Chapter 42

That day signaled a turning point in their rocky relationship. 

The peace remained and along with it a mutual, ever-deepening respect blossomed between them. 

Romano consulted Eliza on some of his business decisions, seeming to value her opinions and take her advice.

Taking her cue from her husband, Eliza started asking for Romano’s opinions on some of her designs and developed a keen admiration for the eye he seemed to have for quality jewelry.

With his encouragement, Eliza started attempting more difficult pieces using new mediums and was pleasantly surprised with the results.

Life was better but by no means perfect—they still slept apart at Eliza’s insistence. 

While Romano accompanied Eliza to all of her doctor's appointments and was even her coach at the natural birthing classes Eliza had started attending.

Eliza hardly ever talked to Romano about the baby and did her utmost to discourage any discussion. 

Nadia was meant to be her coach but her cousin had her hands full with Calvin and promised to be there for the birth but could not put in the time commitment at the classes.

That, of course, meant that Romano was nothing more than a temporary replacement, which Eliza knew grated on Romano’s ego.

 Luisa  still loomed large between them, and even though Eliza was careful never to mention the woman's name, she was never far from her mind.

Romano had gone to Italy a couple of times during the past three months and after compulsively checking the Internet for any news about Romano while he was away, Eliza had finally found pictures of the two of them together, attending some glamorous function in Milan.

Eliza couldn't read the Italian article, but it had been an extensive four-page spread on the event and Romano Alessandro Visconti and Luisa Delvecchio, as the captions had identified her, had been two of the most beautiful people there.

So of course there were at least a dozen pictures of them smiling, dancing, and drinking. Romano had looked so relaxed and happy with the statuesque, gorgeous brunette on his arm that Eliza had been unable to stop staring at the pictures.

That was how Romano should have looked on their wedding day, carefree and in love. 

Instead his face had looked like it would crack wide open if he so much as tilted his lips at the corners.

It had physically hurt Eliza to see those pictures, but the one that had torn her apart had been of Romano bending down to drop a kiss onto Luisa’s cheek. Never had Eliza seen two more evenly matched people.

Eliza sighed and shook herself slightly, as she found herself thinking of that picture again.

 It had been more than a month since she had seen it, and she hadn't mentioned it to Romano, knowing that it would achieve little, especially with their separation looming less than three months away.

Eliza ran a gentle hand over the football-size mound of her stomach, trying to ease the restlessly moving baby beneath her touch. 

Eliza had no right to be jealous, despite the fact that they had a much better relationship now than they'd had during the first year and a half of marriage.

 Eliza couldn't lose sight of the fact that they were married in name only and would separate as soon as the baby was born.

Eliza had started decorating the nursery, and Romano, who had thrown a fit one day when he had returned early  from the office early to find her perched on a ladder attempting to paint the walls, had done the painting.

Eliza spent a great deal of time in the nursery, adding little touches here and there, often going out and shopping for furniture and toys. 

There really was very little left to do but she still kept adding little stuffed toys and tiny infant- size clothes. The color scheme was cream and pastel lilac.

Eliza had started out with blue but had come home from visiting Nadia one day to find that Romano had changed the color to something more "gender neutral" as he'd put it. 

Eliza hadn't protested too much because she had found the new color scheme soothing and prettier than the blue on white she originally planned.

Eliza also found Romano’s touches elsewhere in the nursery. 

He bought toys. Stuffed dolls, teddy bears, toy ponies, anything a little omega's heart could possibly desire. 

Eliza chose not to acknowledge them in any way, and every time he came across one, usually sneakily hidden among the toys that she had bought, she would relegate it to the corner farthest from the beautiful crib that they had selected together.

There was quite a collection forming in the area which Eliza had dubbed the Toy Siberia. 

She did not know why Romano kept buying those things, and Eliza refused to ask. 

Romano never mentioned the heap of toys that she had stowed in the corner but just doggedly kept adding more and more to the nursery.

Their two hours three times a week had branched out into a few hours every day. 

There was no longer a time limit on the amount of time they spent together because Eliza had stopped enforcing it once it became clear that Romano was going to sneak a little time every day.

It just became easier to pretend not to notice it. Eliza’s health continued to fluctuate, her pregnancy being a lot more difficult than she, Romano, or the doctor had ever anticipated.

She had been diagnosed with preeclampsia the month before, and Romano had turned into a paranoid old woman about what Eliza could and could not do. 

He had even stopped going into the o!ice, working from home and hovering twenty-four seven.

Eliza didn't know how she would get through the final two months of her pregnancy without resorting to some form of violence because the man was driving her completely crazy.

Now Eliza sat with her feet up, staring gloomily out at the rain pouring down outside.

 It was an unusually wet and miserable spring afternoon, and Eliza had long ago abandoned her book in favor of her roiling thoughts.

So absorbed was she in those thoughts that she didn't hear Romano come in, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a large hand on her shoulder.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Romano murmured, bending down to drop a quick kiss onto the soft, exposed skin where her shoulder and neck met.

"I called your name at least twice but you were totally wrapped up in your own little world."

"I was just thinking..." Eliza shrugged, her voice trailing off.

"About?"

"Everything. Nothing." Another listless shrug.

"How are you feeling?" Romano asked, coming down on his haunches in front of his omega.

"I'm fine. A little tired..." Romano lifted a hand and gently traced one of Eliza’s delicate cheekbones with his thumb before nimbly jumping to his feet and sitting down on the sofa next to her.

Neither of them said anything for a while; they just listened to the rain and watched it cascading down the window like a waterfall.

"I want you to meet my father," Romano suddenly announced unexpectedly, and Eliza froze before turning her head slowly to meet Romano’s brooding eyes.

"What?"