Free Untouched Until Marriage by Chantelle Shaw

to keep Gino. He belonged to her, she thought fiercely. Raul was legally Gino’s half-brother, but because Raul was Pietro’s adopted son, he and Gino were not blood relatives, and he would never love the baby as she did.
    Lost in her thoughts, she suddenly realised that Raul was speaking. ‘How do you think you are going to be able to take an active role in running Carducci Cosmetics when you’ve admitted you have no business experience?’ he demanded impatiently. ‘Pietro must have been out of his mind when he awarded you control of Gino’s shares. A lap-dancer with a qualification in art—’ He broke off and growled something in Italian that Libby guessed was not complimentary.
    â€˜I may not have tons of qualifications, but I learned to be streetwise from an early age,’ Libby retaliated. ‘For years I used to help Mum run a market stall, and I’m confident I can tell the difference between a dodgy deal and a safe one. I’m determined to look after Gino’s interests to the best of my ability, and keep his shares in the company safe. And I already told you I never worked as a lap-dancer,’ she added tightly.
    â€˜So where did you meet my father?’
    The question came out of the blue, and Libby froze, frantically trying to recall everything Liz had told her about her holiday romance with Pietro Carducci.
    â€˜We met on a cruise ship,’ she mumbled. ‘The Aurelia . It was a month-long trip, visiting ports around the Mediterranean.’
    She could sense Raul’s surprise. ‘Do you often take cruises?’
    Libby was not a natural liar, and she could feel her cheeks grow hot as she became more embroiled in the deception she had started when she had told Raul she was Gino’s mother. ‘No—it was my first cruise. I won the trip in a competition,’ she added, relieved that that part of the story was true. Liz had been ecstatic when she had won the luxury holiday.
    â€˜So, you met my father on the ship?’ Raul drawled. He remembered from when he had escorted Pietro aboard the Aurelia that most of the other guests had been elderly. Beautiful young Libby must have had rich pickings, he thought cynically.
    â€˜Yes.’ Libby recounted her mother’s story of how she had met Pietro. ‘The Aurelia was huge. I took a wrong turn on my way back to my cabin one evening and ended up on the first-class deck. Pietro was returning to his suite, we got chatting, and…well,’ she finished lamely, ‘that’s how we met.’
    â€˜It was certainly a fortuitous wrong turn you took that night,’ Raul commented silkily.
    Libby flushed at his sardonic tone. It was clear he believed his father had been targeted by a calculating gold-digger. But her mum hadn’t been like that, she thought miserably. Liz had brought her up alone after being abandoned by Libby’s father. Life had been tough, but Liz had been fiercely independent and would never have been attracted to a man for his money. Yet it would be impossible to explain that to Raul, Libby knew—especially as she had led him to believe that she had been his father’s mistress. She had dug herself a hole and now she was falling ever deeper into it, but if she wanted to stay with Gino she could never reveal the truth.
    Raul compressed his lips into an angry line, but did not say any more as he slotted the Lamborghini into his reserved parking space outside Carducci Cosmetics’ office block. The building was a modern confection of steel, tinted windows and grey marble steps leading up to the front doors; the foyer was discreetly elegant, with marble pillars, black leather sofas and a reception desk staffed by women who looked as though they had stepped from the pages of Vogue .
    She should definitely have worn make-up, Libby realised, after the lift had whisked them up to the top floor, where they were met by Raul’s ultra-glamorous PA.