The Count's Christmas Baby

by Rebecca Winters

  Ric...

  When Sami had been defending him in the hotel room before learning his identity, she’d said he was the most honorable man she’d ever known. She’d believed it at the time and believed it now to the depth of her soul.

  “After you and I were buried under the snow, I was positive my father was already dead. While we waited for the end to come, I realized that promise would never be fulfilled. I prayed for Claudia and Vito who’d be at the mercy of Eliana’s father once the funeral services were over. He would swoop in and take everything out from under them. It would read like a novel and make headlines felt throughout the country.”

  She trembled. “But you did live through that avalanche.” Since then he’d been carrying this nightmare on his shoulders and standing on the edge of a financial precipice.

  History had taught her that kingdoms had been lost or won on the promises sealed with lands and dowries. In this case his father’s scandalous behavior had cost their family the Degenoli empire. It wasn’t fair. It was an archaic, evil system, just as he’d said.

  Her thoughts flew back to the day she’d asked him if he were rich. He’d responded with what she now knew was a riddle. The second Eliana called off the wedding, Ric’s family would be ruined. Sami couldn’t stand it. If she hadn’t come to Italy, none of this would be happening. Ric was in real danger now.

  He’d told her he had his own reasons for asking Eliana to marry him. Now that Sami understood what they were, she needed to leave the country. If Eliana’s father were pushed too far, he might come after the one thing Ric valued above all else. Their baby...

  At this point there was only one thing to do, but she needed to get rid of Ric first. “After what you’ve told me, I can’t bear for you to be here any longer. Please don’t let me keep you. You need to go to her father and work this out.”

  He gave an elegant shrug of his shoulders. “There might be nothing to work out now he knows there’s no title involved in the transaction. We’ll see.”

  “Ric—there has to be some way to make this right.”

  “That could be asking too much, Sami. You’ve heard of the sins of the father, and I’m my father’s son with a baby and no title.”

  There might even be bloodshed. Was that why Ric never took a step without his bodyguards?

  Tears coursed down her cheeks. “I’d give anything to help you. What are you going to do?”

  He looked so grim, she thought he must be ill. “Whatever I have to.” His pain-filled eyes devastated her. “What will you do while I’m gone?”

  No matter his pain, he was still worried about her.

  Put on a face, Sami. Don’t let him know.

  “None of us got much sleep last night. I’m going to catch up on mine while the baby has a long nap. Later on I plan to phone my sister and let her know I’m installed in a real palace with the man who refused to be king.”

  Ric’s sharp intake of breath reverberated against the walls. “I don’t know when I’ll be back. It’ll probably be late.”

  “Take care,” she called after him.

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE second he strode from her room, Sami moved over to the table and pulled out her cell phone to call her sister. Pat wouldn’t appreciate being awakened at two in the morning, but this was an emergency. After three rings she picked up.

  “Sami?”

  “I’m sorry to do this to you, Pat, but I need a favor and don’t have time to talk. It’s 11:00 a.m. my time. Will you book me on a flight out of Genoa anytime this afternoon or evening my time, leaving for the States? Phone me back when you’ve got the reservation booked. Love you.”

  After hanging up, she moved over to the table to use the house phone. When a male staff member answered she said, “Could you connect me with Claudia Rossi, please.”

  “One moment.”

  In another thirty seconds Ric’s sister came on the line. “Sami?”

  “Hello, Claudia. I’m so glad you answered. I’d like to talk to you in person. Do you think we could get together for lunch today? Maybe we could meet at a favorite restaurant of yours?”

  “Of course. I’ll come by for you at the side entrance. Shall we say in a half hour?” Claudia knew something was wrong and was playing right along. Sami could hug her for it.

  “That would be perfect. Thank you.”

  She put the phone back on the hook.

  Since she was already dressed in her suit and white blouse, all she had to do was pack the diaper bag with some formula and diapers she’d need for the flight. She couldn’t take her luggage. That would be a dead giveaway. She needed to look like a mother going out for an afternoon with a friend.

  When it was time, she put Ric in his carrycot. Just as she was about to walk out, her phone rang. She picked up. “Pat?”

  “It’s done. Five o’clock on TransItalia to New York. You’ll connect with a Continental flight to Reno.”

  “Bless you. Now I’ve got to go.”

  She left the suite and walked down the magnificent hallway with the baby. Several staff people nodded to her. Claudia’s limousine was waiting at the side entrance as planned. Little Ric was still asleep.

  As Sami climbed inside she whispered, “Can your driver hear us?”

  “Not unless I turn on the switch.”

  “That’s good, because I need your help. We need to devise a plan to get me to the airport without Ric’s bodyguards catching on.”

  “You’re leaving?”

  “I have to. Do you know about your father’s gambling debts?”

  “A little.”

  “Then I need to tell you everything so you’ll understand.” On the drive to the villa, Sami poured it all out. It was time Ric’s family knew the terrible burdens he’d been carrying and the danger he could be in. “After hearing what a ruthless man Eliana’s father is, I wouldn’t put it past him to target our baby as a way to make Ric conform.”

  “I wouldn’t either,” Claudia said with conviction. “You’re doing the right thing and I’m going to help you. Even if Ric never speaks to me again, it will be worth it when he finds out why you left.”

  Sami squeezed Claudia’s hand. “Ric can’t stand for me to take the baby away. After the avalanche, he has this fear he might never see him again. But the situation is too volatile for me to stay in Italy any longer.”

  “Do you know Vito phoned me before you did? Knowing about the rescinding of the title, he’s put two and two together and wants you away from the palace. We both agree you need to be gone until this thing with Eliana is resolved one way or another.”

  Sami heaved a relieved sigh. “Do you have any ideas how to accomplish this? My flight leaves at five o’clock.”

  “I’ve eluded my bodyguards from time to time. Leave this to me.” For a moment she sounded like her brother in one of his teasing moods.

  Claudia pressed the switch and said something in Italian to the driver. Then she turned it off. “I told him to take us back to the villa where we’ll have lunch and stay until five o’clock when you’re due back at the palace. He’ll pass that information on.

  “When we get to the villa, we’ll go inside and have lunch. Then we’ll hide you in the back of my secretary’s car. Signora Bertelli comes every weekday morning at eight and leaves by three. Her car is parked in the rear near my study. The guards won’t have any idea. You can give her your instructions on the way to the airport.”

  Though Sami was in deep pain, she smiled at Claudia. “You’re brilliant.”

  * * *

  Ric left the Fortulezza estate for the last time. His business was finished and his agony over. Every asset including money and properties of the Degenoli fortune were now in the hands of Eliana’s father.

  Thanks to Ric’s father, neither he nor Vito had a job, and neither he nor his siblings had a roof over their heads.

  At least not in Genoa.

  But he’d managed to salvage his mother’s assets, enough for all of them to start a new lif
e on Cyprus and be a real family.

  He was free. Free in every sense of the word.

  His heart pounded like steel striking an anvil. All he could think of was Sami and his son. He climbed in the limousine and told the driver to take him back to the palazzo. Once they arrived at the side entrance, he raced inside and took the steps two at a time to reach the second floor.

  “Sami?” He knocked on her suite door. When she didn’t answer, he opened it and called her name again. No answer. Her things were still around. He hurried through to the nursery. Ric wasn’t in there. Maybe she’d put him in the stroller and had taken him for a walk.

  He phoned Mario. “Have you seen our guests?”

  “No. She and the baby left with your sister for lunch at her villa around eleven-thirty. As far as I know, they’re still there.”

  “Thank you.”

  He hung up and called Claudia. All he got was her voice messaging. Frustrated, he phoned Carlo. “I understand Signorina Argyle and my son are still with my sister.”

  “That’s right. Your sister told the driver the signorina would be leaving at five to return to the palazzo.” Ric glanced at his watch. It was four-thirty. “She’s not answering her phone. Do me a favor and go to the door. I need to speak to her. Tell her to call me.”

  “Bene.”

  A minute later his phone rang. “Claudia? I understand Sami’s still there. Will you put her on?”

  “I’m afraid she’s no longer here.”

  “Then where is she? I’m at the palazzo and there’s no sign of her or Ric.”

  “Listen, Ric—”

  He heard her hesitation. A band tightened around his lungs. Whenever Claudia started out a sentence like that, she was afraid of something. “Where is she?”

  “A-at the airport,” she stammered.

  He knew it. “When does her plane leave?”

  “Five.”

  “What airline?”

  “TransItalia to New York. Don’t be angry. She was afraid Eliana’s father might come after your baby and—”

  “I know exactly how Sami’s mind works.” He cut her off. “But I know something she doesn’t and everything’s going to be fine, so don’t worry. I’ll tell you all the details later.”

  He hung up and phoned Carlo. “Get out to the airport and stop the TransItalia flight that’s supposed to leave at five for New York. Signorina Argyle and my son are on it.”

  “But how could they be?” he asked in bewilderment.

  “You’re dealing with my sister, who knows every trick in the book. I’m taking the helicopter and will meet you there.”

  On his way to the pad at the rear of the palace he phoned Mario. “Instruct the staff to gather up everything Signorina Argyle left in the suite and have it delivered to my private jet ASAP.”

  * * *

  “This way, Signora.” One of the flight attendants helped Sami to the window seat in the coach section at the rear of the plane. With so much commotion, Ric was awake. On the flight over, nothing had seemed to faze him, but he was a different child right now and growing fussier by the minute.

  As soon as she was settled, she picked him up out of his carrycot and held him close while she patted his back. “We’re going home, sweetheart.” She’d cried so many tears, she thought she’d be dry by now. But the baby’s tears started hers up all over again.

  The plane filled fast. Every seat looked taken. Pat must have pulled a few strings to get Sami on this flight. She couldn’t credit that they were really leaving. She felt as if her heart was being torn out of her body.

  Knowing Ric, she knew she’d see him again, of course, but he’d probably be a married man when he could find the time to fly to Reno. She had no doubts he’d work out all the complications with Eliana and her father to preserve his family’s honor, but nothing between Sami and Ric would ever be the same again.

  Visions of their week together played through her mind like a movie, torturing her to death. The final blow came when the Fasten Seatbelts light went on. This was it.

  She had to put the baby back in his cot and fasten the straps. He didn’t like it at all. She pulled a bottle out of the diaper bag. Once she was strapped in, she held it to his mouth so he’d drink, but he wasn’t interested and fought her.

  She gave up. Once in the air, she’d be able to hold him and get him to settle down. She let his fingers curl around hers, hoping the contact would keep him preoccupied. The male passenger in army fatigues seated next to the baby smiled at her. “Hi. I’m Gary.”

  A real live hero from the military. He looked so totally American with his butch cut, she couldn’t help but smile back. “I’m Sami. This is my son, Ric.”

  “He’s awfully cute.”

  “Thanks, but he’d be a lot cuter if he weren’t so upset.”

  Whatever the soldier said back was lost to her because she noticed a couple of Italian men in nondescript suits who didn’t look like passengers walking down the aisle toward her. They were scanning the packed plane.

  As they drew closer, Sami recognized one of them and gave a little gasp of shock. Ric’s bodyguards. Her heartbeat took off at a breathtaking pace.

  The men reached her row in a hurry. “Signorina Argyle? There was an irregularity with your passport before you boarded the plane. You will have to come with us please on orders of the Chief of Police.” Chief Coretti was involved?

  The soldier’s eyes widened before he got to his feet and stepped out in the aisle to make room. One of the bodyguards took the diaper bag while the other picked up the carrycot holding her baby.

  “Good luck,” the soldier said as she stepped past him.

  She was in too much shock to answer him, because by now another man stood behind the security men. The glint of glittering eyes black as jet was unmistakable.

  “Ric!”

  He must have noticed her legs start to buckle. The next thing she knew he crushed her in his strong arms. “Hold on to me, darling. Keep holding on and never let go.”

  “Tell me what this means,” she half moaned.

  Ric buried his face in her hair. “It means I’m free to ask you to marry me. If you don’t say yes this instant, you’re in a lifetime and beyond of trouble.”

  Sami didn’t even take an instant before she found his mouth to give him her answer. After having to hold back for so long, her hunger for him had taken over.

  The passengers began clapping. She heard a few wolf whistles. In the background above the din she could hear their son wailing loudly enough to wake the dead, but for once she had to attend to her own needs first.

  “I love you, Enrico Alberto Degenoli the thirteenth, but you’ve always known that.”

  “Sami, Sami. Tesora mia. I adore you.”

  She heard throats being cleared.

  “Excellency,” one of his bodyguards whispered. “We need to exit the plane so it can take off.”

  Sami giggled for happiness. “I’m afraid it’s harder for you to get rid of your title than you thought.”

  “As long as it haunts everyone else, that’s all that matters. Give me your mouth one more time.”

  * * *

  Three days later she walked down the aisle of the church in Paphos with her new husband, beaming at the small crowd of beloved faces of friends and family members on both sides who’d come to see them married. Their baby rested against Pat’s shoulder. When Sami looked at her sister, they had one of those communication moments.

  They were both remembering Pat’s warning over the phone. You might be walking into something you wish you could have avoided. Not all people are as nice and good as you are, Sami. I don’t want to see you hurt. Was it only ten days ago?

  Pat blew her a kiss. It said, You were right to look for Ric’s grandfather. You were on the path to your destiny. Sami flashed her a brilliant smile.

  The doors at the back of the church opened to the sunlight. What a glorious wedding day! She looked at the handsome man she’d just pledged her life to. Sam
i was so in love with him she couldn’t contain it. “Oh, Ric—”

  “I know,” he said, reading her mind. “We’ve got to get each other to ourselves quick.”

  “Just a few more pictures, then we’ll kiss the baby and go.”

  Everyone followed them outside. So many hugs and kisses, but it was clear Ric had trouble letting go of their son. Sami could be jealous, but she wasn’t.

  Finally they climbed in the back of the car and Vito drove them to the harbor where the cabin cruiser was waiting. As he helped them get on board, he hugged her, then his brother. Sami heard him say, “I’ve talked it over with Donata. She’s excited to move here with everyone.”

  Ric gave him a bear hug back.

  When they moved below to the galley, she caught his face in her hands. “What was that all about?”

  “I’ll tell you later. First, I need to get you out of your wedding dress. You looked like a golden-and-white angel in there today, Sami.” He kissed her pliant mouth. “But will you forgive me if I confess I’ve been waiting to take this off you since the second I saw you in it?”

  She gave him a playful smile. “I have a confession of my own to make. For eleven endless months I’ve longed to lie in the arms of the man who held me in the avalanche. All we had was each other and very little air to breathe. I want to re-create that time over and over again, forever.”

  His eyes burned like black fire, filling her with longing as he carried her to the bed. She embraced him with a love she no longer had to hide.

  They lost track of time in their desire to give each other pleasure. Her unseen lover was now her husband, a man whose lovemaking brought her the most ineffable joy. Hours later they surfaced to discover it was night.

  She half lay on top of him. Sami rubbed the side of his jaw with her cheek. “Hmm. I feel a little stubble. Do you know I love every single thing about you whether we’re in the dark or the light?”