Marriage by Blackmail - Book 1

Chapter Seventeen

Damian

Just as I had hoped, Lia and my family got on amazingly well. She'd even gotten over her first encounter with Luca and hung out with him like they were old friends, if it wasn't for the fact that Naia flirted mercilessly with him whenever she could, I would probably have been jealous of how close they had gotten. It was hilarious to watch Luca try to resist Naia especially since we all knew she only pursued him because she knew he wasn't interested and not out of actual interest on her part.

We were five days into our visit and I was happy Lia was enjoying herself. She had gone with her parents to visit her father's childhood home where her parents decided to stay a while in a cozy little inn, which I didn't mind since it meant I could spend more time with my wife without having to entertain them as well. I had given Lia my credit card earlier today to go shopping with Naia and a group of my female cousins so I was now away from her for the first time since we arrived. I decided to chill in the family room and maybe catch a game on TV while I waited for her to return. I started to doze a bit on the couch but was soon awakened by my mother's voice. I could tell from her tone that I was not in her good books right now.

"Damian Nicoli Giordano!" She scolded.

"Si mamma," I sighed in resignation.

"When did you plan on telling me I was going to be a nonna?" She demanded, that woke me up immediately as I stared at my mother in shock.

"Mhm, didn't think I'd find out did you?" She asked, taking my disbelief to be a sign of guilt.

"Mamma, Lia isn't pregnant," I said sounding unsure.

She looked at me with a skeptical expression, but something on my face obviously confirmed my lack of knowledge as she started to back away immediately.

"Ohhh, mio Dio you didn't know," she said with wide eyes as she continued inching towards the door way.

"Oh no no no mamma, you have to tell me why you think Lia is pregnant," I demanded clutching her arm to prevent her escape, "did she tell you that?" I asked eagerly, suddenly excited at the thought of Lia having my baby.

My mother grudgingly proceeded to explain how she had noticed Lia's odd eating habits, how she had overheard her getting sick in the bathroom when she came to call her down to breakfast and how Lia complained about feeling dizzy while they had been having lunch together yesterday. I could agree with the weird food combinations she'd been eating lately and additionally I had noticed her being excessively tired but I had assumed it was due to all the time consuming preparations we had to make for the trip. I sat down on the couch, resting my forearms on my thighs.

I'm going to be a daddy, I thought to my self testing out the concept.

I quickly jumped to my feet again, grabbed my mother into a bear hug and spun her around happily.

"I'm going to be a daddy," I said out loud, my chest swelling from the happiness I felt.

I stopped suddenly as it occurred to me that it was likely Lia didn't even realize as yet or she would have told me. I was going to have to carry on normally until she told me herself.

"Mamma, I don't think Lia knows yet, this must remain between us until she realizes and is ready to make the announcement, alright?" I asked.

"Si si! Of course,"she agreed, patting my shoulder.

I got the distinct feeling that she was not going to be subtle about this at all, especially considering how long she had been waiting for one of us to have children.

I sighed in exasperation and took out my phone to text my wife, suddenly needing to ensure she was okay. She was pregnant with our child after all.

Lia

I was positively exhausted after the first hour of shopping with the girls.

Gosh where do they get all that energy, I thought as I stopped to rest yet again.

"Come on old bones! You're slowing us down!" Naia called as they ducked into yet another store.

Luckily my phone rang at that moment, I held it up indicating that I had to take the call and they went ahead without me. When I actually looked at the screen I saw that it was Damian calling me, I smiled as I answered the call on the last ring.

"Hi babe," I said, still smiling.

"Hey there beautiful, you sound tired," he said picking up on my tone immediately.

"Yea, I kinda am," I sighed.

"Do you want me to come get you?" He asked, I blushed at his concern.

"No I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? Because I can come and get you if you need me to."

I laughed, slightly furrowing my brows as I wondered why he wanted to come get me so badly. I immediately thought to the worst possible case scenario, Alexander must have made a move. I looked around nervously, suddenly conscious of the fact that I was standing alone out in the open. I moved into the store where the girls were trying on outfit after outfit.

"Damian is everything okay?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, yes of course!" He answered a bit too quickly, immediately rousing my suspicion.

He was hiding something, but not for long because I was going to find out if it was the last thing I did.

"Well if you're sure nothing is going on I'm going to get back to the girls now, they're calling for me," I told him, and as if by telepathic communication they actually began calling me shortly after I said that.

He let out a breath that sounded slightly relieved, "Okay, call me if you want me to come get you."

"Okay I will, see you later babe."

"Take care cara," he said and then hung up.

There was definitely something going on with my husband and there was nothing I loved more than a new adventure. Damian Giordano had another thing coming if he thought he could hide things from me. We were a team and I refused to be kept in the dark about whatever made him so much more concerned about me all of a sudden.