The Unwanted Wife(21)

“You’re usually at work by this time,” she pointed out.

“Yes, I am,” he agreed. “But since you go to great pains not to be around when I head out in the mornings or come home at night, I figured that the only way I’d know what the hell was going on with you was to stay at home today.”

“You can’t just stay at home.” She was appalled by that notion. “You’re the boss.”

“Exactly, and if the boss can’t take the occasional day off, then there’s really no point in being the boss.” His voice was casual, light even, but his eyes roamed over her small figure almost hungrily, taking in every single detail of her fuller face and rounder figure. They had been like ships passing in the night for nearly three months, with Theresa deliberately evading him when he was in the house. She tended to ignore his text messages and let the machine take his calls. He left little notes for her, sometimes asking her to dinner or asking after her health. He had recently stuck a Post-it on the refrigerator door reminding her to buy new prenatal vitamins because he’d noticed that she was running out. After she’d forgotten to buy the vitamins anyway, she’d found a new bottle on the kitchen table, and a Post-it with a half-dozen exclamation marks drawn on it stuck to the lid.

They still shared the bathroom that connected their bedrooms, which was how he had known that her vitamins were running low, but Theresa always took great care to shower after he left in the morning or before he returned at night. Now, after successfully avoiding him for nearly three months, finding him so casually standing in the kitchen, half-naked and gorgeous, was a bit distressing to say the least.

“Why are you even interested in what’s going on with me?” she asked after a short pause.

“We live in the same house, you’re pregnant with my baby, and I have no idea how you are. The situation is a bit abnormal to say the least, don’t you think?”

“It works for me,” she dismissed casually, turning away from him and toward a cabinet to fetch a cereal bowl.

“So it would seem.”

She heard the fridge door closing and tensed as he padded toward her, coming to a standstill directly behind her and reaching up for another bowl. He was standing so close to her that she could feel the heat coming off his naked chest. His warm, musky scent enveloped her. Theresa shut her eyes and tried to regain her equilibrium in the face of such overwhelming sexuality. He lingered behind her for much longer than he should have before abruptly moving away and leaving her feeling bereft. When she turned back to face him, he was sitting at the wooden table in the sunny breakfast nook and shaking a huge amount of corn flakes into his bowl. When he noticed that she was watching him, he lifted the box inquiringly. She sighed before carrying her bowl to the table and sitting down opposite him. She watched as he sprinkled the flakes into her bowl and topped the dry cereal with strawberry halves and banana slices that he must have prepared earlier.

It was the housekeeper’s day off, so Theresa hadn’t planned on anything fancier than cereal anyway, but the company was unwelcome and unexpected. She watched as Sandro poured a generous amount of milk over her cereal and filled a glass with orange juice, which he nudged across the table toward her. She nodded her thanks before lifting her spoon and awkwardly beginning her meal. Sandro tucked in enthusiastically and was finished before she was halfway done. He leaped up and over to the fridge, digging around in there before triumphantly producing a grapefruit, which he halved, put into bowls, and carried back over to where Theresa was sitting. He placed one half in front of her before he sat down, grimaced to himself, and proceeded on his own half.

“I thought you didn’t like grapefruit.” She broke the silence between them and he grinned over at her while his hair, which was in serious need of cutting, flopped over his forehead endearingly.

“I don’t,” he admitted. “But I thought I’d give it a try anyway.”

“Why?” she asked. He shrugged and she didn’t push for a response.

“So, has the morning sickness completely passed?” he asked after another short silence, and she made a noncommittal sound that he could interpret any way he wanted. He lifted his eyes to hers and something in his expression made her sigh and shake her head.

“Not completely, no…” she admitted. “But it’s a lot better than it was before.”

“What are your plans for today?” he asked, keeping his eyes glued on hers.

“I was going to spend the morning with Lisa and the baby.” Lisa had given birth to a beautiful son just a couple of days after Theresa had had her own pregnancy confirmed.

“Mind if I tag along?” he asked casually, and she frowned, disturbed by the notion of her husband “tagging along” with her all morning.

“Well…” she began reluctantly.

“I wanted to discuss some business with Elisa,” he added.

“What business?” she asked flatly.

“It’s about her loan,” he elaborated.

“What about her loan?” Her voice rose in alarm, but his face remained impassive. “I won’t have you upsetting her, Sandro.”

“Well, I either tell her today, while you’re there as moral support, or I tell her sometime when she’s alone and vulnerable.” He shrugged casually.

“What are you going to tell her?” she asked in a panic.

“I don’t believe that’s any of your business, Theresa,” he dismissed. “Now why don’t you hop into the shower while I clean up down here? I’ll use one of the guest bathrooms this morning.”

She shook her head desperately.

“Sandro, you can’t do this…”

“Well, I have no aversion to doing a bit of housecleaning,” he said, deliberately misunderstanding.

“You know that’s not what I meant,” she hissed, and he cultivated a baffled frown that completely infuriated her.

“Well, if you have a problem with me using a guest bathroom, then I have to tell you, I certainly don’t mind sharing a shower with you.” He grinned lasciviously, and she made an angry sound in the back of her throat before turning on her heel and stalking off with her head held high.




She refused to talk to him for the duration of the drive to Rick and Lisa’s home. It was only as he slid the car through their security gates that she turned toward him.

“Sandro, please don’t do this,” she begged, her beautiful eyes pleading for mercy. The stony expression on his face went even grimmer, and he reached out a blunt forefinger to gently trace the delicate line of her jaw before turning away from her and getting out of the car. She was devastated by his lack of response and climbed out when he came around to open the door for her. He took her hand but she tensed and tried to drag her hand out of his grip. For a moment, when his hand tightened around hers, she didn’t think he would allow it, but after a few moments he reluctantly released her. He placed a hand in the small of her rigid back and steered her toward the front steps, which led up to the house.

Lisa had been expecting her and was waiting in the doorway with a huge smile on her face. She still retained the few kilograms that she had picked up during her pregnancy, but she radiated happiness and good health. She greeted Theresa effusively, enveloping her in a warm hug, and spared a slight smile for Sandro, who loomed above both of them.

“Alessandro, what a surprise.” She nodded politely. “I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“I took the day off,” he responded. “And when I heard Theresa was coming for a visit, I thought I’d come along with her and see that baby of yours again.” Again? Theresa wasn’t aware that Sandro had troubled himself to see the baby before now, and she frowned in confusion, wondering why Lisa hadn’t mentioned it to her. “Also, I had some business I needed to discuss with you.” Theresa tensed at the last bit, but Lisa smiled and nodded, making Theresa wish that she had called ahead to warn her cousin of the impending disaster.

Why would Sandro do this now? When he was getting everything he could possibly want? What merit was there in destroying Lisa’s business? She looked up into his relaxed face and wondered if she could have misread the situation. But what other business could he possibly have to discuss with her cousin?

Lisa led them into the house and Sandro immediately gravitated toward the three-month-old baby who was seated in a blue baby seat placed on the living room’s coffee table. His entire face seemed to light up at the sight of the infant, and Theresa watched in fascination as he sank to his haunches until his face was level with the baby’s.

“He’s grown a fair bit since I saw him last,” Sandro observed in delight, reaching out to grab one of the infant’s flailing hands.

“Well, I should hope so since he never stops eating.” Lisa grimaced and Sandro laughed. Theresa took a step back, feeling like she’d just stepped into some alternate universe. Sandro was crooning down at little Rhys in Italian, and the baby was staring up at him raptly, his green eyes unblinking. “Would either of you like something to drink?” Lisa asked politely, and Theresa shook her head numbly, watching while Sandro nimbly undid the straps of the baby seat and lifted the infant into his arms.