Chapter 10

10

MONA

I t's disheartening when I wake up to an empty bed once again. I sit up, glancing around the room. Matteo is nowhere to be seen. My stomach turns. I put my hand over my mouth, bolting toward the bathroom. I barely make it in time before I'm throwing up.

"Miss Mona," I hear Emma call. I want to tell her to go away, but I'm still throwing up. "Oh my." The water turns on, and a moment later, a cold, wet cloth is pressed against my head. I drop down onto the bathroom floor next to the toilet. "You don't eat enough."

"Oh my God." I reach up and flush the toilet. It was a lot of dry heaving.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm fine." I try to get up when a dizzy spell hits me. Emma grabs me, steadying me.

"Fine, my ass." She helps me get to the sink so I can brush my teeth and wash my face. That does make me feel better. "In bed. I'll be back with toast and something to drink."

"Thank you." Anything to help with my stomach. I place my hand on my belly, understanding why I threw up. I thought last night changed things between Matteo and me. That we'd had some sort of breakthrough. But obviously I was wrong. I stare at the empty side of the bed. The last thing I remember was Matteo holding me close in a possessive grip. I'd fallen asleep so easily with him holding me. I could have sworn he'd been there all night with me.

"Now, I don't want to hear about you not wanting to eat this." Emma comes bustling in with a tray in her hand. She sets it on the bed next to me, then places her hand on my forehead.

"I'm fine, really." I bite into the toast.

"The doctor will see about that." Her words strike panic in me.

"The doctor!" No, no, no. "I don't need one, really."

"It's too late. I already told Matteo." Oh shit. I'm nowhere near ready for Matteo to find out that I'm having his baby. I thought I had more time to figure things out.

"If he were here, maybe I could have told him myself." I know I sound like a petulant child, but I don't care. Emma laughs as if I said something amusing. I'm starting to hate when she does that. It's like she's always in on something I don't know.

"Eat." I take another bite. As worried as I am about seeing a doctor, my stomach has woken up. Emma buzzes around me until I hear heavy steps coming down the hallway. The doors fly open, and Matteo strides in.

"Amore mio," he says, coming over to me. Matteo gently takes my chin between two fingers and tilts my head back to check me over. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine. I even ate. Can we cancel the doctor?"

"No." He says it with finality.

"But—"

"Please."

"Okay," I agree, and I wonder if Matteo has uttered that word before. He can be so intense at times, and at others I completely forget who he is, but there is always a reminder. "Matteo, where have you been?" I touch his shirt collar. He mutters a curse that I think might be Italian because I've never heard it before. "It's blood."

"Stay put," he orders me. I roll my eyes at him. "Eat."

I watch him walk into the closet, coming back out with a fresh pair of clothes to head into the bathroom with.

"You shouldn't worry about those things," Emma informs me. "Now, I've got a few tasks I need to handle, I've been told. I'll bring the doctor up when they arrive."

I take a few more bites of my toast and drink down my orange juice, so I don't have to hear it before I slip from the bed. Matteo is already coming out of the shower when I enter the bathroom.

"Oh." I let out a burst of air, seeing him in all of his naked glory. This man has witnessed me naked numerous times, but I have never seen him in the same state. Even during our one sexual encounter, he remained dressed.

His body is dripping with water. Every inch of him is hard and defined. And I mean very hard. "Rabbit, hop your ass back into bed." He wraps the towel around his waist.

"You don't sleep with me," I blurt out.

"I slept with you last night."

"That's not what I meant."

"Bed, now," he half-growls. I huff before going back to bed. Not because he told me to but because he still doesn't answer the question. A few minutes later, Matteo comes strolling out of the bathroom in his normal slacks and buttoned-up shirt. Only this one is black. That will help to conceal the blood better.

"You ate." A half smile pulls at his lips.

"You never answer my questions."

"I don't want to upset you." He walks around the bed and sits next to me again. "There were things I needed to handle this morning."

"I understand this life."

"I don't know if you do, Mona. My family would never have done the things yours did."

"What does that mean?" I sit up straighter. I get it. My father and brother suck, but it's a constant reminder of who I am.

"We're different." He tries to cup my cheek. I lean away, but he's quicker. His hand slips around, cupping the back of my neck. He pulls me partly to him, meeting me halfway. Matteo's mouth takes mine. "When I get my mouth on you, you melt for me."

"You're terrible to use my body against me." I say it against his lips. He's not wrong. The second he touches me, I melt for him. I don't understand this. This connection, which I find difficult to explain, has been present from the beginning. Even when I want to smack him, there's still this pull to him.

"I can't help myself either." He presses his forehead against mine. "Amore mio." I think I hear him say it under his breath.

"Boss." Sergio knocks on the open bedroom door. Matteo quickly stands. Is he embarrassed that he got caught showing me affection?

This is what I mean. My head is all over the place with this man, but I'm not sure he even understands how he feels. Let alone the real effect he's having over me. Then we have the added hormones from the pregnancy, which are probably amplifying everything.

"You got her?" Matteo asks him. Sergio nods. "We should wait till after she sees the doctor."

"Got who?" I poke into the conversation.

"I got you something. A little present."

"You got me something?" He makes those warm and fuzzies come right back with a few words. It's not that I need anything but that he thought to do so.

"You said you wanted to call your sister."

"Oh, please let me do it now. Don't make me wait." I reach out and grab his hand. He threads his fingers between mine.

"It's not a call. It's actually what I had to handle this morning." My brows furrow together, not understanding what the heck he means.

"I don't understand."

"Good things come to those who wait. See the doctor, then you'll get your surprise."

I guess I have no choice but to see the doctor. Little does Matteo know, I'm not the only one that will be getting a surprise today.