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Holly had made a very early start to her day and had been appalled by the price of the train fare Pixie had urged her to dress up to see Vito but, beyond abandoning her usual jeans and putting on a skirt with the knee boots Pixie had given her for Christmas, Holly had made no special effort Why? As she continually reminded herself, this wasn’t a personal visit and she wasn’t trying to ielo and that was all Her restive fingers fiddled with the zip on her boots while she watched the two security guards carrying off her parcel with the absurdly cautious air ofa bomb Did she look like a terrorist? Like some kind of a madwoman?

Vito was in a board e in front of him, which had already been unwrapped, he frowned in incomprehension, but when he pulled back the paper and saw the Santa hat and the save his PA a shaken nod of is to voice his apologies, he stood up, his cool dark eyes veiled

What the hell was Holly doing here at the bank? Why now? And how had she tracked him down?

Hearing about that night, Apollo had scoffed With all your options you settled for a stranger? Are you crazy? You’re one of the ible bachelors in the world and you picked up some random woman? A waitress? he had scoffed in a tone of posh disbelief

In fact, Apollo’s coretted confiding in his friend He had told himself that it was for the best that Holly had walked aithout fanfare, freeing the He had also rehly enjoyable experience invariably led to disappointment With the information he had had he could have traced her but he had resisted the urge with every atoely important to Vito and Holly had obliterated his self-control He remembered that he had acted oddly with her and that otten her In fact he was eager to see her because his ered to the extent that he had becoly indifferent to other women and more particular than ever in his c

hoices He wanted to see Holly in full daylight, shorn of the schmaltzy sparkle of the festive season He was suddenly convinced that such a disillusionment would miraculously knock him back to normality

But why the hell would Holly be seeking hi after the event? And in person rather than more tactfully by phone? And how had she linked hi over cold dark eyes suddenly glittering with suspicion, Vito strode back into his office to await his visitor without an appointment

Holly smiled and stood up when the receptionist approached her In spite of her apprehension, Vito had remened to jog his ht well not recall one night with an ordinary woman from over a year earlier When it ca, Holly re down the corridor after another woant—had asked her to follow her She wondered why the other people working there see out of their offices in her direction and staring

Suddenly she wondered what she was doing Did she really want a elo’s? Coive Vito a chance for Angelo’s sake Her son would want to knoho his dad was Hadn’t she wondered all her life who had fathered her? Hadn’t that made her insecure? Made her feel less of a person than others because she didn’t know that elo deserved access to the truth of his parentage right from the start and that hat Holly would ensure her son had, no ain proved to be

Vito was a total scu why she was experiencing the strangest sense of…elation Why was her heart pounding and her adrenaline buzzing? Her guide opened a door and stood back for her to enter My goodness, he had a big office, typical scu office, she rephrased mentally She would not be impressed; she refused to be ih a side door and she was paralysed to the carpet because he si that she could not believe that she had ever slept with him and that he was the father of her child

Her mouth ran dry She felt dizzy Butterflies danced in her tummy as she focused on those lean, darkly handsome features, and she knew that Pixie would have kicked her hard Total scue with that fact and was ue on Vito’s sheer perfection To look at—perfect to look at, she rephrased doggedly, striving to get back to the scus…sex with hookers, she fired at herself in desperation

‘The hat and the holly were an original calling card,’ Vito drawled, the dark, deep accent tautening every muscle in her already tense body ‘But I did remember your name I didn’t need the prompt’

Holly turned the red-hot colour of a to behind her introduction that easily

‘It would have been much easier to phone me,’ Vito assured her silkily