The Moretti Seduction (8 page)

It was the same with Genevieve. Maybe it was because they’d grown up closer to their mother than their father. Whatever the reason, she admitted as she drove her Peugeot on the roundabout in front of the Arc de Triomphe, she didn’t care. She wanted to get through dinner as quickly as she could and then get back to work.

It was the only way she’d found to keep her mind off of Antonio. When she was at home in her luxurious condo, all she did was imagine him there with her. When she slept he haunted her dreams, making love to her and speaking to her in that beautiful Italian voice of his. When she worked out at the gym, she sometimes thought she heard his footfalls on the treadmill next to hers.

He was haunting her. Damn him.

In the office he’d sent her a very official-sounding e-mail telling her that he looked forward to hearing from her on the Vallerio Roadster matter.

And then at home she’d received a vase of yellow daffodils, which were still on her front hall table. They were the first things she saw when she came home and the last things she noticed when she left. The note he’d sent was sweet and sexy. Everything she’d expect from Antonio.

And a part of her…okay, all of her hoped that this relationship was more than an affair. But she was afraid to believe it.

He had said that they should keep their dating private and that it had nothing to do with the negotiations they were both embroiled in right now, but she worried that she wouldn’t be able to.

Her mobile rang as she approached the restaurant and pulled into the valet lane. She glanced down at the caller ID and saw that it was an Italian number. Antonio?

She hurried out of her car and into Ladurée. The restaurant was over a century old and a famous institution on the Champs-Elysées.

“Bonjour, c’est Nathalie,”
she said, answering her phone.

“
Ciao, cara mia.
Did you get the flowers I sent?”

“Yes, I did. Thank you for them.”

“You’re welcome. What are you doing?”

“Having dinner with my family. I’m sorry I haven’t sent you a thank-you note.”

“That’s nothing. Why haven’t you returned my calls?” he asked.

She shrugged and then realized he couldn’t see that response. “I’m not sure. I’ve been busy.”

She realized she was making excuses and she knew better than that. “I guess I wanted a chance to get you out of my head.”

“Did it work?” he asked.

“No. Not at all.”

“Well, then you should have called me back. I’ve missed the sound of your voice.”

“Have you?”

“Indeed. When will you be back in Milan?”

“Next week. I’m meeting with our board tomorrow and I should have a counteroffer for you.”

“You know how far I’m willing to go,” he said.

She wondered if she really did know. How far was Antonio willing to go to get the deal closed? Was he willing to seduce her?

She didn’t know. She doubted seducing her would be of benefit for him.

“Why so silent?”

“I’m just thinking,” she said. She was dreaming of this man who was her rival. This man who wanted something from her family that they had fought to hold on to. And she was going to try to find a way to make it work for him. Because she wanted to honor her grandfather’s memory, but also because she wanted to get this deal off the table so she could see what lay between them.

“Nathalie?”

“Um…pardon me. I’ve got to go. My parents are waiting.”

“Call me when you are done with dinner,” he said.

“It will be late.”

“That’s okay, I’ll be up.”

She hesitated. But then she thought, why the hell not? She’d be thinking about him anyway.

“All right. I’ll call. I only have your office number.”

“I’ll send you a text with all my numbers. I’ll be at home after ten.”

“Very well.
Bonne nuit,
Antonio.”

“Until later.”

He disconnected the call and she held on to her BlackBerry for another minute, standing in the crowded foyer of the restaurant trying to regain her equilibrium.

“Nathalie!”

She turned to see Genevieve waving at her. She made her way over to her sister and hugged her. “Are Mom and Dad here?”

“Not yet. I told them we’d meet them in the bar,” Genevieve said, leading the way to the bar. They both ordered a glass of wine and found a seat at one of the high tables.

“What happened that last night in Milan?”

“What? Nothing. I told you I stayed in,” she said.

“I followed you to Duomo and saw you leave with Antonio.”

“Busted?”

“Big-time. So what’s up?”

“I…I don’t know. It really has nothing to do with the negotiations.”

“How can you say that? He’s a Moretti. Lorenzo already proved that the men in that family are all about business.”

Nathalie took a sip of her drink. “I know. But Antonio is different.”

“Is he really?”

“Yes, I think he is. I know that I might be making a mistake, but I think I can handle him in the boardroom and out.”

“I hope you are right,” Genevieve said.

Nathalie did too. And she knew no matter what, she had to be very careful that she didn’t forget that with Moretti men, business always came first.

“
Ciao,
Antonio,” she said.

“
Ciao,
Angelina. Is my brother available?”

“
Sì.
Marco has just gone in.”

“Grazie.”

He entered the office and closed the heavy oak door behind him. Marco looked relaxed and happy, despite the fact that it was the beginning of the F1 World Championship race calendar. “
Ciao,
Marco. Congratulations on your win in Behrain last weekend.”

He smiled. “
Grazie.
Everyone is gunning for me this year.”

“I would imagine so,” Dom said.

“How is Virginia and little Enzo?”

“Very good. We’d love it if you’d join us for dinner tonight.”

He nodded.

“If that’s settled, can we get down to business?” Dom said.

Antonio sat in the other guest chair, listening with half an ear as Dom caught Marco up on everything that had been happening the last two weeks while he’d been out of town.

He studied his younger brother and realized, for the first time since Marco had fallen in love with Virginia, that he envied his brother. Which was ridiculous. He was a bachelor. He loved his single life, yet a part of him wanted someone to come home to. Wanted a partner that would always be there for him.

He rubbed the back of his neck, knowing that he wasn’t going to find that with Nathalie. He couldn’t. No matter how much he wanted her in his life, his priority had to always be Moretti Motors.

“Tony?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you hear what I said?” Dom asked. “The leak is in the corporate offices. I’ve asked Ian to meet us after the dinner hour tonight. He has some information that he didn’t want to give to me at the office.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Antonio said. “He must think that the problem is in one of our offices.”

“I’m not going to guess at anything. Can you join us after dinner?”

He thought about the call he’d coerced Nathalie into making. He wanted to talk to her, but canceling an important meeting for her…Well, that would be giving her too much power in his personal life and he wasn’t willing to do that just now. “
Sì,
I’m available.”

“
Buon.
So, where do we stand on the Vallerio negotiations?”

“I offered them a share of the profits from the roadster, and a seat on the board for the CEO of Vallerio Incorporated. They want to do profit sharing companywide for all of their shareholders. I’ve told them we’ll consider it if it’s a reciprocal arrangement.”

“Is that fiscally a good idea?” Dom asked.

“I am doing some research on their profit and loss statements for the last couple of years. They are expecting a huge profit in the third quarter this year, but I haven’t been able to figure out why.”

“Doesn’t Nathalie know?” Dom asked.

“I’m sure she does but I haven’t asked her yet. She is busy with figuring out what her board will accept and preparing a counteroffer.”

“I thought you were working on seducing her to get more information,” Dom said.

“It’s never that easy with women,” Marco said. “You must know that, Dom.”

“Indeed, but this time I think it’s important that Tony pull out all the stops.”

“Are you giving him romantic advice?” Marco asked. “What have you two been up to while I’ve been racing?”

Antonio knew this was going to continue going downhill. Marco would tease him endlessly because Dom had suggested he seduce Nathalie. Antonio realized that to anyone on the outside the ploy was going to seem cold and calculated.

Still, Antonio knew he hadn’t seduced her for any reason other than that he wanted her. He was attracted to her body and soul, he thought.

“Tony?”

“Dom suggested I use sex as another means of weakening her defenses.”

“Did you? That’s ethically wrong,” Marco said.

“Of course it is. Nathalie and I are both very aware of our family rivalry,” Antonio said.

“That’s good. Do you like her?” Marco asked.

He shrugged. No way was he going to talk about Nathalie with his brothers. Dom would find it uncomfortable if he mentioned that he was attracted to Nathalie in a way he’d never been attracted to another woman. And he knew that he didn’t want to have to choose between his loyalty to his brothers and to Nathalie.

Was he loyal to her? He didn’t like to think that she had any control over him, but he knew she did.

“Of course I like her. She’s sexy and smart, a lethal combination in any woman.”

Marco laughed and Dom looked uncomfortable.

“Can you handle her?”

“She’s only a woman,” Antonio said. Now if he could only convince his emotions of that fact.

The valet brought her car and she got in after tipping the man. Her father sat quietly until she’d navigated out of the traffic on the Champs-Elysées.

“Thank you for all your hard work with the Moretti Motors people,” Emile said, “but I don’t think this newest offer of theirs is going to be one we can accept.”

“Why not? I think the terms are good and that we will make the profit that we wanted to from this agreement.”

Nathalie made a left turn and then glanced over at her father. His mouth was pinched tight and he looked like a very old man for a minute. “Papa?”

“I’m fine. We don’t need the Morettis to make a profit. I don’t want to give away the farm just to have a piece of their pie.”

She shook her head. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you? I’ve always been impressed by your business savvy and the way you conduct yourself, but Antonio Moretti…he’s slick and smooth and I’m not sure you can handle him.”

If her father only knew. She’d faced men like Antonio on more than one occasion and always come back a winner. “Papa, don’t you trust me?”

“
Oui, cherie,
I trust you.”

“Then why are you asking me all these questions?”

“I guess it is simply that I don’t trust the Moretti men not to do something underhanded. And you are my daughter, Nathalie. I don’t want you hurt the way my aunt Anna was.”

She understood that. “I’m not
Tante
Anna, Papa, and I’m not going to let Antonio use me the way that Lorenzo did her. I’m more than capable of handling myself around Antonio.”

“
Bien.
That’s all I wanted to say. Also we cannot accept less than seventy percent of the profits from the roadster. I talked to the rest of the board already and they are adamant as well.”

Nathalie turned onto the street where her parents lived. “Papa, that’s impossible. Antonio has already turned that offer down.”

“Then tell him he’ll have to try harder to come up with a better offer than he has so far.”

“I will.”

Nathalie parked on the street in front of her parents’ house with a feeling that her father was never going to accept any relationship she had with Antonio. And that made her a little sad because she had started to see Antonio as a man. Not the Moretti monster that her family had always painted the Moretti heirs to be.