Italian Marriage: In Name Only

Antonio was barely listening. He had his back to the guy and was reading the directive from his father and the attached documentation.

I’m not getting any younger, Antonio. All I ask is that you marry and provide me with a grandchild. Once you have done that I will happily hand over all of my shares in the business to you.

‘Anyway, she came to heel pretty quickly. She knows we’ve made a damn good offer.’

Tom’s voice was like an annoying drone. ‘Great…’ Antonio murmured distractedly. He looked up from the papers in his hand and out of the window at the street below.

There was a taxi pulling up at the curb, and as Antonio watched he saw Victoria Heart step out onto the pavement.

It looked as if Tom was right. Well, that was one less problem to sort out, he told himself wryly. He was about to turn away when he noticed that she had a child in her arms and that she was struggling to get a pushchair out from the back seat.

He frowned. ‘I didn’t know that Ms Heart had a child.’

‘Yes, she’s a single mother. I did some digging when I was researching her. She’s never been married and there’s no man on the scene and no maintenance for the child.’ Tom’s voice was derisive. ‘Another reason why she can’t afford to turn us down.’

Antonio stilled.

‘Anyway, leave it with me,’ the man told him briskly. ‘I’ll have the deal signed and sealed for you within the next hour.’

‘I’ve changed my mind…’

‘Sorry?’ Tom looked over at him in surprise.

‘I’ve changed my mind. Tell Victoria Heart when she arrives that this deal is off and then get my secretary to show her through to my office.’

‘But…’ Tom turned an interesting shade of beetroot. ‘But…’

With a smile Antonio returned to his office. He’d found the perfect solution to the problem his father had posed. And that solution was Victoria Heart.

‘What do you mean the deal’s off?’ Victoria looked at the accountant in horror, all colour draining from her face. She’d thought that the worst thing that could possibly happen was selling her business to Lancier but now she knew differently. The worst thing was if this sale fell through, because it meant bankruptcy for certain.

‘My boss has changed his mind.’ Tom shrugged. ‘I told you not to delay—I warned you.’

Victoria transferred Nathan over to her other arm as the child wriggled to get down. She was trying very hard to keep calm, but as she stood watching the man coolly shuffling papers on his desk, the feeling was getting further and further away. ‘But we only spoke a few moments ago on the phone!’

‘As I said, it’s nothing to do with me now.’ Tom shrugged again. ‘Take it up with the owner of the company. He said you could go through and see him.’ He closed the files in front of him and looked up. ‘It’s the door at the end of the hallway. I’ll get his secretary to show you through—’

Before he had finished speaking Victoria had swung out of the room and was heading down the hallway. She wasn’t waiting around for any secretary; she needed this sorting out—now.

Without knocking she opened the door and strode into the large sunlit office. And for a moment she thought she had entered some kind of parallel universe as her eyes met with the man’s behind the desk.

Antonio Cavelli!

What was he doing here? Her mind struggled with the situation and she stood nonplussed, holding onto the child in her arms as if he were her only lifeline to sanity.

Antonio by contrast seemed perfectly relaxed; he was lounging back in the leather chair behind his desk, talking in Italian to someone on the phone. He glanced over and motioned for her to take a seat opposite to him. ‘Won’t be a moment,’ he told her in English before returning to his conversation.

Victoria didn’t move. She was aware of the secretary from the outer office coming into the room behind her and whispering a rather breathless apology about Victoria’s intrusion, but she was waved away dismissively. Then the door closed.

‘As far as I can see this is the perfect solution,’ Antonio told his lawyer in Italian as his gaze moved slowly over Victoria, inspecting her from the tip of her flat-heeled shoes up over the unflattering mid-calf-length skirt before lingering on her left hand to make sure she wore no ring. He smiled. ‘But don’t get me wrong, Roberto. This will just be a marriage on paper—a business move. I’ll divorce her once the shares are mine. But what makes this so perfect is that she already has a child.’ His eyes rested on the little boy in her arms as he listened to what his lawyer had to say and he noticed how protectively she held him in against her slender body.

‘I’ve read the documents, Roberto. The old man has forgotten to stipulate that the child must be a direct bloodline to the Cavelli family. He hasn’t even said anything about the Cavelli name. So you see where I’m going with this…a marriage of convenience to a woman who already has a child is perfect.’ Antonio’s lips curved in a triumphant smile as he imagined his father’s horror when he realized his mistake and yet still had to hand over all of his shares in the business. It was the perfect revenge. In fact, Antonio could hardly wait now to tie the knot and present this woman as his wife—was looking forward to seeing the expression on his father’s face when he saw her and her illegitimate child and realized he’d been outmanoeuvred, had lost control of the business.

‘I’ll leave it in your capable hands, Roberto—I want a watertight contract and prenuptial agreement drawing up immediately.’ He leaned forward and flicked through the calendar on his desk. ‘I’m due to fly home to Italy next Monday. So I could marry her that afternoo…Yes, I have a couple of hours free before the flight—that gives you over a week to do your magic with the legal side of things. I’ll get all her details, child’s full name, et cetera, and get back to you.’

Antonio replaced the receiver and silence fell in the office like a blanket of ice. She was glaring at him, her green eyes narrowed like a cat, wary, cornered and ready to pounce.

‘Take a seat.’ He spoke in English again and waved her towards the chair opposite but still she didn’t move. She hadn’t understood a word he’d been saying on the phone but she’d noticed the way he had looked at her and her whole body was still tingling in consternation. He’d made her feel as if she was some kind of object being weighed up ready for auction and found wanting.

How dare he look at her like that! Who the hell did he think he was?

‘So what exactly is going on here?’ Her voice wasn’t quite steady and she hated herself for that. She wanted to be in control, and she certainly didn’t want him to know just how nervous he made her feel. ‘I take it you’re the man behind this takeover deal for my restaurant?’ She tipped her head up proudly. ‘And that you’ve been hiding behind another company’s name?’

‘I am Lancier. I own the company.’ He sounded completely at ease.

‘That’s as may be, but it’s a fact that you conveniently forgot to mention when you were in my restaurant today!’

‘I was in your restaurant to have lunch, not discuss business.’ He sat back in his chair and regarded her steadily. ‘As you know, my accountant, Tom Roberts, has been running the Australian side of my business. I’ve just flown in to look over things.’

‘And you’ve decided you no longer want to buy the lease on my restaurant?’ Her voice was softer now—all the anger and recriminations buried behind a far heavier weight of worry.

‘I’ve had second thoughts about the situation…yes.’ Antonio was distracted slightly as the child in her arms turned to regard him with steady dark eyes.

‘Do you mind telling me why?’ She whispered the question numbly as she transferred her son to her other hip.

For a moment the shapeless jacket was twisted to one side, revealing a glimpse of what appeared to be a very shapely body.

Antonio felt a dart of surprise and his eyes drifted over her more slowly, deliberately assessing her again—but the jacket was back in place now and it was hard to tell what her body was like under its baggy shape.

Realizing what he was doing, he stopped suddenly. This was about business, he reminded himself angrily, nothing else.

‘I was getting around to my reasons.’ He nodded towards the chair. ‘Sit down, Victoria.’

Their eyes clashed and he realized she had noticed his momentary interest and that she was blushing. He cursed himself.

‘Sit down, Victoria,’ he said again, and this time his tone was even more briskly businesslike.

Victoria did as she was told, her legs shaking. Had she just imagined that second bold assessment of her body? Her eyes met with his and the flame of heat inside her intensified.

How mortifying! She knew damn well that Antonio Cavelli was not remotely interested in her—that he was so arrogantly sure of himself that he probably looked at every woman in the same way. Yet here she was, blushing like a school girl! She needed to get a grip!

‘Have you read my business plan?’ she asked suddenly, angling her chin upwards again and meeting his gaze.

She was still blushing. Antonio found it quite amusing. He was used to sophisticated women of the world and her reaction to him intrigued him.

His gaze drifted over her face. And he found himself wondering abstractedly what she would look like without the glasses that were still perched on her nose—they completely dominated her face and did nothing for her.

‘Business plan?’ For a second he couldn’t remember what she was talking about. Then he remembered the folder her receptionist had handed to him earlier today. ‘Oh, that—no. I thought I made it clear this morning. Your idea isn’t something I would consider.’