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CHAPTER ONE

A BABY

E as the double-decker bus traveled deeper into central London in the gray afternoon rain

A baby

For ten weeks, she’d tried not to hope Tried not to think about it Even when she’d gone to her doctor’s office thatherself for some problem, to be told that she must be brave

Instead she’d seen a rapid steady beat on the sonogram as her doctor pointed to the flash on the screen “See the heartbeat? ‘Hi, Mum’”

“I’h dry lips

The nant as can be”

“And the baby’s—all right?”

“It’s all going perfectly Textbook, I’d say” The doctor had given her a big smile “I think it’s safe to tell your husband now, Mrs Hayes”

Her husband The words echoed through E back into her seat on the top deck of the Number 9 bus Her husband How she wished there was such a person, waiting for her in a hoe—achild But in direct opposition to what she’d told her physician, there was no husband

Just a boss A boss who’d ht of reckless passion, then disappeared in the cold dawn, leaving her to wake up alone in his huge bed The same bed that she’d made for him over the past seven years, complete with ironed sheets

I know the maid could do it, but I prefer that you handle it personally No one can do it like you, Miss Hayes

Oh, boy She’d really handled it personally this time, hadn’t she?

Blinking, Emma stared out theas the red double-decker bus ton Road Royal Albert Hall went by in a blur of red brick behind the rain-streaked glass She wiped her eyes hard Stupid tears She shouldn’t be crying She was happy about this baby Thrilled, in fact She’d honestly thought she could never get pregnant It was a miracle

A lump rose in her throat

Except

Cesare would never be a real father to their baby He would never be her husband, a man ould kiss her when he caht No ht wish otherwise

Because Cesare Falconeri, self-made billionaire, sexy Italian playboy, had two passions in life The first was expanding his far-flung hotel e relentlessly to expand his net worth and power The second, a mere hobby when he had an hour or two to spare, was to seduce beautiful woht play football or golf

Her sexy Italian boss annihilated the thin hearts of supermodels and heiresses alike with the sa for any of them Emma knew that As his housekeeper, she was the one responsible for arranging ht stands Usually Cartier watches Bought in bulk

As the bus traveled through Mayfair, the lights of the Ritz Hotel slid by Looking down from the top deck of the bus, Emma saw pedestrians dressed in Londoners’ typical festive autu with umbrellas in the rain and wind

It was the first of November Just yesterday, the warmth of Indian summer had caressed the city like a lover, with promises of forever Today, drizzle and rain had descended The city, so recently bright and warm, had become melancholy, haunted and filled with despair

Or maybe it was just her

For the past seven years—since she’d first started as a e of twenty-one—she’d been absolutely in love with him, and absolutely careful not to show it Careful not to show any feelings at all

You never boreabout you He’d smiled Thank you

Then three o, she’d come back from her stepmother’s funeral in Texas and he’d found her alone in his darkened kitchen, clutching an unopened bottle of tequila, with tears strea down her cheeks For a moment, Cesare had just stared at her

Then he’d pulled her roughly into his arms

Perhaps he’d only ht, he’d taken the virginity she’d saved for him, just for him, even when she knew she had no hope He’d taken her to his bed, and ray, lonely world explode with color and fire