Involuntarily, my jaw clenched. I didn’t like hearing another woman’s name fall from his lips.
Gio arched an eyebrow. “Problem?”
Was I going to give him the satisfaction of admitting that I was jealous? Hell no.
When I merely glared at him, refusing to answer, a corner of his lips twitched. “That’s what I thought.”
Smug bastard.
Gel was squirted on my stomach, moments before a doppler wand was pressed to the rounded surface. Static sounded from the handheld monitor, and I held my breath waiting for the reassuring gallop of my baby’s heartbeat to come through the speaker. After what felt like forever, that highly anticipated rhythmic whooshing filled the air of the room, and I sagged against the mattress.
A smile stretched across Arianna’s face. “Nice and strong. Let’s do everything we can to keep it that way.”
Throat raw from the amount of stomach acid that had eaten away at its lining, I croaked, “Please, do whatever it takes.” Even though he wasn’t earthside yet, I already cared more about my baby boy’s life than my own.
The physician cleaned my skin with a damp towel, then tucked away her blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, and doppler into a bag on the bedside table. Next, she withdrew a clear package containing a sterile IV kit and the bag of clear fluids.
Since I wasn’t the biggest fan of needles, I averted my gaze, sucking in a hissing breath when the sharp implement pierced my skin without warning.
“You doing okay, Rory?” Arianna asked.
Eyes closed, I managed a weak “Uh-huh.”
“Hard part’s over.” The tight pressure of medical tape being affixed to the inside of my elbow was accompanied by a chipper “all done.”
I let out a shaky exhale. “Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
The sharp snap of latex gloves being removed had my eyelids lifting to the view of Arianna cleaning up. After disposing of the needle in a sharps container, she connected the IV bag to the plastic tubing running into my arm, adjusted the drip settings, and then hooked it onto the corner post of the headboard to keep it elevated.
Turning to Gio, Arianna asked, “Would you like me to stick around for the removal?”
My husband shook his head. “No. I’ve got it handled.”
It wasn’t shocking, considering I had once watched the man stitch up a knife wound in his side because he’d been too impatient to wait for a doctor. Removing an IV was child’s play compared to that.
“Of course.” She placed a hand on his forearm and batted her eyelashes. “You have my number if you needanythingelse.”
Oh, she was lucky I was sick as a dog, because that was the only thing keeping me from severing that appendage before clawing her eyes out.
Who the fuck did she think she was? Coming on to a man who was clearly married with a baby on the way? What did she expect to happen? That she’d come in to treat his incapacitated wife, then get ravaged in the hallway by the all-powerful mafia don? Maybe score a spot as his mistress?
Why do you care? You never gave a thought as to who might be warming his bed when you were on the run?
Okay, one, it’s disrespectful as fuck for her to hit on him right in front of me. And two, I have to care because if he decides to stick his dick between every pair of legs that open for him, he’ll end up bringing a disease home to me and put our baby at risk.
In the time it took me to complete that mental argument, Arianna had managed to slip from the room, leaving only Gio standing at my bedside.
His lips pursed as his gaze roved over where I lay on the mattress before lifting to the bag of fluids. “You should rest. I’ll be back in an hour to check on you and see if the second bag is necessary.”
With that, he spun on his heel and left the room. And I was left staring up at the ceiling, wondering if today would be the day that he decided to break his vow to remain faithful until death do us part.
By the time Gio returned, I was on the verge of a panic attack, my chest heaving with shallow breaths, my vision darkening at the edges due to the lack of oxygen.
With long strides, he ate up the space between the door and the bed, his brows furrowed so deeply that a crease formed between them. Placing a hand on my sternum, he commanded in a deep voice, “Slow it down, Rory. Deep breaths.”
My belly tightened painfully, and I gasped. “Can’t. Something’s wrong.”
