once.” He gave her a slight smile. “You’re stuck with me, kid.”
“That’s okay.” She looked at him, ducked her head, then blushed. “I called you Daddy before.”
“I know. I liked it.”
She sighed, then smiled. “Me, too.”
She flung herself against him and he held her close. As he rubbed her back, he glared at his grandfather.
“You and I are going to have words later, old man.”
Gabriel shrugged. “It was for a good cause.”
“You nearly gave me a heart attack. I know you needed to let Kelly know how much she mattered to me, and I’m glad she got the message, but you shouldn’t have carried things on for so long. When I thought Kelly was out there by herself…” He shook his head, not wanting to think about it.
Gabriel chuckled. “Sam, you’re such a horse’s ass.”
Sam stiffened, Kelly gasped and sat up, but Gabriel didn’t stop talking.
“You think I did this for Kelly, when the truth is, I did it for you. You’re the one who needed to figure out how much she mattered.”
Sam glared at him. “Why you meddling, old-” He stopped and leaned back in the chair. Well, hell. Gabriel had taught him a lesson and a half. The last twenty-seven hours had been a living nightmare he would never forget. If that’s what it had taken to make him realize how much he loved his daughter, then maybe it had been worth it.
“I don’t approve of your methodology,” Sam muttered as he touched Kelly’s cheek. She smiled at him.
Gabriel settled into a chair. “That’s fine with me. I’ve always been a cowboy at heart, doing my own thing.” He nodded at Kelly. “She told me a real interesting story about you and Francesca. So you’ve got another one on the way, huh?”
Gabriel sounded more proud than surprised, which was fine, because Sam was shocked enough for both of them.
“You knew?” he asked Kelly.
She nodded. “I was coming downstairs to apologize to Francesca for what I said and to you for taking your credit card.”
Gabriel chuckled. “You’ve got to admit, the kid is damned resourceful.”
Sam ignored him. “And you heard about the baby?”
“Uh-huh.” She wiped her cheeks. “That’s why I ran away. Francesca was always the one making things right with you and me. I’d been hoping the two of you would get together or something. But when I heard about the baby, I knew she wouldn’t want me anymore. Not when she was going to have one of her own.” New tears spilled down her cheeks. “Then when you told her to get out, I figured you weren’t going to get married and that I wasn’t going to be allowed to stay.”
“Oh, honey.”
Gabriel making a tisking sound. “You’re going to have some groveling to do, boy.”
Before Sam could respond, there was a loud commotion outside.
Gabriel glanced at his watch. “Right on time.”
“Who is that?” Kelly asked.
“The Marcelli family. I called them when you went missing.” The old man chuckled. “They’ve been worried and wanted to know what to do. I suggested they show up here this morning.” He winked at Sam. “I figured you’d be at your breaking point about now, and Kelly and I would take pity on you.”
Kelly jumped off Sam’s lap and hurried toward the door. “They were really worried about me?” she asked, sounding delighted. “Wow. That’s so cool.”
When she’d stepped out of the room, Gabriel looked at Sam. “It seems they all know about Francesca’s bun in the oven. Lorenzo’s not taking it well. He was expecting an engagement announcement, followed by a quickie wedding.”
Sam rose. “They knew? Did everyone know but me?”
Gabriel shrugged. “Looks that way.”
Sam headed into the hallway. Sure enough, the Grands, Grandpa Lorenzo, and Colleen and Marcus stood around talking with various staff members. He supposed he should be pleased that Katie and Brenna hadn’t tagged along.
His daughter was being hugged, squeezed, and cheek-pinched by the Grands. The pleasure on her pretty face eased some of the tightness in his chest. It had been a hell of a morning, and it didn’t seem to be getting any less stressful.
“Thanks for stopping by,” he said above the din. “As you can see, Kelly is fine.”
Conversation ceased. Five adults looked at him. Five pairs of eyes turned reproachful. Sam suddenly felt as if he were eight and had just hit a baseball through the church window.
He tried to smile and somehow couldn’t make his mouth move. Grandpa Lorenzo stepped toward him.
“You dishonor my granddaughter. We have a word for men like you.”
Sam didn’t want to know what it was. Nor did he know how to defend himself against the much older man. While he knew enough moves to take out Lorenzo twenty times over, it seemed in bad form to use them against a soon-to-be great-grandfather.
Lorenzo started muttering in Italian. The Grands didn’t look any more friendly. He didn’t want to know what Francesca’s parents were thinking.
“You’re going to marry her,” the old man said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
“No, he’s not.”
Everyone turned and saw Francesca walking down the hallway. She walked over to Lorenzo and got between him and Sam.
“Leave him alone.”
Her grandfather roared. “You’re pregnant. He’s the father. He should do the right thing.”
Sam turned and saw Gabriel leaning against a wall. “Did you call her, too?”
“Sure. She needed to be here.”
“Any more surprises?”
“That’s up to you.”
Great.
Francesca glared right back at Lorenzo. “Sam and I will do what is right for us. Not what you want, not what my parents want, not what anyone else wants.”
“But the baby-”
“Will be fine. I’ve already married one man I didn’t love. I’m not doing it again.”
She didn’t love him? The words burned deep. “You don’t love me?” he asked without thinking.
She whirled on him. “Do you really want to have this conversation right here?”
He glanced around at her family, at Gabriel and Kelly and most of his staff hovering in the background.
“I thought I’d fired all of them,” he muttered, then motioned to the conference room. “How about in there?”
“Fine.”
She swept past him.
He followed and closed the door, all the while trying not to think about everyone out there pressing close and listening.
Francesca paced the length of the room. When she reached the far end, she turned back to him but didn’t speak.
Sam studied her-the long brown hair that swayed with each movement. The shape of her greenish-hazel eyes. The set of her mouth. He remembered the first time they’d met. She’d been seriously pregnant. Maybe it had been a sign.
She was having his baby. He recalled being furious with her just a couple of days ago. He’d said a lot of things he now regretted. After the last couple of days, he understood why she’d kept the truth from him. He’d been reeling from dealing with Kelly. She’d wanted to give him time. She hadn’t acted anything like his ex-wife. He-
“You have a lot to answer for,” she said, her voice thick with tension. “You were a real bastard, Sam. And you don’t fight fair.”
