Free Amedeo, Her Italian Billionaire by Susan Westwood

behavior. “I’m better, but I can’t wait for those pancakes.”
    He smiled. “You don’t have to cook for me. I like that you do, but if you ever don’t want to, I can cook and we can get take out. Please don’t put some much pressure on yourself,” he said.
    Could he get any nicer? She’d turned his life upside down all because of a one-night stand and he was letting her stay in his house. He was paying her bills. He needed to stop. She was going to get used to it and miss it when it was gone. No one had ever taken care of her.
    “Okay. I’ll remember that. My brain is just a fog lately.”
    “I think it might be that way the whole time.”
    “What do you know about pregnancy?” Violet said.
    “Well, I’ve been listening to Dante talk about his wife who is pregnant right now. Due soon, I think. He said she was not herself either. It’s normal.”
    “I feel bad that you have to deal with this.”
    “I was there when you got pregnant. Remember? I also want this child and to know this child, so it’s what I have to do.”
    He was so realistic. Why hadn’t she called him? Why hadn’t she pursued him? Probably because they didn’t talk much during their night of passion. She didn’t get to know him at all. She was glad he was the father of her baby.
    She had to admit that she was beginning to toy with the idea of keeping the baby. Would Amedeo really want to be part of his life? He said he did, but at this point the whole idea was abstract. Would he feel the same when she was showing? When he knew there was an actual baby involved instead of them just playing house and having sex?
    “You don’t look as if you believe me,” he said.
    “It’s hard to imagine a bachelor wanting a child.”
    “I was engaged, remember? Having children was a sticking point. Tory didn’t think she wanted them and I wanted to be with her enough to let it go. She did me a favor.”
    “You wanted children?”
    “I did and I forgot that. I remembered it when you told me you were pregnant. I would have been in a marriage and not true to myself,” he said.
    She was so independent that she couldn’t imagine doing that. She only had herself to rely on for most of her life. Her mother hadn’t been useful in that sense. Or maybe she had since Violet knew how to survive on her own. Maybe her mother had done her a favor.
    “Did you want children?” he said.
    “I never planned on getting married and girls in my neighborhood got pregnant to hold onto a guy.”
    “How did that work out?”
    “Not well. If the baby daddies had a job their wages would be garnished, but if they didn’t they were long gone before the baby came.”
    “Is that what your father did?”
    Violet sighed. She hadn’t wanted to talk about her childhood. “Yes. My mother didn’t pursue him either. She wasn’t a strong woman.”
    “Wasn’t?”
    “No, she died a few years ago. She was an alcoholic and she finally drank herself to death.”
    He reached out and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry.”
    “Not your fault.”
    She looked down at his olive-skinned hand on her much darker one. His fingers were long and lean while hers were short and round. Swelling already.
    “Still. I’m sorry that you had to go through something like that. Other than my father dying at a younger age, my life was pretty easy. Not that I haven’t worked as an adult for all that I have, but I had a good base. Must be tougher when you don’t.”
    Violet shrugged. “I’ve never thought about it that way. I’ve never assumed I was a victim. I just carried on.”
    “I hope our child gets that strength from you.”
    “You’ve sold two companies. You have determination, too,” she said.
    He nodded. “Then our child will have no choice, but to be successful.”
    The food came. Violet dug into hers. She was starving. As the food filled her stomach, she felt better and better. Calmer. Amedeo had ordered a muffin and coffee. He was finished long before she was. He leaned