He was still frowning at her.
“Whatever you were thinking about must have been extremely distressing for you,” Federico told her. “Was it something to do with your time in prison?”
Ava sat back in her chair and crossed her legs. She was as close to crumbling as she had ever been, but some tiny rod of pride kept her spine upright.
“You seem to be rather fascinated with my prison life,” she speculated. “Is that because you harbor some sort of fantasy about an ex-criminal? Sex with someone from the slammer… It has a sort of ring to it, don’t you think?”
Federico felt his desire for her rise in his body with the force of an earthquake. It rumbled through him, it shook him, and above everything else… it challenged him. He would have her. It didn&rsquo
The moment she stepped into Federico’s private study, Ava felt extremely nervous and excited at the same time. Her senses were heightened by his light touch as he took his jacket from her shoulders and laid it over a chair. Federico came back to stand in front of her, his dark gaze meshing with hers as he took both of her hands in his.“Are you feeling better?” She shook her head, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips.“Yes… I’m a little bit better… thank you.” Federico settled his hands on her waist and brought Ava up against his body.“I think I should pour you a cup of coffee… or tea…” he said slowly, looking down at her mouth. Ava felt her li
Ava slipped inside the flat, closing the door behind her just as Teresa appeared in the narrow hallway.“Ter, is he alright?” she asked. Her friend nodded and touched her arm to reassure her.“It was hard to convince him, but the moment I sent you the text, Chris went back to sleep. I really hope I didn’t interrupt anything important…” She shifted her gaze from Teresa. Ava would tell Teresa everything at some point, but not now.“No, sweetie,” she replied heading towards Christian’s room. “Nothing important…” Ava added and entered her son’s room and stayed there, watching over her baby boy, trying to protect him from whatever the future was bringing. The
Damn her! For a second, Federico felt the urge to strangle her for what she did… for keeping secret the existence of a child… He had a son… There was no doubt the boy was his since the resemblance was uncanny. Five years had passed and he had been robbed of every minute of his son’s life. How many milestones had he missed? It tore him apart on the inside to even think about everything he didn’t witness about his child. When had Christian taken his first step? When had he said his first word? For God’s sake, he didn’t even know what day he had been born! Five birthdays had passed and he hadn’t been there to celebrate any of them.“S-sorry, M-mummy,” Christian said with a wobble in his voice as he looked between them with eyes wide w
Ava paced the floor of the study where Francesco had instructed her to wait for Federico. Christian was in bed, exhausted, barely putting up a struggle when the elderly but totally competent nanny Costanza had told him she would be babysitting him while his mother was downstairs. Her nerves felt as if they had been stretched beyond the limit. She was jumpy and agitated, feeling like she was some kind of a trial… all over again. But this time she was in part, guilty. “Keep breathing, Ava… Keep breathing,” she told herself slowly All of a sudden, the imposing walls of the luxury villa were closing in around her and she started feeling like she was in prison all over again. “Stay focused… This is about Christian…” Whatever happene
“Did you know you were pregnant when you ended our relationship?” Federico asked, still glaring at her furiously.‘No… I only found out after I was in prison. I wasn’t feeling well, so I had a health check done and a pregnancy test was standard procedure. The results came back positive. I was extremely shocked. I didn’t even know you could fall pregnant while on the pill,” she said slowly, trying not to give in to pain. “I was lost, alone… I was in prison… How can I even contemplate bringing a child into this world, in these conditions? What kind of mother would I be?” Federico heard the anguish behind the words and felt his anger loosen around the edges. Ava was almost eighteen at that point. Sure, she had acted like a streetwise slut, but finding herself pregnant and in prison must’ve hit her pretty hard.“I had no clue what t
Ava opened her eyes and it took her a few seconds to understand where she was. She looked around her then pushed away the soft blanket and got up from the armchair she fell asleep in a minute ago or an hour ago… The silence was killing her. After years in a noisy prison, Ava still found the quietness of night faintly disturbing. “My God… It’s true… All true…” she whispered. Quietly, she left her room and went to check on Christian, who was sleeping next door. She gently pushed open the door of his room but came to a startled halt seeing Federico near her son’s bed, holding one of his tiny hands. “Is… is everything alright?” she asked in a low whisper. Extremely carefully, Federico tucked Christian’s hand back under the covers. “Yes… I was just… I wanted to see him before going to bed.”
He had to remember that, even if some secret part of him would’ve liked things to be different. He wouldn’t have been the first royal to marry a commoner, but Ava’s past made an alliance of the sort pretty impossible. Was that why he was feeling this burning ache in his throat? Ava looked so beautiful sitting there like that, her long slim fingers dancing over the keys as her confidence increased. Federico recognized Chopin’s Prelude Op. 28, No. 4but she suddenly stumbled over a note and froze like one of the marble statues in the gallery three rooms away.“Ava?” He stepped towards her. Ava got to her feet, the piano stool almost toppling backward in her haste.“I’m sorry…” she whispere
Ava brought his mouth back down to hers.“A bed would be extremely nice,” she murmured throatily.“That’s usually where this happens first,” Federico said, nuzzling against her neck. “I don’t think we’ve been together in a bed before.”“Then it’s about time we did something about that,” she whispered, sliding her hands down his chest as she popped each button on his shirt. Federico shrugged himself out of it, and, kicking it aside with his foot, scooped her up in his arms and carried her to a room several doors down. He shouldered the door open in a classical-hero sort of way that did serious damage to Ava’s heart rate. The mattress was soft, but he was rock-hard when he came down on top of her.“You’ve got too many clothes on, Federico,” she said, tugging at his be