Reclaiming His Bride (DiCarlo Brides book 3) (The DiCarlo Brides) (15 page)

His brow furrowed in hurt and anger. “Even now you think I’m lying.”

“You have no idea what I saw my dad do, the way he snuggled up to that woman, just the way you did. Or I thought it was.” She paused to consider again how they had interacted and was bewildered by the possibilities.

“But you can see there’s a chance you were wrong, can’t you?” He paused as if to give her an opportunity to respond. When she didn’t, his shoulders slumped, but he pushed a little harder. “You have to give me a chance, Lana. You have to give
us
a chance. What we had ...”

She turned toward the door, but didn’t walk out. She just needed a moment without him in her line of vision to consider it all very carefully. “I’m having an issue with trust right now. I don’t know if I can change that overnight.”

His voice came out soft, beseeching. “I don’t expect you to. Just don’t throw away all possibilities for us.”

She didn’t respond.

“At the very least, think of our child. He or she deserves parents who can at least communicate. We can start with friendship and work our way to more, if you want to.”

The yearning in her heart was so strong it was all she could do to hold back. She couldn’t throw away her pride and return to him if she wasn’t sure, absolutely sure that she could trust him. No matter what she’d told herself, she didn’t think she could ever be
just friends
with him. “I need to think it over, Blake. Give me a few days.”

He let out a deep breath and his voice filled with disappointment. “If that’s what you need, it’s yours. But I’m still telling my parents this week.”

She hoped he was serious about giving her a little time, because she couldn’t handle him pushing her again before she’d had a chance to get it all straight in her own head. Lana nodded and headed for the door, leaving the jewelry where it was.

“You don’t like the necklace?” he asked.

“No, yes. I mean, it’s beautiful. So are the earrings. They’re all perfect.” And that made her feel even worse if he was telling the truth about Fiona. She looked back at him. “But I can’t take them if I might not give you what you want. You hold onto it for now.”

The snap of the box shutting followed her into the reception area between their offices and was almost as loud and final as the click of the outer door closing behind her a moment later.

Blake greeted his parents in the hotel lobby, kissing his mother’s cheek and sharing a quick, manly hug with his father. Standing beside his mother was her personal assistant, a sweet blond dressed in a crisp blue dress-suit without a wrinkle in evidence, despite the long flight. Charity, he remembered and greeted her by name. “It’s nice to meet you again.” 

“Thank you.” Charity looked around her, her gaze encompassing the surroundings. “It’s a beautiful hotel. You must be very proud to be working here. Getting the place ready to open must have been quite a project.”

“Yes, it was. But it was very rewarding seeing it all come together. I’m afraid I got the best part of the project—Mr. DiCarlo had most of the red tape and muddy site considerations to deal with.” He slid away from the topic and turned to his father, who was still a little stiff when discussion came up about the hotel. He’d been trying to acquire the same piece of land for the hotel chain he worked for, but had been outbid and outmaneuvered by the wily George DiCarlo. The two men had been long-time rivals and his father hadn’t been quick to get over the loss of the property, though publicly he claimed it had been only one of several locations they were considering it that he was much happier with their new location in New Mexico.

“I hope your flight was comfortable.” Blake took the key cards for his parents’ and Charity’s rooms and gestured to the bell boy, who had already loaded all of their bags onto a cart. “Let me show you your rooms. I made sure everything was in place about an hour ago.” He’d talked to Jonquil about fresh flowers, Rosemary about a fruit basket, and Sage about some special toiletries that would impress his mother. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to find fault with the accommodations.

“I’m sure it will be just fine, sweetie,” his mother said. She took his arm, leaving her husband and assistant to trail behind them. Though her husband was the one with the important job, Juliette held leadership positions in an impressive array of social organizations and charities. She often left Charity home for a day or two, but this time insisted she couldn’t be separated from her assistant, whose duties veered into nearly every realm.

Charity was young to have obtained a job with his mother—whose assistants were usually much closer to her own age rather than a few years Blake’s junior, but she was the daughter of a friend, and from the way Juliette had been pushing him toward Charity the past few times they’d been in proximity, Blake knew his mother had ulterior motives.

Charity was a nice girl, very organized, friendly and skilled at handling his mother—a major benefit. Unfortunately, he just wasn’t interested, and doubted he would have been even if Lantana had never come into his life.

Since Charity’s room was on the way to his parents’ suite, Blake stopped there and let her take a look around. The bell hop dropped off her things, then followed down the hall to the Bahlmann’s suite.

Though Blake had double-checked every detail of the room himself less than an hour earlier, he took another cursory glance around as his parents scrutinized the room. Everything was in order from the flowers on down.

“It’s nice enough, Blake,” Juliette said in vague satisfaction. “It’ll do just fine. Now, do say you’ll join us for dinner tonight.” She touched his wrist, then gestured expansively. “I so need a chance to catch up with you. This place is a world removed from Georgia. I’ve never been so cold, and the snow just piles all around you, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does. But that brings a lot of skiers, which is good for business.” He smiled pleasantly, knowing she was there to visit him, not to involve herself in outdoor activities, and some complaint about the weather was inevitable.

“Always the bottom line for you, isn’t it?” she said with a pat on his cheek. “Just like your father that way,”

He smiled tightened, but didn’t respond. His father started complaining about the view, the temperature of the room and the inconvenience of the room layout. Charity joined them a moment later after dropping off her things in her suite and interrupted his father’s lists of room defects—all of which were in his imagination.

“I ought to get back to work. I have a conference call in a few minutes,” Blake said when the bell hop was long gone.

“I hope we’re going to see something of you while we’re here.” His mother frowned. “You’re always so busy.” She ran a finger over the rim of the lamp, then studied her finger, checking for dust. Her dissatisfied expression didn’t give away whether she found dust and was unhappy, or didn’t and was unimpressed.

“Of course I’ll be around, Mother. I’ll join you for dinner.” He leaned in and gave her cheek another kiss. “See you in a couple of hours. Six as usual?”

“Yes, dear. I’m sure you and Charity will have a lot to catch up on.”

Blake merely smiled as he exited the room, though he was already starting to wonder if these would be four insanely long days. Yes, he and Charity would have a lot to catch up on, if he had any intention of getting to know her better—which he didn’t.

He considered the dilemma as he took the elevator back to his office on the second floor. Making a decision, he walked past the office manager and into Lana’s office without pausing to check her schedule.

“You have a moment?” he asked when she looked up from the papers on her desk.

She sat back in her chair, her eyebrows rising. “If it’s only going to be a moment. I have a lot of paperwork.”

“I can be direct.” He shut the door to give them audio privacy, even if the window in the door meant others could see them interact. “My mother expects me to join her for dinner at six where she intends to throw me together with Charity. I’d like it if you joined us.”

Her brows lifted in a mix of surprise and disbelief. “So I can watch a gorgeous young woman flirt with you all evening. That sound like
so much fun
.” Lana’s tone and expression said the exact opposite.

He scowled. “I’m not going to flirt with Charity when I have you—and before you argue that I don’t
have you
, we are still married, technically, and we’re having a baby and that’s close enough for me.”

She held his gaze for a long moment, then finally nodded in acceptance. “Are you still planning to tell them about us and the baby tonight?”

He hesitated. “They’re here until Saturday. I’ll keep news of the marriage and baby until Friday night to give you a little more time, but I won’t let them leave without knowing.”

To his surprise, she didn’t argue or try to talk him out of making the revelation. “Then you don’t need me there tonight.”

Blake continued, “This child is going to be their grandchild, I would like you to get to know them better. They’ll be a part of our son or daughter’s life—and therefore your life—and it’s important to me that you can get along.”

She pressed her lips in a tight line for a long moment. “How do you intend to explain my presence without telling them about the baby or the marriage?”

Blake walked around the desk, sitting on the corner, so close in front of her that she shifted back a little as if she felt hemmed in, despite the escape route around the back of the chair. “I thought I’d make it clear that I love you, and you’re part of my life,” he said. “We can tell them about the rest later.”

She clasped her hands on her lap, squeezing her fingers together until they turned white. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. It’s going to make things with Charity awfully hard, isn’t it?” She gave him a half smile, though the joke fell flat.

Her flippant attitude irritated him, but he didn’t let it into his voice. “Lana, don’t be an idiot.”

A smile teased her mouth in response. “I’m still not sure how I feel about us.”

“You don’t have to decide right away, just give me a chance to show you what I am.”

Lana licked her lips and nodded. “I’ll be there, and I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you.” He knew he should get up and leave, but instead he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead—not nearly as much as he wanted, but it would have to do for now. “I’ll swing by and pick you up here before dinner.”

She shook her head. “I’ll change and come to your room so we can go down together.”

“That works for me.” It was a step, and he’d take what he could get.

Lana glanced at her reflection in a long mirror in the hotel lobby as she passed on her way up to Blake’s suite. It felt like meeting the in-laws for the first time, though they’d met before. It had been only a social introduction two years earlier, long before she’d felt more than a lick of attraction for their son. This introduction was far more to the point and made her feel anxious and a little queasy—or maybe that was the odd late-day sickness.

She tugged at her sapphire cocktail dress and touched the slim gold chain that dove below her neckline. The one with her rings still hanging on it. She needed to either take them off completely, or put them back on her finger. But that was a decision for another day. She played with the sapphire pendant on the other chain that dangled just above the dress neckline and forced herself to keep her fingers from straying to the matching earrings. It would only make her look nervous, and feel even more anxious. As her unease grew, she sucked in a deep breath and blew it out again to calm herself.

Lana knocked at Blake’s door and he opened almost immediately. He looked great in his charcoal suit; it was crisp and fit him perfectly. He’d always had great taste in clothes. “You ready?” she said instead of complimenting him on how he looked, as she’d been tempted to do. She could tell from the way his brows pinched together slightly that he was nervous about dinner.

His face smoothed out as he glanced over her. “Yes. You look beautiful. I love that dress.”

She slid her hands over her hips, sliding a hand over it self-consciously. “It’s the last time I’ll be able to wear it for a while. It barely fits decently now.” Her waist was already starting to thicken with the baby’s growth and the dress had always fit close to the skin. He may think she looked good, but she was aware of how her body was changing—even if it wasn’t obvious yet to anyone else.