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Not even the beauty of my surroundings could hide the men walking around with guns at the ready as they patrolled the property.
Dr. Khan took one look at all the men with guns and gulped audibly as the vehicle we were in came to a stop in front of the villa. “What a lovely home you have, Mr. and Mrs. Fontana,” he said with a tight smile.
“Masterson,” I corrected him for the first time as I got out of the car. “My name is Miss Monroe Masterson. Not Fontana.” I heard Gian inhale harshly, but I kept my eyes on the doctor. “And it never will be.”
I felt Gian behind me, his hand touching the small of my back as he leaned his head close. “Stop saying things you know you will regret, precious,” he said softly. I felt his lips touch my hair, and then he stepped back, tossing out orders to the staff that had come out to greet us.
There was a housekeeper, who Gian introduced as Mrs. Borsa. He told the woman I was now the lady of the house, before instructing her to make our guest, Dr. Khan, comfortable.
The shrewd-eyed woman gave him a nod and showed the doctor to his room, while Gian guided me into the house, telling me about the villa that was now our home. Ten bedrooms and twelve bathrooms, split evenly between two wings. The master bedroom was in the west wing because the view of the sunset over the vineyards was spectacular and could be enjoyed from the room’s small balcony.
I barely paid attention to what he said as he opened a huge walk-in closet and showed me that I apparently had clothes already hanging there. Brand-new clothes were hung up with their expensive price tags still on them, some of them claiming to be designer maternity items.
I refused to let that little detail sway me, and I grabbed a simple pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt, along with fresh underwear and a bra from a drawer, before walking into the connecting bathroom to take a shower. I locked the door behind me, and moments later, I heard the handle shake when Gian tried to enter the room.
“Don’t lock the door, Monroe,” he called out. “What if you fall in the shower and need help?”
“I’m fine!” I yelled through the door. “Just leave me alone long enough to get clean, G. Fuck. I only want a little privacy.”
I heard a loud thump against the door and wondered if he’d punched it. “Precious, please. I’m not going to bother you while you’re showering. Just unlock the door. I promise you can have all the privacy you wish, but I need you to unlock the door for the sake of my sanity.”
After a moment of considering it, I rolled my eyes and flipped the lock. He tried the knob and found it unlocked. “Thank you,” he murmured. “If you need anything, just call out. I’ll be right here.”
There was nothing I could possibly need in that bathroom. There was a huge claw-foot tub under the bathroom window that was big enough to fit two. I could imagine soaking in a bubble bath in that thing while looking out at the star-filled sky at night, and I ached to do just that. But I knew a shower was all I could handle for now before I fell asleep.
There was a long counter with double sinks taking up one wall with still-wrappe
d toothbrushes lying on the pearlescent top, and I quickly brushed my teeth before taking a moment to figure out how to turn on the water in the walk-in shower. It was like a sauna, and the steam and power of the multiple angled jets was enough to put me in a coma, it felt so good.
“Precious?” I yelped at the sudden sound of Gian’s voice so close.
Pushing my wet hair back from my face, I looked up at him standing in the open shower door. His dark eyes were eating up the sight of my wet, naked body like a predator that had been starving for weeks. Maybe he was, but the only sustenance he’d been denied was me.
My heart pounding, a throbbing ache starting to pulse between my thighs, I stood there, watching him watch me. His chest lifted as he inhaled deeply and cleared his throat. “You were moaning as if in pain,” he said. “I was worried you had fallen.”
“As you can see, I’m fine,” I gritted out, hating how weak my body was where he was concerned, and that he could tell so obviously how much control he still held over me. My nipples were rock hard, and that wasn’t just water from the shower on the inside of my thighs.
But when I pressed them together, another cramp had me grimacing in discomfort, and I touched a trembling hand to my lower abdomen. Those same cramps had been back-to-back the day before, but they’d slowed down during the night and on the flight to Tuscany. This one had come out of nowhere and was so uncomfortable, it had me gasping in more fear than pain.
Gian turned off the water and grabbed a towel. Wrapping it around me, he lifted me into his arms and quickly carried me back into the bedroom. Once I was lying on the bed, he grabbed his phone and made a call.
“Get that fucking doctor to our room. Now!” he roared, then tossed the phone aside. “Where does it hurt, precious?” He cupped my face in one hand. With the other, he brushed my soaked hair away from my face, and I saw his fingers shaking.
“I-it’s just a cramp,” I murmured weakly. “I-I’ll be okay.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have moved you from the hospital last night,” he said, but it was as if he was talking to himself. “Maybe I did more harm than I feared.”
“I was only being held for observation,” I said, wanting to reassure him for some reason. “The doctor didn’t foresee anything happening overnight.”
“That doctor barely made it through med school,” he growled, stabbing his fingers through his hair. “Dr. Khan will know what is wrong. Just stay calm, precious.”
“I am calm,” I said, fighting a smile. “It’s you who seems to be ready to have a complete breakdown.”
He stopped pacing and just stood there, staring down at me. “I’m terrified I’m going to lose you or the baby, Monroe. Of course I’m close to a fucking breakdown. I’ve been this way since I left you back in Rome.”
That had the smile teasing at my lips fading completely. “Let’s wait for the doctor,” I mumbled, turning my gaze out the window so I wouldn’t have to look at him.
Moments later, there was a knock on the door. Gian called out, and the doctor walked in with one of the gun-toting guys right behind him. Medical bag in hand, Dr. Khan crossed to the bed. “What seems to be the problem, Miss Masterson?”
