Innocent in the Italian's Possession Read Online Free PDF Page A

larger, cleaner international empire.
    He’d wanted to build eco-friendly vessels. Sailboats, ferries, trawlers and d’elite superyachts. Ships that would rule the seas yet not destroy the fragile environment.
    The superyacht would be the starship of his company. Floating pleasure palaces for the ultrarich, each custom made to suit discerning tastes.
    His papa thought his idea was an adulteration of the principles of the company. They had butted heads. They had argued fiercely as only Italians do.
    His papa insisted they were shipbuilders for Italians. Cesare was a millionaire and was content to move in that circle, refusing to cater to the whims of the ultrarich. He expected Stefano to fall into step with him just as his brother Davide had adhered to the niche Marinetti had carved for itself.
    In fact, he and his brother had clashed the hardest. Over business, and the woman who’d come between them.
    Stefano couldn’t or wouldn’t comply, not when he was nothing more than the second son in charge of menial tasks.Not when his papa refused to consider his ideas, preferring to adhere to the routine that he and Davide had hammered into place. Not when he had to watch his former lover’s belly grow with his brother’s child.
    His heart hadn’t been broken, but his pride had surely been kicked hard.
    Stefano didn’t regret leaving this old-world business mired in old-world attitudes. He’d made his fortune and continued to build on it. He’d made a name for himself. But it hurt his pride that his papa hadn’t praised his business sense or his daring once in the past five years.
    He rested his fists on the windowsill, the wood as unyielding as his papa. Pride and honor ran deep in his veins.
    One kept him away, even after the tragic death of his brother and his family.
    One brought him back.
    He flicked another impatient glance at the connecting door. Marinetti Shipyard had operated the same for years, making a profit that had allowed his papa to maintain his millionaire status. But all that had changed one year ago.
    That’s when his papa had hired Gemma Cardone. That’s when his papa had begun spending more time with her in Milan than at his shipyard. That’s when thousands upon thousands of euros had vanished.
    Stefano returned to the desk and lounged in the chair from which his papa had ruled for so long. He opened the file his accountant had assembled and welcomed the bite of anger nipping along his nerves.
    He abhorred deceit. Gemma had smoothly deceived his papa.
    She deserved to be treated in kind.
    He jabbed the intercom button. “Join me, Gemma. Now.”
    “Yes, sir.” Was there a touch of annoyance in her voice?
    It pleased him that she was peeved to be at his beck and call. He wanted her to finally earn her paycheck by actually working.
    She stepped inside and faltered, her pen and notepad clutched tightly in hand again. “What do you want?”
    Due compensation . His blood heated, his muscles tightening as his gaze slid over her curves. You , bella. I want you .
    This carnal attraction to her annoyed the hell out of him. He favored sophisticated women who wanted nothing more than a physical relationship. He had neither the time nor patience to suffer manipulative women.
    Never mind the fact that Gemma Cardone stared back at him with a wide-eyed vulnerability that made his mouth go dry. He had the proof that she was a schemer, out to get all she could out of his papa. She’d certainly achieved that end!
    He wouldn’t be surprised if she hoped to lure him into her silken trap as well. That would never happen.
    She would not seduce him as she had Cesare Marinetti. It would be a waste of her time to use her wiles on him for he was immune to such machinations.
    He meant to give her tempting body a dismissing look, but found himself appreciating the way her silk blouse draped over her full breasts. How her skirt nipped in at her slender waist only to flare over her womanly hips.
    His muscles tensed and