“I’M FINALLY GIVING you your wish.”
Elyse Tenner hesitated, those words ringing in her ears just as fresh and sharp today as they’d done a little over a year ago.
Luca leaving hadn’t been what she’d wanted. But it had evidently been what he’d wanted.
The entry door to the upscale clinic—complete with ornate scrollwork carved into the stone around it—was right in front of her. But she couldn’t make herself open it.
Not yet.
It had been easier to find him than she’d thought. And yet it was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life. Well, almost. A part of her whispered she should get back on that plane...he would never be any the wiser. And yet she couldn’t, not now. The weight of the baby on her hip reminded her exactly why she’d come here.
She needed him to know. Needed to see his face. Get this whole thing off her conscience. And then she’d be done.
“Scusi.”
The unfamiliar word reminded her that she was far from home.
“Sorry,” she murmured, stepping aside to let the man pass. Unfortunately, he then held the door for her, forcing her to make a quick decision. Leave? Or stay?
Then she was through the door, the black marble floor as cold and hard as the words she’d said to a group of people at work thirteen months ago.
The man didn’t rush off like she expected him to do, but said something else to her in Italian. She shook her head to indicate she didn’t understand, shifting Annalisa a bit higher on her hip.
“English?” he asked.
“Yes, do you speak it?”
“Yes, can I help you find something?” He glanced at the baby and then back at her. “Are you a patient?”
“No, I’m looking for...”
Her eyes skated to the wall across from her, where pictures of staff members were displayed along with their accreditation. And there he was: Hair as black as night. His eyes that were just as dark. But unlike the chilly floors beneath her feet, his had always been warm, flashing with humor. The eyes in the picture, however, were somber, the laugh lines that had once surrounded them barely noticeable.
Elyse swallowed. Had she done that to him?
Of course she had. But her back had been up against a wall. She’d had a choice to make. It had obviously been the wrong one.
She’d chosen the coward’s way out. Just as she’d done nine months earlier. But she was here to make amends, if she could. Not in their relationship. That was certainly gone. Destroyed by her pride, her stupidity, and her fear of history repeating itself. But she could at least set one thing right. What he did with that information was up to him.
“You’re looking for...?”
The man in front of her reminded her of her reason for coming.
What if he wasn’t here yet? It was still early.
Oh, he was here. He worked notoriously long hours. “I’m actually looking for an...old friend. He used to work at the same hospital that I did in the States.”
“Luca?”
Relief swamped her. “Yes. Do you know where I can find him?”
He glanced at her, a slight frown marring his handsome face. “Refresh my memoria. Which hospital?”
“Atlanta Central Medical Center.”
“Ah, I see.” Something about the way he said it made her wonder exactly what Luca had said about his exit from the hospital. It didn’t matter. Nothing he could have said would be worse than the truth. Although she hadn’t orchestrated the layoffs, perhaps she also hadn’t fought them as hard as she could have. At the time, a tiny part of her had wondered whether, if she and Luca weren’t working together, it might be a way to repair some of the rifts that had been growing between them. Rifts she knew she had caused. But scars from a previous relationship had made her extremely wary of workplace romances.
And Luca hadn’t been able to see how their dating could complicate their jobs, even after they’d erupted in a fierce argument during a meeting, disagreeing over the diagnosis of a patient and causing the whole room to stare at them. Kind of like this man was doing now.
“I’m sorry,” he said, as if realizing his gaffe. “Come. I’ll take you to Luca.”
“Thank you. I’m Elyse Tenner, by the way.” She shifted Anna yet again. She’d gotten her directions wrong, leaving the bus a few stops too early, and the heat was taking its toll on her. So much for going in looking cool and unruffled.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lorenzo Giorgino. I work with Luca here at the clinic. I’m one of the neurosurgeons.” He held out his arms. “Why don’t you let me take her? You look tired.”
Yet another blow to her confidence. But he was right. She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Between jet lag and the long walk, she could use a place to sit down.
She hesitated for a moment, then he said, “I promise not to break her. I have two...nipoti. What’s your word for it? Nieces?”
Smiling, she held Anna out to him. She should have brought her baby sling, but she hadn’t been able to think straight since the plane had touched down. Nerves. Fear.
Hadn’t Luca told her he was in no hurry to have children? He had. More than once, in fact. She swallowed hard, even as this doctor’s hands cradled the baby like an old pro, speaking to her in Italian.
He glanced at Elyse, just a hint of speculation in his eyes. “Ready?”
Not at all, but she wasn’t going to make her confessions to anyone other than Luca himself. So she lied.
“I am. Lead the way.” In handing Anna over, the die had been cast and her decision made. She was going to walk into Luca’s office with her head held high and tell him that Anna was his daughter, and then hope that, in doing so, she’d made the right decision.
* * *
Luca stared at the EEG readings in front of him. Taken from a six-year-old boy, they showed the typical running waves of a Rolandic seizure. Benign. Filippo would more than likely outgrow them. Great news for his parents, who were worried out of their minds. It was always a relief to have a case where there was no threat to life. Just a temporary bump in the road.
Kind of like his time in the US had been. One big bump in the road, followed by a wave of smaller ones that still set him back on his ass at odd moments. But he thought it was getting better. His mind dwelt on her less. Or maybe it was just that he kept himself so busy that he didn’t have time to think about her.
Kind of like he was doing now?
“Porca miseria!”
A second or two after the words left his mouth, there was a knock on the door to his office. Great. He hadn’t mean to swear quite that loudly.
“Yes?”
Lorenzo appeared in the doorway, holding a baby.
Shock stilled his thoughts. “Everything okay?”
“Someone is here to see you.”
It was obviously not the baby, so he raised his brows in question.
“She said she worked with you in Atlanta.”
A section of his heart jolted before settling back into rhythm. He’d worked with a lot of people at Atlanta Central.
“Does this person have