Accept My Baby: A Billionaire BWWM Single Parent Pregnancy Romance (15 page)

“
...No,
you told me some weird bull shit about not letting my family dictate
my life,” she said, cutting him short.

“
Yes,
because the only reason our families are so interested in getting us
together is because...” he started before she put her hand up.

“
It
is because they know how I feel about you. How I have always felt
about you.”

“
But
we have never even been serious. It’s always been hot and cold
with you.”

“
What
does that even mean?” she asked and he shrugged.

“
We
are together for two weeks in the summer and the next week I see you
are hooking up with some prince in Dubai...and I do the same and get
a model on the runway,” he said and she held his shoulders.

“
But,
I’m here now. We can make this work.”

He shook
his head.

“
Actually,we
can’t.”

“
I
know we can, baby.”

“
Isabella,
we can’t!”

“
Uncle
Rafael,” he heard Ariadne’s voice. He turned around and
looked at his niece leaning against the door frame.

“
Hey,
you,” he said smiling. “Did mommy find you?”

Ariadne shook her
head.

“
Why
are you yelling at aunt Isabella?” she asked and Rafael smiled
when he got to where she was.

“
We
were just having a little disagreement, that’s all. Why don’t
you run out to your
nonno
and tell him to
come out here and say hello to his son?”

“
Okay,”
she said in a soft voice.

He waited until
Ariadne was out of the room before he turned to look at Isabella who
was clearly upset.

“
Isabella,
there is someone else,” he said as he looked at her.

“
Someone
else? You mean the loose models you brought to your parties?”

“
No,
this is someone I met at the last party I had.”

“
You
mean the one you had earlier this month? That day I was here?”
she asked and he nodded.

“
The
very same one.”

“
What
is she this time? A model, stripper?” Isabella asked, contempt
in her voice.

“
A
travel journalist. From the States.”

Isabella ran her
fingers through her hair before she began taking small steps back.

“
Stronzo!”
she cried before
she ran out of the living room like the truly spoiled brat she was.

“
Thank
God I no longer have to deal with
that,
”
he said in a soft voice to no one in particular. Just then, he heard
his phone vibrate in his hand and a smile played on his lips when he
saw Amanda’s text.

I’m here.

*****

Amanda
took a long deep breath as she stepped out of the cab. Meeting
Rafael’s parents was a big deal. She had not planned on another
meet the parents, especially this soon. She felt even more strange
about the fact that she was meeting her younger boyfriend’s
parents for the first time. It kind of made her feel like Stella in
How Stella Got Her
Groove Back
in
every sense. She was the older woman and he was the rich younger guy.
Her story was a little too similar to Stella’s and she was
scared of how Rafael’s parents would react when she met them.

“
Hi,
I’m Amanda Pearson, Rafael’s guest,” she said when
a man opened the door. Judging by how huge the Imperioli mansion was,
she assumed that he must have been the butler.

“
Of
course,” he said as he stepped aside to let her walk in.

“
Good
God, Amanda,” she heard Rafael’s voice making her look
up. “You look amazing.”

He
looked at her strapless floor length nude colored dress that was the
perfect contrast to her brown skin. She had decided to go with her
natural curls instead of straightening it out

“
You
think so? Because I am not sure it is meet the parents appropriate,”
she said as he approached her. He smiled and shook his head.

“
Like
I said, you look amazing,” he said again before he slipped an
arm around her waist and pulled her close to kiss her. “Amanda,
this is Giorgio.”

“
Very
nice to meet you, Miss Pearson,” Giorgio said.

“
Please,
Amanda is just fine,” she said and Giorgio looked at Rafael.

“
Yeah,
that won’t fly with him, “ Rafael said as he began
leading her down the hallway.

Just as they
approached the living room, they ran into the Benassi family leaving.

“
Is
this her?” Isabella asked in a rage. “Is this the bitch
you are leaving me for?”

“
Essere
Calmo
, Isabella,”
her mother said as she draped an arm around her daughter’s
shoulders.

“
I
am not leaving you. I told you, we were never together to begin
with,” Rafael said in a calm voice.

Isabella looked at
him and then at Amanda before she walked out with her parents.

“
Not
the best first impression,”
Amanda
thought as Rafael’s family came into view.

“
Rafael,
what is going on?” Susanna asked as she looked at her son and
then at Amanda. Rafael waited until he walked out of the house before
he turned to look at his family. Alberto, Lola and Ariadne had just
walked in making the moment even more awkward than it already was.
Amanda could feel her heart beating harder and faster and the fact
that Rafael had his arm possessively around her waist was not
helping.

“
Aren’t
you going to introduce us to your friend,
mio
figlio
?”
Paolo asked as he looked at Rafael.

“
Guys,
this is Amanda Pearson,” Rafael started. “My girlfriend.”

He turned to look at
Amanda.

“
Amanda,
my father Paolo, my mother Susanna. And this is my brother Alberto
and his wife Lola.” He looked at Ariadne who was holding onto
Lola’s hand. “And this little princess is my niece
Ariadne.”

“
It
is a pleasure to meet you all,” Amanda said smiling.

There was a long
uncomfortable silence before anyone spoke.

“
Girlfriend?”
his mother asked and he nodded.

“
Wow,
when did this happen?” Lola asked and Rafael looked into
Amanda’s eyes.

“
It’s
all fairly new,” he said in a soft voice.

“
Maybe
I should take you into the living room and have some champagne or
something,” Lola said sensing the tension in the room. “We
should celebrate our boy finally settling down.”

“
Uh...no
champagne for me. Juice or some water would be nice,” Amanda
said. “I can’t really drink right now.”

“
I
should tell them, right? This is as good a time as any,” Rafael
said and his mother shrugged.

“
Tell
us what?” she asked.

“
Besides,
it’s not like we can keep it a secret forever,” he said.

“
I
like secrets,” Ariadne said and Rafael smiled at her.

“
What
is it that you cannot keep a secret forever?” Alberto asked.

Rafael looked at his
family and then at Amanda.

“
We
are going to have a baby,” he said in a soft voice.

“
Mio
dio,”
he
heard his mother say in a low voice.

“
Yeah,
I think I should get you that juice,” Lola said and Amanda
nodded before she led her daughter and Amanda out of the kill zone
leaving Rafael alone with his family.

“
Un
bambino
, Rafael?
When did this happen?” his mother asked.

“
Yeah,
just how long have you been with this woman?” Paolo asked and
he shrugged.

“
A
few days...maybe a couple of weeks,” he said.

“
And
you managed to get her knocked up in those few days?” Alberto
asked.

Rafael shook his
head.

“
Actually,
she was pregnant when I met her.”

“
So,
it is not your baby?” Susanna pressed and Rafael nodded. “Don’t
you see what she's trying to do here? She is trying to get to your
money.”

“
She
did not even know who I was,” Rafael pointed out.

“
It
might have been all an act,” Alberto pointed out.

“
You
cannot assume the opposite,” Paolo said and Rafael sighed
loudly.

“
So,
let me get this straight. You would rather have someone who lives her
life going to parties with rap stars and tycoons be my wife rather
than a decent woman...” he started.

“
A
decent woman who just happens to be pregnant,” Susanna said.
“By another man no less.”

“
And
what does she do anyway?” Paolo asked.

“
She
is a travel journalist,” Rafael said quickly. “We met
because she is here on assignment.”

“
Convenient,”
Susanna said.

“
But
wait, Mama,” Alberto said. “This is the first girl Rafael
has brought home. Shouldn’t that count for something?”

Susanna shook her
head and walked to the bar. She poured herself a drink and looked at
Rafael.

“
The
father of the child,” she started. “Who is he?”

“
Her
ex. She had been with someone for a long time before things went
south....she took the job out here to get away from everything.”

“
Did
she tell you about the baby or did you find out?” Paolo asked.

“
She
told me,” Rafael said.

“
Fanculo!”
Susanna cursed
loudly.

“
Per
fevore
, Mama. My
daughter is in the next room,” Alberto said in a loud whisper.

“
Si
Susanna,”
Paolo said as he walked towards the bar. He sat down on one of the
bar stools and looked at Rafael. “
Figlio
,
do you love this girl?”

“
Paolo!”
Susanna said, sounding obviously upset.

“
Susanna,
he brought her here. He obviously wants to have us involved in this,”
Paolo pointed out.

“
I
think so too, Mama.” This was Alberto.

“
But
he brought Isabella here,” Susanna pointed out.

“
We
have always been friendly with the Benassi family, Mama. Isabella has
always been around even when I did not want her to be,” Rafael
said in a soft voice.

“
So
son, do you love her?” Paolo asked again and Rafael shrugged.

“
I
don’t know but I do know that I am falling for her, hard, Papa.
And I have never felt like this for anyone. That much I know.”
He looked at his mother. “Plus, even though I might not know
what I feel for her yet, I know that I want her in my life so much
that I am willing to have that child take my name.”

“
But
the baby will not be an Imperioli,” Susanna said.

“
I
don’t care and I am no longer an Imperioli heir anyway. He or
she will get my oil wells,” Rafael pointed out.

“
That
should not be a factor, Rafael,” Paolo said before he turned to
his wife. “This girl has grounded our son. We have not seen
anything in the tabloids lately.”

“
Yeah,
I was beginning to think the hard partying finally got to you,”
Alberto said in a low voice.

Susanna
looked at Rafael and realized that her husband and son was right. She
had not had a reason to worry about Rafael in a long time and as much
as she did not like the idea of her son with a pregnant foreigner,
the truth was that Amanda had indeed changed her son.

“
She
makes you happy?” she asked and Rafael nodded.