The Proud Wife Read Online Free PDF

prince.Head of the D’Inzeo Bank and all the other companies he’d bought since taking charge of the D’Inzeo business empire. A man with huge riches and influence. She knew from having seen him in action that he never suffered fools gladly, that he was a cold-blooded predator in the business world and that, when crossed, he made a very dangerous enemy. And she was planning to thwart whatever plans he had made for the way this meeting was to go. She was—hopefully—going to checkmate him here in front of his lawyer. A proud Sicilian like Pietro wouldn’t take that lying down.
    But, even as the question slid into her thoughts, she instinctively pushed it right out again. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that Pietro’s sense of honour, his proud Sicilian character, would always ensure he played fair. It had never been the thought of the financial implications of this meeting that had worried her.
    The emotional repercussions were a very different matter.
    â€˜I didn’t think I’d need one. After all, there are laws about this sort of thing.’
    Seeing the way Pietro’s dark brows snapped together on hearing that, her nerves twisted once more deep in the pit of her stomach. For one desperate moment her heart ached with the memory of the way that hard, carved face used to change when he’d been with her. How those icy eyes had softened, the beautiful mouth curved into a smile. How she had once been able to kiss away that frown between his brows.
    â€˜And besides,’ she added hastily, ‘you said I’d get what was due to me.’
    â€˜I did say that,’ Pietro acceded, his tone not helping things very much.
    â€˜So perhaps you should let me know about these conditions.’
    â€˜Of course.’
    It was Matteo, Pietro’s lawyer, who spoke. After a swift glance at his employer’s stony face, earning himself a brief nod of agreement, he now came to sit down opposite Marina, opening a file of papers he had placed on the table between them.
    â€˜It is time we got down to business.’
    Marina tried to turn her attention to the lawyer and what he was saying, but it was difficult when the stinging awareness of Pietro and everything he did, every movement he made, was rushing through her like a charge of burning electricity. She was conscious of the way he seemed to have backed down, conceding the central role to his lawyer, but she knew that any such concession was deceptive, totally misleading. He poured himself a drink of water and curled long, tanned fingers around the glass but never lifted it to his lips. He even leaned back in his chair, apparently at his ease—but out of the corner of her eye she could sense the tension that held his long body stiff, watchful and alert.
    He was observing everything that was happening, watching her so closely that she almost felt her skin singe under the heat of his gaze. She knew that, although Matteo was speaking, it was Pietro who was in control, his lawyer only the mouthpiece for what he wanted to say.
    â€˜The conditions…?’ she prompted hoarsely, wincing at the way her voice cracked on the words. Struggling for control, she focused every last bit of her attention on the older man opposite her, trying to blot out the fact that Pietro was even there.
    â€˜I don’t think that you will find them too difficult,’ Matteo assured her, tapping the sheaf of documents with an elegant silver pen. It was the same file that had beendelivered to her on the plane, the one she hadn’t even opened, never mind read. Because the one thing she had ever wanted from this man was his love and, when she’d realised he had none to give her, there was nothing else that could fill its place.
    â€˜Firstly,’ Matteo said, drawing her attention away from that thought, ‘you must agree to give up the name D’Inzeo and revert to your maiden name.’
    â€˜Willingly.’
    The