AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She folded her arms under her breasts, the movement pushing up her ample cleavage and making the blood roar in his ears.
‘Daniela... I’m warning you. You have no idea what’s going on here, so let me off this bed right now.’
‘I’m quite aware of what’s going on in my own company. You’re the one who’s been MIA for months on end, and I can’t risk you disappearing on me again.’ She closed her eyes briefly, opening them to lock on his with intent. ‘I don’t care if you hate me for this. I will do whatever it takes to save my brother’s legacy.’
She claimed that he was the only one who could save the company? The man she had once called a frivolous playboy? She had no idea what he had been uncovering over the past six months. Hell, he wasn’t even sure he knew.
What he did know was that she wasn’t the only one prepared to do whatever it took to save something. But the person he’d been trying to save seemed intent on putting herself in danger, again and again.
Anger gave him an extra spurt of energy, and the last knot that bound his wrists slipped free.
Like a coiled spring, Valerio launched himself off the bed.
Dani felt a shocked scream rise in her throat but she refused to let it free—refused to believe that this man whom she had known for almost half of her thirty-one years on the earth would ever actually harm her.
But this was not the Valerio she had watched from afar—the playboy reprobate who’d bedded half the socialites in Europe and charmed everyone he met with his pirate’s smile and his wild thirst for adventure. It was as though any trace of light in his deep blue eyes had been snuffed out.
Before she had a chance to run, he had grabbed her by the wrists to stop her. He pulled her to face him but she shoved him back, the movement accidentally sending them both tumbling down onto the bed, with her body landing directly on top of his.
Large hands moved to grip her waist and she inhaled sharply at the feel of his skin as it seemed to burn through the fabric of her shirt. She shifted position, trying to stand, but her movements somehow only served to press her even harder against him.
‘Dio, stay still,’ he cursed, his voice sounding strangled and raw.
It seemed a lifetime ago that Dani had fantasised about exactly this kind of situation. Her foolish teenage self had once dreamed of having Valerio Marchesi look at her the way she had seen him look at a parade of beauties, while she’d watched awkwardly from the sidelines. But he had long ago made it clear that there was no way he would ever look at her as anything but his best friend’s chubby, boring, know-it-all twin sister. The annoying third wheel to their perfect partnership.
No, there was nothing sexual that she could see in the barely controlled fury glittering in his eyes now, as he stared up at her. He seemed to inhale deeply as her hair fell over her shoulder, forming a cocoon of ebony curls around them. His hands flexed just underneath her ribcage, his eyes lowering to where the buttons on her blouse had come undone, revealing the far too large breasts threatening to spill over the plain white lace of her sensible bra. And still his hands tightened, holding her still and stopping her retreat.
‘Let go of me. What do you think you’re doing?’
She was furious, her knees moving directly towards the part of him where she could cause the most damage. Not that she wanted to hurt him, but he was being completely unreasonable—and she refused to accept that she had lost the upper hand now, after all her careful planning, simply because he had more brute strength.
He easily controlled her, pinning her legs with his own and pulling her arms directly above her head.
‘What do I think I’m doing?’ He repeated her question, a harsh bark of laughter erupting from his chest as he grabbed both her wrists and tied them to the headboard he had just freed himself from. ‘I believe there is an English expression... Turnabout is fair play?’
Dani was breathing heavily with the exertion of trying to fight him. She didn’t see his plan until she was already tied in place. Disbelief turned quickly to anger as she tried and failed to pull herself free.
‘Thrashing around like that really isn’t going to help either of us. Especially considering our position and my lack of clothing.’
Dani became completely still, looking down to where their bodies were melded together. Her legs in the dark wool of her designer trousers were wrapped around the bare skin of his torso. She felt her cheeks heat up, perspiration beading on the back of her neck. He said he was unaffected, and yet just a moment ago she had moved her hips and she could have sworn she’d felt...
Suddenly he moved. With an impressive flex of muscle, he slid his large body out from underneath her with surprising ease, gently laying her down on the pillows before moving out of her vision.
‘I understand that you have some anger towards me...’ His voice sounded husky, and he was slightly out of breath from his exertions in freeing himself. ‘But, whatever this game was tonight, know that it was out of line.’
‘I’m not playing a game. I told you that I had to have you restrained for your own safety and mine. You were threatening to kill your own bodyguard, for goodness’ sake, and we couldn’t snap you out of it.’
She tried to lift her head to look at him, but on seeing a flash of tall, naked male, she returned her head to the pillows with a thump.
‘Maybe so. But you’re trying to manipulate me. To force my hand. Maybe in the past I might have seen the humour in all this...but I am not that man any more.’
‘Where are you going?’ she asked innocently, remembering that while she might have temporarily lost the upper hand in this battle, she was far from losing the war.
‘I am going to walk out of here and leave you to think about your actions for a while.’
He flicked on the full lights in the room and she watched as he walked towards the doorway, then suddenly stood still. Her body tensed in the long silence, and she imagined the look on his face as he realised his mistake. Because they were not on his luxury yacht in Genoa. They weren’t even on Italian soil.
He let out a dark curse in Italian and Dani felt an unruly smile threaten at the corner of her lips. She listened as his footsteps boomed across the luxury wooden floor of the cabin and out into the hallway.
