Читать книгу His Pregnant Royal Bride - Amy Ruttan - Страница 11

CHAPTER TWO

“YOU WANT...WHAT?” Shay was trying to process what Dante had said and she wasn’t sure that she completely understood him. “Could you repeat that?”

“I said that if the paternity test proves I’m the father I want you to marry me.” There was no smile on his face, no glint in his eye letting her know that he was joking, because he had to be joking, right? Men just didn’t ask women they’d slept with once to marry them, did they?

“That’s what I thought you said, but then I was thinking that there was no way you could be asking me that.” She tried to move past him, because this was a bit crazy. This was not the Dante she remembered, the Dante she knew.

You don’t know Dante, remember?

And she didn’t. Usually she knew the men she slept with a bit better, but when she’d been in Oahu she’d thrown caution to the wind when she’d succumbed to Dante’s kiss.

Even now, standing here in front of him, she had a hard time trying to forget the way his arms had felt around her. The way he’d whispered cara in her ear.

This reaction to him is why you’re pregnant in the first place.

“Well, I’m not asking you,” he said.

“You’re crazy.” She tried to leave.

He stepped in front of her to block her. “I’m not asking you, Shay. I’m telling you. If I’m the father, we will get married.”

What?

“You’re telling me?” She cleared her throat. “Seriously?”

Dante nodded. “Yes. You will marry me.”

Shay tried not to laugh at the absurdity of it. This was not real life.

“And what about the paternity test you’re so adamant I take?”

He glared at her. “I only want marriage if the test proves I’m the father.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Which was absurd. She hadn’t been with anyone since him, and before him there’d been no one else for a long time.

“Won’t it?”

She crossed her arms, glaring at him. Suddenly she was having a hard time finding him charming. Sexy, yes, but charming—heck, no. More annoying than anything.

“You’re the father,” she replied icily.

“Then you will marry me once we receive the results.”

She snorted. “How romantic.”

“Nothing about this is romantic, cara.” The endearment he used on her, his voice still deep and rich. She could hear that whisper in her ears: cara.

“Do you love me?” she asked point-blank, shaking those thoughts from her head.

He cocked his eyebrows. “This has nothing to do with love.”

“So the answer is no,” she said.

“Were you expecting me to say yes? Other than one week together, we don’t know each other.”

“Exactly, so why would I marry you?”

He frowned. “To give our child legitimacy. A stable home. The guarantee that it will have two parents. This is a business arrangement for the sake of the child.”

The premise of giving her child a good home life was very tempting, but she knew how this played out. She’d been that child after all and she wouldn’t put her child through that. Through the resentment, bitterness and heartache. To the point that her father had walked away and didn’t even want to see her again.

No, she didn’t want that for her baby.

She didn’t want her baby to feel that pain. Only he seemed to really want this baby and her father had never wanted her.

Another parent involved, especially a stationary one, means you can pursue assignments anywhere in the world.

“I’m not going to marry you,” she said. “I’m here to work.” She tried to leave the room, but he stepped in front of her, grabbing her by the arm, his dark eyes blazing.

“I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.”

“I think I do,” she snapped, shrugging her arm out of his grip.

“So I’m not to have access to my child?” he demanded.

“I never said that.”

“You won’t marry me. So that means I won’t see this child. You’re only in Italy for twelve weeks. Then what happens? You won’t even be here when our child is born.”

“Dante, I’m not denying you access to your child. I want you to be part of his or her life. We don’t have to get married to raise this child. We don’t even need to live in the same country.”

He opened his mouth to say more when his pager buzzed. He looked down. “Incoming trauma, dannazione. This conversation isn’t over.” He stormed out of the room, his white lab coat billowing out behind him from his long strides. He was a force of nature to be reckoned with.

Shay breathed an inward sigh of relief, because for now she was able to get a breather, but she knew that this was probably far from over.

Dante stuck his head back into the room. “Are you coming, Shay? There is incoming trauma and you’re to be my nurse for the next twelve weeks. I need you by my side.”

By his side.

Only she wasn’t sure she was going to survive the next twelve weeks. By the way things were going she was either going to kill him or fall in love with him.

And succumbing to the passion, the desire, she felt for him was not an option. Neither was falling in love.

She had to guard her heart.

Shay was not her mother and wouldn’t be easily persuaded by loving a man. This was her life and she was going to live by her own wit.

“Of course.”

She shook her head; she had to get back in the game and focus on her work here. This was her job and, when she’d found out that she was pregnant after one night of forbidden passion, she’d sworn that she wasn’t going to let the pregnancy interfere with her job performance. She was a damn good nurse practitioner and simulation trainer. And that wasn’t going to change.

Even though she was starting to blossom and her center of gravity was shifting, she was able to keep up with Dante’s quick pace as they navigated the hallways through the hospital. He finally slowed down when they entered the trauma ward, where there was a flurry of activity. Shay could see water ambulances outside a set of automatic doors, where they were bringing in stretchers of patients.

“What happened?” Dante asked in Italian, that much she understood. The man spoke quickly and then pointed to where Dante was needed.

“Shay, this way,” Dante called, waving his hand and directing her to follow him.

They entered a private treatment bay, where a man lay seriously wounded.

“He’s American. Your presence might calm him,” Dante whispered.

Shay nodded. “What happened?”

“A vaporetto was tossed when a large cruise ship came into the lagoon. The cruise ship sent a wave into St. Mark’s Square and there were some injuries there as well.”

“Vaporetto?” Shay asked as she pulled on a trauma gown and gloves.

“Water taxi,” Dante said as he pulled on his own gloves. “This has been happening more and more. Especially during the summer months, when the tourists flock the city. Too much traffic.” He shook his head with disgust.

Shay nodded and headed over to the patient, who was conscious and had a mask on. His brown eyes were wide with fear as he looked around the room.

“I can’t understand a word,” he mumbled through the oxygen mask.

“Me neither,” Shay said gently. “I’m learning, though.”

“You’re American?” he asked, a hint of relief in his voice.

“I am. I’m a nurse practitioner with the United World Wide Health Association. Can you tell me what happened?”

“I don’t know, I don’t remember. One moment my wife and I were taking a water taxi from Lido di Venezia to St. Mark’s, and then the next thing I know we’re in the water. Oh, goodness, where is my wife?”

“What is her name?” Shay asked.

“Jennifer Sanders.”

“I’ll find her for you in a moment,” Shay said gently. “It’s important we make sure you’re okay first.”

“I can’t move. I can’t feel my legs,” the man said, his voice rising in panic.

Dante shot her a concerned look. “What is your name, signor?”

The man looked at Dante. “Are you the doctor?”

“Sì. Can you tell me your name?”

“James, but my friends call me Jim.”

Dante smiled at him. “I’m going to examine your abdomen. Tell me if anything hurts, and then we’ll get an MRI of your spine.”

The man nodded. Shay lifted his shirt and there was dark bruising; his belly was distended, which was a sign there was internal bleeding. The bleeding would have to be stopped before they could worry about his back. In this case internal bleeding trumped paralysis.

The man cried out when Dante did a palpation over his spleen.

“We need to get a CT scan of his abdomen, see how bad the bleeding is,” Dante whispered to Shay.

“Where do I go to order that?” she asked.

“I will. You stay with him. Prep him for the procedures.” Dante left the room.

Shay calmed their patient down and got an IV started, drawing the blood work needed before surgery. She had no doubt that with extensive bruising and pain Jim would need surgery and fast.

“What’s your name?” Jim asked.

“Shay Labadie,” she said as she took his vitals, writing them down.

“Baton Rouge?” he asked.

“No, close, though. New Orleans proper.” She smiled.

“I thought it was a Louisiana accent. I’m from Mississippi. Picayune to be exact.”

“Not far, then.” She smiled at him warmly, trying to reassure him as his blood pressure was rising.

He grinned faintly as his eyes rolled back into his head and the monitors went into alarm.

“I need a crash cart!” she shouted, slamming her hand against the code blue button as the rest of the team in the room jumped into action. Some situations transcended the language barrier.

* * *

“Nurse Labadie, if you contact Dr. Prescarrie, he is the neurologist. He’ll be able to determine the extent of the nerve damage in our patient.” Dante wanted to keep Shay busy, keep her away from the OR table, but she didn’t budge. She stood by his side, passing him the instruments he needed without him having to ask for them.

She knew exactly what he needed and when.

And she was so calm about it. That was what bothered him the most. As if nothing fazed her.

She was good at her job.

Though he shouldn’t be surprised. He’d been impressed by her when they were in Oahu together at the conference. Only he hadn’t got to see her actually work. Now he had that privilege, but he was also very aware of the fact that she was pregnant.

With his child.

Maybe your child.

He was still reeling over the realization Shay was here and pregnant with his child as he removed Mr. Sanders’s badly damaged spleen.

“I will contact him, but does he speak English?” she asked.

“He speaks French and I know that you can speak that. I heard you speak that before.”

“Okay, I’ll have him paged once Mr. Sanders is stable.” She handed him a cautery that he didn’t ask for, but damn if he didn’t need it right at that moment.

“Grazie,” he said grudgingly.

“You seem tense, Dr. Affini,” Shay remarked.

“Of course I’m tense. I have a man open on the table.”

And you’ve just walked back into my life carrying my baby.

Her presence here totally threw his controlled world off balance. Thoughts of Shay were kept to the privacy of his memories. To the nights he was alone and lonely, wishing he could have more than he was allotted in life. That was when he thought of Shay and their time together.

He’d romanticized her. The one stolen moment he could treasure forever and now she was here and he wasn’t sure how to handle it.

Her presence unnerved him completely.

“Is there anything I can do to ease your tension?” she asked. “I mean, if my job as a scrub nurse isn’t up to scratch...”

“It’s fine. There is nothing you can do. Well, there is one thing, but you refused.” He quickly glanced over at her and he could see her brow furrow above that surgical mask.

“This is not the time to discuss it.” There was a hint of warning in her voice.

Dante raised his eyebrows. He’d never heard Shay speak in that tone before. Even at the conference when there were idiots either hitting on her or talking over her, because she was just a nurse, she’d always smiled sweetly and taken them down a peg. This was something different.

A clear warning.

“Why not? I like chatting while I work.” He didn’t, but he liked getting under her skin the way she got under his.

She snorted. “You didn’t seem very receptive to talking before.”

“It depends what the subject is,” he teased.

“Well, I can say in no uncertain terms the subject you want to discuss, Dr. Affini, is off-limits.”

He chuckled but didn’t say anything further to her as he completed the splenectomy and stabilized the patient. Once he was done, Shay walked away from him and he could see her on the operating theatre’s phone, obviously paging Dr. Prescarrie about Mr. Sanders’s spinal injuries.

Not only was he impressed by her skill in a surgical situation, but he admired her strength. Women in his circles usually would balk under interrogation. Of course, women in his circles, women like Olivia, wouldn’t even be in an operating theatre, getting their hands dirty.

“What you do is noble, Dante. It’s just that I don’t want to hear about it. Can’t you just keep that to yourself?”

“And what am I supposed to talk about, Olivia? Fashion, cars?”

“The vineyards and, yes, it wouldn’t hurt you to immerse yourself in the world of privilege you were born into.”

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.