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Dante snorted as he pulled off his gloves and gown, disposing of them.
Olivia had hated that he was a trauma surgeon, working in a public hospital rather than in a private clinic. And his choice of surgery. Why couldn’t he do something like plastic surgery?
In her mind, a prince who was a surgeon needed to do something glamorous that dealt with the glitterati, not just anybody who stumbled in through the doors.
Only that wasn’t him. That was his father’s world and he loathed it.
Dante might be a prince, poised to inherit a large vineyard in Tuscany and his villa on the Lido di Venezia, as well as a hefty sum of money, but Prince was just a title. It wasn’t as if he were a member of the British royal family set to inherit the throne.
Being a prince was just a status in Italy. Nothing more.
His work as a surgeon meant so much more to him.
Working with his hands, doing something important whether it was tending the vines as his grandfather so lovingly had or saving a life.
That was what mattered to him.
Just like the baby that Shay was carrying inside her.
If it’s yours.
Even though there was no long-term future for Shay and him, he was determined to be a good father if she would just let him.
“Dr. Prescarrie should be down soon,” Shay remarked, coming into the scrub room. “He insisted on his own scrub nurse, though.”
“As well he should,” Dante said as he washed his hands. “You’re on my service.”
Shay rolled her neck and winced.
“Are you well?” he asked, concerned, seeing the discomfort etched on her face.
“Yes, just tired. I’m still getting used to the time change. A bit jet-lagged still.”
“Why don’t you go home and rest?”
She frowned. “I’m fine. I can still work and my shift isn’t over yet.”
“Shay, you need to take care of yourself. You’re possibly carrying my baby.”
There was a gasp behind them and they both spun around to see another nurse standing there, her brown eyes wide with shock as she looked between them.
“Sì?” Dante asked in exasperation and frustration. He had no doubt that the nurse had overheard.
“Siamo spiacenti, il Principe, non volevo interromperla.” She was apologizing for interrupting them, but Mrs. Sanders was being treated for a broken wrist and was inquiring after her husband. The patient was worried. Dante told the nurse that he would be there shortly to speak to her.
The nurse nodded and left.
Shay was standing there just as stunned. “She just called you il Principe. Why did she refer to you as the Prince?”
Dante sighed. This was what he’d wanted to avoid.
It was a title and a burden to him.
He was Dante and nothing more.
“Because I am,” Dante said.
“You’re a prince? A real prince?”
“Sì...” Dante sighed. “I am, so your child will also inherit my title if the child is mine. You may be carrying a royal baby.”
* * *
“Shay!”
Shay just shook her head and kept walking. She was trying to process what Dante had said to her: that her child was going to have a royal title. Only if the baby was his and that annoyed her even more. He was so suspicious of her. She hadn’t known that he was a prince, so he couldn’t accuse her of fortune hunting.
But maybe that’s why he’s so suspicious of paternity?
This was all just too surreal.
Of course, it was only fitting that he drop a bombshell on her, just as she’d done to him.
“Shay!”
She stopped and sighed. She couldn’t act like this. This was not professional and she’d promised herself that she would be above all professional when dealing with Dante. She was an adult and this was their child.
“I’m sorry, Dante,” she said. “I guess it was a bit of a shock to find out who you are.”
“It doesn’t change who I am, though,” he said gently.
“How would I know that? I barely know you.” She shook her head. “We’re strangers.”
He sighed at that. “This is true. One week at a conference means nothing.”
“I do realize we have to get to know each other if we’re both going to be involved in this child’s life.”
“Sì, I agree. Which is why you will marry me if the test is positive.”
Shay rolled her eyes. “Not this again. I’m not marrying you, Dante. I’m not going to marry someone I don’t love.”
“I’m not talking about a marriage of love,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’m talking about a marriage of convenience. Just for a year. You live under my roof and we pretend to be man and wife in public.”
“Dante, I’m only here for twelve weeks.”
“So? You’re going on maternity leave when you get back to the United States, sì?”
“Yes, but...I have to go back to the States. My work visa is only good for twelve weeks.”
“If we marry, then you won’t need a visa. You say it’s my child, so why not have our child here, in my country?”
“I...I can’t—I won’t—give up my life, Dante.”
“After a year is over, then you can walk away. With our child, as long as I have parental rights. I will continue to financially support the child.”
“What do you gain from this?” she asked, confused. It all seemed too easy.
“An heir.” He dragged his hand through his dark hair. “I will support the child either way, but while you’re here in Italy, under my roof, I can protect you. Care for you.”
She bit her lip, mulling it over, but she didn’t want to marry. Ever.
Unless it was for love. Absolute, head-over-heels, can’t-get-enough-of-each-other love. She let a hand drift over her belly.
“I can’t, Dante,” she said.
He frowned. “You’re confused. Of course you are. I can see it. You should know that the baby won’t inherit any of my family land if he or she is not legitimized.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Shay asked. “Perhaps it’s better for our baby to be away from all of that.”
His eyes narrowed. “I take my family history very seriously. Being an Affini heir is a thing of pride.”
And then she felt bad because she was insulting him. His values.
Dante was not American. He came from a completely different world than she did.
How can you have family pride when you know nothing about the name you were born with?
Still, she couldn’t agree to marry him. Not now. She needed time to think and she wanted to talk to her friend and colleague, Aubrey, about it. She was so confused.
“We should go and talk to Mrs. Sanders. I’m sure she’s worried.” She turned and kept walking toward the room where Mrs. Sanders had got her broken wrist taken care of. Dante thankfully took the hint as he fell into step beside her.
Mrs. Sanders was lying in a bed, her wrist in a cast, and Shay could see the pain and worry etched on her face. She opened her eyes when they walked into the room.
“Please tell me you have word on my husband,” Mrs. Sanders said.
“I’m Dr. Affini and I did the surgery on your husband.”
“Were you told why he went to surgery?” Shay asked gently.
“He had internal bleeding?” Mrs. Sanders said, a hint of uncertainty in her voice. “That’s all I know.”
“Your husband had major lacerations to his spleen,” Dante said gently. “I had to remove it.”
Shay rubbed the patient’s shoulder as she began to cry.
“He came through the splenectomy well,” Dante said. “Dr. Prescarrie is our neurologist. He is going to check out your husband’s spine.”
“Why?” Mrs. Sanders asked, her eyes tracking to Shay and then back to Dante.
“He was complaining of loss of sensation before we took him into surgery,” Dante said. “Dr. Prescarrie will be able to determine if the paralysis is temporary and what damage was done to the spine. We take loss of function very seriously.”
“Oh, no. This is our thirtieth anniversary. Our kids surprised us with this trip to Italy. We’re on a tour, you see...”
“Were you with the tour company when it happened?” Shay asked.
Mrs. Sanders shook her head. “No, we were having some free time in Venice. We’re leaving for Tuscany tomorrow.”
“Give me the number of the tour operator and I’ll explain what happened. She can contact your family.”
“It’s in my purse over there.” She inclined her head. “Thankfully, I wasn’t thrown into the water. Our passports are in there too if you need them.”
Shay smiled and brought Mrs. Sanders her purse, holding it open so the patient could pull out the information. Shay took it.
“I’ll call the tour operator and they’ll take care of your belongings and everything,” Shay said. “Don’t you worry. Just rest.”
Mrs. Sanders nodded and clutched her purse with her good arm.
“Dr. Prescarrie will update you on your husband as soon as possible, Signora Sanders. For now you’ll stay in this room. Try to rest.” Dante patted the patient’s leg and they walked out of her room. Dante stopped at the nurses’ station to give instructions to the staff about Mrs. Sanders’s stay, before he headed back toward Shay.
“That was very good of you to say you’ll call the tour company.”
“Well, they’re so far from home.” Shay glanced down at the information in her hand. “Is there a place I can call from in private?”
“Sì, follow me.” Dante held out his arm and led her to another part of the hospital until they were standing in front of an office. “This is my office and you may use the telephone in there to contact the tour operator.”
He opened the door for her and flicked on the lights.
“Thank you, Dante.”
He shrugged. “Take your time, but before you go I want to finish our conversation.”
“I thought we were finished with that particular conversation.”
A small smile twitched his lips. “No, we’re not finished. Far from it. Besides, you have a test to go through, cara.”
Dante shut the door and walked away, leaving Shay alone in his office. She breathed a sigh of relief as she took a seat in his leather office chair and punched in the number. She was connected right away to the tour operator and she explained the situation to them. Everything was worked out. Their room in Venice would be held for them for as long as they needed and the tour company would contact the emergency contacts in their file.
The tour company would also contact the insurance and everything would be taken care of.
Satisfied, Shay disconnected the call and leaned back in Dante’s swivel chair. She closed her eyes and the baby fluttered around, feeling like a butterfly. Reminding her again that she was working a bit too hard.
The ob-gyn she’d seen in the United States had said she could do this work, but he had warned her to take it easy.
The only reason she had clearance to take this job was because it was less strenuous than the assignment she was originally on. Running a training and simulation program, as well as assisting a trauma surgeon in the operating theatre, should be a breeze.
The problem was, she hadn’t taken a break.
Her blood sugar was dropping and she needed to eat something.
Something decent.
And she needed rest.
Dante might think their conversation wasn’t over, but as far as she was concerned it was for the evening. She was going to head back to the villa she and her friend Danica were sharing, eat and get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day; she was going to run her first simulation.
She got up and found her way back to the small office she had been given on the other side of the hospital. She grabbed her purse and sweater. She headed toward the back door and from there it was a short walk to the house the United World Wide Health Association had rented for their staff.
If she had a moment, she’d talk to Dante again and tell him again that she wasn’t going to marry him.
Convenience or not, she was a big girl and could take care of herself.
She didn’t need his protection.
As she stepped outside she was blinded by flashing lights and a rush of people crowded her, pressing her back against the wall. She shielded her face, but she couldn’t understand what they were asking her.
She caught a few words, like prince and baby.
Then there was a roar and string of loud, harsh words and strong arms came around her, pulling her close, and she realized it was Dante, shielding her. She clung to him as he shouted at the group of reporters and ushered her back inside. Once they were back inside and the shouting from the mob of reporters was drowned out, she sighed in relief.
“What in the world...?”
“The press got word that you might be carrying my heir,” Dante snapped.
“That’s what they were asking me?”
“Sì,” he said, his dark eyes twinkling with a dangerous light, his hands on his hips, and he began to curse in Italian again.
“I thought that Italian princes were common?” Shay said, mimicking him. “I mean, not like the British royal family...”
“Yes, but with my family there is a bit more scandal. So my brother and I are often in the spotlight. We’re favorites of the paparazzi.”
“And I just gave them their latest scoop.” She ran a hand over her belly. “Is this going to happen all the time?”
Dante scrubbed a hand over his face. “Sì.”
“So that’s what you meant by protecting me?” she asked.
He nodded curtly. “Where are you staying?”
“At the United World Wide Health Association house. It’s not far from here.”
He shook his head. “Not tonight, you’re not. You’re coming to my place.”
“I am not!” she said, getting annoyed with him.
“You’re going to cause a bigger scandal if you don’t agree to my marriage suggestion, especially if the child is mine,” Dante snapped. “You could ruin my reputation at this hospital.”
Shay bit her lip. She didn’t want to ruin his career or his reputation. “You want a marriage of convenience?”
“Sì, that way I can protect you. I have a restraining order against the paparazzi and it will protect you also, if you marry me.”
“So just on paper we’ll be married.”
“Sì, but to make it look real you will have to move into my home for a year.” He rolled his neck and tugged at the collar of his shirt, as if it were suffocating him. It clearly bothered him just as much as it bothered her.
“Do you have enough room?” Shay asked.
He chuckled. “I have an entire villa to myself on the Lido di Venezia. I can give you your own wing if you desire. Just say yes. Let me protect you and our child.”
Even though she should say no, she didn’t want paparazzi stopping her and accosting her when she moved around Venice. Especially where there was a language barrier. Dante could keep them at bay. She ran her hand over her belly again.
This was his baby too. Even if he didn’t believe it at the moment.
What choice did she have? It was just for a year. Only she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t agree to the marriage.
“You’re coming with me,” Dante said. “We’ll get the paternity test done now, put this doubt to rest.”
“I don’t have a say in this?”
“No, you don’t.”
And she had a feeling this was one of many arguments she was going to have with him over the course of the next twelve weeks. He’d won this round, but she’d win the next.
CHAPTER THREE
“YOU DID WHAT?”
Dante glanced into his office, where Shay was curled up on his sofa, sleeping. She was resting after the paternity test. Now they were waiting for the results and Dr. Tucci promised to rush them. Before they left, Dante was going to make sure that they were at least on their way to being man and wife, even if Shay kept saying no. He was still having a hard time trusting her, but deep down he felt as if this child was his. So he was going to make sure she married him. Then he could protect the trust his mother left and have something for his child. His child wouldn’t have to worry about the future the way his father made Enzo and him so worried. Dante wouldn’t sell off his child’s inheritance just because he or she wasn’t married by the time they were thirty-five. He wouldn’t have such a foolish restriction.
Once he brought Shay back to his villa, the press couldn’t hound her. If she stayed by his side, she’d be safe as well.
There were still a few steps he had to take. Like convincing her to say yes and stay in Italy. If the child was his, he’d do the right thing to protect his child.
And if it’s not?
He glanced at Shay sleeping so peacefully and he didn’t even want to think of her betraying him the way Olivia had. His memory of Shay had been so pure and untainted.
The memory of their night together was the only thing besides the vineyard and surgery that made him happy. If she betrayed his trust like Olivia, that memory would be shattered. He’d have nothing pure to cling to when the loneliness gnawed at him.
“Dante, are you even listening to me?” Enzo asked on the other end of the phone.
“Scusate, it’s been a trying day.” He rubbed his temple where a tension headache was forming.
“I would say so,” Enzo commiserated on the other end.
“I’m getting married. I just have to obtain a Nulla Osta as quickly as possible.”
“She’s not Italian?” Enzo asked.
“She’s American.”
“Why do you want to marry an American?”
“She’s carrying my child.”
“Are you sure?”
“Sì, I believe it is mine.”
“You don’t sound sure.”
“The paternity test results will be ready soon.” Dante sighed.
There was silence on the other end. “Dante, I know I have been bugging you to get married, but...did she even agree?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet?” Enzo asked.
“You don’t have to say anything else,” Dante said, cutting his brother off. He knew exactly where Enzo was going with this and he didn’t want to be reminded about Olivia and the baby that wasn’t his right now.
Shay was not Olivia.
“I don’t want you to get hurt again,” Enzo said gently. “It killed me to see you so hurt last time.”
“I appreciate that, Enzo. However, if this is my baby, I will marry her.”
“What if she’s after your money? Your title? Even if the baby is yours, she could be just after the same things that Olivia was.”
“She’s not,” Dante said. “She’s already refused to marry me, remember? Several times. It’s almost getting embarrassing now.”
Enzo laughed. “Still...”
“No, there is no still. Shay’s not after my money or anything. There will be ground rules to this marriage. It’s just a marriage of convenience. Nothing more. She can continue to do her work, our baby will be protected and I will keep my inheritance. The trust Mother signed over to Father before she knew any better.”
“What do you need from me?” Enzo asked.
“She’s staying at our place.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our childhood home, the one that was sold off before mother died and is now being rented to the United World Wide Health Association. She’s staying there.”
“Ah, so you want me to go collect her stuff?”
“Or at least tell someone there to collect it for her and then bring it to my place. That’s where she’ll be staying from now on. She was mobbed on her way out of the hospital this evening. The whole world will soon know about the Affini heir.”
“I can’t believe you did it, Dante. I can’t believe you’re going to get married and have an heir all within a year and so close to the cutoff date. You did it. You saved Grandfather’s vineyard and Mamma’s villa.”
A smile crept across Dante’s face as the reality sank in.
He had. He’d managed to keep a hold of all that was promised to him. All that money and land wouldn’t pass back into their father’s greedy hands. The land he loved so much, the vineyard, all of it would be saved. The relief that washed over him in that moment was almost palpable.
“Could you go and talk to her roommate as soon as possible?” Dante asked. “She’s tired and I’m taking her back to my villa. She needs her rest.”
“Sì, I’ll go there as soon as I finish up at the clinic.”
“Grazie.” Dante hung up the phone and then knelt beside Shay. She looked so peaceful sleeping, her face at ease, those long blond eyelashes brushing the tops of her round cheeks. He resisted the urge to reach out and run his thumb across those smooth, soft cheeks or to kiss her pink lips as he had back in Oahu.
The memory of which was still imprinted onto his soul. And pregnancy just made her all the more beautiful.
She glowed.
Don’t. Don’t get attached. The results aren’t in. Don’t set yourself up for hurt.
“Shay,” he said gently. “Wake up.”
She roused. “Is something wrong?”
“It’s time to leave. The paparazzi are still waiting out back, but I have a water taxi waiting for us to take us to Lido di Venezia. They won’t follow us there.”
“And the results of the test?”
“They’ll be ready tomorrow morning. Come, stay at my place tonight, where I can keep you safe.”
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