Wanderlust
BEN POV
Was this the best decision ever?
I wasn’t so sure myself, but all I wanted to do was keep my baby safe.
The villa was a beautiful place, and I understood why Ambrose always took every opportunity he could to visit Italy.
This was his home, where he thrived and also met his first love—Katherine, Nolan’s mother.
Then there was me—a random girl he met at some dingy bar, had a one-night stand with, and now I was carrying the child of a dead man.
I still couldn’t believe that my ex-fiancée offered me a place to stay. Even though I was expecting his father’s baby, he still didn’t care.
Nolan was a rare breed.
He was too kind.
I pulled the cardigan tighter around myself as I suddenly felt cold.
There was a knock on the door, and it opened before I could say a word.
“Are you ready to go? Nolan is already waiting for all of us downstairs.”
I nodded quietly, and Clay gave me a small smile.
“Ben, are you sure that this is a good idea?” he asked in a worried tone, and I cocked a brow at him.
He rolled his eyes at me.
“You’re carrying Nolan’s sibling... why would you agree to move in with him? You practically cheated on him with his own dad.”
Clay was right—this whole situation was far too complicated, and I was certain that Nolan had his own reasons for helping me out.
“I know you’re worried about me, Clay, but I have nowhere to go unless I go to Australia.”
I grasped both of his hands.
“I want to be with you guys... you and Marcelo are my only family now.”
He smiled and wrapped his arms around me.
“You know that you could always stay with me.”
I pulled away and grinned at him.
“No, you and Marcelo are in your honeymoon phase. I don’t want to get in the middle of that, and returning to my grandfather’s mansion isn’t an option.”
He shrugged.
“Just make sure that you and Nolan have boundaries.”
Before I could utter a word, he carried my bags and left the room.
What did he mean by that?
Nolan and I didn’t have a future, and the only thing keeping us together was the baby in my womb.
It was just a blood tie.
I left the room, and once I reached downstairs, I found out that Matteo was going to be driving us to the airport.
Ambrose was my best friend and boss; I’m sure he was going through a tough time.
An hour later, we arrived at the airport, and Nolan ushered me towards his private jet.
Our eyes locked in a frenzy, but he still didn’t say a word.
Is this what Clay meant?
Boundaries.
The word seemed to echo in my head.
He gave me a small smile and left.
Clay had offered to sit with me during the flight, but I politely declined.
He needed to spend some more time with the love of his life because life is too short.
I guess I learned that the hard way.
I sighed softly and leaned against my seat.
I still needed a plan and to figure out what I was going to do after the baby was born.
Once the baby was older, I could move back to Australia.
This was it.
My plan B.
I decided to take a short nap, but by the time I opened my eyes, it was already evening.
I let out a yawn and found Nolan beside me.
I swallowed hard.
I slowly reached out to wake him up, but his eyes opened, watching me with anticipation.
I let out a gasp and withdrew my hand.
“What are you doing here?” I asked curiously.
He looked around the silent plane and turned to look back at me.
“I brought you a blanket to keep you warm, and I guess I must have fallen asleep.”
I nodded quietly, staring at the lavender fleece blanket on my lap.
It was pretty.
“Thank you.”
He gave me a smile and left.
When we eventually landed in New York, Clay and Marcelo went their separate ways and promised to visit me every week.
Nolan was driving us to his apartment.
“What’s going to happen to your father’s house?”
He turned to look at me briefly but kept his eyes on the road.
“It has a lot of memories since I kind of grew up there, but I want you and the baby to have it.”
My eyes widened in shock.
“No, that’s too much, Nolan.”
He shook his head negatively.
“My father left half his wealth to you, Ben. I recently found out through his lawyers, and I want you to honor his wishes.”
I was still in a daze.
What was he thinking, leaving me half of his wealth? We weren’t even married or anything.
I placed my hand over my stomach.
Did he know all this while?
He wasn’t even here to clear my doubts.
The whole drive to his apartment was filled with silence.
I had too much on my mind.
My family was now asking if I was alright after they heard about the kidnapping on the news.
Thirty minutes later, we arrived, and Nolan took the liberty of carrying my bags as he showed me to my new room.
After he was gone, all I wanted was space and a hot shower.
I stripped out of my clothes and went to the bathroom.
I ran my fingers through my wet hair.
I could still feel his presence around me.
It felt like he never left.
I stood in the shower for a long time until I snapped out of my thoughts and turned off the hot water.
My pregnancy was becoming evident.
I wrapped a towel around myself and went to pick out a pair of sweats and a plain t-shirt.
I dried my hair and got ready.
I heard my phone vibrating in my purse, and I fished it out of my bag. I frowned, staring at my mother’s name floating on the screen.
What did she want?
I answered the call and placed the phone against my ear.
“Benedykta, thank God you finally answered my call, honey... your father and I have been so worried about you, especially after we saw the kidnapping and what happened to Ambrose.”
“Why didn’t you say anything about Zane?”
I scoffed in annoyance.
This wasn’t the time to act like Mother Teresa or turn the tables.
“Why do you suddenly care about my well-being? All you ever cared about was the money from Zane’s family.
Do you even know why I ended our engagement?”
She remained silent.
Tears rolled down my cheeks.
“He raped me that night... none of you ever noticed or cared, so don’t act like you’re my mother because it turns out I’m not even related to you.”
I hung up.