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CHAPTER ONE
DANTE LUCARELLI, BILLIONAIRE renewable energy entrepreneur, roared down the private road on the powerful ainst his skin, in the rare sense of freedom For a very short space of tiical uest and slowing down to enable his host, Steve, to overtake him
‘You letthe taller male’s arm in retribution as they parked the bikes ‘Where’s the fun in that?’
‘Didn’t want to show you up in front of the locals,’ Dante tossed back, his thick blue-black hair tousled, white teeth glinting in the sunlight against his lean bronzed features as he grinned down at his former schoolmate ‘Anyway, it’s your bike And so this is it? Your latest venture?’ he added, glancing through the overhanging pine trees at the restaurant surrounded by decking and overlooking the swi lake Sited above the sandy beach, it had a funky, carefree, Caribbean vibe ‘Kind of s?’
‘Knock it off,’ his friend urged, a burly blond by player ‘It’s seasonal and does very hen the weather’s good’
‘And employs a lot of those locals you like to take a paternal interest in,’ DanteSteve’s sense of civic responsibility all too well Steve Cranbrook was a kind man and one of the very few men Dante trusted
They were in the south-east of France, a rural, far-froht a chateau on a hill as a summer home for himself and his family His all too numerous family, Dante reflected with a near shudder Steve had four of the little blighters, two sets of twins under five, and they had been crawling over Dante and de attention ever since he had flown in earlier that day, which hy the break from the chateau elcome It wasn’t that Dante disliked children, just that he wasn’t used to the to stand in the path of a hurricane arues
‘It’s not like that,’ Steve protested ‘I just invest when I see the chance and contribute if there’s a good cause There aren’t many employment opportunities around here’
Dante took a seat at a wooden table hewn out of a giant tree trunk Shrewd dark-as-pitch eyes swept the colourful bunting fluttering in the breeze as he picked up on the ra fro at the bar ‘I bet this is the only party place in the neighbourhood,’ he commented
‘Pretty et a lot of family trade when the beach is busy So, tellwith Eddie Shriner?’
Dante’s lean, darkly handsoest problem sank its teeth into hiot a woman on board to keep Krystal at bay’
‘I thought Liliana was stepping up as a favour,’ Steve incised in surprise
‘No, that fell through Liliana wanted an engage as an inducement,’ Dante adh it would be a phoney engage down that road even with her’
‘An
engage?’ Steve queried in surprise ‘Why on earth would she need a ring to pretend that she was your girlfriend again for Krystal’s benefit?’
Dante shrugged a lean shoulder ‘She said it was a matter of pride, that she would lose face in front of Krystal if she didn’t have a ring, because why else would she have reconciled with o?’
‘Your love life’ Steve groaned, raking a rueful hand through his floppy blond hair ‘If you didn’t dury, you wouldn’t be in this situation’
Dante coree children, and he had never lied to a woman on that score He was upfront about his sex life and there was no rooht otherwise soon learned her et attached to women—never had, never would—and Liliana was the only exception to that rule She was an ex who had becoenuinely respected and liked her, but he had still not been able to love her or want a more serious relationship with her
Even trusting Liliana had initially been a challenge because Dante had never had quite the saht his deceitful mother in bed with one of his father’s closest friends His snobbish ement over others for their smallest mistakes and was quick to turn her back on theularly slept around His indifference to Liliana had, however, told Dante all he needed to know about his own essentially cold heart Without a doubt, he had inherited that ice gene frorimly
His sole experience of love had been his deep attachment to his older brother, Cristiano, and when Cristiano had died a year ago, it had shattered Dante and left hiht that had he been less selfish he ically, however, Cristiano had taken his own life because he had never been able to stand up for hi parents and trying desperately hard to please as the eldest son and heir, Cristiano had crumbled and ultimately snapped under the strain
And now the best that Dante could do in memory of his late brother was strive to buy back that little piece of woodland heaven where Cristiano had gone whenever life became too much for him Sadly, in the wake of their firstborn’s death, their parents had ihest price possible to Eddie Shriner, a resort developer currently married to Dante’sEddie, Krystal had et Dante back into her bed The wo Dante needed was Krystal co to make a business deal with her husband
‘You should hire an escort to play your girlfriend That sort of a wo, his voice dropped to a discreet level across the table lest he be overheard
‘Sounds dodgy and dangerous,’ Dante countered with a gri by the bar with a tray