Chapter Fourteen
Gio
I watched Carly out of the corner of my eye as I drove. I could tell she was worried and it took every ounce of willpower I had to not run any lights. It was obvious she loved her son very much. “Where is your son's father,Bella?” I saw her tense and cocked a brow.
“Dead. He died before Eli was born.”
“I'm sorry,Bella.” I could hear the pain in her voice. Her son's father must have meant a great deal to her.
“It was a long time ago. I was sixteen when he died.”
“So young.” I looked over at her once we stopped in front of her building. “Not many could have handled being a mother at that age and succeed.”
“I don't know that I would have if my mama hadn't helped until she got remarried and moved away two years ago. She didn't let me lay around and feel sorry for myself. She made me face my choices and accept responsibility.”
“Sounds like a good woman.” This time I didn't let her argue with me about escorting her up to her apartment. “I'm coming up with you. It's non-negotiable,Bella.” The rolling of her eyes made me smirk.
“You can be a bit of an arrogant prick, sometimes. You know that, right?”
I laughed. I couldn't help it. “Ah,Bella, you have no idea. Come, let's get your son to the doctor.”
I hung back a little as she entered her apartment. I was taking in everything, including the flimsy locks she had. Anyone could easily break into the apartment and that put both her and her son at risk. That wasn't acceptable. “You need new locks,Bella..” The look she gave me, oh, it made my cock twitch. Defiant and stubborn.
“Risa, this is Gio. Gio, my best friend, and awesome sitter, Risa.”
I nodded at the other woman and moved to take the boy from Carly's arms. “Let me carry him down to the car. Please.” I tacked the last on because of her glare. She was a protective mama bear; I wasn't going to demand she let me do it. I watched her face soften with a sigh as she put him in my arms. “Grazie..” I murmured the word in her ear before bundling her son close and heading down to the car with Carly right on my heels.
As soon as she was settled in the back seat of my car I set her son next to her, got him bucked in, and we were off. Why was I so worried about a child that wasn't mine? Because he's a kid. Kids are to be protected. It helped that I was attracted to his mother and I didn't like seeing her upset.
By the time we reached the hospital I could tell Carly was worried about something other than her son being sick. The frown between her eyes as she answered the receptionist's questions spoke volumes. “What's wrong,Bella?” The look in her eyes cut me. “Carly? What is it?”
“It's nothing.”
“Lying is unbecoming,Bella. Something is wrong.” I had to fight the smirk her sigh elicited.
“I'm trying to decide which bill I'm going to have to ignore to pay for this.”
She muttered it so softly I almost didn't hear her. “None. I'll take care of it since the insurance for everyone is still being set up.”
“I can't...”
My finger against her lips stopped her from finishing her sentence. “None of that. You worry about your boy- I'll worry about the bill.” It would come out of my own pocket. Pop wouldn't approve of me usingfamigliamoney to pay for it.
Hours later I was sitting at Carly's side, holding her hand, when the doctorfinallygave his diagnosis. “Ms. Ballentyne. I'm sorry to keep you waiting. Your son has an ear infection in both ears. I'm going to put him on some antibiotics for the infection. Continue giving him Tylenol for the fever, make sure he drinks plenty of fluids, and follow up with his pediatrician in a week to check his progress.”
“Oh thank God.”
The relief in her voice coupled with the gleam of tears in her eyes had me reaching for her. She looked a little shaky and I didn't want her hurting herself. “See,Bella, it all worked out.” My lips brushed her temple and I felt her tense. I did more than that the other night and she responded with interest. The only thing that was different was her son was watching us.
I gave her some space while the nurse went over the doctor's orders before we were finally able to leave.
