The Fiancée Caper. Maureen Child

      

       “As you wish.”

      “You’ll come to Tesoro with me.” Gianni stood up, scowling at having all choice snatched from him. He wasn’t used to being outmaneuvered, but damned if he hadn’t been this time. “We leave in three days.”

      “Three days?” She chewed at her bottom lip and he knew what she was thinking. How could she keep an eye on him from her hotel—wherever that was?

      He’d thought the same and there really was only one solution to this entire situation. “You’ll stay here.”

      “Excuse me?”

      “We’ll need the three days to practice,” he told her.

      “To practice what?”

      His gaze flashed to hers. Finally, there was doubt in her eyes. “Why, to practice being a couple.”

      “A couple of what?”

      Her voice hitched higher and Gianni enjoyed her outrage.

      “My family will never accept my bringing a stranger along to my new nephew’s christening …” He paused for effect, and watching her reaction was entirely worth it when he added, “So for the next week or so, you’re going to be my loving fiancée.”

      The Fiancée

      Caper

      Maureen Child

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MAUREEN CHILD writes for the Mills & Boon^® Desire™ line and can’t imagine a better job. Being able to indulge your love for romance, as well as being able to spin stories just the way you want them told is, in a word, perfect.

      A seven-time finalist for the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA® Award, Maureen is the author of more than one hundred romance novels. Her books regularly appear on the bestseller lists and have won several awards, including a Prism, a National Readers’ Choice Award, a Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence and a Golden Quill.

      One of her books, The Soul Collector, was made into a CBS TV movie starring Melissa Gilbert, Bruce Greenwood and Ossie Davis. If you look closely, in the last five minutes of the movie, you’ll spot Maureen, who was an extra in the last scene.

      Maureen believes that laughter goes hand in hand with love, so her stories are always filled with humor. The many letters she receives assure her that her readers love to laugh as much as she does.

      Maureen Child is a native Californian, but has recently moved to the mountains of Utah. She loves a new adventure, though the thought of having to deal with snow for the first time is a little intimidating.

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      To my son, Jason … who would make a fabulous romance hero!

      I love you.

      Contents

       Cover

       Introduction

       Title Page

       About the Author

       Dedication

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Extract

       Copyright

       One

      “Papa was behind the Van Court emerald theft last week, wasn’t he?” Gianni Coretti kept his voice low as he looked across the table at his brother, Paulo.

      The other man shrugged, took a sip of his scotch and smiled faintly. “You know Papa.”

      Gianni scowled and shoved one hand through his hair. That answer was deliberately vague, he told himself. Yet he hadn’t really expected anything different. Of course Paulo would side with their father.

      Letting his gaze slide from his brother’s, Gianni looked out at the well-lit, exquisitely tended lawns of Vinley Hall. Crouched in the heart of Hampshire, on the southern coast of England, the luxury hotel was always the Coretti family’s inn of choice—not only for its innate elegance, but also for its convenience to Blackthorn private airfield.

      The Corettis never flew commercial.

      Today, Gianni was taking his brother to Blackthorn for a short flight to his home in Paris. On the way, of course, they had stopped for a drink. Paulo had been in London visiting for three days and frankly, to Gianni, it had felt like three years. He didn’t care for visitors, not even family. And Paulo in particular could push Gianni to the ends of his patience faster than anyone else he knew.

      A waitress in a black skirt and smart white shirt made her way across what was once Vinley Hall’s library and now served as an elegant bar. In response to her presence, Gianni switched from English to Italian as he reminded his brother, “You and Papa do remember that just a year ago I bargained with Interpol to get us all immunity for past thefts?”

      Paulo shuddered visibly and took another sip of scotch before replying in Italian. “Being that close to that many police? Don’t know how you managed—or for that matter why you bothered.” He set the heavy crystal tumbler down onto the polished oak table and ran his fingertips around the rim. His gaze locked on his brother’s. “We didn’t ask for immunity.”

      True. They hadn’t asked. But Gianni had secured that promise of safety for them anyway. Unfortunately, his family not only didn’t appreciate it, but they were also appalled at the thought of giving up the “family business.”

      The Corettis had been jewel thieves for centuries. Skills were handed down from one generation to the next. Secrets and tricks of the trade were taught to children who grew into adults with quick