The Moretti Seduction (11 page)

Suddenly he came up behind her, his arms coming around to grasp her breasts. He nipped at the shell of her ear. “Gotcha.”

She shivered. He plucked at her aroused nipples with his fingers while his mouth continued to play at her neck. Sensation spread throughout her body. His erection nestled between her buttocks through the fabric of her gown and she shifted a little, rubbing him between them.

One of his hands slipped down her body. He lingered at her belly button, and then slid lower, parting her nether lips. He didn’t touch her, just held her open so that the fabric of her gown brushed against her clitoris. She moaned.

“Please,” she gasped.

She felt like a prisoner to her desire and to this man. She tried to escape from Antonio’s grip but couldn’t.

He chuckled in her ear. “You’re mine.”

Deep in her soul, those words sounded right. She ignored that feeling and focused instead on the physical. She reached behind her to his erection, taking him in her grip. But he pulled his hips back, not allowing her to touch him.

“Antonio,” she said.

“Sì, cara mia?”
he asked.

“I…” She couldn’t think, couldn’t speak. She just wanted him inside her. Now.

“You can say it. You need me.”

“I do.”

“Say it please,” he said. He rubbed the fleshy part of her labia with long strokes of his fingers. First one side and then the other. But she ached for more. She shifted again, trying to bring his hand where she wanted it, but he wouldn’t be budged. She shoved her own hand down her body, but he caught her before she could bring relief to herself.

“Impatient?”

“You have no idea,” she muttered.

He chuckled. Finally he touched her, just a light brush of his fingertip. She reached for him but again he canted his hips away from her touch. “Antonio, no more games.”

“Agreed. Lie on the bed on your back.”

She did. He pushed the fabric of her negligee high to her waist, parted her legs and moved between them. “Part yourself for me. Show me where you want my tongue.”

She did as he said and felt his breath on her. She knew he was seeing her swollen with need and hungry for his mouth. He lowered his head and exhaled against her sensitive flesh.

Her thighs twitched and she wanted to clamp her legs around his head until he made her scream with passionate completion. She felt his tongue against her, lapping at her with increasing strength. Then she felt the edge of his teeth and she screamed with pleasure.

He thrust two fingers inside her, rocking up against her g-spot while his mouth worked its magic on her. He feathered light touches in between shockingly rougher ones that brought her quickly to the edge of orgasm. Still she fought it off, not wanting to end it too quickly.

He added a third finger inside her body and stretched them out when he pulled back and then thrust back into her body. Everything inside her tightened and her climax rushed through her.

Antonio put his hands on her thighs and pushed her legs back against her body before entering her so deeply she felt impaled on his length.

But he stopped there. She opened her eyes and met his gaze. “What are you waiting for?”

“You.”

She shifted onto him. Holding his shoulders, she lifted herself off him and then slowly slid back down.

“Faster,” he urged.

“Not yet,” she said.

She tightened her muscles around him, milking him as she pushed herself up his length and letting him slip out of her body.

He grabbed her hips and pulled her down while he thrust upward. He worked them together until she felt every nerve ending tingling again and her second orgasm rushed over her just as Antonio screamed with his own release.

The sex was phenomenal, the best she’d ever experienced, but as he turned off the lights and took her in his arms and she relaxed against him she realized that the real power that Antonio held over her was this. The sense of rightness she felt in his arms as he held her gently and they both drifted toward sleep.

He couldn’t admit to loving her. He was hedging his bets on the curse that had been a part of his life for so long that he couldn’t just admit it. He wouldn’t compromise all that he and Dom and Marco had worked for by admitting he’d fallen for Nathalie Vallerio, but he did need her in his life.

“Antonio, do you have a minute?”

He looked up from his computer screen. “Sure, Dom, come on in.”

Dom came into his office and closed the door but not all the way. He stood there in the middle of the room, and for the first time Antonio saw that Dom wasn’t confident. Not the way he’d always been.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing really. Nothing important, I just wanted to let you know that Angelina will be continuing as my secretary.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Well, I have decided to use her to leak false information to Barty Eastburn. If he wants our company secrets, then he’ll get them.”

“She agreed to do that?”

“Yes.”

Antonio signed off his computer and stood up, walking around to where his brother was. “Good. The Vallerio Roadster is almost ready for rollout. I think we’ve finally come up with terms that both sides can live with.”

“What did you give them?”

“A partial share in the profits from the roadster and a seat on our board. We will be getting a seat on their board as well.”

“Did you find out what their anticipated revenue will come from in the next quarter?”

He’d asked around and the Vallerio family was playing this one very close to the chest, but near as he could tell they had filed for new patents and would be releasing an updated carburetor design. A more energy efficient one. “It has something to with engines.”

“That’s good. See if we can get the exclusive rights to use it on our production cars for the first year.”

“I will. I haven’t broached the subject with Nathalie yet.”

“Why not? You spend a lot of time with her.”

“How do you know that?”

“Do you honestly think that I wouldn’t pay attention to what you are doing? There is a woman involved and I don’t want you to fall like Marco did.”

Antonio shook his head. “Dom, it’s time you stopped worrying about the curse. I think that Marco did break it. He’s still winning and he seems happy.”

Dom ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “I don’t believe it. We haven’t launched the new roadster and until it is successfully launched, we can’t afford to take chances.”

Antonio clapped his brother on the shoulder. As the oldest, Dom bore more responsibility than any of them. He was the one that
Nono
had groomed for the CEO position from the time they were old enough to talk.

“We will make this work. I can promise you that.”

Dom nodded. “Some days just seem longer than others.”

“I hear you,” Antonio said. “I’ve been traveling too much. I’m ready to get everything taken care of so I can start loafing around again.”

“You have never spent a day loafing in your life.”

Antonio had to laugh at that. “Of course I haven’t, but it does sound good.”

“Indeed,” Dom said.

Antonio looked at his older brother. They were workaholics, both of them, and he feared sometimes that if he didn’t grab on to Nathalie with both hands, he was going to end up alone. Not that there was anything wrong with living a solitary life, but now that he’d a glimpse of what life could be, he wanted more.

“Do you ever wonder if we should have just followed Papa’s path?” Antonio asked.

Dom turned and looked at him, studied him really, and Antonio regretted his words. Dom probably never doubted himself, and hinting that he, Antonio, doubted himself wasn’t going over well.

“Never mind.”

“No, I can’t just dismiss this. If you are thinking along these lines, it can only mean one thing,” Dom said.

Antonio shook his head. “It doesn’t mean anything. Seeing Marco and Virginia together just made me curious.”

Dom narrowed his eyes. “I was curious once, Tony, and I got burned. I didn’t need a curse to harden my heart. I did it myself when I realized just how vulnerable a man can be to a woman. And most women can use that to their advantage.”

Antonio knew that Dom’s ex-lover had betrayed him in the worst way and that his brother would never risk his heart again. But he thought of Nathalie and the burgeoning feelings he had for her. They included trust, he thought.

He already trusted her and even if he never said the words out loud, he knew he loved her.

“I know I suggested romancing Nathalie Vallerio, but has that turned into something more?”

Antonio looked at his brother, straight in the eye, and told the biggest lie he ever had. “No, Dom. It’s nothing more than an affair.”

She pressed the call button.

What was she going to do? She had taken back to her family the deal that she and Antonio had worked out. She’d compromised on things, believing that he was dealing with her fairly and that he was going to stand up and be the man she’d fallen in love with.

She should have remembered the lesson her great-aunt had learned the hard way…that Moretti men had only one true love and that was Moretti Motors.

She sniffed and blinked some more, but the tears were pooling in the corners of her eyes. She had no tissue to wipe them away. She never cried. She just wasn’t the type of woman who would ever break down like this.

She heard the rumble of Antonio’s voice and was horrified by the thought that he might catch her crying. She walked down the hall to the toilets on this floor.

She went inside and startled the woman already in there. She was clearly crying, her face red and splotchy. “Angelina?”

“
Ciao,
Nathalie. I’m sorry you’ve caught me this way.”

It was funny but seeing the other woman’s distress made her forget about her tears. At least for this moment. And that was all she needed. When she was alone she would deal with the heartache.

“Are you okay?”

“Sì,”
Angelina said. “I wish I were one of those women who cried pretty.”

Nathalie laughed. “Me too. Luckily I don’t cry often.”

“Unfortunately I do,” Angelina said. There was an aura of sadness around her today.

“Do you want to talk?” Nathalie asked.

Angelina shook her head. “Not unless you know some way to keep from crying in front of others.”

Nathalie thought about something her sister had read in a psychology journal a few years ago. To be honest she didn’t believe it worked, but it always made her and Genevieve laugh when they mentioned it and laughter was a great mask for sadness.

“I did hear something, though I’ve never tried it,” Nathalie said. “Don’t laugh but if you tighten your buttocks, it’s supposed to make you stop crying.”

“And start laughing?”

“Well, it always has that affect on my sister and me.”

Angelina laughed and then took a deep breath. “
Grazie,
Nathalie.”

“You’re welcome.”

Angelina left the bathroom and Nathalie stood in front of the mirror, trying to hold on to the laughter she’d shared with the other woman. She pushed her emotions down deep inside and tried to bury them, but it was hard for her to do.

She’d never been this vulnerable to a man before. And she didn’t like that. She didn’t like the fact that Antonio Moretti had done this to her.

She remembered what they had said in the beginning and realized she couldn’t really get mad at him. She’d agreed that all was fair in love and war. It didn’t matter that the circumstances of their relationship had changed for her. They’d laid down the ground rules at the beginning of their negotiations.

She was the one who had forgotten them. It was a mistake she couldn’t afford to make again.

Breathing deeply, she left the ladies’ room with a confident stride. Walking down the hall to Antonio’s office, she practiced what she’d say, how she’d pretend that everything was normal until she got out of here.

She debated leaving now, not seeing him again. But he was expecting her and she had to use the new knowledge she had to her advantage. Something she wouldn’t be able to accomplish if she left now.

Antonio’s secretary, Carla, was at her desk this time when Nathalie came into the office.

“Is Antonio ready for me?” she asked after exchanging greetings.

“
Sì,
go on in.”

The moment she pushed the door open and stepped into his office she knew this was a mistake. When Antonio turned to face her from the far side of his office and smiled at her, she wanted nothing but to confront him.

To demand he tell her to her face that she meant nothing more to him than a little affair to make the negotiations easier.

But she bit her tongue. She channeled her anger into a need for vengeance. Or at least that was what she told herself. Inside she realized that she’d trade vengeance for one more night in his arms.

Antonio was still distracted from his conversation with Dom. He wanted to get away from Moretti Motors and forget about his family for a little while. That was the past and Nathalie was his future. He didn’t know how but he was going to convince Dom that there was no harm in falling in love.

He had spent a lot of time the last two weeks trying to make sense of everything, and having Nathalie here with him now made him realize that if he couldn’t find a balance between Moretti Motors and Nathalie…Well, he’d have to choose between them, and Nathalie offered him something the car company couldn’t.

She offered him a life beyond work.

He walked over to her to kiss her, but she turned her head so that his lips grazed her cheek.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. Just had a long flight from Paris and I don’t feel that your office is the best place for kissing.”

“The boardroom is more to your liking?” he asked, teasing her.

She flushed and he saw an expression cross her face that he couldn’t identify. “I guess so.”

“Did your family agree to the terms we worked out?” he asked. They’d both spent long hours trying to make sure that the deal was fair for both sides.

“We can talk about that later. I’m here for a date with my main man.”

“That’s right. Pleasure first and then business,” he said, but he could tell that something wasn’t right with Nathalie. She never talked like this and he wondered if she wasn’t having doubts.

Doubts about the deal or about them? Or was she simply tired? It was Friday evening and he’d asked her to come to Milan because he was going to propose to her. He wanted to do it at the house on Lake Como. He thought returning to the place where they’d first made love would be a nice touch.

In fact he’d planned for them to have cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the boardroom first. “Will you come with me to the boardroom first?”

“Why?”

“I have planned a surprise for you,
cara mia.
”

He escorted her out of his office, glancing over at Carla. She nodded to him, letting him know she’d set up everything as he’d asked her to.

When he opened the door of the boardroom he saw flowers on the sideboard, a champagne bucket at the end of the table with a tray of food. And most importantly a slim gift-wrapped box as well.

“After you,” he said.

She entered the room and then stopped. He stepped in behind her and locked the door so they wouldn’t be disturbed.

“What is this?”

“Just a little predate.”

“Antonio,” she said, “you didn’t have to do all of this.”

“Yes, I did,” he said. “Have a seat while I pour the champagne.”

He held out one of the chairs for her and she slowly came to sit down. He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned over her to kiss her. This time she didn’t turn away, but he noticed she was blinking a lot. “Is this okay?”

“Yes,” she said, her voice a bit husky.

“Open this while I pour the champagne.”

He handed her the box. He hoped she liked the strand of Mikimoto pearls he’d gotten her. The creamy color of the pearls would look exquisite against her skin.

She held the box in her hands and stared up at him. “Why all of this?”

“To celebrate. Now that we aren’t adversaries in the boardroom anymore, we can concentrate on our relationship. I see this day as a new start between us,
cara mia.
Open your gift.”

She opened it slowly and he heard her breath catch as she stared down at the ocean-inspired strand of pearls. The pearls were offset by blue sapphires.

“This is beautiful.”

“It is nothing compared to your beauty,” he said.

He reached around her and took the pearls from the box. “Lift you hair up.”

She did as he said and he fastened the necklace around her neck, bending to drop a kiss underneath the white gold clasp. She put one hand at the base of her throat where the pearls rested. He turned the chair around so he could see her eyes.

A sheen of tears glistened there and he knew this was a moment he’d remember all of his life. Having Nathalie here with him made him feel he’d been given the keys to the kingdom. And it was a kingdom he’d never thought to belong in.

That was what he wanted from her love, he thought, what he needed from it. This acceptance and the desire to be with this woman for the rest of his life.

He knew that their marriage and engagement would not be easy, but he had a strong feeling that they could make it work.

He tipped her head back and kissed her, trying to show her with his mouth all the emotions he felt, all the words he couldn’t say.

She parted her lips for him, her tongue thrusting past the barrier of his teeth. Her hands wound around his neck, drawing him closer to her.

He leaned in, put his arms around her waist and lifted her out of the chair and spun around so that he could lean against the table and hold her in his arms.

She pulled back and he saw something in her eyes he’d never seen before. He wasn’t sure what emotion it was, but he knew it wasn’t love.

“What is it, Nathalie?”

“I’m just trying to figure out something.”

“What?”

“Are you giving me this gift as a thank-you for what I did to help Moretti Motors with the Vallerio Roadster? Or…”

“Or?”

“As a sop for your conscience since you romanced me around to your way of thinking?”