Free The Duke's Willful Wife by Elizabeth Lennox Page A

important you are to me.  You’re my only link and I just don’t know how I’ll go on if you can’t pull through this.”
    Dante listened at the door, confused by his wife’s words.  She had been e-mailing his grandmother?  That didn’t make any sense.  His grandmother didn’t even have a computer much less know how to e-mail someone.  She was an old fashioned lady who didn’t like technology. 
    He let the door close softly behind him and made his way out of the hospital, intending to come back later this afternoon to check on both of them. 
    Sasha sat beside the woman all day, reading a newspaper, and then a book she found at the bookstore when she went for some coffee around lunch time.  When Rennata woke up in the early afternoon, she turned to Sasha and smiled.  “You haven’t eaten anything today, have you child?” 
    Sasha was so excited that the woman had woken up again, she gripped her hand lightly.  “Yes.  You can’t put that one on me today.”
    Rennata smiled weakly but her eyes were twinkling with humor .  “What have you eaten?” she asked
    That got her and Sasha grimaced.  “Okay, so just some juice and toast this morning .  But if you promise to get just marginally better this afternoon, I promise that I’ll eat an entire pizza all by myself tonight for dinner.  Is it a deal?”
    Rennata shook her head slightly , amused by Sasha’s attempt at negotiating .  “You’re a horrible child,” she said teasingly.  “But you have a deal.”
    “Good.  I’ll call in the doctor if you don’t mind.”
    She sighed with resignation and let her hand fall back on the cotton blankets covering her legs.  “ He won’t be able to do anything.”
    “Even so, let’s let him check on you, okay?”
    The doctor arrived moments later and while the nurse took Rennata’s blood pressure and temperature, the doctor looked at Rennata’s eyes and chart.  “It’s good that she’s woken up twice today.  And for longer periods.  That’s a good sign,” he smiled at Sasha and patted Rennata’s hand gently.  “I’m going to increase your medicine just slightly but let me know if you start to feel sick, okay?” he asked.
    Rennata nodded her head and the nurse and doctor left, conferring outside the room.
    “I win,” Rennata whispered a moment before she slipped back to sleep.
    Sasha stared at the woman for a long moment, then laughed and hugged her gently before resuming her seat beside her bed.  “You’re a diabolical woman, Nonna,” she whispered. 
    That night , she took a cab back to the palazzo, carrying a large box of pizza with extra cheese, sausage and pepperoni. 
    “You missed dinner,” Riasa said and looked at Sasha up and down.  “You’ve been gone all day long and you finally come back with takeout food?  Is our food not good enough for you now?”
    Sasha smiled brightly and shook her head.  “You have a fabulous cook.  I made a deal with Rennata though and I have to follow through with it.”  She left a speechless Riasa staring after her as she went out the back door to the patio.  Under the stars, she opened up the pizza box and sat b ack on one of the chaise lounge s.  Picking up a slice of the gooey, cheesy slice, she hungrily took the first, delicious bite, sitting back to truly enjoy a real, Italian pizza. 
    “What are you doing out here?” Dante’s deep voice asked from the darkness.
    Sasha jumped and looked around, the second bite of her pizza still in her mouth.  She swallowed quickly and looked around, finding him leaning against a tree to the left of the patio, a glass of wine in his hand. 
    “I could ask you the same question.”
    He strode out of the darkness, coming into a small circle of dim light streaming down from one of the second story rooms.  “I went back to the hospital to get you for dinner but they said you’d already left.”
    “I made a promise to Rennata, ” she said, laughing and looking back at the light from the