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‘Ally, get down off that chair this instant,’ a male voice boomed from inside the apartment.
Far from looking worried or even chastened, the little girl shot Eva and Nick an impish grin and whispered loudly from behind her hand, ‘That’s my daddy.’
The door swung wider and a tall, strikingly handsome man with jet-black hair and the same intense emerald eyes as his daughter stood before them with a cherubic baby haphazardly wrapped in a towel held securely in the crook of his arm.
‘Hi, I’m Callum Westmore,’ he said tightly, looking harassed with his hair furrowed into rows and a large damp patch on his T-shirt. ‘Sorry, I didn’t hear the doorbell.’
Before either Eva or Nick could introduce themselves, he turned to his daughter, who had wrapped her arms round his waist from on top of her chair.
‘Ally, you little terror,’ he said, sounding more exasperated than annoyed. ‘How many times have I told you not to answer the door?’ he said, his voice softening as he folded his free arm round his daughter’s shoulders. ‘You’re supposed to tell me or Mummy if you hear it ring. Remember?’
The little girl nodded sheepishly, then turned beseeching eyes on her father. ‘I forgot, Daddy.’
‘I’ll just bet you did,’ he muttered, but, from the way he was stroking the little girl’s shoulders, it was fairly clear he was putty in her hands.
Eva smiled at the tableau Callum Westmore and his children made as he turned his attention back to them. ‘Sorry about that. My daughter is like her mother and doesn’t follow instructions very well,’ he said dryly. ‘How can I help you?’
Eva opened her mouth to reply, when Nick answered, his tone stiff. ‘I’m Nick Delisantro. We’re here to see Ruby. I’m her—’
‘I know who you are,’ Westmore interru
pted sharply, his voice harsh, his brows lowering over eyes that had gone as hard as flint. ‘I also know how you treated my wife.’ His gaze swept over Nick. ‘What makes you think she wants to see you?’
Nick straightened. ‘That’s between my sister and I.’
Barely restrained violence crackled in the air as the two men squared off across the threshold to the apartment.
Eva placed a restraining hand on Nick’s arm, determined to calm the situation down, when little Alessia pointed at her and said happily, apparently oblivious to the tension, ‘Look, Daddy, Eva has a baby in her tummy, just like Mummy did.’
Callum Westmore’s gaze shifted to Eva and he stared blankly for several seconds before his gaze lowered to her belly. She realised the exact moment he registered, not just her presence, but her condition as a dull flush appeared on his cheeks. ‘I…’
Eva thrust out her hand to rescue him. ‘Hello, Mr Westmore, I’m Eva Delisantro, Nick’s wife,’ she said gently. She might have wanted to dislike the man for his aggressive dislike of Nick, but she couldn’t, when it was obvious his anger stemmed from an unflinching loyalty to his wife.
It was also hard not to feel sympathy for his current predicament as she saw him process the fact that he was going to have to back down, with his children looking on and a pregnant lady on his doorstep.
He shook her hand. ‘Hello, I didn’t mean to—’
‘Cal, what’s all the commotion? Who’s at the door?’ a smoky female voice asked before a statuesque beauty appeared beside him.
Eva took in the caramel-coloured curls piled high on the woman’s head in a casual knot, the lush, outrageously curvaceous figure that looked stunning even in the simple cotton dress and the captivating chocolate-coloured eyes that went wide with shock as the woman whispered the single word, ‘Nick?’
No wonder these two had produced such beautiful children together, Eva thought.
‘Hi, Rube,’ Nick said, his voice breaking on the nickname. ‘I’m here to apologise. For what I did to you and to Dad. Can you forgive me?’
She gave her head a little shake, her lashes dampening with tears. ‘Nick,’ she murmured again, covering her mouth with her hand. But Eva didn’t see anger or derision on her face, all she saw was surprise and an emotion so fierce it was overwhelming.
‘Why are you crying, Mummy?’ Alessia asked, blunt as ever.
‘Ruby, you don’t have to do this,’ her husband said gently as the baby chortled in his arms. ‘I can make him leave if you want me to.’
She glanced at her husband, sending him a spontaneous smile that literally beamed with the love the two of them clearly shared. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Cal. He’s my brother.’
Then she turned and flung her arms round Nick’s neck. ‘You idiot,’ she said, the joy plain in her voice. ‘What the heck took you so long?’
Emotion swelled in Eva’s throat and her own eyes filled with tears as she watched Nick wrap his arms round his sister in return.
‘Because I was an idiot, obviously,’ he replied, wry amusement in his voice as he slanted Eva a smile filled with pleasure and gratitude. ‘But I’ve come to my senses at last.’
