Italian Mavericks: Carrying The Italian's Heir: Married for the Italian's Heir / The Last Heir of Monterrato / The Surprise Conti Child. Tara Pammi

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      ‘It’s much better from over here.’ He surprised himself by inviting her to come closer to him. It might be down to the way he always felt relaxed here, or the intimacy they’d shared since arriving, but he wanted her close. He’d never wanted anyone close. What was happening to him?

      ‘I guess so.’ Shyness entered her voice and a blush spread over her cheeks as she went to sit on the sofa next to him, concentrating intently on the fire as if she couldn’t look at him. ‘It’s quite romantic, really.’

      Romantic? Had he been trying for ‘romantic’ when he’d lit it, envisaging them curled up together enjoying each other’s company? He’d wanted to escape everything, just for today, but romance was the last thing he wanted to make her think of. He didn’t believe in romance and definitely didn’t want it in his life. Such things led to more complicated emotions like love, and that was something he didn’t want to tango with—for any price.

      ‘I find a fire relaxing,’ he said guardedly. ‘It’s one of my winter pleasures when I’m here at the villa.’

      ‘We do need to talk.’ She spoke with caution and glanced across at him. ‘About last night.’

      ‘Do you mean the amazing success you made of coaxing Bettino D’Antonio round with your talk of art, or what happened when we returned?’ He also spoke with caution, anxious that she didn’t make too much of the hours they’d spent in bed, the amount of times they’d had sex. He never thought of it as making love. That would give it an entirely different meaning.

      ‘The dinner.’ Indignation cracked in her voice. ‘Do you really think Bettino was impressed?’

      Dante moved across the sofa towards her, took her hand and pressed her fingers to his lips. ‘Mia cara, you positively charmed him, and I am certain that it will be not one but two contracts which will be coming our way.’

      He had a good feeling about the deal now, and he knew he had Piper to thank for that. Her talk of art, of wanting to run her own curating business, had been so spontaneous, so full of enthusiasm, D’Antonio had been unable to resist her—and if truth be told neither had he. He’d sat and watched as her eyes had sparkled with genuine joy and shone with pleasure whilst she was talking about art. He’d also been just a little put out that he hadn’t known exactly how important the subject was to her. She’d told him she liked to visit art galleries, but it was obvious it was far more than that.

      ‘But I’m not qualified. I didn’t finish my course and I don’t have a business.’ She paled as the implications hit her. ‘I can’t take a contract—not when there are good companies out there already. And there’s the baby...’

      ‘A business can be started right now if you want. Your knowledge of the subject is more than enough.’

      ‘You don’t know that.’

      ‘I’m sure it’s sufficient, at least. How far into your degree were you?’

      ‘I’d nearly finished. I was in my last year when my father got sick. I only had my final exams to do, really. I meant to go back, but...’

      ‘That’s more than enough to start with. And a commission from D’Antonio would set you up—if that’s what you want.’

      ‘I’ll think about it.’

      The reservation in her voice made him want to hold her and tell her he’d help her. Why did he want to do that? Why did he feel the need to tangle himself up emotionally with this woman more than he already was?

      He shrugged, letting her hand go, and sat back, studying her pensive expression. There was more—much more to her reservation. He could feel it.

      ‘I have other things to do first.’

      She looked up at him and he held her gaze, challenging her to speak her mind, say what was bothering her—because something was.

      ‘What is so important, Piper?’

      She looked uncertainly at him and apprehension settled over him, suffocating the relaxed peace he’d found.

      ‘I’d like us both to go to London.’ After holding his gaze for the briefest of moments she looked down, her long lashes shutting him out.

      ‘Is there something in particular you wish to do there? Somewhere you want to be seen to validate our engagement?’ He kept his voice light, but inside the fingers of dread were closing in, threatening to choke him. This woman, who’d claimed to want nothing from him, now seemed to want much more than he could ever give.

      ‘Yes.’ She nodded. ‘I’d like us to see my mother.’

      The thump to his chest as the reality of his fears hit him was hard. ‘No. This engagement is to secure a business deal and to legitimise our child. There is no need to bring family members into it.’

      Unease shrouded him. What would his mother think when she read in the papers or the glossy magazines that he was to be married? Worse still, that he was to be a father?

      ‘Surely your mother will want to know? Even if you can’t tell her the sordid truth.’

      The spike of hurt in her voice should have made him feel guilty, but already he could feel his emotions closing off, feel himself withdrawing. They’d shared a night of passion and it should have changed nothing, but somehow it had changed everything.

      ‘My mother will know only what she has to, and I suggest you do the same with your mother. This is not a real engagement and there isn’t any need to complicate it further.’ Anger surged through him as he fought back the fear of what his mother would think of his latest deal, of the false hope he might give her that he’d finally left the past behind.

      ‘Haven’t we already done that with last night?’

      She hurled the accusation at him, her green eyes wide and full of hurt. Already he was upsetting her, causing her pain. As soon as he became close to anyone he did something to hurt them or turn them away, until ultimately they left his life.

      ‘You complicated things in London, leading me to believe protection wasn’t required.’ Immediately he took his usual stance of self-defence, angry that she’d made him feel and, worse, that he cared how she felt.

      ‘No wonder your brother left home as soon as he could!’

      Dante saw a mist of red descend at the mention of Alessio. As if he didn’t already have enough to worry about, she’d opened that wound too. ‘Never bring my brother into this. He and my mother are the reason I fought to make a living, the reason I had to make something of myself. Everything I did, I did for them. I wanted to give them a better life, but it was too late for my brother.’

      She looked up at him, her earlier prickly demeanour evaporating. ‘Too late? Why?’

      The questions filled the void which had opened up between them, connecting them once more in a way he wasn’t sure he could handle.

      ‘My brother kept the wrong company, and after he became a teenager he was always in trouble.’ Dante felt the pull of the connection between him and Piper just as surely as he felt her sympathetic gaze on him. He sensed the danger in opening himself up, exposing emotions he’d buried many years ago.

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