Chapter Twelve

I can feel Luca's warm body against mine and hear his soft and steady breathing.

I open my eyes, slowly wriggle out of his embrace, and sneak out of the bed, heading into the bathroom. I'm not ready for him to see my freshly-woken-up face just yet.

I look at myself in the mirror—my hair a mess, tiny bruises already forming all over my naked body where his fingers had pressed hard into my skin, and a stupid smile stuck on my face.

I did it. Not once, not even twice because last night was so many times I couldn't even count. I got Luca Baldini to bare himself to me, in more ways than one.

I know that he thinks he took control and had his way with me, but I enjoyed every second of it. Every time I felt him enter me, every time his hands were on my body, I could feel my plan coming together with each moan and gasp between us.

I brush my teeth, rinse my face in cold water, and tidy my honey-brown locks. I can hear Luca starting to stir in the bed, and I quietly make my way back, managing to slip back in next to him just before he opens his eyes.

For a second, I worry that he's going to wake up in a different mood from the one he went to sleep in. I'm hoping it's not instant regret that he opens his eyes to.

I'm lying with my back to him, to soften the blow in case he does jump right out of bed as soon as he realizes I'm next to him.

"Buongiorno," he says softly, stroking my arm. "I'm starving."

I turn to look at him, smiling. His steely blue eyes are soft this morning. "Buongiorno. Should we go and get breakfast?"

"Mmm. Let me just shower." He stands up and walks to the shower. I watch his naked body from behind, my thoughts flashing back to last night and the electricity that sparked between us.

I'm tempted to jump in the shower with him, but I'm not sure my body can take much more right now. Instead, I wait until he's done and then quickly shower myself.

As soon as we're both dressed, we head out of the room and down to the big dining room, where family members are already out having breakfast. Luca holds my hand all the way from the room to the dining hall, and only lets go when the women greet me and pull me away from him.

I give him a little smile and blow a kiss as I follow the ladies to the mimosa table and we discuss the previous night's party.

The food set out is an absolute feast. There's muffins and quiche galore, as well as platters upon platters of fruit. On another table, I see a buffet of plain scrambled eggs as well as huevos rancheros, plus some bacon and sausage and those crumbed mushrooms that I love.

None of these women seem too shy about loading their plates and eating their fair share, and it makes me feel easier about indulging a bit. It doesn't hurt that as soon as my mimosa glass is looking a little empty, it gets refilled immediately.

I can tell that these people like me. I usually make a good first impression on people. And I am confident enough in myself and in this situation that I'm sure if Luca hadn't brought me with him, things would not have gone his way so quickly.

For the rest of breakfast, Luca is outside with the men and I am inside. I chat a bit with each of the women, and then sit down at a table by myself as soon as I have a small break.

I look at my phone and open my period tracking app. I smile as I see that what I thought was correct. This weekend falls perfectly within my ovulation period. And since there was no time for condoms last night, while Luca was quite literally fucking my brains out, there is a chance that I could be carrying a Baldini heir right now. The thought sends a spark through my stomach.

I"m not alone with my excited thoughts for very long when the other women come to the table and join me, inviting me to their day of shopping and lounging by the pool. Which let"s be real, sounds pretty perfect.

But almost as soon as the food is done, Luca comes to pull me away from my new friends. "I'm so sorry, ladies, but Emelia, darling," I smile as he throws in the endearment, "we need to pack up and get ready to head home, sadly." It's his turn to smile, but it's directed at the partners' wives, who all make sad sounds at the announcement of us leaving.

"Of course, honey." I enjoy being able to throw in my own loving nickname for him. "I"m right behind you." We need to do a bit of a clean-up in the room, too, after our escapades last night. Thankfully we were careful enough that nothing broke, but the room looks like a warzone currently.

Luca and I head back to our room and clean up and pack mostly in silence. I can tell he's busy mulling things over in his head, and the details of this deal are a lot.

We take our bags down to the cars and say our goodbyes to the partners and their families. Even the kids come out to say goodbye, and Carlos' youngest son has drawn a picture of me in my purple dress.

"I love it!" I tell him, as the men make a joke about him already looking at women, even at his age.

I put the drawing in my bag and hug Carlos' wife. "Thank you so much for this weekend!" I tell her. "And for welcoming us into your gorgeous home, the brilliant food, just everything."

I get into the car as Luca shakes hands with all the men and then he joins me in the car. Everyone stays to see us off, waving and shouting their goodbyes.

"That was such a good time," I say to Luca.

He smiles, the sight melting my heart immediately. "I told you that you'd have a good time."

I nod, and we fall back into a silence. It's a comfortable silence now, though, and not as tense as the quiet between us before we came here. I'm happy that he asked me to be his pretend partner, and that I agreed, even though I really wasn't sure it was going to be a good idea.

Our flight back home is also quiet, with the stewards offering us drinks and snacks providing most of the conversation in the space. Luca is deep in thought, and I choose not to distract him. Instead, I pick up one of the magazines on the plane and work on the crossword puzzle.

I think again about my ovulation schedule and the thought of carrying Luca's baby. I wonder how he'll react to the news, if it is true.

I let my thoughts wander in the silence of the plane, thinking ahead to our gender reveal, baby shower, and then the birth of our perfect baby. I go as far as their first haircut, first day of school, and their troubled teenage years that will bond Luca and I even more tightly as we navigate parenthood.

I think about throwing our own children massive parties, like the one we attended this weekend. And of the children…perhaps we'll have three…running around the Baldini mansion and through the gardens that Ginny loved so dearly.

My fantasizing thoughts last the entire trip home, and when we land, I stand up and walk silently to the car. Luca has his phone in front of his face the whole time, probably setting up the details of how they're going to receive and then distribute the drugs coming in from the Mexicans soon.

I'm proud of him. This is one of the biggest deals that the Baldinis will have ever secured, and it'll earn him some respect from his brother, as well as the rest of the family. I know that all he's ever wanted was to be as respected as his older brother.

I can't help but feel like I helped him secure this respect, though, since it seemed like the Mexicans thoroughly enjoyed having me there.

Plus, when I was speaking to the wives, I made sure that I threw in bits about how serious Luca was about his work, how smart I found him to be, and how I'd never seen a more strategic mind.

Could Luca have won them over after they were so angry with him if I hadn't joined him for the weekend? Maybe. But I do think I played a big part in this. One day, when we look back on this part of our lives, he'll see that too.

We arrive at the house and get out of the car quickly, not wanting Grazia to see me lingering too close to her brother. I know she was upset at me agreeing to go, but I didn't have much time to calm her down before we had to leave. My job now is to find her and make sure she's not too angry with me anymore.

I find her in the garden, taking care of Ginny's flowers. "Zia, I'm back!" I call to her from the glass doors, and she looks up, shading her eyes from the son.

"Oh!" she calls back, "Done running off with my brother, are you?" I walk out to her, laughing to show how ridiculous her statement is.

"Okay, I attended a party for a fifteen-year-old, in a terribly hot country, with no one who even spoke English to talk to. Let's not pretend that I've just had the time of my life," I lie.

"You had my brother, who speaks English." She can be so stubborn when she wants to be.

"Your brother was busy doing important business deals." I flop down on the ground next to her and pick one of the flowers, sticking it in her thick hair that"s as dark as her brothers. "It was all really boring…but I did get to have mimosas for breakfast."

She frowns at me, trying to figure out whether or not she should believe what I'm saying. "You and Luca didn't spend time together?" she asks.

"Barely any. I had to pretend I was there as his partner, but really, he was with the big bosses most of the time, and I was left to try and entertain the wives. It was terribly boring." I yawn to drive my point home.

I can see her start to relax a bit. "So, it wasn't a rendezvous excuse to finally get your hands on Luca far away from me?"

"Grazia, you can be so silly. Luca asked me to do this for the family. I agreed because I love you all." I smile at her and stick another flower in my own hair.

"Mmkay, do you want to go to the beach?" she asks, and I nod.

We head off for the rest of the day, and I'm grateful for the chance to get away from Luca. I need to put some space between us so that I don't give away everything that happened while we were in Mexico.

Our first stop is at our favorite beach bar and Grazia orders us cocktails, but I discreetly ask the bartender to make mine a virgin, just in case.