Luca stood and walked to her. Taking her hands in his, he looked into blue eyes now as watery as the Mediterranean Ocean, but far more troubled. ‘Any children we have will be loved for who they are, Olivia. You needn’t worry they’ll be spare-part babies. I wouldn’t entertain the notion of asking our children to donate a kidney or even bone marrow.’
She seemed to weigh up his words. Her lips twisted and in response his gut wrenched because it looked as though she was considering the sincerity of his statement.
Surely she trusted him by now?
Surely she knew it wasn’t in his nature to lie and he’d never lie to her?
But then, he hadn’t been completely open with her either. Olivia shouldn’t have had to stumble across this internet article. He should’ve told her right from the outset this was a possibility. He hadn’t because he hadn’t wanted her to think this was the reason he wanted to marry and start a family with her.
‘But, you’d agree to using the umbilical cord stem cells for Christiana, wouldn’t you?’ she asked before he could dwell on all the reasons he’d wanted to marry her and how happy he was she was his wife.
‘I can’t see any reason not to. After all, if it isn’t used, the cord is thrown away after the baby’s birth, not doing anybody any good.’
***
Olivia schooled her features so they showed nothing of the inner turmoil she felt.
She’d given every opportunity to Luca to come clean about this medical knowledge and how the doctor had advised him to have a child with her. He denied he’d ever use a child as a donor—other than for the cord blood—but how could she trust him when he wasn’t confessing to his conversation with the doctor?
Damn. Damn. Damn.
Should she come straight out and ask him if this was the reason he’d married her?
Was she ready to hear him admit it?
The housekeeper came to the doorway of the living room. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt, Signore and Signora Borghetti, but the doctor is on the phone. He’d like to speak with you, signore.’
Olivia’s heart catapulted and every muscle clenched as her brain shrieked out a protest.
A bitter taste filled her mouth as Luca squeezed her hands before releasing them and moving towards the door. ‘This could be the call we’ve been waiting for!’
Even while she wanted to bar his exit from the room to stop him from speaking to the doctor, Olivia’s muscles set rigid. Every facial feature set like stone because she knew exactly why the doctor was calling. He’d promised he’d respect the patient-confidentiality expectation, yet here he was phoning Luca to tell him his wife was pregnant.
Oh yes. This was the call Luca had been waiting for. He’d been waiting for it since he’d first proposed, but it was the one all medical ethics demanded the doctor should never be making.
Again she cursed the Borghetti family and the damned power their wealth and reputation wielded in Italy. Olivia vowed she wouldn’t let the Borghetti influence corrupt her child’s life. Christiana was welcome to the cord blood but Luca would not use this baby for spare parts and would not train him or her in the Borghetti mindset that made this family manipulate and use people to bend them to their will.
Her original instincts had been to get on the next available flight back to Australia—as far away as possible from Luca’s reach. She knew the longer she stayed in Italy, the more chance he’d discover she was pregnant, but she hadn’t known the doctor would break his word and Luca would know so quickly. She’d wanted to give Luca a chance to confess and win back her trust.
He hadn’t.
Anger stirred. Her position was untenable.
How could she stay here and put her child at risk?
But, how could she leave Rome when it meant leaving Jane’s daughter behind?
It was unthinkable to even get Christiana to Sydney somehow. Not only would the long flight put her health at risk but it wouldn’t be morally right considering how close she was to Luca.
One possibility after another flitted through her brain only to be rejected.
Her mind whirled. She needed some space away from Luca to be able to think clearly. Right now she wanted to be back in the security of her family home.
That was it!
She’d tell him she wanted to return to Australia to oversee the sale of their family home now they were living permanently in Rome. She had her reason to leave.
But how can you leave? Reality crashed in. How can you leave Christiana? You want to stay with her. You made a promise to stay. Jane would expect you to stay.
Still frantically trying to think of a way out of her dilemma, she was cursing the doctor’s lack of ethics again when Luca walked back into the room, his face alight with happiness.
‘Tesoro! It’s wonderful news,’ he told her as he walked quickly towards her.
Each vertebra locked rigid.
What reason was she going to give for not having told him she was pregnant? A surprise to spring on him later tonight?
Her lower back began to ache as she wondered how to react. Happy. She had to be happy, of course. He couldn’t suspect she was anything but happy or she’d never make it out of Italy if that’s what she decided to do.
Luca took her in his arms and delivered a searing kiss that robbed her of breath.
How could she walk away from Luca when, despite everything he’d done, she loved him and carried his child?
‘It’s the answer to all our prayers,’ he breathed as his arms almost crushed her against him. ‘The doctor has confirmed a compatible bone marrow donor has been found!’
Chapter 17
‘Finally, bella mia, we can breathe easily.’
Breathe easily? He had to be kidding. The air escaped so quickly from Olivia’s lungs, they may as well have been punctured.
Luca’s deep laugh resonated with happiness. ‘Olivia! Say something! This is the news we’ve been praying for.’
‘I … A donor?’ Surely she had to be hearing things?
‘Si, cara. The doctor was alerted by the international bone marrow registry and called us immediately.’
Christiana had a donor.
The doctor hadn’t told Luca Olivia was pregnant.
‘It’s fantastic news.’ Elation shone from his face. ‘Let’s go and tell Marjorie.’
Olivia should be able to breathe easily but had never felt so lost and superfluous in her life. Of course she was thrilled a donor had been found. Of course she was delighted for Christiana. Yet, somehow the fabulous news they’d waited for fell flat in the face of her new-found circumstances.
I’m a dreadful person, she told herself. How can I be thinking about my situation when I should be dancing around with delight at this news?
Luca was elated now a solution had been found for Christiana. How happy would he be if he discovered all the plans he’d hatched—all the deception he’d engaged in to have Olivia marry him and fall pregnant—had succeeded but were no longer necessary?
The bone marrow would be pumped into Christiana and Olivia was confident Jane’s little girl would recover, but Luca was still married to a woman who’d been selected on the basis of DNA. He no longer needed her DNA. He no longer needed her as his wife, but the more important repercussions of his manipulation didn’t end there.
They’d conceived a child that’d been wanted by Luca for the precious umbilical cord blood its creation would provide, and possibly because he’d wanted its bone marrow. That child was no longer required either.
‘Olivia? Are you well?’
‘I …’ God, no. She was far from well. One more emotional upheaval and she’d probably throw up right over the luxurious Persian rug she stood on. ‘I’m … speechless.’
On such a high he didn’t register the body language accompanying her sickening realisations, Luca teased, ‘I’ll mark it up as a first!’
She sent him a weak smile and it was then, he finally registered her lack of a joyous response. ‘Cara? What’s wrong?
Are you worried about telling your mum about this? The registry won’t have made a mistake. This is Christiana’s big chance. It’s definite.’
She closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘I’m …’ No, she could hardly tell him she was feeling dizzy or he might automatically assume she was pregnant.
But, you’re going to have to tell him at some stage you’re carrying his child. You would always have had to tell him at some point and now it has to be sooner because you know your baby’s no longer at risk of being used for spare parts.
But, how will he react?
‘You’re?’ he prompted.
Pregnant.
She gave herself a mental shake and forced a brighter smile. ‘I’m sorry. Of course it’s wonderful news, but I’d like to be the one to go and tell Mum.’
‘Ah.’ His eyes held questions and he appeared to digest her words for a moment as though he tried to work out her reasoning. Then the slight tension in the atmosphere was over. ‘That’s not a problem. I’ll let you tell her the happy news while I tell Christiana.’
He went to kiss her and she stiffened.
‘Tesoro, there’s something else bothering you. Tell me.’
Yeah, there’s something bothering me. You’re a low-down conniving rat who duped me into believing in you—duped me into … caring for you … into loving you. Damn! She’d been manipulated by a master.
Digging deep, she reached further into her resolve than she’d ever needed to reach before and met his gaze directly. ‘Are you absolutely sure we won’t be getting everyone’s hopes up only to have them crashing down?’
‘Completely sure.’
‘Okay.’ She forced herself to dwell only on the great news. ‘That’s fantastic. I’ll go and tell Mum.’
***
‘What am I supposed to do, Mum?’ Unable to sit still, Olivia walked around her mother’s bedroom, while her mother sat on the bed.
‘Tell him, darling. He deserves to know.’
‘Does he?’ One hand cut through the air. ‘He only wanted this baby as a spare-parts child for Christiana, and now a bone marrow donor has been found, he doesn’t even need this baby and he doesn’t need me.’
‘Olivia, please—’
‘He didn’t even tell me about his plans and give me a choice!’
Marjorie stood up. ‘For starters, stop moving around while you’re talking to me! It’s driving me crazy and you can’t think rationally when you’re so wound up.’ She steered Olivia to a chair in the corner, surprising Olivia with her authority and determination.
‘I haven’t stopped thinking about it.’
‘Olivia, dear, think about how much Luca loves Christiana,’ Marjorie despaired.
‘I love her too. Love for her doesn’t give either of us the right to deliberately conceive—’
‘Do you imagine for a second Luca would allow Christiana to donate bone marrow or an organ to another child?’ Olivia frowned and Marjorie pressed her point. ‘Exactly. He wouldn’t. So, if he wouldn’t allow his brother’s child to be subjected to such a procedure, do you really think he’d allow his own child to be a donor?’
Olivia bit down on her lower lip. What her mum said made sense, but … ‘Even if he wouldn’t have gone to those lengths, he still married me because he wanted a child for the cord blood.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Why else would he want children so quickly?’
Marjorie shrugged and smiled in bemusement. ‘Because, if his interactions with Christiana are anything to go by, he loves kids, he’s great with them, and he wants kids of his own.’
They were the reasons he’d given.
‘Why are you so quick to think the worst of him, Livvy?’
Good grief. Her mother hadn’t called her Livvy since she’d been a teenager.
‘You’ve both seemed so happy together,’ Marjorie continued. ‘In fact, I’ve never seen you so happy.’
Olivia buried her face in the palms of her hands. She had been happy but it’d been a fool’s happiness. ‘He married me as a baby-making machine.’
‘I don’t think it’s the only reason he married you and I don’t even believe he wants you to fall pregnant for the reasons you’ve convinced yourself to believe.’
‘Well, the other reason he wanted me as his wife was because I love Christiana—probably more than any other woman he would’ve married—and this way you get to stay in Italy too.’
Marjorie’s eyes lit with humour.
How could her mother see anything funny in this situation?
‘Has he been loving?’
‘He’s a good actor,’ she grumbled even as her cheeks flushed. But even as she thought of all his lovemaking, she felt cheated. ‘I was making love. He was procreating.’
This time, her mum laughed. ‘Your father and I used to despair of your stubbornness when you were a child, Liv.’
Olivia jumped to her feet, the heat of agitation starting to prick across her chest. ‘Well, of course you think he’s loving. He’s well aware you expect him to be all honeymoon-like when you’re around!’
‘And when I’m not around?’ she asked pointedly.
‘He doesn’t love me.’ She crossed her arms in front of her chest. ‘In his opinion romantic love doesn’t last.’
‘Nick and Max told me at the wedding how pleased they were Luca had met you. Each of them commented on how they’d never seen Luca looking so content.’
‘Yes. He was content because I was so damned easy to manipulate and all his plans were falling into place!’
‘I don’t believe he’s a manipulator. Stop casting him with the same character as Damiano.’
Olivia was pained beyond belief that her mother was prepared to overlook all the evidence and defend Luca. She didn’t try to conceal her hurt. ‘I’ve come to you for support, Mum. Why are you siding with him? Can’t you even try to see things from my point of view?’
‘Oh, Olivia.’ Marjorie’s eyes became bright with unshed tears. ‘I’m trying to support you. Don’t you see that if both of us were coming at this from your point of view it wouldn’t do you any good?’
‘No, Mum.’ There was no stopping her tears. ‘I feel like I’ve been used—badly—far worse than Carl ever used me. I came to you because I’m tired of defending myself. I’m tired of having to try to figure out the best way to solve everybody else’s problems and having nobody to help me solve mine. I need you to champion me.’
Marjorie sent Olivia a sad smile and told her gently, ‘You have a champion, Olivia. A wonderful champion. You only have to allow yourself to trust in him.’
Olivia expelled a breath of disbelief. Had her mother heard anything she’d said?
‘Stop sabotaging your own happiness, darling.’
‘Is that what I’m doing? God, Mum, I want to be happy. I wish I could be married to a guy who loved me. I wish I could bring up this child in a loving family, but I have to protect myself and this baby. Damiano Borghetti threatened my life! Antonio deserted Jane when he should’ve stood by her. I wanted to believe Luca wasn’t as toxic as his father and brother, but I can’t take the risk.’
Marjorie sighed as she held her hands up in defeat. ‘Your body’s running rampant with pregnancy hormones and it’s not like you to be so irrational. The only truth I know is you’re carrying Luca’s child—your husband’s child. Only this morning you were thrilled about the possibility you could be pregnant.’
‘That was before—’
‘I know. But, I’m telling you to stop judging him on the basis of all your Borghetti biases. Perhaps he didn’t tell you about the cord blood because he never intended to use it?’
Oh God. Her mother was so naive sometimes. ‘Mum,’ she grated. ‘He took me out around Rome the day after the doctor mentioned the pregnancy possibility.’ She didn’t add He took me to bed the following night. ‘Do you really want your grandchild growing up under the influence of anyone from the Borghetti family when we know how manipulative and deceitfu
l they can be?’
‘Luca is not Damiano. And, I have a grandchild growing up under Luca’s influence and she’s absolutely adorable, thank you very much.’
Her mother’s defence was impressive. All this from the woman who’d been so low she’d seemed at some points to be too depressed to have the energy to eat. It was an incredible transformation, even if her adamant beliefs were misplaced and she was defending the very man she should be cursing.
Marjorie had well and truly fallen for Luca’s charms. Well, hadn’t Olivia?
‘Now, don’t get yourself all worked up, Olivia, because all this stress is not good for you or the baby.’
Olivia was still incredulous as her mum wrapped her arms around her and patted her on the back. ‘Go to bed, darling, have a good night’s sleep and all this is bound to be much clearer in the morning.’
‘You think?’
Hell. She still had to face her loving husband, who had no idea she’d found out about his duplicitous nature, and probably still expected her to fall into his arms and provide him with a night of sexual entertainment.
‘Talk to him, Olivia. Don’t be bitter based on all your suppositions.’
‘If he had an inkling of how angry I am right now, he’d stay well away from me.’
Chapter 18
‘Finally,’ Luca said as Olivia entered their bedroom. ‘I thought I was going to have to send out a search party for you.’
‘I’ve been talking to Mum.’
‘I know. I bet she was so excited she won’t sleep well tonight.’ He smiled. ‘I don’t think I’ll sleep well either, but I can think of a fabulous way to spend a sleepless night.’
He went to pull her close but she stepped away from him. ‘I have a headache.’
He frowned. ‘How long have you had it?’
‘Since after dinner. I’m … a bit tight across the shoulders.’
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