Once A Moretti Wife
Once A Moretti Wife
Michelle Smart
'I love having you at my mercy And you love it too.'The only desire billionaire Stefano Moretti has for his estranged wife Anna is for revenge. Humiliatingly, she left him weeks agoso when Anna returns to his life, with no memory of their tempestuous marriage, hes certain fate has dealt him a winning hand.Stefanos plan is two-fold: a private seduction that will reawaken Anna to their red-hot attraction, followed by a public humiliation to match the one she landed on him. Until Stefano realises theres something he wants even more than vengeanceAnna, back in his bed for good!
I love having you at my mercy... And you love it, too.
The only desire billionaire Stefano Moretti has for his estranged wife, Anna, is revengeshe humiliatingly left him weeks ago. So when Anna returns to his life, with no memory of their tempestuous marriage, hes certain fate has dealt him a winning hand.
Stefanos plan is twofold: a private seduction that will reawaken Anna to their red-hot attraction, followed by a public humiliation to match the one she landed on him. Until Stefano realizes theres something he wants even more than vengeanceAnna, back in his bed, for good!
Its good to see you up. Stefano hooked an arm around Annas waist, dropped a kiss on the nape of her neck and inhaled her delicious soft floral scent.
Turning his back on her in the early hours of the night had been hard, but necessary. Hed sensed her desire simmering beneath her rigid surface and known that with only a little persuasion on his part she would be his for the taking. But it was too soon. When he seduced her anew he wanted his wife to be a tinderbox of desire for him. He wanted her to beg for his possession. He wanted her helpless to do anything but melt in his arms. He wanted her fully fit and knowing exactly what she was doing.
The more heightened her emotions and her desire for him, the greater the low that would follow when he exacted his revenge.
MICHELLE SMARTs love affair with books started when she was a baby, when she would cuddle them in her cot. A voracious reader of all genres, she found her love of romance established when she stumbled across her first Mills & Boon book at the age of twelve. Shes been readingand writing themever since. Michelle lives in Northamptonshire with her husband, and two young Smarties.
Books by Michelle Smart
Mills & Boon Modern Romance
The Perfect Cazorla Wife
The Russians Ultimatum
The Rings that Bind
Brides for Billionaires
Married for the Greeks Convenience
One Night With Consequences
Claiming His Christmas Consequence
Wedlocked!
Wedded, Bedded, Betrayed
The Kalliakis Crown
Talos Claims His Virgin
Theseus Discovers His Heir
Helios Crowns His Mistress
The Irresistible Sicilians
What a Sicilian Husband Wants
The Sicilians Unexpected Duty
Taming the Notorious Sicilian
Visit the Author Profile page at
millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk) for more titles.
Once a Moretti Wife
Michelle Smart
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
This book is for Jennifer Hayward, writer extraordinaire and a wonderful friend. xxx
Contents
Cover (#ub2526a5c-32a9-5d7b-90df-0736240a91cb)
Back Cover Text (#ufbc55309-9ef0-558e-bfa6-58bce3cd45c2)
Introduction (#u23660fc1-40ef-505f-bdb6-2914e96a6564)
About the Author (#ud2386370-a314-5ad4-847a-ce74adb76ed0)
Title Page (#u1e58d6a0-d7ec-53ab-91d9-a5926b220c4c)
Dedication (#u75f5009c-ef76-536e-b07f-ad0b53aeccef)
CHAPTER ONE (#u949efbf7-8cfb-547b-88b4-01343a92c0ad)
CHAPTER TWO (#u592b79f6-98b6-500e-bf26-0d00b9bde6b5)
CHAPTER THREE (#u0e8a88e4-b4d9-51a9-8cee-023eb91d6a87)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
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)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#u56f813bd-74a4-5b1b-9381-5391be008d01)
HOW MUCH HAD she drunk?
Anna Robson clutched her head, which pounded as if the force of a hundred hammers were battering it.
There was a lump there. She prodded it cautiously and winced. Had she hit her head?
She racked her aching, confused brain, trying hard to remember. Shed gone out for a drink with Melissa, hadnt she? Hadnt she?
Yes. She had. Shed gone for a drink with her sister after their Spinning class, as they did every Thursday evening.
She peered at her bedside clock and gave a starther phones alarm should have gone off an hour ago. Where had she put it?
Still holding her head, she looked around but saw no sight of it, then forgot all about it as her stomach rebelled. She only just made it to the bathroom in time to vomit.
Done, she sat loose-limbed like a puppet on the floor, desperately trying to remember what shed drunk. She wasnt a heavy drinker at the best of times and on a work night she would stick to a small glass of white wine. But right then, she felt as if shed drunk a dozen bottles.
There was no way she could go into the office... But then she remembered she and Stefano had a meeting with a young tech company he was interested in buying. Stefano had tasked Anna, as he always did, with going through the companys accounts, reports and claims and producing her own summary. He trusted her judgement. If it concurred with his then he would invest in the company. If her judgement differed he would rethink his strategy. Stefano wanted her report first thing so he could digest it before the meeting.
Shed have to email it and beg illness.
But, after staggering cautiously around the flat she shared with Melissa, holding onto the walls for support, she realised she must have left her laptop at the office. Shed have to phone Stefano. He could open it himself. Shed give him the password, although she was ninety-nine per cent certain hed hacked it at least once already.
All she had to do was find her phone. Walking carefully to the kitchen, she found a pretty handbag on the counter. Next to it was an envelope addressed with her name.
She blinked hard to keep her eyes focused and pulled the letter out. She attempted to read it a couple of times but none of it made any sense. It was from Melissa asking for Annas forgiveness for her trip to Australia and promising to call when she got there.
Australia? Melissa must be having a joke at her expense, although her sister saying she was going to visit the mother whod abandoned them a decade ago wasnt the slightest bit funny to Annas mind. The letters postscript did explain one thing thoughMelissa said shed gritted the outside step of the front door so Anna wouldnt slip on it again, and asked her to see a doctor if her head hurt where shed banged it.
Anna put her hand to the lump on the side of her head. She had no recollection whatsoever of slipping. And no recollection of any ice. The early November weather had been mild but now, as she looked through the kitchen window, she saw a thick layer of frost.
Her head hurting too much for her to make sense of anything, she put the letter to one side and had a look in the handbag. The purse shed used for a decade, threadbare but clinging to life, was in it. It had been the last gift from her father before hed died. Had she swapped handbags with Melissa? That wouldnt be unusual; Anna and Melissa were always lending each other things. What was unusual was that Anna didnt remember. But they must have swapped because in the bottom of the pretty bag also sat Annas phone. That was another mystery solved.
She pulled it out and saw she had five missed calls. Struggling to focus, she tapped in the pin code to unlock it.
Wrong pin. She tried again. Wrong pin.
Sighing, she shoved it back in the bag. It took enough effort to stay on her feet, never mind remembering a code with a head that felt like fog. It was times like this that she cursed their decision to disconnect the landline.
Fine. Shed flag a cab and go to the office, explain that she was dying and then come home again.
Before getting dressed, she took some headache tablets and prayed her tender belly could keep them down.
She always put the next days clothes on her bedroom chair and now she hugged them to her chest and gingerly sat back on her bed. Where had this dress come from? Melissa must have muddled their clothes up again. Not having the energy to hunt for something else, Anna decided to wear it. It was a black long-sleeved, knee-length jersey dress with a nice amount of swish at the hem but it took her an age to get it on, her limbs feeling as if theyd had lead injected into them.
Damn, her head.
She didnt have the energy to put on any make-up either, so she made do with running a brush gently through her hair and then she staggered to the front door.
On the rack in the entrance porch was a pair of funky black boots with thick soles she hadnt seen before. Surely Melissa wouldnt mind her borrowing them. That was the best thing about living with her sister; they were the same dress and shoe size.
She locked the front door and treaded carefully down the steps. Finally luck was on her sidea vacant black cab drove up her street within a minute.
She got the driver to drop her off across the road from the futuristic skyscraper near Tower Bridge from where Stefano ran his European operations. As Anna waited at the pedestrian crossing next to the road heaving with traffic, a shiny stretched black Mercedes pulled up outside the front of the building. A doorman opened the back door, and out came Stefano.
The green light flashed and, working on autopilot, she crossed the road, her eyes focused on Stefano rather than where she was walking.
A tall blonde woman got out of the car behind him. Anna didnt recognise her but there was something familiar about her face that made it feel as if nails clawed into Annas already tender stomach.
A briefcase whacked her in the back and, startled, Anna realised shed come to a stop in the middle of the road, dozens of other pedestrians jostling around her, some swearing.
Clutching a hand to her stomach to stem the surging rise of nausea, she forced her leaden legs to work and managed to make it to the pavement without being knocked over.
She went through the revolving doors of the building itself, put her bag on the scanner, waited for it to be cleared, then went straight to the bathroom, into the first empty cubicle, and vomited.
Cold perspiration breaking out all over, she knew she was an idiot to have come in. Her hangoverwas it a hangover? Shed never felt anything like thiswas, if that was possible, getting worse.
Out of the cubicle, after shed washed her hands and swirled cold water in her mouth, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror.
She looked awful. Her face was white as a sheet, her dark hair lank around her shoulders...
She did a double take. Had her hair grown?
After popping a mint in her mouth, she inched her way around the walls to the elevator. Two men and a woman she vaguely recognised were getting into it, chatting amiably. She slid in with them before the doors closed.
She punched the button for the thirtieth floor and held onto the railing as it began the smooth ride up.
All talk had stopped. She could feel their eyes on her. Did she really look so bad that shed become a conversation stopper? It was a relief when they got out on the floor below her.
A gaggle of secretaries and administrators worked in the open space in front of the office Anna shared with Stefano. They all turned their heads to stare at her. A couple were open-mouthed.
Did they have to make it so obvious that she looked this awful? All the same, she managed to get her mouth working enough to smile a greeting. Not one of them responded.
She looked around for Chloe, her newly appointed fresh-faced PA who cowered in terror every time Stefano made an appearance. Poor Chloe would not be happy to know shed have to take on Annas duties for the day.
Anna hadnt wanted a PA of her own. She was a PA! But Stefano had thrown so many responsibilities her way in the year and a half since hed poached her from Levon Brothers that when hed caught her working at nine in the evening, hed put his foot down and insisted on hiring someone for her.
Do I get a new job title? shed cheekily asked, and been rewarded with a promotion to Executive PA and a hefty pay rise.
Maybe Chloe was cowering in the stationery cupboard, waiting for her arrival so she could hide behind her. The girl would get used to Stefano soon enough. Anna had seen it with most other employees. It was that mixture of awe and fear he inspired that curdled the stomach, but eventually the curdling settled and one could hold a coherent conversation with him.
Anna had skipped all these stages herself but had seen the effect Stefano had on others too many times not to sympathise with it. He inspired terror and hero-worship in equal measure.
She let the office door shut behind her and came to an abrupt halt. For a moment she forgot all about her pounding head and nauseous stomach.
When Stefano had offered her the job and shed learned it entailed sharing an office with him, shed said on a whim that she would only do it if he decorated her side in shades of plum. Her memories of her first day working for him were ones of laughter, when shed walked into the sprawling office and found one half painted a functional cream, the other varying shades of plum.
Today the whole office was cream.
Shed just reached her desk when the door flew open, and Stefano stood there, as dark and menacing as shed ever seen him.
Before she could ask if hed had an army of decorators in overnight, he slammed the door shut and folded his arms across his broad chest.
What are you doing here?
Not you too, she groaned, half in exasperation and half in pain. I think I had a fall. I know I look awful but cant you pretend I look like my usual supermodel self?
It had become one of those long-running jokes between them. Every time Stefano tried to cajole her into coming on a date with him, Anna would make some cutting remark, usually followed by a reminder that his preferred dates were the gorgeous supermodel type, whereas she barely topped five foot.
Youll get neck-ache if you try to kiss me, shed once flippantly told him.
To which hed immediately replied, Shall we find out now?
Shed never dared mention kissing to him again. Imagining it was more than enough, and wasnt something she allowed herself to do, not since the one time shed succumbed to the daydream and then had spent a good week pretending not to have palpitations whenever she got close to him.
There was no denying it, her boss was utterly gorgeous, even when her eyes were struggling to focus as they were now. There was not a single physical aspect of him that didnt make her want to swoon. Well over a foot taller than her, he had hair so dark it looked black, a strong roman nose, generous lips and a chiselled jaw covered in just the right amount of black stubble. He also had eyes capable of arresting a person with one glance; a green colour that could turn from light to dark in a heartbeat. Shed learned to read his eyes wellthey corresponded exactly with his mood. Today, they were as dark as they could be.
She wasnt in the right frame of mind to dissect what that meant. The paracetamol shed taken hadnt made a dent in her headache, which was continuing to get worse by the second. She grabbed the edge of her desk and sat down. Straight away she saw something else that was wrong, even with her double vision. She strained to peer more closely at the clutter on her desk. She never left clutter. It drove her crazy. Everything needed to be in its correct place. And...
Why are there photos of cats on my desk? She was a dog person, not a cat person. Dogs were loyal. Dogs didnt leave you.
Chloes desk, he said in a voice as hard as steel.
Anna tilted her head to look at him and blinked a number of times to focus. Her vision had blurred terribly. Dont tease me, she begged. Im only twenty minutes late. My head feels...
I cant believe you would be so brazen to turn up here like this, he cut in.
Used to Stefanos own brand of English, she assumed his brazen meant stupid or something along those lines. She had to admit, he had a point. Leaving the flat feeling as rotten as she did really did rank as stupid.
I know Im not well. It was an effort to get the words out. I feel like death warmed up, but I left my laptop behind and needed to get that report to you. Youll have to get Chloe to sit in on the meeting.
His jaw clenched and his lips twisted into something that could be either a snarl or a smirk. Is this a new tactic?
Was her hearing now playing up along with the rest of her? One of the things she liked about working for Stefano was that he was a straight talker, regularly taking his more earnest employees to task for their corporate speak. I taught myself English, he would say to them with disdain, but if Id tried learning it from you I would be speaking self-indulgent codswallop.
She always hid a grin when he said that. Self-indulgent codswallop was a term shed taught him in her first week working for him. His thick Italian accent made it sound even funnier. Shed taught him a whole heap of insults since; most of which shed initially directed at him.
Which made his riddle all the more confusing.
What are you talking about?
He stepped away from the closed door, nearer to her. Have you been taking acting lessons, Mrs Moretti?
Mrs...? She closed her eyes and gave her head a gentle shake, but even that made the hammers trapped in it pound harder. Have I woken in the twilight zone? It didnt sound completely mad when she said it. Quite credible in fact. Shed felt disjointed from the moment shed woken, Melissas letter stating that she was flying to Australia only adding to the incoherence.
When she opened her eyes again, she found Stefano by her desk, his large frame swimming before her eyes.
Youre playing an excellent game. Tell me the rules so I know what my next move should be. His tone was gentle but the menace behind it was unmistakable, his smooth voice decreasing in volume but increasing in danger.
Annas pretty hazel eyes widened. She had clearly been practising her innocent face in the month since hed last seen her, Stefano thought scathingly.
It had been a whole month since shed humiliated him in his own boardroom and walked out of his life.
He placed his hands palm down on her desk and gazed at her, taking in the beautiful face that had captivated him from the start.
I honestly dont know what youre talking about. Anna got slowly to her feet. Im going home. One of us is confused about something and I dont know which of us I hope it is.
He laughed. Oh, she was something else.
You should go home too, she said, eying him in much the same manner as a person cornered by a dangerous dog. If I didnt know better Id think you were drunk.
For a moment he wondered if shed been drinking. Her words had a slurred edge and she seemed unsteady.
But those luscious lips were taunting him. She was taunting him, playing a game he hadnt been given the rules to, trying to catch him on the back foot. Well, he wouldnt fall for her games any more. He wrote the rules, not this witch who had spellbound him with lust.
Shed planned it all from the start. Shed deliberately held off his advances for eighteen months so hed become so desperate to possess her he would agree to marry her just so he could sleep with her.
Hed admit it had been a bit more involved than that but that had been the crux of it. Hed thought hed known her. Hed thought he could trust herhim, Stefano Moretti, the man who had learned at a young age not to trust anyone.
Shed set him up to marry her so she could divorce him for adultery, humiliating him in front of his staff for good measure, and gain herself a hefty slice of his fortune.
He couldnt believe hed been stupid enough to fall for it.
When hed received the call from his lawyer telling him his estranged wife was going to sue him for a fortune, hed quelled his instinct to race to her home and confront her. Hed forced himself to sit tight.
Sitting tight did not come easily to him. He was not a man to wait for a problem to be solved; he was a man to take a problem by the scruff of the neck and sort it. He reacted. He always had. It was what had got him into so much trouble when hed been a kid, never knowing when to keep his mouth shut or his fists to himself.
Hed spent nearly two weeks biding his time, refusing to acknowledge her lawyers letter. In ten days they would have been married for a year and legally able to divorce. Then, and only then, would Anna learn what he was prepared to give her, which was nothing. And he was prepared to make her jump through hoops to reach that knowledge.
He would make her pay for all her lies and deceit. He would only stop when she experienced the equivalent humiliation that hed been through at her hands.
One hundred million pounds and various assets for barely a year of marriage? Her nerve was beyond incredible.
But despite everything shed done, seeing her now, his desire for her remained undiminished. Anna was still the sexiest woman in the world. Classically beautiful, she had shoulder-length silky dark chestnut hair that framed high cheekbones, bee-stung lips that could sting of their own accord and skin as creamy to the touch as to the eye. She should be as narcissistic as an old-fashioned film star but she was disdainful of her looks. That wasnt to say she didnt make an effort with her appearanceshe loved clothes, for examplebut rarely did anything to enhance what shed already been blessed with.
Anna Moretti ne Robson, the woman with the face and body of a goddess and the tongue of a viper. Clever and conniving, sweet and lovable; an enigma wrapped in a layer of mystery.
He despised her.
He missed having her in his bed.
Since his release from prison all those long years ago hed become an expert at masking the worst of his temper and channelling it into other areas, but Anna could tap into him like no one else and make him want to punch walls while also making him ache with need to touch her.
She wasnt a meek woman. Hed understood that at their very first meeting. All the same, hed never have believed she would have the audacity to walk back into this building after the stunt shed pulled.
Im not drunk. He leaned closer and inhaled. There it was, that scent that had lingered on his bed sheets even after copious washes, enough so that hed thrown out all his linen and bought new sets. But if youre having memory problems, I know something that will help refresh it.
Alarm flashed in her widened eyes. He didnt give her the chance to reply, sliding an arm around her waist and pulling her to him so he could crush her mouth with his own.
He felt her go rigid with shock and smiled as he moulded his lips to hers. If Anna wanted to play games she had to understand that he was the rule maker, not her. He could make them and break them, just as he intended to eventually break her.
The feel of her lips against his, her breasts pressed against his chest, her scent... Heat coiled in his veins, punishment turning into desire as quickly as the flick of a switch...
All at once, she jerked her face to the side, breaking the kiss, and at the same moment her open hand smacked him across the cheek.
What do you think youre doing? She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, her tone half shocked, half furious. Youre... Her voice tailed off.
Im what? he drawled, fighting to control his own tone. The potency of the chemistry between them had become diluted in his memories. Hed forgotten how a single kiss could drive him as wild as an inexperienced teenager.
She blinked and when she looked at him again the fury had gone. Fear now resonated from her gaze. The little colour shed had in her cheeks had gone too. Stef...
She swayed, her fingers extending as if reaching for him.
Anna?
Then, right before his eyes, she crumpled. He only just caught her before she fell onto the floor.
CHAPTER TWO (#u56f813bd-74a4-5b1b-9381-5391be008d01)
WHEN ANNA AWOKE in the sterile hospital room, her head felt clearer than it had all day. The heavy pounding had abated but now came something far worse. Fear.
She didnt need to open her eyes to know she was alone.
Had Stefano finally left?
The memory of their kiss flashed into her mind. In a day that had passed as surreally as if shed been underwater, his kiss was the only memory with any real substance.
Hed kissed her. It had been almost brutal. A taunt. A mockery. The blood thumping through her at the feel of it had been the final straw for her poor, depleted body. Shed collapsed. And hed caught her.
He seemed to think they were married. The hospital staff were under the same impression.
Swallowing back the panic clawing at her throat, Anna forced herself to think.
Her memory of the day might be blurry but she remembered snapshots of it. Stefano had carried her to his office sofa while shouting for someone to call for an ambulance. Hed travelled to the hospital with her. Hed been with her through all the prodding, probing and questioning shed endured when shed been awake and coherent enough to answer. Hed even come to the scan with her. If it werent for the dark tension radiating from him she would have been grateful for his presence, especially since Melissa hadnt shown up.
Where on earth was she? It wasnt possible that she could be on a flight to Australia. She wouldnt have done that without telling her. No way. Besides, they lived together. Anna would have known!
Just what the hell was going on?
Never mind all the so-called marriage nonsense, which had to be some kind of elaborate hoax, but since when had Stefano hated her? Theyd always sniped at each other and communicated through sarcasm but it had always been playful, with no sting intended. Today, despite his seemingly genuine concern for her health, it had been like having a Rottweiler guarding her with its teeth bared in her direction.
The door opened and the consultant from earlier stepped into the room, clipboard in hand. She was followed closely by Stefano.
Annas heart rate accelerated and she eyed them warily. They had the look of a pair of conspirators. Had they been talking about her privately?
Whats wrong with me? she asked.
The consultant perched herself on the edge of Annas bed and smiled reassuringly. You have a concussion from your fall last night.
I dont remember the fall, Anna said. My sister wrote it in a letter...have you got in touch with her yet?
Her flight hasnt landed.
She cant be on a flight.
She is, Stefano chipped in. He was seated on the visitors chair just a foot from her bed, his stance that of a man who had every right to be there. Even if she were to ask for his removal, no one would dare touch him.
His break away from her bedside seemed to have done him good though as hed lost the Rottweiler look hed been carrying all day. He looked more...not relaxed, not happy exactly, but...pleased with himself.
Melissas taken a months leave to go to Australia and celebrate your mothers fiftieth birthday, he finished.
Thats not possible. The stab of betrayal pierced her hard. She couldnt have done that. Id know.
The chances are you did know, the consultant said. Your scan has come back clear...
What does that mean?
That theres no bleeding on the brain or anything we need worry about in that regard, but all the evidence is pointing to you having retrograde amnesia.
Amnesia? Anna clarified. So Im not going mad?
The consultants smile was more like a grimace. No. But it appears you have lost approximately a year of your memories.
Anna exhaled in relief. Amnesia she could cope with. There had been moments during the day when shed thought for certain she was losing her mind. And then she remembered Stefanos insistence that they were married...
Dont tell me Im actually married to him?
Now the consultant looked uncomfortable. Youre on our records as Anna Louise Moretti.
There was silence as the meaning of this sank into Annas fragile head.
She didnt know what was worse. Being told Melissa had gone to Australia to see their mother or being told she was married to Stefano. Discovering that there was life on Jupiter would be easier to comprehend.
She turned her head to look at the man who claimed to be her husband. His long legs were stretched out before him, his tie removed and top button undone. He was studying her with an intensity that sent little warning tingles through her veins. It was the look he always gave when he was thinking hard, usually when he was debating to himself whether he wanted to risk his money and reputation on a particular venture.
When Stefano chose to back a business he didnt hold back. He gave it everything. He thrived on the gamble but liked the odds to be in his favour. He liked to be certain that he wasnt going to be throwing away his time, resources and money. It didnt matter how many reports she produced, he would play it all out in his mind, working through it on his own mental spreadsheet.
And now that gaze was directed at her, as if she were a business venture that needed to be analysed. He was mentally dissecting something and that something had to do with her.
Were really married? she asked him.
A slow smile spread across his face as if shed said something amusing but the focus in his eyes sharpened. S?.
None of this made sense. Why would I have married you?
He shifted his chair forward and leaned over to speak directly into her ear. His warm breath stirred the strands of her hair, making her pulses stir with them. Because you wanted my body.
His nearness meant she had to concentrate hard to form a response. This is no time for your jokes. I wouldnt marry you. I have self-respect.
He sat back and spread out his hands. No joke. Were married.
I dont believe you. The very idea was preposterous.
I can give you proof.
We cant be.
There was no way she would have married Stefano. He was gorgeous, funny when he wasnt being brooding and impatient, and rich, but he also had a revolving door of girlfriends. She had always maintained that she wouldnt touch him with a ten-foot bargepole and had told him so on numerous occasions.
Always hed responded with a dazzling grin and, You cant resist me for ever, bambolina.
To which shed always replied with her own grin turned up to full wattage, Watch me.
This time there was no comeback. He pulled out his phone and started tapping away. After a few moments he leaned over to show her the screen. Her pulse made another strange leap at his closeness and the familiar scent of his tangy cologne that had always filled their workspace. She blinked and focused her attention on what he was showing her.
It was a photograph of them standing together on a beach. Stefano was dressed in charcoal trousers and a short-sleeved open-necked white shirt. She wore a long white chiffon dress that had a distinct bridal look to it, and was clutching a posy of flowers. Oh, and they were kissing.
Anna stared at the screen for so long her eyes went dry. Her heart was pounding so hard its beats vibrated through her. When she dared look at him she found him watching her closely.
Did you drug me? She could hardly believe the evidence before her. It wasnt possible. It had to be fake.
We married on the twentieth of November. Our first anniversary is in ten days.
Thats impossible. She did some mental maths. She remembered as far back as her Spinning class, which had been the day after bonfire night, November the fifth.
He expected her to believe shed married him two weeks later? Did he take her for a complete idiot?
But then she looked again at the photo on his screen.
We married in Santa Cruz, he supplied. It was a very... I cant think of the word, but it was quick.
Spontaneous?
Thats the word, s?.
Despite the mounting evidence she still couldnt bring herself to believe him.
If were married, why did I wake up in my own bed in mine and Melissas flat?
There was only the barest flicker of his pupils. Wed had a row.
About what?
Nothing important. You often stay the night there.
Why were you so angry to see me in the office this morning? And why has Chloe taken my desk?
I told you, wed had an argument.
Cheating on me already? she asked, only half jesting.
There was a tiny clenching of his jaw before his handsome features relaxed into the smile that had always melted her stomach. Ive never cheated on a woman in my life.
Youve never stayed with a woman long enough to cheat. Stefano had the attention span of a goldfish. He thrived on the chase, growing bored quickly and moving straight onto the next woman to catch his eye.
Weve been married for almost a year and Ive never been unfaithful, he stated steadily.
Then what were we arguing about?
It was nothing. Teething problems like all newly-weds deal with. You werent supposed to be in this week so Chloes been working at your desk.
The image of the blonde woman following him out of his car popped back into her mind. She had no memories of that woman but the way shed reacted to her, the way her already tender stomach had twisted and coiled, made her think she had met her. Who was that woman in your car this morning?
Before he could answer, the consultant coughed unsubtly. Anna had almost forgotten she was there.
Anna, I appreciate this is hard for you. There are a lot of gaps in your memory to fill.
She sucked in her lips and nodded. A whole year of memories needed to be filled. A whole year that shed lost; a big black void during which she had married her boss and Lord knew what else had occurred. Will I get my memories back?
Brain injuries are complex. There are methods that will help retrieve the memories, things we call joggers, which are aids to help with recall, but there are no guarantees. The countrys top specialist in retrograde amnesia will be here in the morning to see youhell be able to give you more information.
Anna closed her eyes. How long do I have to stay here for?
We want to keep you under observation for the night. Providing theres no further issues, theres no reason you cant be discharged tomorrow after youve seen the specialist.
And then I can go home?
But where was her home? Was it the flat shed shared with her big sister since she was fourteen? Or with Stefano?
The nausea that had eased with the help of medication rolled back into life.
She couldnt have married him. Not Stefano of all people.
Youll need to take it easy for a few weeks to recover from the concussion but your husbands already assured me hell be on hand to take care of you.
So Stefano knows all this? Youve already discussed it with him?
Im your next of kin, he said, his thick accent pronouncing kin as keen, something that under ordinary circumstances would make her laugh. Right then, Anna felt she would never find anything funny again.
No, youre not. Melissa is. Melissa had been her next of kin since her sister had agreed to take sole guardianship of her when shed been only eighteen and Anna fourteen.
The uncomfortable look came back to the consultants face. Anna, I understand this is difficult for you but I cant discharge you unless you have somewhere to go where you will be looked after, for the next few days at least. Your husband is your next of kin but you dont have to go with him. Is there anyone else we can call for you?
Anna thought hard but it was hopeless and only made her head start hurting again. The only person she was close to was Melissa. They both had friendslots of thembut it was only each other that they trusted. Their friends were kept on the fringes of their lives and there wasnt a single one she could impose herself on for however long it took to be deemed safe to care for herself.
But Melissa was on an aeroplane flying to the other side of the world to visit the woman whod abandoned them for a new life in Australia with a man she barely knew.
The betrayal sliced through her again, tears burning in her eyes.
Anna, your home is with me.
She closed her eyes in an attempt to drown out Stefanos hypnotic voice. She wished she could fall into the deepest sleep in the world and wake to find the normal order of things restored.
The sad truth was there was no one else who could take her in or, if there was, she couldnt remember them.
Whatever was wrong with her head though, wishing for something different wouldnt change a thing. Her world might be all topsy-turvy but this was her reality now and she needed to deal with it. Bawling her eyes out and burying her head in the sand wouldnt change anything.
She looked directly at him. I dont remember it being our home. I dont remember a thing about us other than that youre my boss and the bane of my life, not my husband.
Was it her imagination or was that satisfaction she saw glimmer in his eyes?
I will help you retrieve the memories. I dont deny our marriage can be...whats the word? Like many storms?
Tempestuous? she supplied, fighting the urge to smile.
Thats it. We are very tempestuous but were happy together. He straightened his long frame and rolled his shoulders before flashing his irresistible smile. I need to get back to work and get things arranged so I can care for you like a good husband should. Ill be back in the morning for when the specialist gets here.
He handed a business card to the consultant. If you have any concerns, call me. Then he leaned over and placed the briefest of kisses on Annas lips. Try not to worry, bellissima. Youre the most stubborn woman I knowyour memories wont dare do anything but come back to you. Everything will feel better once youre home.
The endearment, bellissima, sounded strange to her ears. The most endearing term Stefano had ever used towards her before had been bambolina, Italian for little doll, which hed thought hilarious. Hed often said he would mistake her for a princess doll were it not for her blunt tongue.
Anna watched him stroll from the hospital room, the good, faithful husband leaving to sort out his affairs so he could dedicate his next few weeks to caring for his poor, incapacitated wife, and all she could think was that she didnt trust him at all.
Until her memories came back or until she spoke to Melissa, whichever came first, she would have to be on her guard. She didnt trust Stefano any further than she could see him.
* * *
Stefano strode through the hospital entrance with a spring in his step. It was at times like this, when he had something to celebrate, that he wished he still smoked. But smoking was a habit hed kicked a decade ago.
He was going to bring his wife home. The woman whod used, humiliated, left him and tried to blackmail him was going to be back under his roof. He had big plans for her.
Those plans would have to wait a few days while she recovered from the worst of her concussion but in the meantime he fully intended to enjoy her confinement. Anna hated being fussed over. She was incapable of switching off, always needing to be doing something. Having to rest for a minimum of a fortnight would be her worst nightmare.
It cheered him further to know he would be there to witness her live through this horror.
Stefano intended to keep his word and ensure she was well-looked-after while back under his roof. He might despise her all the way to her rotten core but he would never let her suffer physically. He could still taste the fear hed experienced when shed dropped in a faint at his feet and knew he never wanted to go through anything like that again. It amazed him that shed been able to get into his offices without collapsing, something the consultant had been surprised by too. If he hadnt been so angry at her unexpected appearance and unprepared for seeing her for the first time in a month, he would have paid more attention to the fact shed looked like death warmed up.
Fate had decided to work for him.
Anna didnt remember anything that had happened between them. The whole of the past year had gone, wiped clean away. He could tell her anything and with her confined to his sole care and her sister on the other side of the world, there was no one to disprove it. Judging from the way shed blanched when shed learned Melissa had gone to Australia, she would be too angry to make contact with her any time soon.
All he had to remember was to keep his bitterness that shed fooled him into marrying her inside. Anna could read him too well.
Hed called Melissa as soon as theyd arrived at the hospital, knowing Anna would want her sister there. Hed been put through to her boss and told that Melissa was on leave and had been planning her trip for months. Considering Anna had never mentioned itand she surely would have donehe guessed Melissa had put off telling her for as long as she could. Certainly, when the two sisters had gone away for their trip to Paris, which he had paid for as a treat for his wife and which Anna had returned from early, determined to catch him up to no good, she hadnt known anything about it.
He found Anna alone in her private room flicking through a magazine, dressed in the same black jersey dress from the day before. She greeted him with a wary smile.
How are you feeling? he asked.
Better.
He sat down in the visitors chair. You look better. Then he grinned and ran a finger down her soft cheeks, causing her eyes to widen. But still too pale.
She jerked her face away and shrugged. I slept but it was patchy.
You can rest when we get home. The consultant had told him in private that the best medicine for concussion was sleep.
I just cant believe Ive lost a whole year of my life. She held the magazine up. Look at the date on this. To me, its the wrong year. I dont remember turning twenty-four. There are stories in here about celebrities Ive never even heard of.
Once we get you home Im sure your memories will start to come back. But not too soon, he hoped. He had plans for his wife. Do you not remember anything about our marriage? He wanted to make double sure.
Not a thing. The last I remember you were dating that Jasmin woman.
Jasmin had been the date whod got food poisoning an hour before his scheduled flight to California for the industry tech awards. It had been her illness that had given him the chance to coerce Anna into attending with him in her place. It was only because it was far too short notice for him to get another date that shed agreed. That, and the designer dress hed had couriered over from the designer personally had helped make her decision. The awards evening had ended with Anna insisting the only way she would have sex with him was if he married her.
He didnt doubt her memories of their time together would eventually return. If anyone could bring them back, it would be his wife, the most stubborn, determined woman hed ever met in his life. But in the meantime...
Our marriage is a shock for you.
Thats one way to describe it, she murmured. Id promised myself I would rather date a baboon than go on a date with you, never mind marry you. Have you really never cheated on me?
He forced his tone to remain light through the blood roaring in his veins. Not once. Weve had a few issues but nothing serious. Weve been working through them.
A few months ago hed been pictured dining with one of his new Swedish directors, a blonde statuesque beauty he hadnt felt even a flicker of attraction towards. Anna had shrugged the ensuing press melee off but hed known it bothered her. A second photo a fortnight later, this time of him dining with one of his female employees in San Francisco, had only added fuel to the fire. Hed explained his innocence, proving the picture had cropped out the other half-dozen employees also dining with them, and she had outwardly accepted it. But her distrust had grown and shed no longer bothered to hide it. Her attitude had infuriated him so much he hadnt cared to explain that he liked socialising when he travelled abroad without her because it made the time pass so much quicker.
He should have known from that point that shed wanted to catch him out just as much as the media had. She had wanted proof of his supposed infidelity.
Her hazel eyes were filled with the suspicion hed become too familiar with. What kind of issues?
Youve found it hard to be my wife. You dont like the media. That much at least was true. Anna loathed being under the media spotlight. There have been many stories about our marriage being in trouble. If we were to believe the press weve split up a hundred times since we married. It is all poppycock. We married quickly. It is natural for us to have the teething problems.
Her nose wrinkled. When you found me in your office it was as if youd found the Antichrist trespassing. What was the argument about that made me sleep at Melissas? Was it that woman I saw you with?
Dio, even with amnesia her mind ran to suspicion. Hed already told her there was no one else. There hadnt been anyone else since theyd flown to California and their relationship had irrevocably changed.
That woman you saw me with is my sister.
Oh. Sorry. She looked shamefaced. I saw her getting out of the car after you and...
And you assumed I was having an affair. Shed made that exact same assumption when shed found Christina in their apartment. Finally shed found the proof shed been waiting for from the very moment theyd made their vows. If shed bothered to ask for the truth he would have given it, but she hadnt cared for the truth. All shed wanted was evidence of infidelity so she could bleed him for as much of his hard-earned money as she could get her grasping hands on.
Hed planned to reveal his sister in court, in front of a judge, so the law could see Annas accusation for the entrapment it was. Hed looked forward to her humiliation. Now he had a different kind of humiliation in mind, one that would be far more pleasurable. If she retrieved her memories before he could pull it off then so be it. He would enjoy it while it lasted.
Sorry, she repeated. I thought you were an only child.
So did I until recently. Ill tell you about it when youre not so exhausted.
On cue, she covered her mouth and yawned widely, then blinked a number of times as if trying to keep her eyes open.
Lie down and rest, he said. The specialist will be here soon and then well be able to go home and youll be able to sleep as much as you need.
As much as he despised the very air she breathed, seeing her vulnerable and weak sat badly inside him, made him feel strangely protective. It made him want to hold her close and stroke her hair until she fell asleep. He much preferred it when her wits were sharp. It put them on equal footing. Her amnesia was a weapon in his own arsenal that he would use to his advantage but he wouldnt unleash its full force until he was satisfied she was over the worst of her concussion.
She nodded and lay down, curling up in the foetal position she always favoured when she slept. After a few minutes of silence when he thought shed fallen asleep, she said, without opening her eyes, What did we argue about that was so bad I spent the night at my flat?
It wasnt anything serious. Its still your flat too and you often stay there. Weve both been playing games. Were both stubborn, neither of us likes to admit to being wrong, but we always make it up.
If it wasnt serious, why were you so angry with me yesterday? You were grumpy for most of the time in the hospital too.
Typical Anna. When she wanted an answer to something she was like a dog with a bone until she got it.
I was hurt that you rejected me. I didnt understand you had amnesia. I was out of my mind with worry about you. Worry makes me grumpy. Im sorry for behaving like that.
Her eyes opened, an amusement he hadnt seen for a long time sparkling in them. An apology and an admission to hurt feelings? Have you damaged your brain too?
He laughed and leaned over to press a kiss to her cheek. She scowled at the gesture, which made him laugh more.
It was as if this Anna beside him had been reset to factory settings before marriage had even been mentioned between them.
I know you have no memories of us. I have to be hopeful they will return. But not too soon. Too soon and he wouldnt be able to fulfil the plan that had formed almost the instant the consultant had informed him that his estranged wife had amnesia.
Their wedding anniversary was now only nine days away. To celebrate it, he had a surprise planned for her that no amount of amnesia would ever allow her to forget.
CHAPTER THREE (#u56f813bd-74a4-5b1b-9381-5391be008d01)
ANNA GAWKED AS the driver came to a stop along the Embankment. Shed always been curious about Stefanos home, situated in a high-rise residential complex overlooking the Thames, which, at the time of building, had been the most expensive development in the world. So naturally, Stefano owned the most expensive apartment within it: the entire top floor.
The driver opened Stefanos door. Before he could get out she touched his arm, only lightly but with an instinctive familiarity shed never used before. You could be telling me anything about our relationship. I cant disprove any of it. How do I know I can trust you?
In all the time you worked for me did you ever know me to lie? he answered steadily.
I never caught you out in a lie, she conceded. In the eighteen months shed worked for him their relationship had been nothing less than honest, brutally so on occasion.
So trust me. He held her gaze with that same intense look that sent tendrils of something curling up her spine.
It doesnt seem I have much choice.
If she could remember her phones pin code she could reach Melissa and ask her but even if she could, she knew she wouldnt make that call. Not yet. The thought of speaking to her sister made her feel sick. She wouldnt call her until she could trust she wouldnt scream down the line at her and say things she knew she would regret.
She must have known about Melissas trip. Melissas letter had said as much. Shed asked for her forgiveness.
How could she forgive that? After everything their mother had done and put them through? Their father had been six feet under for less than six months when their mother had started seeing an Australian man she met through a dating agency. Anna, whod been desperately grieving the loss of the father shed adored, had tried to understand her mothers loneliness. She really had. Shed resisted the urge to spit in the usurpers tea, had been as welcoming as she could be, believing Melissas private assertion that it was nothing but a rebound fling by a lonely, heartbroken woman and that it would fizzle out before it really started. If only.
Three months after meeting him, nine months after shed buried her husband, Annas mother had announced she was emigrating to Australia with her new man.
Stefano pressed his thumb to her chin and gently stroked it. When your memories come back you will know the truth. I will help you find them.
Her heart thudding, her skin alive with the sensation of his touch, Anna swallowed the moisture that had filled her mouth.
When had she given in to the chemistry that had always been there between them, always pulling her to him? Shed fought against it right from the beginning, having no intention of joining the throng of women Stefano enjoyed such a legendary sex life with. To be fair, she didnt have any evidence of what he actually got up to under the bed sheets; indeed it was something shed been resolute in not thinking about, but the steady flow of glamorous, sexy women in and out of his life had been pretty damning.
One of her conditions for accepting the job as his PA was that he must never ask her to be a go-between between him and his lovers. No way would she be expected to leave her desk to buy a pretty trinket as a kiss-off to a dumped lover. When shed told him this he had roared with laughter.
When had she gone from liking and hugely admiring him but with an absolute determination to never get into bed with him, to marrying him overnight? Shed heard of whirlwind marriages before but from employee to wife in twenty-four hours? Her head hurt just trying to wrap itself around it.
Had Stefano looked at her with the same glimmer in his green eyes then as he was now? Had he pressed his lips to hers or had she been the one...?
How will you help me remember us? she asked in a whisper.
His thumb moved to caress her cheek and his voice dropped to a murmur. I will help you find again the pleasure you had in my bed. I will teach you to become a woman again.
Mortification suffused her, every part of her anatomy turning red.
I will teach you to be a woman again?
His meaning was clear. He knew she was a virgin.
Annas virginity was not something shed ever discussed with anyone. Why would she? Twenty-three-year-old virgins were rarer than the lesser-spotted unicorn. For Stefano to know that...
Dear God, it was true.
All the denial shed been storing up fell away.
She really had married him.
And if shed married him, she must have slept with him. Which meant all her self-control, not just around him but in her life itself, had been blown away.
Shed taken such pride in her self-control after her mum had left. Events might fall out of her power but her own behaviour was something she controlled with iron will. All those teenage parties shed been to when alcohol, cigarettes and more illicit substances were passed around and couples found empty spaces in which to make out... Shed been the one sitting there sipping on nothing stronger than a cola and taking great pride in the fact that she was in control of all her faculties. Her self-control was the only thing shed had control of in a life where shed been powerless to stop her father dying or her mother moving to the other side of the world and leaving her behind.
A different heat from the mortification ravaging her now bloomed as her mind suddenly pictured Stefano lying on top of her...
His eyes still holding hers as if he would devour her in one gulp, Stefano trailed his fingers down her neck and squeezed her shoulder. Lets get you inside. You must rest. Youre exhausted.
Anna blew out a long breath and nodded. For once she was completely incapable of speech.
Shed shared a bed with him.
Shed shared more than a bed with him.
Trying desperately to affect nonchalance, she had no choice but to allow him to assist her through the grand atrium of his apartment building to his private elevator. It was either that or have her unsteady legs collapse beneath her again.
Shed always been physically aware of him before but with his arm slung protectively around her shoulders that awareness flew off the scale.
The dividing line shed erected between them and worked so hard to maintain... Noting Stefanos easy familiarity with her; the way he was so comfortable touching her now along with the flirting shed long been used to... Yes, that dividing line had been demolished.
She just wished her body didnt sing its delight at his new proprietorial manner with her.
It was such a relief to be led to a sofa to collapse onto that it took her a moment, catching her breath, to take stock of Stefanos home.
Her home.
It was like stepping into another world.
She was sitting in a living room so vast and wide she felt like a toddler whod stumbled into a ballroom, the room complete with a gold-leafed crystal chandelier gleaming magnificently above her.
Floor-to-ceiling windows covered the entire perimeter and from one aspect gave the most amazing view of the Thameswas that Westminster Bridge she could see in the near distance?
Not a single memory was jogged by any of it. Shed lived here for almost a year but she was seeing it for the first time.
She looked around wondering where everyone was. No staff?
I dont have staff. The concierge service runs my housekeeping for me and I pay them a fortune for it.
When Stefano had first made his fortune in his home town of Lazio, hed employed live-in staff but had soon learned to dislike having other people in his space. Housekeeper, cleaners, butler, chef, gardener...the list had been endless. Being waited on hand and foot sounded fantastic in theory but in practice it was a drag and hed put the staff on day-only duties within weeks.
He was a fully grown man whod been caring for himself since he was fifteen. He didnt need someone to dress him or run his baths. He saw his peers with their homes full of enough staff to fill a cinema and thought them fools for allowing themselves to revert to infancy.
It was all the fawning he couldnt abide. That was one of the reasons hed been so keen to employ Anna as his PA. Shed been completely unaffected by meeting him, a reaction he hadnt received in years. In a business setting he was used to fear being the primary reaction; in his personal life he received desire from women and enthusiasm from men, both sexes looking at him with dollar signs flashing in their eyes. Anna had looked at him with disdain.
Hed strolled into the Levon Brothers offices when theyd been in early discussion about him buying the business from them and shed been behind the desk in the office guarding theirs. Hed handed her his coat as he walked past for her to hang for him and heard a sarcastic Youre welcome, in his wake. Hed paused at the door hed been about to open and looked at her, standing with his coat in her arms, challenge set in her eyes, jutting chin and pursed lips.
What did you say? hed asked.
I said that youre welcome. I meant to say it in my head just as Im sure your thanks for me taking your coat off your hands was said in your head, but it slipped out.
It had been a sharp salutary reminder of the importance of manners, something no one had dared to pull him up on for many years and it had taken a scrap of a woman to do just that.
Hed put a hand to his chest, made a mocking bow and said, Thank you.
Shed nodded primly and crossed the room to hang his coat on the stand. Shorter than the women who usually caught his eye, she had the most exquisite figure, perfectly proportioned. He remembered exactly what shed been wearing that day, a billowing checked skirt that had fallen below her knees, long tan boots with spiked heels, a tight black vest and a fitted khaki-coloured jacket, all pulled together with a thick belt with studs that looked sharp enough to have someones eye out.
Do I dare ask if you make coffee? hed asked, fascinated by her.
You can ask but bewarerefusal often offends.
Roaring with laughter, hed gone into his meeting. Within an hour, when the beautiful, sarcastic secretary had been brought in six times to explain the report shed compiled for him but which the idiots running the company didnt understand, hed known he was going to buy the company and poach her to be his PA. It turned out Anna was the real brains behind Levon Brothers. Without her by their side and covering their messes, it would never have taken off. With her by Stefanos side, Morettis could only strengthen further.
It had been the best business decision hed ever made. Hed learned to trust her judgement completely.
Hed believed her to be as straight as a line. Hed thought that with Anna what you saw was what you got, when all along shed been nothing but a grasping gold-digger.
Now the bravado that always shone in her eyes was muted by alarm. Its just you and me here?
We like our privacy, he said. We can walk around naked without having to worry that well frighten anyone.
Her cheeks turned the most becoming crimson but she raised a tired brow and wanly retorted, I can assure you I wont be walking anywhere naked within a mile of you.
Amused by her stubbornness even when she was so clearly ready to fall into a dead sleep, he whispered into her ear, And I can assure you that when youre feeling better you will never want to put your clothes on. Believe me, bellissima, we spend a lot of time together naked.
If I dont remember it then it didnt happen.
Studying the firm set of her lips, he remembered what it had been like between them when theyd first married. Hed had no idea she was a virgin until shed blurted it out when theyd walked into the bridal suite hours after exchanging their vows. Shed stood as defiant as she did now but there had been something in her eyes hed never seen in her before: fear. That had been a bigger shock than her declaration of virginity.
Hed made love to her so slowly and tenderly that night that when hed felt her first climax hed been as triumphant and elated as if hed been the first man to conquer Mount Everest. That night had been special. Precious. And it had only been the start.
Once Anna had discovered the joy of sex shed been a woman reborn and unleashed.
She had no memories of any of it. When he next saw her naked, for Anna it would be the first time, and he remembered how painfully shy shed been then.
He took one of her hands and razed a kiss across the knuckles. Can you walk to the bedroom or shall I carry you?
Her eyes flashed and she managed to inflect dignity into her reply. I can walk.
She allowed him to help her to her feet and held onto his arm as he led her to the bedroom hed slept alone in for the past month.
The last twenty-four hours had brought such a change to his fortunes that Stefano was tempted to wonder whether it was he who had suffered a bump to his head.
His wife was back under his roof and shortly to be back in his bed.
He caught her unconcealed surprise when he opened the door to reveal a room cast in soft muted colours and dominated by an enormous emperor bed.
We chose the decor together, he told her. You chose the bed. It had been the first thing theyd bought as a married couple. Hed known she would hate sleeping in a bed hed shared with other women.
And now they would share it again. Anna needed to know that this was theirs, a bedroom theyd created together, a room theyd made love in hundreds of times. He needed to consolidate in her mind that they were a properly married couple and that it was natural for them to sleep together.
He couldnt begin to dissect his own feelings about sleeping by the side of the woman who had played him for a fool so spectacularly.
Seriously? she asked in a voice that had gone husky.
S?. And when youre better I can promise youll enjoy it as we always used to. But all that can wait. Consultants orders are for you to do nothing but rest for the next few days. I promised I would take care of you and you know I am a man of my word.
He always kept his word. To his way of thinking it was what separated humans from animals. Hed married Anna giving his word that he would be faithful. Hed given his word that if he ever felt the impulse to cheat he would tell her before acting on it and they would go their separate ways.
Shed given him her word too. Shed promised she would trust him. Her word had been a lie. Her intentions had been a lie. It had all been a lie. Their entire marriage had been built on lies and deception. No sooner had she left him than shed hit him with her demands for a massive slice of the fortune hed built from nothing.
.
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, (https://www.litres.ru/michelle-smart/once-a-moretti-wife/) .
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Michelle Smart
'I love having you at my mercy And you love it too.'The only desire billionaire Stefano Moretti has for his estranged wife Anna is for revenge. Humiliatingly, she left him weeks agoso when Anna returns to his life, with no memory of their tempestuous marriage, hes certain fate has dealt him a winning hand.Stefanos plan is two-fold: a private seduction that will reawaken Anna to their red-hot attraction, followed by a public humiliation to match the one she landed on him. Until Stefano realises theres something he wants even more than vengeanceAnna, back in his bed for good!
I love having you at my mercy... And you love it, too.
The only desire billionaire Stefano Moretti has for his estranged wife, Anna, is revengeshe humiliatingly left him weeks ago. So when Anna returns to his life, with no memory of their tempestuous marriage, hes certain fate has dealt him a winning hand.
Stefanos plan is twofold: a private seduction that will reawaken Anna to their red-hot attraction, followed by a public humiliation to match the one she landed on him. Until Stefano realizes theres something he wants even more than vengeanceAnna, back in his bed, for good!
Its good to see you up. Stefano hooked an arm around Annas waist, dropped a kiss on the nape of her neck and inhaled her delicious soft floral scent.
Turning his back on her in the early hours of the night had been hard, but necessary. Hed sensed her desire simmering beneath her rigid surface and known that with only a little persuasion on his part she would be his for the taking. But it was too soon. When he seduced her anew he wanted his wife to be a tinderbox of desire for him. He wanted her to beg for his possession. He wanted her helpless to do anything but melt in his arms. He wanted her fully fit and knowing exactly what she was doing.
The more heightened her emotions and her desire for him, the greater the low that would follow when he exacted his revenge.
MICHELLE SMARTs love affair with books started when she was a baby, when she would cuddle them in her cot. A voracious reader of all genres, she found her love of romance established when she stumbled across her first Mills & Boon book at the age of twelve. Shes been readingand writing themever since. Michelle lives in Northamptonshire with her husband, and two young Smarties.
Books by Michelle Smart
Mills & Boon Modern Romance
The Perfect Cazorla Wife
The Russians Ultimatum
The Rings that Bind
Brides for Billionaires
Married for the Greeks Convenience
One Night With Consequences
Claiming His Christmas Consequence
Wedlocked!
Wedded, Bedded, Betrayed
The Kalliakis Crown
Talos Claims His Virgin
Theseus Discovers His Heir
Helios Crowns His Mistress
The Irresistible Sicilians
What a Sicilian Husband Wants
The Sicilians Unexpected Duty
Taming the Notorious Sicilian
Visit the Author Profile page at
millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk) for more titles.
Once a Moretti Wife
Michelle Smart
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
This book is for Jennifer Hayward, writer extraordinaire and a wonderful friend. xxx
Contents
Cover (#ub2526a5c-32a9-5d7b-90df-0736240a91cb)
Back Cover Text (#ufbc55309-9ef0-558e-bfa6-58bce3cd45c2)
Introduction (#u23660fc1-40ef-505f-bdb6-2914e96a6564)
About the Author (#ud2386370-a314-5ad4-847a-ce74adb76ed0)
Title Page (#u1e58d6a0-d7ec-53ab-91d9-a5926b220c4c)
Dedication (#u75f5009c-ef76-536e-b07f-ad0b53aeccef)
CHAPTER ONE (#u949efbf7-8cfb-547b-88b4-01343a92c0ad)
CHAPTER TWO (#u592b79f6-98b6-500e-bf26-0d00b9bde6b5)
CHAPTER THREE (#u0e8a88e4-b4d9-51a9-8cee-023eb91d6a87)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
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)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#u56f813bd-74a4-5b1b-9381-5391be008d01)
HOW MUCH HAD she drunk?
Anna Robson clutched her head, which pounded as if the force of a hundred hammers were battering it.
There was a lump there. She prodded it cautiously and winced. Had she hit her head?
She racked her aching, confused brain, trying hard to remember. Shed gone out for a drink with Melissa, hadnt she? Hadnt she?
Yes. She had. Shed gone for a drink with her sister after their Spinning class, as they did every Thursday evening.
She peered at her bedside clock and gave a starther phones alarm should have gone off an hour ago. Where had she put it?
Still holding her head, she looked around but saw no sight of it, then forgot all about it as her stomach rebelled. She only just made it to the bathroom in time to vomit.
Done, she sat loose-limbed like a puppet on the floor, desperately trying to remember what shed drunk. She wasnt a heavy drinker at the best of times and on a work night she would stick to a small glass of white wine. But right then, she felt as if shed drunk a dozen bottles.
There was no way she could go into the office... But then she remembered she and Stefano had a meeting with a young tech company he was interested in buying. Stefano had tasked Anna, as he always did, with going through the companys accounts, reports and claims and producing her own summary. He trusted her judgement. If it concurred with his then he would invest in the company. If her judgement differed he would rethink his strategy. Stefano wanted her report first thing so he could digest it before the meeting.
Shed have to email it and beg illness.
But, after staggering cautiously around the flat she shared with Melissa, holding onto the walls for support, she realised she must have left her laptop at the office. Shed have to phone Stefano. He could open it himself. Shed give him the password, although she was ninety-nine per cent certain hed hacked it at least once already.
All she had to do was find her phone. Walking carefully to the kitchen, she found a pretty handbag on the counter. Next to it was an envelope addressed with her name.
She blinked hard to keep her eyes focused and pulled the letter out. She attempted to read it a couple of times but none of it made any sense. It was from Melissa asking for Annas forgiveness for her trip to Australia and promising to call when she got there.
Australia? Melissa must be having a joke at her expense, although her sister saying she was going to visit the mother whod abandoned them a decade ago wasnt the slightest bit funny to Annas mind. The letters postscript did explain one thing thoughMelissa said shed gritted the outside step of the front door so Anna wouldnt slip on it again, and asked her to see a doctor if her head hurt where shed banged it.
Anna put her hand to the lump on the side of her head. She had no recollection whatsoever of slipping. And no recollection of any ice. The early November weather had been mild but now, as she looked through the kitchen window, she saw a thick layer of frost.
Her head hurting too much for her to make sense of anything, she put the letter to one side and had a look in the handbag. The purse shed used for a decade, threadbare but clinging to life, was in it. It had been the last gift from her father before hed died. Had she swapped handbags with Melissa? That wouldnt be unusual; Anna and Melissa were always lending each other things. What was unusual was that Anna didnt remember. But they must have swapped because in the bottom of the pretty bag also sat Annas phone. That was another mystery solved.
She pulled it out and saw she had five missed calls. Struggling to focus, she tapped in the pin code to unlock it.
Wrong pin. She tried again. Wrong pin.
Sighing, she shoved it back in the bag. It took enough effort to stay on her feet, never mind remembering a code with a head that felt like fog. It was times like this that she cursed their decision to disconnect the landline.
Fine. Shed flag a cab and go to the office, explain that she was dying and then come home again.
Before getting dressed, she took some headache tablets and prayed her tender belly could keep them down.
She always put the next days clothes on her bedroom chair and now she hugged them to her chest and gingerly sat back on her bed. Where had this dress come from? Melissa must have muddled their clothes up again. Not having the energy to hunt for something else, Anna decided to wear it. It was a black long-sleeved, knee-length jersey dress with a nice amount of swish at the hem but it took her an age to get it on, her limbs feeling as if theyd had lead injected into them.
Damn, her head.
She didnt have the energy to put on any make-up either, so she made do with running a brush gently through her hair and then she staggered to the front door.
On the rack in the entrance porch was a pair of funky black boots with thick soles she hadnt seen before. Surely Melissa wouldnt mind her borrowing them. That was the best thing about living with her sister; they were the same dress and shoe size.
She locked the front door and treaded carefully down the steps. Finally luck was on her sidea vacant black cab drove up her street within a minute.
She got the driver to drop her off across the road from the futuristic skyscraper near Tower Bridge from where Stefano ran his European operations. As Anna waited at the pedestrian crossing next to the road heaving with traffic, a shiny stretched black Mercedes pulled up outside the front of the building. A doorman opened the back door, and out came Stefano.
The green light flashed and, working on autopilot, she crossed the road, her eyes focused on Stefano rather than where she was walking.
A tall blonde woman got out of the car behind him. Anna didnt recognise her but there was something familiar about her face that made it feel as if nails clawed into Annas already tender stomach.
A briefcase whacked her in the back and, startled, Anna realised shed come to a stop in the middle of the road, dozens of other pedestrians jostling around her, some swearing.
Clutching a hand to her stomach to stem the surging rise of nausea, she forced her leaden legs to work and managed to make it to the pavement without being knocked over.
She went through the revolving doors of the building itself, put her bag on the scanner, waited for it to be cleared, then went straight to the bathroom, into the first empty cubicle, and vomited.
Cold perspiration breaking out all over, she knew she was an idiot to have come in. Her hangoverwas it a hangover? Shed never felt anything like thiswas, if that was possible, getting worse.
Out of the cubicle, after shed washed her hands and swirled cold water in her mouth, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror.
She looked awful. Her face was white as a sheet, her dark hair lank around her shoulders...
She did a double take. Had her hair grown?
After popping a mint in her mouth, she inched her way around the walls to the elevator. Two men and a woman she vaguely recognised were getting into it, chatting amiably. She slid in with them before the doors closed.
She punched the button for the thirtieth floor and held onto the railing as it began the smooth ride up.
All talk had stopped. She could feel their eyes on her. Did she really look so bad that shed become a conversation stopper? It was a relief when they got out on the floor below her.
A gaggle of secretaries and administrators worked in the open space in front of the office Anna shared with Stefano. They all turned their heads to stare at her. A couple were open-mouthed.
Did they have to make it so obvious that she looked this awful? All the same, she managed to get her mouth working enough to smile a greeting. Not one of them responded.
She looked around for Chloe, her newly appointed fresh-faced PA who cowered in terror every time Stefano made an appearance. Poor Chloe would not be happy to know shed have to take on Annas duties for the day.
Anna hadnt wanted a PA of her own. She was a PA! But Stefano had thrown so many responsibilities her way in the year and a half since hed poached her from Levon Brothers that when hed caught her working at nine in the evening, hed put his foot down and insisted on hiring someone for her.
Do I get a new job title? shed cheekily asked, and been rewarded with a promotion to Executive PA and a hefty pay rise.
Maybe Chloe was cowering in the stationery cupboard, waiting for her arrival so she could hide behind her. The girl would get used to Stefano soon enough. Anna had seen it with most other employees. It was that mixture of awe and fear he inspired that curdled the stomach, but eventually the curdling settled and one could hold a coherent conversation with him.
Anna had skipped all these stages herself but had seen the effect Stefano had on others too many times not to sympathise with it. He inspired terror and hero-worship in equal measure.
She let the office door shut behind her and came to an abrupt halt. For a moment she forgot all about her pounding head and nauseous stomach.
When Stefano had offered her the job and shed learned it entailed sharing an office with him, shed said on a whim that she would only do it if he decorated her side in shades of plum. Her memories of her first day working for him were ones of laughter, when shed walked into the sprawling office and found one half painted a functional cream, the other varying shades of plum.
Today the whole office was cream.
Shed just reached her desk when the door flew open, and Stefano stood there, as dark and menacing as shed ever seen him.
Before she could ask if hed had an army of decorators in overnight, he slammed the door shut and folded his arms across his broad chest.
What are you doing here?
Not you too, she groaned, half in exasperation and half in pain. I think I had a fall. I know I look awful but cant you pretend I look like my usual supermodel self?
It had become one of those long-running jokes between them. Every time Stefano tried to cajole her into coming on a date with him, Anna would make some cutting remark, usually followed by a reminder that his preferred dates were the gorgeous supermodel type, whereas she barely topped five foot.
Youll get neck-ache if you try to kiss me, shed once flippantly told him.
To which hed immediately replied, Shall we find out now?
Shed never dared mention kissing to him again. Imagining it was more than enough, and wasnt something she allowed herself to do, not since the one time shed succumbed to the daydream and then had spent a good week pretending not to have palpitations whenever she got close to him.
There was no denying it, her boss was utterly gorgeous, even when her eyes were struggling to focus as they were now. There was not a single physical aspect of him that didnt make her want to swoon. Well over a foot taller than her, he had hair so dark it looked black, a strong roman nose, generous lips and a chiselled jaw covered in just the right amount of black stubble. He also had eyes capable of arresting a person with one glance; a green colour that could turn from light to dark in a heartbeat. Shed learned to read his eyes wellthey corresponded exactly with his mood. Today, they were as dark as they could be.
She wasnt in the right frame of mind to dissect what that meant. The paracetamol shed taken hadnt made a dent in her headache, which was continuing to get worse by the second. She grabbed the edge of her desk and sat down. Straight away she saw something else that was wrong, even with her double vision. She strained to peer more closely at the clutter on her desk. She never left clutter. It drove her crazy. Everything needed to be in its correct place. And...
Why are there photos of cats on my desk? She was a dog person, not a cat person. Dogs were loyal. Dogs didnt leave you.
Chloes desk, he said in a voice as hard as steel.
Anna tilted her head to look at him and blinked a number of times to focus. Her vision had blurred terribly. Dont tease me, she begged. Im only twenty minutes late. My head feels...
I cant believe you would be so brazen to turn up here like this, he cut in.
Used to Stefanos own brand of English, she assumed his brazen meant stupid or something along those lines. She had to admit, he had a point. Leaving the flat feeling as rotten as she did really did rank as stupid.
I know Im not well. It was an effort to get the words out. I feel like death warmed up, but I left my laptop behind and needed to get that report to you. Youll have to get Chloe to sit in on the meeting.
His jaw clenched and his lips twisted into something that could be either a snarl or a smirk. Is this a new tactic?
Was her hearing now playing up along with the rest of her? One of the things she liked about working for Stefano was that he was a straight talker, regularly taking his more earnest employees to task for their corporate speak. I taught myself English, he would say to them with disdain, but if Id tried learning it from you I would be speaking self-indulgent codswallop.
She always hid a grin when he said that. Self-indulgent codswallop was a term shed taught him in her first week working for him. His thick Italian accent made it sound even funnier. Shed taught him a whole heap of insults since; most of which shed initially directed at him.
Which made his riddle all the more confusing.
What are you talking about?
He stepped away from the closed door, nearer to her. Have you been taking acting lessons, Mrs Moretti?
Mrs...? She closed her eyes and gave her head a gentle shake, but even that made the hammers trapped in it pound harder. Have I woken in the twilight zone? It didnt sound completely mad when she said it. Quite credible in fact. Shed felt disjointed from the moment shed woken, Melissas letter stating that she was flying to Australia only adding to the incoherence.
When she opened her eyes again, she found Stefano by her desk, his large frame swimming before her eyes.
Youre playing an excellent game. Tell me the rules so I know what my next move should be. His tone was gentle but the menace behind it was unmistakable, his smooth voice decreasing in volume but increasing in danger.
Annas pretty hazel eyes widened. She had clearly been practising her innocent face in the month since hed last seen her, Stefano thought scathingly.
It had been a whole month since shed humiliated him in his own boardroom and walked out of his life.
He placed his hands palm down on her desk and gazed at her, taking in the beautiful face that had captivated him from the start.
I honestly dont know what youre talking about. Anna got slowly to her feet. Im going home. One of us is confused about something and I dont know which of us I hope it is.
He laughed. Oh, she was something else.
You should go home too, she said, eying him in much the same manner as a person cornered by a dangerous dog. If I didnt know better Id think you were drunk.
For a moment he wondered if shed been drinking. Her words had a slurred edge and she seemed unsteady.
But those luscious lips were taunting him. She was taunting him, playing a game he hadnt been given the rules to, trying to catch him on the back foot. Well, he wouldnt fall for her games any more. He wrote the rules, not this witch who had spellbound him with lust.
Shed planned it all from the start. Shed deliberately held off his advances for eighteen months so hed become so desperate to possess her he would agree to marry her just so he could sleep with her.
Hed admit it had been a bit more involved than that but that had been the crux of it. Hed thought hed known her. Hed thought he could trust herhim, Stefano Moretti, the man who had learned at a young age not to trust anyone.
Shed set him up to marry her so she could divorce him for adultery, humiliating him in front of his staff for good measure, and gain herself a hefty slice of his fortune.
He couldnt believe hed been stupid enough to fall for it.
When hed received the call from his lawyer telling him his estranged wife was going to sue him for a fortune, hed quelled his instinct to race to her home and confront her. Hed forced himself to sit tight.
Sitting tight did not come easily to him. He was not a man to wait for a problem to be solved; he was a man to take a problem by the scruff of the neck and sort it. He reacted. He always had. It was what had got him into so much trouble when hed been a kid, never knowing when to keep his mouth shut or his fists to himself.
Hed spent nearly two weeks biding his time, refusing to acknowledge her lawyers letter. In ten days they would have been married for a year and legally able to divorce. Then, and only then, would Anna learn what he was prepared to give her, which was nothing. And he was prepared to make her jump through hoops to reach that knowledge.
He would make her pay for all her lies and deceit. He would only stop when she experienced the equivalent humiliation that hed been through at her hands.
One hundred million pounds and various assets for barely a year of marriage? Her nerve was beyond incredible.
But despite everything shed done, seeing her now, his desire for her remained undiminished. Anna was still the sexiest woman in the world. Classically beautiful, she had shoulder-length silky dark chestnut hair that framed high cheekbones, bee-stung lips that could sting of their own accord and skin as creamy to the touch as to the eye. She should be as narcissistic as an old-fashioned film star but she was disdainful of her looks. That wasnt to say she didnt make an effort with her appearanceshe loved clothes, for examplebut rarely did anything to enhance what shed already been blessed with.
Anna Moretti ne Robson, the woman with the face and body of a goddess and the tongue of a viper. Clever and conniving, sweet and lovable; an enigma wrapped in a layer of mystery.
He despised her.
He missed having her in his bed.
Since his release from prison all those long years ago hed become an expert at masking the worst of his temper and channelling it into other areas, but Anna could tap into him like no one else and make him want to punch walls while also making him ache with need to touch her.
She wasnt a meek woman. Hed understood that at their very first meeting. All the same, hed never have believed she would have the audacity to walk back into this building after the stunt shed pulled.
Im not drunk. He leaned closer and inhaled. There it was, that scent that had lingered on his bed sheets even after copious washes, enough so that hed thrown out all his linen and bought new sets. But if youre having memory problems, I know something that will help refresh it.
Alarm flashed in her widened eyes. He didnt give her the chance to reply, sliding an arm around her waist and pulling her to him so he could crush her mouth with his own.
He felt her go rigid with shock and smiled as he moulded his lips to hers. If Anna wanted to play games she had to understand that he was the rule maker, not her. He could make them and break them, just as he intended to eventually break her.
The feel of her lips against his, her breasts pressed against his chest, her scent... Heat coiled in his veins, punishment turning into desire as quickly as the flick of a switch...
All at once, she jerked her face to the side, breaking the kiss, and at the same moment her open hand smacked him across the cheek.
What do you think youre doing? She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, her tone half shocked, half furious. Youre... Her voice tailed off.
Im what? he drawled, fighting to control his own tone. The potency of the chemistry between them had become diluted in his memories. Hed forgotten how a single kiss could drive him as wild as an inexperienced teenager.
She blinked and when she looked at him again the fury had gone. Fear now resonated from her gaze. The little colour shed had in her cheeks had gone too. Stef...
She swayed, her fingers extending as if reaching for him.
Anna?
Then, right before his eyes, she crumpled. He only just caught her before she fell onto the floor.
CHAPTER TWO (#u56f813bd-74a4-5b1b-9381-5391be008d01)
WHEN ANNA AWOKE in the sterile hospital room, her head felt clearer than it had all day. The heavy pounding had abated but now came something far worse. Fear.
She didnt need to open her eyes to know she was alone.
Had Stefano finally left?
The memory of their kiss flashed into her mind. In a day that had passed as surreally as if shed been underwater, his kiss was the only memory with any real substance.
Hed kissed her. It had been almost brutal. A taunt. A mockery. The blood thumping through her at the feel of it had been the final straw for her poor, depleted body. Shed collapsed. And hed caught her.
He seemed to think they were married. The hospital staff were under the same impression.
Swallowing back the panic clawing at her throat, Anna forced herself to think.
Her memory of the day might be blurry but she remembered snapshots of it. Stefano had carried her to his office sofa while shouting for someone to call for an ambulance. Hed travelled to the hospital with her. Hed been with her through all the prodding, probing and questioning shed endured when shed been awake and coherent enough to answer. Hed even come to the scan with her. If it werent for the dark tension radiating from him she would have been grateful for his presence, especially since Melissa hadnt shown up.
Where on earth was she? It wasnt possible that she could be on a flight to Australia. She wouldnt have done that without telling her. No way. Besides, they lived together. Anna would have known!
Just what the hell was going on?
Never mind all the so-called marriage nonsense, which had to be some kind of elaborate hoax, but since when had Stefano hated her? Theyd always sniped at each other and communicated through sarcasm but it had always been playful, with no sting intended. Today, despite his seemingly genuine concern for her health, it had been like having a Rottweiler guarding her with its teeth bared in her direction.
The door opened and the consultant from earlier stepped into the room, clipboard in hand. She was followed closely by Stefano.
Annas heart rate accelerated and she eyed them warily. They had the look of a pair of conspirators. Had they been talking about her privately?
Whats wrong with me? she asked.
The consultant perched herself on the edge of Annas bed and smiled reassuringly. You have a concussion from your fall last night.
I dont remember the fall, Anna said. My sister wrote it in a letter...have you got in touch with her yet?
Her flight hasnt landed.
She cant be on a flight.
She is, Stefano chipped in. He was seated on the visitors chair just a foot from her bed, his stance that of a man who had every right to be there. Even if she were to ask for his removal, no one would dare touch him.
His break away from her bedside seemed to have done him good though as hed lost the Rottweiler look hed been carrying all day. He looked more...not relaxed, not happy exactly, but...pleased with himself.
Melissas taken a months leave to go to Australia and celebrate your mothers fiftieth birthday, he finished.
Thats not possible. The stab of betrayal pierced her hard. She couldnt have done that. Id know.
The chances are you did know, the consultant said. Your scan has come back clear...
What does that mean?
That theres no bleeding on the brain or anything we need worry about in that regard, but all the evidence is pointing to you having retrograde amnesia.
Amnesia? Anna clarified. So Im not going mad?
The consultants smile was more like a grimace. No. But it appears you have lost approximately a year of your memories.
Anna exhaled in relief. Amnesia she could cope with. There had been moments during the day when shed thought for certain she was losing her mind. And then she remembered Stefanos insistence that they were married...
Dont tell me Im actually married to him?
Now the consultant looked uncomfortable. Youre on our records as Anna Louise Moretti.
There was silence as the meaning of this sank into Annas fragile head.
She didnt know what was worse. Being told Melissa had gone to Australia to see their mother or being told she was married to Stefano. Discovering that there was life on Jupiter would be easier to comprehend.
She turned her head to look at the man who claimed to be her husband. His long legs were stretched out before him, his tie removed and top button undone. He was studying her with an intensity that sent little warning tingles through her veins. It was the look he always gave when he was thinking hard, usually when he was debating to himself whether he wanted to risk his money and reputation on a particular venture.
When Stefano chose to back a business he didnt hold back. He gave it everything. He thrived on the gamble but liked the odds to be in his favour. He liked to be certain that he wasnt going to be throwing away his time, resources and money. It didnt matter how many reports she produced, he would play it all out in his mind, working through it on his own mental spreadsheet.
And now that gaze was directed at her, as if she were a business venture that needed to be analysed. He was mentally dissecting something and that something had to do with her.
Were really married? she asked him.
A slow smile spread across his face as if shed said something amusing but the focus in his eyes sharpened. S?.
None of this made sense. Why would I have married you?
He shifted his chair forward and leaned over to speak directly into her ear. His warm breath stirred the strands of her hair, making her pulses stir with them. Because you wanted my body.
His nearness meant she had to concentrate hard to form a response. This is no time for your jokes. I wouldnt marry you. I have self-respect.
He sat back and spread out his hands. No joke. Were married.
I dont believe you. The very idea was preposterous.
I can give you proof.
We cant be.
There was no way she would have married Stefano. He was gorgeous, funny when he wasnt being brooding and impatient, and rich, but he also had a revolving door of girlfriends. She had always maintained that she wouldnt touch him with a ten-foot bargepole and had told him so on numerous occasions.
Always hed responded with a dazzling grin and, You cant resist me for ever, bambolina.
To which shed always replied with her own grin turned up to full wattage, Watch me.
This time there was no comeback. He pulled out his phone and started tapping away. After a few moments he leaned over to show her the screen. Her pulse made another strange leap at his closeness and the familiar scent of his tangy cologne that had always filled their workspace. She blinked and focused her attention on what he was showing her.
It was a photograph of them standing together on a beach. Stefano was dressed in charcoal trousers and a short-sleeved open-necked white shirt. She wore a long white chiffon dress that had a distinct bridal look to it, and was clutching a posy of flowers. Oh, and they were kissing.
Anna stared at the screen for so long her eyes went dry. Her heart was pounding so hard its beats vibrated through her. When she dared look at him she found him watching her closely.
Did you drug me? She could hardly believe the evidence before her. It wasnt possible. It had to be fake.
We married on the twentieth of November. Our first anniversary is in ten days.
Thats impossible. She did some mental maths. She remembered as far back as her Spinning class, which had been the day after bonfire night, November the fifth.
He expected her to believe shed married him two weeks later? Did he take her for a complete idiot?
But then she looked again at the photo on his screen.
We married in Santa Cruz, he supplied. It was a very... I cant think of the word, but it was quick.
Spontaneous?
Thats the word, s?.
Despite the mounting evidence she still couldnt bring herself to believe him.
If were married, why did I wake up in my own bed in mine and Melissas flat?
There was only the barest flicker of his pupils. Wed had a row.
About what?
Nothing important. You often stay the night there.
Why were you so angry to see me in the office this morning? And why has Chloe taken my desk?
I told you, wed had an argument.
Cheating on me already? she asked, only half jesting.
There was a tiny clenching of his jaw before his handsome features relaxed into the smile that had always melted her stomach. Ive never cheated on a woman in my life.
Youve never stayed with a woman long enough to cheat. Stefano had the attention span of a goldfish. He thrived on the chase, growing bored quickly and moving straight onto the next woman to catch his eye.
Weve been married for almost a year and Ive never been unfaithful, he stated steadily.
Then what were we arguing about?
It was nothing. Teething problems like all newly-weds deal with. You werent supposed to be in this week so Chloes been working at your desk.
The image of the blonde woman following him out of his car popped back into her mind. She had no memories of that woman but the way shed reacted to her, the way her already tender stomach had twisted and coiled, made her think she had met her. Who was that woman in your car this morning?
Before he could answer, the consultant coughed unsubtly. Anna had almost forgotten she was there.
Anna, I appreciate this is hard for you. There are a lot of gaps in your memory to fill.
She sucked in her lips and nodded. A whole year of memories needed to be filled. A whole year that shed lost; a big black void during which she had married her boss and Lord knew what else had occurred. Will I get my memories back?
Brain injuries are complex. There are methods that will help retrieve the memories, things we call joggers, which are aids to help with recall, but there are no guarantees. The countrys top specialist in retrograde amnesia will be here in the morning to see youhell be able to give you more information.
Anna closed her eyes. How long do I have to stay here for?
We want to keep you under observation for the night. Providing theres no further issues, theres no reason you cant be discharged tomorrow after youve seen the specialist.
And then I can go home?
But where was her home? Was it the flat shed shared with her big sister since she was fourteen? Or with Stefano?
The nausea that had eased with the help of medication rolled back into life.
She couldnt have married him. Not Stefano of all people.
Youll need to take it easy for a few weeks to recover from the concussion but your husbands already assured me hell be on hand to take care of you.
So Stefano knows all this? Youve already discussed it with him?
Im your next of kin, he said, his thick accent pronouncing kin as keen, something that under ordinary circumstances would make her laugh. Right then, Anna felt she would never find anything funny again.
No, youre not. Melissa is. Melissa had been her next of kin since her sister had agreed to take sole guardianship of her when shed been only eighteen and Anna fourteen.
The uncomfortable look came back to the consultants face. Anna, I understand this is difficult for you but I cant discharge you unless you have somewhere to go where you will be looked after, for the next few days at least. Your husband is your next of kin but you dont have to go with him. Is there anyone else we can call for you?
Anna thought hard but it was hopeless and only made her head start hurting again. The only person she was close to was Melissa. They both had friendslots of thembut it was only each other that they trusted. Their friends were kept on the fringes of their lives and there wasnt a single one she could impose herself on for however long it took to be deemed safe to care for herself.
But Melissa was on an aeroplane flying to the other side of the world to visit the woman whod abandoned them for a new life in Australia with a man she barely knew.
The betrayal sliced through her again, tears burning in her eyes.
Anna, your home is with me.
She closed her eyes in an attempt to drown out Stefanos hypnotic voice. She wished she could fall into the deepest sleep in the world and wake to find the normal order of things restored.
The sad truth was there was no one else who could take her in or, if there was, she couldnt remember them.
Whatever was wrong with her head though, wishing for something different wouldnt change a thing. Her world might be all topsy-turvy but this was her reality now and she needed to deal with it. Bawling her eyes out and burying her head in the sand wouldnt change anything.
She looked directly at him. I dont remember it being our home. I dont remember a thing about us other than that youre my boss and the bane of my life, not my husband.
Was it her imagination or was that satisfaction she saw glimmer in his eyes?
I will help you retrieve the memories. I dont deny our marriage can be...whats the word? Like many storms?
Tempestuous? she supplied, fighting the urge to smile.
Thats it. We are very tempestuous but were happy together. He straightened his long frame and rolled his shoulders before flashing his irresistible smile. I need to get back to work and get things arranged so I can care for you like a good husband should. Ill be back in the morning for when the specialist gets here.
He handed a business card to the consultant. If you have any concerns, call me. Then he leaned over and placed the briefest of kisses on Annas lips. Try not to worry, bellissima. Youre the most stubborn woman I knowyour memories wont dare do anything but come back to you. Everything will feel better once youre home.
The endearment, bellissima, sounded strange to her ears. The most endearing term Stefano had ever used towards her before had been bambolina, Italian for little doll, which hed thought hilarious. Hed often said he would mistake her for a princess doll were it not for her blunt tongue.
Anna watched him stroll from the hospital room, the good, faithful husband leaving to sort out his affairs so he could dedicate his next few weeks to caring for his poor, incapacitated wife, and all she could think was that she didnt trust him at all.
Until her memories came back or until she spoke to Melissa, whichever came first, she would have to be on her guard. She didnt trust Stefano any further than she could see him.
* * *
Stefano strode through the hospital entrance with a spring in his step. It was at times like this, when he had something to celebrate, that he wished he still smoked. But smoking was a habit hed kicked a decade ago.
He was going to bring his wife home. The woman whod used, humiliated, left him and tried to blackmail him was going to be back under his roof. He had big plans for her.
Those plans would have to wait a few days while she recovered from the worst of her concussion but in the meantime he fully intended to enjoy her confinement. Anna hated being fussed over. She was incapable of switching off, always needing to be doing something. Having to rest for a minimum of a fortnight would be her worst nightmare.
It cheered him further to know he would be there to witness her live through this horror.
Stefano intended to keep his word and ensure she was well-looked-after while back under his roof. He might despise her all the way to her rotten core but he would never let her suffer physically. He could still taste the fear hed experienced when shed dropped in a faint at his feet and knew he never wanted to go through anything like that again. It amazed him that shed been able to get into his offices without collapsing, something the consultant had been surprised by too. If he hadnt been so angry at her unexpected appearance and unprepared for seeing her for the first time in a month, he would have paid more attention to the fact shed looked like death warmed up.
Fate had decided to work for him.
Anna didnt remember anything that had happened between them. The whole of the past year had gone, wiped clean away. He could tell her anything and with her confined to his sole care and her sister on the other side of the world, there was no one to disprove it. Judging from the way shed blanched when shed learned Melissa had gone to Australia, she would be too angry to make contact with her any time soon.
All he had to remember was to keep his bitterness that shed fooled him into marrying her inside. Anna could read him too well.
Hed called Melissa as soon as theyd arrived at the hospital, knowing Anna would want her sister there. Hed been put through to her boss and told that Melissa was on leave and had been planning her trip for months. Considering Anna had never mentioned itand she surely would have donehe guessed Melissa had put off telling her for as long as she could. Certainly, when the two sisters had gone away for their trip to Paris, which he had paid for as a treat for his wife and which Anna had returned from early, determined to catch him up to no good, she hadnt known anything about it.
He found Anna alone in her private room flicking through a magazine, dressed in the same black jersey dress from the day before. She greeted him with a wary smile.
How are you feeling? he asked.
Better.
He sat down in the visitors chair. You look better. Then he grinned and ran a finger down her soft cheeks, causing her eyes to widen. But still too pale.
She jerked her face away and shrugged. I slept but it was patchy.
You can rest when we get home. The consultant had told him in private that the best medicine for concussion was sleep.
I just cant believe Ive lost a whole year of my life. She held the magazine up. Look at the date on this. To me, its the wrong year. I dont remember turning twenty-four. There are stories in here about celebrities Ive never even heard of.
Once we get you home Im sure your memories will start to come back. But not too soon, he hoped. He had plans for his wife. Do you not remember anything about our marriage? He wanted to make double sure.
Not a thing. The last I remember you were dating that Jasmin woman.
Jasmin had been the date whod got food poisoning an hour before his scheduled flight to California for the industry tech awards. It had been her illness that had given him the chance to coerce Anna into attending with him in her place. It was only because it was far too short notice for him to get another date that shed agreed. That, and the designer dress hed had couriered over from the designer personally had helped make her decision. The awards evening had ended with Anna insisting the only way she would have sex with him was if he married her.
He didnt doubt her memories of their time together would eventually return. If anyone could bring them back, it would be his wife, the most stubborn, determined woman hed ever met in his life. But in the meantime...
Our marriage is a shock for you.
Thats one way to describe it, she murmured. Id promised myself I would rather date a baboon than go on a date with you, never mind marry you. Have you really never cheated on me?
He forced his tone to remain light through the blood roaring in his veins. Not once. Weve had a few issues but nothing serious. Weve been working through them.
A few months ago hed been pictured dining with one of his new Swedish directors, a blonde statuesque beauty he hadnt felt even a flicker of attraction towards. Anna had shrugged the ensuing press melee off but hed known it bothered her. A second photo a fortnight later, this time of him dining with one of his female employees in San Francisco, had only added fuel to the fire. Hed explained his innocence, proving the picture had cropped out the other half-dozen employees also dining with them, and she had outwardly accepted it. But her distrust had grown and shed no longer bothered to hide it. Her attitude had infuriated him so much he hadnt cared to explain that he liked socialising when he travelled abroad without her because it made the time pass so much quicker.
He should have known from that point that shed wanted to catch him out just as much as the media had. She had wanted proof of his supposed infidelity.
Her hazel eyes were filled with the suspicion hed become too familiar with. What kind of issues?
Youve found it hard to be my wife. You dont like the media. That much at least was true. Anna loathed being under the media spotlight. There have been many stories about our marriage being in trouble. If we were to believe the press weve split up a hundred times since we married. It is all poppycock. We married quickly. It is natural for us to have the teething problems.
Her nose wrinkled. When you found me in your office it was as if youd found the Antichrist trespassing. What was the argument about that made me sleep at Melissas? Was it that woman I saw you with?
Dio, even with amnesia her mind ran to suspicion. Hed already told her there was no one else. There hadnt been anyone else since theyd flown to California and their relationship had irrevocably changed.
That woman you saw me with is my sister.
Oh. Sorry. She looked shamefaced. I saw her getting out of the car after you and...
And you assumed I was having an affair. Shed made that exact same assumption when shed found Christina in their apartment. Finally shed found the proof shed been waiting for from the very moment theyd made their vows. If shed bothered to ask for the truth he would have given it, but she hadnt cared for the truth. All shed wanted was evidence of infidelity so she could bleed him for as much of his hard-earned money as she could get her grasping hands on.
Hed planned to reveal his sister in court, in front of a judge, so the law could see Annas accusation for the entrapment it was. Hed looked forward to her humiliation. Now he had a different kind of humiliation in mind, one that would be far more pleasurable. If she retrieved her memories before he could pull it off then so be it. He would enjoy it while it lasted.
Sorry, she repeated. I thought you were an only child.
So did I until recently. Ill tell you about it when youre not so exhausted.
On cue, she covered her mouth and yawned widely, then blinked a number of times as if trying to keep her eyes open.
Lie down and rest, he said. The specialist will be here soon and then well be able to go home and youll be able to sleep as much as you need.
As much as he despised the very air she breathed, seeing her vulnerable and weak sat badly inside him, made him feel strangely protective. It made him want to hold her close and stroke her hair until she fell asleep. He much preferred it when her wits were sharp. It put them on equal footing. Her amnesia was a weapon in his own arsenal that he would use to his advantage but he wouldnt unleash its full force until he was satisfied she was over the worst of her concussion.
She nodded and lay down, curling up in the foetal position she always favoured when she slept. After a few minutes of silence when he thought shed fallen asleep, she said, without opening her eyes, What did we argue about that was so bad I spent the night at my flat?
It wasnt anything serious. Its still your flat too and you often stay there. Weve both been playing games. Were both stubborn, neither of us likes to admit to being wrong, but we always make it up.
If it wasnt serious, why were you so angry with me yesterday? You were grumpy for most of the time in the hospital too.
Typical Anna. When she wanted an answer to something she was like a dog with a bone until she got it.
I was hurt that you rejected me. I didnt understand you had amnesia. I was out of my mind with worry about you. Worry makes me grumpy. Im sorry for behaving like that.
Her eyes opened, an amusement he hadnt seen for a long time sparkling in them. An apology and an admission to hurt feelings? Have you damaged your brain too?
He laughed and leaned over to press a kiss to her cheek. She scowled at the gesture, which made him laugh more.
It was as if this Anna beside him had been reset to factory settings before marriage had even been mentioned between them.
I know you have no memories of us. I have to be hopeful they will return. But not too soon. Too soon and he wouldnt be able to fulfil the plan that had formed almost the instant the consultant had informed him that his estranged wife had amnesia.
Their wedding anniversary was now only nine days away. To celebrate it, he had a surprise planned for her that no amount of amnesia would ever allow her to forget.
CHAPTER THREE (#u56f813bd-74a4-5b1b-9381-5391be008d01)
ANNA GAWKED AS the driver came to a stop along the Embankment. Shed always been curious about Stefanos home, situated in a high-rise residential complex overlooking the Thames, which, at the time of building, had been the most expensive development in the world. So naturally, Stefano owned the most expensive apartment within it: the entire top floor.
The driver opened Stefanos door. Before he could get out she touched his arm, only lightly but with an instinctive familiarity shed never used before. You could be telling me anything about our relationship. I cant disprove any of it. How do I know I can trust you?
In all the time you worked for me did you ever know me to lie? he answered steadily.
I never caught you out in a lie, she conceded. In the eighteen months shed worked for him their relationship had been nothing less than honest, brutally so on occasion.
So trust me. He held her gaze with that same intense look that sent tendrils of something curling up her spine.
It doesnt seem I have much choice.
If she could remember her phones pin code she could reach Melissa and ask her but even if she could, she knew she wouldnt make that call. Not yet. The thought of speaking to her sister made her feel sick. She wouldnt call her until she could trust she wouldnt scream down the line at her and say things she knew she would regret.
She must have known about Melissas trip. Melissas letter had said as much. Shed asked for her forgiveness.
How could she forgive that? After everything their mother had done and put them through? Their father had been six feet under for less than six months when their mother had started seeing an Australian man she met through a dating agency. Anna, whod been desperately grieving the loss of the father shed adored, had tried to understand her mothers loneliness. She really had. Shed resisted the urge to spit in the usurpers tea, had been as welcoming as she could be, believing Melissas private assertion that it was nothing but a rebound fling by a lonely, heartbroken woman and that it would fizzle out before it really started. If only.
Three months after meeting him, nine months after shed buried her husband, Annas mother had announced she was emigrating to Australia with her new man.
Stefano pressed his thumb to her chin and gently stroked it. When your memories come back you will know the truth. I will help you find them.
Her heart thudding, her skin alive with the sensation of his touch, Anna swallowed the moisture that had filled her mouth.
When had she given in to the chemistry that had always been there between them, always pulling her to him? Shed fought against it right from the beginning, having no intention of joining the throng of women Stefano enjoyed such a legendary sex life with. To be fair, she didnt have any evidence of what he actually got up to under the bed sheets; indeed it was something shed been resolute in not thinking about, but the steady flow of glamorous, sexy women in and out of his life had been pretty damning.
One of her conditions for accepting the job as his PA was that he must never ask her to be a go-between between him and his lovers. No way would she be expected to leave her desk to buy a pretty trinket as a kiss-off to a dumped lover. When shed told him this he had roared with laughter.
When had she gone from liking and hugely admiring him but with an absolute determination to never get into bed with him, to marrying him overnight? Shed heard of whirlwind marriages before but from employee to wife in twenty-four hours? Her head hurt just trying to wrap itself around it.
Had Stefano looked at her with the same glimmer in his green eyes then as he was now? Had he pressed his lips to hers or had she been the one...?
How will you help me remember us? she asked in a whisper.
His thumb moved to caress her cheek and his voice dropped to a murmur. I will help you find again the pleasure you had in my bed. I will teach you to become a woman again.
Mortification suffused her, every part of her anatomy turning red.
I will teach you to be a woman again?
His meaning was clear. He knew she was a virgin.
Annas virginity was not something shed ever discussed with anyone. Why would she? Twenty-three-year-old virgins were rarer than the lesser-spotted unicorn. For Stefano to know that...
Dear God, it was true.
All the denial shed been storing up fell away.
She really had married him.
And if shed married him, she must have slept with him. Which meant all her self-control, not just around him but in her life itself, had been blown away.
Shed taken such pride in her self-control after her mum had left. Events might fall out of her power but her own behaviour was something she controlled with iron will. All those teenage parties shed been to when alcohol, cigarettes and more illicit substances were passed around and couples found empty spaces in which to make out... Shed been the one sitting there sipping on nothing stronger than a cola and taking great pride in the fact that she was in control of all her faculties. Her self-control was the only thing shed had control of in a life where shed been powerless to stop her father dying or her mother moving to the other side of the world and leaving her behind.
A different heat from the mortification ravaging her now bloomed as her mind suddenly pictured Stefano lying on top of her...
His eyes still holding hers as if he would devour her in one gulp, Stefano trailed his fingers down her neck and squeezed her shoulder. Lets get you inside. You must rest. Youre exhausted.
Anna blew out a long breath and nodded. For once she was completely incapable of speech.
Shed shared a bed with him.
Shed shared more than a bed with him.
Trying desperately to affect nonchalance, she had no choice but to allow him to assist her through the grand atrium of his apartment building to his private elevator. It was either that or have her unsteady legs collapse beneath her again.
Shed always been physically aware of him before but with his arm slung protectively around her shoulders that awareness flew off the scale.
The dividing line shed erected between them and worked so hard to maintain... Noting Stefanos easy familiarity with her; the way he was so comfortable touching her now along with the flirting shed long been used to... Yes, that dividing line had been demolished.
She just wished her body didnt sing its delight at his new proprietorial manner with her.
It was such a relief to be led to a sofa to collapse onto that it took her a moment, catching her breath, to take stock of Stefanos home.
Her home.
It was like stepping into another world.
She was sitting in a living room so vast and wide she felt like a toddler whod stumbled into a ballroom, the room complete with a gold-leafed crystal chandelier gleaming magnificently above her.
Floor-to-ceiling windows covered the entire perimeter and from one aspect gave the most amazing view of the Thameswas that Westminster Bridge she could see in the near distance?
Not a single memory was jogged by any of it. Shed lived here for almost a year but she was seeing it for the first time.
She looked around wondering where everyone was. No staff?
I dont have staff. The concierge service runs my housekeeping for me and I pay them a fortune for it.
When Stefano had first made his fortune in his home town of Lazio, hed employed live-in staff but had soon learned to dislike having other people in his space. Housekeeper, cleaners, butler, chef, gardener...the list had been endless. Being waited on hand and foot sounded fantastic in theory but in practice it was a drag and hed put the staff on day-only duties within weeks.
He was a fully grown man whod been caring for himself since he was fifteen. He didnt need someone to dress him or run his baths. He saw his peers with their homes full of enough staff to fill a cinema and thought them fools for allowing themselves to revert to infancy.
It was all the fawning he couldnt abide. That was one of the reasons hed been so keen to employ Anna as his PA. Shed been completely unaffected by meeting him, a reaction he hadnt received in years. In a business setting he was used to fear being the primary reaction; in his personal life he received desire from women and enthusiasm from men, both sexes looking at him with dollar signs flashing in their eyes. Anna had looked at him with disdain.
Hed strolled into the Levon Brothers offices when theyd been in early discussion about him buying the business from them and shed been behind the desk in the office guarding theirs. Hed handed her his coat as he walked past for her to hang for him and heard a sarcastic Youre welcome, in his wake. Hed paused at the door hed been about to open and looked at her, standing with his coat in her arms, challenge set in her eyes, jutting chin and pursed lips.
What did you say? hed asked.
I said that youre welcome. I meant to say it in my head just as Im sure your thanks for me taking your coat off your hands was said in your head, but it slipped out.
It had been a sharp salutary reminder of the importance of manners, something no one had dared to pull him up on for many years and it had taken a scrap of a woman to do just that.
Hed put a hand to his chest, made a mocking bow and said, Thank you.
Shed nodded primly and crossed the room to hang his coat on the stand. Shorter than the women who usually caught his eye, she had the most exquisite figure, perfectly proportioned. He remembered exactly what shed been wearing that day, a billowing checked skirt that had fallen below her knees, long tan boots with spiked heels, a tight black vest and a fitted khaki-coloured jacket, all pulled together with a thick belt with studs that looked sharp enough to have someones eye out.
Do I dare ask if you make coffee? hed asked, fascinated by her.
You can ask but bewarerefusal often offends.
Roaring with laughter, hed gone into his meeting. Within an hour, when the beautiful, sarcastic secretary had been brought in six times to explain the report shed compiled for him but which the idiots running the company didnt understand, hed known he was going to buy the company and poach her to be his PA. It turned out Anna was the real brains behind Levon Brothers. Without her by their side and covering their messes, it would never have taken off. With her by Stefanos side, Morettis could only strengthen further.
It had been the best business decision hed ever made. Hed learned to trust her judgement completely.
Hed believed her to be as straight as a line. Hed thought that with Anna what you saw was what you got, when all along shed been nothing but a grasping gold-digger.
Now the bravado that always shone in her eyes was muted by alarm. Its just you and me here?
We like our privacy, he said. We can walk around naked without having to worry that well frighten anyone.
Her cheeks turned the most becoming crimson but she raised a tired brow and wanly retorted, I can assure you I wont be walking anywhere naked within a mile of you.
Amused by her stubbornness even when she was so clearly ready to fall into a dead sleep, he whispered into her ear, And I can assure you that when youre feeling better you will never want to put your clothes on. Believe me, bellissima, we spend a lot of time together naked.
If I dont remember it then it didnt happen.
Studying the firm set of her lips, he remembered what it had been like between them when theyd first married. Hed had no idea she was a virgin until shed blurted it out when theyd walked into the bridal suite hours after exchanging their vows. Shed stood as defiant as she did now but there had been something in her eyes hed never seen in her before: fear. That had been a bigger shock than her declaration of virginity.
Hed made love to her so slowly and tenderly that night that when hed felt her first climax hed been as triumphant and elated as if hed been the first man to conquer Mount Everest. That night had been special. Precious. And it had only been the start.
Once Anna had discovered the joy of sex shed been a woman reborn and unleashed.
She had no memories of any of it. When he next saw her naked, for Anna it would be the first time, and he remembered how painfully shy shed been then.
He took one of her hands and razed a kiss across the knuckles. Can you walk to the bedroom or shall I carry you?
Her eyes flashed and she managed to inflect dignity into her reply. I can walk.
She allowed him to help her to her feet and held onto his arm as he led her to the bedroom hed slept alone in for the past month.
The last twenty-four hours had brought such a change to his fortunes that Stefano was tempted to wonder whether it was he who had suffered a bump to his head.
His wife was back under his roof and shortly to be back in his bed.
He caught her unconcealed surprise when he opened the door to reveal a room cast in soft muted colours and dominated by an enormous emperor bed.
We chose the decor together, he told her. You chose the bed. It had been the first thing theyd bought as a married couple. Hed known she would hate sleeping in a bed hed shared with other women.
And now they would share it again. Anna needed to know that this was theirs, a bedroom theyd created together, a room theyd made love in hundreds of times. He needed to consolidate in her mind that they were a properly married couple and that it was natural for them to sleep together.
He couldnt begin to dissect his own feelings about sleeping by the side of the woman who had played him for a fool so spectacularly.
Seriously? she asked in a voice that had gone husky.
S?. And when youre better I can promise youll enjoy it as we always used to. But all that can wait. Consultants orders are for you to do nothing but rest for the next few days. I promised I would take care of you and you know I am a man of my word.
He always kept his word. To his way of thinking it was what separated humans from animals. Hed married Anna giving his word that he would be faithful. Hed given his word that if he ever felt the impulse to cheat he would tell her before acting on it and they would go their separate ways.
Shed given him her word too. Shed promised she would trust him. Her word had been a lie. Her intentions had been a lie. It had all been a lie. Their entire marriage had been built on lies and deception. No sooner had she left him than shed hit him with her demands for a massive slice of the fortune hed built from nothing.
.
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Мишель Смарт
Тип: электронная книга
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
Язык: на английском языке
Издательство: HarperCollins
Дата публикации: 16.04.2024
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О книге: ′I love having you at my mercy… And you love it too.′The only desire billionaire Stefano Moretti has for his estranged wife Anna is for revenge. Humiliatingly, she left him weeks ago—so when Anna returns to his life, with no memory of their tempestuous marriage, he’s certain fate has dealt him a winning hand.Stefano’s plan is two-fold: a private seduction that will reawaken Anna to their red-hot attraction, followed by a public humiliation to match the one she landed on him. Until Stefano realises there’s something he wants even more than vengeance—Anna, back in his bed for good!