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A satiric black brow elevated 'Bearing in mind that I have no desire to hear a plea for clemency on your brother's behalf'

Crushed before she could even warm up, Ashley was relieved when a phone buzzed and he stretched out an impatient hand As his attention switched froain The te He was incredibly attractive Hard cheekbones slashed his strong, dark features, highlighting the proud temperamental flare of his nose and a mouth that was a wide, blatantly sensual arc But, if you were a woest Vito had stunningly beautiful eyes, golden as the purest precious ht or dark as darkest ebony

In defiance of her every wish to the contrary, Vito still radiated a dark, savage sexuality boldly at variance with a three-piece suit and a silk tie Every woman between fifteen and fifty raised her chin and sucked in her sto her disobedient eyes from him, the exception that broke the rule As she lowered her lashes, her skin heated A tiny pulse at the base of her throat was racing She was badly shaken by her adolescent response to all that raw, blatant er followed predictably in the wake of that lowering awareness He replaced the phone, uttering a bland apology for the interruption

'You want , don't you?' As the hot, thoughtless words burst froue out for that loss of control

Vito lounged back in his swivel chair, insultingly unsurprised by the verbal assault Far too perceptive eyes of gold ran over her flushed face 'Exactly why are you here?' he asked, politely ignoring her outburst

'To talk about Tim and why he did it You're probably not aware of it, but your nephew-'

Vito dealt her a narrowed glance 'Insulted you to your brother?' he interposed 'It was a regrettable incident'

Ashley stiffened 'Regrettable?'

'Pietro lost two of his front teeth,' Vito returned drily 'The question of family loyalties was settled with their fists Pietro came off worst and he has been honest with me I see no connection between that episode and your brother's inexcusable invasion of my home'

'So you had chapter and verse on Act One What

about Act Two?' Ashley pressed with spirit 'Tim was cornered outside school and beaten up by four boys, one of as your nephew'

'When did this take place?'

Ashley had to think for a second or two before slinging the date at him with relish

'On that day, Pietro was attending his cousin's wedding in Rome,' Vito responded even more drily 'He could not possibly have been present'

Her chin caanised it '

Vito set the gold pen in his hand very decisively down on the glass desktop 'You are now entering the realms of fantasy Pietro would not have involved himself in so cowardly an act Unless you have evidence on which to base these allegations, I would advise you to drop this line of argument' Ice cool dark eyes rested on her 'Pursue it and you will find it a most unproductive course'

She was furious that she did not possess the exact details of that incident Four youths had attacked Tiround her teeth together on an explosive retort The at war her lower lip, she murmured, 'I understand that the eninally related to soirl-'

His sculpted bone-structure set 'And what possible relevance does that information have to the current situation?'