Free The Moretti Arrangement by Katherine Garbera Page B

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.”

Eight
    A ngelina had been surprised by Dominic’s invitation for her to attend Moretti Motors’ reception debuting their new roadster. But she’d happily agreed.
    The entire Vallerio Inc. board had flown in from France to attend. Angelina suspected they were also here to celebrate Nathalie’s engagement to Antonio.
    She liked Nathalie a lot. They had become friends over the long weeks that Nathalie had spent in Milan negotiating with Antonio.
    She knew that both Moretti Motors and Vallerio Inc. were in talks to release the coupe version of the car next year as well.
    “ Bonjour, Nathalie. Congratulations on your engagement,” Angelina said, moving to where the woman stood near a tall cocktail table.
    “Thank you,” Nathalie said. “I still can’t believe I’m going to marry a Moretti. My grandfather is either laughing with delight that I caught a Moretti or spinning in anger that once again a Moretti caught a Vallerio.”
    “Wasn’t your grandfather good friends with Lorenzo Moretti?”
    “Yes, until Lorenzo broke my tante Anna’s heart. Very tragic…I’m making light but it was sad. It seems like Lorenzo Moretti was doomed when it came to women.”
    “Cursed,” Dominic said, coming up behind the two women. He held a