Back In The Italian's Bed Read Free

betrayal had all but torn her apart. All through the meeting she’d battled a resurgence of those tender feelings, only to have him turn on her with his vile accusation.
    Somehow she had to banish what she’d once felt for him. Wretchedly she told herself he was doing a fine job of helping her.
    Jenna speared Fabrizio with a look. ‘He employed me because of my professional skills.’
    ‘Skills such as industrial espionage? Is that how he managed to lever a better deal in this property swap? I should have known he’d stoop to any advantage he could get, even to hiring a woman whose value is in the insider information she gleaned in my bed.’
    Jenna planted her hands on her hips and willed her howling outrage into silence. She was fast losing track of the number of ways Fabrizio insulted her. Enough was enough.
    ‘What secrets would they be, Fabrizio? You never shared commercially sensitive information with me. In fact, as far as I recall, we never talked business, presumably because you assumed I wasn’t capable of understanding anything as taxing as profits and losses.’
    He stared back at her as if she’d grown two heads. As well he might. Never in their time together had they argued and, Jenna realised now, she’d been content to go along with Fabrizio’s plans for the pair of them. She’d spent her time in a delicious haze of love, delighted at his thoughtfulness and passion. And he
had
been thoughtful – catering to her every whim and encouraging her delight in each new experience they shared.
    How naïve she’d been. She’d never once noticed all that was wrong with their relationship until that last fateful day when the rose-coloured glasses had been dragged from her eyes and smashed underfoot.
    ‘You never took more than a passing interest in the career I had before I met you.’ She hadn’t realised till she left him how much that rankled. ‘Or my aspirations for the future.’
    Aspirations for the future! How he’d laugh if he ever found out they’d once, briefly, centred on him.
    ‘I didn’t give your rival any trade secrets, Fabrizio, because you never trusted me with them!’ Jenna slid her tablet into her briefcase and snapped it shut. ‘Whatever agreement my boss negotiated with you, he did it without any input from me.’
    On the contrary, if she’d had any say in the matter, which she didn’t being so low in the De Laurentis hierarchy, she’d have begged he not consider a deal that included swapping the lovely old Villa Bellini for a parcel of prime real estate in Florence, currently owned by Fabrizio Armati. She had no illusions that Fabrizio would keep her on at the Villa once it was his. The savage gleam in his eyes told her he didn’t know anything about letting bygones be bygones.
    Jenna slid her briefcase from the table and turned to the door.
    ‘Wait! We haven’t finished.’
    She shook her head. He may not have finished but she had. Jenna hung onto her composure by the merest thread. Any minute now and the welling pain she battled would swamp her, breaking down her resolve to appear in control.
    She refused to let him reduce her to tears ever again.
    ‘We’ve finished, Fabrizio. I don’t ever need to see you again.’ She drew a shuddering breath of relief that it was true. ‘If you have any questions about the Villa, I’ll answer via email.’
    Jenna had taken three steps towards the door when he spoke.
    ‘Weren’t you paying attention earlier,
cara
?’ He paused and foreboding skittered through her, freezing her spine. She didn’t like the smug satisfaction in his tone. ‘I intend to check out every corner of your precious Villa before I agree to proceed with this deal. That means I’ll be staying there over the weekend.’
    Again that pause. This time it lasted so long the hair rose on her nape. When he spoke again his tone was silky yet lethal. ‘And you’ve been assigned the honour of conducting me on a personal tour.’

 
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    ‘AS YOU