The Unwanted Conti Bride. Tara Pammi

a running chance, he’d take away what stood between his sister and Kairos—the CEO position of CLG and Sophia Rossi. Luca’s seat on the board, which he’d have to claim for the first time in his life, would see to the first.

      The second...

      The solution that appeared released a panic in his gut, as if a noose were tightening around his neck.

      Of all the women in the world, Sophia was the last woman he should be contemplating marriage to. She had proved to be dangerous to his peace of mind even as a chubby, composed nineteen-year-old. Now she was a force to be reckoned with.

      “Can we borrow...your office, Kairos?” Luca interrupted the sweetly nauseating scene. “Sophia and I have something important to discuss.”

      “I won’t let you bully Sophia.”

      “How about you show that concern for my sister? Your wife, remember?” Luca retorted.

      Another squeeze of Sophia’s shoulders and Kairos left.

      “That looked like a very cozy scene, very tender,” Luca said, leaning against the closed door, batting away at the ugly emotion festering in his gut. “I gather he knows what Tina did.”

      He saw her spine stiffen, making her look like an angry crow in her black dress. “I didn’t tell him. And I came by to tell him that he should clear this misunderstanding with Valentina.”

      As always, the black linen was unadorned with the skirt falling demurely past her knees, high necked and severely cut. Yet the very cut and the way it enfolded all of her emphasized the very voluptuousness of the woman’s curves. If her intentions were to cover up that exquisitely luscious body with those painfully severe dresses, then she was an abysmal failure.

      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