The Moretti Arrangement (7 page)

She nodded and bent to pick up her panties. She pulled her clothes on and walked away from him on shaking legs.

The intimacy of what had just transpired between them had forced them further apart rather than bringing them closer together. She closed the door and avoided looking at herself in the mirror.

She’d thought that starting this affair with Dominic was a way to stay. The obvious one of staying out of jail. And, perhaps she hoped to get a little closer.

And she wondered if the bad luck she’d always had with men was going to dominate this relationship, too. She longed to have a man fall for her and treat her like a princess.

Being treated like a sexy lady was fine, too, but as she wrapped her arms around her waist she realized it also left her feeling hollow.

She heard the outer door of Dominic’s office open and she wondered if he’d left. She hastily cleaned up and refastened her clothing. A glance in the mirror told her what she already sensed. She looked as though she was about to cry.

She refused to shed one tear. She’d made the choice that had led to this and she really needed to own up to her actions. And she had enjoyed the lovemaking with Dominic at his desk. His desk.

Oh my God, she thought.

She was entering an entirely new phase in her life…she had to let go of the past and of dreams that she’d clung to like a girl. She was a woman—with a woman’s mistakes and experiences behind her. And if she had a chance at ever getting Dominic to see her as something more than a mistress, she had to start taking more control in their relationship.

She’d let Renni use her because she loved him and she had the bad feeling that if she wasn’t careful she would let Dominic do the same thing.

She exited the washroom to find Dominic and Ian both in his office.

“Are you okay?” Dominic asked.

She nodded. “Yes. I’ll go back to my desk now unless you need me?”

“That’s fine. Ian wants to go over the arrangements for you both to head to London. He will be out in a few minutes.”

She walked out of his office, feeling as if she’d never get back to her desk, but then she was there. She sat down on her chair and really had to fight to keep her equilibrium.

The phone rang and she answered it, glad for the distraction. “Signore Moretti’s office, this is Angelina.”

“
Ciao,
Angelina. This is Bruno Marcelli, Dominic’s solicitor.”

“He’s in a meeting right now, can I take a message?”

“Yes, please tell him that the arrangement he asked me to draw up is ready for his review. I’m going to fax it over now,” Bruno said.

“Is it for the Vallerio agreement?” she asked.

“No, it’s a personal matter. In fact, it involves you, Ms. De Luca. The fax I’m sending is for you,” he said.

“Is this regarding my personal arrangement with Dominic?” she asked.

“Indeed. Signore Moretti has authorized me to offer you the services of one of our solicitors and my associate Signore Lunestri will be contacting you later today to discuss it. There will be no charge to you for this service.”

“
Grazie,
Signore Marcelli.”

“You’re welcome.
Ciao.
”

She hung up the phone and a minute later heard the ring of the fax machine. She stood and went over to the machine, wanting to remove the papers from the tray before anyone else came into the office. It was a private machine, but being Dominic’s mistress and having others know it wasn’t what she wanted.

This wasn’t turning out the way she wanted it to. And she remembered the vow she’d just made to herself in Dominic’s washroom. The promise that she’d take control of this. She pulled the papers off the machine and read them over carefully.

In her mind she started to change the entire way she’d been viewing her affair with Dominic. She had felt guilty for her actions in the entire corporate espionage thing, but she realized she had to let go of her guilt.

Dominic wasn’t going to forget it and she never would, either, but it could no longer be the focus of her every action around him.

She took a pen and started making notes on the document, which was very generous. She was sure that Dominic didn’t expect her to turn down his offer of a new wardrobe or an apartment, or the many other things he could give her, but she knew, deep inside, that she didn’t want
things.

She wanted Dominic Moretti, and the only way to win him was to make him realize she wasn’t like every other woman he’d known.

She’d gone to London to meet Barty wearing the brooch and bringing the false information with her. Ian had been in place, and they had been ready to entrap him, but instead Patrick had shown up to retrieve the information.

So she’d had to leave Renni in London to continue his gambling in case Barty was onto the trap they were trying to set. Ian had worked out the details and Angelina had simply gone along with them. Deciding to let herself be a pawn. It was what she’d been in this mess from the beginning.

She’d made a concerted effort to try to make him see her as more than a mistress.

Like when she’d made them a picnic lunch and convinced him to leave the office for an hour. They’d driven out of the city and had a quiet meal. They’d talked about books and travel, and she’d realized they had a lot in common on a very basic level. She’d mentioned that she loved finding out the history of old buildings. And Dominic had confessed he did the same, but with cars.

The next day he’d given her a book on architecture in Milan, and then he’d taken her that evening to one of his favorite old buildings. They’d explored the old stone facades and talked. Just talked. Angelina hadn’t realized how long it had been since someone had listened to her and shared an interest with her that wasn’t related to work or money.

Though there were times when she felt she’d succeeded, when she looked around this ultramodern place that he’d outfitted for them, she felt as though they were nothing but sex partners. He had to know that this place wasn’t…wasn’t the kind of place she could picture herself living in.

Was she giving him too much credit by suspecting that he had done it for her? She knew he must have some clue that she was falling for him. It was hard not to tell him how much she cared about him in the middle of the night when he made love to her. Their evenings together weren’t like the obviously sexual games he played at the office or in the showroom or even in the new Moretti Motors Vallerio Roadster.

“Do you like it?” he asked, coming to stand behind her.

“Do you?” she asked. She’d been very careful to keep things between them stress free. She wanted Dominic to realize that they could have a longer relationship and to be honest she was trying to be exactly what he wanted. She was adventurous in the bedroom and tried to be sweet out of it.

“I’ve just seen it.”

She shook her head. “Dominic, didn’t you approve the furniture in here?”

“No.”

“Why not? You told me you were buying this place, not renting it.”

“It will only be my home for the next five months or so. The furnishings don’t matter too much to me—except the bedroom. I did ask for a king-size bed so we will both have enough room.”

“Do you do this for all your mistresses?” she asked.

“You are different,” he said.

She smiled at him as she felt tears sting the back of her eyes. “Thank you.”

“You are very welcome. Now let’s explore the place. Check out the bed.”

She followed him into the kitchen, thinking that he always made her feel like the sexiest woman alive even though she was nothing close to it.

There was something about having a man want her the way Dominic did that took her breath away. Her mobile rang when they entered the kitchen area. “Do you mind if I get that?”

“Who is it?”

She glanced at the caller ID. “I’m not sure. It’s an out-of-country code.”

“Don’t forget to use the recording button that Ian installed on your phone.”

“I will,” she said.

She hit the button to answer the call and record it. “
Ciao,
this is Angelina.”

“
Ciao,
Ange.”

“Renni, how are you?”

“Good. I’m calling you because I need a favor.”

“What do you need?”

“Do you remember Jillian Stiles? I dated her two years ago?”

“Not really,” she said. Her brother went through women very quickly. “Why?”

“She’s going to be in Milan next month, and since you aren’t going to be living in your place I thought maybe she could use it,” he said.

She’d let Renni know when they’d planned for him to come to Milan—before Barty’s behavior had changed their plans.

“I don’t know. Let me think about it and I’ll call you back.”

“She needs to know soon,” Renni said.

“Why can’t she stay with you?” Angelina asked.

“She’ll be coming with me from London, and I’ve got a new job now,” he said, referring to the job that Dominic had gotten him in the Moretti Motors plant. “And if she stays with me I will not go to work. I’ll stay home and play with her. I don’t want to let you down, Ang.”

How was she supposed to say no to that? “Oh—”

“What does your brother want?” Dominic asked, putting his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone.

“To let his ex-girlfriend stay at my place next month.”

“Why?”

“So she can save money,” Angelina said.

“Are you going to do it?” Dominic asked.

“Probably. Renni doesn’t want to take a chance on messing up at his new job. I think he took your warning to heart.”

“I’m glad to hear it. If you let her stay there, will your stuff be safe?” Dominic asked.

“I don’t know.”

Dominic looked at her for a minute. “We’ll move your stuff here before she comes. That way you know she won’t go through anything.”

“I…okay.”

“Finish up so we can go and check out the king-size bed.”

He removed his hand from the mouthpiece and she told Renni that his friend could use her place. Dominic had gone into the living room and she stood in the doorway of the kitchen area watching him. And thinking that there was a lot more to him than he wanted the world to see.

“I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s nothing. I’m glad that he is taking his job seriously,” Dominic said.

“Me, too. I was afraid that he’d do something to jeopardize this and you’d be forced to terminate him.”

Dominic had the same fear. Angelina was the only authority the boy had known for many years and he was used to answering to no one, not even the law.

But that had changed when Dominic had talked to Renni. Dominic had made it very clear that if Renni wanted to stay out of jail, he had to support himself and not involve his sister in any more nefarious activities.

And so far…for two weeks, Renni had kept his word. And for Angelina’s sake, Dominic hoped that would continue. He’d learned that Angelina had a very soft heart where her brother was concerned.

And a jealous part of him wanted her to care and worry over him the same way. And he knew she’d never be able to do that if he sent her brother to jail.

He had found that he liked spending as much time with Angelina as he could. Living in two separate places had been difficult and he’d moved as quickly as he could to get them under one roof. This place was very upscale and sophisticated, befitting a man of his stature. But to be honest he didn’t care about that. He had just wanted to give something to Angelina that she couldn’t have gotten for herself.

“I understand about brothers,” Dominic said. He’d tried to keep things light between the two of them, but he was a bit on edge waiting to see if Ian could find another connection to Barty Eastburn. Barty hadn’t shown up for the meeting with Angelina, so that meant they had to find evidence against Eastburn another way. They suspected Barty knew Angelina had given herself up to Dominic.

“What are you thinking?”

“About work.”

“What about it? I finished sending the final plans for the new Vallerio motor to the design group today. I know everyone is ecstatic over the fact that you are now officially going forward with the revamped Vallerio Roadster.”

“Yes, they are,” he said. The one nice thing about having an affair with Angelina was the freedom to talk about his work with her. But there were times, like now, when he wanted to remind her that the information she was discussing was still meant to be kept under wraps. “You know that this needs to be kept quiet.”

“I do. I wouldn’t have said anything except that I thought it might be on your mind,” she said. Before they’d become lovers Angelina had been spunky and always standing up to him, but now she backed down quickly if she thought she’d upset him.

“Why do you always do that?”

“What?”

“Back down and apologize for everything.”

“I’m just trying to be nice.”

“Nice?”

She nodded.

“Don’t be. You should know me well enough to realize that I don’t like yes men.”

She tipped her head to the side and gave him a very shrewd look. “But you do like accommodating women.”

“True enough, but I know how to get you to be more biddable.”

“You do?”

“Indeed. Come here and I’ll prove it.”

She shook her head. “You come here.”

“That’s not what I asked. You want to be nice to me, don’t you, Angelina?”

She hesitated and he had no idea what she was thinking but the emotions that moved across her face were easy to identify. Fear, hope and something that looked a lot like caring.

“I’m always nice to you. I got your breakfast without complaining,” she said.

This morning he’d had an important meeting with both of his brothers and there simply hadn’t been time to order in as they usually did, so he’d had Angelina run out and get them breakfast. Normally he wouldn’t have asked her to do that kind of thing since she was his assistant, but he had to admit he’d wanted her out of the office while Antonio brought them up to date on what was going on with Vallerio Inc.

“I made that up to you,” he said. He’d taken her to lunch in the piazza and bought her the pretty gold charm bracelet, which now graced her slim wrist.

“Yes, you did. Did I thank you properly for that?”

He nodded. “Are you going to come over here or not?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“If you are going to use your body to distract me.”

“You don’t like that?” he asked.

“I love it,” she said. “I had no idea how sexy you could be, Dominic.”

He arched one eyebrow at her. “You didn’t find me attractive before our affair started?”

“I did. I just didn’t allow myself to think about you in…carnal terms.”

He laughed. There was something about Angelina when she let her hair down that made him relax and forget that he always had to be on his guard. Always keep his eye on the prize as his grandfather had told him on his deathbed.

“You mean you didn’t lust after me?”

She shook her head. “I had plenty of lust, I just didn’t think that you’d ever want me. Or that I’d ever be here with you like this.”

“And now that you are?”

“I’m afraid that it’s going to end all too soon.”