Buch lesen: «His Forbidden Conquest»

For Gerard, Chris and Chloe. Sempre.

CHAPTER ONE

IT WAS her shoes that gave her away.

Her business suit was fine. Professional. Like her pristine leather briefcase, barely there make-up and the way she wore her long hair in a simple yet elegant twist. But the heels of her shoes were much too high and much too delicate. They weren’t office shoes: they were do-me heels. And Dante Romano had known enough princessy types in his time to recognise that these were expensive do-me heels. The kind that only a rich, spoiled woman could afford.

Closing this deal was obviously going to be much less time-consuming than he’d feared. So much for his sources telling him that Carenza Tonielli was serious about taking over the family business.

‘Thank you for coming to see me, Signorina Tonielli,’ he said, standing up. ‘May I offer you some coffee? Water?’ He indicated the bottle and glasses on his desk.

‘Water would be lovely, thank you.’

‘Please, have a seat.’ He gestured to the chair on the far side of his desk and waited until she’d sat down before pouring them both a glass of water and sitting down again himself.

She picked up her glass and took a sip of water.

Beautiful hands, he thought. And shook himself mentally as a picture flashed through his head. Oh, for pity’s sake. Yes, Carenza Tonielli was beautiful. Probably the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. But she was also very aware of it, and he wasn’t interested in doing anything other than business with a spoiled princess.

Liar, his libido corrected. You were thinking about what those hands would feel like against your skin. And that mouth.

That beautiful mouth. A perfect rosebud. Well, he might be thinking about it, but he certainly wasn’t going to act on his thoughts. He didn’t have the time. Not if he was going to hit the targets for his business plan. Until the franchise was off the ground, his social life was taking a definite back seat. And he wasn’t about to indulge his libido.

‘So why did you want to see me?’ she asked.

Was she really that clueless? Poor Gino. He’d made a huge mistake, handing over the business to his wayward granddaughter in the hope that she’d come good. The girl who’d left Naples to party her way round the world—and it had taken her ten years to come home. Was she really going to exchange la dolce vita for one of sheer hard work to turn the business around?

From what his sources in London had said, Dante was pretty sure that all Carenza Tonielli was interested in was having enough money to buy herself a new designer outfit for every party she attended, drink the very best champagne, and drive the very latest sports car.

None of which she’d be able to do, given the state Tonielli’s was in right now.

Well, he wouldn’t cheat her. He’d give her a fair price, the same as he’d offered her grandfather. She’d get the cash she needed to finance her lifestyle, and he’d get a brand name that would help make his business grow. It was the perfect win-win situation for both of them. And hopefully she’d see that, too.

‘I was negotiating a deal with your grandfather. To buy out Tonielli’s,’ he said.

‘Oh.’

‘So, since he’s handed the reins over to you, I assume that you’re the one I need to negotiate with now.’

She looked at him. ‘I think there’s been some kind of mistake.’

He blinked. ‘You’re not in charge of Tonielli’s?’

‘Oh, I’m in charge, all right.’ She folded her arms. ‘But the business isn’t for sale.’

He looked shocked. As well he might—a shark in a business suit, who’d planned to buy her grandfather’s ice-cream empire at a rock-bottom price.

A handsome shark—Carenza would give him that—with dark hair brushed back from his face, a generous mouth and beautiful dark eyes. A sexy shark, even. But he was still a shark. And she wasn’t selling. Not to him, not to anyone.

‘You’re going to run Tonielli’s?’ he asked.

Carenza had seen that incredulous expression before. On her new boss’s face, when she’d made a suggestion about running the gallery. Just before she’d walked out; no way could she work with someone who treated her like an airhead, incapable of doing anything other than giggling, answering the phone and painting her nails. And it needled her that this man—a man she’d never even met before—clearly also thought that she was an airhead. Why wouldn’t he take her seriously?

Because she was blonde?

Or because she was a woman and Dante Romano was an Italian man, incredibly chauvinistic and still stuck in the attitudes of the nineteen fifties?

‘I’m going to run it,’ she said, keeping her voice ice-cool.

He leaned back in his chair. ‘How?’

She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Don’t be insulting.’

‘Signorina Tonielli, you have no experience and the business is in a mess,’ he said quietly. ‘It needs turning around—and I have the knowledge and the staff to do that.’

He was bluffing, she was sure. Things weren’t that bad. She shrugged. ‘There’s a recession on. Everyone’s feeling the bite.’

‘The business is in trouble, and I think it’s more than just the recession. And you don’t have the experience or the staff to fix things.’

‘Signor Romano, you know nothing about me.’ She folded her arms. ‘You’re assuming that I’m not capable of running the business my family started five generations ago.’

‘Not just running it. Taking it out of the red and moving it into this century.’

Red. Exactly what she was seeing, right now, after his smug, pompous remarks. ‘You think I’m too stupid to do that?’

‘Too inexperienced,’ he corrected.

‘And what makes you think I’m inexperienced?’ she shot back.

And then she realised what she’d said. How it could be interpreted. Especially as his gaze travelled over her very, very slowly, from the top of her head down to desk level—and then all the way back again. Assessing her. Appraising her. And he clearly liked what he saw.

To her mortification, she felt the colour seep into her cheeks.

Anyone would think she was sixteen, not twenty-eight. Sixteen, and experiencing her very first interested look from a man.

If Dante Romano had looked at her like that when she was sixteen, she would’ve been a complete puddle of hormones. As it was, her body was already reacting, and she was very glad she’d worn a business suit; the thick material of her jacket would hide the fact that her nipples were hardening.

This was so inappropriate, it was untrue. This was business. She shouldn’t even be thinking about sex. A year ago, she would’ve done more than just think about it. But she was putting that mixed-up part of her life behind her now. She had the chance to start all over again.

Then he spoke, and it was as if he’d thrown a bucket of icy water over her. ‘Have you ever done a real day’s work in your life?’

What? For a moment, she was too surprised and angry to speak. He thought she was the kind of woman who did nothing but party and live off the allowance her grandfather gave her? OK, she’d admit that it had been true enough, ten years ago. But she’d grown up a lot since then. And, until Amy had retired through ill health and sold the gallery, Carenza had most definitely had a job in London. She’d worked damned hard at it.

Striving to keep her voice cool, not wanting him to know how near she was to throwing her glass of water in his face, she drawled, ‘As a matter of fact, I have.’

‘In an art gallery.’

He knew that? Well, of course. If you were planning to buy out a business, you’d want to know exactly what you were getting for your money. He’d obviously done his research on the business—and on her. Except he hadn’t done it thoroughly enough, or he’d know that she was back for good and she wasn’t planning to sell.

In the second before he masked his expression, Carenza could see exactly what he thought. That her job in the art gallery wasn’t a real job—that it was a cushy number for a pampered girl from a wealthy family. That was what the new gallery owner had thought, too. And it wasn’t true. She lifted her chin. ‘All businesses are run the same way.’

‘Are they, now.’ It wasn’t a question.

He clearly believed she wasn’t up to running Tonielli’s. Well, he’d find out the hard way that he was wrong. She was going to do this. More than that, she was going to do this well.

‘I don’t think we have anything more to say to each other, Signor Romano.’ She stood up. ‘Thank you for the drink of water. Good morning.’ And she walked out of his office with her head held high.

CHAPTER TWO

IT WAS good to be home. Back in Naples after ten years away—one spent travelling the world, nine based in London. To live near the sea again, to see the harbour with the little fishing boats and yachts bobbing up and down on the water and the city stretching up the hill from the seafront. The pole by the white rocks in front of the Castel dell’Ovo, where lovers attached a lock with their names scrawled on it in marker pen, making a huge impromptu sculpture that grew and changed every week. The bandstand in the Villa Comunale with its pretty wrought-iron skeleton, orb lights and striped glass awning. The sun setting behind the island of Ischia, turning the sea a heathery purple and the sky a soft rose. And the brooding, broken peak of Vesuvius overshadowing everything.

Now she was back, Carenza realised how much she’d missed it all. Missed the taste of the sea air, missed the sight of the narrow alleyways festooned with flags and washing, missed the scent of proper pizza instead of the stuff that passed for it in London.

Home.

Except it wasn’t quite like before, when she’d been a carefree teen. Now she was in charge of Tonielli’s. The fifth generation—sixth, if you were being picky—with a whole load of responsibility.

She went through the figures for the fourth time that day, and she still couldn’t get them to add up. Her head was starting to throb, so she leaned her elbows on her desk, rested her chin in her hands and rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers, trying to ease the ache. She was beginning to think that maybe Dante Romano had been right. She didn’t have the experience to deal with this.

But what option did she have?

Sure, she could go back to Nonno and tell him she couldn’t handle it. But that would feel like throwing his generosity back in his face. Her grandfather had believed in her enough to let her take over from him and run the business. And he was seventy-three, now. It was time he enjoyed his retirement, pottering around in the garden and meeting his friends in caffès instead of having all the stress of the business on his shoulders. Just as he would’ve done years ago, had her parents not been killed in that car crash. She sighed. No, handing Tonielli’s back wasn’t an option.

She couldn’t ask Amy for advice, either. Sure, her former boss would help—but Carenza knew that Amy had just gone through another course of chemotherapy. The last thing Amy needed right now was this kind of stress. So Carenza really couldn’t lean on her, either.

There was Emilio Mancuso, who, according to her grandfather, had been acting as the manager of the business for a while, but Carenza didn’t feel comfortable with him. She couldn’t put her finger on why—he’d always been perfectly polite to her, if a bit condescending—but there was something about him that made her feel wary. She didn’t want to ask him for help. All her instincts told her that would be a bad idea.

None of her friends her own age ran a business, so she couldn’t ask them for advice.

Which left …

She sighed. Nobody.

You have no experience and the business is in a mess.

Dante Romano was right about that.

It needs turning around.

He was right about that, too.

And I have the knowledge and the staff to do that.

The obvious answer was to sell the family business to him. But, if she did that, she’d be letting Nonno down. Breaking the family tradition. The last generation of the Toniellis, selling out. How could she do that?

Unless …

She smiled wryly. No, that was crazy. He’d never agree to that.

How do you know unless you ask? a little voice said inside her head.

Maybe. But was he as good as he said he was? Could he help her fix the business?

She pushed the papers to one side and drew her laptop closer, so she could look him up online. Dante Romano. Interestingly, there were no paparazzi shots of him with beautiful women. Or men, for that matter—but her gaydar was pretty accurate. That zing of attraction she’d felt towards him yesterday had been mutual, judging by the way he’d looked at her across his desk.

No stories about an acrimonious divorce, either. Hmm. So it looked as if Dante Romano steered clear of relationships and focused on his work.

A workaholic, then.

She looked him up on the business pages. Make that a very successful workaholic, she corrected herself. He had a chain of six restaurants at the age of thirty—pretty impressive, given that he seemed to have come from absolutely nowhere. A little more digging gave her the information that he had a solid track record of buying up businesses and then turning them round. And there was a new rumour in the business world that he was going to franchise his restaurants. Carenza didn’t know much about franchising, but she had a feeling that it meant going national or even international—so Dante Romano would be way too busy to date anyone, right now.

Not that she was interested in his love life. At all. Because she wasn’t going to act on the attraction between them. Right now, she didn’t want to get involved with anyone. She wanted to concentrate on the family business—on feeling that she could do something worthwhile. Get her self-respect back. But would this franchising thing mean that he’d be too busy to help her? And, even if he wasn’t, would he agree to be her mentor—to help her get the business back under control?

It was a risky strategy, she knew, but she had no other real choice. And there was only one way to find out if he’d help her.

Given that he was a workaholic, it was a fair bet that Dante would still be at his office. Her hand was shaking as she punched the number into the phone. ‘Come on, Caz. Don’t be such a wimp,’ she told herself as she pressed the last digit. But with each ring of the phone, her nerves increased. Maybe she’d made a mistake. Maybe he wasn’t there. Maybe she should just give u—

‘Dante.’ His voice was crisp, clear—and every coherent thought went out of her head.

‘Hello?’

Get a grip, Caz, she told herself and took a deep breath. ‘Signor Romano? It’s Carenza Tonielli.’

‘How can I help you, Signorina Tonielli?’

If he was surprised—or if he’d expected her to call and say she’d changed her mind, once she’d had a proper look through the books—it didn’t show. He was polite, formal and absolutely expressionless. Which unnerved her even more.

‘I, um, wondered if we could talk. There’s something I wanted to run by you.’

‘Where and when?’

He certainly didn’t waste any time. Maybe that was why he was so good at business. ‘My office?’ As for when …

‘When would be convenient for you?’

‘Now?’

‘Now?’ She almost squeaked the word into the phone. Whoever had a business meeting at this time of the evening?

Then again, she didn’t need any more time to prepare. There wasn’t anything she could add to make her case. ‘OK. Um, do you know where my office is?’

‘Yes.’

Stupid question. Of course he did. He’d been planning to buy the business. No doubt he’d met her grandfather here. ‘Good. I’ll, um, see you in a bit, then.’

‘Ciao.’

Her hand was still shaking slightly when she put the phone down. Well, she’d done it now. She was going to have to go through with it. Anyway, what was the worst thing that could happen? Just that he’d refuse. And if he did that, she’d still be in the same position she was in now. It wouldn’t make things any more difficult. So it was ridiculous to feel so nervous about seeing him.

She busied herself shaking coffee grounds into a cafetière and boiling the kettle. She’d just rearranged the cups on the tray for the third time when she heard the knock at the shop door.

‘Thank you for coming, Signor Romano,’ she said as she let him in and locked the door behind him.

‘Prego.’ Still perfectly polite and formal. And his face was even less easy to read than his voice. Maybe she should’ve asked him over the phone, instead. It would be a lot easier without those piercing eyes watching her every movement.

‘May I offer you some coffee?’ she asked as she led him through to her office.

‘Thank you. No milk or sugar.’

Easy enough. She could do this.

Except her hand shook as she brought his cup over to the desk, and she spilled coffee all over his suit trousers.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to—’

He cut her off with a shrug. ‘No problem. It’ll come out in the wash.’

But he was unsmiling. Grim, even. And her heart sank. Why had she ever been daft enough to think he was going to agree to this? It wasn’t just a risky strategy, it was an insane one.

‘So what did you want to run past me?’ he asked.

She placed her own coffee very carefully on her desk and sat down. ‘I’ve looked at Nonno’s books.’

‘And? ‘

‘And you have a point. I admit it. I don’t have the experience to turn things round. But—’ she sucked in a breath ‘—if you’d agree to mentor me, I could do it.’

‘Mentor you.’ Again, his voice and his face were completely expressionless. She had no idea whether he was amused, outraged, surprised, interested. Definitely not a man to play poker against.

And then he was silent.

Thinking about it, maybe. Did she interrupt, or give him space, or what?

‘What’s in it for me?’ he asked eventually.

‘How about, you can say “I told you so” and feel really, really smug?’

That earned her a smile, and maybe the slightest softening in those beautiful dark eyes—which gave her enough heart to continue. ‘Seriously, I can pay you to mentor me,’ she said. ‘Tell me what you charge.’

‘More than you can afford, Princess. Remember, I’ve already seen your books.’

Princess? That rankled. But she could hardly have a hissy fit on him. Not if she wanted him to help her.

‘I can pay you,’ she insisted.

‘How?’

She took a deep breath. ‘I could …’ She licked her lower lip. She could sell her jewellery. It would hurt—especially parting with the watch that her grandparents had given her for her twenty-first—but if she could save the business and make her grandparents proud of her, it would be worth it.

He clearly mistook her pause, because he raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m thirty years old. I’ve never had to pay for sex before, Princess, and I have no intention of starting now.’

‘I d-didn’t mean that,’ she stuttered, feeling her face flood with colour. ‘I was going to say, I can sell some of my jewellery.’

Except now he’d put a picture in her head. One that was even more inappropriate than the one that had been there the last time she’d met him. A picture of him naked, in her bed. Buried deep inside her.

Oh, help. She really needed to get a grip. This was about business.

‘Why?’ he asked.

‘Why?’ Think, Caz, think. Except she didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. The circuits in her brain had just scrambled.

‘Why do you want me to mentor you?’

Oh. Yes. The reason she’d asked him here in the first place. The reason that should’ve been uppermost in her mind. Except that picture in her head had got in the way. Big time. She took a deep breath. ‘I’m asking you to mentor me because you have experience at turning businesses round.’ She listed the last three restaurants he’d bought, and the dates.

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Done your homework, then, Princess?’

‘Don’t call me that!’ She glared at him.

Then she remembered. She was asking him a favour. She had to play nice. ‘Please,’ she added belatedly. ‘My name’s Carenza.’

‘Carenza.’ It sounded like a caress, the way he said it. All deep and husky and sexy as hell.

No. She had to focus.

‘You were right, Signor Romano. I don’t have the experience to turn the business round.’

‘And you’re eating humble pie.’ He inclined his head. ‘Interesting.’

‘Why do you have such a low opinion of me?’ she asked.

‘Because I know your type.’ He paused, giving her a measured look. ‘Princess.’

It took all her effort not to glower at him. ‘I’m not a princess,’ she said coolly.

‘Put your feet on the desk.’

She frowned. ‘What?’

‘Put your feet on the desk,’ he repeated.

She had no idea what he was driving at, but she did as he requested.

‘Look at your shoes. High-end designer brand. They’d cost almost a month’s wages for most of your staff,’ he said softly. ‘So are you going to tell me now that you’re not a princess?’

Put like that, it sounded bad. She took her feet off the desk. ‘I had a job in England,’ she said, knowing that she sounded defensive.

‘Uh-huh.’

So he really did think it had been no more than a sinecure. ‘I wasn’t just sitting there filing my nails and fluttering my eyelashes. I was Amy’s PA. I organised things. I know how retail works.’

‘For luxury goods, maybe, but not food. It’s a completely different customer base,’ he pointed out.

‘Look, I’ve admitted that I need help. What more do you expect from me?’

‘Take the easy way out. Sell the business to me.’

She shook her head. ‘I can’t do that.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I’m the fifth generation of Toniellis. It’s up to me to make this work.’ She swallowed hard. ‘I guess I would’ve been the sixth generation. Or maybe if my parents had lived, I’d have had a brother or sister to share the burden of the business with me.’ She shook herself. ‘But you can’t change the past, so it’s pointless brooding over it. You just have to get on with things.’

Dante looked at her. She wouldn’t sell because the business had been part of her family’s life for years. So she had family loyalty after all. Given how few times she’d been back to Italy in the last ten years, he’d thought she’d pretty much abandoned her grandparents, happy with a life of partying in London. And she’d gone seriously off the rails last year.

But maybe Carenza Tonielli was turning over a new leaf. Maybe she wasn’t quite what he’d thought she was.

And, if she really wanted to make the business work, then getting a mentor to teach her the ropes would be the best thing that she could do.

She’d chosen him. Ironic, as he’d planned to buy her out.

He could refuse—but, then again, he owed Gino. The old man had given him a break, all those years ago. Gino had given Dante solid advice, taught him things that had stood him in good stead in business. This was Dante’s chance for payback: to help Gino’s granddaughter and make sure that the gelati business didn’t go under.

And this had nothing to do with the fact that Carenza had the most beautiful mouth and the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. Or the fact that he could imagine that glorious blonde hair spread over his pillow, her lips parted and her body arched in pleasure as he touched her.

‘OK,’ he said abruptly.

She blinked. ‘What?’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Pay attention, Princess.’ He wasn’t going to call her ‘Signorina Tonielli’, not if he was going to be her mentor. But he wasn’t going to call her by her given name, either. It would be too intimate. This way, he could keep some distance between them. Maybe it would keep his wayward thoughts under control, too. He wasn’t used to feeling anything less than in full control of himself, and it unnerved him slightly that Carenza Tonielli could have this effect on him. He pushed the unwanted attraction away. This was business. ‘I said OK, I’ll be your mentor.’

Her face was flooded with relief. ‘Thank you. But I meant it about paying you. I can’t expect you to do this for nothing. I mean, I’m taking your time.’

‘No payment required. I’ll give you guidance, where I can—but you’re going to be the one doing the work, not me.’

‘Thank you. I appreciate that.’ She sat up straight. ‘Where do we start?

‘You can start,’ he said, ‘by wearing something frumpy.’

Carenza could see from the shock on Dante’s face that he hadn’t actually meant to say that. So she wasn’t the only one with pictures in her head, then?

The room suddenly felt way, way too small—and it felt as if all the oxygen had just been sucked out of it, too, for good measure.

‘What’s wrong with my business suit?’ she asked, her voice only just above a whisper.

‘Nothing. The jacket and skirt are fine.’ There was a slash of colour over his cheekbones.

So what was bothering him? Her top? Her shoes? Anger flared. The woman she’d been last year wouldn’t have thought twice about taking off her jacket, strutting round to his side of the desk and teasing him, and she could see in his face that he thought he knew her type; his research must’ve dredged up a hell of a lot of dirt. No wonder he wasn’t taking her seriously. Well, let’s play your little game, Signor Romano, then I’ll show you just how wrong you are about me when I turn you down cold.

She stood up, slid the jacket off her shoulders and rested it over the back of her chair. ‘Is this the problem?’ She fingered the spaghetti straps.

His eyes were very, very dark. ‘You’re playing with fire, Princess.’

‘You started it,’ she pointed out. ‘So what’s the problem with my top?’

He swallowed hard. ‘You’re asking me?’

‘You’re the one with the problem.’

He raked a hand through his hair. ‘OK. If you really want to know … it’s distracting.’

So was he. Especially because tonight there was the faintest hint of stubble on his face—and it made her want to touch. It made her want to know how it would feel against her skin. ‘Distracting, how?’

‘I thought I was supposed to be the one asking the questions?’

‘Distracting, how?’ she repeated.

‘Because it’s designed to make a man wonder if you’re wearing anything underneath it.’

This time there was a definite challenge in his gaze. Hot. Sultry. She could see how much he wanted her. OK, so it was mutual. But she could keep her head. Push him that little bit further. She gave a half-shrug. ‘There’s only one way to find out.’

His breathing was fast, shallow. Just like hers.

‘Show me,’ he whispered.

The words were soft, sweet as honey and sexy as sin. The ultimate temptation. Yeah. She could play this game. And then she’d stop—because she could.

She pushed one spaghetti strap down her shoulder. Then the other. Adrenalin throbbed through her veins. Would he make a move now?