The Surprise Conti Child by Tara Pammi Page B

of her own well-being.
    Now, he would look after her. Just as he had done Rosa.
    She would see how good of a father he could be and would want for nothing.
    They could have a marriage without drama, without the messiness of emotions. By the time the attraction between them fizzled out, they would have more children. And then they would be bound as parents who cared about their children.
    Hadn’t that been his only condition when Antonio had found Rosa for him? That his new bride be someone who would love their children and devote herself to being a calm, supportive wife?
    Alexis needed his strength, just as Rosa had done, only in a different way. She needed to be protected from her stubborn self first.
    Only with that promise did the clamoring hunger in his blood subside.
    â€œAlexis,” he said in a composed tone, “explain to me how offering help is calling you incompetent. How trying to reassure your parents that I mean well for Isabella is,” he held himself back, just, from sounding possessive about her, knowing that it would only alienate her, “...wrong.”
    â€œThat’s exactly the problem.” Chin tilted up, her gaze flashed fire at him. Her thin T-shirt hugged the round globes of her breasts. His hands itched to touch her, trace those lush curves, to mold them. Blood hummed with a thrum as he imagined baring her to his gaze.
    â€œYou’ve been here barely two weeks and they worship you. They love everything you do.” A choked whimper escaped her, her mouth trembling. “It’s almost as if everything I’ve tried to do for more than a decade counts for nothing.” She threw the pad in her hand against the wall, her lithe form shaking. “It’s almost as if I... I count for nothing.”
    The sheen of moisture in her eyes punched through him, tying his insides into a knot.
    Tenderness like he’d never known assailed him, releasing the fist-like tension that had been driving him this past week. He’d always been protective of those around him. It was in his nature, in his blood. And yet, nothing unmanned him as much as Alexis’s tears did.
    The very defiance of her meeting his gaze even as those brown eyes welled up...it was a breath-stealing sight. He wished he could capture it on paper, or in a song, like Luca would have. He wished he had words to describe how magnificently beautiful she was.
    Instead, he did the one thing he’d always exceled at.
    His large hands on her slender shoulders, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. Even stiff and unbending as she was, she still came. That she took the comfort he offered told him how upset she was.
    â€œAlexis.” He had never tried so hard to sound understanding, never felt such raw impatience tearing at him to fix her grief. “Tell me what bothers you and I’ll fix it.”
    Forehead resting against his chest, she let out a slow exhale. “For once, I can’t hate your arrogance, Leandro. I’d give anything if you could fix it.”
    Smiling, he stroked her temples. “You don’t know what I can do until you try me, cara . You haven’t been sleeping again, have you?”
    â€œI miss him.” Teary and choked, she sounded unlike the Alexis he knew. “I miss him so much.”
    Such unparalleled love reverberated in her tone that everything within him stilled. “Who are you taking about?”
    â€œYou’ll think me the most horrible person ever.”
    â€œWhen have you cared about my opinion, Alexis?” he shot back, hating the thread of disquiet that coursed through him.
    Just as he expected, her spine straightened. That fighting spirit returned to her eyes. “I don’t. I just... It’s my brother, Adrian.”
    Relief was a palpable thing within him. A lover would have caused problems for him. That was the only reason for it. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”
    â€œHe died when I was