Expecting the Prince's Baby (Harlequin RomancePrinces of Europe) Read online

  “So do I. It grieves me that my wife was always intimidated by her and couldn’t admit she hadn’t told her mother first, but what’s done is done and there’s no going back.”

  Abby was in turmoil. “Vincenzo and Michelina have broken new royal ground with my help, Dr. Greco. Unfortunately it’s ground that Queen Bianca isn’t able to condone. I’m half-afraid she’s going to demand that the pregnancy be...terminated.” The thought sickened Abby to the point that she broke out in a cold sweat.

  “Never,” Vincenzo bit out fiercely. “She wouldn’t go that far, not even in her mind, but she’s going to have to deal with it since the time’s coming when people will know you’re the surrogate.”

  The doctor looked at both of them with concern. “Vincenzo is right. I think it’s good you’ve already felt the fire by dealing with Michelina’s mother first. To my knowledge no other royal couple in the known world has undergone the same procedure. The situation involving the two of you is an unprecedented case, but a wonderful one since it means preserving the royal line.”

  “Here’s my dilemma.” Vincenzo spoke up once more. “Before Michelina’s death I’d planned to keep a lower profile around you, Abby, but that’s impossible now and I can’t have you feeling guilty. Of course we’ll try to be careful, but only within reason. Otherwise I’ll be worried about the stress on you and the baby.”

  “Vincenzo makes a valid point, Abby,” the doctor inserted.

  She lowered her head. “I know he’s right. The moment I decided to go through with this, I realized it would be a risk, but I felt helping them was worth it. But with the princess gone...”

  “Yes. She’s gone, but you still need to keep that noble goal uppermost in your mind. One day soon you’ll be free to live your own life again and the gossip will be a nine-day wonder. Do you have any other issues you’d like to discuss with me in this session?”

  Yes. How did she keep her emotional distance from Vincenzo when he’d just stated that he intended to be fully involved with her?

  “I can’t think of any right now.”

  “You, Vincenzo?”

  He shook his dark, handsome head. “Thank you for meeting with us. I’m sure we’ll be talking to you again.” Vincenzo got to his feet. “Abby needs to get back to work and so do I.”

  The three of them shook hands before they left his office and walked out of the building to the limousine. Abby’s office wasn’t that far away from the hospital. When the limo pulled up in front of the entrance, Vincenzo reached over to open the door for her.

  “Have you made plans for the evening, Abby?”

  “Yes,” she lied. “Carolena and I are going to enjoy the festival before it ends.”

  “Good. Be careful not to tire yourself out.”

  She didn’t dare ask him what he was doing tonight. It was none of her business. How on earth was she going to get through seven more months of this?

  * * *

  Vincenzo watched until Abby hurried inside before he closed the door and told his driver to head for the palace. For the moment he had an important meeting with the minister of agriculture. That would keep him occupied until Abby got off work.

  If she’d been telling the truth and had plans with her friend, then he was in for a night he’d rather not think about. But she didn’t make a good liar. He’d known her too long. He had the strongest hunch she would go straight back to the palace after work and dig into one of her law cases. If he was right—and he would find out later—he’d take her for a walk along the surf.

  Incredible to believe that the girl he’d saved from drowning eleven years ago had become a gorgeous woman in every sense of the word, and was carrying his child. Even though Michelina had been the biological mother, Abby was now the birth mother.

  Though there’d been other candidates, the second he’d heard that Abby was one of them, his mind was made up on the spot. Because she’d always lived on the grounds and they’d developed a special bond, he knew her in all those important little ways you could never know about another person without having had that advantage.

  Abby was smart, kind, polite, thoughtful, intelligent, fun. In fact, he knew that he would never have gone through with the surrogacy process if she hadn’t been on the list. Michelina had been determined to go through with it because she was desperate to fix their marriage. After her incessant pleading, his guilt finally caused him to cave about turning to the procedure for the answer.

  No matter how hard they’d tried, theirs had been a joyless union they’d undergone to perform a duty imposed by being born into royalty. He’d driven himself with work, she with her hobbies and horseback riding. Part of each month she spent time in Gemelli, riding with her friends. They had been counting on a child to bring happiness to their lives.

  Thanks to the pregnant woman who’d just left the limo, his baby would be born in November. It would have been the miracle baby his arranged marriage had needed to survive. Now that he was alone, he needed that miracle more than ever. His eyes closed tightly. But he needed Abby, too...

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “ABBY?”

  “Yes, Bernardo?”

  “You just received a message from Judge Mascotti’s court. Your case for Signor Giordano has been put on the docket for June 4.”

  “So soon?”

  “It surprised me, too.”

  “Wonderful. I’ll call my client.”

  That kind of good news helped her get through the rest of the afternoon. At five-thirty Abby said good-night to Carolena, who was going out on a date with a friend of her cousin, and hurried out to the limousine. She needed to let go of any unwanted feeling of guilt for lying to Vincenzo over her plans for the evening.

  Once she reached the palace, she walked to her suite with its exposure to the water. In her opinion, her new temporary home, set in the heart of the coastal city, was the jewel in the crown of the Principality of Arancia.

  At a much younger age, Vincenzo had shown her around most of the palace and she’d adored the older parts. Nine weeks ago she’d been moved from her dad’s apartment to the palace and installed in one of the renovated fourteenth-century rooms, with every convenience she could imagine. It thrilled her that Vincenzo had remembered this one was her favorite.

  The maid had told her he’d had it filled with fresh flowers, just for her. When she heard those words Abby’s eyes smarted, but she didn’t dare let the tears come in front of the staff.

  Her bedroom had a coffered ceiling and was painted in white with lemon walls up to the moldings. The color matched the lemons of the trees clumped with the orange trees in the gardens below. This paradise would be hers until the baby was born. Vincenzo had told her she had the run of the palace and grounds until then.

  She’d marveled at his generosity, but then, he’d always been generous. Years earlier, when she’d mentioned that she wanted a bike to get around sometimes and hoped her parents would get her one for Christmas, he’d provided one for her the very next day.

  They did a lot of bike riding on the extensive grounds and had races. He let her win sometimes. She wondered what the doctor would say if she went for a bike ride now. If he gave her permission, would Vincenzo join her? It was a heady thought, one she needed to squelch.

  After a snack, Abby decided to take a swim in the pool at the back of the palace and told Angelina she wouldn’t want dinner until later. She was supposed to get some exercise every day and preferred swimming to anything else in order to unwind.

  Once she’d put her hair in a braid and pinned it to the top of her head, she threw on a beach robe over her bikini and headed out wearing thonged sandals. When she reached the patio, she noticed Piero Gabberino pulling weeds in the flower bed.

  “Ciao, Piero!”

  “Ehi, Abby!”

  The chief gardener’s nice-looking
son, who would be getting married shortly, had always been friendly with her. They’d known each other for several years and usually chatted for a while when they saw each other.

  When she’d found out he was going to college, she took an interest in his plans. Three weeks ago Saturday she’d invited him to bring his fiancée and have lunch with her on the patio. The young couple were so excited about the coming marriage, it was fun to be around them.

  “Only a week until the wedding, right?”

  He grinned. “Sì.”

  She removed her robe and got in the pool. The water felt good. She swam to the side so she could talk to Piero. “I’m very happy for you. Thank you for the invitation. I plan to come to the church to see you married.” Both she and her father had been invited, but she didn’t know if her dad would be able to take the time off.

  Piero walked over to the edge of the pool and hunkered down. “Thank you again for the lunch. Isabella always wanted to come to the palace and see where I work.”

  “It’s a beautiful place because you and your father’s crew keep the grounds in exquisite condition.”

  “Grazie.”

  “Aren’t you working a little late this evening?”

  “I had classes all day today.”

  “I know what that’s like. Have you and Isabella found an apartment yet?”

  “Two days ago. One day soon you will have to come over for dinner.”

  “That would be lovely.”

  “Buonasera, Piero!”

  At the sound of Vincenzo’s deep voice, Abby’s heart thudded. She flung herself around in the water at the same time Piero got to his feet.

  “Your Highness! It’s good to see you again. Welcome home.”

  “Thank you. You look well.”

  “So do you. May I take this moment now to tell you how sorry I am about the princess. We’ve all been very sad.”

  “I appreciate those kind words.”

  As long as Abby had known Vincenzo, he’d almost always gone swimming in the sea in the evenings and did his early-morning workouts in the pool. Now she’d been caught in the act of lying.

  He looked incredible in a pair of black swim trunks with a towel thrown around his broad shoulders. Mediterranean Gods 101 could have used him for their model.

  Vincenzo eyed both of them. “Don’t let me disturb the two of you.”

  “I was just leaving. Scusi, Your Highness.” He gave a slight bow to Vincenzo and walked back to the plot of flowers to get his things before leaving the patio.

  Abby shoved off for the other side of the rectangular pool while she thought up an excuse why she hadn’t gone out with Carolena. She heard a splash and in seconds Vincenzo’s dark head emerged from the surface of the water next to her.

  His unreadable black eyes trapped hers. “Why did you tell me you had plans with Carolena when it’s obvious you wanted to rush home after work to be with Piero? My apologies if I interrupted something between the two of you. You both looked like you were enjoying yourselves.”

  Her heart fluttered out of rhythm. Coming from any other man, Abby could be forgiven for thinking he was jealous. But that was absurd.

  “Before work was over, Carolena told me she’d been lined up with her cousin’s friend, so we decided to do something tomorrow evening instead.” That was partially a lie, too, but she would turn it into a truth if at all possible.

  She could hear his brilliant wheels turning. “Have you and Piero been friends long?”

  “Quite a few years. He speaks Mentonasc and has been a great teacher for me. I, in turn, have been coaching him in one of his first-year law classes, but he doesn’t really need help.”

  His black brows lifted in surprise. “He’s going to be an attorney?”

  “That’s been his hope since he was young. He has been influenced by his father to get a good education. Some kind of business law, probably. I’ve been helping him review appellate court decisions and analyze the judges’ reasoning and findings. He’s very bright.”

  Vincenzo looked stunned. “I’m impressed.”

  “Six months ago he got himself engaged and is going to be getting married next week. I met his fiancée the other day and we had lunch together out here. They’ve invited me to the wedding next week. I’m thrilled for them.”

  Vincenzo raked a hand through his wet black hair. “Apparently a lot has been going on around here, under my nose, that I’ve known nothing about.”

  “You have so much to do running the country. How could you possibly know everything? Don’t forget I’ve lived on the grounds for years and am friends with everyone employed here. When I was young the gardeners helped me find my mom’s cat, who went out prowling at night and never wanted to come home.”

  Vincenzo’s smile was back, reminding her of what a sensational-looking male he was.

  “Sometimes they brought me a tiny wounded animal or a bird with a broken wing to tend. Piero’s father used to call me ‘little nurse.’”

  His gaze played over her features and hair. She saw a tenderness in his eyes she’d never noticed before. “All the same, I should have been more observant.”

  “Need I remind you that your royal nose has much greater worries, like dealing with your country’s welfare?” He chuckled. “The word multitask could have been coined on your work ethic alone. Don’t you remember the dead starling I found and you helped me plan a funeral for it?”

  He nodded. “You were so broken up about it, I had to do something.”

  “It was a wonderful funeral.” Her voice started to tremble. “You even said a prayer. I’ll never forget. You said that some angels watched over the birds, but if they couldn’t save them, then they helped take away the child’s sorrow.”

  His black brows lifted. “I said that?”

  “Yes. It was a great comfort to me.” You’ve always been a great comfort to me.

  “Your praise is misplaced, but like any man I admit to enjoying a little flattery.”

  “It’s the truth. I have a scrapbook to prove it.” Her confession was out before she could prevent it. Feeling herself go crimson, she did a somersault and swam to the deep end of the pool to cool down. When she came up gasping for air, he was right there, without a sign of being winded. If her heart didn’t stop racing pretty soon, she was afraid she’d pass out. “Haven’t you learned it’s impolite to race a woman with a handicap, and win?”

  His eyes grew shuttered. “Haven’t you learned it’s not nice to tease and then run?”

  Touché.

  “When am I going to see this scrapbook?”

  Making a split-second decision, she said, “I plan to send it to you when your child is christened.” She couldn’t help searching his striking features for a moment. “The pictures showing you and your wife will be especially precious. I can promise that he or she will treasure it.”

  Abby heard his sharp intake of breath. “How long have you been making it?”

  “Since soon after we arrived from the States.”

  “Clear back then?”

  “Don’t you know every girl grows up dreaming about palaces and princes and princesses? But my dream became real. I decided I would record everything so that one day I could show my own little girl or boy that I once lived a fairy-tale life.

  “But now that you’re going to have a little girl or boy, they should be the one in possession of it. The story of your life will mean everything in the world to them. If they’re like me when I was young and poured over my parents’ picture albums for hours and hours, they’ll do the same thing.”

  * * *

  Vincenzo was dumbfounded. Evening had crept over the palace, bringing out the purity of her bone structure, but he saw more than that. An inward beauty that radiated. It was that same innocent beauty he’d seen in her tee
ns, but the added years had turned her into a breathtaking woman.

  He wondered what she’d say if he told her that....

  Of course he couldn’t, but something earth-shattering was happening to him. As if he was coming awake from a hundred-year sleep. Vincenzo was starting to come alive from a different source, with feelings and emotions completely new to him. Not even his guilt could suppress them.

  “I’m looking forward to that day, Abby.”

  “You’re not the only one.” But she said it with a charming smile. He liked her hair up in a braid. She wore it in all kinds of ways, each style intriguing.

  “Shall we swim a couple of laps before we have dinner? When I talked to Angelina and she told me you hadn’t eaten yet, I arranged for us to be served out here on the patio.” While she was forming an answer he said, “I promise to let you set the pace.”

  “Thank you for taking pity on me.” On that note, she started for the other side of the pool.

  Vincenzo swam beside her, loving this alone time with her. There was no tension. A feeling of contentment stole through him. At the moment he was feeling guilty for not feeling guilty. He asked himself if he would feel this way if she weren’t pregnant, but it wasn’t a fair question. With Michelina gone, he naturally felt more protective toward Abby, who no longer had a female mentor to turn to for support.

  To his surprise, he’d been disturbed to find her talking and laughing with Piero. Why had he felt that way? Was it the helicopter father coming out in him, as she’d suggested? Vincenzo frowned. Was he already becoming possessive?

  Her comment about never finding a man who measured up to her father had been on his mind since they’d eaten at the mountain restaurant. He wondered if she’d ever been intimate with any of her boyfriends. If the answer was no, then in one respect he understood his mother-in-law’s remark about the pregnancy being unnatural.

  Just how would Vincenzo feel when Abby did get married, knowing she’d carried his child for nine months before she’d known another man? When she did get married one day—he had no doubt about that—how would the man she loved feel to know she’d given birth to Vincenzo’s baby? Would that man feel robbed in some way?