Choices We Make: The Moretti Brothers Series Read online

“Sorry to interrupt Ms. Hart.” he said sarcastically. “But we need to discuss an urgent matter.” Victoria immediately noticed the scowl on Dominic’s face.

  Victoria’s assistant came up behind him. “Ms. Hart I already called security, he just walked in when I told him he could not wait in the lobby for you because you were tied up in meetings all day.” Her assistant was very nervous; the slightest hint of drama frightened her and she surmised that the poor girl probably needed a Valium now.

  “It’s alright Liz, Mr. Dylan was just leaving and I forgot I have an appointment with Mr. Moretti.” She could see the young girl was practically in tears. “Please give Mr. Dylan the copies of the reports I requested for him and call security and tell them everything is….”

  Before she could finish her statement two burly security guards were behind Dominic ready for action. Can this day get any worse? She thought. Dominic turned to face the two guards who were ready to do some damage.

  “Mike, Russ, everything is fine, there was a mix-up in my schedule, your services won’t be needed.” She turned to Mark Dylan who was still sitting, not making an attempt to leave. She walked over to the chair and extended her hand to him. “Thank you again for coming in.” He stood to shake her hand. “Please review the reports and call me if you have any questions.”

  “Okay but I will see you next week,” Mark said holding her hand, longer that she would have liked, as he gave Dominic a death stare. She withdrew her hand and motioned him out the door.

  “Mr. Moretti, please have a seat, I will be with you in a minute.” She walked Mr. Dylan to the door. “We are meeting next week?” Mark Dylan said irritated that they were interrupted.

  “Yes, I have you on my schedule, have a good evening Mr. Dylan.”

  “Mark, please call me Mark,” he said as he continued to glare at Dominic.

  “Good bye Mark!” Dominic said sternly as he stared angrily, clearly irritated with her creepy client. Mark flinched at the harsh tone in Dominic’s voice as he quickly walked out of the office.

  Victoria cleared her throat, trying not to smile as she told Liz to hold all her calls. She steadied her nerves before returning to the office. He knows about the pregnancy, but how, only two people know that I’m pregnant and only Jackie knew he was the father. She was racking her brain for answers. She walked back in and sat behind her desk facing him. She could see the anger in his face.

  “How are you Nick?”

  Dominic looked at her trying to contain his anger. “How am I? How am I? Well let’s see…” he stood and walked over to the window before continuing in a low menacing voice “I’ve been better, working nights and weekends. My business is really keeping me busy. Oh, and I injured my shoulder working out, it’s been giving me a little trouble.” She could tell he was being sarcastic but didn’t interrupt him. “So I decided to give Dr. Cooper a try, since, as you know, I’ve been trying to find a personal physician.” He turned to face her as he stared directly into her eyes. “He seemed nice enough when he met with us, you remember that don’t you Victoria, when he assured me that you were unable to have children.” Dominic was fuming and she could tell she was in for a battle.

  “Please sit Nick and let me explain.”

  “Explain what? That you’re pregnant when I was assured that it was an impossibility; or explain how you have known for weeks now and neglected to tell me.” He paused and took a deep breath. It was at that moment that he smelled that familiar fragrance that he had missed over the past several weeks. He could see the tears she was trying to hide from him as she swiped them with her finger. His emotions softened, but he needed to know what happened. He sat back in the seat. “So please tell me Victoria, how the fuck did this happen?” She looked at him with a raised brow as she wiped the remaining tears. He caught the expression and responded. “You know exactly what the hell I mean Victoria, don’t be coy.”

  Victoria looked at him, and then began to speak softly. “The test that determined that I was sterile was run years ago and Dr. Cooper had no reason to question the findings of my previous physician, so we never ran any additional test. I am so sorry Dominic I never meant for this to happen or I would have never asked you to sleep with me without protection.” Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears; one of the things Dominic hated was to see a woman cry. “Come here,” he said in a low commanding voice and she complied. He placed one hand on her hip as he used the thumb of his other hand to wipe away a tear that escaped, before using that hand to gently cradle the side of her face as he tried to console her.

  “We need to figure out how we are going to handle this.” He stood so close that the she could smell his cologne. She gave him a solemn look. “Abortion is not an option for me Nick.”

  “Well that is one thing that we definitely agree on; I could never ask you to kill my baby Victoria.”

  “Nick, I’m really frightened.”

  “Why are you fright….” Dominic was interrupted by Jacqueline who swung open the door and rushed in. “Liz said that an angry….” She saw the two standing intimately close. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Victoria backed away from Dominic as she cleared her throat.

  “It’s okay Jackie, this is Dominic Moretti, Nick this is Jacqueline Bouvier my business partner.”

  “Ahh, so you’re…” Victoria gave Jacqueline a look and turned her attention to Liz who had rushed in behind Jacqueline.

  “That will be all Liz, why don’t you take the rest of the day off.” Although Liz was timid, she was also the office gossip. Once they were sure that Liz wasn’t listening Jacqueline turned her attention to Dominic. “So you’re the virile man who got our favorite CEO knocked up!”

  “Please Jackie this is not the time.”

  “So how many other people were given the news before the father?” Dominic said more irritated now than he was when he entered the office. Victoria touched his hand and he felt a sense of calm.

  “Nick we need to talk…” she looked over at Jacqueline “alone.”

  “Okay, okay I can take a hint, even when it’s not so subtle. Call me later dear.” She turned to walk out the door then hesitated. “Remember, I will be out of town this weekend unless you need me to cancel my trip.” Jacqueline said in a serious tone.

  “Don’t be silly, go and have a great time. Who are you going with and where are you going?”

  She looked at Dominic before responding. “I’m going to St Croix an.” she paused before continuing, “It’s not important who I’m going with.” She turned her attention to Dominic. “It was nice meeting you and congratulations,” she said before exiting.

  “I don’t want to talk here, there are too many distractions and I really need to discuss everything with you. Can you take me home, so we can discuss this without interruptions?” Victoria asked.

  “Lets go,” he said as he watched her gather her belongings.

  *****

  They arrived at Victoria’s condo, which was on the twenty-fifth floor of the forty floor high rise. “Make yourself comfortable Nick, and help yourself to the bar. I need to change; I will be back in a few minutes.” Dominic definitely needed a drink. He walked over to the bar and it was fully stocked. How often does she entertain? He thought as he poured a double shot of whiskey, and gulped it down before pouring another, deciding to take it easy with the second drink. He sat on the sofa and noticed the warm colors in her living room that matched all the paintings and artwork displayed. Her home was warm and inviting.

  Dominic’s thoughts turned to their current situation. He couldn’t believe this was happening to him. Victoria walked into the living room wearing a tank top and tights.

  “Do you want something to eat, I have lasagna left over from yesterday?” she yelled to him as she walked into the kitchen.

  “No I’m not hungry,” he responded.

  She placed the food in the oven before joining Dominic in the living room. She studied him as he sat with his legs apart, resting his elbows on each knee as
he cradled the drink he was nursing, with both hands.

  “Dominic I don’t know what else to say but that I’m sorry this happened. I am still trying to process all of this, so I can imagine how you feel.”

  He looked up from his glass and looked into her eyes. His grey eyes seemed to pierce her soul. “No Victoria, you don’t know how I feel. The decision of when I want to become a father and whom I choose to bear my children has been taken away from me.” She looked away as his hurtful words resonated in her brain. “This could not have happened at a worse time, I’m trying to stabilize my business. I’ve been working eleven hour days sometimes seven days a week; I don’t have time to fit a baby in that schedule, I barely have time for the woman I’m dating.” Dominic instantly regretted mentioning that he was dating, because while he had just reconnected with Anna, he didn’t know where that relationship was going.

  Victoria looked at Dominic; hearing that he was dating someone sent a searing pain through her chest. She inhaled deeply “Nick, I know that you’re angry…”

  “Victoria I don’t think anger is the correct adjective that adequately describes how I am feeling right now, maybe infuriated, enraged…” He paused, “what the fuck was I thinking, I knew it was a bad idea and I let you and your doctor convinced me that this could never happen.” Dominic stood and walked towards the window, he needed to move, he was feeling caged in. Victoria steadied her nerves because she didn’t know how he would react once she told him about the triplets.

  “Nick I’m not asking you for anything, in fact, I was seriously thinking about not telling you.”

  “And why is that Victoria, you don’t think I deserve to know that I’m going to be a father? What the hell did you think I would do? You are unfucking believable. That's my baby! My responsibility, period!”

  He could tell his words hurt and she was visibly upset, he wanted to hold her, to console her, but his body would not do it. It was like his mind was in direct conflict with his heart. The mind won out because he stood motionless.

  “I need you to sit and calm down because there is more I have to tell you.”

  “Victoria I don’t think there is anything you can tell me that would top me finding out that you’re pregnant. I’m not even sure how I explain this to my family. By the way, I slept with this woman I barely knew and now she’s pregnant.” She could hear the sarcasm in his voice. Victoria could feel her anger building within. She acknowledged that this was not a good situation, but these babies were a blessing. She was given a precious gift that she never thought she would be able to have. She swiped the tears harshly away from her face.

  “Are you done bitching?” she asked raising her voice. He looked at her momentarily stunned by her tone. “Because this is going to affect me as much, if not more, than you. If you choose, you can walk away from this situation, I, on the other hand, will watch as my body expands, deal with the metabolic changes, and go through the pain of childbirth. So forgive me if I don’t fall at your feet, asking for forgiveness because however, it happened it’s a blessing Nick.” her voice was shaky but her resolve was strong. Victoria heard the buzzer for the oven going off. She stood and started to walk towards the kitchen. “Now if you would like to stay and hear everything, you are more than welcome to join me for dinner, I have more than enough.”

  “I’m not hungry; I just need to know where we go from here?”

  “There is something you need to know about the pregnancy.” Dominic looked at her puzzled and a little nervous, he couldn’t imagine what other bombshell she was about to drop. They walked towards the dining room, Dominic stood taking in his surroundings as Victoria continued to the kitchen to retrieve her food. She came back into the dining room and placed a placemat, silverware, napkin and a glass of water on the table before going back into the kitchen, this time returning with her food. She sat and directed her attention to Dominic. “Please sit with me, I haven’t eaten since lunch and I’m starving.” He sat at the table beside her and continued to sip his drink. Victoria sat at the table with her food and bowed her head to say grace. Dominic lowered his head trying to gauge how long the prayer would take when she raised her head she began to eat.

  Victoria looked over at him as he stared into his glass. She placed her fork on her plate and took a deep breath. “Nick I know multiple births are in your family but my mom adopted me as an infant so I don’t know about my biological family. I don’t know how else to tell you this but we are expecting more than one baby.”

  “Are you telling me we’re having twins?”

  “No Nick I’m telling you we’re having triplets”

  “Excuse me?” Dominic said a little confused. “Are you sure, how is this possible?”

  “Well if I had to guess, I would say it was the birthday gift you gave me,” she said with a slight smile. Dominic thought back to that night and tried not to smile.

  “This is insane,” he said just above a whisper. “I can’t believe we’re having triplets. I…” Dominic was so confused he lost his train of thought. What was he going to do with three babies? He stood walked over to the bar and poured another drink and swallowed it in one gulp and poured another.

  “You may want to slow down on the drinking; you still have to drive home.”

  “I’m fine, but this is going to be interesting, trying to explain this to my family.”

  “You can tell them whatever you want. Look, I’m sorry that you are so upset, but as I said, I don’t need your help financially but I’m having these babies with or without your support.” Her words were harsher then she intended but she needed to stay strong. She stood and started to walk towards the door and opened it indicating that he needed to leave. “You have my number, if you would like to go with me to my next doctor’s appointment, you are welcome to join me, I’m sure they can answer any questions you may have. Good night Dominic.”

  Dominic smiled slightly as he realized that she was still under the impression that he was struggling financially. He walked to the door handed her the glass. “Good night Victoria and we will continue this conversation, I will be in touch.” He placed his hand gently on her belly. “However they were conceived and no matter how angry I am right now, these are still my babies, they are a part of me and I will be a part of their lives.” Dominic bent over and kissed Victoria lightly on the cheek as he ran his hand along her belly. Victoria felt a tingling sensation from his touch. “Good night Nick,” she said softly as she closed the door.

  Dominic sat in his car thinking about the major upheaval that was about to happen in his life. He could feel his phone vibrate in his pocket. Looking at his phone, he had four missed calls from Marco, and he hit the button. “Hey Marc, what’s up?”

  “What’s up? What do you mean what’s up, where are you, I’ve been trying to reach you?”

  “I just left Victoria’s house.”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, did you say the woman having your baby is Victoria Hart as in Bouvier and Hart consulting firm?”

  “Yes, that’s her, why?”

  “We need to talk, meet me at Charlie’s.” Marco said before disconnecting the call.

  *****

  Dominic arrived at Charlie’s twenty minutes later and had a hard time maneuvering through the crowd; Charlie’s is the place where the Moretti siblings hung out. It was always dark, and the music was always loud, but they had good food and a great atmosphere; the staff was friendly and the drinks were reasonably priced. He spotted Marco at a booth with a beer in hand. Dominic slid into the booth across from his brother.

  “How did it go?” Marco asked with concern in his voice.

  “I’m not sure, I went to talk to her about the pregnancy, I was so angry that I really lashed out at her and then she tells me that we are having triplets, can you fucking believe this, triplets.” Dominic still couldn’t believe it. Marco almost choked on the sip of beer he was taking.

  “What! Are you shittin me, triplets? That’s some strong shi
t you’re packing, you need to be more careful. Speaking of careful, how did this happen? I know you and you don’t sleep with women unprotected, hell you’ve drummed it into my head so much I hear your voice every time I’m about to get busy.” Marco said with a smile trying to get his brother to lighten up. Dominic gave him a half smile. “So what are you going to do?”

  “What can I do, they're my babies, and I’m going to take care of them.”

  “And you want to tell me how this happened?”

  “I will tell you, but this stays between us.”

  “Come on Nick you’re talking to me.” Dominic knew he could trust his brother and he really needed to talk this through with someone. Marco was aware of Kevin’s side business while in college. Dominic explained that Kevin was still seeing one of his clients and that he was in love with her but hadn’t told her yet. He continued to explain that Victoria was the best friend of the woman Kevin loved and he wanted someone he trusted to go on the trip with her.

  “I don’t understand Nick, why would you sleep with her for money? You have more than you can spend.”

  “No, I told you, it was a favor for Kevin and I needed a vacation. He said she was a very beautiful and intelligent woman who had just lost her mother and was still healing emotionally. He wanted to make sure that she went with someone who would not take advantage or use her. He said she didn’t have a lot of experience with men and wanted this vacation to be an enjoyable one for her. I thought, what the hell, vacationing with a beautiful woman, no strings attached why not. He told me to just meet her and I would see what he meant. Kevin was right; she was breathtakingly beautiful and genuinely kind. There was something about her that I was drawn to, so I went.” Dominic also explained her stipulations, the testing and the conversation he had with her doctor about her sterilization. “At the end of the vacation she gave me a check for twenty five thousand dollars.”

  “Shit, she enjoyed it that much? We are in the wrong fucking professions.” Marco said with a half grin. Wait… so that means she doesn’t know that you’re Dominic Moretti software mogul?”