Prognosis Baby Daddy - Amy Andrews Page 0,20

looked at him. He had just handed her a golden opportunity. She nodded. ‘Yes, thanks. Sounds like fun.’

So...tomorrow. It was set. She’d tell him about the baby tomorrow. And tonight she’d try and find the right words to deliver the shocking news.

CHAPTER FOUR

KATYA was awake early, having spent a night rehearsing the words she was going to use. She had a speech prepared and she hoped it was impassioned enough for him to understand that her motives were pure. That she was doing what she was doing for the sake of their baby.

She had no idea how he was going to react, none at all, and thinking about it, trying to second-guess it, was driving her crazy. Katya decided to get up and dressed and go and sit in the garden for a while. She doubted whether her thoughts would be any clearer, but at least she could stare at the Med rather than four walls.

The weather was beautiful outside and Katya could see it was going to be another gorgeous September day. She had a brown sundress on with shoestring straps, and she revelled in the early kiss of the sun on her practically bare shoulders. She could so get used to living here.

Biting into the plump flesh of a peach, Katya wandered around, trying to settle the nausea that had plagued her the minute she’d stood up. She hoped it wasn’t going to be a bad morning-sickness day. If she was going to go on Ben’s boat, the last thing she needed was a queasy stomach.

The gardens really were magnificent. She had spent most of her lunch hours outside, eating with the other nurses who chose a different terraced level each day to spread out on and soak up some sun. A lot of their patients also ventured out into the gardens and Katya liked the continuity of it all. So different from MedSurg.

She could hear the trickle of water and wondered if the fountains ran continuously or whether they were on timers. It felt good to be thinking inane things. Her mind had been preoccupied all night with such serious matters. Coming outside, had been a good idea.

Even high in the hills Katya could see the sun sparkling off the sapphire-blue Med and she drew a deep breath of clean air into her lungs. The beauty was distracting and she sat on a wrought-iron garden chair and soaked it in, her eyes shut, her face tipped towards the early morning sun.

‘Penny for them.’

Katya opened her eyes to find Ben looking down at her and her heart skipped a beat. He looked so fresh and rested. His hair was damp and curling over his collar at the nape. The words she’d rehearsed all night spun around in her head. ‘Good morning,’ she said, in what she hoped sounded like a normal voice.

‘Buongiorno, Katya. May I join you?’

Katya shuffled over, making room for him on the seat.

‘You like our gardens?’ he asked.

She nodded. ‘They are very beautiful. Did you have someone design them for you or were they already like this?’

‘The gardens have been here as long as the villa, for centuries, but they were very unkempt when we bought the property. Mario...’ Ben’s words trailed off, the familiar ache in his chest starting up at the mention of his brother.

Katya waited for him to continue. She’d been there the night Ben had received the news of Mario’s death. She had witnessed his devastation firsthand.

‘The gardens were Mario’s baby. He had this grand vision for them and hired Europe’s foremost expert on terraced gardens to help him design what you see today.’

‘It must be kind of nice to have a lasting legacy like this, to remind you of your brother,’ she said gently.

Ben just stopped himself from snorting. He rarely came into the gardens. Mario was everywhere and some things were just too painful. The last thing he needed to remember was how his brother had betrayed him. How he had discovered Mario and Bianca sharing a passionate kiss not far from here in these very grounds. Somehow the gardens had never seemed quite the same.

‘He...did a great job,’ Ben acknowledged through tight lips.

Katya looked at him sharply. She detected a slight bitterness to his tone. Maybe he didn’t want to talk about his brother? Maybe it was too soon, too raw? Maybe that was what the Contessa had alluded to on her first night?

Katya felt guilty that with everything she was going through she had totally forgotten that