The Italian's Pregnant Virgin

Secret Heirs of Powerful Men

Heir to a Desert Legacy

Heir to a Dark Inheritance

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To my parents, who actually are great

and have always supported me. In spite of

what 90% of my characters’ parents might suggest.

Contents

Cover (#uf7202612-32ad-5b67-96bb-b6fc897f3249)

Back Cover Text (#ubee82719-c3c6-5db2-add5-2142f4b316b1)

Introduction (#uf3dd3316-587c-5a2f-8288-fcbb824c7a45)

Heirs Before Vows (#u73b7949c-1d48-58cc-9901-792e561f53cc)

Title Page (#u409c3953-bc7f-51b4-b698-91f4aa3bfcec)

About the Author (#u6ee12d38-08fe-50c9-b282-79ea74e79afc)

Dedication (#u5652f348-b463-53d3-8ac2-7c60ec508f7e)

CHAPTER ONE (#ub4557879-7f6f-5a6f-92fe-bf310eaf8211)

CHAPTER TWO (#u1a284ace-da39-5794-aca7-189c60bcb105)

CHAPTER THREE (#uf5e46b48-35b4-50c6-b116-b0f9ef0eeb72)

CHAPTER FOUR (#u4e008571-1f5e-5226-a892-ec0c466169fa)

CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE (#u604ee73e-83fd-533f-84a9-6c2e9333a0aa)

“THE THING IS, Mr. Valenti, I’m pregnant.”

Renzo Valenti, heir to the Valenti family real estate fortune, known womanizer and chronic overindulger, stared down at the stranger standing in his entryway.

He had never seen the woman before in his life. Of that he was nearly one hundred percent certain.

He did not associate with women like this. Women who looked like they had spent a hot, sweaty afternoon traipsing through the streets of Rome, rather than a hot, sweaty afternoon tangled in silk sheets.

She was red-cheeked and disheveled, her face void of makeup, long dark hair half falling out of a bun that looked like an afterthought.

She was dressed the same as many American college students who flooded the city in the summer. She was wearing a form-fitting black tank top and a long, ankle-length skirt that nearly covered her dusty feet and flat, unremarkable sandals that appeared to be falling apart.

Had she been walking by him outside, he would never have paid her any notice. Except she was in his home. And she had just said words to him no woman had said to him since he was sixteen years old.

But they meant nothing, as she meant nothing.

“Congratulations. Or condolences,” he said. “Depending.”

“You don’t understand.”

“No,” he said, his voice cutting through the relative silence of the grand antechamber. “I don’t. You practically burst into my home telling my housekeeper you had to see me, and now here you are, having pushed your way in.”

“I didn’t push my way in. Luciana was more than happy to let me in.”

He would never fire his housekeeper. And the unfortunate thing was, the older woman knew it. So when she had let a hysterical girl into his home, he had a feeling she considered it punishment for his notorious behavior with the opposite sex.

Which was not fair. This little creature—who looked as though she would be most at home sitting on a sidewalk in the vicinity of Haight-Ashbury, playing an acoustic guitar for coins—might well be some man’s unholy punishment. But she wasn’t his.

“Regardless, you’re not drawing this out and making a show, and I have no patience for either.”

“It’s your baby.”