Proof of Their Sin(43)

A thought flitted into Lauren’s head. Had Ryan been trying to score a point against Paolo? Had he known Paolo was attracted to her and married her despite—perhaps even because of—Paolo’s disapproval? She shook it off. Paolo hadn’t known she and Ryan had stayed in touch after New York. She frowned.

“All right?” Carlotta prompted gently.

Lauren swallowed the scraped sensation at the back of her throat. “Just wondering why Ryan married me when he viewed settling down as giving up.”

The words rang in the quiet room. Lauren took an appalled moment to absorb that she’d actually said them aloud. She couldn’t imagine what Carlotta thought of her.

Carlotta only smiled tenderly beyond the window over the sink. “Paolo doesn’t see it that way. He knows bambinos are an adventure in their own way. Look at him.” She nodded at the glass.

Lauren felt a hitch of poignant anxiety as she moved to see Paolo holding up a swing so the occupant, Maria’s daughter, was nose to nose with him. The girl’s coloring and spirited grin gave the impression she could have been his daughter, not his niece. Whatever instructions she was imparting were making him nod very seriously until the conversation ended in a kiss on her forehead. He released her with a splay of his fingers, sending her sailing backward with a scream of delight. As she flew forward, he waited until the last second before he stepped back and lifted his hand above his head so she could aim for his fingertips with her toes.

Without thinking, Lauren let her hand settle on her abdomen where his blood, his genetics, his bambino, grew. Paolo would be an amazing father, she could see it. He would love his child in all the ways she dimly remembered her father had loved her.

If he ever acknowledged this baby as his.

Her heart invaded her throat, pulsing with a helpless ache. She knew the baby was his and he had already admitted he would come to care for the child even if he never believed it was. That was enough, wasn’t it?

No, Lauren’s heart cried.

“Paolo often takes on responsibility without being asked. I think that’s what seeded his friendship with Ryan. He was trying to keep the American boy from killing himself with crazy stunts. I worry sometimes that he carries too much and doesn’t know when to ask for help.” Turning to face Lauren, Carlotta spoke with heart-stopping sobriety. “Much has been made of your staying with him in Charleston, but if you were there for him when he was hurting, I’m indebted to you.”

She squeezed Lauren’s forearm as she moved past her to the stove.

Lauren dropped her hand from her bellybutton, cringing as she feared how much she had revealed with her hand on her middle and the yearning in her eyes.

She knows.

* * *

Paolo glanced across to Lauren as they rose in the elevator to his penthouse, half expecting she was asleep on her feet, she was so quiet. Her head was pressed into the wall behind her and her lashes were heavy, but she blinked so her eyes were still open.

“Was the day too long for you?” he asked, realizing how late it was.

“I’m a bit talked out,” she admitted, rolling her head toward him. A soft smile gave her a dreamy look that pulsed a measure of unexpected tenderness through him. “But your family is so fun. Maria apologized to me. Did you tell her to?”

“No, but I’m pleased that she did.”

“It wasn’t necessary. You might think she was meddling, but she only wants to protect you. I like her. I liked everyone.”

“They liked you.” He had enjoyed watching her charm his gregarious family with her quiet, genuine interest. She didn’t always get the joke right away, but her Italian was good enough she got there eventually. The children had been fascinated by her stories of tapping maple syrup from the trees of her grandmother’s estate and the old folks had speculated on which notorious rake could be her grandfather. She had fit in beautifully, filling him with pride at having her as his companion.#p#分页标题#e#

“You’re lucky to have so many people care about you. You know that, don’t you?” Her earnest eyes chided him against feeling any other way.

He nod-shrugged and braced the door for her as they arrived, keeping to himself that there were times when he questioned his luck. His biting conversation with Maria when he’d carried her sleeping toddler upstairs still grated.

I’m putting one and one together and coming up with three, she had leveled at him in an undertone, too sharp for anyone’s good.

I’ve asked Lauren to marry me. I tell you that in confidence so you’ll give her the respect she deserves, Paolo had returned implacably while his urgency to marry Lauren had increased. Pretending she was a friend visiting from Canada was annoying when his intentions were not only honorable, but something he was completely committed to.