Chapter Nine
When Pearl woke the next day, she could almost think that everything that had happened last night was a dream. It was almost beyond belief that her one-night-stand lover had returned, wanted a place in raising their child together. However, two things very quickly told her that what had happened the night before was very real. The first thing was that when she thought of his kiss, her entire body seemed to cry out for him. She wasn't sure she had ever been this hungry even for food before. After touching him again for the first time in months, it was as if she needed his touch like she needed to breathe. It made her shiver, wrapping her arms around her body.
The second thing that told her the night before wasn't a dream was a message on her phone. The caller ID told her it was from work, and she bit her lip before pressing play.
The message was short and to the point, and at least he didn't swear at her, but the gist was that she was no longer welcome at Murphy's. If she had any belongings to pick up, she could speak to someone in security, but otherwise, she was certainly not welcome back in any capacity.
There was a time not all that long ago when Pearl would have shrugged her shoulders and simply started looking for more work. She had a small amount in the bank that would ensure she didn't starve, and after that, she was confident about her skills and her luck. She would land on her feet.
Ever since she had gotten pregnant, however, Pearl had been shocked by how vulnerable she felt. Every little blow felt as if it could be the end, and the fear of hunger and homelessness loomed large. She could take care of herself just fine, but what about a baby?
"All right, breathe," she whispered to herself. "I can still work, and I'm not even showing all that much just yet. Some place will hire me..."
She was just beginning to calm down when the door buzzer sounded, startling a cry from her. Her already jangled nerves buzzed angrily, and she stalked over to the intercom.
"What?" Pearl demanded, and there was a slight pause.
"I bought breakfast," Luciano said, and she blinked.
There was an angry, childish part of her that blamed him for what had happened last night, and she almost wanted to tell him to come back later. Then her stomach rumbled, and that was really all the excuse she needed to let him up. If she was honest with herself, she wanted to see him more than anything. As it was, breakfast provided her with a good excuse.
She opened the door for him, and the smile on his face was almost shy. She let him into the apartment, thinking the whole time that he looked startlingly strange in her humble little apartment. For his part, he looked around curiously, making her smile.
"Let me guess, you've never been in an apartment this nice?"
He shot her an amused look. "You don't look like you intend to stay long."
Pearl shrugged, sitting on the bed and leaving him to the chair. She tugged the nightstand between them so they had a makeshift table.
"I don't really stay anywhere that long," she said with a sigh, "But I think the kid's going to change that. I suppose I better learn to decorate in the next few months."
Breakfast turned out to be bagels, cream cheese, eggs and a beautiful plate of fresh fruit.
"You went to a few different places," Pearl said, oddly touched by his thoughtfulness, and Luciano shrugged.
"I wanted to make sure I brought back something you could eat."
"Well, I could eat this fruit all day," she said with a smile.
They ate quietly, and the strangeness leached from the situation until it felt cozy, almost normal, to sit with a man like Luciano in her tiny living space. The food was good enough that she had to prevent herself from groaning at how good it tasted, and without being asked, Luciano handed her a bottle of fresh, sweet orange juice to wash it all down.
Pearl was feeling pretty good about the world in general, and then Luciano said something that made her stare.
"So you have a doctor's appointment at three."
She blinked because that sounded so ridiculous as to be unbelievable. "I beg your pardon?"
"I did some research last night, or rather I had my staff do some research. We found an excellent OB/GYN, and after some finagling, she agreed to take you on as a patient. She's competent to monitor the whole pregnancy, and if necessary, she'll travel to Italy if that's where we are at the time to oversee the birth."
Pearl stared at him, shaking her head. "I've... I've been going to a doctor..."
Luciano shot her an impatient look. "At a free clinic? At a place where there's always at least twenty people in the waiting area and where half of those people have colds? Don't make me laugh, Pearl."
She glared at him. "Yes, at a free clinic, and the staff there works hard to make sure I'm healthy."
"Have you had an ultrasound yet? Do you know who to call if you start having problems?"
"There's the emergency room," she started, but Luciano shook his head.
"No. Unacceptable. You are not going to spend your pregnancy in that kind of danger."
"Danger? Women do it all the time!"
"Not my woman," Luciano said, and they both froze.
"Is that what I am?" Pearl asked, unable to keep a slightly stunned note out of her voice. "Am I just your woman?"
It seemed like a dozen emotions crossed Luciano's face before he shook his head, composing his expression.
"That...was not something I should have said," he growled. "But the child in your belly, that's my baby. At least by half. That means I should take care of it as well."
Pearl bit her lip, wondering where the lines could be drawn in this strange situation, where they could possibly be after she had engaged in one of the world's most intimate activities with this man when she didn't even know his middle name.
Actually, I do know his middle names, she corrected herself. He told me last night. Then she shook her head, because God, she needed to keep her wits about her.
"You're right," she said at last. "I see what you mean."
Luciano looked at her with a guarded expression. "You do?"
"I do." She nodded. "Just don't cut me out of things and think that bringing me breakfast will distract me."
"That wasn't what this was all about," he said, slightly offended. "I brought you breakfast because I was thinking of you this morning."
She allowed herself a slight smile at that. "That was kind of you. If you keep bringing me bagels that good, you're welcome to bring me breakfast whenever you like."
He nodded with mock gravity. "I will keep that in mind. But I do promise I will not cut you out of things, as you say."
"Good," she said with relief. Maybe things were going to work out after all. Maybe they could come to an accord.
"But after you are done with food, you should pack up whatever you like for the plane." He hesitated. "Honestly, if you actually want the things here, I can have a moving company pick them up in an hour, I bet. You really don't have a lot."
For a moment, Pearl wondered if she had somehow misremembered an entire part of the conversation, if she had simply blocked it out of her memory.
"What do you mean, plane?" she asked, keeping her voice as low and level as she could.
"The OB/GYN that I booked, Dr. Arora. She's in Manhattan."
***
Three hours later, Pearl was on a private plane, the first private plane she had ever been on, still a little shocked at everything that had happened. The things that she actually cared to take from her apartment fit easily into two suitcases and a cardboard box, and Luciano's people had loaded them with the care she imagined museum curators gave to Ming vases.
There were only four seats on the private plane, two rows of two seats facing each other over a surprisingly elegant table. Luciano smiled slightly at her from across the table, a whiskey on the rocks in his hand. Pearl had never been much of a drinker, but for a brief moment, she wanted nothing more than a sip, if only to calm her nerves.
"You look a little stunned," he said, and she shrugged.
"I suppose I still am. This is...this is too much. I feel like with every new surprise you give me, I'm going to keel over with shock. For some reason, I don't, and for some reason, I'm still ticking."
"I don't think I've done anything so shocking," Luciano said reasonably. "I'm just doing my best to look after the child we have together. This is something that all men should do. That's normal, isn't it?"
Pearl laughed, shaking her head. "At this point, I'm pretty sure you and ‘normal’ do not belong in the same sentence. In all fairness, there are plenty of men that would have sneaked out of that relationship and never appeared again when they saw me and realized I was pregnant..."
Luciano shot her a fierce look.
"Those men do not deserve the name," he declared. "In Italy, men look after their women and their children as well."
"Oh, don't give me that," Pearl snorted, and she was slightly amused that she had taken Luciano aback. "There are awful men and terrible fathers everywhere. I sincerely doubt that America has a monopoly on them or that Italy is utterly free of them.
"No," she continued. "I think it's that you're...special."
He shot her a slightly impatient glance. "I truly hope this is not something so out of the ordinary."
"Well, maybe finding out you have a child and wanting to be a part of that child's life isn't such a surprise. But, um, flying me to Manhattan via private plane? That's new to me."
"Well, I do like to travel in comfort, and Dr. Arora is the best," he said with a grin. "I don't have much to say sorry for."
"I'll believe that," Pearl said quietly. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not running. For wanting our baby to have the best."
To her surprise, Luciano reached across the table towards her to take her hand.
"I want you to have the best as well," he said earnestly.
The moment was so charged that Pearl had to look away. There was too much in his dark eyes, too much to hope for, too much to fall into. If she fell into the sweet chocolate darkness there, she might drown.
"Is this another Italian tradition?" she asked lightly, drawing her hand back. There was that flicker of emotion again, coming across Luciano's face before it smoothed to stone. She supposed that being a prince and an entrepreneur probably meant he had to keep his guard up a great deal, but there was a part of her that ached at him doing it now.
"Well, if we're going to get into tradition, I suppose I might say it is, especially for the nobility."
"How do you mean?"
"My home in general and my family in particular...we have always had a great deal of regard for families. Even illegitimate ones."
"You mean bastards," Pearl said, feeling as if she had fallen into some kind of soap opera. Where she came from, parents might or might not be married, and single parents were everywhere.
Luciano frowned. "I do not like that word. But yes. A man might live with his wife and their children together, and if he bred bastards, they and their mothers would be provided for as well. You need never wonder about going hungry or being stricken with poverty, Pearl. I would never allow it."
Her head spun. Was Luciano actually proposing that she live in some kind of desolate estate with their child, far away from public censure while he had his real wife and his legitimate children in the city?
"I don't want any of that," she said, her voice coming out harshly. "That... That isn't something I want. I won't be tied down like that. Ever."
It was impossible to read Luciano's face, but he nodded. In that moment, he looked almost shockingly self-contained, as if nothing in the world could ruffle him.
"I don't want to tie you down," he said. "All of this, it is for the child, yes?"
"Yes." Pearl knew she should feel relief at that thought, but why then did she feel like crying?