The Italian's Passionate Proposal. Sarah Morgan
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and there’s fourteen flights of stairs between you and the ground floor. How are you going to manage that with a baby when the lift’s out of order? I’ve been talking to Social Services about rehousing you and they’re doing their best.’
Carlo listened to her and wondered if the couple had any idea how lucky they were to have Zan to fight their corner.
‘She can take the tablets, but she ain’t coming to hospital for that scan thing,’ Mike said, and Zan looked him in the eye.
‘The baby isn’t big enough, Mike. We really need to—’
‘Get out!’
Kelly flinched and shrank back into her chair.
Carlo’s eyes narrowed slightly and he drew himself up to his full height, preparing himself for trouble.
‘We’re leaving,’ Zan said calmly, smiling at Mike as though he hadn’t just yelled at her in the rudest way possible. ‘We’ll talk about it again next time.’
‘She ain’t going to the hospital and that’s final.’
Zan stood up. ‘That’s fine, Mike.’ She turned to look at Kelly, her gaze direct. ‘Any problems, call me.’
With that she looked meaningfully at Carlo and walked out of the flat with him following close behind.
CHAPTER TWO
‘DOES he hit her?’ Carlo followed her down the dark staircase and back onto the streets.
‘I don’t think so.’ Zan turned sharp left and then right down a wide road that stretched along the river. ‘I think he’s just very controlling.’
‘And why does he hate hospitals so much?’
‘He’s never told me, and I don’t push it or I won’t get to see Kelly at all.’ She glanced sideways and tried not to stare.
She’d never met anyone as strikingly good-looking as Carlo before. Tall, dark-haired and loaded with sex appeal, he exuded a strength and confidence that was magnetic. If she’d had to pick one word to describe him, it would have been male. Carlo was very, very male.
And he had good shoulders.
She remembered the weight of his body when he’d lain on top of her and smiled slightly. For once she could walk home without worrying.
Who in their right mind would pick a fight with him?
Carlo was frowning. ‘Do you have to visit them?’
‘Well, if I don’t then she gets no antenatal care whatsoever,’ Zan told him, crossing over the road so that they could walk next to the river. Fairy lights had been strung between the trees and their reflection danced over the surface of the water. ‘Social Services first told me that she was pregnant, but she hasn’t seen a doctor once in her whole pregnancy. To start with Mike wouldn’t let me in, but I’ve worked on him and now I get to see her. I’m hoping that if she sees enough of me I’ll be able to get her to trust me.’
‘She needs a biophysical assessment,’ Carlo said, and Zan nodded.
He was referring to an established technique using ultrasound to look at the baby and to measure the heart-rate.
‘I know. The truth is she needs a lot of things she isn’t getting. It’s very worrying, but we can only do the best we can. It’s hard enough getting access at all.’
She felt his eyes slide over her. ‘Presumably that’s why you dress like that? Because they’re suspicious of authority?’
He was smart; she’d give him that.
‘That’s true, but I also hate walking around this area at night,’ she confessed. ‘I might be a black belt in judo but I’m not stupid. If I have to do it then I dress down and I wear trainers. If anyone suspected I was medical they’d be attacking me for drugs.’
‘It isn’t a suitable place for a woman to be working.’ His gaze darkened ominously and she chuckled.
‘Are you always this macho?’
‘Of course.’ Carlo’s arrogant dark head lifted and a wry smile touched his handsome face. ‘I’m Italian, remember? Despite our efforts to be politically correct, deep down we still expect our women to stay at home and warm the bed for us.’
The mention of bed brought a faint colour to her cheeks. Whoever warmed his bed would be a very lucky woman, but she wasn’t telling him that. ‘Someone must have forgotten to tell you that this is the twenty-first century.’
He didn’t smile, his gaze disturbingly direct. ‘It’s not a safe area for you to work in.’
He was breathtakingly good-looking and Zan was finding it hard to peel her eyes away from him.
‘I work here because it’s challenging and I’m really doing some good.’ She looked at him curiously. ‘This isn’t what you’re used to, is it? You looked pretty shocked when you saw the flat.’
He pulled a face and rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. ‘Was it that obvious?’
‘Only to me. Don’t worry about it. I was pretty shocked myself when I first came here after twenty years of middle-class upbringing. It’s a real eye-opener. Lots of teenage pregnancies, lots of unmarried mothers with several children by different men, and every flat you visit has a German shepherd dog the size of a wolf.’ She stepped gingerly over a patch of ice. ‘I suppose I’d have one, too, if I lived in this area. The dogs used to be the worst part of the job for me, but generally I’ve got used to them. Do you have dogs at home?’
He hesitated and then nodded. ‘Yes, dogs don’t bother me. So, why did you learn judo?’
Zan smiled and huddled more deeply into her coat to keep out the cold. ‘I have four older brothers. My father was going for a five-a-side rugby team but then they had me.’ She shrugged. ‘Anyway, they all decided that I needed to know how to take care of myself just in case they weren’t around to do it for me.’
‘Sensible.’
‘No, massively over-protective,’ she said dryly. ‘They’ve scared off every boyfriend I’ve ever had.’
Carlo looked at her curiously. ‘But you’re close?’
‘I adore them,’ she said simply. ‘Growing up with four big brothers was just the best thing in the world. We had such fun.’
‘But they’ve taught you to be wary of men?’
She hesitated for a moment and then nodded. ‘Yes. Yes, they have. I may love my brothers but I’d hate to be anything other than their baby sister. They’re rogues, and when they were growing up they treated women appallingly. I’ve learned lots about men by watching them. And because they know exactly how men think and act, they scare off anyone male who shows an interest in me.’
‘Ouch.’ Carlo gave a rueful smile and glanced around him at the dark shadows. ‘So can I expect to be pounced on any moment?’
Zan looked at his shoulders and laughed. ‘I don’t think you’ve got much to worry about. So, now you know about me, how about you? All I know is that you’re part-Italian. What I want to know is, which part?’
He shot her a suggestive smile that was so sexy she almost stopped breathing.
‘If you’re good, I’ll show you later.’
His teasing drawl made her blush, but she couldn’t help smiling. There was something so good-humoured and honest about him.
‘Well, judging from your slight accent and the fact that you were muttering something incomprehensible when you were lying on top of me, I assume that Italian is your first language. Which must mean that you live over there usually. So what are you doing in London?’
‘Having