But at least he would be mine.
It had been a while since the five of us had eaten breakfast together in the formal dining room. Marcello was feeling better, and no longer needed me to mother him. He only agreed to stay in bed because he knew it made me happy. If it had been up to him, he would have been on his feet and back to business a long time ago.
I sat on Luca’s lap, the dining room spinning around me as the kitchen staff set plates on the table. The smell of eggs made my stomach churn. Just one whiff, and I had to grip Luca’s arms to steady myself. A nasty taste filled my mouth, forcing me to swallow hard to get rid of it.
Luca clutched my wrist. “You okay, baby?”
“I don’t know.” I slid my arm across the back of his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. “My stomach hasn’t been right for a while.”
“It’s probably your nerves.” Luca sipped from his mug and inspected my face. “We’re still dealing with the Russians. Until all of them are dead, you won’t feel safe.”
“It’s not that.” I kissed his lips. “But I know you will protect me from them.”
Luca drank from his cup, eyeing me up like I was his meal. Even the scent of coffee, which I loved, spun the contents of my stomach. I hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before. Maybe it was food poisoning, or I was getting sick. Or perhaps he was right, and it was my nerves getting the best of me.
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “I’m sure it’s my nerves.”
He lips touched mine. “If I didn’t have a meeting in a few minutes, I would devour you on this table.”
“Later,” I whispered, trying to fight the wave of nausea. “Come find me after your meeting.”
Luca’s hand inched up my thigh, his fingers dangerously close to the seam of my panties. His skin felt amazing pressed against mine, but another wave of sickness washed over me, stealing the air from my lungs.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
He hooked his arm around me and brushed his thumb across my cheek. “Your color isn’t good. I’ll call the doctor and have him stop by today to look at you.”
I clutched my stomach and jumped off his lap right before I vomited on the floor. It wasn’t pretty. Chunks of food and bile splashed across the marble floor and hit Luca and Bastian’s dress shoes. I tried to aim better, but I only had seconds to react.
Bastian got out of his chair and was at my side in seconds. He rubbed his hand in circles over my back. “Get it all out. It’s okay, baby.”
Luca groaned and then tapped a few buttons on the phone. “I’m calling the fucking doctor.”
“The floor,” I choked out.
“Don’t worry about it.” Luca snapped his fingers for one of the staff to clean up after me.
I didn’t grow up with live-in staff, so I still wasn’t used to this, not even after all these years of being a Wellington.
“I’m sorry,” I said to the brown-haired woman who kneeled on the floor in front of me and wiped up my vomit with a rag.
As Luca spoke to the concierge doctor, Bastian grabbed a cloth napkin from the table and wiped my mouth. Damian and Marcello were also out of their chairs and at my side.
Marcello gave me a weary look as he studied my face. “You’ve been feeling sick a lot lately, princess.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing.” I stepped backward to move out of the vomit path, and then looked down at Bastian’s expensive shoes and sighed. “Sorry about your shoes, Bash. I thought I could…”
He held up his finger in front of my mouth. “Shh, baby. No more apologies. I can get another pair of shoes.” Bastian wrapped his arms around me, molding his body to mine. “I only care about getting you better.” He flattened his hand and held it over my forehead. “You feel warm.”
“She’s not sick,” Marcello said with certainty in his deep voice. He raised the phone in his hand and scrolled through a few screens before he glanced up again. “Alex has been living with us for close to three months. She hasn’t had her period once since she moved into the house.”
“Fuck,” Damian hissed, clawing at the back of his neck as he turned his head away from me.
Bastian ran a hand through his hair and breathed through his nose. “I think he’s right, Cherry.”
“The doctor will be here in two hours.” Luca dropped his phone on the table. Then he hooked his arm around my waist and pulled me out of Bastian’s arms, pushing me down on his lap. “We’ll find out for sure today.”
Marcello looked thrilled by the idea, even smiled. Bastian bit his lip, his gaze shifting to Damian, who had his hands stuffed into his pockets, staring at the floor. Luca, of course, gave nothing away. He just held me like it was a normal day and tapped his fingers on my thigh.