Uncovering the Silveri Secret Read Free Page A

like your gold-digging bitch of a mother,’ he said. ‘I suppose you know she was here a couple of days ago?’
    Bella tried to disguise her surprise. And hurt. She hadn’t seen or heard from her mother in months. The last time she had heard from Claudia was when she’d called to say she was moving to Spain with a new
husband—her second since her divorce from Bella’s father. Claudia had needed money for the honeymoon. But then, Claudia always needed money, and Bella always felt pressured into giving it. ‘What did she want?’ she asked.
    ‘What do you think she wanted?’ he asked, that hard gaze glittering with cynicism.
    Bella gave him an arch look. ‘Maybe she wanted to check you were still managing my assets properly.’
    A frown suddenly pulled at his brow. ‘If you want a blow-by-blow inspection of the books, then all you have to do is ask,’ he said. ‘I’ve offered to meet with you more regularly but you’ve always refused. The last three meetings, you didn’t even have the decency to show up in person.’
    Bella felt a little ashamed of herself. She had no question over his management of her father’s estate. The profits had steadily grown from the moment he had taken over the share portfolio in the months before her father had died from cancer. His street-smart intelligence and clever intuition had saved her assets where other investors’ had been lost during the economic turmoil of the past few years.
    A couple of times a year he would insist they meet so he could go through the estate books with her. At first she had suffered those meetings, all the while sitting silently seething at how he was in control of her life. But even in that large, swanky London office he had seemed a little too close to her. The last meeting she had attended in person, her mind had wandered off into dangerous territory as she sat staring at the dark pepper of stubble around his mouth as he patiently explained the stocks and shares. She had tried to focus but within seconds she had started gazing at his hands as he had turned the pages of the meticulous report he had prepared. He had looked up at one point and locked gazes with her. She still remembered the throb of that silence. She had felt it deep inside her body.
    She could still feel it.
    ‘That won’t be necessary,’ Bella said. ‘I’m sure you’re doing all you can to keep things in order.’
    There was a tight little silence.
    ‘Are you expecting your boyfriend to join you?’ he asked.
    Bella tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear that the chilly breeze had worked loose. ‘He’s away on a mission in Bangladesh,’ she said. ‘I thought I’d come here until he gets back.’
    ‘London nightlife losing its appeal?’ he asked.
    She gave him a brittle glare. ‘I haven’t been to a nightclub in ages. It’s not my scene any more.’
    ‘Prayer meetings more your thing?’
    Oh, how she hated him for his mockery. ‘I bet you’ve never got down on your knees in your life,’ she tossed back.
    His eyes slid to her pelvis and back with deliberate slowness. They seemed to burn with a secret erotic message as they met hers. ‘Say the word, princess, and I’ll be on my knees before you can say “heavens above.”’
    Bella’s insides coiled and flexed with hot, traitorous desire. It simmered between her thighs. A flickering pulse that made her aware of every muscle and nerve and cell at the feminine heart of her.
    He was the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. She was the rich heiress with a pedigree that went back centuries.
    She was about to become engaged.
    It was forbidden.
    He was forbidden.
    Bella gave him a frosty look. ‘I don’t think there’s a prayer on this earth that could save your soul,’ she said.
    ‘Why not try some laying on of hands instead?’ he said with a bitter smile.
    She felt that disturbing little flicker again. It made her hate him all the more. She hated that he could have this effect on her, even now. How