AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His mouth breached that last centimetre, searing her own with a burning fire that immediately overwhelmed, consumed her so every thought, every single objection flew straight out of her head.
Salvation came in the form of a loud snuffle as Gianni stirred in his sleep.
Beneath her, Rocco stiffened at the sound, then dropped his forehead to hers with a muted groan. ‘I now know what parents mean when they bemoan their children killing their sex lives.’ Warm self-derision invited her to share the joke.
‘You can rest easy, Rocco. We don’t have a sex life to bemoan. Hell, after we meet with your lawyers and get this straightened out, we don’t even need to be in the same vicinity unless strictly necessary.’
Her voice was reassuringly firm and even, her spine straight.
But inside, Mia was trembling. Crumbling beneath the brooding, enigmatic look he sent her. Because that look was ten times more potent than the one he’d delivered that chilling day in his office when he’d annihilated her.
And as the limo sped towards London, her instincts shrieked that they were far from done. That she was nowhere near being free of Rocco Vitelli.
CHAPTER SIX
THE OFFICES OF Rocco’s lawyers were located exactly where Mia suspected they would be—slap bang in the middle of the Square Mile ensconced behind its towers of steel and glass.
Sharply suited professionals moved around with brisk efficiency. Within minutes, they were whisked skyward and into a sleek conference room. Gianni took it all in his stride, his eyes wide as he looked around him. His usually effervescent questions had quietened down, perhaps instinctiv
ely sensing the momentous occasion. Or it might have been the firm hold his father had on him, the awe with which her son looked up at his father as they were ushered into the conference room.
Mia didn’t want to speculate any more than her wild imagination was already hammering at her. Rocco hadn’t spoken to her since her tight announcement in the car following their horrid little entanglement. His calculating gaze had settled on her more than a few times though, enough to heighten the sense of unsettling dread bubbling beneath her skin. She refused to engage in whatever he was plotting behind those sharply intelligent eyes.
A few short hours. That was all she needed to hold it together before she could be back in Hampshire with her son. All further dealings after today would be through lawyers she could employ once she was back on her feet.
The door opened, and a stream of lawyers entered. It was easy to distinguish between the Italian contingent and their English counterparts. The Italians were more flamboyantly dressed, their bespoke Milan suits shrieking their Latin flair, while their English colleagues were a little more conservative, although both could not have been mistaken for anything other than the sharp pool of sharks Rocco retained.
Conservative greetings were exchanged, and Mia watched them align themselves across the conference table.
They were barely settled when Rocco leaned forward, his eyes fixed on the senior partner. ‘Do you have answers for me?’
The older gentleman, with greying hair and rimless glasses, nodded. ‘Our investigators are still working through how this debacle came to be but my team has been able to confirm that your earlier suspicions were right. The documentation is all fraudulent.’
A tight knot unfurled in Mia’s belly, her breath expelling sharply. After years of living under the strain of persecution, she couldn’t believe how completely she’d been duped. But the utmost emotion rolling through her was relief.
Slowly, though, bitterness followed. Things had gone seriously wrong but it still couldn’t be denied that Rocco had cut her completely out of his life, not bothering to answer any of her emails long before this fraudulent court case had been brought.
‘How?’ she blurted, her voice thick with emotion she couldn’t contain. ‘How could this have been done without you or Rocco knowing?’ Deep down she suspected she knew. Only someone with a vindictive agenda and in a position of trust could’ve done this. Someone with the backing of Vitelli billions.
The English lawyer turned to her. ‘That was what we were hoping you would be able to shed some light on, Miss Gallagher.’
She frowned. ‘Me?’
Another lawyer, this one an Italian, leaned forward. ‘You attended the court, sì?’ he asked, his accent thick as he peered at her.
She gritted her teeth, choosing not to rise to the clear scepticism in his tone. ‘If you are in any way insinuating that I knew all of this was some huge set-up, you couldn’t be more wrong.’
‘The lawyers for the claimant are a small firm, we have discovered. Little more than a father and son outfit. The father, the one who dealt specifically with your case, is no longer practising. In fact he has fallen ill and is not in a position to testify to many of these allegations.’
Dismay hollowed her stomach. ‘And his son?’
‘Claims to have no knowledge of this affair.’
‘That’s terribly convenient, isn’t it?’ she snapped.
The lawyers exchanged glances. It was clear to Mia they had been thinking the same thing. About her.
She slapped her hands on the table. ‘What exactly is going on here? I came here to clear my name. And you started off this meeting by confirming that these allegations are bogus. So why do I feel I’m still under suspicion?’ She turned towards Rocco as she asked the last question. He was staring at her, narrow-eyed and speculative again. ‘Rocco? What is this?’
