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they would know the sex of the baby if they chose. There were vitamins to take, blood tests to have done and urine samples to give.
    There were even classes to be taken, though she wasn’t sure that Nico would be coaching her through anything when it came to childbirth. And she wasn’t sure she wanted him to do so, either.
    By the time they left the doctor’s office, Tina’s head was reeling. Instinctively, she put her hand over her still flat abdomen as if protecting the tiny life growing there.
    A baby. She was truly having a baby, and she’d seen the little tiny lump on the screen for herself. Nico had seen it, too, but in the photo the doctor had handed tohim in the office. He’d seemed a bit taken aback at first, as if he still couldn’t quite believe it, but there was no denying she was pregnant and no denying that the conception date coincided with the night they were together.
    Now he was silent as they rode through the streets of Rome. Outside the car window, traffic screeched and honked, but inside it remained eerily quiet.
    Eventually, she realized they were not heading in the direction of her hotel. Her heart began to beat a little harder as she turned to him.
    “I’m tired, Nico. I want to go back to my hotel and pack.” She’d had a text message from Lucia, but she hadn’t yet answered it. Since her friend was unable to get together for dinner, it wasn’t crucial that she do so right away.
    Nico’s expression gave nothing away as he looked over at her. He was like a block of ice, so cold and unapproachable that he made her shiver.
    “Your suitcases have already been packed.” He glanced down at his watch. “I imagine they’ve been delivered, as well.”
    An icy tendril of fear coiled around her heart. “Delivered? Where would they be delivered? I’m off to Capri in the morning, and I will need my things tonight.”
    “I’m afraid the plan has changed,
cara
.” His storm cloud eyes were piercing as they caught hers and held them. “We are going to Castello di Casari.”
    Her pulse beat loudly in her ears. “I can’t go with you,” she said. “People are expecting me.”
    “No,” he said smoothly, tapping the screen of his phone. “They are not. You are on your own right now, Valentina. Renzo and the lovely Faith are in theCaribbean and your mother is sailing around Bora-Bora.”
    Tina stiffened. “While that is certainly true, I do have friends. And they are expecting me.” Acquaintances, more like, and they were not expecting her so much as expecting a call from her if she wanted to get together.
    Which she typically did not. She was happiest on her own. She’d always been a bit of a loner, and she’d never yet outgrown it. It was part of the reason she liked math and numbers so much. When she was in her head, solving problems, she didn’t have to deal with the outside world.
    “Then you will call and inform them your plans have changed.”
    “And for how long should I say I am delayed?” she asked tightly, knowing she was not going anywhere tonight that he did not want her to go.
    There was ice in his smile. “Indefinitely.”

CHAPTER FOUR
    C ASTELLO di Casari was far more than an ancient family fortress. It was impenetrable. Nico surveyed the castle rising out of the sheer rock in the middle of Lago di Casari and felt the overwhelming sensation of loneliness and despair that he’d always felt when returning here.
    The castle had been modernized over the years, so that its medieval character remained but every modern comfort was provided for. Nico had not been here since his father’s death just over a month ago. Why he’d thought to return here now, he wasn’t quite certain.
    Until he glanced over at the woman sitting stiffly beside him in the helicopter. Yes, it was an excellent place to stash an uncooperative female. He could hardly credit that the woman with the riotous hair and lush mouth was little Valentina D’Angeli, but his brain was becoming more accustomed