Beneath Her Bastard Boss

Chapter 136

Chapter 136

The surgical waiting room was quiet again now, save for the occasional shuffle of a nurse’s sneakers passing by the open door. Keira was curled in a chair cradling a cup of coffee. Luca figured it would be stone cold by now. Blair sat cross–legged by the window, thumbing through a magazine on her lap, but the way she wasn’t spending any time on each page, he doubted she was even reading it.

Roman sat beside her, his hand rubbing up and down her back as he checked his watch again.

Luca’s phone buzzed in his lap.

Nick De Santis’s name showed on the screen. Luca stared at it for a beat, thumb hesitating above the screen..

Of all the moments for his father to call!

For one brief second, he thought about letting it ring out, telling himself he would call back later. After Sutton woke up. After he saw the baby. After he knew they would both be okay.

But it wasn’t just Sutton lying unconscious in recovery. He still hadn’t been allowed to see her.

It was also Nick’s grandson in that NICU.

And if–God willing… Sutton didn’t hate him when this was all over, maybe Nick’s daughter–in–law too.

He swiped to answer.

“Ciao, Papa.”

“Luca,” Nick’s voice sounded clearer than expected.

Luca closed his eyes briefly and leaned forward in the chair.

He was bracing himself to tell his father what had happened, but before he could speak, his father went on.

“We are here. At JFK. Just landed.”

Luca’s eyes snapped open. “Wait. What?”

Antonio’s voice piped in faintly in the background. “We’re still waiting on Bella’s suitcase… they lost it.”

“We?” Luca said, chest already tightening.

Nick grunted. “Yes, we… your brother, Bella, and me. We came to meet Sutton. Your fiancée. We wanted to surprise you.”

Luca didn’t speak for a full second. Sutton wasn’t his fiancée yet.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, inhaled through gritted teeth.

“Papa, why the hell would you travel all the way here without telling me? You had a heart attack a few months ago.”

Nick gave an exhausted sigh, the kind built exclusively by disappointment carried over multiple generations. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not supposed to be flying yet.”

you want from me, Luca? We are De Santis men. We don’t sit still. The doctor cleared me for travel. I figured it was time to meet this model

Luca winced.

1/4

21 Jul 06

Chapter 136

could practically see his father’s look: the dismissiveness, the tight line of his mouth that always

chosen.’

worth,” Nick added, “I don’t trust a woman who runs. But she

Luca’s stomach rolled.

whispered, voice

“What?”

“She’s in the hospital.”

Silence.

building. A cyclist hit her. She fell, and they rushed her

dropped, quieter but more

in the NICU. He came early. Not even thirty weeks. They both made it through

voice now clear in the background. “The baby

to the hospital,” Luca murmured, though he was anything but calm. “We’re at Lenox Hill. I’ll meet you

way,” Antonio said. “The GPS on my phone says forty–four minutes. We have Bella’s case now,

down at the phone like it

looked over. “Your father

“They’re on their

“You okay?”

answered honestly.

lobby and spotted the three of them moving through the

suit jacket was a size too big now. The doctors had told him to lose weight after his surgery. But he still held the air of a noble Italian with a long family tree that made him proud. Seeing Antonio

the tiled floor and

brow slightly arched. “You don’t

really surprised?” Luca

pulling Luca forward and

the hardest part of loving a child,” his father said quietly. Nick didn’t say anything about Luca loving Sutton—maybe because, during their last conversation, Luca had claimed he was marrying her for the child, not for love. How wrong he had been. He just hoped

found out.

it in him to

2/4

Chapter 136

until Nick suddenly

his sternum once, and a look of pain crossed his aging face. Then he pressed his hand into his chest

“Dad?” Antonio asked.

cane he had been holding was forgotten as it clattered to the floor.

there in two strides; Antonio moved as

Come on, come on!” Luca felt his own heart stop knowing what

Antonio caught him under the arms before he could hit the hard floor, lowering him carefully into the lobby near the

a gurney–now!” Luca shouted to whoever would listen. His voice

“What happened?” Someone asked.

“We need help now.” He was not going to spend