Filed to story: Bound by Honor (Aria & Luca) Drama Story
I kissed her and sank down beside her. “You want to play name a country?”
She rolled her eyes. “I want to flee the cold this winter. Why don’t we spend a few weeks in Costa Rica in November? New York is always so depressing in winter.”
“Can you fly?”
She frowned. “Of course.”
I gestured at her flat belly. “I mean because of the kid.”
“I know what you mean, but it’s not a problem.”
“Then we should fly to Costa Rica for a bit of adventure.”
Her entire face transformed. Relief and happiness shone in her eyes. This was the Gianna I wanted to keep seeing, and this Gianna needed her freedom.
Maybe for the first time since we’d agreed to giving Luca and Aria our child, I felt a sense of certainty and acceptance. Some people weren’t meant to be parents, and we were among them.
When I told Luca about our travel plans, expecting to be met with resistance, I was surprised when he nodded. “That’s actually a good plan. Maybe you’ll be more chilled afterward.”
I stifled a comment, but his words proved to be correct. Gianna and I really enjoyed the two weeks away from everything. The only thing that occasionally dimmed our joy was when people congratulated Gianna on her pregnancy. In her sixth month, the bump was now visible when Gianna wore only a bikini. Apart from that, this vacation was like all of our vacations before, except we couldn’t drink or dive, but Gianna was still fit and eager to do as many activities as possible.
One evening as we watched the sunset in the hammock in front of our beach villa, Gianna leaned her head on my shoulder, whispering, “I wish we could stay in this moment forever. I’m scared of returning to New York.”
Gianna admitting to being afraid was a rare event and immediately fired up my protectiveness. I pulled her closer against me. “There’s nothing for you to be scared of. You have me.”
She looked at me. “I do, don’t I?”
I frowned. “Of course.”
“Things will get tough. Pretending this pregnancy isn’t there is impossible with my belly, and it’ll be hard hiding from the public to keep it hidden.”
“You’ll spend plenty of time in the Hamptons with Aria and Liliana.”
Gianna cringed. “I still have to tell Lily. I can’t postpone it anymore. It’s not fair.”
“Then tell her.” I paused, knowing Gianna would loathe what I had to say next. “You should stop teaching classes. Hiding your bump in gym clothes is much harder, especially if you do all those yoga poses.”
Gianna nodded slowly, surprising me. “I know. It’s been hard to avoid ab exercises these last few weeks. Eventually my clients will get suspicious.”
Wistfulness swung in her voice. Gianna loved her job. She loved feeling useful. A life as a trophy wife wasn’t what she was born to be. She pulled her legs up against her body, her gaze returning to the ocean cloaked in darkness.
When suddenly she jumped, her eyes going wide and darting down to her belly.
“What is it?” I asked, alarmed.
Gianna didn’t say anything at first and only stared down her body. Slowly she lowered her legs and met my gaze. “It’s nothing. I think my stomach is acting up.”
Gianna was lying. “Are you sure you are okay?”
She glanced down at her belly again and nodded slowly. “I’m fine. I’ll just do a few detox-days once we’re back home, then everything will be okay.”
I had a feeling her reaction had little to do with stomach issues and more with the baby.
Chapter Six
Gianna
I
‘d avoided this conversation with Lily for too long. I wasn’t even sure why. Lily wouldn’t condemn me any more than Aria had. Maybe she would have a harder time understanding my reasoning, after all she was blissfully happy being a mom. But now in my sixth month I couldn’t keep my pregnancy a secret from her any longer. I didn’t want to.
As we’d all agreed on, I’d driven out to the Hamptons after we returned from our vacation. The official explanation why I no longer taught Pilates and yoga was that I had broken my wrist during vacation and it needed time to heal. Now I just needed to stay out of the public eye until early April when the kid was due.
I sat wrapped in a cozy blanket on the couch and watched the flames licking at the top of the fireplace. I wasn’t really a winter person but roaring fireplaces always gave me a sense of peace.
The sound of a car pulling up caught my attention. Matteo had stayed in New York to take care of business with Luca, but Aria and Lily would join me with their kids today and stay until Christmas so we could all celebrate together. Of course, I wasn’t alone in the mansion. Two guards had accompanied me and were manning the security cameras to make sure I was safe.
My belly flipped when Lily entered, followed by her own bodyguard who carried Sara. He sat the kid down who immediately rushed toward me with a grin and climbed on the couch beside me. I smiled at her. She was a much quieter kid than Marcella or Amo. Judging by the line dancer in my belly, it wouldn’t be the hesitant type.
Lily joined me, her eyes crinkling with worry. She glanced at my hands, which were unscathed and frowned. She must have heard the broken wrist rumor from one of the women in my yoga course.
“I’m fine,” I said immediately. “We needed to figure out a lie for why I’m lying low.”