She was eating for two and she didn’t want an unhealthy child because she was too stupid or lazy to put good food in her mouth. She let out a sigh of relief when she found a grocery delivery service; she ordered everything she liked and set up a delivery time for tomorrow after work.

But when she arrived home the next day, her refrigerator was already stocked with wholesome food, and dozens of prepared dishes like those Patty had packed in San Francisco, with the same kind of directions for cooking or heating or not heating. She could have killed Dominic for breaking and entering. But she smiled a little too. He was thinking of the baby. Damn him. Then everything went crazy in her head like it always did when Dominic was super nice and super kind and caring.

But she got herself under control a few seconds later when she thought of his wife.

Faithless prick.

His agenda, his entire life, was always purely selfish; damn the rules and norms and common courtesies. If he wanted something he took it. Not this time though, not with her. A faithless prick wasn’t good father material. No more than Dominic had been good Prince Charming material.

But his numerous shortcomings didn’t mean she wasn’t going to eat all that really great food stacked in her fridge. She had to think of the baby, not just her own bitter, woman-scorned resentments.

A few blocks away, Dominic had talked himself into a more reasonable frame of mind, shortly after he’d returned home and put his plan B into operation. Smother her with kindness, show her he could be whatever she wanted him to be, take care of her and the baby. No way he was giving up after he’d been waiting three months to have her in his life again. Although now, with a baby in the picture, they were past any kind of casual arrangement. They’d have to marry—quickly. Which meant he was going to have to grovel big-time.

But, hey, whatever it took.

He half smiled. A woman who didn’t want him, though. That was new. Different.

He’d have to rethink his game plan.

Very late that night when Kate was almost asleep—sedated as she was from a wonderful dinner and two servings of rice pudding—Dominic texted her. Did you enjoy the food? My chef was asking. And if you have any menu requests, just let me know. I had rice pudding for dinner. How about you? Sleep well, baby.

She didn’t answer, but she didn’t text Don’t either.

Dominic noticed, but waited another hour just in case.

Then he smiled and poured out the rest of the whiskey he’d been drinking.

He had to stop overimbibing. He was going to be a father. And he refused to be a fucking asshole like his father. So temperance and sobriety were on the docket. No more bottle or two every night, no more hotheaded anger, no more temper tantrums.

And since he had only two weeks to change Katherine’s mind about taking him back, doing it completely sober would set a better tone. He wanted her to be happy with him again, maybe even a little in love again, because she really should be a willing participant when he married her the second his divorce was final.

Because their wedding was inked in on his calendar whether she was willing or not.

THIRTY

Dominic’s campaign to win back Kate’s affections was of Napoleonic proportions, but then he had both the resources and intensity of a revolutionary general. He had two weeks to secure his objective and failure wasn’t even a consideration.

Max had men monitoring the doctor’s activities in Rome, the attorney in Paris was on call, and a judge was ready to sign the divorce decree. Gora was in Rome as well, awaiting the birth of his son. All the outside actors were under scrutiny and on pause, biding events.

Dominic had talked to Melanie last night and asked a favor of her. That morning, he’d just finished speaking to a wedding planner Liv recommended, stipulating at the onset that their discussion was to be kept strictly private. He’d received a haughty glance, as if he’d accosted the elderly woman, and barely concealing her affront, she’d said, “Everything we do, Mr. Knight, is done in complete confidentiality. Our clients demand it.”

“Perfect,” Dominic had said, not sure he dared smile when she had her nose in the air like that. But he chanced it anyway and added as insurance, “I may not have mentioned it, but I’m more than willing to pay a premium for your advice when our time frame is so limited.” That brought a smile to her face and confirmed the age-old principle: money talks.

His wedding plans en train—all final decisions Katherine’s of course—he waited for his next appointment. The matter with the jeweler was quickly settled. The man was to assemble an assortment of his best diamond rings and have them ready to show to Katherine. “I apologize for the short notice,” Dominic said. “I hope it’s not a problem.”

For the price Dominic was paying, problems were nonexistent. And the jeweler expressed that sentiment with affable warmth. After the man was shown out, Dominic had his car brought around and set off on an unprecedented errand.

Meanwhile Kate was lying in bed eating chocolate cake because dessert after a completely nutritional breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and fruit was certainly allowed, even under her new health regime. And she’d skipped coffee and had only chocolate milk this morning. So whether it was her sizable intake of chocolate that gave rise to her euphoria or the fact that Dominic’s staff had cleaned her entire flat yesterday, she was sleeping on freshly ironed sheets, had showered in her bathroom that now contained stacks of washed towels instead of piles of dirty ones, or simply the fact that being taken care of was… well, really sweet and she wasn’t as angry with Dominic as she had been.