Mafia Queen

Chapter Forty

Luca (3 years ago)

"What sounds good, babe?" I asked, scanning the menu in front of me as the waves crashed to the shore only a few feet away from us.

It was our last night in paradise before we had to head back to reality. We had been at the resort on the island I owned for two weeks and had taken full advantage of the alone time. I'd had Charlotte on every surface of our villa, on the beach as the waves lapped against our bodies. Hell, I'd even gotten her off in the hot tub one night while we chatted with two other couples. They didn't have the faintest idea and watching Charlotte try desperately to maintain her composure when I knew how nervous and squirmy she was, was something I would remember the rest of my life. After the catastrophe that was Italy, we had forgone the great big black tie wedding and instead jumped straight to the honeymoon and I had to say, so far, marriage was fucking fantastic.

Even though we thoroughly enjoyed our time on the island, we were both missing Layla terribly. It was strange to think that we would have another little one in a short six months. Charlotte was absolutely glowing, but still not showing. I knew she wasn't looking forward to that part, but I couldn't fucking wait to see her baby bump. I would talk to that little bump every night and make sure it knew how much it was already loved. Right now, all I was doing was talking to her completely flat stomach. It would feel more real when the physical evidence was there.

Charlotte looked up at me with a slight blush on her cheeks. "Is it wrong I want the lobster and the sea bass?"

"The baby must be hungry." I chuckled, arching my eyebrows. Charlotte never had much of an appetite, so it was nice to see her wanting to eat. She needed to keep her energy up.

She rolled her eyes. "The baby is only ten weeks old and she can't appreciate lobster yet."

"She?" I widened my eyes. I was no pregnancy expert, but wasn't it too soon to know the gender?

"I've just got a feeling." Charlotte laughed, taking a sip of her water.

In support of her, I wasn't drinking either. I had to admit, the clarity was nice, and it was helping my anger tenfold. That and the psychiatrist I was seeing.

"Well, your feeling better be wrong. I already have my hands full with you and Layla. I hope it's a boy."

"Let's just hope it's healthy, whatever it is."

"Are you guys ready to order?" The server said, appearing at the side of the table.

"Yes. She'll have the swordfish and I'll have the sea bass and the lobster."

"Right away, sir." He smiled and hurried away.

Charlotte gave me a funny look.

"I knew you'd be too self-conscious to order both, so I did it for you. It's our last night here, you should indulge." I reached across the table and took her hand, running my thumb along the back of it.

"How did I get so lucky with you?" She smiled.

I shrugged. "Just giving you what you deserve, baby."

Charlotte and I spent the next little while talking about getting things ready for the baby and throwing around potential names.

Dinner came, and we ate until we were completely stuffed. The food here was incredible. As I signed our ticket, I watched Charlotte gaze out into the ocean, something clearly on her mind, but I gave her a few minutes before intervening.