Caroselli's Accidental Heir (4 page)

Knowing they had much to discuss, Lucy was ravaged by nerves as she walked to the kitchen. To Tony. But as she rounded the corner and saw who it was standing at the stove, she wished she would have stayed in bed. She froze in the kitchen doorway, wondering if she could sneak back to the bedroom, but Tony’s mom must have had eyes in the back of her head.

“Sleep well?” she asked Lucy, still facing away, using a fork to lift several crispy slices of bacon from the pan onto a paper towel. On the counter beside the stove sat a plate with golden French toast made from thick, crusty, Italian bread. Just like the kind Tony used to make her.

Her mouth started to water and her stomach howled for nourishment.

“Where is Tony?” Lucy asked her.
And what the heck are you doing here making me breakfast?

“He was gone when I got here,” she said, patting away the extra grease from the bacon with an edge of the paper towel. In slip-on flats, she was just about the same height as Lucy, but that was where any similarity ended.

“When was that?” Lucy asked.

“Thirty minutes ago, give or take.” She put the bacon on the plate and turned to Lucy, giving her a quick once-over, one brow slightly raised. “I hope you’re hungry.”

She held the plate out and Lucy took it, so nervous her hands were trembling. If his mom noticed, she was kind enough not to point it out. She gestured to the table and said, “Sit down. Eat it while it’s hot.”

Obediently Lucy sat. It was like her worst nightmare come true. Coming face-to-face with the mother of the man whose baby she was carrying, and doing it not only alone, but in
his
T-shirt and robe. Could this get any worse?

“Maybe I should call Tony,” Lucy said, tugging the robe tighter around her belly.

“Why don’t you and I chat for a while?” his mom said, taking a seat across from Lucy. “I’d like to know a little bit about my future daughter-in-law.”

Oh, boy, this was going to fun to explain. “Maybe we should wait for Tony.”

She dismissed the idea with a flutter of perfectly manicured nails, her smile patient yet firm. “Tell me about yourself. How did you meet my son?”

“We met at the bar where I was working,” she said, leaving it at that.

When Tony’s mom realized that was all Lucy planned to tell her, she asked, “How long have you been seeing each other?”

“Mrs. Caroselli—”

“It’s Sarah. Or Mom. Whichever you’re more comfortable with.”

Mom? She was sure she wasn’t ready for that. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Tony and I, we’re not...we were never anything but friends. I know this will be hard to believe, but I didn’t come here intending to break up the wedding. I didn’t even know it was a wedding. I had heard that he was getting married and knew I should tell him about the baby. I was planning to go right back to Florida after I talked to him.”

Looking amused, Sarah said, “And how did Tony feel about that?”

She shifted in her seat. She didn’t want to offend Sarah, or come off as a bitch. Or even worse, seem as if she was hiding something. But it didn’t seem right talking about this without Tony present. “Suffice it to say that we have a lot to work out.”

“In other words, mind my own business,” Sarah said, looking more amused than angry.

“Sarah, I can only imagine what you must think of me. What your
entire
family must think.”

“Lucy...can I call you Lucy?”

“O-of course. Absolutely.”

“Take my word for it,
anyone
who saw the look on your face when you stepped into the room yesterday knew you were just as stunned to see us as we were to see you. I would say, considering my son’s reaction when he saw you, and his demand that you announce your business to everyone, you two must have a very complicated relationship.”

She had
no
idea.

“You don’t have to answer that,” she said. “Not only is it not my business, all that really matters to me is that you stopped my son from marrying that horrible woman.”

Four

H
orrible woman?
Lucy blinked in surprise. “You didn’t like Alice?”

“No one did. To be honest, I don’t even know if Tony liked her all that much. Or she him.”

What?
“Why would they get married if they didn’t like each other?”

“That’s what everyone has been trying to figure out. We all assumed that she was pregnant.”

Lucy’s breath caught in her throat, and her stomach did a violent flip-flop. It had never occurred to her that Alice could be pregnant, too. It would explain the rushed marriage. But what were the odds that he would knock up two different women accidentally within months of each other? And would Tony let Alice go back to New York knowing she was carrying his child?

“Could she be?” Lucy asked, terrified that Sarah might actually say yes.

“When I saw the way she was slamming back champagne yesterday before the service, I came right out and asked her. She is not.”

Thank God.

“I was relieved as well. She never struck me as the maternal type,” Sarah said. “Children seemed to make her uncomfortable.”

“Not everyone is cut out to be a parent,” Lucy told her. “Some people are too selfish.”

“Some are indeed,” Sarah agreed. “But not you. I can tell.”

Lucy laid a hand on her tummy and a content smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “This baby means everything to me.”

“Do you know if it’s a boy or girl?”

She shook her head. “It feels like a boy, though.”

“When I was pregnant with Tony, I knew he was a boy. Will you find out the sex of the baby beforehand?”

“At first I wanted to know, but I’ve been thinking about it and I kind of want to be surprised. I’ve waited this long. What’s another three months?”

“I like surprises,” Sarah said. “Most of the time.”

Lucy wondered if this was one of those times. “I’m a little confused about something.”

“What?”

“You have every reason not to like me, or at the very least to be suspicious of me.”

“You’re absolutely right. I do.”

“Then why are you being so nice to me?”

The question seemed to amuse Sarah. “Did Tony ever tell you that I was three months pregnant with him when I married my husband?”

Lucy shook her head. That would certainly explain Sarah’s willingness to accept her.

“My in-laws came to Chicago straight off the boat and had very strict, traditional moral beliefs,” Sarah said. “Suffice it to say that when I turned up pregnant, they were not happy with me. In fact, they were so furious they not only refused to pay for a penny of the wedding, but my husband had to beg them to attend.”

“Did they?”

“Yes, but in retrospect, I almost wished they hadn’t. They made no secret of how they felt about me in front of my entire family and all of my friends. It was awkward. Not to mention heartbreaking. That first year, what should have been the happiest time in my life, was miserable and lonely.”

That was so sad. “But things got better?”

“It took several years before I felt truly comfortable with them, like a part of the family. Eventually Angelica and I even became friends. It turns out we had a lot in common. We both love to cook. We were both born in Italy, although my family originated from the north.”

Which explained the blond hair and fair complexion. And meant that Tony was one hundred percent pure-blooded Italian. “It’s too bad it had to be that way.”

“To this day I still find it terribly sad that we wasted so many years at odds. Being accepted by her from the start would have meant the world to me. I always swore that if I ever found myself in a similar situation with one of my children, I would give the person in question the benefit of the doubt, get to know him or her before I pass judgment. That’s what I’m doing.”

“Thank you.” Lucy had never been much of a crier—what if she started, then wasn’t able to stop?—but tears burned her eyes. It was good to know that she had an ally. Even if Sarah was only one ally among many enemies. Maybe if she accepted Lucy, the rest of the family would fall in line. Or at least be a little less judgmental.

“Now that we have that settled...” Sarah nudged Lucy’s plate closer. “Eat your breakfast! You’re skinny as a rail.”

“I know I’m too thin,” Lucy said, her cheeks burning with shame. She’d been trying to eat healthy, for the baby. Unfortunately food—especially the healthy kind—had been in short supply at her mom’s place, and with Lucy having no job, so was money. She did the best she could on what little she had.

“Don’t worry, I intend to fatten you up,” Sarah said. “As only a true Italian mama can.”

It would be nice to have someone take care of her for a change. And she wished she and Sarah could be friends, but that would mean telling her things about herself, things no one in Tony’s family could ever know. Not if there was any hope of them truly accepting her. Even worse, they might not accept the baby. She couldn’t let that happen. She wanted her child to have a big, loving, supportive family. Just like Lucy had always wanted. Prayed for even, for all the good it had done.

It may not have been an option for her anymore, but her baby would have it. She would see to that.

At any cost.

* * *

Around two that afternoon, of what was turning into the longest day in Tony’s life, he was in his car and heading home when he was summoned by
Nonno.
Everyone in the family knew that when
Nonno
requested an audience, it was wise to cooperate. Which is how Tony found himself sitting in his grandfather’s study, waiting for what he assumed would be a firm lecture. Though about what, he wasn’t sure. It could be any number of things.

Nonno
sat in his wingback leather chair beside the picture window overlooking the park across the street, his gnarled, bony hands folded in his lap. To the casual observer,
Nonno
looked harmless. A gentle old man with a twinkle in his eye. Tony knew better. Despite his frail physical condition he was still sharp as a tack, and ran the family with an iron fist. Tony’s dad and his brothers liked to believe that they were the ones in control, but it was only an illusion.
Nonno
was always there pulling the strings. At times Tony wondered how his father had managed not to lose his sanity for all these years of being under the old man’s thumb. To live someone else’s dream and never make his own mark. How could he stand it?

“So, this girl who broke up your wedding,”
Nonno
said, getting right to the point. “It’s your baby she’s carrying?”

“Yes.”

“You’re positive?”

“I trust Lucy. She’s a good friend.”

Nonno
winked. “More than that, it would seem.”

“I know it might seem that way....”

“Is the child a boy?”

“We don’t know for sure yet, but Lucy seems to think so.”

Nonno
nodded thoughtfully. “If she’s right, you could be a very wealthy man.”

If only. “There’s just one little problem.”

“Or not so little, I’m thinking, by your troubled expression.”

“Lucy refuses to marry me.”

The news seemed to amuse him. “Did she tell you why she wouldn’t marry you?”

“She doesn’t want the family to think that she got pregnant on purpose to trap me.”

“Did she?”

The question threw him. “No.
Hell no.
She’s not like that.”

“We’ll just make sure everyone else in the family knows the truth, and that should solve the problem. Yes?”

“I don’t think so.”

“This woman, she loves you?”

Technically,
Nonno
had never said Tony had to be in love with the mother of the child, or she him, to inherit the money. He only said they had to be married. “Lucy and I don’t really have that kind of relationship. We’re friends.”

Nonno
’s brows rose again. “Are you suggesting that it was an immaculate conception?”

“Of course not. We were just...” Just what? Fooling around?

Oh, good God, was he actually discussing his sex life with his ninety-two-year-old grandfather? Just when he thought he couldn’t sink any lower, if he wasn’t careful, they were going to revoke his Man Card. “Are you familiar with the term
friends with benefits?
”

“I’m not
that
old,”
Nonno
said, looking amused. “But in my day we called it something different.”

“Well, that’s me and Lucy. Friends with benefits.”

“So she’s good enough to sleep with, and to carry your child, but not to marry?”

Had
Nonno
not heard a thing he’d said? “I
want
to marry her. I’ve
asked
her to marry me. I can’t force her.”

“You told her you love her?”

What part of
friends with benefits
did he not understand? “I told her that I thought it was what’s best for the baby.”

“And still she said no?”

“I don’t know what else to do,” Tony said. Maybe
Nonno
would be willing to compromise if Tony promised him the baby would have the Caroselli name. “You know, even if I didn’t marry her, the baby would take my last name. He would still be a Caroselli.”

Though it took effort,
Nonno
leaned forward in his chair, head cocked a notch to the left. “Are you asking me to amend our agreement?”

“You would still get the heir you were hoping for.”

“That is true....” He trailed off, looking thoughtful, and Tony had real hope that he would agree, but then he shook his head and said, “No, I can’t do that.”

He
could
do it, but he wouldn’t.

“It wouldn’t be right. If you want the trust, you’ll marry her.”
Nonno
’s tone said the matter was closed.

“How? She dug in her heels and she won’t budge.”

“You’ll think of something. I have faith in you.”

That faith may have been misplaced. Lucy was almost as bullheaded as
Nonno.

“Bring her to me,”
Nonno
said. “I’ll talk to her.”

Tony couldn’t imagine a worse idea. “I don’t think—”

“I do,”
Nonno
said firmly, any further discussion unnecessary. He liked things done a certain way. His way. “Bring her to me tomorrow, here in my study. At three p.m.”

This had the potential to be a really bad idea. “I’ll bring her. Just...promise me you’ll go easy on her. I know you have a strict set of moral standards, but just remember what year it is. Don’t do to her what you did to my mom.”

Nonno
’s brows rose. “You know about that?”

“Of course I do. I may have been little, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew that you and
Nonna
didn’t approve of her. I didn’t understand why. Which I think is both good and bad. I still don’t know why you were so harsh on her. What did she do that was so terrible?”

Nonno
looked away, out the window. “There are some things that we don’t discuss. For the good of the family.”

For the good of the family, or his own selfish reasons? Either way, Lucy had done nothing to warrant his wrath. “Lucy is confused and scared and I don’t want to make her feel any worse than she already does. I will not abide by anyone trying to intimidate her. That includes you.”

Tony had never dared raise his voice when speaking to his grandfather, or issued an outright order. And though he braced for the fallout,
Nonno
looked more intrigued than angry.

“Is that so?” he said, almost as if he were taunting Tony, daring him to defy the head of the family. Tony refused to be intimidated. He never understood why his dad allowed his parents to treat their daughter-in-law so poorly, but Tony wouldn’t abide by it. It was his duty, as the father of Lucy’s child, to protect her, not throw her under the bus. She’d been through enough.

“The last thing I want is to disrespect you, but Lucy is my responsibility now.”

“Even when she refuses to marry you?”

“No matter what.”

Nonno
actually smiled. “In that case, I promise that I will treat her with respect and kindness.”

Wow, that was almost
too
easy. What was the catch? “We’ll come by at three tomorrow.”

“I’ll speak to Lucy alone,”
Nonno
said.

And there it was. “
Nonno—
”

“Drop her off, and come back an hour later to fetch her. Now leave me. I need to rest.”

Tony didn’t like the idea of leaving Lucy alone with
Nonno,
but once he dismissed a guest, the conversation was over. He just had to trust that his grandfather would honor his promise and treat Lucy well. After so many years of loyal service to the company, at the expense of his own aspirations, not only did Tony deserve it. He had earned it.

* * *

As he parallel parked in a spot on the street about a block from his building, Tony swore that his next apartment would have tenant parking. Some conveniences were worth the extra expense. Especially on those snowy Chicago nights when he came home late from the office. With the baby coming they would need more space anyway. Maybe he should think about apartment hunting sooner rather than later.

As he crossed the street, Tony noticed a familiar white Mercedes parked down the block.

Oh, no. She wouldn’t have.

Picking up speed, he jogged the rest of the way, and rather than wait for the elevator, took the stairwell up to his floor. He didn’t see her immediately when he stepped inside, but he knew that perfume anywhere.

Exasperated, he shouted, “Mother!”

She stepped out of the kitchen drying her hands on a dish towel, looking casually sophisticated in beige wool slacks and a rose cable-knit sweater, with her mostly white hair pulled back from a face still youthful even though she’d just celebrated her sixty-third birthday. “Hello, dear.”

Hello, dear, my foot.

“Really, Mom?” He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it over the back of the couch. “You couldn’t have waited a couple days like I asked?”

With a sigh, she picked his jacket up and hung it in the closet, telling him, “And you couldn’t have stayed home from the office for a day? When your father called to tell me that you had come into work, all I could think was that you left that poor girl all alone. With no transportation and, as I guessed, no food.”