“Tino!”
“I know. I was not thinking, bella mia.”
“I didn’t want to tell anyone I was pregnant until my first trimester was over,” Faith lamented.
“What is done is done.”
“Is that a Sicilian proverb?”
He grinned and kissed the tip of her nose. “I believe it is a universal one.”
“I suppose.” She headed to her bedroom. “I need to change my clothes.”
He followed her.
“Tino, I’m getting dressed.”
“So?”
“You really don’t recognize personal boundaries, do you?”
“You wish to have a wider personal boundary as my wife than you have had as my lover?” He sounded confused and not a little upset.
“We’re not married.”
“Not yet, but it will happen.”
“I haven’t said yes.” But she would. She loved him and now that she knew his feelings for her had always run deeper than he’d wanted to admit or acknowledge even to himself, she wasn’t going to let him go.
He wasn’t the only stubborn, possessive one in their relationship.
“You will.”
“You are so sure?”
“I cannot allow myself to consider the alternative.” And for just a brief moment, her Sicilian tycoon looked as vulnerable as any male on the planet. “For now I will be happy if you admit we are still a couple.”
“Were we ever a couple?”
“We had our limits on our relationship, but that does not mean we were not together.”
“Limits you set.”
“I acknowledge it.”
“You seem to have dumped them with efficient speed.” And she was loving that reality.
“Circumstances change.”
“Like finding out I’m pregnant with your baby.”
“Believe it or do not, but the walls I imposed between us would have crumpled when you dumped me, regardless of your reason for doing so.”
“I do believe it.” Did he love her? She didn’t have the guts to ask and risk getting shot down again, but the possibility warmed her heart as surely as her baby did. “So, you do admit that I dumped you, regardless of the reasons why?”
Pain darkened his expression for just a moment. “Si.”
“Then I can admit that we are a couple.”
Gorgeous white teeth flashed in a smile that turned her inside out.
He watched as she pulled off her clay-spattered jeans and top, his gaze going hot and hungry when her almost nude body was revealed.
“You’re not wearing a bra.” His voice was hoarse and his hand made an abortive move to touch her.
She smiled. “No sex, remember.”
“How could I forget?”
“You look like you’re in danger of doing so.”
“I am not, but you would not deny me what pleasure I can have, would you?”
“You are going to get yourself all revved up with nowhere to go.” Though knowing he still wanted her so much was nice. Really nice to know, in fact.
He laughed. “I think a tiny part of you enjoys knowing that.”
“I think you may be right.”
She turned to grab some clothes from the closet, bending to get the gold and white Roca Wear sandals she wanted to wear with her white sheath dress.
He groaned.
She let her lips curve in a smile because he could not see. “You sure you’re going to survive this.”
“If Taylish could stand the abstinence, so can I.”
“Ohh, competitive. You don’t have to be. Tay and I didn’t stop making love during either of my pregnancies.”
Silence for a full five seconds. “I’ll wait for you in the studio.” He turned and left the room without another word.
She blinked, not sure what had happened there. One minute she’d been teasing him with her body, positive they were both enjoying it. And the next, he was gone.
He was quiet on the way to the restaurant to meet his mother, too.
“Tino,” she said when they pulled up in front of the trattoria. “Is something wrong?”
“What could be wrong?”
“That’s what I want to know.”
He simply shrugged and got out of the car, coming around to open her door and help her to her feet. He kept his hand on the small of her back as they walked into the restaurant.
Agata was already seated at a table for four; Rocco was across from her.
She smiled at their approach. “Hello, Faith. My son. Why am I not surprised to see you as well?”
“Because you are intelligent enough to add two and two and get four. I, on the other hand, am a little shocked you brought Papa along without warning Faith first.”
“Why, am I some ogre my soon-to-be daughter-in-law should need forewarning of my presence?”
“Do not be melodramatic, Papa.”
Tino looked down at her to see how she was taking this development and she gave him and then his parents a reassuring smile. “I’m very happy to see you, Rocco.”
“And I am very pleased to be expecting a new grandchild.”
Tino didn’t give her a chance to answer, but pulled her chair out for her. She sat down, glad there was already water at her place. She took a sip and wondered how best to break it to the older couple that she had not yet agreed to marry Tino.
“Faith has not consented to become my wife,” Tino said bluntly, taking care of that little detail for her.
“You have not asked her?” Rocco asked in clear censure.
Tino waited to answer until he had taken his own seat at the table. Then he gave his father a look that would make most cringe. “Naturally, I have asked her. She turned me down.”
“Flat?” Agata asked in a faint voice, her shock palpable.
Faith glared at Tino. So much for supporting her during this conversation. “I told him to ask me again in two weeks.”
“I will start making plans immediately,” Agata said with a smile.
“She did not say she would agree, then.”
“But of course she will. You simply have to convince her.” Rocco gave his son a significant look. “You’ve already seduced her into your bed, surely you can induce her to marry you.”
Faith felt her cheeks going hot, but Tino did not look in the least bothered. “I intend to try.”
“You will succeed,” his mother said complacently.
“Will I?” Tino looked at Faith, his gaze trying to decipher something in hers. “That is my hope.”
“Yo
u know why I want to wait.”
“Yes, you do not wish to make the mistake of promising to spend the rest of your life with me in the remote chance it is not a necessary sacrifice.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about.”
“And yet I have made it clear I do not wish to wait to make the commitment.”
“You didn’t want to marry me before I got pregnant. You didn’t even want to be my friend.”
“I want to marry you now and I was your friend, if too much of a coward to admit it to my mother.” He focused on Agata and Rocco. “I am sorry I was less than truthful with you about my relationship with Faith.”
“You lied,” Rocco said. No compromise.
Tino nodded, looking pained. “Si.”
“We forgive you, don’t we?” Agata said, giving her husband a transparent look that clearly meant he’d better agree or risk being sent to a guest room for the night.
“Si. You are our son.”
And that meant forgiveness. Faith smiled. Maybe Tino had been worried about this. She was glad his parents hadn’t drawn it out the way he’d clearly been expecting.
Tino looked no happier, but he said, “Thank you.”
“So, do you want a big wedding or something small?” Agata asked.
“I told you—”
Agata cut her son off. “I know what you said, but your father and I have complete faith in you.” She looked at Faith expectantly.
“I always dreamed of getting married in a church, with my family there to witness my happiness.” She didn’t know why she said it. It was a dream that could never be realized.
“I will talk to the father, unless you wish to be married in your Lutheran church?”
Faith shook her head. “I’ve been attending the Catholic Mass since coming to Sicily. It just felt right.”
Agata’s face lit up at that. “How wonderful. The father will be very pleased to hear this.”
“No doubt,” Tino said.
Faith looked at him, a question in her eyes.
He shrugged. “It is one more thing I did not know about you.”
“Tino, you know me more deeply than anyone has since Taylish, maybe even better than he did.”
Agata glowed at them, while Tino looked almost speechless.
Rocco nodded his head. “As it should be.”
While they ate, Agata quizzed Faith on the progress of her pregnancy, wanting to know everything from what doctor she’d gone to see to what her due date was. Tino and Rocco left the conversation to the women for the most part.