The CEO Takes a Wife(42)

And perhaps that wasn’t such a bad thing where Felicia was concerned. It showed she was still growing and changing and becoming more aware of others. Olivia was relieved not to worry so much about her mother anymore. It was one less thing for her to think about.



Alex spent the morning with his brothers pacing up and down the hospital, racked with guilt. He shouldn’t have woken his father up so early. He’d known his dad wasn’t in the best of health and needed his sleep.

Not only had he woken him, he’d then gone on to hand Cesare a plateful of stress. Just the idea of all the hassle the media would cause was enough to stress a person out, let alone telling his father about Olivia being infertile, and worse, that he was sticking by Olivia’s side no matter what.

Not that any of this would change his mind. He still intended to stay with Olivia and love her as much as he could. But perhaps dumping all this on a man who’d come close to having a heart attack wasn’t the cleverest thing he’d ever done. He could have waited a few hours and gone over and broken it to his father more carefully than he did.

Just then Isabel came through the doors of the waiting room, and he held his breath, his heart thudding inside his chest. Then he saw she was smiling.

“He’s going to be just fine,” she told the three brothers quickly. “It was only a mild heart attack and they have every confidence he won’t have another one. That is, if he changes his lifestyle. I intend to make that happen.”#p#分页标题#e#

Alex felt sick with relief. His father was a pain in the butt at times, but this was his father and he loved him, dammit.

Nick and Matt started firing questions at Isabel. Alex listened while she replied as best she could, but he held back, taking it all in.

“He’s sleeping now, so why don’t you all go to work and come back later this afternoon? It’s no use just sitting here doing nothing.” She kissed Nick’s then Matt’s cheek. “Now I want to speak to Alex for a moment so you two go on ahead,” she said, shooing them out of there. “It’s nothing important.”

Alex stiffened, aware of the curious looks from his brothers before they left. Was there something more Isabel wasn’t telling them? Isabel said it wasn’t important but—

“Alex, I want you to know how sorry I am that Olivia can’t have children,” she said, giving his arm a squeeze.

Alex had been so involved in everything else over the last couple of minutes, he’d forgotten his own problems.

He nodded. “Thanks.”

“Your father asked me to give you a message.”

He tensed, feeling the blow already. “And that is?”

“He said he’s sorry. He said he only wants you to be happy, and that if you love Olivia then that’s enough for him.”

Alex gulped. “He said that?”

“Yes. And he told me everything.” Her mouth tightened. “If I’d known what he was doing I would have put a stop to it, believe me.”

His stepmother was a formidable woman when she got riled.

“Thanks, but if he hadn’t given me an ultimatum, I doubt I would have married her.” Or maybe he would have—though it may have taken quite a while. She’d caught his eye right from the moment he’d seen her.

“Somehow I think you would have still ended up together.” She kissed his cheek. “You’d better get home to your wife. She needs you right now.”

Alex nodded, then left with the promise to be back later. Now it was time for Olivia. He hated the media for what they were doing to his wife. It gutted him to see their private business in the papers, but it must go to the heart of her even more.

Olivia got up from the sofa and rushed toward him when he opened the door. “How is he?” she said, full of concern for the man who had done nothing but manipulate her life for his own purposes.

Hell, not that he had done any different.

“He’ll be fine. It was only a mild attack.”

“Thank God!” She threw her arms around him and hugged him.

Delighted to have her in his arms, he hugged her back, inhaling the scent of her, loving the feel of her body against his. He wanted this for the rest of his life. He wanted—

She dropped her hands and took a few steps away. “I spoke to my mother again. Alex, it was her housekeeper who told the reporters. Brita heard us talking about it.”

His brow furrowed. “Brita? I’m surprised. I would never have thought it.”

“I know.”

His brow cleared. “At least we know who it was.”

She nodded. “Mum fired her on the spot.”

“Good.” Thank God it hadn’t been someone close, he wanted to say but didn’t.