Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO HAD NEVER DARED TO HOPE
The next morning, Luca canceled every meeting on his calendar.
That alone frightened his staff.
Luca Varenna never canceled meetings.
He rescheduled other people's lives around his own.
But at eight o'clock, he walked into our bedroom carrying a glass of water and a small plate of toast.
I was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Still nauseated.
Still frightened.
Still wondering whether the man I'd married eleven weeks earlier would regret everything once the shock wore off.
“Good morning,” he said.
I looked at the tray.
“Did you make that?”
“Yes.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“You know where the kitchen is?”
He almost smiled.
“I've been informed.”
I laughed.
Then immediately regretted it when another wave of nausea hit.
Luca placed the tray down.
“Evelyn?”
“I'm okay.”
He knelt beside me.
“Don't say that because you think it's what I want to hear.”
I looked at him.
His expression was serious.
Concerned.
Nothing like the cold, ruthless man Boston feared.
“I'm scared,” I admitted.
His face softened.
“So am I.”
That surprised me.
“You?”
He nodded.
“For twelve years, I've believed I'd never become a father.”
He looked down.
“I stopped imagining it.”
My chest tightened.
He continued.
“I stopped thinking about what I'd name a son. Whether a daughter would have my eyes. Whether I'd be good at bedtime stories.”
His voice broke slightly.
“I convinced myself I didn't want children because wanting them hurt too much.”
I reached for his hand.
“Luca.”
He looked up.
“If you're pregnant, Evelyn…”
He swallowed.
“I don't know what to do with how much I want it to be true.”
Tears filled my eyes.
For the first time, I understood something.
The clause in our marriage contract hadn't been an expression of indifference.
It had been a shield.
A way for Luca to protect himself from hoping for something he believed he could never have.
I squeezed his hand.
“Then we'll find out together.”
He nodded.
May you like
“Together.”
And for the first time since seeing those two pink lines, I felt less alone.
