The Infamous Italian's Secret Baby Read Online Free PDF Page B

since Claudia and Dahlia’s departure all pointed to the fact that he did remember her from five years ago, after all…

CHAPTER TWO
    ‘I REALLY have no idea what the two of us could possibly have to talk about, Mr Danti,’ Bella told him stiltedly as he sat perfectly relaxed in the armchair across from hers in the quiet of the otherwise deserted small reception-room just down the hallway from where the family party was being held.
    Gabriel’s eyes narrowed on the paleness of her face as she sat stiffly upright in her own chair. ‘Considering our—past acquaintance, shall we say?—I believe refraining from addressing me as “Mr Danti” in that superior tone would be a good way to begin.’
    She raised her brows in what she hoped was a querying manner. ‘Our past acquaintance…?’
    Gabriel’s mouth thinned. ‘Do not play games with me, Bella!’
    She shot him another glance before looking sharply away again. ‘I wasn’t sure you had remembered we’d met before…’
    ‘Oh, I remember,’ he growled.
    She swallowed hard before speaking. ‘As do I—Gabriel,’ she conceded tightly.
    He gave a humourless smile. ‘You had absolutely no idea I would be here tonight, did you?’
    Those eyes flashed deeply purple at his mocking tone. ‘Why should I have done? Dahlia’s name is Fabrizzi.’
    ‘Her mother, my aunt Teresa, is my father’s younger sister,’ Gabriel supplied evenly.
    Bella’s mouth twisted. ‘How sweet that you flew all the way from Italy to attend your cousin’s wedding!’
    Gabriel’s mouth thinned at her obvious mockery. ‘I no longer live in Italy, Bella.’
    She looked startled. ‘You don’t?’
    Gabriel shook his head. ‘I spend most of my time at the Danti vineyards about an hour’s drive away from here, but I also have a house right here in San Francisco.’
    Bella could easily guess exactly where in San Francisco that house was!
    She and the rest of her family had gone for a tour of the city earlier today, and part of that tour had been through an area known as Pacific Heights, where the houses were grand and gracious—and worth millions of dollars!
    ‘Do you like living in America?’ she asked curiously.
    Gabriel shrugged. ‘It has its—advantages.’
    Bella just bet that it did! She also couldn’t help wondering if Gabriel’s move to America didn’t have something to do with the fact that Janine Childe, the woman Gabriel had once been in love with—perhaps was still in love with?—now lived in California, too…
    ‘Have you now finished with the polite exchange of information?’ Gabriel asked.
    Bella forced her gaze to remain level on his. ‘What do you want from me, Gabriel?’
    What did he want from her? That was an interesting question, Gabriel acknowledged grimly. Until he had arrived at the party earlier, and seen Bella across the room as she chatted with the young woman he now knew to be her sister, Gabriel would have liked to believe he had cast Bella from his mind after that single night together. But having recognised her instantly, he knew he could no longer claim that to be the case…
    If anything, Isabella Scott was even more strikingly lovely than she had been five years ago, maturity having added self-assurance to a beauty that had already been breathtaking. Her violet eyes were still as stunning as ever, her hair was still long and the colour of ebony, but styled now in heavy layers so that it swung silkily against her cheeks and her throat, before cascading wildly down the length of her back. And the close fit of her violet gown revealed that her waist was still delicately slender beneath the full thrust of those perfect breasts…
    What did he want from her?
    He wanted not to have noticed any of those things!
    His mouth set in a grim, uncompromising line. ‘What do you have to give, Bella?’
    Her gaze was searching as she eyed him warily, and Gabriel knew that Bella would see that he, at least, was visibly much changed from their last