He doesn’t believe in second chances...

Until one knocks on his door!

Paramedic dream team Maggie and Joe aren’t just When neurologist Luca Venezio’s romance with surgeon Elyse Tenner ended as passionately as it began, he returned to Italy little knowing he’d left part of himself behind... Until Elyse arrives from America with their baby daughter and upends his world! Luca’s rocked by the bond with his little girl and how much he’s missed Elyse. Can they overcome the distance between them that’s more than merely miles?

Three-times Golden Heart® finalist TINA BECKETT learned to pack her suitcases almost before she learned to read. Born to a military family, she has lived in the United States, Puerto Rico, Portugal and Brazil. In addition to travelling, Tina loves to cuddle with her pug, Alex, spend time with her family, and hit the trails on her horse. Learn more about Tina from her website, or ‘friend’ her on Facebook.

Also by Tina Beckett

Rafael’s One Night Bombshell

The Doctors’ Baby Miracle

Tempted by Dr Patera

The Billionaire’s Christmas Wish

One Night to Change Their Lives

Hot Brazilian Docs! miniseries

To Play with Fire

The Dangers of Dating Dr Carvalho

The Doctor’s Forbidden Temptation

From Passion to Pregnancy

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

The Surgeon’s Surprise Baby

Tina Beckett

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08998-2

THE SURGEON’S SURPRISE BABY

© 2019 Tina Beckett

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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Version: 2020-03-02

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To my husband:

thank you for my chickens!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

PROLOGUE

“WELL, I’M NO longer your boss.”

Luca Venezio stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. No longer his boss? Was that all she had to say to him? The obvious relief in her voice told him that she’d been anxious to wield that particular ax. Only she’d just done it in a room full of his colleagues, who had suffered a similar fate. He’d stayed behind after the others had all filed out dejectedly.

She was perched on her desk, looking just as gorgeous as she had a year ago, when he’d first stepped into her neurology department. It had taken him a while, but he’d finally convinced her to look past her reservations about engaging in a workplace relationship and see what they could be like together.

And it had been good. So very good.

He took a step closer. “Is that all you have to say to me, Elyse?”

Her head tilted as if she truly couldn’t understand what the problem was. Was this an American thing that he hadn’t yet grasped? Just when he thought he was understanding this culture, the woman in front of him threw something into the mix that had him reeling.

Italy was suddenly beckoning him home. But he wasn’t leaving without a fight.

She slid from her desk and stood in front of him. “Don’t you see? This could be a good thing.”

No. He didn’t see it. No matter how he looked at it.

She drove him insane. With want. With need. And now was no different.

“Do you want me gone, is that it?”

She took his hands in hers, before her hands slid up his forearms. “Are we talking about from the hospital? Or from my life?”

It was one and the same to Luca. It felt like they’d been trapped in a game of tug-of-war ever since their first date. The harder he pulled her toward him, the more she seemed to resist letting him get close to her, and he didn’t understand why. They were in a relationship, only nothing was easy. Except the sex.

And that had been mind-blowing. Maybe part of that was the uncertainty of it all. Maybe it had lent an air of desperation to their lovemaking.

Her green eyes stared into his, and the crazy thing was, he could swear he saw a hint of lust in there, even though she’d just fired him. Had she gotten off on delivering that death blow to all those people?

No. That wasn’t the Elyse he’d known these past few months.

“What is it you want from me, Elyse?”

“Don’t you know?”

He didn’t. Not at all, but he was tired of playing guessing games with her. He cupped her face, trying to make sense of it all, but the swirling in his head gave him no time to think. No time to ask any questions. Instead, the refuge they’d sought after each fight opened its door and whispered in his ear, promising it would all be okay.

He no longer believed it. But his blood was stirring in his veins, sending waves of heat through him. Even as her lips tilted up, telling him what she wanted, he was already there, the kiss scorching hot, just as it always was. His tongue met hers, his hands going under her ass and sitting her back on her desk. The sound of her shoes hitting the floor one at a time and her hands going to his waist and tugging him forward between her legs answered his earlier question about what she wanted.

Hell. There was no question as to that. Grazie a Dio he’d locked the door behind him, thinking that what he’d had to say to her he wanted said in private. Right now, though, the last thing he wanted to do was talk.

And he was so hot. So ready. Just as he always was for her.

The desk was wide, the middle bare of anything.

Made for sex.

He grabbed hold of her wrists and tugged her hands away so that he could take a step back to unzip.

The sight of Elyse licking her lips was his undoing.

He came back to her, reaching under her skirt to yank her boy shorts down, tossing them away. Then he eased her down until her back was flat against her desk, her breasts jutting upward, the outline of her nipples plainly visible beneath the thin white blouse.

“Do you want me?” His hands palmed the smooth skin of her hips and tugged her to the very edge of the desk.

She bit her lip, her legs twining around his until he was pressed tight against her, his hard flesh finding a wet heat that destroyed any hopes of prolonging this. He drove home, her sharp cry ending on a moan, her hips moving as if to seat him even deeper.

“Dio, Elyse...” His eyes closed, trying to grasp at any shred of control and finding nothing there.

His thumb moved from her hip to her center, hoping to help things along, but the second he touched her, she exploded around him, her gasped “Yes,” sending him over the edge. Bracing his hands on the desk, he plunged home again and again, his body spasming so hard his vision went white for a brief instant. Still he thrust, unwilling for the moment to end.

Because that’s exactly what it would do. What it needed to do.

His movements slowed, reality slowly filtering back in.

Hell. As good as this was, it had solved nothing.

Nothing.

The job had been the thing that had held him there, made him keep trying, even as she burned hot and then cold.

But now she’d killed the job. And in doing that, the relationship. What they said about goodbye sex was evidently true.

He didn’t try to kiss her, just moved away, zipping himself back in, even as she sat up on the desk.

“What’s wrong?”

Was she really asking him that? Everything was wrong. But he was about to make it right.

“Did you put my name on that list of people to be fired?”

She frowned, coming off the desk, retrieving her undergarment, turning away from him as she slid them over her legs. She didn’t answer as, with her back still turned, she pushed her feet into her shoes, black high-heeled pumps that he had always found so sexy.

By the time she finally turned around, his last shred of patience had disappeared and he no longer needed a response. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. You’ve been pushing me away ever since I got here, so I’m finally giving you your wish. I’m leaving. Going back to Italy. You actually did me a favor in firing me, so thank you.”

He put a hand on the doorknob, half thinking she would call his name and tell him it was all a big mistake. Tell him that she didn’t want him to go. He tensed, knowing that even if she did he was no longer willing to go on as they had been. Maybe he’d revisit that decision in a week...in a month. But right now, he needed time to think things through.

Except there was no sound from behind him as he opened the door. As he stepped through it. As he closed it.

Maybe that was all the thinking he needed to do.

So he started walking. And kept on walking until he was away from the hospital and on his way out of her life.

CHAPTER ONE

“I’M FINALLY GIVING you your wish.”

Elyse Tenner hesitated, those words ringing in her ears just as fresh and sharp today as they’d done a little over a year ago.

Luca leaving hadn’t been what she’d wanted. But it had evidently been what he’d wanted.

The entry door to the upscale clinic—complete with ornate scrollwork carved into the stone around it—was right in front of her. But she couldn’t make herself open it.

Not yet.

It had been easier to find him than she’d thought. And yet it was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life. Well, almost. A part of her whispered she should get back on that plane...he would never be any the wiser. And yet she couldn’t, not now. The weight of the baby on her hip reminded her exactly why she’d come here.

She needed him to know. Needed to see his face. Get this whole thing off her conscience. And then she’d be done.

“Scusi.”

The unfamiliar word reminded her that she was far from home.

“Sorry,” she murmured, stepping aside to let the man pass. Unfortunately, he then held the door for her, forcing her to make a quick decision. Leave? Or stay?

Then she was through the door, the black marble floor as cold and hard as the words she’d said to a group of people at work thirteen months ago.

The man didn’t rush off like she expected him to do, but said something else to her in Italian. She shook her head to indicate she didn’t understand, shifting Annalisa a bit higher on her hip.

“English?” he asked.

“Yes, do you speak it?”

“Yes, can I help you find something?” He glanced at the baby and then back at her. “Are you a patient?”

“No, I’m looking for...”

Her eyes skated to the wall across from her, where pictures of staff members were displayed along with their accreditation. And there he was: Hair as black as night. His eyes that were just as dark. But unlike the chilly floors beneath her feet, his had always been warm, flashing with humor. The eyes in the picture, however, were somber, the laugh lines that had once surrounded them barely noticeable.

Elyse swallowed. Had she done that to him?

Of course she had. But her back had been up against a wall. She’d had a choice to make. It had obviously been the wrong one.

She’d chosen the coward’s way out. Just as she’d done nine months earlier. But she was here to make amends, if she could. Not in their relationship. That was certainly gone. Destroyed by her pride, her stupidity, and her fear of history repeating itself. But she could at least set one thing right. What he did with that information was up to him.

“You’re looking for...?”

The man in front of her reminded her of her reason for coming.

What if he wasn’t here yet? It was still early.

Oh, he was here. He worked notoriously long hours. “I’m actually looking for an...old friend. He used to work at the same hospital that I did in the States.”

“Luca?”

Relief swamped her. “Yes. Do you know where I can find him?”

He glanced at her, a slight frown marring his handsome face. “Refresh my memoria. Which hospital?”

“Atlanta Central Medical Center.”

“Ah, I see.” Something about the way he said it made her wonder exactly what Luca had said about his exit from the hospital. It didn’t matter. Nothing he could have said would be worse than the truth. Although she hadn’t orchestrated the layoffs, perhaps she also hadn’t fought them as hard as she could have. At the time, a tiny part of her had wondered whether, if she and Luca weren’t working together, it might be a way to repair some of the rifts that had been growing between them. Rifts she knew she had caused. But scars from a previous relationship had made her extremely wary of workplace romances.

And Luca hadn’t been able to see how their dating could complicate their jobs, even after they’d erupted in a fierce argument during a meeting, disagreeing over the diagnosis of a patient and causing the whole room to stare at them. Kind of like this man was doing now.

“I’m sorry,” he said, as if realizing his gaffe. “Come. I’ll take you to Luca.”

“Thank you. I’m Elyse Tenner, by the way.” She shifted Anna yet again. She’d gotten her directions wrong, leaving the bus a few stops too early, and the heat was taking its toll on her. So much for going in looking cool and unruffled.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lorenzo Giorgino. I work with Luca here at the clinic. I’m one of the neurosurgeons.” He held out his arms. “Why don’t you let me take her? You look tired.”

Yet another blow to her confidence. But he was right. She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Between jet lag and the long walk, she could use a place to sit down.

She hesitated for a moment, then he said, “I promise not to break her. I have two...nipoti. What’s your word for it? Nieces?”

Smiling, she held Anna out to him. She should have brought her baby sling, but she hadn’t been able to think straight since the plane had touched down. Nerves. Fear.

Hadn’t Luca told her he was in no hurry to have children? He had. More than once, in fact. She swallowed hard, even as this doctor’s hands cradled the baby like an old pro, speaking to her in Italian.

He glanced at Elyse, just a hint of speculation in his eyes. “Ready?”

Not at all, but she wasn’t going to make her confessions to anyone other than Luca himself. So she lied.

“I am. Lead the way.” In handing Anna over, the die had been cast and her decision made. She was going to walk into Luca’s office with her head held high and tell him that Anna was his daughter, and then hope that, in doing so, she’d made the right decision.

* * *

Luca stared at the EEG readings in front of him. Taken from a six-year-old boy, they showed the typical running waves of a Rolandic seizure. Benign. Filippo would more than likely outgrow them. Great news for his parents, who were worried out of their minds. It was always a relief to have a case where there was no threat to life. Just a temporary bump in the road.

Kind of like his time in the US had been. One big bump in the road, followed by a wave of smaller ones that still set him back on his ass at odd moments. But he thought it was getting better. His mind dwelt on her less. Or maybe it was just that he kept himself so busy that he didn’t have time to think about her.

Kind of like he was doing now?

“Porca miseria!”

A second or two after the words left his mouth, there was a knock on the door to his office. Great. He hadn’t mean to swear quite that loudly.

“Yes?”

Lorenzo appeared in the doorway, holding a baby.

Shock stilled his thoughts. “Everything okay?”

“Someone is here to see you.”

It was obviously not the baby, so he raised his brows in question.

“She said she worked with you in Atlanta.”

A section of his heart jolted before settling back into rhythm. He’d worked with a lot of people at Atlanta Central.

“Does this person have a name?”

“I’d probably better let her tell you herself.” Lorenzo switched to English.

This time the jolt was stronger. Lasted longer. Surely it wasn’t... But the look on his friend’s face told him all he needed to know.

He hadn’t dated since he’d returned to Italy and didn’t see himself doing so anytime in the near future. And those plans to revisit his decision to leave Atlanta permanently? Put off over and over until it was far too late to do anything about it.

He hadn’t been able to stomach going back to his hospital in Rome either. His parents and two sisters lived there, and he hadn’t felt like answering a million questions. Oh, there’d still been the worried texts and phone calls about why he’d suddenly returned to Italy, but since they hadn’t been able to see his face, he was pretty sure he’d put their fears to rest. As far as they knew, he’d simply decided to practice in his own country. A short tenable statement. One he’d stuck to no matter how hard it was to force those words past his lips.

He ignored the churning in his stomach. “Okay, where is she?”

Instead of answering, Lorenzo pushed the door farther open and came into the room, revealing the woman who’d driven him out of the States and back to Italy.

Hell!

Chaotic memories gathered around, all of them pointing at the figure in front of them. He swallowed hard in an effort to push them back.

“Elyse? What are you doing here?” There was a slight accusation in his tone that he couldn’t suppress. A defense mechanism, another way to hold back the wall of emotion.

Dio. He’d fallen for this woman, once upon a time, and then she’d gone and stabbed him in the back in the worst possible way. Better to let her know up front that he hadn’t forgotten.

But why was she in Italy?

When she didn’t answer, Lorenzo turned and handed her the baby. Shock flared up his spine. He looked from one to the other as a sudden horrible thought came to him. Did the two of them know each other? Was that why she’d made sure he was fired?

No. Of course not. Lorenzo had never been out of Italy as far as he knew. There was no way the two of them could have met.

“I’ll go so you can talk.” Lorenzo glanced at Elyse. “It was very nice meeting you.”

“Thank you. You as well.”

Then he backed out of the room and closed the door behind him with a quiet click.

Something in Luca’s brain had frozen in place, the gears all stuck for several long seconds. His ass was also still firmly in his chair, something his mother would have frowned about.

But the memories were still doing their work, each one stabbing his heart and sticking there, like darts on a dartboard.

She ventured closer to the desk. “Luca?”

Somehow he dislodged his tongue, making a careful sidestep around the biggest question in his head while he puzzled through it. “How’s your mother?”

He glanced at the baby. Elyse didn’t have any siblings, so that wasn’t a niece she was holding. Had she adopted a child after he’d left?

“She’s still hanging in there. The Parkinson’s progression has remained slower than average.”

They’d tried an experimental treatment a few years back that had helped tremendously, even if it hadn’t rolled back the clock.

“Good.” Of course she hadn’t traveled all this way just to report on her mother’s condition. That left one question: Why was Elyse Tenner standing in the middle of his office, holding a baby? He nodded toward the seat in front of the desk. “Would you like a coffee?”

She sank into one of the chairs with what looked like relief. “I would love one, thank you.”

“When did you arrive?” He got up and measured grounds into his coffee press and turned on the kettle to heat the water. The mindless task gave his fuzzy brain time to work through a few of the more obvious items: yes, she was really here, and he was pretty sure she wouldn’t be if he’d simply left his toothbrush at her place. So it had to be something important. Important enough to travel across the ocean to see him.

His eyes went to the baby again before rejecting the thought outright. She would have told him before now.

“My flight arrived this morning.”

“You have a hotel?”

And if she didn’t? There was always his place. His thoughts ventured into dangerous territory.

Not happening, Luca.

He carried the pot with its water and coffee to the desk and set it down before retrieving two cups off the sideboard.

“Yes, I stopped at the hotel first, before coming here.”

He poured the coffees and reached into the small fridge beside his desk, hiding his disappointment by concentrating on the mundane task before him. She’d always taken her coffee like he did, with a splash of milk. He added some to both, stirring a time or two before pushing one across toward her.

He studied her face. It was pale and drawn, her cheekbones a little more pronounced than they’d been a year earlier. “So what brings you to Italy?”

There was a marked hesitation before she answered. “You, actually. I need to tell you something.”

That jolt he’d experienced earlier turned into an earthquake, pushing all other thoughts from his head except for the one staring him in the face.

“You do?”

“Yes.” Elyse slowly turned the baby to face him. “This is Annalisa.” Her eyes closed, and her throat moved a time or two before she went on. “She’s your—she’s our daughter, Luca.”

* * *

A hundred emotions marched across that gorgeous face over the course of the next few seconds, ranging from confusion to shock before finally settling on anger. His hands came together, fingers twining tightly, the knuckles going white. “My what?”

The words were dangerously soft.

He’d heard what she’d said. He just didn’t believe it. And Elyse wondered for the thousandth time if it wouldn’t have been better just to leave well enough alone. To raise Anna on her own and let Luca stay in the dark about his part in her existence. But she owned it to Annalisa and, if she was honest, to Luca himself, to own up to the circumstances behind their daughter’s birth. If he rejected her claim outright, then at least she’d tried.

She probably should have tracked him down during her pregnancy, but it had been a difficult time. She’d been so caught up in grief over his leaving that she hadn’t realized she was pregnant until she’d missed her third period. A test had revealed the worst. And she knew exactly when it had happened. That day in her office. The day he’d left the States forever.

She had been going to call and tell him, but each time she’d picked up the phone, she’d gotten cold feet, afraid that hearing his voice would undo any tiny bits of healing that had taken place. She’d kept telling herself she’d do it tomorrow. Except a month of tomorrows had gone by, and then things had suddenly started to go wrong with her pregnancy. She’d been placed on bed rest. Her parents had come to the house to help her. Her mom had been a trouper, despite her own medical issues.

Elyse wasn’t even sure the baby would survive at that point, so she’d elected to keep the news to herself in case the worse happened.

And now she couldn’t...would never be able to...

Annalisa was the only chance she would ever have to do this right. She swallowed back her fear.

“It’s true, Luca. She’s yours. I thought you should know.” She settled the baby against her shoulder once again.

He swore. At least she thought it was a swear word, from his tone of voice.

God, she’d been right. He didn’t want Anna.

She’d been wrong to come. Wrong to tell him.

“You kept this from me? All this time? You come waltzing into my office with Lorenzo, who is holding a baby that I think is his niece?” He drew an audible breath. “Only he hands the baby to you. And now you tell me she’s mine?”

Her chin went up in confusion. “It isn’t like it was easy. You left, and you had no intention of coming back, isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

“And didn’t you insist more than once that you didn’t want children?”

That had him sitting back in his chair, his eyes going to Anna. “I did, but that was—”

“I didn’t think you’d even want to know.”

“You didn’t think I’d... Mio Dio. Well, you were wrong. And my statement about kids, if I remember right, included the phrase ‘not right now.’ The word ‘never’ was not mentioned. Ever.”

How was she supposed to know that? There were men who would be just as happy to never father a child and who wouldn’t want to know even if they did.

But as she’d taken that choice away from him, he had every right to be angry with her.

“I’m sorry. Things were tenuous at the time.” She didn’t go into the particulars of the precarious pregnancy or the fact that she would never give birth to another child. Anna might be his concern, but the other stuff? Not so much, since they were no longer a couple.

And that fact hurt more than it should have, especially after all this time.

“Tenuous.” His brows drew together. “Tenuous? You let a colleague of mine hold my child before I get a chance to, and that’s all you can say?”

Yep, she was right. He was mad. Livid, even, and she couldn’t blame him. She held Anna close against the tirade.

He noticed it, and his eyes closed. “Dammit, I’m sorry.”

The sudden ache in her chest made her reach out and touch the edge of his desk with fingers that trembled.

“No, I’m sorry, Luca. It just never seemed like the right time and I couldn’t... I didn’t want to tell you over the phone.” She didn’t want to admit how afraid she’d been to hear his voice. And after Annalisa’s birth she’d had a recovery period that most new mothers didn’t have to worry about. It had delayed any travel plans she might have made. So here they were. In the present.

“When?”

She withdrew her hand. What was he asking? When Anna was born? When she was conceived? That was the kicker. They’d had sex in the aftermath of the announced downsizing, when there had been anger on both sides. Their coming together had been volatile and passionate. But the erotic coupling had solved nothing and only after her missed periods had she remembered that they hadn’t used protection.

In the end, the layoffs that she’d hoped would save their relationship—by removing the work dynamics that had bothered her so much—had done the opposite. She hadn’t wanted anyone to think she played favorites, and Luca had never asked for special treatment.

But memories of a former boyfriend’s behavior had loitered in the background, ready to pounce, warning her of what had happened in the past. Of what could happen again if she weren’t careful. Kyle had also been a colleague. He had asked—and expected—her to make allowances for things at work, most of them small and unimportant. But with each instance she’d gotten more and more uncomfortable with the relationship. Just as she’d been ready to break things off, he’d asked her to overlook a mistake he’d made with a patient. She hadn’t, and he’d been fired.

She told herself she’d never put herself in that position ever again. Except then Luca had come along and all those warnings had been in vain.

Remembering his question, she decided on the simplest answer possible. If he wanted to do the math, he could. “Anna is four months old.”

“Four months.” He placed his hands flat on the desk. “I want to spend time with her. Did you come by yourself?”

He didn’t ask if she was sure Anna was his. A lump formed in her throat.

“And I want you to spend time with her. That’s part of why I came. No, I didn’t come alone. Peggy came with me. You remember my aunt?” If her mom had been well enough, Elyse would have asked her to come, but since she couldn’t, this was the next best thing. She’d needed the moral support or she might have backed out entirely.

As many times as Luca had asked her out, she might have held firm to her resolve that there would be no more work relationships after Kyle. Until the day Luca had come out of one of the surgical suites after monitoring a patient’s brain waves, white-faced, a grim look of defeat on his face. It had done her in. She’d walked over to him, laid a hand on his arm and asked him out.

He’d said yes. The rest was history. A history peppered with moments of beauty and the sting of pain.

But the way he made love...

The realization that her eyes were tracking over his broad shoulders made her bite her lip and force herself to look away.

God! The attraction was still there—still very real. Even if the fairy tale had crashed to dust around her feet.

But from that rubble had come her baby girl. She would go through every bit of that pain all over again if she was the end result.

“After all this time, why come at all? You could have let things be. Never told me at all,” Luca pressed.

The very things she’d told herself as she’d booked her flight.

“It was the right thing to do.” Her hand went to Anna’s head, rocking her subconsciously, still shielding her.

He looked at the baby for a second and walked over to the window, staring out, hands thrust in his pockets, shoulders hunched. “La cosa giusta? The right thing would have been to tell me long before she was born.”

“Would it have changed things?”

He swung back around to face her. “I don’t know. I wasn’t given that choice, was I?”

“No.” Maybe she needed to tell him at least a little of the circumstances. “When I said things were tenuous, I meant it. The doctors weren’t sure Anna was going to make it for a while. And I didn’t see any reason to say anything if...”

All the color drained out of his face, and he walked back to the desk. “Dio. What happened? Is she okay?”

She rushed to put his mind at ease. “She’s fine. Now. I had placenta previa. It didn’t resolve and there were a couple of incidents of bleeding, heavy enough to cause worry.” And in the end it had been life-threatening to both of them when it had ruptured. “I wasn’t going to do anything that might put her at even more risk.”

“And telling me would have done that?” He dragged a hand through his hair.

“I was talking more about physical stress but, yes. Inside I think I was afraid of jinxing the pregnancy. As if telling you might cause everything to fall apart, and I’d lose her. I didn’t see any reason for us both to grieve if she didn’t survive.”

Not that she’d been sure he would. Because she’d convinced herself that he’d be horrified to have fathered a child in the first place.

“And after she was born? Why wait four months?”

She wasn’t quite ready to share more than she already had.

“Does it really matter? I’m here now.”

He crouched in front of her and touched the baby’s arm with his index finger. “I can hardly believe she’s mine.”

“She is.” She wasn’t sure if he was questioning Anna’s parentage, but either way she understood. Here came a woman who shows up over a year after they break up, claiming he’d fathered her child. “We can do a paternity test, if you want.”

“No, I know she’s mine.” He looked up into her face. “Can I see her?”

She realized Anna was sound asleep, but the baby was still facing away from him.

A tiny flutter of relief mixed with fear went through her midsection. While she hadn’t thought Luca would reject his own daughter outright once he knew she existed, she hadn’t been sure what his actual reaction would be.

She carefully turned the baby, cradling her in her arms so that he could see her tiny face. A muscle worked in his jaw and he stroked her hair. “How long are you here?”

“I have a little time left of my medical leave. I want you to get to know her. But...” she hesitated “...I want to have some ground rules in place. Come to an agreement first.”

His fingers stilled. “The only agreement we need is that we have a child.” There was a hard edge to his voice that told her he wasn’t going to let her call all the shots here. And she wasn’t trying to.

“I know that, Luca. I’m hoping we can—”

“A daughter. My daughter.” The anger had melted away and in his voice was a sense of awe. “Annalisa.”

A dangerous prickling behind her eyes made her sit up, teeth coming together in a way that forced it back.

“Yes.”

His head came up. “I have a few ground rules of my own. First we are going to figure out our schedules and come up with a plan.”

His fingers flipped pages on his phone for a moment, probably looking at his caseload. “I have some free time right now, in fact. So I can drive you back to your hotel, and then we’ll sit down and talk about any concerns you might have. But I want to make one thing perfectly clear. I will be a part of my daughter’s life. No matter how much you might dislike me personally.”

CHAPTER TWO

PEGGY SLIPPED OUT of the room as soon as the greetings were exchanged. She promised to be back in an hour.

A prearranged signal to keep Elyse from enduring his company?

His gut tightened in anger, even as his eyes soaked in the sight of his daughter. Now that the shock was wearing off, he could finally look beyond his own emotions and see Anna for who she was.

Unlike her mamma’s silky blond locks, which had always driven him to distraction, the baby’s hair was black and thick and stuck up around her head at odd angles that made him smile. A red satin bow gathered one of the bunches onto the very top of her head, where it did a tiny loop-the-loop. As dark as her hair was, her skin was Elyse’s through and through. It was as pale as the sand on the beaches of Sardinia. When she grew up, she’d probably blush just like her mamma too.

Cieli, he’d loved the way Elyse’s cheeks had bloomed to life when he’d whispered to her at night. Realizing his gaze had moved from the baby to the green eyes of the woman holding her, he gave a half smile when color swooped into her face. Right on cue. Some things never changed.

And neither did his reaction to them.

Elyse cleared her throat and looked away, jiggling the baby in her arms. “So her full name is Annalisa Marie.”

Maybe coming back to her hotel hadn’t been such a good idea after all. But he’d wanted this discussion to happen in a more private setting. He didn’t want Lorenzo or anyone walking in on them and asking questions before he had some answers.

“Marie. After your mother?”

Her attention turned back to him. “Yes.”

He liked the nod to a woman he had come to admire in the few times they’d met, but there was also the sense of lost time...lost opportunities. He hadn’t even been able to help choose his own child’s name. Hadn’t been there to see the first time she’d rolled over—if she had yet—and whatever other milestones four-month-olds normally achieved. “You gave her an Italian name.”

“It was only right. She’s half-Italian.” She smiled, although there was an uncertainty to it. Had she honestly thought he wouldn’t want his own child? Just because of some offhand comment he’d made? His reasons for saying it had had more to do with not scaring Elyse off—he hadn’t wanted her to think he was rushing her to deepen their relationship. He did want kids. Just hadn’t needed them right that second.

And now he had one. He was already in love, after only knowing her for an hour.

“Do you want to hold her?”

The question made him stop. Did he? His jaw tightened. Another thing he’d missed: holding her at birth.

He could worry about that later, though. Right now, he needed to concentrate on what was in front of him, not what was out of his control, as difficult as that might be.

And, yes, he wanted to hold her. He held out his arms and Elyse carefully placed their daughter in them. Looping an arm beneath her legs to support her, he held the baby against his chest, her baby scent tickling his nose. A sense of awe went through him.

He glanced at Elyse, who had taken a step back and stood watching them, arms wrapped tight around her midsection. There was a look on her face that he couldn’t decipher. Despite the bitterness and chaos of their breakup thirteen months ago, he and Elyse had at least done something right. They’d made this tiny creature. Murmuring to her in Italian, so her mamma wouldn’t understand, he turned and walked toward the hotel’s window and looked out over the city.

“You don’t know me yet, Annalisa, but I promise you will.” Was that even realistic? How long was Elyse planning to be in Italy? She’d said she had a little medical leave left but hadn’t specified how much.

When would she be back?

Bile washed up his throat when he thought of going months or a year between visits. But how could it be any different than that? Atlanta and Florence might as well be on separate planets.

He looked through the window at the city below. “This is part of your heritage, Anna. I want you to see Italy. To grow up speaking its language.” He was going to make that happen, somehow.

A sound behind him made him look back. Elyse had moved to the front door, as if ready to push him out of his daughter’s future before he’d even planted himself into her present. What he’d said was the truth, though. He was going to be a part of her life.

He could start by making sure they were all under the same roof for the duration of her stay. “You should come stay at the house, instead of at the hotel. I have some spare bedrooms. Your aunt will come as well, of course.”

“I don’t know.” She bit her lip. “It might be better if we stayed here at the hotel.”

“Why?”

He was already booked solid with appointments at the hospital for the next month. He couldn’t just blow them all off and take a vacation. Especially not a couple of the patients who were set to undergo treatment in the coming days.

He crossed the room. “You’ve had Annalisa to yourself for four months. I’d like you to be there when I get home. When I get up.”

Hell, was he talking about wanting Anna there? Or Elyse? He’d better make it clear. “I want as much time with her as possible. And there’s a kitchen and more room to spread out than you have here. It’ll make it easier on everyone.”

“I don’t...”

He shifted the baby into one arm, tilting Elyse’s face with the crook of his index finger. “Say yes. It would mean a lot to me.”

Something flickered through her green eyes before she said, “Are you sure? It’ll be for a whole month.”

A month. Said as if it were an eternity, when really it was only a millisecond. But at least now he knew how long he had with his baby. “A month is nothing.”

The weight of his daughter in his arms felt right. Good. He didn’t want to give that up. Not in a month. Not in a year. Not in a lifetime.

With her head still tilted, they stared at each other.

“Is it?” Her words came out breathy, lips still slightly parted.

Damn. His midsection tightened in warning. A warning he ignored, leaning closer even as she seemed to stretch up toward him.

Annalisa chose that moment to squirm, and fidget, giving a soft cry. The spell was broken, and he stepped back.

“Sorry,” she said. “She’s getting hungry.” The breathiness was gone, replaced by a wariness he didn’t like.

He handed the baby over, watching as Elyse went to the bed and sat, unbuttoning her blouse and helping the baby latch on.

The fact that she did it right in front of him made the tenseness in his chest release its hold.

He’d been her lover, for God’s sake. Why should he be surprised?

What did surprise him was that she’d come to Italy at all. Did she really care about him getting to know his daughter? Or was she simply assuaging any future guilt she might feel if Annalisa asked questions about who her father was?

Did it matter?

Yes, it did. Because her motivation behind this trip would set the tone for their future encounters. If she was just looking for the occasional photo op to show that she’d made the effort, she was going to be sorely disappointed. He wanted—no, he intended—to have an actual relationship with Anna. He would not be content with being the type of absentee father who did nothing more than send an occasional gift at birthdays or Christmas.

Adorable snuffling sounds came from the bed, where the baby still nursed. Suddenly he couldn’t bear to watch anymore, looking on from the outside.

“I’m going down to get a drink. Do you want anything?”

Elyse looked up, the slight smile that had been on her lips fading. “A water, if it’s not too much trouble?”

“No trouble at all.”

A few steps later, he was opening the door, tossing one last look over his shoulder as he exited. But not before his eyes met hers and he saw the one thing he’d never wanted to see in them: fear. What was she afraid of? That he might try to take Annalisa away from her? He would never do that. But he also wasn’t going to simply step back and pretend his child didn’t exist.

The elevator ride gave him the little bit of space and time he needed. It unclogged the lump in his throat and eased the ache in his chest. At least for the moment.

She’d agreed to come to the house. That was something. She hadn’t refused outright.

There was no sign of Peggy in the empty lobby where he asked for a coffee and Elyse’s water. It made sense. The Peggy he’d known in the States was kind and considerate. She might make it a point to stay away for more than an hour, if she thought they needed the time to work out stuff with the baby.

Luca had juggled some of his calendar, but he still had appointments this afternoon, so he wouldn’t be able to stay long as it was.

Dammit. He could just clear his calendar for the rest of the day—or a week, for that matter—but it wasn’t fair to the clinic’s patients. And even shuffling the cases to other neurophysiologists in the area would be a challenge. He was sure everyone else was just as slammed as he was. This was tourist season and a busy one for most of the doctors and clinicians in the city.

So what did he do?

All he could do. Make sure he used his time with Elyse and Annalisa wisely and hope that he could find a compromise that would suit all of them. She’d agreed to move into his house. They’d start with that.

* * *

Why had she agreed to stay at his home?

The expression on his face when he’d looked at her, that’s why. The raw emotions that had streamed through her. The way he’d gripped his daughter tightly as if afraid to let her go. None of that fit with the man who’d said with such confidence that he didn’t want children.

It was one of the million and one excuses she’d told herself every time she’d picked up the phone to call him and then set it back down again. She hadn’t been sure how Luca would react to the news that he’d fathered a daughter, which was why she’d finally decided to come to Italy and look him in the eye. If he’d shown any hint of horror or rejection at the news, Elyse would have been devastated. She would have turned back around and caught the first flight out of Italy to save her daughter the pain of having a father who didn’t want her.

But he hadn’t rejected her, had insisted he wanted to be a part of her life. The distance between Italy and her homeland was going to make that extremely hard.

If he were still in Atlanta, it would have been so much easier.

Would it have been?

It wasn’t like she’d could have hidden the weight gain from him. He’d have known. Plus the added stress of having him right there might have made an already difficult pregnancy worse.

And knowing Anna was going to be her only child?

None of this was easy, and having him stand there as she’d nursed had driven that point home. It was a relief to have him leave. It gave her enough time to finish up, since Annalisa was barely hanging on, her long dark lashes fluttering as she got sleepy.

Moving the baby to the crook of her arm, she quickly closed herself back up before lifting the baby to her chest and gently rubbing her back until she burped. And a good burp it was too. Elyse chuckled and got up to put the baby in the portable crib she’d brought on the flight with her.

Anna shifted in her sleep, raising small fists that slowly floated back down until they were at her sides.

Wow. She could stare at her daughter all day long. There were times she found herself forgetting what she was supposed to be doing because of it. Once she started back at the hospital, that would all change and life would become chaotic once again.

One month. That’s all she had left.

She didn’t want to think about how long it would be until Luca could see Anna again. Elyse would be able to follow the minuscule day-to-day developments of their daughter’s personality and physical growth.

He would miss out on so much.

But she didn’t know how to make it better.

Maybe he could move back to the States.

And do what? Her hospital’s neurology department was still operating on a skeleton crew and they weren’t looking to expand that area. But there were other hospitals and other clinics. Surely he could find a place at one of those, just like she’d thought he would do all those months ago.

Why would he, though? She’d been awestruck at the little bit of Florence she’d seen as she’d come in. The city was gorgeous, with true old-world charm that couldn’t be matched. The Florence Cathedral and its domed roof was one of the most beautiful buildings she’d seen in her life. She needed to make a point to get a closer look at it. Then there was the Pitti Palace and so many other historic sites that she wanted to explore. Maybe while Luca was at the hospital, working, she, Peg and the baby could do some sightseeing.

After seeing where he came from, she couldn’t imagine him wanting to move back to Atlanta. But maybe the baby would change that.

Did she want it to? It was hard seeing him again. The punch to her senses had been just as jolting as the first time she’d laid eyes on him. And when he’d tipped up her face... God. For a second, she had been sure he was going to kiss her. Had wanted him to so badly.

How much worse would that be if they lived a half-hour apart? Or maybe even closer than that? Or saw each other every day? She was obviously not as over him as she’d thought.

There was a quiet knock at the door and then Luca came in, holding a coffee in one hand and a water in the other. Suddenly she was wishing she’d asked for one of those instead of the water. “Thank you,” she said as she took the bottle, her eyes still on his cup.

He must have noticed her wistful gaze because he said, “Did you want coffee?”

“No. It’s okay. I’ll just have water.” She uncapped her bottle and took a quick slug, the cold liquid making her stomach clench as it hit. She couldn’t repress the slight grimace. She drank water because it was good for her, but it had never been her favorite beverage.

“Are you sure you don’t want some? It has milk. Just like you like.”

Something about that sent a rush of moisture to her eyes. She wasn’t even sure why. He’d given her coffee in his office too. It had to be the stress of the trip and everything that went with it. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “Could I? Just a sip.”

“You’re the one who introduced me to milk in my coffee.” He smiled and handed her the cup, the heat of it in her hands a welcome change from the incessant blowing of the air conditioner. She took a tiny sip.

Oh! That was good. Rich and dark and full of flavor. She took a second sip and then a third before finally forcing herself to hand the cup back.

“Are you sure you don’t want more?”

“Positive. But that was delicious.”

He smiled. “Italian. Hard to beat.”

Yes, it was. And not just the coffee. She’d missed him. Missed the good times. The lovemaking. The laughter. But she didn’t miss what had come toward the end. That huge fight during the meeting about the patient’s diagnosis had caused a major rift between them. Add that to her growing uneasiness about their relationship, her fear that she would repeat the mistakes she’d made with Kyle. And then the final blow of the downsizing. She hadn’t even been able to warn Luca about it before it happened due to that same fear of showing him preferential treatment.

It was easier with him gone. She kept telling herself that, even though easier didn’t necessarily mean better. It was just less complicated.

Less complicated? Was she kidding? They had a baby now. She shook that thought away, washing the coffee down with another sip of water, as if that would take care of the predicament she found herself in. If she’d had an abortion she wouldn’t be here right now.

And yet... Her eyes went to the baby’s crib. There’s no way she’d give any of this up, even if she could.

“Remind me to buy some Italian roast coffee before I go back to the States.”

“It won’t be the same as drinking it here.”

No, it wouldn’t. Life itself wasn’t the same since he’d left. But he’d made it pretty obvious back then that he wasn’t interested in working things out.

Maybe they’d been similar in all the wrong ways. They were both neurologists, even if their respective specialties had subtle differences to them. Elyse treated patients, and while Luca dealt with patients as well, his side was more involved in testing, interpreting and diagnosing. But the two subspecialties overlapped. A lot. And there had been times she’d been certain of a diagnosis and had spoken her mind. Luca had never challenged her.

Until that one difficult case, when he’d done so during a staff meeting. If he’d been a nurse, a tech, or even another doctor, it might have been a nonissue. She could have listened and then made a decision based on the evidence at hand. That would have been that. But because it was Luca, she’d found herself wanting to defer to him. Not because she thought he was necessarily right but because of their relationship. And she knew herself well enough to know it would happen again. Why? Because she’d been there once before with Kyle.

If she and Luca had worked at different hospitals, those murky situations wouldn’t have arisen in the first place. They could have...

She sighed, cutting herself off. All the might-haves in the world wouldn’t change the reality of what was. Or the fact that he’d clearly found it easy to leave Atlanta—and her—behind.

Luca sat in one of the two club chairs in the room, backed by a wall that was thickly textured, like those in many of the buildings she’d seen. Elyse perched on the edge of one of the two beds. Thank goodness the maid service had already been and tidied up. It might have made an already awkward situation even more unbearable.

Elyse decided to tackle the elephant in the room. “So where do we go from here, Luca?”

“I don’t know.” He glanced at the crib, where the baby was currently sleeping. “Right now, I’m wishing I had more than a month with her.”

“I know. I wish you did too. But my maternity leave is going to end. I don’t see how I can extend it.” She didn’t add that she hadn’t been sure of his reaction.

The fact that he was sitting here saying he wanted more time with Anna created an entirely different problem.

She went on. “If you have any ideas—other than my leaving her behind—I’m open to suggestions.” She hadn’t meant it as a jab at the past, but the quick tightening of his lips said he’d taken it as one.

“I would never ask you to leave her.”

“I know that.”

His elbows landed on his knees, hands dangling between his strong thighs. Thighs that she’d once...

Nope. No going down that path, Elyse. That’s what had gotten her in trouble in the first place.

Luca had captured her attention from the moment he’d walked onto her floor at the hospital. Only she had just gotten out of a difficult relationship with Kyle a year earlier and hadn’t been anxious to repeat the experience. She’d resisted going out with him, feeling proud of herself, until he’d walked out of that surgical suite that day looking like a beaten man. He’d touched her heart, and the rest was history. She’d told herself the attraction would eventually burn itself out. It hadn’t.

Even now, she knew she still wanted him.

He looked up. “I think we’re overlooking the obvious solution.”

Her heart leaped in her chest. Was he saying he wanted to get back together?

And if he did?

She swallowed. He lived here, and she lived in Atlanta. Besides, the damage had been done. He’d never forgive her for firing him. He’d made that pretty clear when he’d left.

“I guess I’m still overlooking it, because I don’t see an obvious solution at all.”

“We could get married.”

Her mouth, which had been open to make a completely different suggestion, snapped shut again. Surely she hadn’t heard him correctly?

“I’m sorry?” Maybe he was saying he wanted to get back together. But marriage? Um, no. Not a possibility.

She hurried to send the conversation in a completely different direction. “Maybe you could just move back to the States? We could work out an agreement for visitation.”

Why had she said that? Maybe because that was the only obvious thing her brain could catch hold of. They could work at different hospitals and be aloofly friendly. Like those famous divorced couples who managed to get along for the sake of their kids.

“That’s not quite what I had in mind.”

“I can’t marry you. We don’t even like each other anymore.” She forced out the words, even though they were a lie. She did like him. A little too much, in fact.

“You can’t marry me? Or you won’t?” Luca got up from his chair and went over to stand by the crib. He leaned over, fingers sliding over the baby’s forehead, pushing back some dark locks of hair. Then he twirled the tiny ponytail in a way that made her stomach clench. Watching him with their baby girl set up an ache she couldn’t banish.

It wasn’t something she was likely to see every day as Annalisa grew up. But she couldn’t marry him. Aside from the fact that he didn’t love her—he’d as much as said so by not challenging her comment that they didn’t even like each other—she couldn’t have any more children. She had barely had time to grieve over that fact herself, much less tell anyone else.

Lord, she shouldn’t have come here.

“Both. Getting married just because of Anna would be wrong. And not fair to either of us.”

He turned to face her with a frown. “Is there someone else?”

“What? No, of course not.” She gave a nervous laugh. “I’ve just had a baby. There’s no time for romance.”

“But there would be if the timing were better?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Well, I can’t move back to the States right now. Not with my caseload.”

Disappointment winged through her even though she knew he was right. He couldn’t just pick up and leave at a moment’s notice. “It was just a suggestion.”

He looked up, his gaze holding hers in a way that made her swallow. “You’re currently on maternity leave. No patients or boyfriends waiting in the wings, right?”

Something began unfurling inside of her. Something she hadn’t thought about. Something she hadn’t even wanted to think about. Was he going to ask her to marry him again? If so, would she be able to resist?

“No, but the no-patients thing is only for a month, and then I have to be back.”

“What if you didn’t?”

“Sorry?”

“What if you didn’t go? Instead of me moving to the States, what if you stayed here—in Italy—instead?”

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