Free Her Shameful Secret by Susanna Carr Page B

as she got up from her chair. “You can get dressed now and go to the lab to get your blood taken.”
    “How long will it take to get the results?” Antonio asked.
    “I’ll ask them to hurry,” the woman said as she approached him, “but it can take up to a week.”
    A week was too long. He wasn’t thinking only about the legal aspects of confirming Gio’s heir. Having Isabella in his life, in his home, was already placing a strain on his self-control. She had only been under his roof for a few minutes when he had pounced.
    He thanked the technician, ignoring the flirty promise that lay beneath her fluttering eyelashes. He closed the door firmly behind her and turned around when he heard Isabella’s deep sigh.
    “This is why I wanted to come alone to this doctor’s appointment.”
    “Why?” Antonio asked as he watched Isabella sit up and swing her bare legs over the edge of the examination table. “What did I do?”
    “She was paying more attention to you than the screen.”
    “You’re exaggerating,” he said. Her comment surprised him. Isabella wasn’t the jealous type, but then he had never given her reason to worry. His adoration had been painfully obvious.
    Isabella hopped down from the table and her paper gown rustled loudly. “I’m going to get dressed.”
    Antonio retrieved his phone from his jacket and leaned against the door. He scrolled through a few messages before he glanced up again. Isabella was tapping her bare feet impatiently and had her hands on her hips.
    “I’d like some privacy.”
    He raised an eyebrow. This from the woman who had once given him a striptease so erotic that his body still clenched from the memory of it? “You can’t be serious.”
    She glared at him. “Will you at least turn your back?”
    “No.” He pocketed his phone and crossed his arms. He should probably be a gentleman and allow her to get ready in private, but he didn’t like being relegated to the status of an acquaintance. A stranger. They had once been lovers and he didn’t want her to forget it.
    “Fine. Hold this while I dress.” She thrust the ultrasound printout in his hand.
    He automatically looked down at the black and white image of Isabella’s baby.
    Gio’s baby .
    His fingers pinched the edge of the picture.
    Antonio braced himself for searing pain as he stared at the image. But all he felt was curiosity and regret. He wished Isabella were carrying his child.
    What kind of father would Gio have been? Antonio wondered. Would he have been a disciplinarian, like their father, or would he have been an absent parent? He didn’t think Gio would have offered stability or comfort. His brother had been famous for his playboy lifestyle and wouldn’t have changed his ways to accommodate a baby.
    Antonio, on the other hand, was already prepared to make changes for this child. He frowned at the picture, noticing how small and innocent the baby appeared. He could offer the child a stable environment. Protection. But love? That he didn’t know.
    “Is something wrong?” Isabella asked softly.
    Antonio realized he had been staring at the picture all this time. “I think it’s a girl,” he said gruffly.
    “I haven’t asked about the sex of the baby,” Isabella said. She turned around and walked to the chair that held her clothes. “All I care about is the baby’s health.”
    Antonio glanced at the paper gown that fell onto thefloor. A kick of anticipation heated his blood. His gaze trailed from Isabella’s bare feet to her slender legs. He wanted to let his eyes roam, to memorize every line and bend of her body, but that would be dangerous. Antonio knew once he did that he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off Isabella.
    “Was your assistant able to find a plane ticket for me?” she asked as she stepped into her panties. The cheap cotton didn’t detract from the gentle curve of her hips, and his hands stung with the need to drag it down her thighs.
    “Plane ticket?” he asked in a