Maybe this would be okay after all, Stevie thought, as they pulled up outside a sign that said Pizzeria Spontini. Maybe what Maddie needed was an adventure, some new and exciting experiences to grab onto, instead of spending her days in the condo with Lisa, broken by brief excursions to the park, mostly just waiting for Stephanie to get home from work.

"It has a reputation for serving the greasiest pizza in all of Milan," Mike said as she stepped out of the car.

"Well, that's certainly a recommendation." And she had to admit, Mike may have steamrolled her into the hasty trip to Milan, but he was being an awfully good sport about catering to the whims of a five-year-old who could be smiling one second, and flying into a cranky meltdown the next.

Within minutes they were seated at a small table staring at huge slices of gooey cheesy pizza. Probably the most cheese Stephanie had ever seen on a slice of pizza in her life.

"Be careful, it's hot," she warned, as Maddie took a big bite.

"It's so good!" Maddie said, swinging her feet and kicking them against the legs of her chair, and grinning at them with smears of pizza sauce on her face, and cheese dripping from her fingers.

"What do you say to Mr. Wellington?"

"I love you Mike," Maddie said, getting up from her chair to smear his crisp shirt with her sticky fingers as she hugged him.

"I was thinking more of just saying thank you," Stephanie said, and Mike actually laughed.

"I love you, too, Squirt, and you're welcome," Mike said, and planted a kiss on the top of her head, melting Stephanie's heart. He didn't have to be so nice.

"Guess who else loves pizza?" he asked Maddie, as she climbed back into her chair.

"Who?"

"Luciana. It's her favorite food in the world."

Maddie looked down at her plate. "That's the lady who's going to take care of me while you and Aunt Stevie have to work."

"That's right."

"I want Lisa to come," Maddie said.

"I know honey," Stephanie told her. "But Lisa couldn't come with us. You'll see her when we get back home."

"Hey," Mike said. "You are really going to like Luciana."

"What if she doesn't like me?"

"Luciana loves kids." He reached over and tilted her chin up to look at him. "Do you know how I know that?"

Maddie shook her head.

"Because Luciana was my nanny. She came to live with my family and take care of me when I was the same age you are now."

Maddie's eyes got big. "She must be really old."

Mike just laughed. "Not that old. She taught me lots of fun games, and she never ever yelled at me, not once," he said, leaning closer to her and lowering his voice conspiratorially. "And I was really bad sometimes."

"I bet you were," Stevie said, and imagined a doting grandmotherly Italian woman spoiling him rotten and indulging him with homemade pasta and cannoli.

"What bad things did you do?" Maddie whispered.

"Hmm um," Mike said, "I'm not telling." He leaned in closer to Maddie. "You'll just have to ask Luciana about that."

"I will!" she said, and happily returned to her pizza.

"I don't know how you do it," Stevie said.

Mike winked. "I've always been good with the ladies."

Stephanie snorted. But she couldn't help wonder if there was another reason for Mike's seemingly instant connection to Maddie. And she wished things were different. She wished she could tell him that the little girl he had charmed so completely was his own daughter. But doing that would untangle the huge lie that she and Samantha had built their lives on. And risk even more confusion and pain for a child who was only just beginning to cope with the loss of the mommy she loved so much.

And there was the very real possibility that if Mike learned the truth he would never forgive her for what she'd done. She could lose her license to practice law – she couldn't imagine the Bar Association would look too kindly on a lawyer who had falsified a birth certificate. And worse, much worse, Mike might actually try to take Maddie away from her, bringing the full force of the Wellington wealth and power to bear against her.

No, there was too much at stake, she concluded, pushing back her guilt as Mike folded his napkin into crazy shapes and sent Maddie into fresh gales of laugher.

Some secrets just could never be told.

* * *

"Good choice," Stephanie said as they pulled up to the Baglioni Hotel Carlton.

"You've stayed here before?" Mike asked.

"No, but I attended a series of meetings here for a deal I closed for a major clothing retailer a few years ago."

She looked around the lobby, enjoying the juxtaposition of the old world art and the clean modern lines of the black marble fireplace and pale leather couches. Then her eyes were caught by an absolutely striking woman across the lobby.

"My God, she looks just like a young Isabella Rossellini," Stephanie said, as the woman turned toward them.

"Hmm?" Mike said, glancing over, then smiling. "I never thought about it before, but you're exactly right."

"What? Do you know her?" But Stephanie's question was cut off as the woman's face lit up and she walked smoothly toward them, arms outreached.

"Cuore Mio!" She took Mike's face in both hands and kissed his cheeks, while Stephanie looked on in disbelief. This beautiful young woman she'd taken for a model or an actress was . . . Mike's childhood nanny? Not very likely.

"Tesoro," Mike said, slipping easily into Italian, while the woman went on about how much she had missed him. She called Mike "my heart" and he called her his "treasure." Oh, no, this was not going to work. Apparently Mike was still every bit the player he'd been back in law school.

Stevie watched, frowning, as the woman turned toward Maddie, leaning down to her level.

"Hello, Madelyn. Patatina! I am Luciana." She looked up at Mike. "You did not tell me she is so beautiful. Come," she said, straightening up again and holding out her hand to Maddie, "we are going to be good friends."

Then she turned that five hundred watt smile on Stephanie, and extended her other hand. "Stephanie, I am so pleased to meet you. Don't worry at all about Madelyn, she will be safe and happy with me."

Stephanie answered her in Italian, thanking her coolly for making herself available on such short notice, to which Luciana replied that she was always available to her cucciolo Mike.

It was a term of endearment, usually between parent and child, that literally meant "little puppy." But Mike wasn't anybody's little puppy. He was all man, and Stephanie was struggling to reconcile this stunning woman with the matronly heavy-set Italian mama Stephanie had expected to see when they walked into the lobby. What was going on here anyway?

"You speak Italian like you were born here," Luciana said.

"She can do that in at least five other languages," Mike said, and it seemed to Stephanie that there was a hint of pride in his voice. But why would he be proud of her accomplishments? She was sure he hadn't given her a second thought in years. Not until he stumbled across her name on the list of employees for his most recent takeover target, and figured he was getting a top rate international lawyer at a bargain price, and wondered why.

Luciana led Maddie over for a closer look at the sculptures in the lobby, giving Stephanie the chance to turn to Mike and hiss, "I don't know what you are trying to pull here, but that sure isn't your childhood nanny and I'll be damned if I'm going to leave Maddie in the care of some stranger just to make your little trysts more convenient for you. I really thought you'd changed, but you haven't changed a bit." 

Author's Note:

Mike's childhood nanny is clearly not what Stephanie was expecting.  Is he for real? Stephanie sure doesn't think so . . . 

BTW, it you like this story, you may want to check out the  Millionaire book I have on Wattpad, The Millionaire's Convenient Arrangement.  It's part of my Miami Lawyers series, and it's free here on Wattpad.  Come meet Maria Martinez and Ritchie Perez - and find out why her worst enemy is the one man she can't resist!