Except that thought didn’t ring true, and he wasn’t coward enough to ignore that.
Of course, he felt a connection to the woman. She was pregnant with his baby. After everything he’d gone through with Marcia, thatmeantsomething. Perhaps even more to Raf than many other men. He wanted to reach out and grab hold oftheir babywith both hands. Not Elodie. Surely his desire for her was partly shaped by the biological imperative of their situation?
Except, no. He’d felt this even after that night. He’d wanted her again. She’d tested his resolve even before he’d known about the child they’d conceived.
But he shut the thought down rather than give it the freedom to run and focused on his work instead. In work, he found solace, and strength, and a connection back to himself.
It waslate in the afternoon when his phone began to ring, and he saw his cousin Dante’s face on the screen. He grimaced, surprised, in a way, it had taken him this long to follow up. More than twenty-four hours? That was positively snail-pace for this family.
“Hey,” Raf said, as he answered, his voice a little husky from disuse.
“How’s it going?”
It sounded casual, but Raf knew Dante wasn’t meaning it that way. “All good here.”
“Still in Italy?”
“For the foreseeable. What’s up?”
“I have to tell you, the majority wanted to turn up on your doorstep.”
Nowthatwas more like it.
“They’re worried.”
Raf crinkled his forehead. “My past behaviour notwithstanding, I can take care of myself.”
Dante didn’t speak straight away. After a moment, he said, “I suggested you come home this weekend. With her.”
Her.
The word breathed through Raf like both a calling and a torment. “Come on, Dante, you can’t be serious.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“I’m trying to win Elodie over,” Raf said on a husky bark of laughter. “Feeding her to the wolves is not going to cut it.”
He stood up, moving to his window, looking out over the sensational view towards the valley. The sun was low in the sky, but it still looked warm out there.
“What’s the game plan?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you getting married?”
Raf ignored the strange pounding in his chest. “If I have an announcement along those lines, you’ll be the first to hear it.” It wasn’t a rejection, and Raf heard that with a frown. Why not just tell Dante that marriage definitely wasn’t on the cards?
“You’re already in Italy. Why not come for dinner? You don’t have to stay long. Let the family meet her. She’s going to be the mother of your child. That makes her a part of us, no matter what happens with the two of you.”
Raf closed his eyes. That was true.Famiglia è tutto.It was his uncle Gianni’s favourite saying. Family is everything. It didn’t matter if that family was by blood or marriage, it was simply family. The fact that Elodie was the mother of Raf’s baby madeher family, too. There was no way she’d be able to avoid meeting them all.
“I won’t bring her this weekend,” he said, slowly. “It’s too soon. We both need time to get our heads around this.”
“You’re worried we’ll scare her off.”
“Frankly, yes.”
“Come on, Raf. We’ve all done it.”
