Tara Pammi – The Unwanted Conti Bride (страница 7)

The only thing her horribly dowdy dresses showed was her rejection of style and fashion. Of her femininity. That she found herself not worthy enough of even trying.

He wanted to tear the ugly fabric off her and dress her in slithery silks, discover that satiny soft skin that he’d tasted once thoroughly, make her—

“Luca?”

Christo, two minutes in the same room and he could imagine only one scenario. The easy way she unmanned his control made Luca’s tone uncharacteristically harsh and bitter. “How did he receive your mutually beneficial proposal? Should I be flattered that you asked me first?” Disgustingly shameful words, he realized the moment he spoke.

She stilled, dismay pouring out of her entire frame. That she was hurt by his callous remark, that she could be pushed to some reaction by him, any reaction, elated Luca. He was truly a twisted devil.

“No,” she said, boldly meeting his eyes, only the shadows in her own betraying her emotions, “you’re the only one I’ve proposed marriage to. And before you ask another disgustingly hypocritical question, no, I’ve not propositioned Kairos into some sort of illicit affair, either.

“I do not sleep with married men. Much less a close married friend. Much less a man who already asked me to marry him and I refused.”

Shock stole coherence from Luca. Suddenly, he saw it.

Ruthlessly ambitious, Kairos had first wanted Sophia and Rossi Leather. When she’d refused, he’d set his sights on Tina and the Conti Board instead, with Leandro’s blessing.

And now his dear brother-in-law probably wanted to eat his cake, too...

Dio, now he couldn’t undo knowing that Tina’s marriage was in trouble.

Sophia hitched her handbag over her shoulder, knuckles white, and glanced at her watch. “If you’ll excuse me, I have several other men I have to proposition, blackmail, extort so that I can save my family’s livelihood. If you’ve had enough fun at my expense, I’d like to get started.”

“I want to talk about your proposal.”

Her hands stilled on her desk. “No.” Fury bristled from her. “I used to think you still possessed some notion of decency. But no. You are every horrible thing I thought of you all these years.”

“I’m serious, Sophia.”

Something shone in her eyes. He’d never met a woman who worked as hard as Sophia did, one who dusted herself off even after being denied every opportunity she deserved.

Such strength, such endurance and yet he knew, like no one else did, that she was vulnerable, too. Was it any wonder she fascinated him?

* * *

Sophia stared at Luca, trying to gauge his mood. Trying to banish the taste of him from her mouth.

Even as she knew that she had a better chance of forgetting how to breathe. For a week, she’d lain flushed and restless in her bed, touching her lips, as if she could invoke that feeling again.

Ran a hand over her breasts and down low, where she’d been already damp. Just imagining his fingers down there, his mouth on her heavy breasts, she’d been aching all night. Reaching for something only he could give and she could never ever want again.

Today, he was wearing a V-necked gray sweater and black jeans. With a bristly beard and dark shadows beneath his eyes, he looked exactly the man he was—a recklessly gorgeous playboy with a long night behind him.

“Sophia?”

She came to with a startle, her cheeks on fire. He was serious? He wanted to hear her proposal? “I’ve heard that Leandro and you are on the outs now?”

“Si.” One long finger traced the edge of the desk, and Sophia could tell this was something that bothered him—this rift with his brother.

“With Leandro stepping down, your vote could become the deciding factor on a lot of things.”

“Like whether Rossi Leather should be cut for pieces and distributed among everyone.”

She nodded, hiding her shock. For a self-indulgent, indolent playboy, Luca grasped the situation far too quickly. “You enjoy the extravagant lifestyle being a Conti affords you. I mean, you’re used to those custom designed Armani suits, that flat in downtown Milan, that Maserati and all those women, yes?” she said spitefully, knowing full well that Luca could be a pauper and women would still strip for him in the middle of a birthday party.

He sighed, even as deep amusement glinted in his eyes. “You know I do. I dread losing any of it. I didn’t realize Leandro was serious about letting it all go to hell.”

“If you give me the required rights, I will do everything Leandro has done for you all these years. Represent you on the board and take care of your interests in CLG. You won’t have to lift a finger.”

“I see you’ve used your superior knowledge of my likes and tastes to reel me in.” If there was any justice in the world, her glare should have turned him into dust.

“What do you get in return?”

“If we marry, my stepfather could be convinced to bring Rossi’s under the umbrella of CLG. He’s been resisting it because he thinks his legacy would be swallowed up.”

“Dio, controlling old men and their obsession with their legacies. So this agenda is not driven by Kairos, then.”

“What?”

He shrugged. “You have to admit it’s a good theory. Kairos decides you’ll marry me, can have me by the balls and consequently, has my vote in his bid to be CEO.”

“That is too ruthless even for him. Not forgetting the obvious flaw in the plan that I, of all women, could have your ba—” She gasped; it was like there was her own personal furnace inside her, and the rogue grinned as she cleared her throat. “Could have you under my control, in any manner.”

“I could never marry a woman who lacks in feminine wiles.”

She gritted her teeth. He had to pick the most uncomfortable aspect of that. “Another fantastic reason for why it’s a crazy idea.”

He gave her a considering look. “If you have such faith in that bastard Kairos, then why not accept his help?”

“Luca, what is your problem with Kairos?”

“He’s too hungry for power. Which means he’ll do anything in his hunt for it.”

“Yes, how infinitely atrocious that Kairos is so ambitious when he could be chasing woman after woman in eternal pursuit of pleasure.”

“Why isn’t he helping you with Rossi’s?”

“He offered but I don’t like his solution. Everyone, including Kairos, has an agenda for Rossi Leather without considering what’s actually best for the company or my family. And the problems we have aren’t going to be solved by a simple influx of cash. Salvatore will bring us back here into this same situation in a year again. No one can help us.”

Not even Antonio.

The minute she didn’t toe the line—which would probably include some impossible task like domesticating the devil in front of her—Antonio would tighten the screws on her. Threaten their company or withdraw his support.

“The only way to ensure we don’t fall into this hole again,” she said, with a mounting sense of defeat, “is if I take the reins myself.”

“You think Leandro would have recognized how smart and efficient you are and given you the reins. That’s why you were so eager to marry him.”

“He always struck me as a fair, principled man.”

Her unshakeable trust, the admiration in Leandro’s implacable nature, rubbed Luca raw.

He had never bemoaned the fact that only he, and not Leandro, had inherited every despicable thing from their father—his good looks, his brilliance and maybe his madness. But in that moment he envied his brother the freedom to be his own man, the right to his own mind that made Sophia admire him so much.

“You would have married him, shared his bed?” Fury threaded his tone, which shocked her as much as him. “After the history we have?”

Color mounted her cheeks. “Rossi’s needs a complete rehaul, five years to build it to a stable position again. Leandro would have given me that chance.”

Her stepfather’s damned company... It always came back to that. “I’ve no doubt that you will do it in three. You’ll make Rossi’s better than it has ever been.”

Shock rooted Sophia to the floor, a faint whooshing in her ears making her dizzy. She ran a shaking hand over her brow. “What?”

“Dio, you sang this same song even a decade ago. You went into raptures, non, you almost climaxed with anticipation every time you talked about your plans for your Rossi Leather. Extension, branching away from leather production completely, focusing on accessory design... Just do it already, Sophia.”

He stared at her, brows raised in question while Sophia processed those words slowly. Dear God, he remembered all of her naive, hopeful, detailed plans for Rossi’s.

Heat pricked her eyes. Her head hurt as if under some great liquid weight; even her nose felt thick. Or rough. Or something very close to tears.

Did he know what a gift he gave her?

He didn’t give the compliment grudgingly like Kairos, who recognized talent and hunted it with a ruthless will. He didn’t give the compliment insidiously, as if her intellect and smart business sense were odd, distorting it into some sort of stain on her femininity. As if somehow they minimized her as a woman.

He didn’t give it to placate her, like her mother. Even her mother, she knew, wished Sophia was different. Wished Sophia made it easy on herself; wished Sophia didn’t feel like she had to prove herself in a man’s world.