Read Online The Moretti Seduction by Katherine Garbera - Free Book Online Page B

still have patents for engines and stuff that my grandfather designed.”
    “Stuff?”
    “Yes. Where is your home?”
    “Right up here,” he said, turning off the road and onto the long winding driveway that led to the stone cottage. He pulled to a stop next to the house and turned off the bike.
    He removed his helmet and took Nathalie’s from her when she did the same. He hung them both off the handlebars of the motorcycle and then got off the bike.
    He held his hand out to her. She took it and slowly dismounted, losing her balance when she stepped off and falling right into his arms.
    He only hoped she’d fall as easily into his arms later tonight.

    Nathalie tried to pretend this was nothing new to her, that being on a private yacht in the middle of the very romantic Lake Como was like every other date she’d been on, but in her heart of hearts she knew it wasn’t.
    It had little to do with the yacht or the setting and everything to do with the man who was with her. Antonio hadn’t brought up business since they’d set foot in his home. And clearly this was his home. He pointed out the home his parents owned and the ones that were his brothers’.
    But he didn’t focus too much on anything that wasn’t personal. “Where did your family go on holiday?”
    She tried to recall. She didn’t dwell in the past and she’d attended a year-round boarding school with Genevieve. “We have a flat in London and my grandparents have a house in Monte Carlo. And we had holidays in London growing up. But otherwise we didn’t really go anywhere. Except I had a pen pal in Cairo when I was a girl and I visited her one time.”
    “What about as an adult? Where is your favorite place to go on holiday?”
    “I don’t take them.”
    “How very American of you,” Antonio said.
    “It’s not that…. You know how earlier I said my father still thinks I’m a girl?”
    “Yes.”
    “I still feel like I’m proving myself to him and to the board.”
    Antonio handed her a pomegranate martini. They were anchored in the middle of the lake, music played through the speakers and a small table had been set on the deck of the yacht. There were lights draped from the mast.
    “I can understand that. I think I’ve been trying to prove myself for most of my career.”
    “To whom?” she asked. “You said your father wasn’t interested in business.”
    “Lorenzo. Dom, Marco and I made a promise to each other that we’d be the generation to get back the promise and the fortune that Lorenzo had made.”
    That made sense. It also explained why they’d come to Vallerio Inc. for permission to use the Vallerio name.
    “Isn’t it odd that no matter how old we get we are still trying to prove something to our elders?”
    “Not necessarily odd,” Antonio said. “I think we are both tied so much to our families that failure is simply not an option.”
    She smiled at him. “Maybe that is why we are both used to winning.”
    “Probably. But that doesn’t matter tonight. I want this evening for us.”
    “You’ve said that a couple of times. I’m not thinking about work with the moon shining down on us.”
    He smiled over at her. “ Buon. Are you hungry yet?”
    She shook her head. She didn’t want to eat right now. She could eat any time, but this moment with Antonio wasn’t going to last forever.
    “Dance with me?”
    “Yes.” She set her martini glass down. The music was slow and bluesy. A pure American sound that sounded familiar to her but she was unable to identify the artist. She soon stopped trying when Antonio drew her into his arms.
    He put one arm around her waist, drawing her as close as he could, while the music slowed its pace. His hips moved in time with the drumbeat and hers soon did the same. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she’d wanted to do since they’d gotten off that motorcycle of his. She had been invigorated by the ride out here, and more than ever craved his solid body pressed to