Anything for You Ch. 10

"You can't place it?" Alice swivelled around. "What? Oh come on, you're kidding me, right?" To my astonishment she sent me a pitying look. "Sam! You're seriously telling me you don't know who that is?"

"You do?" Drew looked as startled as I felt. "Then who...?"

I stared at the screen, at the glossy dark head bobbing up and down, at the well-manicured hand clutching Marco's hip. And then... "Oh my God," I gasped, turning back to Alice who was nodding grimly. "Oh holy, fuc—"

"Language!"

"—porca puttana!" I corrected mid-expletive, already diving for the remote, the groans of pleasure emitting from the speakers rapidly reaching a crescendo. "Maretti, stronzo!" I stabbed at a button to no avail. "How could you? How could you? I swear I'm going to..." Why wasn't it working? Ah, it was that button... "I swear I'm going to kill you!" I yelled in triumph when the mute symbol disappeared from the top right hand corner of the screen, neatly coinciding with the moment Marco let out an almighty roar.

For several seconds there was silence. Well, silence bar the sound of Marco's laboured breathing and the noisy thumping in my ears—and, at length, a rather loud swallow.

"Magnifico," Drew murmured admiringly, shrugging when I twisted to glower at him. "Well, it was, you have to admit. Credit where credit's due."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I addressed the screen as a shamefaced Marco began struggling upright, adjusting his clothing as he rose. "And you!" I added furiously as his blushing escort finally sidled into camera range, raking her fingers through her dishevelled hair in an attempt to neaten it. "You! What are you even doing there, Roxanne Delaney? You're supposed to be in London doing a fashion degree!"

"I can explain, bella," Marco said, still rather breathless. "No," he insisted as Roxy opened her mouth to speak, putting his arm around her, "let me tell them, tesoro mio."

"Tesoro mio?" I repeated in disbelief. "Marco, she's half your age! You're old enough to be—"

"—her Papa, yes I know," he interrupted, holding up a hand. "But believe me, Samantha. I have never had a single fatherly thought about her. Not one!"

"Well, that's a relief," Alice said drily.

"It's true!" he exclaimed. "I know she's only nineteen years old but already, she has such a wise head on her shoulders."

"We saw," Drew interjected, sending Roxy an evil grin. "Such a wise head. Really like the new look by the way, Rox. What happened to the pink hair?"

"Oh..." Rolling her eyes at him, Roxy gave her shiny brown bob a defiant shake. "Pink's so yesterday, don't you think?" she said airily, before turning to Marco with, "For heaven's sake, will you shut up? You're making things worse! Just let me explain, will you?"

To my astonishment, he immediately deferred. "Fine," he murmured. "Of course, cara mia."

Moving closer to the camera, she steepled her fingers together as though in prayer. "Sam, please. I know what this must look like, but honestly, it's not like that. You see, the thing is, we're..." She hesitated then looked back at Marco, her expression suddenly softer than I'd ever seen it. "We're in love."

"What?" I stared, unable to make sense of the words, not in relation to Roxy and Marco anyway. "But you can't be! You haven't—you don't... You..." I shook my head, bewildered. "How?"

"The usual way," Marco put in. I couldn't help but notice the way he was watching Roxy, the tenderness and pride in his gaze. "We spent some time together, and then a little more—and then..." he raised his palms in a helpless gesture. "We found we never wanted to be apart."

"But how have you managed to spend time with each other?" I couldn't put this together. "Apart from when you made my wedding dress—oh, and last summer of course—but that was only for a few weeks when Roxy was doing her internship..." I felt my eyes widen in understanding. "You're telling me this started last summer?"

Marco and Roxy exchanged loaded glances. "Yes," Roxy conceded as Marco nodded.

"While I was still in Treviso?"

"We-ell..." Roxy looked a little sheepish. "Things started getting really serious when you went back home for those two weeks."

"Started getting really serious?" I repeated. "You mean things were serious before I left? But you were only there a few days before I left! You mean to tell me that you and Marco got together the day you arrived in Treviso?"

"No," Marco said, after exchanging another meaningful glance with Roxy. "We—er... We had lots of telephone and Skype calls before she arrived."

I gazed at them both, the words going round and around in my head. In love. Serious. Before Roxy arrived in Italy. And suddenly the penny dropped...

"That's why you did it?" I accused, glaring at Roxy. "Why you told me I needed to go home? You planned it all along, didn't you? Telling me Drew was missing me, that I should ask for time off, that I needed a break, that I'd been working too hard! It was all so you and Marco could—"

"It was all true!" she fired back. "Drew was missing you, you were working too hard—Marco had been piling too much responsibility on you—" when Marco grunted in protest she turned to him, hand on hip "—well, you were! She looked ill when I arrived. She did need a break!"

"All so you and Marco could spend some time together without me knowing?" I demanded. "So you could keep things secret?"

"No, it wasn't like that. I knew damn well what would happen if you knew what was going on. I just wanted to see how things would work out without having to creep around all the time, pretending we weren't seeing each other, or worse still, you finding out and going ballistic at Marco. And anyway, you're a fine one to talk about keeping secrets, Sam!" Roxy finished, her eyes gleaming. "You're keeping a pretty big one of your own right now, aren't you?"

"I..." Nonplussed, I threw Drew a nervous glance. "I don't know what you—"

"Oh, for goodness sake, Sam," Alice cut in bracingly. "Did you honestly think we wouldn't notice the giant cardigans—"

"—the baggy jumpers?" Roxy continued. "All the extra layers you've been wearing—"

"—the empire line dresses?" Marco finished seamlessly, sharing a smile with Roxy. "Because what would we know about the sort of clothes a woman who's five months' pregnant wears, eh? Why would any of us know something about that?"

"Oh," I whispered weakly.

"Finally. Thank God!" Drew muttered, drawing me backwards into the warm haven of his arms, one hand passing over my tummy and smoothing down the camouflaging layers of fabric to proudly reveal my now sizeable bump.

With all eyes on me, my own began to prickle. "You noticed, huh?"

"We notice everything about pregnant women," Alice said, fishing a handkerchief out of her skirt pocket and passing it to Drew. "Though to be honest, Marco was the first to notice."

"When he did the final fitting for your wedding dress," Roxy added helpfully. "We had to make a few last minute adjustments, didn't we Marco?"

"Indeed we did," he agreed. "Your bust measurement increased by six centimetres in a month."

I felt my husband shake with silent laughter behind me.

"So it wasn't exactly hard to put two and two together," Alice continued. "Or to work out you weren't going anywhere near the dentist this morning. How did the ultrasound scan go anyway?"

"I..." Letting out a guilty sob, I turned to give Drew an accusing stare.

"What—you think I told her?" He shook his head with a smile, reaching down to gently blot the tears now streaming down my face. "Don't blame me, you daft bag of hormones."

"Then how—?"

Alice shrugged. "I used to be a midwife, Sam. I have my sources. So come on, spill the beans!"

Drew cupped my cheek in his hand. "Can I tell them?" he asked, his smile broadening when I nodded. "We're having a boy," he said happily, his announcement eliciting a chorus of congratulations. "And everything's fine. Most importantly, Sam's doing fine. All the tests they've done show everything's exactly how it should be. And Baby Barnett's due to make his grand entrance on the sixth of October."

"That's wonderful news!" Marco exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you!"

"You're going to make amazing parents," Roxy said warmly. "The absolute best. Yay—I'm so happy it's not a secret anymore! Do you have any idea how hard it's been pretending we didn't know? All the times we've chatted on Skype and I've had to—"

"Oh no you don't!" I interrupted, turning back to the screen to fix her with a teary glare. "You don't get to complain to me about keeping secrets and having to pretend when you've been doing exactly the same thing to us!"

"I'm not pregnant!"

"I should bloody well hope not." I shot Marco a warning look for good measure. "You're supposed to be in the middle of a degree—you're supposed to be in London right now! What the hell are you doing in Treviso?"

"See? You're going to make a fabulous Mum," Roxy said with infuriating calm. "You sound just like mine. Stop yelling, Sam—it's not good for the baby. Think of your blood pressure. And stop worrying about me, will you? We've got it all worked out. Marco's father pulled some strings at the university in Venice and got me a place there." She grinned at Marco. "Turns out it's pretty useful knowing someone with the name Salvani in these parts."

"So you'll be starting again in Venice? When? In October?"

Once again, Roxy looked sheepish. "Not exactly. I've transferred across from my old course, you see."

Alice frowned. "You mean you've started already?"

"She came back with me after the wedding," Marco confessed.

"In March? It's nearly June now!"

"I know, I know." He reached for Roxy's hand, brushing his lips against her fingers as they exchanged an intimate look. "But it just felt right, you understand? We didn't want to waste another moment. Life is too short to waste. And we are in love." He smiled, his gaze now only for Roxy. "So very much in love."

I watched them, a battle raging between my head and my heart. My head screamed that Roxy wouldn't turn twenty years of age until September and Marco was nearly thirty-eight. It reminded me he had wooed and pursued a string of women in the six and a half years I'd known him and that he'd almost certainly break her heart. My heart, on the other hand, couldn't help but be swayed by the way he was looking at Roxy, the almost fierce display of tenderness in his eyes, the adulation in his expression, passion seeming to exude from every pore. I'd never seen him look at anyone that way.

Marco Maretti had got it bad. In fact, I realised with a jolt, if anyone's heart was at risk of being broken, it was probably his.

"That's amore," Drew murmured in my ear, apparently reading my thoughts.

"Okay, fine." I sighed. "But do you think the next time you're planning on putting on a show via teleconference you could give me a bit of warning first?"

"Ah, yes." Marco appeared appropriately embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, cara. We—I—completely lost track of the time. I thought it was only eleven o'clock. I had no idea it was later." He gave Roxy an adoring glance. "When I'm with this beautiful girl time seems to lose all meaning."

"Oh God." Roxy rolled her eyes comically. "I don't know whether to snog you or send for a bucket."

"Well, I know what I'd prefer," Marco told her, his tone honeyed. "And I think you should snog me..."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Alice exclaimed as Roxy tilted her face to Marco's. "That's quite enough! What is it you young folks say—find a room?"

"Get a room," Drew corrected grinning. "And I have to admit, I rather like the sound of that myself," he murmured in my ear. "Fancy coming home with me? I don't think I want to get any work done for quite a while."

I stared up at him, my traitorous body already responding to the idea. Pregnancy hormones had a lot to answer for... "Alice," I began a few seconds later, not taking my eyes off Drew's. "Would you believe I've just remembered I've got an appointment at the hairdresser's this afternoon?"

"Not for a minute. You had a cut and blow dry last week. But seeing how you're the boss, you should already know you can do whatever you damn well please," she continued, softening the words by brushing a kiss on my cheek before bustling off to pick up the tray of now cold tea from the cabinet. "I think I can manage. Besides, you know I'm a firm believer that pregnant ladies need plenty of rest."

"Oh, I'll make sure she spends the rest of the afternoon in bed," Drew called after her mischievously, laughing when she gave a loud snort on her way out of the door.

"Drew!"

"Sounds like an excellent idea," Marco said, making me jump. I'd almost forgotten he and Roxy were still there. "Samantha, we'll catch up on Thursday, shall we?" he suggested as I turned around to regard the monitor. "And I promise, cross my heart, it'll just be an ordinary meeting with the design team."

"Sounds good," I agreed. "See you then. Take care of Roxy!"

He grinned, putting an arm around Roxy as she waved in farewell. "Oh trust me," he said, shooting her a look that was pure lust. "I fully intend to. Bye Drew—ciao bella."

The monitor went black.

"Well," Drew said, sounding amused. "That was... Unexpected."

"Educational, even."

He laughed, turning me around in his arms. "Yes, I hope you were taking notes. Although I'm happy for you to try some slower practice runs. At say, maybe half that speed? Cos I have to say, at one point, I thought her lips were going to catch fire."

I giggled as he kissed me, closing my eyes as he buried his fingers in my hair. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Roxy? Oh, I'd have thought so. So long as she puts some lip salve on straightaway—ow!" Drew grinned as I cuffed him in the shoulder. "Sam, she's as tough as old boots. Nineteen going on ninety. She can take Maretti any day of the week." He pursed his lips. "Well, we've already seen that she can. Magnifico."

I narrowed my gaze. "Don't you think for a moment I'm going to start calling anything you've got to offer 'magnifico', Drew Barnett."

"I should fucking hope not," he said, steering me towards the door. "That's not even close to being the right word to describe the pleasure I'm about to offer you."

"Oh really?"

"Oh, you know it, baby."

Laughing, I took his hand as we reached the top of the stairs. "So how would you describe it then?"

He took three steps down then turned to face me. "Gigantico."

"That's not even a proper word!" I protested as he continued down the stairs with renewed enthusiasm, towing me after him. "Gigantesco is Italian for gigantic."

"Oh really?" Drew gave a low growl of appreciation. "Well, that could work. Say it again?"

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Gigantesco."

"Again?"

"Gigantesco."

Drew pulled me close at the bottom of the stairs. "Just one more time, so I get used to hearing what you're going to say when—ow! Stop hitting me, woman!"

I kissed him instead. "Voglio sentirti fino in fondo dentro di me," I told him solemnly, smiling when he groaned in comprehension.

"Oh, I think that can be arranged."

And giggling like teenagers, we raced back though the shop and hurried out to the car...

***

Thanks for reading. As always, your votes and comments are very much appreciated.

Lily

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