Need You Now (Martha's Way Series Book 2) (34 page)

Rafa nodded.

Adam walked up to Ken, AKA Nate. “What
do you want?”

“Who the
fuck are
you?” Ken asked in a surprisingly brave tone.

“Liliana’s fiancé.
You should leave if you don’t want your
face rearrange
d.”

Rafa chuckled. “I’d help, but I promised
my sister I wouldn’t touch him. I signed my name in blood.”

“Well, I’m too smart to make such a
stupid promise. Get out!”

Ken-Nate squared his shoulders. “I’m
here to see Lily.”

“She’s not here,” Rafa informed t
he cheating bastard. “You should leave or you can’t say I
didn’t warn you.”

“I’m not leaving. I want to speak to
Lily.”

Rafa snorted.

“Liliana is not here. Leave.”

Nate walked past Adam into the living
room. “Stop calling her that. Her name is Lily. Everyo
ne
calls her Lily.”

Adam grabbed Nate’s shoulder and spun
him around to face him. “I’m not everyone. I’m the guy who can keep his dick in
his pants when he makes a promise to a woman. Now get the fuck out.” Nate tried
to stare him down and failed. Adam cro
ssed his arms
over his chest. “I met her right after she found out you cheated on her. She
put up this façade
,
but I also saw her broken down and sad. How could you do that to a woman you
claimed to love?”

Nate shoved his hands in his pockets. “I
want her
back.”

This time Rafa’s deep laughter filled
the room. “You’re not getting her back. She’s in love with him.” He pointed at
Adam. “I mean the crazy, passionate kind of love that only happens once in a
lifetime.”

Adam pulled his phone from his jacket.
He scrolled to Lily’s number and texted.

Where
are you?

At the doctor.
Why?

Adam shoved the phone back in his pocket
and fixed his eyes on Nate. “She told you to let her go. I heard her. I was
standing right next
to her. You should. And I’m not
saying that because I’m threatened by you. I’m saying it because you’re her
past, not her future.” And just because he was a guy he added, “That’s where I
come in.”

* * * *

Lily flipped through the magazine
appropriately t
itled
Pregnancy
. Hard to believe two weeks ago, she sat
in the same room with her heart in her throat with angst. She looked at Adam’s
text again, and her bare finger where his ring once sheathed.

A soft knock came from the door. “Come
in,” she called to
Paige and Dr. Mason.

Paige entered the room. “Dr. Mason will
be here soon.”

Lily studied the nurse. There was a
slight tension behind her smile. “Is everything okay?” she asked with concern.
She had done the usual urine thing before her visit and wondered
if something showed up.

Paige’s eyes rested on her left hand for
a second. “You’re engaged. Where’s your ring?”

“I’m not engaged.” No point asking Paige
how she got the scoop of her love life. She’d bet her savings where the nurse
got her information and
Lily would win.
Her nosy, pain-in-the-ass brothers.
“I mean, I am but I’m not.”

Paige smiled. “Which one is it?”

She sighed. “I guess I am, but we’re not
together.” At least not yet, he was still in Russia.

“Is his name Adam Aquilani?”

Puzzled, she met Pai
ge’s gaze. “How do you know his name?”

Paige smiled. “Beside the fact I’m a big
Formula One fan.” She grinned. “He’s also in the waiting room demanding to be
in here with you.”

Lily’s heart took a leap. “He’s in
Russia,” she said in an effort to keep herse
lf calm.

But the nurse shook her head. “He’s
here. Of course we have to protect our clients and refused to let him in until
you approved it.”

She recalled Adam’s promise to not miss
any of her appointments. He must be exhausted. The effort, the thought,
the act, made her heart squeezed. “He can come in.”

Paige squeezed her hand and headed for
the door. “A little bird told me he met all three of your brothers.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “It was a sight.”

“Who gave him the hardest time?”

“Guess.”

“I’d bet my sa
vings
on Rafa.”

“You’d win.”

Paige laughed. “I’ll bring him in.”

As soon as the door closed behind Paige,
Lily jumped off the doctor bed, grabbed her compact powder and applied a stroke
of lip gloss on her bare lips. She had bags under her eyes and truth b
e told, she looked tired, but she could blame that on the
pregnancy, not the fact she hadn’t slept much since she returned home because
every night she reached for him.

And damn it, why had she already changed
into that wretched gown?

They had to be the
most unattractive thing ever created. She ran a hand
through her hair, fluffed up her bangs and lightly patted her cheeks in hope
for some color. It didn’t work. So she sat back on the gurney with her socks
down to her ankles, in the hideous, flimsy gown t
ied
to her front, and tried to look as calm as possible when the soft knock came on
the door again.

She cleared her throat, and edged some
distance between her and the stirrups. The last thing she wanted Adam to think
about was her spreading it wide for he
r obstetrician.
“Come in,” she called with her best I’m in control voice, only it cracked at
the end.

The door pushed open. Paige appeared
first, and then Lily’s heart stammered as her eyes went straight to the tall,
rugged man with a few days’ old scruff
and face set
in a hard determined expression.

“You have ten minutes,” Paige said, then
left them alone.

He stood there for a minute. He scanned
her from head to toe, his eyes stayed a moment too long on the pink and blue
socks scrunched to her ankle then h
is gaze met hers,
a soft smile curved his lips. “I came here straight from Russia,” he said in a
quiet voice.

“You must be tired,” she said, heart
pounding so hard she couldn’t hear herself think. “You didn’t have to come.”
But inside she was grinning like
a ten-year-old with
delight. Never mind the bags under his eyes were a dead giveaway he was
tuckered out.

“I promised I would. But more
importantly, Liliana, I want to be here.”

She watched him walk across the room to
the chair. He picked it up and brough
t it next to
where she sat. He plopped his big body down and looked up to her.

“What are you doing, Adam?”

He took her hands in his and placed a
kiss on the back of her hands. “I’m giving you my heart.
If you still want it.”

She was going to cry again, she
could feel the tears burning the back of her eyes. She
squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “I can’t cry here.”

He let out a low laugh. “Open your eyes,
Liliana, and look at me.”

Slowly, she did as he asked and saw all
the emotions she knew he felt
in his heart reflecting
in his eyes. “I’m looking, Adam. I’ve been looking and I’m scared that what I
see may not be what you feel.”

“I’m in love with you, Liliana Serrano,”
he said quietly. “So much I fucking ache.”

Her heart skipped. It had been surreal
to hear him declare his love on television in front of
millions of viewers. Still, it didn’t compare to this private moment between
them. Love, affection, and need rushed through her.

“That day I saw you walk by the Shanty
with Minka, you took my breath aw
ay at that moment.
Then the night at the beach, I lost myself in you, to you then.” He smiled.
“I’m forever yours.”

With her heart in her throat, she let
the tears flow.

“I can’t tell if you’re happy or if
these are ‘You’re too late, Adam’ tears.”

Between the tears, she laughed at his
words.

“I’ve been very careful not to say those words to a woman
other than my mother and my extended family. But you’ve changed that. My mind
is still fucked up somewhat, but the idea of losing you…” He shook his hea
d. “I’d say it over and over for you.”

“I love you. I tried to fight it. I was
scared to love you
,
but my heart flipped on me and I fell
really hard.”

Adam rose to his feet, cupped her face
in his hands and kissed her. “So I’m not too late.”

She wrapped he
r
arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. She saw all she ever wanted,
hope, love, need and affection. “You can never be too late.”

He kissed her then. His lips were firm
and gentle as he pulled her in, burning her lips with his mouth until everythi
ng left her brain but this moment.

“Your ex stopped by your apartment,” he
said when they finally broke for air. “Are you sure that’s over?”

Lily frowned. “I will talk to him
again.”

“Are you sure that’s over?”

She ran a finger over the scar on his
brow. “
I’ve learn from my
relationship with Nate, but I
let go of him a long time ago. It’s
about you.
Us.”
She looked down at her belly.
“And our baby.”

Adam grinned. “I get to see him today.”

“Or her.”

He laughed. “It doesn’t matter.” He
leaned down and kissed
her, then ran the pad of his
thumb over her temple, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “We
should get married soon.”

“Like how soon?”

He seemed to think about it for a beat
then shrugged. “I don’t care.
Tomorrow
if you want.”

“We can’t do that.
Your parents would be so disappointed.”

He chuckled. “Okay, how about this
weekend? I can have them back in the States by tomorrow night.”

She looked at him. “You’re serious.”

“Very serious.”

“No regrets.”

He looked her over. “I should ask you
that.”

Heart filled with joy and fluttering
like a zoo, she tugged down the man she was going to marry on top of her and
kissed him hard. “No regrets. And yes, I’ll marry you whenever you want, Adam
Aquilani. But you should ask me first. I don’t even have an enga
gement ring.”

After one more lingering kiss, Adam
reached in his jeans pocket and produced the ring he once put on her finger.
His expression turned serious, very serious. “Before I ask, I should tell you I
am going to start going to counseling in Boston o
nce
a week for a couple of months. It will help me deal.”

Her heart swelled. She touched his face,
loving the feel of his skin. “What about prescriptions?”

He shook his head. “No meds. I sleep now
,
but I still need to accept some things.”

She nodded, under
standing the guilt he carried in his heart. “Anything else?” she asked
after a beat
.

“That’s it.”

Her brows went up. “I still don’t have
my ring.”

He chuckled,
then
dropped to a knee. His expression once again grew very
serious. “Liliana Serrano, will you marry me and give me forever?”