“I am,” Riccardo rasped desperately. “Can I go?”
“You will follow me,” the cop said sternly. “You so much as step one inch out of line and I will impound both you and your car.”
Riccardo nodded and gave him directions. The cop put on his siren and thankfully was no slouch in the speed department either, getting them to the house in just under fifteen minutes.
He found Lilly in the living room, lying on the sofa.
“Cara.” He dropped down on his knees beside her. She was curled in the fetal position, her face about five shades paler than it normally was.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” she murmured. “The phones here aren’t working and my cell phone died.”
“They’ve been working on the lines out here. Lil—” He took her hands in his. “Can you tell me what doesn’t feel right?”
She bit her lip. “I don’t know. I—I’m nauseous and I’m having bad pains.”
Riccardo looked up at the cop, who’d come in behind him, but the officer was already on his radio, calling for an ambulance.
A tear rolled down her cheek. “I didn’t want to bother you. You had that meeting...”
He gripped her hands tighter. “I don’t care if I’m having lunch with the Pope. You need me—you call me.”
A river of tears ran down her cheeks.
“Are the pains getting worse or better?”
“Worse. There’s more of them now.”
His insides went cold. “When did they start?”
“A couple hours ago.” She closed her eyes as a tremor ran through her slim body. “Ric—something’s wrong. I don’t feel right.”
He sat down and pulled her into his arms. “It’s going to be all right, tesoro, I promise you. The ambulance is on its way.”
She burrowed into him. The tension in her body made his own stiffen with fear.
“I’m so sorry. You should be in that meeting, and if I screw up your ch—”
“Ssh.” He pressed a kiss against her hair. “You’re the most important thing in the world to me, Lilly.”
“Yes, but the job is—”
He pressed his fingers to her mouth. “The job is nothing without you. I am nothing without you. Haven’t you realized that yet? I do these stupid things because I love you. Because I can’t bear the thought of losing you.”
Her lashes fluttered down over those beautiful hazel eyes. “I spent the morning walking along the river, thinking.”
His heart jammed in his chest.
The tears streamed harder down her face now, running over the edge of her chin. “I love you, Riccardo. I’ve never stopped loving you. Not even for a minute.”
He felt as if the sun had come out on this dreary, overcast summer day. The flash of joy that swept through him was powerful. Followed by sick, overwhelming relief that he hadn’t lost her.
“Please forgive me,” he whispered. “That was my last big mistake. Ever.”
She shook her head. “It was my running too. I can see that now. I was so scared that once you saw the truth of me—how messed up I am still—you wouldn’t want me anymore.”
He brought her hand to his mouth and pressed his lips to her knuckles. “We all have our baggage, cara. Look what you’ve done with your life. You help little boys walk again. Nothing I’ve ever done comes close to that.”
Her eyes glittered with an emotion that stole his breath.
“We have to be honest with each other. No more lies. No matter how little or how painful the truth.”
“Agreed.” He held her tightly as another shudder racked her body and glanced up at the cop. The officer held up two fingers.
“I mean it.” Lilly bumped her hand against his chest. “Three strikes and you’re out, Riccardo De Campo.”
“Then it’s a good thing I don’t need anymore,” he murmured. “You are all I need.”
“Ambulance is here.” The cop abandoned his post at the window. “Let’s go.”
Riccardo picked up Lilly and strode outside. She was going to be fine. She had to be fine. There was no other way to think.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THE GRAY-HAIRED emergency room physician walked into the waiting room where Riccardo, Gabe, Alex and—surprisingly—Antonio, who’d shown up a couple of hours ago sat, just over three hours after they’d taken Lilly in. He wore the unsmiling, grim look of a man who’d been working too many hours straight.
Riccardo’s heart dropped to the floor.
The elderly physician stopped in front of him, a tired smile curving his mouth. “They’re both fine. Lilly’s suffering from pre-eclampsia—a high blood pressure condition associated with pregnancy. Very common, but she’ll need to see her doctor often.”
His shoulders sagged with relief. “And the pain?”
“Under control. You can take her home as soon as we can do the paperwork, but you’ll need to schedule an appointment with her obstetrician as soon as possible. Get some more detailed tests done.”
He released the breath he’d been holding in a long, heavy exhale. Lilly was fine. Their baby was fine.
Thank God.
The doctor smiled. “Glad I could give out some good news today. There hasn’t been a surplus of it.”
“Grazie,” he murmured huskily. “I can’t say it enough.”
The doctor waved him off and headed back into the chaos. Alex went in and spent a few minutes with her sister before Riccardo took her home. Gabe went to get him a cup of coffee for the ride.
He rested his elbows on his thighs and dropped his head into his hands. Moisture stung the backs of his eyes, mixing with a relief so profound it was all-consuming.
A hand gripped his shoulder. “Your mother suffered from pre-eclampsia. Lilly will be fine.”
He looked up at Antonio through glazed eyes. He’d been shocked when his father had arrived and waited with them without a word. The emotion darkening his father’s silver eyes shocked him even more.
Antonio straightened, as if the show of affection had thrown him off balance. “You don’t need to worry about the board,” he said roughly. “I made sure you have a hundred and ten percent of their support.”
Riccardo held his gaze for a long moment. “Grazie.”
He had Lilly. Now he could think about the future.
* * *
Lilly prided herself on the toughness at her core. It had carried her out of Iowa and into a life she could only have dreamed of. It had helped her give that same strength to her patients when they were intent on giving up. But the vulnerability she felt walking toward the front door of the hospital was so soul-searing it was hard to keep walking in a straight line.
A nurse pushed the door open for her and she walked out into the light drizzle to Riccardo, waiting with the car at the curb. Her legs trembled as her husband walked toward her—tall, imposing, with a determined set to his mouth that made her want to fling herself into his arms.
What if he hadn’t come after her? What if she’d lost him?
Her knees wobbled as he took the last couple of steps and pulled her into his arms. She closed her eyes and absorbed his strength, that determination. It was enough for both of them.
“Let’s go home,” he said quietly.
They made the drive back to Manhattan in silence, an acknowledgement of what they’d almost lost heavy in the air. Riccardo held her hand in his lap the entire way, as if he couldn’t bear to let her go.
Their stately old limestone townhouse awaited them—the scene of her rollercoaster marriage which had run from perfect to miserable to all she’d ever wanted. Majestic, it glimmered in the late-afternoon sunlight, so solid with its heavy brick façade it would stand forever.
She stepped out of the car, her mind traveling back to that night four and a half months before, when limos had lined up in this driveway to witness the destruction of her and Riccardo.
Tonight it was unusually quiet. There were no limos. No drivers chatting. No false illusions of perfection on either part. There was only the here and now and what they chose to do with it.
Riccardo came around the car and slid his arm around her waist. “What are you thinking?”
“We have a blank slate,” she said huskily. “The story is ours to write.”
He tugged her closer and lifted her chin with his fingers. “I predict a very happy ending.”
She drank him in—the hard, strong lines of his face that could soften into devastating humor, the sensuous pull of his lips that could make her crazy for him. He loved her. He was crazy about her. That much she was sure of. And that was enough.
Her lips curved. “You think so, Signor De Campo?”
“I know so, Signora De Campo.”
He swung her into his arms and carried her up the front walk.