Baby for the Billionaire(38)

“It’s every woman’s favorite.”

She smiled at the usual show of Valente arrogance, and all at once he smiled back with the full power of a Valente smile. The breath hitched in her throat.

The waiter returned to refill their glasses, allowing her to mentally break free of Nick.

When they were alone again Nick said, “How would you like to go on a harbor cruise on Wednesday? We have some prospective customers visiting from the States and I need to take them out to lunch and show them the sights. They’re only here for a couple of days.”

For a second, sharp anxiety twisted inside her. Would her father have paid back the money by then? Or would she have to gather her strength for Friday’s deadline? How did a person knowingly send their father to jail?

“The women aren’t anything like Claudine,” Nick reassured her, thankfully reading her hesitation wrong.

“It sounds like fun.”

They ate in silence for a while, until Sasha’s cell phone rang. She left it in her handbag, ignoring it and wishing she’d thought to put it on silent.

“Aren’t you going to answer it?”

“No.”

“It could be important.”

Nothing was as important as lunching with Nick. Every second with him counted.

She gave an unconcerned shrug. “It’s only about the renovations. I’ll get to it later.”

Her phone stopped ringing.

“Would you like dessert, madam?” the waiter asked, suddenly appearing at her side.

“Um …” Her cell started to ring again. She opened her handbag and went to turn it off, but not before she caught the number displayed. It was her mother.

“No, just coffee,” she said, trying to appear unconcerned as she switched the phone off.

Nick asked for coffee, too, then glanced to Sasha, “Was it a contractor?”

Flustered, she said the first thing that came to mind. “What? Oh, no, it was just my mother. I’ll call her back later.”

Nick’s eyes were full of questions. “I’d have thought you’d want to talk to her.”

Oh hell. Was she giving too much away?

“It’s not exactly a subject to be discussed over lunch,” she pointed out.

Nick grimaced. “True.”

Just then Nick’s cell phone began to ring.

He glanced at it. “I don’t know that number.”

“Let me see.” Her heart sank. “It’s my mother.”

He frowned. “Then it must be important if she’s calling me,” he said, handing it straight to her.

There was nothing for it except to answer the phone, but Sasha got a shock as she listened to her mother’s tearful voice. Oh God, she shouldn’t have ignored her previous calls.

“My father’s had a heart attack,” she whispered to Nick in an aside, then spoke to her mother again. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, Mum.” She finished the call.

“We’ll be there soon,” Nick said, gesturing to the waiter, and a few minutes later hurried her out to the waiting car. “What’s his condition?”

“I don’t know.”

Could she have been the cause of this? Her mother would have had to tell him she knew. And having his daughter threaten him with exposure and probable jail would certainly cause him stress enough to have a heart attack.

Yet how could she not do something about what she knew, she wondered, feeling like she was shriveling up with stress herself as they headed to the hospital.

Nick squeezed her hand. “You know, my dad’s heart attack looked bad at first but it ended up only being a mild one.”

She’d forgotten about Cesare’s heart attack. Suddenly she felt guilty. “Nick, you shouldn’t have come with me. I appreciate it, but I don’t want you to go through it all again with my father.”

“Don’t be silly, Sash,” he said gruffly. “I’m your husband.”

Warmth rose up inside her and she had to blink back tears. He’d called her “Sash”—the name he’d called her years ago. It was something she’d forgotten until this moment.

“He’ll be fine.” He pulled her close and she leaned into him, grateful for his presence, comforted by his arms around her, and the now familiar scent of him.

It was only as they were walking toward her mother in the waiting room that Sasha had a tense moment of apprehension. Would her mother inadvertently say something in front of Nick about how Porter had taken the news? Would she blame Sasha’s ultimatum for all this? Nick would have to ask why.