Married for the Italian's Heir

by Rachael Thomas

  ‘Right? Nothing can ever be right now.’

  Her eyes glittered with unshed tears. He was hurting her, but he had to say what he needed to—no matter how hard it was going to be.

  ‘I want us to be married, as planned.’

  ‘Are you insane?’ Her voice rose as she spoke, her eyes wide in shock. ‘I can’t live a lie like that.’

  ‘Just as I can’t.’

  ‘Your whole life is a lie, Dante, so why have you developed a conscience suddenly?’

  ‘Because I was wrong.’ Nerves made the admission almost stick in his throat, but he forced himself on. ‘Because I love you.’

  Silence fell over the room. Like a sheer veil, it doused all the angry tension. Piper stood in the middle of the room, so very close he could reach out and touch her, but she felt further away than she’d ever done.

  ‘You don’t mean that.’ The whispered words slipped from her as she searched his face, looking for evidence of lies or truth.

  Finally he moved towards her. He had to tell her now exactly how he felt or lose her for ever. ‘What we have—’

  ‘Is just lust.’

  She cut across his words, savaging his attempt to tell her he couldn’t live without her. But he hadn’t got where he was in life by admitting defeat, so easily.

  ‘At first it was,’ he admitted, lifting his hands quickly in frustration and walking away from her to stand at the large bay window which looked out onto the street. He turned back to her. ‘But that has changed. I don’t know when it happened, or how, but I love you, Piper.’

  He reached into his pocket and retrieved the engagement ring he’d bought her in Rome.

  ‘I don’t believe you.’

  His heart sank. She didn’t want him—didn’t want to listen to him, to hear how much he loved her. ‘Then there is nothing more to say, except that you are the woman who changed me, who made me see life again as it should be and taught me that I can love someone—and that someone is you.’

  ‘What about the deal?’ she asked cautiously. ‘Is that why you still want us to marry?’

  ‘The only deal I want from you is one secured by two words at the altar.’ He held the ring up between his thumb and finger. ‘I want you to wear my ring—for real.’

  She moved towards him and he waited, hoping, needing her to come freely to him so he could hold her and kiss her, knowing she was his.

  ‘Is that a proposal?’

  She smiled, and her teasing words brought relief and a smile to his own lips. There was hope.

  ‘Sì, mia cara. Vuoi sparsami?’

  She frowned at him, then whispered, ‘Say it again in English.’

  ‘My darling, will you marry me?’

  To his relief she flung her arms around his neck and as she kissed his face, his lips, gave him her reply. ‘Yes—yes, of course I will. I love you, Dante.’

  He took her face between his hands and looked into those green eyes. ‘And I love you—for ever.’

  EPILOGUE

  PIPER STOOD OUTSIDE the church as the hot sun of summer beat down. Her best friends, Katie and Jo from Sydney, were taking their roles as bridesmaids very seriously and fussed around her, straightening the long cream lace gown she and Elizabeth had selected as a wedding dress soon after Mia had been born.

  ‘You look gorgeous. You are positively glowing,’ Katie said as she stood back, and Piper knew it was love that shone from her.

  ‘Not as gorgeous as this little one,’ Jo added as she handed Piper the most precious addition to her bridal outfit.

  Baby Mia was wearing a pale pink dress, the same shade as Katie and Jo’s, with an amazingly intricate and delicate mini-bouquet of wild flowers trailing from her.

  ‘Here she is. Your little flower girl.’

  ‘I’m so happy,’ Piper said as she looked at her friends.

  Mia gave a little moan of protest at being moved, but quickly settled into her arms. Piper still couldn’t believe the perfect little bundle was hers, or that life could be so good.

  After she’d returned to Rome with Dante her life had changed, becoming the loving fairytale she’d always longed for. Even fitting in with Rome’s social circle had been easier with Dante’s love. Now she was about to top it all and become his wife.

  ‘So what are you waiting for? Go in there and marry the man of your dreams.’

  Katie grinned at her and Piper’s heart fluttered along with the butterflies in her stomach.

  As she left the sunshine for the cool and dark interior of the old church she saw Dante standing with his back to her and her heart went out to him. She knew even after all his admissions that this would be hard for him without Alessio, just as it was hard for her without her father, but together they’d heal each other.

  She walked towards Dante, admiring him as he turned to look at her, his handsome face full of a happiness which matched hers. His dark suit fitted him perfectly, showcasing the toned and delicious body she knew so well.

  With each step she moved nearer to him, nearer to being his wife, she passed their friends, flown in to the small Tuscan village from all over the world, and then their mothers, and she smiled, pleased they had found a new friendship in each other, and that her mother had made the move to Italy to be close to her new granddaughter. Each mother had known hard times, but each of them had recognised the love between her and Dante long before they themselves had.

  Piper had worried that walking up the aisle alone would be hard, but as her father’s words played again in her mind, she knew he’d been right all along. Dante was the happy-ever-after which had been out there for her, and she’d found him because of her father. If she hadn’t been so upset that night she would never have left the dinner party with Dante.

  Just before the flower-decorated altar Bettino D’Antonio waited for her, ready to step into his role of giving her away.

  Then Dante turned to her and his smile was full of love, his eyes full of warmth, and it felt like coming home. ‘You look beautiful.’

  A warm glow filled her at his words, and then he touched his daughter’s face and took her hand.

  ‘Let’s get married.’

  As words of Italian and English flowed around them, binding them together in marriage, she could hardly take her eyes from this man she loved with all her heart.

  ‘I love you, Piper Mancini,’ Dantèsaid as he brushed his lips lightly over hers.

  ‘And I love you, my darling husband.’ Piper smiled at him, then looked down at her baby daughter—the most perfect wedding gift.

  ‘I’m so very happy,’ he whispered as he looked into her eyes. ‘And so in love with my beautiful wife and gorgeous daughter.’

  Before she could say anything he kissed her again, so very gently, yet so wickedly full of desire she thought she might dissolve right there.

  ‘Come. It is time to start our new life,’ he said as he put his arm around her and led her back down the aisle and towards the sunshine, passing friends, family and—more significantly—other soon-to-be reformed bachelors.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from A DI SIONE FOR THE GREEK’S PLEASURE by Kate Hewitt.

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  A DI SIONE FOR THE GREEK’S PLEASURE

  by Kate Hewitt

  “Talia…” Angelos’s voice broke on her name, and then, before she could even process what was happening, he pulled her towards him, his hands hard on her shoulders as his mouth crashed down on hers and plundered its soft depths.

  It had been ten years since she’d been kissed, and then only a schoolboy’s brush. She’d never been kissed like this, never felt every sense blaze to life, every nerve ending tingle with awareness, nearly painful in its intensity, as Angelos’s mouth moved on hers and he pulled her tightly to him.

  His hard contours co
llided against her softness, each point of contact creating an unbearably exquisite ache of longing as she tangled her hands in his hair and fit her mouth against his.

  She was a clumsy, inexpert kisser, not sure what to do with her lips or tongue, only knowing that she wanted more of this. Of him.

  She felt his hand slide down to cup her breast, his palm hot and hard through the thin material of her dress, and a gasp of surprise and delight escaped her.

  That small sound of pleasure was enough to jolt Angelos out of his passion-fogged daze, for he dropped his hand and in one awful, abrupt movement tore his mouth from hers and stepped back.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice coming out in a ragged gasp.

  “No…” Talia pressed one shaky hand to her buzzing lips as she tried to blink the world back into focus. “Don’t be sorry,” she whispered. “It was wonderful.”

  “I shouldn’t have—”

  “Why not?” she challenged. She felt frantic with the desperate need to feel and taste him again, and more importantly, not to have him withdraw from her, not just physically, but emotionally. Angelos didn’t answer and she forced herself to ask the question again. “Why not, Angelos?”

  “Because you are my employee, and I was taking advantage of you,” he gritted out. “It was not appropriate…”

  “I don’t care about appropriate,” she cried. She knew she sounded desperate and even pathetic but she didn’t care. She wanted him. She needed him. “I care about you,” she confessed, her voice dropping to a choked whisper, and surprise and something worse flashed across Angelos’s face. He shook his head, the movement almost violent and terribly final.

  “No, Talia,” he told her flatly. “You don’t.”

  Copyright © 2016 by Kate Hewitt

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  ISBN-13: 9780373139590

  Married for the Italian’s Heir

  Copyright © 2016 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Rachael Thomas for her contribution to The Billionaire’s Legacy series.

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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