Chapter 16
“No? You’re telling me you don’t want me to come over, even though you’ve just told me that you’re pregnant and I just happen to be in New York? Is this a prank?” Lana demanded over the phone, and Gema bit her lip, instantly regretting blurting her new discovery as soon as she had heard Lana’s voice, calling to tell her she was in New York and wanted to catch up.
“No, Lana, please, don’t come over I’m fine really” Gema tried unsuccessfully to persuade Lana not to come over, but the knocks on her door ten minutes later proved Gema had succeeded in doing little but worry her friend. Lana looked the same, so gloriously Italian and vibrant that it made Gema want to cry, but she bit back the tears and put on a smile for Lana, thankful the split lip had gone down and the bruising was still manageable with makeup.
“Tell me everything, Gema, when did you find out?”
“About a week ago” Gema looked down at her hands and Lana spoke softly.
“He’s here, you know” Gema’s head jerked up and Lana smiled sadly at her. “You should talk to him”
“What? Impossible, I can’t” Gema shook her head.
“Why not?” Lana demanded. “Is he not the father of this baby?”
“Of course he is” Gema said fiercely, frowning. “But I….I don’t think he’ll be very excited” She murmured, and Lana squeezed her hand.
“Give him a chance”
“No, I can’t, I don’t want to see him again” Gema confided and Lana sighed. “I’m serious, Lana, don’t set up any meetings between us”
“Fine, Gem, you have my word, I won’t say anything to him. But can’t I tell Viola? She is going to be so excited-”
“NO!” Gema screamed before she could help it, the thought of anyone finding out, of it somehow getting back to Doug and Vanessa, made her fearful. “I just, I don’t want anyone to know, yet, I just, I want to tell them myself…when I tell them”
“You are keeping it, aren’t you? Gema-”
“Of course I am!” Gema assured her, shaking her head. “I couldn’t do that, I don’t want to.”
“Even with no father? As you seem to be leaning towards” Lana said, her disagreement clear on her face.
“Yes, even with no father” Gema muttered, looking away from Lana before she could see the tears in her eyes.
Typing away at her desk, Gema rolled her shoulders and sighed, her stomach grumbling. She was working up quite the appetite lately, and glanced at her watch to discover it was just about time for her lunch break.
“Once I finish the end of this memo….” Gema murmured to herself, starting up her typing again.
“I do believe, your stomach may just eat itself by then” A thickly accented voice drawled, and Gema faltered on the keys, her back going rigid. Her eyes lifted, following the voice, and landed on an immaculately dressed Italian, leaning lazily against her desk as he removed his sunglasses and glanced around the office as if he had every reason to be there. His eyes trained back on her, and Gema’s hands clenched into fists as his eyes roved her form in her deep brown skirt suit, her breasts straining against the slightly too tight buttoning of the top. “Got your tongue, Gema?” He murmured, his golden orbs trained upon her lips, and she resisted the urge to tremor. Gema put her hands into her lap and returned her gaze to her work.
“What are you doing here”
“You were very hard to find” He said instead, ignoring her question as he picked up a coffee mug full of pencils on her desk and surveyed it. “Very hard indeed”
“Clearly not hard enough” Gema snapped before she had realized it, and he glanced back at her for a second.
“Still have that quick temper” Vistos set down her mug and stood, hands in pockets. “Come to lunch”
“Why would I go anywhere with you?” Gema asked, astonished.
“I have secured your parents funds, and was going to deliver them to you, but perhaps you do not still want them. Very well” He shrugged and made to leave, but Gema was suddenly standing.
“Wait, no, Vistos!” His name fell from her lips easily, and he stopped, looking back at her, and she thought she saw something dark flash in his eyes, but it was soon gone. “Yes, of course I still want what my parents left to me, but I….” She bit her lip. “I just, don’t think it would be best for us to be….seen in public”
Vistos frowned slightly. “You are hiding from Doug?” Gema nodded, looking at the floor. There was no sense in telling him that Doug had in fact found her, and made a habit of seeing her twice a week to have dinner, and to hit her where the marks would not show. “Very well, my penthouse then. It is not far from here, and no one shall see you”
Gema hesitated, and Vistos must have noticed, for her drawled as he put on his sunglasses and made for the door. “You are quite safe, cara”.
Her body hummed at the thought, and she suppressed the heat coursing through her veins as she grabbed her things and followed him out the door, her mind urging her to tell him just why she was so hungry in the first place. Gema wrestled with it while he drove through the city, barking orders on his phone in Italian. He had come to give her what was rightfully hers, despite the fact that she hadn’t stayed for the full six months they had agreed to. And he hadn’t been conspiring with Doug after all, so didn’t he have a right to know about the child she was carrying? Gema glanced over at Vistos, his handsome face even more so now. He needed a haircut, but she rather liked how long his hair had gotten in the back, and how he had to constantly flick the loose curls out of his eyes now. She would tell him, gema decided then. He didn’t come to her out of malice, had been perfectly nice to her in his own way, and he deserved to know. Whether he wanted to be with her or not, which she strongly believed was the latter, she would tell him.
“What is this?” Gema frowned at the check Vistos had slid across his desk to her before she could tell him about their child. The check was made out to her, that was right, but it was for substantially more than was previously discussed. Gema looked at Vistos, still frowning, as he sat behind his desk, the picture of lazy tranquility. “This is nearly double what my parents left me”
Vistos drawled as he spoke next, his shoulders shrugging. “Consider the rest, compensation”
Gema’s eyes narrowed. “Compensation for what?”
“For the wonderful performances you had to put on while in my bed, faking your wanton pleasure” He sneered at her, and Gema felt the full force of his insult hit home as he did. “It took me a while to figure it out, but it was really rather clever of you and my unfortunate brother, to make you appear so terribly vulnerable that I would simply scoop you up, and you could make off with thousands, perhaps millions of my money before heading back to Doug when the six months were over” Gema had risen slowly to her feet as he spoke, staring at the check in her hands. “You crossed the line involving my family” Vistos spoke sharply, his eyes dark with anger. “But nonetheless, you were a very convincing, reluctant mistress, and for that you are being rewarded. So, congratulations, Gema, you’ve gotten all you desired, as well as that brother of mine”
Resisting the urge to scream and punch Vistos square in his smug mouth, Gema settled for slowly tearing up the check and placing it back on the desk, taking a deep breath. There was no way she would tell him of the child, she would never subject another life to his cruel treatments. The things he accused her of were atrocious, as if he didn’t know her at all.
“I don’t want your money” Gema’s voice was a well controlled whisper. “I only ever wanted what belonged to me by right” She straightened up and looked Vistos in the eye. “Good bye, Vistos” Something flashed in his eyes, but Gema didn’t stick around to find out, but simply walked out of his penthouse and out of his life.
YOU ARE READING
An Unexpected Romance
General Fiction“Mio dio, I love the way you say my name” His voice was a husky whisper, and Gema took a step back, caught off guard. He stared at her intently, shoving his hands into his pockets. “What do you want” he snapped at her, and Gema hesitated. “Well I…...
