Amedeo, Her Italian Billionaire (13 page)

“Okay,” Violet said.

“She’ll do what you say. I’ll make sure of it,” Amedeo said.

The nurse smiled at him. “Good. Now sign here and we can let you loose in your husband’s capable hands.”

He decided not to correct her misconception that he was Violet’s husband. It didn’t matter in his situation. He would take care of her and that is all that mattered.

Violet signed the papers then sat up slowly, her legs over the side of the bed. The nurse had left. Amedeo sat on the bed next to her. “Take your time, Violet. We’ve got all day.”

“My head hurts.”

“I know, but you can’t take anything for it.”

“I know. I can’t really sleep much either.”

“How’s your vision?” he said.

“Fine. I’ll just watch some more movies,” Violet said.

“We’ll watch them together.”

He couldn’t remember the last time he watched a movie the whole way through. Certainly never on a Friday afternoon. He didn’t know how long he would be able to sit there, but he’d try. He needed to make this up to Violet.

She was carrying his baby for goodness’ sake. The least he could do was dote on her for a few days while she recovered.

“Okay,” she said without a lot of enthusiasm.

He held out his hand. “You ready?”

“I think so.”

He stood and helped her to her feet. She stood for a minute, taking in a few breaths. With his help, she walked to the car. He’d texted his driver to be at the door so she didn’t have to walk far. He settled her in the back next to him and they drove home.

She leaned on him the whole trip.

He felt guilty about upsetting her, but he didn’t seem to want to talk. He helped her up the steps when they arrived at his house. Once she was settled into bed, he changed e his clothing then snuggled next to her.

He was supposed to make sure she was okay if she fell asleep. Would he have the heart to wake her up? He didn’t know, but he was given strict instructions.

“Do you need anything before the movie starts?”

“I think I need some lunch.”

“I’ll make us some sandwiches.”

He went to the kitchen then returned with food for both of them. Violet ate slowly, taking careful bites. She must really be in pain.

“Violet?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry that I upset you. My plan seemed obvious to me, but I guess you weren’t in favor of it. The offer to marry you still stands, but I won’t insist,” he said.

Her gaze took a minute to travel up to his face. “Okay. Thanks, I guess.”

“We don’t need to talk about it now, but if you want to we can.”

“I don’t want to marry you, Amedeo. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

He wasn’t hurt by her words, but they did take him back a little. Maybe he was jaded from so many gold diggers on his doorstep. Violet wasn’t like that. She wanted to stand on her own, but could admit, at least a little bit, when she needed help.

He cleared away the plates.

“If you change your mind, let me know. I want to make sure that you and this baby are taken care of.”

“I get that.  I just don’t agree how it should be done.”

“Then come up with a plan.”

“Not sure I can do that at this moment.”

“I’m sorry. Not right now. I get it. Your head hurts. We don’t have to talk about this now,” he said.

He shifted on the bed, propping a pillow behind him. They could just watch the movie and not talk. That would be better. He wouldn’t say something stupid then.

“Thanks, Amedeo. I know you mean well. I overreacted.”

“No, you didn’t. It was what you felt. That’s always genuine.”

She nodded then winced. “Ouch.”

“Oh, honey. Don’t do that. Let’s watch a movie.”

He turned on the television while Violet settled on the bed. He’d watch over her today. He guessed this was kind of like being a parent, but Violet wouldn’t be as needy as a baby would be. He sighed, marveling at how much his life had changed in a short time.

*

Amedeo had made her get into bed the moment they came home from the hospital. He was heating up some soup for her since she didn’t have lunch. She should be flattered. She should probably sit back and enjoy all of this attention, but this wasn’t her life. This wouldn’t be her life when the baby arrived.

She didn’t want to get used to it. She didn’t want to be spoiled. A yawn stopped her thoughts. She did feel tired, but she was hungrier than anything.

“Here’s your soup.”

Violet sat up. “Thanks.”

He put a tray on her lap.

“Can I eat this downstairs?” she said.

“The doctor said bed rest for two days. You aren’t getting up.”

“I’m going to be climbing the walls. Can you bring me my laptop? That way I can try to get some work done.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, shaking his head. “No, Violet. I need you to rest. Besides, it’s Saturday. I’m not even working.”

“Don’t you have things to do?”

“I have laundry and I can do yours.”

“You do your own laundry?”

He laughed. “Yes I do. I don’t pay people to do everything. I find doing laundry therapeutic.”

She smiled. “Okay. I have some dirty clothing.”

“Then I’ll wash it. Then what do you want to do?”

“You don’t have to entertain me.”

He shrugged. “It’s okay. I’m not leaving you alone today. I have somewhere to be tomorrow, but today I’m all yours.”

That sounded wonderful. She’d have his attention, but she couldn’t get used to it. He was here because of the baby. That was it. It wasn’t affection for her. She ate her soup as he sorted the laundry. He left her then came back with a deck of cards. He cleared her empty bowl then sat on the edge of the bed “Cards?”

“I’m not a big card player.”

“Me either. I’ve only used them to play strip poker, but I don’t think that’s appropriate today.”

He was being a gentleman. She’d never let a man treat her like less ever again. In that sense, this was good to be around Amedeo. She’d miss it all when she was gone. She sighed.

“What’s wrong?” he said. “Does your head still hurt?”

“It does, but it’s a low throbbing. I’m okay, really. Let’s play cards.”

“You sure? You want to nap? You yawned before.”

“I guess I could nap, but you’ll have to wake me at some point?”

He nodded. “The discharge papers said to wake you after an hour of sleep.”

“Then maybe I don’t want to sleep. That would be annoying.”

“Up to you, Violet.”

He shuffled the cards. “I don’t have any other games, but I do have some on my tablet.”

“No, thanks. It hurts to look at a screen. I haven’t even looked at my phone because it hurts my eyes,” she said.

She couldn’t look at a screen, but she’d hoped to get some work done. Maybe tomorrow. Amedeo had been right to refuse to get her laptop. She’d make her headache worse.

“And you wanted your laptop?”

“I know,” she said, then groaned. “I was trying to be optimistic, but one glance at my phone and I knew I couldn’t stare at a screen all day. Not even sure I want to watch television.”

“Then cards it is.”

He climbed over her to lean against the headboard. She crossed her legs. He lounged as he shuffled the cards. “I only know poker.”

“I can play poker. What will we bet with?”

“I have pretzels.”

“That’ll do.”

He bounced off the bed and she cringed from the pain. “I’m sorry, Violet. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay.”

He didn’t do it on purpose. She knew that. It hurt just the same.

“I’ll go get the pretzels.”

He came back with a bag of pretzel sticks.

“You’re going to have to change your sheets before bed tonight.”

“It’s fine, Violet. I’m doing laundry anyway,” he said.

“I’m making more work for you.”

He waved his hand. “Stop. It’s fine. I should probably change the sheets anyway.”

She frowned, but let it drop. He shuffled the cards some more then dealt them. “Aces are high. Deuces are wild.”

“What is each pretzel worth?”

“Does it really matter?”

She laughed. “No, I guess not.”

She eyed her cards, thinking they were pretty good. A game of strip poker would be fun, but she wasn’t up for sex at the moment. She wished she were. A whole day of lounging in bed with a naked Amedeo sounded pretty good. Another day. She’d bet he’d be up for it.

The played for an hour and she won every hand.

“I’m glad we didn’t play for money. You might own my house and my car by now. Where did you learn to play?”

“Juvy.”

“Yikes.”

“It was a tough crowd. They played for cigarettes and sexual favors.”

“Wow. I forget that your upbringing was so different from mine.”

“Night and day, I’m sure,” she said.

“I had my father in my life.”

“How old were you when he died?”

“I was eight.”

He didn’t make eye contact with her. It must still hurt him. “You really cared about him.”

“He was my idol. We’d come here because of his job and I ended up staying even after he died. It was a blow to all of us when he was gone. Salvatore especially, since he was the youngest.”

“I can’t even imagine what my life would be like if I’d known my father. I might have known more about men than I did.”

“A father should teach his daughter what men are about,” Amedeo said.

“It’s a big responsibility and women where I grew up never took it seriously. They never cared if the father was around. As if they didn’t mean anything,” Violet said.

That was a damned shame, but at least her child would have his father.

***

On Sunday, Amedeo met Dante for a beer in the afternoon. He’d been going a little stir crazy, but he hadn’t wanted to leave Violet. She insisted he go out because he was driving her crazy.

Just like an old married couple. Shit. That wasn’t good. This was temporary. Until the baby came. He had to remember that. Right now he couldn’t think of anything else but the baby. The idea that he was going to be a father had really hit him this week.

“You look concerned,” Dante said.

The two men hugged. “Hey, bro. Good to see you.”

“I figured this might be the last time I get out before Gwen has this baby.”

“Bet she’s ready.”

“Yeah, she’s uncomfortable and ready to have this done with,” Dante said.

“You excited?”

“I am. Not sure what to expect of being a father, but hey, I can handle it.”

“That’s more optimistic than I feel.”

“Oh?” Dante said.

He sipped his beer, shifting to look at his brother.

“Yeah. I’ve never really taken care of another human being. You took care of us when Dad died, but I never did anything like that.”

“I didn’t do much caretaking. I just kept you boys in line a little. It was all Mom.”

“I know.”

“Have you told her yet?”

Amedeo frowned. Why had he been putting that off? His mother wouldn’t be mad. She loved her boys and as much as she wanted them to marry nice Italian girls, she wouldn’t judge them if they didn’t. Dante had certainly paved the way by marrying Gwen.

“No, I haven’t. I guess it wasn’t real to me until this week.”

“It’s harder for us guys. We aren’t going through the changes. Seeing that baby for the first time on the ultrasound is amazing.”

“Violet had the early one, but it doesn’t look like much.”

“The next one you’ll be able to tell more and what sex the baby is.”

Amedeo wanted to look forward to that, but he was too concerned about his ability or inability to take care of another human being. “I’ve never doubted myself in anything I’ve done. Until now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Am I really capable of taking care of a baby?”

“I think it’s a little late to be worried about that. This baby is on its way and you have no choice. You wouldn’t want to abandon the child now.”

Dante was right. Amedeo couldn’t see doing that, but he wasn’t sure if he was just scared or lazy. He’d never considered himself lazy. “No, but am I doing the right thing by wanting to raise it? What the Hell do I know about taking care of someone? Especially someone as needy as a baby.”

“Suck it up, Bro. That’s the situation. You can’t change it. The only way would be to go against how we were raised. Mama would have something to say about that. How does Violet feel?”

Amedeo shrugged. “I think she’s okay with it.”

“You haven’t talked?”