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His mouth tightened. He jammed his hands in his pockets to restrain himself. It was a better idea to let them both cool off and focus on the fact they’d just put a ten-million-dollar deal in jeopardy. His own career, his relationship with his family was hanging in the balance if he didn’t figure a way out of this.
He needed an action plan and he needed it fast. Now was a time for logic. Not emotion. Because, undoubtedly, all hell was about to break loose.
CHAPTER TWELVE
IT WAS WORSE than he’d envisioned.
Matteo sat at his computer the next morning, a half-drunk cup of coffee by his side, the Whispers and Tales photo emblazoned across his screen. The placement of his hands made him wince. The cutline made him think selling wine to the devout might actually be a viable occupation.
He read it again to make sure it was as bad as he thought.
A Merger Made in Heaven?
After cutting a swath through the globe’s most eligible women, all eyes have been on devastating Matteo De Campo to see which leading lady he’d end up with next. Seems the much-sought-after bachelor might have his sights set on a very lucrative merger between the De Campo and Davis clans. De Campo, seen here engaged in a passionate clinch with Luxe Hotels vice president, Quinn Davis, during the reopening of the chain’s legendary property, Le Belle Bleu, in St. Lucia, seems to be having no trouble melting the heart (or other parts) of the “ice princess.” We give this particular merger a hearty thumbs-up.
Damn. He sat back and pressed his palms to his temples. If he was Daniel Williams, he’d be out of his mind. Questioning the integrity of all of it. The board, Warren—who knew how they’d handle it? And then there was Riccardo. He’d wanted to have all the facts, know who the new decision-makers would be so he could assure his brother he had things under control.
Not happening now.
Quinn came out of her bedroom, dressed and bleary-eyed. “It’s up,” he said grimly. She sat down beside him and scanned the cutline. Her skin paled. His chest tightened. “Quinn—”
She stood up. “I need to head Warren off at the pass. My flight doesn’t get in until eight. Can you take me in the jet and drop me off first?”
“Si.” He stood up. “Do you want me to come with you?”
Her eyes flashed with an icy brilliance. “I run multimillion-dollar companies, Matteo. The last thing I need is to be babysat by you.”
“I was offering to support you, not babysit you.”
“I need neither, thank you.” She headed toward the bedroom. “I’ll be ready in thirty minutes.”
He glanced at his watch. Heard a beep as a text came in. Riccardo.
Meet me at the house when you get in.
He sat down, a feeling of such intense déjà vu rolling over him it was hard to breathe. “Mi deludi,” Riccardo had said that night after the airline pitch. You disappoint me.
It had been the second-worst moment of his life. Seeing G’s car wrapped around that tree the absolute lowest.
Alex called. Asked him point-blank if he was having an affair with Quinn. He confirmed it, wincing as she swore in his ear. “Do not say a word to anyone, not even the goddamned air hostess, Matteo,” she warned him, and arranged to meet him at Riccardo and Lilly’s to discuss damage control.
They did the flight up the East Coast in silence. When they landed at O’Hare, Matteo helped Quinn off the jet, his pilot anxious to keep their stop short and move on to New York. His mind trained on his upcoming confrontation with his brother, he gave her a quick, hard kiss. “I’ll call you.” Then he stepped back on the plane, the pilot went through his preflight takeoff checklist and they were back in the air.
He leaned his head back against the leather seat. His plan consisted of one strategy and one strategy only. He had to hope that Warren Davis was a reasonable man, that the board allowed De Campo to pitch and he won it so outright that no one would ever question his relationship with Quinn.
There was no backup plan. There was nowhere to hide. This was it.
* * *
Two and a half hours later, he stood on the back terrace of Riccardo and Lilly’s Upper East Side Manhattan town house. His brother’s jerky, barely controlled movements as he poured each of them a scotch sent Matteo’s shoulders to his ears. “You need to let me explain,” he started in a preemptive strike. “I care about her, Riccardo.”
His brother whipped around, eyes blazing, a half-filled glass in his hand. “You care about her? I told you to keep your hands off her, Matty. Once, just once, I asked you to do something for the betterment of this company. And you’re telling me, with all the women on this planet who would beg for you to screw them, you care about Quinn Davis so much you had to do her?”
Matteo took a step toward him. “Watch your mouth.”
His brother slammed the glass on the bar, his legs spread wide in a fighting stance. “Right now I’d like to take your head off, Matty. I swear to God...”
He swallowed hard. “I think I’m in love with her.”
“I don’t care if you think she’s the future mother of your children. You cannot have her.”
“Well, that’s unfortunate,” he said quietly. “Because I intend to.”
Riccardo’s ebony eyes bored into him. His nostrils flared, his fists balled tight by his sides. For a single, heart-stopping moment Matteo thought his brother would finally hit him. Let loose the aggression that had been pulsing between them for years. He stood his ground, his body tense with adrenaline. But it was like a crystal clear clarity had come over him. He could see Quinn as the mother of his children. For the first time in his life, he saw that potential with a woman. And he wasn’t giving her up.
Riccardo let out an oath, picked up a glass and shoved it at him. Then he retrieved his own, filled it the rest of the way and took a long swig. “I have tried to be patient. I have tried to give you the benefit of the doubt time and time again, Matty, but I am very afraid you have inherited Giancarlo’s death wish and I no longer know what to do with you.”
Matteo felt the blood drain from his face. “I admit for the last couple of years I have been out of control. I had lost my way. But I am back. I have spent the last two weeks laying some brilliant groundwork to win this deal. Luxe will choose us.”
“If Warren Davis does not eliminate us from the process after he finds out you have been screwing his daughter. If Daniel Williams doesn’t make such a stink Luxe can’t help but eliminate us.”
His jaw hardened. “Quinn will not let that happen. She knows the right choice.”
“She is compromised.”
“She is going to recuse herself. And she will make her thoughts known. I know her.”
“That doesn’t mean the committee will go her way.”
“I will convince them when I’m in that room.”
Riccardo’s lip curled. “Do you really think I should let you walk into that pitch given everything that’s happened? If I were a smart man I would end this and do it myself.”
Matteo’s jaw tightened. “If you are a smart man you’ll keep with the plan. I know the company. The players... I will win this.”
His brother shook his head. “I must be mad.”
“You need to trust me.”
Riccardo paced to the other side of the terrace and stood looking out at the glasslike surface of the pool. When he turned back, his face was grim. “So help me God, Matty, it will not be just our business relationship that’s in jeopardy if you let this family down.”
A potent surge of anger raged through Matteo. He strode forward until he was toe-to-toe with his brother. “You always think I care less, Riccardo. That everyone cares less than you do. Well, you’d be surprised if you dug deep. Because I care. I care more than almost any damn person in this company.” He pointed a finger at him. “I will win this for you, but on my own terms. Quinn Davis is nonnegotiable. Take it or leave it. That’s my offer.”
A long moment passed as Riccardo’s hard gaze rested on his face.
“Do it then.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SUMMER IN CHICAGO got just about as hot as anywhere.
Quinn nudged the café door open with her hip, keeping her two iced coffees tucked to her chest as a wall of heat greeted her. The roiling, hundred-degree temperatures that had blanketed the city all weekend had stayed with them for the start of the workweek. She’d had a trickle of sweat rolling down her back not two minutes down the sidewalk.
She longed for the cooling breezes of the Caribbean. For the peace she’d found there.... Yes, they’d worked like dogs getting Le Belle Bleu up and running, but being with Matteo had made her feel settled in a way she’d never experienced before. They had been in their own private bubble, sheltered from the world. And maybe that was the problem. As soon as reality had hit, it had felt as if everything was falling apart.
