The Baby Bombshell: The Billionaire's Baby Swap / Dating for Two / The Valtieri Baby

That deep male voice wound deep inside her body. Her heart thumped in reaction because she’d wanted to hear it again. In the background she could hear Ric crying.

“Yes.” She was too breathless to say anything else.

“It sounds like you didn’t get any more sleep than I did. Ric has been crying so hard, he’s running a slight temperature.”

“Oh, no—as you can tell, Vito’s every bit as bad.”

“We need to meet, if only to quiet the children for a few hours.”

“I thought Vito would start to accept me, but it hasn’t happened yet.”

“I’m not Ric’s mamma. What would you say if I came by for you in a few minutes and drove us to that park near the hospital? I’ve installed another car seat in the back. We can spread some blankets on the grass while we talk.” Her pulse raced. “But if you don’t want to do that, I’m going to the hospital and have Dr. Ferrante examine Ric in case something else is wrong.”

“I’d rather meet you first to talk before we both lose our minds.” She gave him directions to the villa and they hung up.

Valentina knew her brother would never condone it, but Vito’s continual crying had made her frantic. As for Ric, she’d heard him wailing in the background. With Ravello more than an hour away, it meant Signor Laurito had been desperate for help. Something had to be done. So far nothing was working for either of them.

She put Vito in the crib and left him crying while she took a quick shower and opted to wear a skirt and blouse. After putting on lipstick and brushing her hair, she was ready. Before she left the room, she phoned her brother and left him a message that she was meeting with Signor Laurito today. Rini wouldn’t like it, but at least she was being honest with him.

Once she’d packed the diaper bag, she lifted Vito out of the crib and carried him into the kitchen in his carry-cot. “Bianca? Ric’s birth father is coming for me. We’re going to the park by the hospital in order to discuss our situation. I don’t know when I’ll be home. You can always phone if you need to.”

“Does Rini know where you’ll be in case he phones?”

“Yes. I told him Vito is so unhappy I’ve got to do something.”

“That’s true. The poor bambino.”

“All he’s done is cry. I’ve learned that Ric is just as miserable, so we’re going to try and work something out. The exchange was too abrupt.”

The older woman nodded. “The switch should have been caught before you ever left the hospital. Now that they’ve been home with you, they’re used to you.”

“I know. That’s why we’ve got to come up with a plan.”

“Vito’s mamma is having the same problem?”

“Not Vito’s mamma.”

“What do you mean?”

“His mamma gave him up. His papà is raising him.”

Bianca’s hands clapped to her own cheeks. “The mother doesn’t want him?”

“No. Poor Signor Laurito is frantic. During the call I could hear the baby crying in the background. He said Ric is running a temperature and needs to be checked by the doctor.”

“Then you go on. When Riccardo sees you, he will calm down.”

“Vito is suffering just as terribly.” She went to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of formula. After putting them in the diaper bag, she said goodbye and hurried through the house to the front door.

When she emerged into the courtyard, she saw Signor Laurito waiting for her outside his dark gray Maserati sedan, wearing a black polo and stone-gray pants. This was the first time she’d looked at him in broad daylight and realized she hadn’t been wrong about Ric’s father. He was without question the most attractive man she’d ever seen in her life. He’d haunted her dreams last night. No wonder Ric was so handsome.

He reached for Vito and kissed him, then he put him in the back next to Ric and fastened him in.

“Where did you get another car seat?”

“When I brought Vito home from the hospital, I’d already bought a car seat for this car and one for Paolo and Stanzi’s car—they’re a couple who help me out around the house. This morning I installed it in mine, just in case you were amenable to going to the park with me.”

After stowing the carry-cot in the trunk, he helped Valentina into the front seat. In less than a minute they were off to the park, with two infants crying at the top of their lungs.

Valentina happened to glance at him just as he looked at her. The situation was so crazy they both started laughing like they’d done at the hospital. He shared her sense of humor, something she loved. Between the noise all four of them were making, she couldn’t seem to stop. The much-needed release from tension had affected him, too.

There wasn’t much traffic. Before she knew it, they came to the park. He pulled the car to a stop near a copse of trees that provided shade. Valentina jumped out and plucked Ric from his car seat. “It’s okay, darling.” She pressed her cheek to his and could tell he was too warm. He snuggled against her.

Giovanni spread some blankets on the grass before claiming Vito from the backseat. “Hey, Tiger. What are all the tears for?”

Slowly but surely quiet reigned. They laid the babies on the blanket and sat next to them. Two pairs of eyes, one blue and one black, stared at both of them.

Ric’s father said, “Do you get the feeling they’re sizing us up?”

Valentina wiped the tears from her eyes. “I can hear them saying, ‘Why are you torturing us like this?’”

Their gazes met. “Before this goes any further, may I call you Valentina, or should I continue to call you Signorina Montanari?”

This tall, hard muscled male had a charisma she couldn’t ignore. How was it that his marriage hadn’t worked? His wife didn’t want her own child? She couldn’t comprehend it. Except that she couldn’t comprehend Matteo not caring that she was going to have his baby.

“Please call me Valentina. And you?”

“I prefer Giovanni.” He studied her features. “Does Vito’s father know he’s a father?”

“Yes.” She played with Ric’s fingers before scooping him up to hug him. “I was always a serious student and didn’t date often. Much more important to me was to be like my brilliant engineering brothers and father. Because I’m a woman, I wanted to prove myself in a household of male geniuses.”

His head lifted. “So you are from the famous Montanari engineering family.”

Something in his demeanor let her know the revelation had shocked him in the same way it had shocked Rini. “Yes. I’m close to getting my graduate degree in chemical engineering. Matteo, Vito’s father, was one of my engineering professors.”

“Ah. Tell me about him.”

“I took two classes from Matteo before he asked me to come into his office to discuss the direction I wanted to go with my studies. I believed him to be gender blind and was flattered that my revered professor was showing so much interest in my future career. I accepted a lunch date so we could talk more without interruption.

“That led to other lunch dates. I admired his intellect and looked up to him so much, naive me couldn’t see that all he wanted was to take me to bed, nothing more.”

She saw Giovanni grimace.

“Reflecting back on last year, I’m positive he slept with other students from time to time. No wonder he has remained single. My attraction to him hadn’t been physical. Since I’ve come from a family of engineers, I was determined to get my graduate degree. Matteo was the one who’d seemed to take me seriously and listened to my ideas. He fed my ego by saying all the right things to make me feel important.

“When he told me how much he needed me and started kissing me, I succumbed even though it went against the morals of my upbringing. But after being with him one time, I couldn’t do it again and told him I hadn’t felt right about it. Not without marriage.

“He told me he never planned to marry. With that remark I knew I’d made a huge mistake. We parted company and I never planned to see him again. So no one could have been more shocked than I to learn I was pregnant even though he’d used protection. I notified him immediately. Not because I was hoping for a proposal, but to let him know he was going to be a father.