another pair of jeans and a creamy colored crewneck shirt. It didn’t matter what he wore, he was a sensational-looking man.

She reached for a bottle and put it in the microwave. “Don’t you need to get to your office?”

His dark gaze swept over her, making her far too aware of him. “I’ve arranged for some time off. How would you like to go out on my cruiser? I thought we’d visit several places and be gone for two or three nights. You can do night duty for me at some point. It’s true I’ve been a cavallo di battaglia too long.”

“But don’t forget that being a workhorse put you in the reins of your family’s company in the first place.”

“I’m not sure if I like it. Right now I find that I’m loving to be on vacation and don’t want it to end.”

She knew how hard he worked, but this baby had forced him to take a break. No invitation could have thrilled her more. “The boat is the perfect way to enjoy ourselves with the children without having to take them in the car.”

“My thinking exactly. Unless there’s anything else you need to do, we’ll leave after breakfast.”

They worked together to pack up the children and their things. Valentina hurried to her room to do some packing. Before long they went downstairs with all their paraphernalia to eat.

After breakfast, they packed up the car. The Brunos waved them off.

Giovanni drove along a road that wound lower and lower to a private area of beach where he kept his boat tethered to the pier.

“What a wonderful cruiser!”

“When Paolo and Stanzie moved in the villa, I told them they could take it out whenever they wanted, so they’ve kept it in top condition.”

“It’s nice to see that a couple who work together are so much in love. You can tell by their glances and smiles at each other.”

“No one could ever say that about Tatania and me. The secret is to fall in love first. Those lucky enough for that to happen have love going for them when they marry.”

“I’m sorry your marriage didn’t work. I know you’ve told me it’s all your fault, but I know that’s not true. Did she really not know you were a hard worker? I bet if you asked her, she would have to admit she looked past that trait in you. If she could have been honest with herself, she might have decided to follow her own instincts to find a man who wasn’t a workaholic.”

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”

“Don’t I know it,” she said with a wry smile. “If I hadn’t felt like such a failure, I would have realized why Matteo had so much influence over me by telling me what I needed to hear.”

He shook his dark head. “A failure? When you’ve almost received your graduate degree in engineering at the age of twenty-five?”

“Looking back, I realize how odd that sounds now. But growing up, it felt like my brothers received all the attention and I admit I was jealous. My mother tried to help me. She said that one day I’d become my own person and those feelings would go away.”

Giovanni stared hard at her. “Have they gone?”

“Now that I’m a mother, I’ve been forced to grow up. Somehow those feelings of jealousy I harbored seem absurd in light of the problems you and I have been forced to face.”

He nodded. “Becoming a parent has been a life-changing experience for me, too. Work used to be everything. But since Vito was born, I can’t get home to him at night fast enough.”

“They are absolutely precious.”

“We’re very lucky.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

They got the children on board with the other items. Then he reached for the infant life preservers his siblings had used for their babies. After putting them on the children, they placed them in their carry-cots and lowered the visors to shield them from the sun. After undoing the ropes, Giovanni started the engine and they made their way at a wakeless speed into open water.