The CEO's Unexpected Child(21)

Claire sat down and watched as Eva's face lit up at her grandmother's  sweet baby voice and kisses. She was really blossoming with all this  attention. Perhaps not putting her in day care where she could be around  a lot of different people was a bad idea. She was alone with Daisy all  day, but Eva really seemed to like people. Perhaps she was more Moretti  than Douglas.                       
       
           



       

"Claire, since everyone is gone at the moment, I wanted to talk to you  about something. Being alone is a luxury in my family, so I've learned  to take full advantage of it when it comes."

Claire bit her bottom lip to hide her frown. That sounded ominous. Was  this the part where she threatened Claire not to hurt her son or keep  his daughter from him? Told her to call off her lawyer? "Sure."

"I'm not sure what it is you and Luca have going. I know that whatever  it is, it's early, so it's hard to say whether or not what you two have  will turn into something serious, but I hope it does. I have never seen  Luca as happy as he is here with you and Eva. Not even with Jessica was  he like this. With her, he always seemed to be waiting for the other  shoe to fall, and of course in the end he was right."

Claire wanted to push Antonia for more information, but she held her tongue, deciding not to interrupt.

"It broke my heart to see him like that. Finding out he had a child was  such a startling revelation, but then he really warmed up to the idea.  He was excited and nervous, but as he always does, Luca held back. We  never expected to find out that the baby wasn't his."

Claire tried to hide her surprise at this revelation about Luca. He'd  never once mentioned this other child or its mother. Even if it wasn't  his in the end, that was an important event in his life he'd kept from  her. She closed her eyes as all the pieces started to fall into place.  That explained why he was so adamant about claiming Eva as his own. This  time, he was certain the baby was his and he wasn't going to miss his  chance to be a father, no matter what the circumstances.

"But this child," Antonia continued with a smile, "is the miracle that  will bring him back to life. Whether or not he thought it would happen,  he finally has a family."

"He has a daughter, yes," Claire clarified. She wasn't quite ready to  commit to more than that. "And I'm going to make sure he has Eva in his  life as much as he wants her to be."

Antonia's golden hazel eyes, so much like Luca's that it made her a  little uneasy, fixed on Claire. "Dear, you and I both know that he's got  a little more than just a daughter out of this situation."

Claire bit at her bottom lip as she considered her answer. "I don't  really know. Sometimes things are going well, and I think maybe  something is happening between us. Then he pulls away. Knowing about the  other child explains a lot, but not everything. I still feel like he's  keeping things from me, and that's a deal breaker for me. I'm not going  to let myself get invested in a man I can't trust."

"Luca is as good a man as they come. He's just afraid to let himself  fall for a good woman. Personally, I think you two are meant to be  together. I don't believe in accidents or coincidences. Fate stepped in  and scrambled those numbers on the labels so two strangers could share a  child, and eventually, a life together."

That was a nice thought, but Claire wasn't quite so superstitious.  Accidents happened. That didn't mean it was fate. It was just rotten  luck. Or even good luck. It might not be what she planned, but at least  Eva had a father and a family now. But as for him and her? She doubted  this little vacation romance would last all the way back to Manhattan if  he continued keeping secrets.

Luca's mother thought he was a peach, of course, but mothers loved  their children blindly. He had given Claire his body, but he was holding  back everything else. Unless that changed, she couldn't trust him with  her heart. She'd already made the mistake of giving that away too freely  in the past.

Something would go wrong. The dull ache in her gut was evidence of  that. The only question was how badly it would hurt her when it  happened.





Nine

"It's too quiet around here," Claire said as she washed up the last of the dinner dishes.

Luca looked up from his spot on the living-room floor. He and Eva were  having fun with some fabric blocks with little tags on the edges.  Frankly, he couldn't understand the appeal. He cut the tags off every  piece of clothing he owned, but babies seemed completely enamored with  them.                       
       
           



       

"I know what you mean," he said. His family had left a few days  earlier. After three solid days of big Italian family chaos, the house  almost seemed to echo with emptiness. "It always takes me a while to  adjust to being alone again after we have get-togethers. Does that mean  you like my family?"

Luca wasn't quite sure how his quiet, reserved Claire would handle Mia,  much less the whole crew at once, but she'd done amazingly well. She  fit in better than he'd ever expected. Whether or not she enjoyed her  time with them was still a mystery to him, however.

Claire pulled the drain plug in the sink and strolled back into the  living room while she dried her hands with a dish towel. "I love your  family, Luca. They're amazing. I didn't even know a family could be like  that. It's mind-boggling, really. I mean, they'd just met me and they  treated me like family. Jeff's family was always kind to me, but I never  felt like I was one of their daughters, even when legally I was."

Luca smiled at her. "They really liked you. I'm pretty certain they  aren't like that with everyone. Even Carla liked you, and she's pretty  hard to win over. And Mama. Well, you could do no wrong in her eyes. If  you spoke Italian, you'd be perfect. Maybe we can work on that," he  added with a grin.

"Very funny," Claire said as she sat down on the couch.

He turned back to Eva in time to see her let out a big yawn. "Uh-oh. I think she is ready for bed."

"Like me, I think she's still recovering from all the overstimulation."

Claire moved to get up, but Luca raised his hand. "You relax. I'll put  her to bed. Why don't you pour us some wine, if my sisters didn't drink  it all."

Luca stood and lifted Eva into his arms. Her little eyes kept slowly  closing, then startling open as she tried to keep herself awake. "Don't  fight it, bella."

It only took a few minutes to change the baby, put her into her pajamas  and settle her into her crib. He turned on the mobile overhead and ran  his hand over her soft baby curls. "Buona notte, cara mia."

Eva cooed at him for a moment, then her eyes fluttered closed. That was  quick. Slipping out quietly, he closed the bedroom door behind him.  "You know," he said, "it's almost time to go back to New York and we  haven't done the one thing we said we came here to do."

Claire glanced up at him from her spot on the sofa with a curious look. "What's that?"

"Discuss the custody arrangement we want to submit to the judge."

An odd expression flickered in her eyes. Luca couldn't tell if it was  disappointment, fear, anxiety or a combination of all three. "Okay.  Let's discuss it, then."

Luca crossed the living-room floor and settled on the couch beside her.  "Have you had a chance to review the proposal that Edmund sent up here  with me?"

"Yes, I looked it over. There wasn't a lot that concerned me. I was  surprised, honestly. It seemed pretty standard to me, and after the time  we've spent here, I think most of my worries about your abilities as a  father have been addressed. I only had one question. The child support  seemed a little high to me."

Luca's brow went up. "High? I'm sure that's the first time anyone's  ever heard that." He wondered, sometimes, if Claire underestimated just  how much he was worth. Any other woman would've done her research and  milked him for every penny.

Claire shrugged off his comment. "Even if I put her in one of the best  schools in Manhattan and dressed her in designer clothes, I wouldn't  need that much each month. We have a nice home, a caregiver. It makes me  worry a little."

"About what?"

"That you're wanting more from me than the plan outlines. Is there an  expectation that I should sell my brownstone and move to Manhattan? The  expense of an Upper East Side apartment near you is the only thing I  could imagine would justify the money."

The thought had crossed his mind a time or two, but he had learned  early on that trying to push Claire would get him nowhere. He had to use  his best negotiating skills to get what he wanted. "That wasn't my  intention, no. But would it be so bad if I wanted that? You'd be closer  to the museum. Closer to the schools we discussed. It would be easier on  Eva to move back and forth between us, or for one of us to step in if  the other needed them."