The Unwanted Wife (Unwanted #1)(36)
“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.
“Coffee would be nice.” He nodded, rocking the baby soothingly. Rhys made an uncoordinated grab for Sandro’s hair and managed to latch on to a tiny fistful of it. Sandro grimaced good-naturedly and said something admonishing to the baby in Italian as he reached up to loosen the baby’s grip. Lisa excused herself to go to the kitchen, but Theresa barely heard her, she was too busy watching her husband with the baby.
“I didn’t know you liked children,” she whispered, one of her hands absently dropping to her still-flat belly in a protective gesture that he couldn’t miss.
“I like babies well enough,” he murmured casually. “I am quite fond of them actually.” She tried to disguise the stab of pain at his words.
“Any baby except mine, of course,” she murmured half under her breath, and he inhaled impatiently, his eyes flaring with fury that he kept contained because of the baby in his arms.
“If you’re going to be making asinine comments like that, please make them when I have both hands free to throttle the life out of you,” he said in the most personable, baby-friendly voice he could manage. He sat down on the sofa still holding Rhys in his arms. Feeling a flare of possessive resentment, Theresa made her way over to him and held out her arms for the baby.
“I would like to hold my cousin’s baby, if you don’t mind,” she informed coldly, and he raised one arrogant brow before standing up and gently depositing the serene baby into her arms. She sat down gingerly in the chair farthest away from the sofa and cooed at the sweet baby she held. Sandro stood up and stretched.
“While you’re busy in here, I think I’ll go and have that chat with Elisa.”
Theresa looked up in alarm, but he was smiling gently down at her, his eyes warm with some emotion she had a hard time defining. “Sandro,” she began quietly.
“You stay in here with Rhys,” he murmured softly. “I don’t want you getting upset by anything Lisa and I may have to say to each other.” Before she could utter another word of protest he was gone. Theresa got up nervously, holding the baby to her chest. Much as she tried to, she could not hear a single sound coming from the direction of the kitchen. She left the living room and slowly inched her way toward the kitchen. She was just outside the slightly ajar door when the sounds of their quiet voices finally reached her.
“But I don’t understand why?” Lisa was asking, sounding baffled but not upset. “I still have at least a year within which to finish the loan. It’s a substantial amount of money, Sandro, so I don’t understand why you would do this.” Theresa bit her lip, wanting to intervene but not sure how anything she could say or do would persuade Sandro to change his mind. She felt helpless and furious and strangely hurt that he would carry out his threat anyway.
“It’s my only real option right now, Lisa.” Sandro’s deep voice rumbled quietly. “I gave you the loan for all the wrong reasons. Reasons which I now…regret. I can’t in good conscience allow it to continue.”
“So let me pay it, and we can put it behind us,” Lisa implored, and Sandro said something that Theresa didn’t quite catch.
“Sandro, this is crazy.” Lisa was starting to sound upset, and Theresa braced herself, preparing to enter the fray come hell or high water. Sandro’s next words cut her short, though.
“Elisa, please, you have to let me do this.” He sounded desperate.
“It doesn’t feel right,” Lisa said, and Theresa frowned in confusion. What on earth was going on here?