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Was she going to fare any better with hireed to her scheme

“Pia?” he whispered softly

She lifted those luminous eyes to his A jolt of sensation hit his muscles at the artless want in her eyes Her open desire for him made every male instinct in him rise to the surface

Color washed up her cheeks and she blinked “I was looking for you,” she finally said, pushing the glasses up on the bridge of her nose “I don’t think we should—”

He could see Giovanni and his e roohter, Alyssa” He cut her off abruptly

“Your daughter?” She looked like a deer caught in headlights, ready to flee any hter?”

His daughter slid off his legs, sauntered over to Pia, wrapped herself around Pia’s bare leg like a vine and looked up The thought of Pia’s dislike for hi itself to Alyssa made him cover the distance between them

All her distress forgotten, Pia picked up Alyssa with a soft laugh Raphael watched transfixed as she buried her face in Alyssa’s tuh

He could hear Gio in the background saying what a pretty picture the three of theine hisin her head; could hear the soft whispers spreading from mouth to mouth

Raphael had never believed in fate or higher power None of them had ever come to his aid Always it had been his own decisions and actions that had made his path Even after Giovanni had taken hi, it was Raphael who’d pushed hihts in his business

And yet, as Alyssa twisted one of Pia’s curls around her chubby finger and tugged hard, sending a gush of pained tears to Pia’s eyes and laughter spilling fro a step that couldn’t be undone