Innocent in the Italian's Possession(5)

"I have been publicly humiliated," his mother had said. "I went shopping  with your aunt Althea, only to be taken aside in the store and told  that there was a block on my account!"

He could guess how her Sicilian blood must have boiled. "What did Papa say about this?"

"He told me that times were hard for the business. That he hadn't said  anything earlier because he didn't wish to worry me," she said. "But  that was a lie. The old fool has taken a mistress. After thirty-three  years of fidelity, he suddenly decides to take a lover."

"You're sure of this?"

"Positive," she'd said. "Ever since he hired that woman nine months ago, he pays little attention to me."

The woman being Gemma Cardone with her innocent smile and seductive  body. "You've based your suspicions on Papa hiring a new secretary?"

That heaped more coals on his mamma's fiery temper. "They work together  all day. They go away on business trips every month, yet Cesare denies  he is branching out the shipping business. So I ask you what are they  doing on these trips to Milan?"

Stefano hadn't a clue, but his mother's suspicions convinced him to look  into his father's affairs. It had been simple to follow his papa's  treks to Milan.

Each month he and Gemma drove the same route to Milan. They always lent  the same suite in the hotel. They'd hole up there for three or four  days. Stolen moments. A tryst de amore, he was sure.

Perhaps his father needed a young woman to fire his blood and make him  feel virile again. These things happened. But Stefano wouldn't tolerate  his papa abusing his mother.

If Cesare Marinetti took a mistress to satisfy his lust, he must make concessions to his wife to soothe her pride.

As for Stefano, he damn sure couldn't let a gold-digger bankrupt his  father's company! However, a car wreck one week ago had taken his  mamma's life and had nearly done the same to his papa. There had been no  time to think about righting the wrong until now.

He splayed his hands on the desk and felt his blood pounding at his  fingertips. Two things topped his agenda: Get Marinetti Shipping back on  track and send Gemma Cardone packing.

His muscles clenched in anger-and desire-as he thought of her seducing  his papa out of so much. Too much to let her get off easy.

His papa must have been over the moon for her. And why wouldn't he?                       
       
           



       

She was more tempting than he'd imagined. Despite knowing what she was,  he'd been powerless to stop the desire that had erupted inside him and  flowed hotter than lava off volatile Mount Etna.

Hotter still than the Sicilian blood inherited from his mamma that  demanded the satisfaction of vengeance and desire. He could hold a tight  fist on his explosive anger, but he was powerless to control his desire  for Gemma, and that admission angered him all the more.

No woman had ever had that much power over him. Not even the young  gorgeous lover he'd brought home from college. He'd been unsure of the  depth of his love for her. He'd questioned her profession of love for  him.

But he hadn't realized she'd been a gold-digger until she had seduced  his brother. How ironic that she'd have had more wealth had she remained  with Stefano.

It was a hard lesson learned. He'd not be duped again-especially by his father's mistress!

Maledizione! She'd caused his mother untold grief, and made a fool of his papa. She'd not do the same to him.

But even as his heart thundered with the need for retribution, he knew a  swift punishment wasn't enough. No, Gemma Cardone should be made to  suffer as his mamma has suffered the last few weeks of her life.

He strode to the window and stared out at the shipyard that had been in  his family for generations. Marinettis had made their mark in quality  ships, thanks to the seafaring men of Italy and the Mediterranean.  Fishermen needed boats and ports needed ferries.

Like his papa and grandpapa before him, Cesare had embraced that simple  prescription for success. He saw no reason to deviate or expand.

Stefano did. He had dreams of a bigger empire. A larger, cleaner international empire.

He'd wanted to build eco-friendly vessels. Sailboats, ferries, trawlers  and d'elite superyachts. Ships that would rule the seas yet not destroy  the fragile environment.

The superyacht would be the starship of his company. Floating pleasure  palaces for the ultrarich, each custom made to suit discerning tastes.

His papa thought his idea was an adulteration of the principles of the  company. They had butted heads. They had argued fiercely as only  Italians do.

His papa insisted they were shipbuilders for Italians. Cesare was a  millionaire and was content to move in that circle, refusing to cater to  the whims of the ultrarich. He expected Stefano to fall into step with  him just as his brother Davide had adhered to the niche Marinetti had  carved for itself.

In fact, he and his brother had clashed the hardest. Over business, and the woman who'd come between them.

Stefano couldn't or wouldn't comply, not when he was nothing more than  the second son in charge of menial tasks. Not when his papa refused to  consider his ideas, preferring to adhere to the routine that he and  Davide had hammered into place. Not when he had to watch his former  lover's belly grow with his brother's child.

His heart hadn't been broken, but his pride had surely been kicked hard.

Stefano didn't regret leaving this old-world business mired in old-world  attitudes. He'd made his fortune and continued to build on it. He'd  made a name for himself. But it hurt his pride that his papa hadn't  praised his business sense or his daring once in the past five years.

He rested his fists on the windowsill, the wood as unyielding as his papa. Pride and honor ran deep in his veins.

One kept him away, even after the tragic death of his brother and his family.

One brought him back.

He flicked another impatient glance at the connecting door. Marinetti  Shipyard had operated the same for years, making a profit that had  allowed his papa to maintain his millionaire status. But all that had  changed one year ago.

That's when his papa had hired Gemma Cardone. That's when his papa had  begun spending more time with her in Milan than at his shipyard. That's  when thousands upon thousands of euros had vanished.

Stefano returned to the desk and lounged in the chair from which his  papa had ruled for so long. He opened the file his accountant had  assembled and welcomed the bite of anger nipping along his nerves.

He abhorred deceit. Gemma had smoothly deceived his papa.

She deserved to be treated in kind.

He jabbed the intercom button. "Join me, Gemma. Now."

"Yes, sir." Was there a touch of annoyance in her voice?

It pleased him that she was peeved to be at his beck and call. He wanted her to finally earn her paycheck by actually working.

She stepped inside and faltered, her pen and notepad clutched tightly in hand again. "What do you want?"

Due compensation. His blood heated, his muscles tightening as his gaze slid over her curves. You, bella. I want you.
                       
       
           



       
This carnal attraction to her annoyed the hell out of him. He favored  sophisticated women who wanted nothing more than a physical  relationship. He had neither the time nor patience to suffer  manipulative women.

Never mind the fact that Gemma Cardone stared back at him with a  wide-eyed vulnerability that made his mouth go dry. He had the proof  that she was a schemer, out to get all she could out of his papa. She'd  certainly achieved that end!

He wouldn't be surprised if she hoped to lure him into her silken trap as well. That would never happen.

She would not seduce him as she had Cesare Marinetti. It would be a  waste of her time to use her wiles on him for he was immune to such  machinations.

He meant to give her tempting body a dismissing look, but found himself  appreciating the way her silk blouse draped over her full breasts. How  her skirt nipped in at her slender waist only to flare over her womanly  hips.

His muscles tensed and blood pooled in his groin just at the thought of  pressing her back on his desk and making love with her. He curled his  fingers into fists and pressed the knuckles into the wood, vexed that  his body was still not listening to his brain where she was concerned.

Perhaps he'd be wise to sever all ties with Gemma Cardone now. He could certainly afford to replace his papa's lost fortune.

He'd be free of this temptation and could devote his attention to the shipyard.

But a swift dismissal would let her off scot-free to practice her  duplicity on another victim. Word would quickly spread that Cesare and  Stefano Marinetti were easy marks.

No, he had to make an example of her. He had to venerate his mamma's cry  for vengeance. He couldn't let Gemma Cardone get away with such  duplicity.