The Unwanted Wife (Unwanted #1)(46)
“Yes. Oh my God! There he goes again…” She laughed in delight and without thinking grabbed one of his hands and placed it over the gentle flutter, low in her abdomen. His hand was so big; it covered nearly the entire little mound of her stomach. He sucked in a ragged breath when the baby fluttered again as if on cue, and uttered an incredulous laugh.
“Dio…” he breathed, sounding as awed as she felt. He kept his eyes glued to their hands, his on her stomach and her smaller, paler hand resting over his. “Does that hurt, bella mia?”
“No,” she giggled. “It kind of tickles.”
“Yes, well, give it a couple of months and it’s going to be hellishly uncomfortable,” a dry voice interjected from the doorway. Theresa squeaked in surprise, lifting her hand from Sandro’s while he, keeping his warm hand on her stomach, turned leisurely to face her cousin. Lisa stood framed in the doorway with Rick and Rhys, and they were the portrait of a perfect family.
“That was fast,” he observed before, reluctantly, moving aside and removing his hand from her belly. Theresa felt the loss keenly and tried to hide it by smiling brightly at her cousin.
“Thank you for coming,” Theresa murmured, her eyes filling up, and her cousin moved farther into the room, leaning over the bed to hug Theresa warmly.
“Oh, darling, I’m always here for you,” Lisa whispered into her ear, and Theresa, without any warning whatsoever, surprising even herself, burst into tears. “No…oh no, sweetheart, don’t…” her cousin was crooning. “Don’t upset yourself like this; it’s not good for you or the baby.”
Theresa made a concerted effort to pull herself together, embarrassed by her mini breakdown. Rick was on the other side of the bed; he had Rhys cradled to his chest in a baby sling and was holding one of her hands with both of his, adding his silent support to her obvious distress.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that,” she choked out slightly, and Rick grinned down into her distraught face.
“Hormones. You know what you-know-who was like. The cost of tissues was bankrupting me,” he said in a stage whisper, jerking his jaw in Lisa’s direction, and Theresa half giggled, half sobbed in reaction before looking around the room in confusion.
“Where’s Sandro?” she asked warily.
“Never thought I’d ever feel sorry for the guy,” Rick told her half-seriously. “But when you turned on the waterworks, the poor dude looked like someone who’d just been told that both his best friend and dog had died in the same freak accident. He hovered for a few seconds before hot-footing it out of here like the hounds of hell were on his tail.”
“Well…” Theresa shrugged bravely. “This is more than he signed up for.”
“Oh, please.” Lisa rolled her eyes disdainfully. “This is exactly what he signed up for. He wanted you pregnant, remember?”
“I remember.” Theresa nodded forlornly.
“Look, far be it from me to defend the guy,” Rick intervened reasonably. “I mean you know I can’t stand him after the way he treated you. I would have cleaned his clock ages ago if you hadn’t called me off, Terri…but quite honestly the man looked downright pitiful just now. Not your typical ruthless Sandro.”
“I’ve seen a change in him lately too, Theresa,” Lisa said.
“Please.” Theresa shook her head. “He’s the same as he’s always been. He wants out of this marriage and so do I.”
“Theresa…” Lisa murmured in her most reasonable voice.
“Lisa, don’t defend him. You don’t know what he’s done…” And suddenly it all came out: how he’d blackmailed her to prevent her from divorcing him, using Lisa’s loan as his leverage. “He probably gave you that loan so that he would have some kind of future hold over me if I ever stepped out of line!” Rick and Lisa exchanged a meaningful look before Rick shrugged, seeming to answer some unspoken question from Lisa.
“Theresa.” Her cousin still clasped one of her hands tightly. “I know about that.”
“You do?” She was shocked. “How? How long have you known?”
“Sandro confessed all the last time you two came by. Remember? He wanted to talk to me alone?” Theresa nodded dazedly. “For whatever reason, he doesn’t want or need that leverage anymore. He offered to write off my debt entirely. I refused but I get the feeling that he’s going to do it anyway.”
“That’s what he wanted to talk about that day?” Theresa gasped incredulously.
“Yes, and he made me swear not to tell you about it but I suppose these are extenuating circumstances.” Lisa nodded and Theresa frowned in concentration.
“I don’t understand any of this…why would he do that?” she asked in confusion before her face cleared up and she laughed at her own stupidity. “Well, he doesn’t really need the leverage anymore, does he? Not when I’m doing exactly what he wants? But to clear the debt before the baby’s born still doesn’t make sense…unless…”
“Is this a private conversation or can anyone join in?” Rick interrupted her musing drily and she blinked up at him. “I think you’re overanalyzing. From what Lisa tells me he was desperate to cancel that debt. She thinks, and I’m inclined to agree after what I just saw, that he wants a clean slate with you but doesn’t really know how to go about it.”