The Surprise Conti Child by Tara Pammi Page A

Valentina’s gaze on her, she lifted hers. “If I apologize for using you, it’ll be false.”
    Valentina nodded, a thoughtful look in her eyes. “I did not see Leandro again last night. Luca says he believes you.”
    Comforted by Luca’s easy acceptance, Alex clicked her cell on.
    Valentina looked at Izzie’s pic and let out a soft sigh. “I’m sorry for what my grandfather said,” she offered, and Alex waved her away. The apology she wanted wasn’t Valentina’s. Not even Antonio’s, as insulting as he’d been.
    â€œAlex, you cannot... imagine how shocking this is for us—”
    â€œI do—”
    â€œ No! That Leandro...was with you, and so soon after... That’s not like him.”
    â€œWhat, he doesn’t have sex like normal people?” Alex retorted, her skin prickling.
    Valentina made a face. “Gross...but si. You know what the media calls Leandro and Luca?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThe Conti Saint and the Conti Devil.”
    â€œCallously dismissing the woman you just slept with makes for a saint in your country?”
    â€œYou do not understand—”
    â€œI don’t need to,” Alex cut her off bluntly and the curiosity within.
    She didn’t want to know about Leandro’s love life. Or why he had behaved so ruthlessly with her. Or that he was, apparently, the embodiment of the perfect man to the rest of the freaking world.
    â€œYour timing...sucks,” Valentina sounded sympathetic. “Seven years ago and last night.”
    How are you here, tonight of all nights...?
    â€œWait, what was last night?”
    â€œLeandro’s engagement party.”
    Engagement ...it landed like an invisible punch, jostling her insides. He could have married in the past seven years, could’ve had a string of lovers like her...
    Thoughts tripped one over the other.
    Was it that woman standing next to him? The woman on whose shoulder his hand had rested? Did he treat her better than he had Alex? Was it because Alex lacked...
    No!
    Nothing ever came out of berating herself that she wasn’t good enough or memorable enough to hold the attention of a man like Leandro Conti.
    Why would a stranger she’d built a fantasy around see anything special in her when her own parents didn’t?
    A besotted, naive novelty, that’s what she’d been.
    â€œIt doesn’t matter if he’s engaged or has a string of playthings and mistresses spread out over the Italian coast, Valentina,” her words came out harsh. “I don’t care about Leandro.”
    â€œThat heartens me,” a crisply smooth voice interfered from behind her, “so much. It’s almost saintly how uninterested you’re in the life of the man you share a daughter with.”
    Sarcasm dripped from Leandro’s every word. Sweet pastry instantly turned to ash in Alex’s mouth. “Maybe it’s time someone told you that you’re not the great prize every woman falls over for.”
    â€œYou assume this is what I think of myself? Why?”
    â€œYour sheer disbelief that I’m not throwing myself at you, again,” she snapped back.
    With a wide-eyed grin, Valentina neatly slipped away.
    Clasping her quivering fingers in her lap, Alex looked up. The sun directly behind him delineated the broad shoulders and the tapering waist while the breeze drenched her in his crisp, masculine scent.
    The dark jeans and black shirt molded his lean frame. The impact of such sheer masculinity was nerve-racking after another sleepless night.
    Seven years hadn’t dimmed his appeal even a bit. If anything...
    Don’t go there, Alex!
    â€œCongratulations on your engagement.” Steady and serene, she almost believed it herself.
    He took her offered hand after a moment and clasped it.
    Rough and abrasive and large, his palm stroked a dart of heat through her.
    Alex jerked it back, like a frightened rabbit,