The CEO's Unexpected Child(30)

Luca nodded slowly. "I don't want you to settle. I've never wanted a  woman to settle for me, and I don't want you to have anything less than  you deserve. Selfishly, I'll tell you that I love you, Claire. The time  we've spent apart has been agonizing. I absolutely want our children to  play a part in my life, but I'll be honest when I say it will kill me to  see you every time we pass the children from one household to the  other. It's not at all what I want. I want us to be a family, together,  but I'm worried."

"About what?"

"I'm worried that I'm going to get sick again. I know I shouldn't let  it affect my decisions and how I live my life, but I need you to know  that it's a real possibility. If you can accept that and want us to be a  family, okay. If losing you is the price I pay for my sins, I accept  that, too."                       
       
           



       

"Sins?" Claire's eyes were overflowing with tears as she listened to  him speak. He was already punishing himself far more harshly than she  ever would have. "You haven't committed any sins, Luca. You've just been  hurt. We've both been hurt. We let that disappointment get between us.  We can't let that happen again."

A spark of hope glimmered in Luca's eyes as he looked up at her. "Does that mean there's a chance of us being a ‘we' again?"

Claire nodded through her tears. "I love you too much to just walk away."

A wide grin broke out across Luca's face, making her chest ache. She couldn't help returning the smile. "You love me?"

"I do."

Luca looked up at her with a suddenly serious expression. "We're in  love, you're having my baby and I'm already down on one knee. I guess  there's just one thing left to do, Claire."

She stiffened in her seat at his words. Did he mean what she thought he meant? Was he actually...?

"Claire Marianne Lawson," Luca began, "you came into my life in the  most unexpected of ways and you gave me the greatest gift I could ever  imagine-our beautiful little Eva. Being with you has been some of the  happiest times of my life. Every day I want to get out of bed and find a  way to make you smile. I want to do that for the rest of my life. Will  you allow me to do that by giving me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Before she could respond, Luca reached into his pocket and pulled out a  small, velvet box. He lifted the lid, and Claire found a beautiful oval  diamond solitaire inside. On one side was a round, dark blue sapphire.  On the other was a lighter blue stone.

"The sapphire is for Eva, since she was born in September," he  explained. "The blue topaz is for the new baby. By my calculations, he  or she should arrive in late December. If I'm wrong and the baby doesn't  show up until January, we'll change it to a garnet."

Claire's eyes blurred with tears to the point that she couldn't make  out the details anymore. It didn't matter. It was the most perfect ring  he ever could've given her. She didn't care how many carats it was or  how much money he'd paid. It represented not only their commitment to  each other, but their children. That made it the most precious piece of  jewelry she could ever wear.

"Yes," she said at last, realizing she hadn't yet answered his very important question. "Yes, I will marry you."

Luca took the ring from the box and slipped it onto her finger. She  glanced at it for only a moment before reaching out and pulling Luca's  face to hers. Their lips met, giving her the thrill she craved more than  a ring.

He didn't disappoint. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he stood up,  pulling Claire out of the chair with him. She laced her fingers at his  nape and pulled him closer to her. She couldn't get enough of him. She'd  come far too close to losing his touch forever.

Finally, Luca pulled away, still holding her tight in his arms. "We'd  better stop. I don't think Edmund would be too pleased with me making  love to my fiancée on his conference-room table."

Claire beamed at his use of her new title. "Well," she argued,  "considering how much my fiancé has paid for his services, we should be  able to do whatever we'd like."

"Soon," he promised, planting another, shorter kiss on her lips. "We've  just got to call off the dogs and I'll whisk you home and make love to  you all afternoon."

"Before we go, I just have one question. How did you know my maiden name?" Claire asked as she looked up at him.

Luca gave her a sly smile. "You ran a background check on me, so I ran one on you. It's only fair, right?"

She smiled wide. "Absolutely. Did you find out anything interesting while you were nosing around?"

"Just that you got a D in freshman chemistry, and your favorite food is listed on Facebook as Thai. Thai? Really?"

"I may need to update that," Claire admitted with a smile. "I'm pretty partial to Italian lately."                       
       
           



       

"You'd better be. So," he continued with a heavy sigh. "Are we ready to let the sharks know the good news?"

Claire nodded. "Let's get it over with so I can get you home and out of this suit."

"Edmund!" Luca shouted toward the conference-room door.

A moment later the door burst open with both lawyers standing anxiously  in the doorway. They looked curiously at Luca and Claire, wrapped in  each other's arms.

"Yes?"

"Withdraw the custody motion. We don't need to go to court." Luca kept  his dark hazel eyes focused only on Claire as he spoke. Her heart  fluttered in her chest when he looked at her that way.

"We don't?"

"No," Claire said with a sly smile. "We're headed to the wedding chapel instead."





Epilogue

July 4th

Martha's Vineyard

"It's not going to zip." Claire was in full-blown panic mode. The  wedding started in less than a half hour and her blossoming belly and  swelling bosom were causing a major issue with her dress.

"It's going to zip," Daisy assured her. "You did the final alteration a  week ago. You haven't gotten that much bigger in the last week."

Claire held her breath as she felt Daisy tug and groan slightly, then  the rush of the zipper as it raced to the top. "Thank goodness," she  said with a sigh of relief.

Her first wedding dress had been a princess extravaganza that made it  impossible for her to use the restroom alone. This time, she'd opted for  something more appropriate for the beach. It was strapless with a  sweetheart neckline and a beaded bodice. The flowing organza gathered  under the bust and draped to the floor. It was light and ethereal, yet  sparkly enough to feel special. She loved it.

"Oh, Claire." Antonia Moretti came into the master bedroom of the  cottage that was doubling as the bridal suite. "You look so beautiful.  Luca will be beside himself when he sees you."

She hoped so. They had put together this wedding plan quickly, which  made her nervous, but she didn't want to be eight months pregnant and  huge in all their wedding pictures. Thankfully, most of it had come  together easily. Gavin had offered the beach house at Martha's Vineyard  as the wedding location. It was the perfect choice, since they'd fallen  in love here. The wedding and reception was taking place on the beach  with a roaring bonfire, a local band playing and a stellar fireworks  show to wrap up the night. The seafood shack up the road was catering a  traditional New England boil on the beach with loads of fresh clams,  mussels, shrimp, spicy sausage, corn and potatoes.

That wasn't what Claire was looking forward to the most. She was  anxious for the cake. Well, the cheesecake. They'd opted out of the  traditional cake and brought in a dozen different cheesecakes from their  nearest restaurant in Newport. Food hadn't been very kind to Claire's  stomach for the first few months of her pregnancy, but she was finally  getting her appetite back. She couldn't wait for Luca to feed her a bite  of creamy cheesecake with fresh strawberries on top.

A soft tap sounded at the door. She almost didn't hear it over the  chatter of Luca's sisters as they did their hair and makeup. Daisy  opened the door and to Claire's surprise her mother was standing there  with Eva in her arms.

"Mom?"

Her mother smiled and stepped into the room, looking so familiar, yet  so different than she remembered. "Hello, Claire. Just look at you.  You're even prettier than I ever dreamed."

Claire rushed over to hug the mother she hadn't seen since right after her marriage to Jeff. "I can't believe you made it."

"Living across the country, I might be horribly neglectful in many  ways, but I'm not going to miss my only child's wedding. It's bad enough  that this is the first time I've seen Eva." She placed a kiss on the  baby's fat cheek. Eva was wearing a little white dress with a tulle tutu  as the honorary flower girl. "That's all going to change, though. Your  stepfather and I are moving to Connecticut next month. Plan on seeing me  a lot more often," she added with a smile.