Sue MacKay - The Italian Surgeon's Secret Baby

Her mouthful of wine went down the wrong way and she choked, then had to put up with the embarrassment of having her back slapped with one enormous—and warm—hand. It would be too easy to lean back into that unexpected gentleness and close her eyes. She sat forward, took another, more careful sip from her glass. ‘Thank you.’

‘Eat, relax. I won’t hassle you with any more questions tonight.’ To prove it, Mattia became intent on enjoying his pasta.

While worrying about that, Elene was struggling to keep her eyes open, despite the tasty food. The wine wasn’t helping keep her awake, but she’d earned it. It was good to sit back and take a load off her feet, and her mind. But she couldn’t get too comfortable. She had to stay awake long enough to put Aimee to bed when she was ready, and that looked like being a while away yet.

Mattia stood and cleared their plates, brought a bowl of enormous strawberries to the table.

Then Aimee looked up and threw a block across the floor, followed by a cry that had to be heard back in town. Another block followed the first and more cries filled the room.

‘Here we go. Meltdown time.’ At least it hadn’t happened mid-flight. That would’ve been awkward.

Mattia was staring at Aimee as though he couldn’t believe what was going on.

‘Your niece and nephew don’t have good old crying matches?’ Elene reached down to lift Aimee into her arms, only to get belted on the nose with a flying fist. ‘Ouch.’ Her eyes filled at the pain. ‘Careful, missy.’

The noise intensified. Aimee’s little mouth was wide open, her eyes ferocious slits above her red cheeks.

‘Shh, sweetheart.’ Elene bounced her on her hip.

Aimee wasn’t having anything to do with it. Her fists were flying and the crying changed to deep sobbing, tugging at Elene’s heart with each gasp.

‘Want me to heat some milk?’ Mattia asked.

‘You can try, but I suspect it’s going to take some time to get her to quieten down. I can’t complain since she never cried the whole trip.’

Surprisingly, Mattia’s mouth twitched. ‘Saving it for me, were you, little one?’ He ran a hand over Aimee’s head.

‘I’ll take her to the bedroom and leave you in peace.’

‘Give her to me. I’ll walk around the back yard for a while, see if that distracts her enough to quieten down.’ Mattia stood with his arms out.

Elene gaped. The man was offering to take a crying toddler and try to soothe her? Seemed she knew nothing about him. ‘If you’re sure?’ Already she was handing Aimee over to those large, safe hands, the relief enormous. She didn’t know if she had it in her to walk and talk with Aimee now, for what could be hours. ‘I’ll take over when you’ve had enough. This might go on for a long time.’ He’d soon be sick of the crying and kicking and want shot of Aimee.

‘I’ll manage.’ His arms were cradling his daughter, rocking her slowly back and forth as he began striding across the kitchen. ‘You heat the milk, eat some strawberries and make yourself some tea if you like. I’ll be outside.’

The neighbours were going to love that. ‘If you’re certain.’ But she was talking to herself, alone in Mattia’s kitchen, the crying muffled behind the closed door. She should be glad to have someone to help with Aimee, but she felt as though she were stranded on top of a rock with the tide racing in. Could they make joint custody work?

Nearly an hour later the world became quiet. Elene went outside to take Aimee off Mattia to put her to bed, but she was wide awake, smiles having replaced the crying. ‘You’re supposed to fall asleep now.’

‘Why don’t you go to bed? If you give me a jumpsuit or whatever it is you call night attire for toddlers, I can put Aimee down when she’s ready. She’s going to outlast you by quite some time,’ Mattia said.

It was tempting. So, so tempting. But she was meant to be caring for Aimee, not Mattia. Not yet.

‘Let it go, Elene. You’re exhausted, and staying up any longer isn’t going to help anyone.’

‘You’re right,’ she capitulated.

It wasn’t until she was digging through the case for Aimee’s clothes that it dawned on her that Mattia would be bringing Aimee in here while she was in bed. So what? She’d be out of it. It wasn’t as if the man would have his wicked way with her. And that was not disappointment lapping at her periphery. Besides, the loose-fitting cotton PJs she’d shortly pull on would turn any red-blooded man off in a flash. Yeah, she could stop worrying on that score.

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