Claimed by the Sicilian Tycoon(60)

And then before he could speak, before he could do a single thing, Lyra was gone.





Chapter Twenty-Eight



Three months later



“You really need to eat something else, Ly,” Rachel said. “You’re skin and bones these days and it’s making me feel like a whale.”

Lyra looked up from her drink, and caught the eye of her sister. They were sitting in a chic little café by Parliament, eating lunch and enjoying the spring air. Penny was due to join them any moment, but was running late. Hardly a surprise. She had recently begun work on the Bristol Point, the second of their centers for vulnerable teens, the first of many, the sisters knew. With two of the three sisters married to extremely rich men they had no issues with funding, it was just about time now, time to do all the work needed, and finding the right staff to help them with that work. After all, though Lyra had plenty of time on her hands, Penny and Rachel did not. Penny’s Greek kept her busy, and Rachel was about ready to burst. Free time was soon to be a thing of the past for her.

“I’m not really hungry,” Lyra said, prodding her burger.

“You’re too skinny,” Rachel moaned. “I swear, Ly, if you were a foot taller you could totally be a model.”

“Hardly, and besides, you just think I look skinny because you’re so fat,” Lyra said. “Chubb, chubb, chubb.”

Rachel laughed and reached out to swat her sister on the arm. Luckily Lyra was sitting close to her or she wouldn’t have been able to manage it. She was huge, the baby due any day now. In fact this was to be their last lunch, the three sisters together, before Rachel popped the little one out and everything changed.

“I am perfectly goddess like,” Rachel corrected. “At least that’s what Dominic says.”

“Of course Dom says that,” Lyra agreed, thinking of her brother in law. After a shaky start they were now firm friends. In fact Lyra got on very well with both her brothers in law. How could she not when they made her sisters so happy? “He thinks every single thing you do is perfect in every possible way,” she added.

Rachel scrunched up her nose. “I wonder if he’ll think that if I poop when I’m in labor?”

Lyra’s mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”

Rachel nodded. “I read about it in one of the books. Apparently sometimes women poop when they’re in labor. It’s because you’re squeezing the muscles and—”

Lyra held up a hand. “Stop. I do not want to know this.”

“Penny said I probably will,” Rachel continued. “She says Dom will faint. Apparently Italians aren’t as tough as Greeks.”

“I wouldn’t tell Dominic that.”

Rachel sighed and popped a fry in her mouth. “So what do you think? Maybe I should make him wait outside and just have you and Pen?”

“You don’t want your husband to be there?” Lyra asked. “For the birth of mini Rimeria?”

Rachel laughed. “Of course, but I want you guys too.”

“We’ll be there,” Lyra promised. “Who could possibly keep us away?”

“Poop and all?”

Lyra gave an exaggerated shudder. “Uh huh. But I’ve gotta say, that is vile. I so never want to get pregnant, or have babies. I’m going to be one of those really cool, eccentric aunts. Yours and Pen’s kids will be desperate to escape the confines of your strict homes to come spend time with me. I’ll spoil them and let them do really inappropriate things.”

Rachel frowned. “You never let us do inappropriate things.”

“Because you were my responsibility,” Lyra said. “I had to look after you.”

“And you did,” Rachel said softly, reaching out and taking Lyra’s hand. “You were the best big sister ever. I could ask for nothing better than you and Pen for my family.”

“Snap.”

“And I want you to be happy,” Rachel continued. “As happy as me and Pen.”

Lyra shifted, suddenly uncomfortable with the way their conversation was going. “I am happy,” she said.

“Ly….” Rachel paused, as if steeling herself, then spoke. “You are too skinny, you have smudges under your eyes, you’re far too pale, and you live in sweats these days. When did you last wear a nice dress?”

“You want me to wear a dress at The Point?”

“We’re not at The Point now,” Rachel said.

Lyra scowled and looked down at her outfit. She wore jeans—not sweats!—and a thin jumper. Sure, the jeans had ripped knees, and her jumper a couple of holes, and yes, okay, the running shoes had seen better days, but there was nothing wrong with her outfit. What need was there for her to get dressed up, she thought? She went nowhere beyond The Point. Her office was there, and her room. Apart from Penny and Rachel’s homes, that was her little world now.