Chapter 46

Romano was standing with his back to the cubicle door, his head bowed beneath the strong spray and his hands braced against the tiled wall, long arms outstretched in front of him and muscles tensed. 

He didn't seem to know that Eliza was there until her delicate hands touched the bunched muscles of his shoulders.

The younger could feel his instinctive jerk of surprise beneath his touch and very gently moved her hands until they crept down under his arms and around to his broad chest.

Eliza could feel his bone-deep tremors and with gentle insistence tugged Romano back toward herself until she was able to rest her cheek against the warm, wet skin of her husband's back. 

Eliza’s hands were splayed across his chest, and she could feel the strong beat of Alpha's heart beneath her touch.

"I'm sorry," Eliza whispered, dropping warm kisses across the skin of Alpha's back. "I'm so sorry, alpha." Romano shuddered violently before turning with a groan and gathering Eliza into his arms, hunching his body around hers and burying his face in omega's still-dry hair.

They stood that way for a long time before Romano lifted his ravaged face and looked down at her. Romano’s eyes were wet with tears, and he reached up to cup her face before lowering his lips to hers and kissing her hungrily.

He did nothing more than just kiss her, Romano kissed her like he would never get the chance to do so again.

 He kissed like a man who knew that he would have to go without sustenance for an unknown amount of time. Finally, chest heaving, Romano lifted his head and stared intently down into his omega's dazed face.

"You're so beautiful amore," Romano whispered gently. "The most beautiful thing in my life. I don't want to leave you here. Not now."

"I'll be fine," Eliza reassured. This time she was the one to reach up and stroke his worried face. 

"The baby will be fine. I have Nadia and Ryan. You have to take care of your family now, Rome."

"You're my family too." Romano repeated his words of the previous afternoon. "I have to take care of you too."

"No." Eliza reached around him to shut off the water and met Romano’s eyes squarely. 

"I can take care of myself. And to be honest, having you here when you should be with your family will just add to my stress." Romano said nothing for a few moments before shutting his eyes and nodding abruptly.

"Okay." Romano inhaled deeply. 

"Okay, I'll arrange your flight immediately." Eliza said before opening the door and reaching for a couple of the heated towels hanging from the railing beside the shower cubicle, handing one over to Romano before wrapping one around herself , happy to be covering up her huge waddling frame again.

*******

An hour later Eliza and Romano were standing on the doorstep. The chauffeur  stood waiting patiently beneath an umbrella next to the shiny black Aston Martin sedan.

"Promise me that you'll eat well," Romano urged, and Eliza nodded somberly, knowing that Romano would need to have his head clear for what was to come. "And you'll contact Nadia and Ryan if you feel unwell." Another nod. "And you will remember to take your vitamins?"

Romano’s voice was starting to get hoarse with emotion, and Eliza gave him a wavering smile before nodding again.

"I promise."

"You say this but you forget. I know you." Romano shook his head in frustration, his emotions all over the place.

"It is important for your health, cara, and you no remember to take. It drive me crazy. I worry..." It was a sign of heavy anxiety and stress that her husband's normally impeccable, lightly accented English had failed him so completely, and Eliza stepped toward him and went on tiptoe to drop a kiss onto one of his lean cheeks.

"Why don't you call Yolanda and Nadia once you land?" Eliza suggested gently. "And if you're worried about me forgetting, you can have them remind me."

"Yes." He nodded, appeased. "I will. Please, Cara, call me. Anytime if you need anything, if you want to talk...call me. I'll call you every day."

"That's good," Eliza said quietly, not sure if Romano will have the time to talk with her every day but knowing that he needed to make the promise. "Now you'd better go before you miss your flight."

Romano nodded and dragged Eliza into his arms for a passionate, desperate kiss before letting her go and striding down the steps toward the car. 

He paused when he reached the car and turned around for one last, lingering look at Eliza before he climbed in and was gone.

Eliza turned blindly toward the house and once she was inside she felt completely lost. 

Not sure where to turn or who to turn to, she found himself walking toward Romano’s study. She had been in the room very few times before, and those times had always been in Romano’s company.

Now Eliza felt like she was intruding into her husband's domain, but it was the one place she felt closest to Romano. Everything bore his stamp. It was the only room Romano had insisted on decorating himself.

Romano had largely left the rest of the house up to Eliza, and she now knew it had been because Romano hadn't much cared what their home together would look like since he'd never had any intention of it being permanent.

As Eliza looked at the masculine room with its dark, heavy furniture and minimalist, almost Asian decor, he grasped how completely different it was from the rest of the house and Eliza’s heart broke at this additional sign of how doomed their relationship had been from the start.

She sank down onto the plush, black leather sofa, curled up into a ball, and cried for the life she could have had if she'd just been the mate Romano had wanted.

 Once the bout of self-pity had passed, Eliza sat up and wiped at her eyes before gently running her hands over his distended abdomen.

"You and I will make our own lives, darling," Eliza promised to her unborn pup. "And we'll be so happy. Just you wait and see sweetheart."