LITMIR.BIZ

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his heart beating against her ear had slowed to a cold, hard thud.

      He made an impatient noise over the top of her head. ‘I need to get on. There are a lot of things I have to see to.’

      ‘Yes, of course.’ Harper sniffed noisily, pulling herself away. She cleared her throat, tucking her hair behind her ears. ‘Can you just tell me...was anyone with him when he died?’

      ‘Maria was with him.’ His voice was dry, detached. ‘She said it was very peaceful.’

      ‘Well, that’s something to be thankful for.’ Harper sniffed again. She waited for some sort of reply but his silence made it all too clear that she was being dismissed. ‘Okay, I’ll...um...let you get on, then.’ She started to move away. ‘But if there’s anything I can do to help, anything at all, you will say, won’t you?’

      ‘Actually there is.’ The force of his reply turned her hopefully back to face him.

      ‘Yes?’

      ‘Get rid of the guests.’ His mouth flattened into a hard line. ‘All of them. Right away.’

      Harper hesitated, but only for a second. ‘Yes, of course.’

      She hated the thought of having to tell people that Alfonso had died but if it saved Vieri the painful chore then she would do it.

      ‘And that includes your sister.’ He fixed her with a cold stare, devoid of all emotion.

      ‘Very well.’ With a sombre nod, Harper moved away. She would do as she was told. Now was definitely not the time to question his orders.

      * * *

      ‘Entra.’ Vieri briskly replied to the tap on the office door. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he tried to stem the headache that was building behind his eyes. He had been dealing with all the paperwork involved with Alfonso’s death for a couple of hours now, and, even though he was grateful to have something to keep his mind occupied, he knew he needed a break. He sat back in his chair waiting to see who the visitor was, inexplicably finding himself hoping it was Harper. He had been unnecessarily brusque with her—she was probably owed an apology.

      But it wasn’t Harper. And as the door opened the sight of who it actually was saw Vieri leap to his feet.

      ‘You!’ Anger surged through him, hot and fierce. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

      ‘Well, that’s not much of a welcome, I must say.’ Advancing into the room, Donatella moved around the desk to stand beside him. ‘You seem to have forgotten your manners, Vieri.’

      She was wearing a fur coat and had some sort of small dog tucked under her arm, who stared at Vieri with bulging eyes.

      ‘I have forgotten nothing, trust me. And you are not welcome here.’

      ‘Now, don’t be like that.’ She tried to offer her cheek to be kissed but Vieri jerked his head away, stepping to the side. The thought of kissing this woman made him want to be sick.

      ‘I mean it, Donatella.’ Her name tasted like poison on his tongue. ‘I want you to leave.’

      Totally ignoring him, Donatella moved to seat herself in the chair opposite the desk, settling the dog on her lap. ‘Surely you will allow me to pay my respects.’

      ‘Respects?’ Vieri spat the word back at her, his body rigid with tension. ‘I think it’s a little late for that. I don’t recall you showing Alfonso any respect when he was alive.’

      ‘As I recall, he disowned me.’ She stroked the dog’s fur with a hand heavy with jewelled rings. ‘And me his only living relative.’

      ‘And you know full well why. You made your lethal choice when you married into the Sorrentino family.’

      ‘Ah, yes, of course. I am the evil witch responsible for the extermination of the Calleroni family.’

      ‘For the murder of your father, Alfonso’s only brother, yes.’

      ‘Look at you, Vieri, so high and mighty, so morally upright.’ A sneer curled her lip. ‘And yet I seem to recall a time when even knowing who I was, what I was, didn’t stop you from coming to my bed.’

      Vieri ground down hard on his jaw, not trusting himself to speak.

      ‘You were crazy for me once, Vieri. You can’t deny that.’

      ‘I was crazy, all right, crazy to ever have anything to do with you.’

      ‘Ah, I see the years have twisted the truth, il mio amore, made you bitter. But I’m sure you must remember the good times. I know I do.’

      ‘What I remember—’ Vieri sucked in a breath ‘—is that you made the decision to terminate our unborn child!’

      Shock flickered across Donatella’s face, fighting to move the chemically frozen muscles. ‘So you know about that?’

      A murderous silence filled the air. ‘I do.’

      ‘Then you should be grateful.’ Swiftly recovering her composure, Donatella lifted her chin.

      ‘Grateful?’ The word roared between them.

      ‘Yes, grateful that I swiftly dealt with the situation. Surely you didn’t think you and I would ever be playing happy families?’

      ‘Maybe not.’ Fury slowed his words to a low drawl. ‘But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t have raised the child myself. Had I ever been consulted, that is.’

      ‘Trust me.’ She gave a harsh laugh. ‘No amount of consultation would have persuaded me to keep that baby.’

      Rage flowed thickly through Vieri’s veins like molten lava. He towered over her, his fists clenching and unclenching as he fought to find some control. ‘Leave! Now!’

      ‘Very well, I will go.’ Rising to her feet, Donatella tucked the dog under her arm and started towards the door, but then stopped, turning to look at him again. ‘Oh, how rude of me. I haven’t congratulated you on your marriage.’ She met his searing glare. ‘Such a charming young girl, that little wife of yours. Did she tell you we had met?’

      Pure hatred whitened the skin around Vieri’s mouth.

      ‘Yes, of course she did. I’m sure you two don’t have any secrets.’ She gave him a sly smile. ‘No doubt she will be only too happy to bless you with any number of little brats if that’s what you want. I wish you a long and fertile life together.’

      Vieri’s low growl gave him away and Donatella’s gaze sharpened.

      ‘Or have I got that wrong? Perhaps there is another reason for this hasty marriage?’ She raised a painted talon to her lip, pretending to think. The dog squirmed in her grasp. ‘Could it be something to do with your godfather’s imminent demise, I wonder? Something in the terms of his will that meant if you weren’t married, his money, this castello, would have come to me?’

      ‘Ha!’ Vieri laughed in her face. How typical of Donatella to assume that she was the reason for his rushed marriage. ‘Trust me, that was never going to happen.’

      ‘That’s just it, I don’t trust you, Vieri.’ She stared at him with calculating eyes. ‘I have watched your meteoric rise to fame, seen the way you have acquired exposed businesses, taken over failing companies. That takes ruthlessness, determination, grit. Qualities I like to think, in some small way, you may have learnt from me.’ She studied her fingernails.

      ‘Or to put it another way, I believe that over the years you have become every bit as manipulative and underhanded as me. I believe you will stop at nothing to get what you want, especially if that means depriving me of any inheritance. I just hope that poor unsuspecting young woman you have taken as your bride knows what she’s let herself in for. For her sake, I hope she knows the man you really are.’

      ‘Get out!’ Vieri roared with a violence that made the dog growl, bare its

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