Androletti's Mistress

Androletti's Mistress
MELANIE MILBURNE

Duty forced Nikki Ferliani to leave the only man she'd ever loved–Massimo Androletti–and marry another.Massimo was left with the bitter memory of Nikki, the gold-digging seductress. Now she's widowed and broke, and the only person who can help Nikki is the very man she once betrayed….Massimo has purchased her body for revenge, and she's paid with her heart. Little does he realize that Nikki's now carrying his child, and would have given him both for free….

“Who is the woman sitting opposite me now?” Massimo asked. “Is she the social-climbing gold digger, or the girl with the golden heart?”

“What if I am both?” she asked, a fleeting shadow of sadness in her gray-blue eyes as they returned to his. “What if they are one and the same?”

The waiter appeared at that moment to take their order, giving Massimo time to reflect on her answer. Massimo had waited so long for revenge. He had thought of nothing else for five long years. Each punishing day working at building his investment empire had been for this chance to turn the tables on her. He had been ruthless in his pursuit of wealth and power. His anger toward his stepfather had become almost insignificant as he had planned his revenge on her.

He was not going to be lured in by her innocent act all over again.

This time he would have her where he wanted her, where he had dreamed of having her for the past five years.

In his bed.

MELANIE MILBURNE read her first Harlequin

novel when she was seventeen and has never looked back. She decided she would settle for nothing less than a tall, dark and handsome hero as her future husband. Well, she’s not only still reading romance, but writing it as well! And the tall, dark and handsome hero? She fell in love with him on the second date and was secretly engaged to him within six weeks.

Two sons later, they arrived in Hobart, Tasmania—the jewel in the Australian crown. Once their boys were safely in school, Melanie went back to university and upgraded, receiving her bachelor’s and then her master’s degree.

As part of her final assessment, she conducted a tutorial on the romance genre. While she was reading a paragraph from the novel of a prominent Harlequin

author, the door suddenly burst open. The husband she thought was working was actually standing there dressed in a tuxedo, his dark brown eyes centered on her startled blue ones. He strode purposefully across the room, hauled Melanie into his arms and kissed her deeply and passionately before setting her back down and leaving without a single word. The lecturer gave Melanie a high distinction and her fellow students gave her jealous glares! And so her pilgrimage into romance writing was set!

Melanie also enjoys long-distance running and is a nationally ranked masters swimmer in Australia. She learned to swim as an adult, so for anyone out there who thinks they can’t do something—you can! Her motto is “Don’t say I can’t; say I CAN TRY.”

Androletti’s Mistress

Melanie Milburne

~ UNEXPECTED BABIES ~

ANDROLETTI’S MISTRESS

To my mother-in-law, Joyce, and my late

father-in-law, Alf Wilkinson. I dedicate this book

to you for the very special gift you gave me in

producing the most adorable man in the world—

your son. Thank you from the bottom

of my heart. Love you.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

IT WAS the sort of funeral where no one shed a tear.

Nikki accepted everyone’s condolences with a composed expression on her face, even though in spite of everything she still felt a sense of deep sadness as the coffin was lowered into the cold, dark soil.

‘So sorry about Joseph,’ one of the sales managers said as he shook her hand a few minutes later. ‘But he wouldn’t want to have lingered on any longer.’

‘Thank you, Henry,’ she said, even managing to crack a small, grateful smile. ‘No, indeed he wouldn’t.’

‘Mrs Ferliani?’ A journalist pushed through the small knot of mourners. ‘Have you any comment on the successful takeover bid of Ferliani Fashions conducted by your late husband’s stepson Massimo Androletti?’

Nikki felt a shockwave go through her body at the mention of that name. She’d already scanned the small congregation repeatedly, in case he’d had the audacity to appear, but so far she hadn’t caught sight of him. ‘No, I haven’t,’ she said coolly. ‘Now, please leave; this is a private ceremony.’

‘Is it true there is nothing left of your late husband’s estate?’ the journalist persisted. ‘That Massimo Androletti now owns the business and even the house you live in?’

Nikki set her mouth. ‘I have no comment.’