The Sicilian's Proposition Read Online Free PDF

no longer around. He was so caught up in his own thoughts, he was no longer paying attention to Carla.
    “So I wondered…” She paused. “If we could start over, do you think?”
    He’d always complied with her wishes, but now he just couldn’t any longer. Alpha female Carla now seemed such a little girl at heart. “I don’t know what to say, Carla, to be honest. I mean, I do have some sympathy for your situation. You were coerced by an older man at such a tender age. I could never even consider taking you back. That chapter in our life is now closed.”
    She took a sip of her coffee and looked up at him with such sad, woeful eyes that for a moment he thought his heart might burst.
    ***
    Damn. Joanne replayed the tape over again. There was no doubt about it—the last part of the interview with Dante hadn’t recorded for some reason. She should have stopped the interview and turned the tape over, but she’d been so absorbed in what he was telling her. He’d led an amazing life. She would need to see him to check out some facts and dates. She had managed to scribble some details down in her notepad during the interview, but there was nothing like getting all the facts correct, especially for a prestigious magazine like Life Today. Her editor would be on her case if she messed up. Polly Montgomery wasn’t the forgiving sort, although in her defense, she was firm but fair.
    She lifted the phone and dialed; it went through to Dante’s voice mail again. She left a brief message explaining she would need to check out some facts with him and over the phone would do.
    In her mind, she imagined him with Carla. Maybe they had patched things up last night and were enjoying a long morning in bed together. And who could blame them?
    Oh well. Time to get on with constructing the article. She’d also need to get in touch with the magazine photographer, Jackson Byrne, who wasn’t her favorite person at the magazine, to arrange a photo shoot with Dante. It could be arranged at his hotel suite, maybe outside the hotel and inside the restaurant, or even at work for the organization.
    She switched on her laptop and opened up a blank page. Article heading? Playboy Plays Father Christmas? From Sicily to Cincinnati? The last trip he’d told her he arranged was for a terminally ill child to go on the holiday of a lifetime to the U.S. The title should encapsulate what this man was all about. Dante Alphonso: Dream Maker! She liked it. It would serve as a working title for now, at least. No doubt, Polly would change it anyhow at some point, but for the time being, it gave her some focus.
    She began typing away as she listened to the tape.
    Sicilian born, self-made millionaire, Dante Alphonso had a dream as a child and that was to become a rich man. Not only did that dream come true, allowing him to live an extravagant lifestyle travelling all over the world, fine dining, purchasing several homes in places as far apart as the U.S., the Seychelles, France, and Spain, but these days he makes other people’s dreams come true. The hopes and wishes of terminally ill children.
    In its first year, The Children’s Hope and Dream Foundation met the dreams of thirty-five very sick or terminally ill children. Sending some of them to places like Cincinnati, swimming with dolphins in Florida, visiting Father Christmas in Lapland, and meeting players from the Real Madrid football team, to name but a few of his benefactor bequests.
    Amelia Blake dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer. The organization allowed her to achieve her dream by arranging for her to meet the Royal Ballet troupe at Covent Garden. She watched them perform her favorite ballet, Swan Lake. Afterward she met the troupe for a very special dinner, returning at a later date to take part in a special performance with them for her friends and family.
    Samuel Jones yearned to pilot a light aircraft. He achieved his dream two months ago. Samuel, who suffered from a rare childhood illness,