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The thought made his insides tighten and he gave a smile of pure male possession.
He was going to make her his.
All his.
Matt wasn’t so easily distracted. ‘Let’s be honest about this for a moment. You left Italy to draw those lunatics away from your family—to tempt them into following you. I still think it was a bad idea, especially as you’re so careless about security.’
‘Careless?’ Carlo’s eyes gleamed. ‘Oh, believe me, I’m not careless.’
He was totally alert and more than ready to face the threat.
‘Well, even if she doesn’t shop you to the press, associating with this girl could put her at risk. They could use her to get to you,’ Matt growled, obviously totally frustrated by Carlo’s lack of co-operation. ‘Don’t think the false name is going to fool them. We did that to lose the press as much as anything. The men behind the threats are pros. I’m willing to bet they already know who you are and where you are.’
Carlo’s smiled. ‘Of course they do.’
He was under no illusions about his current position.
Matt frowned. ‘You can’t see her again. At least, not until this mess is sorted out.’
‘I know that, too.’ Carlo’s smile faded and he rubbed long fingers over his forehead.
Everything Matt said was true. He had left Italy to draw the men who were threatening him away from his family.
To see Zan again could be risky for her. But he knew he couldn’t give her up.
Maybe he could stall her and hope that the guys who were threatening him came out into the open quickly.
On the other hand, if he was honest, he was enjoying living his life as someone else for the time being. He liked the fact that Zan didn’t know about his true circumstances.
For the first time in his life he was able to have a normal relationship with a woman without his money getting in the way. There was no way he was letting that go.
‘There’s another thing to consider.’ Matt’s tone was cautious. ‘Even if she doesn’t know who you are now, it’s bound to come out soon. And she’ll be hurt that you didn’t tell her. And a hurt woman—’
‘Is dangerous,’ Carlo finished flatly, pacing across the apartment and staring down at the snow-covered trees.
‘She could go to the papers.’
Carlo frowned, knowing that it was true. His family had been hurt on numerous occasions when girls he and his brother had dated had later sold their stories to the newspapers. It was one of the reasons he was extremely careful in his relationships with the opposite sex.
He couldn’t believe that Zan would do a thing like that.
But he’d been burned before. Badly.
He stirred and looked at his friend. ‘She isn’t the type. She’s special.’
‘Special enough to forgive you when she discovers that you’ve lied?’
Carlo let out a long breath. ‘I certainly hope so.’
If she wasn’t, then his life had just become even more complicated.
CHAPTER THREE
‘ALL right, what’s going on?’ Kim, Zan’s best friend and the sister in charge of the antenatal clinic, glanced up curiously as they prepared for the morning clinic. ‘I’ve just told you we’ve got a full clinic, a locum doctor who doesn’t know the ropes and two off sick. Why are you grinning? Did I miss the joke?’
Zan picked up a stack of notes and hugged them to her chest. Her insides were so churned up with excitement that she hadn’t even managed breakfast. All she could think about was Carlo.
‘I’m just happy.’
