The Italian Inheritance Read Free Page B

stranger. For that’s what this had been so far—a guessing game. An urge to giggle rose in her throat. It must be nervous tension. Luckily her gurgle was masked by the office door opening and the secretary waltzing in with her passport.
    “Grazie, Christina.”
    Anna didn’t miss the provocative body language or the sultry smile as Christina handed the passport over to her boss. Interesting. Either the girl was smitten or Vialli was sleeping with his secretary. Not that Anna cared either way. She watched Vialli’s eyes flicker in acknowledgement , but his face remained stoic. It was hard picturing him open ing up to anyone , let alone sleeping with them . He was so... con tained, so obviously in control of his every emotion .
    Her eyes darted back to Christina, leaving the room. She supposed the girl was sexy in her figure-hugging skirt and white shirt unbuttoned low enough to show off an admirable cleavage. Clearly it worked for Vialli.
    Anna turned her attention back to Vialli who had returned to his casual half-sitting, half-standing stance against his desk. Being only a few feet away from her, Anna had to crane her neck to look up at him.
    “So getting back to Giovanni , ” she began, shifting her tall frame to better see him. “I’m trying to understand why all this security is necessary. It seems to me that you’re going to an awful lot of effort to vet someone as harmless as myself, for no reason. I’m hardly a threat to the man. I just want to see him.”
    “If you tell me why, I might be able to help you,” replied Vialli, unflinchingly. He really was like a brick wall. And his intimidation tactics weren’t working either. Anna was getting a stiff neck. She stood up.
    “Okay. You win.” Being almost six feet tall she was practically eye - to - eye with him. He didn’t react like most pe ople did to her unusual height, in that his expression remained unchanged. He maintained his stationary position against the desk.
    Anna put her hands on her hips. She may as well tell him the whole story. This meeting was going nowhere fast and she was tired of dancing around him. “I bring news from a friend of his.”
    “Who is the friend?” His hands rested easily in his pockets, but Anna could tell by his stance and the muscles tensing in his neck and jaw that he was anything but relaxed.
    “Carmen Crawford. My mother.” Just saying her mother’s name brought a catch to her throat. Sudden ly she felt tired and emotional, but instead of buckling, her natural tenacity kicked in and she met his gaze determinedly.
    “Tell me more... ” he said softly.
    “ Giovanni met my mother a long time ago. Here in Capri. They became friends. In fact , I think t hey had an affair. ”
    She paused to gather her thoughts. Vialli was watching her intently. “An affair?”
    Anna nodded. “Yes, twenty- six years ago. Here in Capri. I’m not sure how it happened, the details are so sketchy . I only found out myself a few days ago.”
    Vialli blinked a nd pushed away from the desk. At his full height he was still a good few inches above Anna. She was back to looking up at him.
    “So what you’re saying is Giovanni and your mother had an affair and...” He gazed at her warily.
    “Yes,” Anna confirmed, correctly guessing where his thoughts were going. “I am the result of that affair. I’m Giovanni’s daughter.”
     
    Now how did I know she was going to say that?
    Rafael sighed. Another one. It was just as he thought. Damn Giovanni for causing all this chaos.
    If only the press hadn’t published the story in the local news, then none of these hopefuls would even know about the unclaimed fortune. Unfortunately , it was a human interest story of mammoth proportions.
    WEALTHY BUSINESSMAN LEAVES FORTUNE TO ILLEGITIMATE LOVE CHILD
    Rafael had been shocked when Giovanni told him he’d changed his will. He remembered the day like it was yesterday.
    Giovanni’s face, flushed with fever. An urgency in his direct blue gaze