Her Mediterranean Playboy Read Online Free PDF

imagine he would succeed in bringing about the revenge he spoke of earlier.
    ‘If you don’t mind I would rather stay in a hotel or something,’ she said, desperately trying to quell her rising dread. ‘We could still conduct our pretend affair. Moving in with you seems rather…er…extreme, don’t you think?’
    His jaw was set in a determined line. ‘My brother-in-law might be content with conducting his secretive assignations in slum-like apartments or hotels, but I am afraid I am not prepared to give you such a convenient escape route. I know as soon as my back is turned you will disappear. I am not prepared to risk such a possibility. As my current mistress you will have a suite of rooms at my palazzo and be treated with the respect afforded to any other guest in my home. Besides, I wish to make it clear to everyone in my family that this is a real affair, even if in private it is not.’
    Ally felt her stomach go hollow. ‘H-how will you…? I mean, how will we convince people this is a real affair?’
    His gaze contained that hint of mockery that had annoyed her from the first moment she had met him. ‘You opened your legs for my brother-in-law, Mrs Sharpe,’ he said, running his eyes over her in contempt. ‘I am sure it will not stretch your capabilities to endure the occasional public kiss or hand-hold from me. That is all that will be required of you. I have no interest in anything else.’
    Ally ran her tongue across her lips, and then wished she hadn’t as his eyes dipped to her mouth, lingering there for a pulsing moment before he returned his dark enigmatic gaze to hers.
    ‘So…any other questions?’ he asked, as he ran a finger around the collar of his shirt as if he found it suddenly too tight.
    ‘I think the press will find it strange to hear you call me Mrs Sharpe, don’t you think?’ she asked.
    ‘You are right,’ he said. ‘Ally it will be from now on.’
    The way he said her name made her skin feel ticklish, as if he had touched her all over with his fingertips in a light-as-air caress. ‘W-what do you want me to call you?’ she asked, feelingher colour begin to rise in spite of every effort on her part to remain unaffected by his disturbingly attractive presence.
    He looked down at her for a moment or two, his eyes doing that drilling thing again. ‘Vittorio will be fine. As I said, only my family and close friends call me Vito.’
    ‘You don’t consider any of your lovers as friends?’
    ‘No, I do not,’ he answered. ‘I have found it impossible to maintain a platonic relationship with any of my ex-partners. Women do not seem to understand when it is time to move on.’
    ‘And I suppose you are always the one who ends the relationship?’ she said with a cynical look. ‘I read an article about you recently which said you change mistresses as often as some people change their shirts.’
    He returned her gaze without flinching. ‘I admit I am easily bored,’ he said. ‘I do not see the point in dragging out a liaison which no longer holds any interest to me. It is better for both parties if things are terminated before anyone gets hurt.’
    Ally flashed him a scornful glare. ‘I hope one day you get your comeuppance, then,’ she said. ‘Men like you make me sick. You want your fun, but you don’t want to commit to making a relationship work. It takes time and effort to make a relationship a good and fulfilling one.’
    His eyes glinted with brewing anger. ‘You are a fine one to talk, Mrs Sharpe. I believe you were the one who left your ex-husband, not the other way around?’
    Ally wondered how much he knew of her sister’s past, and how he had come by the information. Had Vittorio conducted his own investigation? It was a terrifying thought. There was so much she didn’t know. The doctor had warned her not to stress her sister unnecessarily. The last thing she wanted to do was set off another breakdown by asking Alex probing questions about what had been going on