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CHAPTER ONE

‘I WASN’T sure whether or not you would want to see this…’ Speaking in the uneasy tone of one apologising in advance for a potential offence, Lucca’s cousin, Alfredo, settled a tabloid newspaper down on the elegant glass desk

At first gli her bountiful curves in the centre of a page topped by garish headlines, Lucca Saracino froze, his lean, powerful face hardening It was Jasmine Bailey, the bimbo whose lies had contributed to the destruction of his e Now yesterday’s news as far as the rich and fa even sleazier depths with the no-holds-barred revelations of exactly ho she had had to sink to achieve her original fifteen , the former topless model freely confessed that she had concocted her story about having shared a wild night of passion with the Italian billionaire, Lucca Saracino, on his luxury yacht

‘You should sue her!’ Alfredo, a stockily built young er but unsophisticated zeal of a recent law graduate keen to prove his mettle

Such an exercise would be futile, Lucca reflected, wide, sensualfro-lost reputation through the courts More to the point, his divorce was about to be uilty with a speed and lack of trust that would have shocked any inal little head high, Vivien had donned thepiety and vacated the ry sister, Bernice, Vivien had walked out on theirtheir first child She had refused to listen to his declaration of innocence The woman ept buckets over Lassie films had shown him a face of stone

‘Lucca…?’ Alfredo pro silence that every other member of Lucca’s personal staff would have read as a tacit warning

With difficulty, Lucca suppressed an exasperated rebuke Allowing his gormless cousin to work for him even temporarily had been an act of charity on his part Alfredo was desperate to add some business experience to his unimpressive CV Lucca had found him clever but i but tactless While others soared, Alfredo would always plod and often infuriate

‘I owe you a big apology,’ the youngersquare in front of the desk and evidently determined to say his piece ‘I didn’t believe the Bailey woht you had been playing away!’

Every low suspicion of the level of that side of the fariolden eyes

‘And absolutely nobody blahtest,’ Alfredo hastened to assert ‘Vivien just didn’t fit the bill—’

‘Vivien is theother than the respect that is her due,’ Lucca murmured in icy reproof

Alfredo flushed and hurried to offer profuse apologies instead Impatient with his essential stupidity, Lucca dis fro s that proffered a spectacular view of London, but his forbidding gaze was turned inward and his thoughts were relentlessly bitter

His infant son, Marco, was growing up without him in a mean little ho civilised about the breakup of his e or the separation that had followed Lucca had had to fight hard for what little he saw of the child he adored He had been branded an unfaithful husband by Jasations His lawyers hadguardianship of his son froed ith an irreproachable reputation It utterly outraged Lucca’s sense of justice that Vivien, who had wrecked their e with her distrust, should have effortlessly retained custody of his child

He knew himself to be at best an occasional visitor on the outskirts of Marco’s life and he was afraid that his son forgot hi a child remember an absentee father between one month and the next? There was no way either that Vivien would be re But now there was also no way that she would be able to retain occupancy of the round…

As that tantalising reality pierced Lucca’s brooding reflections it was like a shot of adrenalin slivering through his lean, powerful fra force His luxuriant lashes lowered on eyes that suddenly glowed tiger-bright with scorching satisfaction He pondered the very real possibility that VivienJasmine Bailey’s confession An academic who took little interest in the everyday world, Vivien rarely read newspapers

Lucca buzzed his secretary, instructed her to obtain a pristine new copy of the relevant paper and have it delivered to Vivien with a gift card bearing his compliments Petty? He didn’t think so Pride demanded that he draw her attention to the proof of his innocence

It would spoil Vivien’s day and worse Vivien had led a sheltered life Naïve as she was, she bruised easily She had the sort of conscience that kept her awake at night and would suffer the tortures of the damned when she was forced to face the truth that she had ht finally be operating on his behalf but nothing could make the punishment fit the crime, could it?

‘Please co hiding under the sideboard