by Lynne Graham
It stared back at him now out of bright brown eyes. The quality that had kept him awake the past few nights. Even with her warmth wrapped around him like a vine.
She’s innocent, the small part of his conscience that he hadn’t been able to silence kept piping up. She might be hurt.
Not when he was making her a part of his life, he told himself. Not by offering her something he’d never even considered in his entire life. Not if he carefully explained his reasons, not with her innate sense of right and wrong.
“Married?” she repeated, her tongue swiping over that plump lower lip that millions of women over the world tried to emulate with collagen. Her eyes widened in her gamine face. “Don’t mess around with me, V,” she said, with a little laugh at the end. A rough, rasping sound that never failed to arouse him.
A brave little effort to hide her emotions while the madly fluttering pulse at her neck betrayed her. Using that moniker she’d allocated him that first day when they’d met as though it was a kind of shield against him. Against her own feelings.
This was what he liked about being with Alessandra—she was an open book, somehow having retained a genuine quality in a cutthroat world.
He finished his drink and dived headlong into the pool, his heart thundering loudly in his chest. When he reached her, he pulled himself out of the water, and stood, her body flush with his. Her warm breath feathered over his cheekbones.
He pushed a tendril of hair away from her temple, his fingers, as always, itching to touch her. Hold her. Possess her. “You should know by now that I don’t say things I don’t mean, Princess,” he said, pressing his mouth to her cheekbone. He filled his hands with the dips and valleys of her waist, the hitch in her breathing as he touched her pinging over his nerves.
“Yeah?”
“Si, cara mia. The last few weeks have been…” He frowned, trying to locate the elusive word. He’d never lost himself in the sensuality of a woman as he’d done with her. He’d never lost his mind over a woman like this, period.
“Wonderful. Fantastic. Amazing,” she added in a breathless tone, a stark honesty in her voice that he was coming to count on more and more.
He laughed, the sound of it strange to his own ears. “All that. And I find…” He pulled her closer until their breaths melded. Until her arms locked around his neck. Until she sank her long fingers into his hair and pulled his head down. Until their hearts beat against each other in a harmony of need and want. “I’m not ready to let you go, cara. I don’t think I’d ever want to. So why not make it official?”
She let out a gasp. He could feel her trembling against him. “It’s crazy. These entire last few weeks have been completely crazy.”
“Crazy bad?” he added, a ball of something he didn’t want to name lodged in his chest. He’d never waited on an answer with such gut-twisting anticipation. All his adulthood, he’d manipulated things into working his way. He’d taken, instead of asking. Because he’d learned early on that it was the only way he could have things. Now he disliked the feeling vehemently. Once he had her, he would never subject himself to it ever again, he promised himself.
“No,” she answered promptly. “Crazy good. Crazy fairy-tale-esque, almost. When I’m with you, I almost feel like the princess you call me. I…”
He waited. On a knife’s edge.
“But then I’ve never been bowled over quite like I’ve been by you. I was just about ready to give up on men, in fact. And the world, even. When I was younger, I heard this story of a girl rescued by a prince. And you…”
“I’m no prince, Alessandra.”
She sighed and burrowed her face into the warmth of his shoulder. Her teeth sank into his skin at the juncture of his neck. And his body reacted instantly, pressing against her soft belly. “It’s been magical. And no, I don’t want it to end. I don’t want to go back to real life.” Big eyes held his, penetrating in their intensity. “Only we don’t know everything about each other yet.”
“Is it enough to know that until I met you I’d never ever considered sharing my life with a woman, ever? Is it enough to know that the last few weeks have truly taken my life in a new direction? Is it enough to know that the future you confided in me you want is the one I want too?”
She looked up and all the hopes and dreams of the world seemed to be shining from her eyes. For an infinitesimal second, the intensity of that scared Vincenzo. Just for a second.
A wide smile turned her face into breathtaking beauty. “It is enough. Yes, V. Let’s do this. Let’s get hitched.”
Any lingering doubts Vincenzo had about whether what he was doing was right or wrong got swallowed up by Alessandra’s kiss. By the sweet taste of her lips, by the honest urgency of her desire as she pressed up against him, as she whispered she wanted him right then and there.
Vincenzo devoured her mouth, his hands reaching for her hips and buttocks. Within seconds, he’d pushed aside her bikini bottom and was inside of her, and that sense of belonging once again filled every inch of his limbs. A feeling of peace that he had never known enveloped him as she took his mouth in a sweet kiss.
And for a man who’d never shared his life with anyone, who’d already spent too many years on a certain strategic path, it felt like a benediction. An invitation to a future he hadn’t known he could have.
* * *
The loud and persistent chirp-chirp of a cell phone somewhere woke Alex out of a dreamless sleep. She stretched her body and found the sweet soreness invade her limbs as a result of the passionate night before.
With a smile, she buried her face in the pillow next to hers. The empty pillow.
Of course, the man she’d married was a workaholic.
The sound came again. With a sigh, Alex got out of the bed and looked around. After several tries, she located the sleek cell phone in a drawer under a laptop.
And frowned. This wasn’t V’s usual cell phone.
The number on the screen amplified her confusion.
She knew that number. It was Massimo’s.
Why was Massimo Brunetti calling Vincenzo? How would he even know him?
* * *
Ever since Greta Brunetti, the matriarch of the Brunetti dynasty, had welcomed Alex with open arms almost thirteen years ago as a teenager—after discovering her much-younger second husband had an illegitimate daughter from a previous fling—the Brunettis had become her adopted family, including Greta’s grandsons, sired by the son from her first marriage. Despite being no blood relation to Alex, Leonardo and Massimo Brunetti had nevertheless embraced her, generously sharing their home and hearts with her.
But of course, Massimo was worried about her. They all were. Guilt assailed Alex as she thought of the last few weeks. She’d never planned to stay away from Milan for so long. She’d only meant to spend some time in Bali after her latest photoshoot getting her head on straight about her career, about where she wanted her life to go. She’d even turned her phone off, wanting a complete break from social media and endless phone calls.
Instead of focusing on her future, she’d met Vincenzo. And married him in secret.
And had postponed telling the Brunettis, because Massimo and Leo, and especially Greta, deserved better than to be told her momentous news in a voice message or via an impulsive text.
But now… Somehow, the technical genius that was Massimo had discovered that she was holed up with Vincenzo. How was that even possible? Why hadn’t Vincenzo mentioned that he knew the Brunettis?
Alex finally hit Answer on the screen and scrunched her face. “Hey, Massimo.”
“Alex, cara, is that you? What are you doing with Vincenzo Cavalli’s phone?”
Alex bit her lip. Massimo sounded different. Something was wrong here. “Why are you calling his number, Massimo? How do you know him?”
A sense of urgency filled Massimo’s voice. “Cara, listen to
me. Vincenzo is…he’s the one responsible for all the trouble we’ve been facing at Brunetti Finances. He’s the one who launched the hacker attack on the cyber arm. He’s the one who’s been goading board members into getting rid of Leo. He’s a…a very dangerous man, bella. He’s been hitting us from all sides for almost a year now. Concerted attacks on all of us—me, Leo, Greta. He’s even achieved ownership of Father’s stock somehow.”
All of us… Massimo, Leo, Greta.
And her? Was she some kind of target too?
Alex felt as if the ground was being stolen from under her. She sank to the bed, her knees shaking, her belly swooping in a series of never-ending somersaults. “Massimo, I don’t understand. But why…how…”
“Leo’s been trying to reach you for some time, bella, but you seem to have been incommunicado. We learned that this Cavalli was also in Bali, and we wanted to make sure you stayed clear of him. Finally, Natalie, who used to work for him, had the idea to call his old number to try and talk to him. We were running out of other options.”
Alex was numb with shock and betrayal.
“Cristo, Alex! What are you doing with him? Why—?”
“I…if I organize a taxi out to the airport, can you get me out of here, Massimo?” Alex cut him off. God, she needed to get out of here. Now. Before Vincenzo came back. Before he charmed her again with his sweet words and addictive lovemaking.
“Of course. I’ll… Alex, is everything okay?”
“Just…please, get me out of here. Now.”
“Okay, bella. Just sit tight. Give me a few minutes to organize you a flight. Alex, whatever it is, Leo and I will fix it. We’re here for you.”
Alex ended the call before she started bawling on the phone. Before…
What had she done?
Why hadn’t Vincenzo even mentioned the Brunettis? Why was he attacking them like this? There was no chance it could be a mistake. Massimo and Leo had been having troubles at the company for more than a year now. Even Alex had been peripherally aware of it.
And now the man she’d fallen for so hard, the man she’d married so quickly, far from being the romantic prince she’d thought him, was in truth the enemy.
But even hours later, as she flew home to Milan, without having even breathed a word to Vincenzo, Alex couldn’t help wishing it was all a mistake.
That Vincenzo was not the man who had been wreaking destruction on her adopted family.
That he was not the man who remained a serious threat to Leonardo’s CEO position on the BFI board.
That he was not the man who had been unerringly finding weak spots in one of the most powerful families in Milan and hitting them where it hurt the most.
CHAPTER TWO
VINCENZO STARED UP at the villa on the shores of Lake Como. The villa that had been the seat of the Brunettis’ power for nearly two centuries.
He walked up the very marble steps where his mother had stood and begged Greta Brunetti to believe that her son, Vincenzo, was the old woman’s grandson, sired by Silvio Brunetti.
Greta’s own flesh and blood.
But two decades later, as he walked up the same steps again, there was no fear or doubt in him. Soon this would all be his. Power and confidence surged through him as he walked in through the huge archway into the lounge.
Of course, his sweet wife, Alessandra, had hastened his arrival by running away and hiding here. He didn’t quite mind the acceleration in his plans though.
He enjoyed walking into the lounge to see them all assembled there—the matriarch, Greta Brunetti; her grandsons, Leonardo and Massimo Brunetti; their wives, Neha and Natalie, and, amidst them, sitting on the chaise longue, was Alessandra.
She looked up as he entered. And he found his pulse started racing, like a schoolboy’s. Instead of the anger he had nurtured from the moment he’d returned to find her gone, he felt a pang of concern.
Her eyes were puffy and red rimmed. Light brown hair pulled into a messy bun that highlighted the sharp cut of her cheekbones. A loose sleeveless T-shirt and denim shorts with pink flip-flops completed her ensemble.
No makeup touched the flawlessly boned face, no designer clothes showcased her stunning beauty, and yet she looked like a million dollars.
Hurt shimmered in those eyes as she held his gaze without blinking. As if she meant to look straight into his heart. As if she was trying to search for a speck of honor within him.
But she would fail. There was no honor in him. None at all.
He swept his gaze over her entire length and found a little satisfaction in spotting the diamond still shimmering brilliantly on her left hand.
Mine, she’s mine, he wanted to growl like a savage beast.
“Running away without a word, Princess? This marriage thing is new to both of us, si, but we clearly need some ground rules,” he mocked, refusing to acknowledge the two men standing there like sentinels, guarding her.
Leonardo Brunetti, CEO of Brunetti Finances Inc. A financial conglomerate that was synonymous with prestige in the rarified circles of Milan, the man he intended to replace. And Massimo Brunetti, the brilliant, technical mind behind the highly successful cyber arm of BFI—Brunetti Cyber Services—and the man that had captured his past associate Natalie’s heart.
Men who had everything that should have also been his.
Men he intended to take everything from.
“You think there’s any ground to stand on after what you’ve done, V?”
If she’d yelled it at him, he would’ve felt much more in control of the situation. But the shaken whisper… He didn’t quite know to handle it, to stop it from disarming him. “Come, cara. Whatever questions you have, I’ll answer them in privacy.”
“You had numerous chances to do it in privacy. To explain what the hell you’ve been doing to my family. To at least…hint to me that you’ve been turning their lives upside down. You lost all those chances. You lost…” She bit her lip, her chest rising and falling. A wet sheen coating her eyes. “Just tell us…why.”
“Why what?” he said through gritted teeth. Maledizione, he shouldn’t have waited to explain it all to her when he so badly needed her to understand his point of view.
“Why’ve you been targeting them?” Frustration raised her voice. “Why did you arrange for Natalie to take down BCS before she fell in love with Massimo? Why did you use Neha’s bullying stepfather to spy for you? Why did you buy up BFI stock until you could square off against Leo for the position of CEO?”
“I thought all those actions were quite self-explanatory,” he said smoothly.
Alessandra stood up and took a step forward, breaking away from the group. The subtle scent of her hit him, bringing with it such vivid sensations of entwined damp limbs and sinful pleasure. Of long, warm nights and warmer sheets and soft gasps. Of intoxicating smiles that chased away the web of loneliness he hadn’t even realized he’d woven around himself.
He saw the pulse at her neck flutter rapidly but when he raised his gaze to hers, the sheer depth of dismay in her eyes was a stinging slap to his senses. The same eyes that had looked at him with such affection and desire…
“You think this is all a joke?”
He tucked his hands in his pockets to stop himself from reaching for her. “It is not a joke, Alessandra, least of all to me. If it’s still not clear, then let me make it so.
“I have spent most of my life working toward this moment. Moving people and contracts and money like chess pieces just to arrive at this point.
“I intend to take over as the CEO of BFI. I intend to own the company outright. I intend to drive every Brunetti from the company until it’s all mine. Only mine.”
One lone tear drew a path over a sharply defined cheekbone. “Why?”
“I believe in taking what’s mine. Especially when it’s been denied me for so long. Especially…” He
lost the fight against himself and reached out to catch the tear with his finger. Skin like silk beckoned a deeper touch, and he gave in to that too. Damn it, he’d never intended to hurt her.
He rubbed the line of her jaw with the pad of his thumb, marveling again at how much he wanted her to lean into his touch, how much he wanted her to take that last step and mold her glorious body against his. How much he wanted her to look at him as if he were her hero.
But he’d never aspired to be a hero in his life.
In fact, he was the furthest thing from being a hero. He didn’t believe in self-sacrifice or putting someone else before him or in the happiness of others enriching his own.
No, he believed in taking, possessing, having. And keeping hold of what was his.
“Especially…when I’ve made a commitment to having it in my life in the first place,” he finished slowly, his voice gone all deep and rumbly.
A quick intake of breath. A parting of those luscious lips. A quick rush of color into her cheeks. She swallowed and looked up. And for an infinitesimal moment, he knew she was as lost in him as he was in her. In the magic they created together. In the indescribable, illogical thing between them that had made him take such a big step.
That made him stand here explaining himself to her even after she’d run away from him without a word.
“Alessandra?” Greta broke in, puncturing the magic.
Alessandra laid those doe eyes on him. “You think BFI should be yours?”
“Si. Since it was Silvio Brunetti that seduced my mother with a hundred lies, got her pregnant and then discarded her like yesterday’s trash.
“Since my mother was called a whore, and she and I were accused of being beggars and liars and kicked out into the street by the woman you consider a stepmother. Since I was denied all of this privilege growing up, I decided that I wouldn’t be satisfied with just a small part of it now.
“I want to see every last Brunetti walk out of this house, their heads hanging in shame.