Million-Dollar Marriage Merger (13 page)

“Well, it’s over and done with now. Forget about it.” Ben slapped him on the back. “Come on, let me take you to dinner.”

Tony shook his head. “No thanks. I’m beat. I’m going to head back to the hotel.”

“Okay, get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning for the commercial shoot.”

Tony bid his agent farewell and took a limo back to his hotel. When he arrived at the Hyatt, instead of going to his room, he headed straight for the cocktail bar and ordered a double whiskey.

He sat there, thinking about his life and all he’d accomplished. He wasn’t one to ever give up when he wanted something. He’d had obstacles in his way, but he’d never had much trouble overcoming them. At least, not until now, with Rena.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to find a
beautiful young blond woman taking a seat beside him. “You’re Tony Carlino, the racecar driver, aren’t you?”

“That would be me.” He sipped his drink.

“Would you like to buy me a drink?”

Tony stared at her and saw the bold, provocative look in her eyes. She made no bones about what she wanted; she had “groupie” written all over her meticulously salon-tanned body. At one time, he might have indulged her and welcomed the fringe benefits that would’ve come afterward. Now, his thoughts were of his pregnant wife and the miles between them.

He finished off his drink and set a fifty on the bar. “Sure, have whatever you want on me. I’m going home to my wife.”

And hours later, Tony put the key in the lock and turned the doorknob to Rena’s house. The three-hour time difference from the East Coast put him back in Napa in the late afternoon, and he was grateful for regaining those hours. He’d spent more time in the air today than he’d spent on the ground in North Carolina. Wondering about Rena’s reaction when she saw him, Tony opened the door slowly.

“I’m the last one to give advice on romance, Tony. But it seems to me from a logical standpoint, you need a gesture of some sort. Some way to show her how much she means to you.”

Joe’s words had stayed with him, and grand gesture or not, Tony knew in his gut that he had to return home to Rena tonight—it had to be tonight.

There were things he had to say. He needed to
clear the air between them. Especially after what had happened in North Carolina earlier today.

“Rena?” he called out, noting how quiet the house seemed. Again, he called her name and was met with silence. He hadn’t seen her in the fields when he’d driven up, but then he wasn’t really on the lookout at that time. He strode down the hallway and heard static coming from a radio. “Rena, are you here?”

He followed the sound to the room across from their bedroom. One look inside made his skin crawl. “Oh my God.” A pool of green paint oozed from an overturned paint tray, the drop cloth doing its best to contain the puddle. Near the radio on the floor, Tony spotted something red. Initially, he froze and prayed that it wasn’t what he’d thought. He moved quickly and bent to touch the crimson liquid and bring it to his nose. It wasn’t wine or paint.

It was blood.

“Rena’s blood,” he breathed out. Plaguing thoughts of her being injured and bloody raced through his mind. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Please, God.”

His cell phone rang.

Tony answered it immediately. “Tony? It’s Solena. I’ve got some news—”

“Where’s Rena?” he bellowed into the phone.

“We just arrived at Napa Hospital. I’m in the ambulance. She took a fall—”

“I’m coming. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes? Where are you and how—”

“I’ll explain later.” Tony shut off the phone and ran out of the house. His main concern was to see Rena.
He climbed into his car and hit the road, driving twenty miles an hour above the speed limit. Luckily, the roads were nearly empty, but even if they hadn’t been, it wouldn’t deter him. Nothing was going to stop him from getting to Rena.

He arrived at the hospital in eight minutes and strode with purpose to the emergency room desk. The clerk questioned his relationship to Rena Montgomery. “Damn it, she’s my wife.” He clenched his fists.

“There’s no paperwork to support that,” the woman said, glancing once more at her files, then slanted a look at the security guard standing in the corner. Sometimes his fame made his life a living hell. Everyone thought they knew everything about him. “Her name is Rena
Carlino
now. We just got married.”

The clerk blinked. “Oh, uh. Well, then Mr. Carlino, I’ll let you right through.”

She buzzed him in. “Third door to your left.”

Tony was there in seconds. He found Rena on the hospital triage bed, her eyes closed, her head wrapped in a white bandage. Solena stood by her side and smiled when she saw him. “How did you get here so fast?” she whispered as she strolled over to him. She gave him a hug then guided him just outside the door. “We all thought you were in North Carolina.”

Tony glanced back at Rena. It pained him to see her looking so frail and weak. “I was already home when you called. I found the room a wreck and panicked. What the heck happened?”

“I don’t know, other than she fell off the ladder. I
stopped by with dinner for her. When she didn’t answer the door, I got worried and used my key to get inside.

“Apparently, she hit her head on the radio when she fell. She was unconscious when I found her.”

“How long ago?”

“You missed us by fifteen minutes.”

Tony’s heart ached. He was to blame for this. He knew it in his gut. “Has she woken up?”

“Yes, in the ambulance. We’ve been speaking on and off. She’s a little woozy. The doctor wants her to rest while they are preparing for the CT scan.”

“What did she say?”

“She was worried about the baby.”

Tony closed his eyes and nodded. Immense fear coursed through his body and he sent up silent prayers. “Me, too.”

That baby, that beautiful new life growing inside Rena was Tony’s responsibility, too. But it was so much more. It was to be his first child. He already knew he loved that baby. Rena had been through too much pain in her life to endure another tragedy. Tony wouldn’t allow it. As irrational as that sounded, he would make sure that Rena never knew another bad day.

“The doctor was optimistic. She has a concussion and a little bump on her head, but they don’t think the fall affected the baby.”

“That’s good,” Tony said with relief. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to the baby. Rena would be inconsolable, and he wouldn’t blame her.

“I’m going in now. I’ll stay with her,” Tony said.

“Do you want me to stay, too?” Solena asked.

Tony shook his head. “No, I have to speak to her. There are things I really need to say.”

Solena smiled. “I understand.”

“It’s a good thing you found her when you did. I can’t thank you enough.”

“You were only minutes behind,” she said. Then she cast him a curious stare. “Why
are
you here? I thought you’d be gone a week or more?”

Tony drew oxygen into his lungs. “That’s why I have to speak with Rena. I’m here, and I’m not leaving her again.”

Rena lay with her eyes closed in the hospital bed feeling slight relief, the throbbing in her head much less painful now. She remembered the reason she was here. Solena had called for emergency help and had traveled with her in the ambulance. The events of the past day came to mind at a snail’s pace—but with surprising clarity.

A gentle touch to her hand brought her eyes open. She knew that touch. It was the person she’d dreamed about. The one person she’d wanted to have by her side.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Tony said. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Am I?” she whispered on a breath.

Tony nodded, his dark eyes soft and glistening. Had he teared up? “Your CT scan is perfect. Dr. Westerville said the baby is fine. You can go home later this morning if you feel up to it.”

With a slight nod of her head, she choked out, “That’s good news. I’m so relieved about the baby. If something
happened…” She couldn’t even manage the words. She couldn’t go there, couldn’t think of the possibility of another loss in her life. This one would crush her.

Tony took her hand and squeezed. “It didn’t, honey. You both are going to be fine.”

Rena sat up a little straighter in the bed, grateful the movement didn’t cause her pain. “What time is it?”

“Five o’clock in the morning.”

“Have you been here all night?”

“Right here,” he assured her. “All night.”

“But how? You were in North Carolina last I remember.”

“Yeah, well. I shouldn’t have gone in the first place. The minute I landed there I knew I’d made a mistake. I knew where my place was. And that place was with you.”

“Tony?” Rena couldn’t believe her ears. “What do you mean?”

“I did that interview, the whole time wishing I was with you.”

Rena looked away then, unable to meet his eyes. She removed her hand from his. She remembered the reason for her fall now. She remembered the pain and shock she felt, hearing that news report on the radio. His presence here confused her. Why had he come back? None of it made sense.

“Rena? What is it?” His question was marked with concern.

She stared out the hospital window, looking at the new dawn breaking through. Birds chirped and tree branches swayed in the breeze. It was a glorious day to
be alive, yet Rena’s stomach knotted with heartbreaking anguish. “I was so hurt when you left. I guess I never got over you leaving me. And I thought it was happening all over again. I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I started to paint the baby’s room.” She turned her head slightly to gaze into his eyes. Might as well give him the whole truth. “I figured I was on my own again. I wasn’t meant to be with anyone. It would just be the baby and me from now on. I didn’t want to rely on you or anyone else.”

Tony clenched his teeth. Pain entered his eyes, but she continued. “The radio was on when I climbed the ladder, and I heard a news report about you. They said you were contemplating a racing comeback. When I heard that I felt faint. It was like my world was spinning in ten different directions. I couldn’t get a grip. My worst fears had come true. That’s when I fell.”

Tony’s eyes rounded. Shock stole over his face. He let go a vivid curse then took her chin in his hands and ever so gently lifted her face to his. “I’m so sorry, Rena. Sorry for everything. But you have to believe me. What you heard is not true. None of it is. My words were misconstrued. The press never gets anything right. That’s why I had an argument with the newscaster. We almost came to blows, Rena. I called him every four-letter name in the book and then some.

“I swear to you that after the incident I took the next flight home. I didn’t want you to hear that news report. It was a flat out falsity. But I didn’t know if I could convince you how much I care about you from thousands of miles away.”

“What about your obligations? You signed contracts.”

He shrugged, his eyes hard. “Let them sue me. I can afford it. Losing a lawsuit is a million times better than losing you.” He cast her a warm, sincere look. “I love you, Rena. I love you with all my heart.”

He removed the sheet covering her and bent his head, laying the sweetest, most gentle kiss on her belly. “I love this baby, too. I love you both. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to convince you. But I’m asking for another chance. Give me a chance, sweetheart.”

Tears entered her eyes. The loving gesture broke down all her defenses. Every wall she’d constructed against Tony fell to ruin, and her heart swelled. “Tony, is it true? Really true?”

“Yes, it’s true. I love you. I want a life with you. A
real
life and not because of David’s dying wish but because I have genuine love in my heart for you. I’ve always loved you, Rena.”

He kissed her then, and it was the most tender brushing of their lips.

“I love you, too, Tony. I always have. Through everything, all the wrongs your family imposed on mine and all the hurt we’ve shared, I’ve never really stopped loving you. I think—” she began, admitting this truth to herself as well as to Tony “—I think David knew that. I think he knew that what we had couldn’t be matched. And yet, I did love him. He was a good man.”

“Yes, I know. He was the best. And I think he really wanted this for us. His child—
our
child—will have two
parents who love each other as much as we love him or her.”

Rena stroked Tony’s dark hair, staring into his eyes, loving this strong powerful man with all that she had inside. “We can have a beautiful life.”

“We will. I promise you. You and the baby will always come first.”

“I believe you, Tony.” She laughed as joy entered her heart. “I never thought I’d say that, but I really do believe in the strength of our love.”

“And can you forgive me for everything in the past?”

Rena drew in a breath. “I think so. I think I already have.”

“You won’t be sorry, sweetheart. I will love and protect you the rest of my life. It’s my solemn vow.”

“Then I’m ready, Tony,” she said decidedly.

“I am, too,” he agreed, then shot her a puzzled look. “For
what,
exactly?”

“To shop for baby furniture. I want to fill our house with every baby thing imaginable.”

Tony chuckled and drew her into his arms. “Now, I
know
you really love me.”

“I do. I really, really do.”