Allan watched Riana as they walked down the beach. She looked beautiful and very full of life as she played in the water. She dodged the waves with a squeal, her face lighting up when she laughed. It was hard not to laugh with her—her mood was infectious. That and the few glasses of wine they’d consumed. No one went to Naples and left without tasting most, if not all, of the wine it offered and of course carrying some bottles along with them. Riana loved wine. She was no coinsurer but she knew enough to get by. By the time she’d had her fifth glass, she was laughing giddily like a child on a sugar high. Kind of like now. Allan chuckled and shook his head as he watched her jump the tiny wave. They’d finished with the train leg of their trip and Allan made sure she enjoyed her days touring, forcefully buying everything that made her eyes twinkle. Her nights were wined and dined followed with a bout of lovemaking that lasted to the early hours of the day. She wasn’t too amused to find

Allan listened and watched Riana, remembering the one night weeks ago he walked into their hotel room to find a box of condoms on his side of the nightstand. He’d been confused by it. He knew she liked making love—no, having sex—with no barrier between them, so what brought on the change?“Riana,” he’d called out to her.“Yup,” she then walked out of the bathroom in her lace underwear and his heart picked up the pace. He was never going to get used to seeing her naked without his cock immediately appreciating her with a tight, very painful salute.At least they hadn’t been at the beach. He smirked at the memory.A few days before that, when she’d shed off the pool dress to expose a swimsuit held together with string and barely any fabric in between, he became worse than a horny teenager. Without a word, he’d dragged her behind some rocks, pulled the strings to release her wonderful

The doctor cleared his throat and glanced at her before turning to Allan. “Signore, your moglie—”“She’s not my wife,” Allan quickly corrected.She’d heard that word before so many times and Allan always flinched, followed by a tight smile. But he never told her what it meant. Now she knew and Riana felt like she’d been hit with a sledge hammer in her chest.After a long silence the doctor went on. “Scusi, the signorina has a case of food poisoning. I would like to put her on a hydrating drip because of all the water she lost from vomiting.”“That’s it?” Allan sounded relieved which only saddened Riana. He sounded like he’d dodged a bullet. Had he really thought she was pregnant?“Si, Signore.”Allan stood, pulling her with him. “We’ll just check into a hotel then I’ll bring her back.”That would be a bad idea. The way she was feeling, she couldn’t be alone with Allan, not yet.“No. Why don’t you do that and I’ll stay here. It will probably take an hour and then you can just pick me u

She shrugged, lifting her hands palms up. “What? You don’t even know what I mean by visitation rights.”He stood up, lifting her with him. “But I know you and we are not going to discuss this. You need to sleep, anyway.”He went to set her down on the bed but she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. “I know that’s not how you do business, but just think about it. If Mr. Torino feels like he’d have—”He tugged at her arms. “Goodnight, Riana!”She tightened her hold on him and went on. “—access to his lifelong dream then it would soften him up. Keep him as a manager or an advisor.”Allan chortled. “Why don’t I just dig a hole and pour all the money I’m using for the acquisition into it?” She pulled his hair and he winced from the pain. “Damn it, Riana! What was that for?”“If you take

They stopped in front of a table where three people were already standing. A short, old man with just a little bit of white hair left on his balding head, another man dressed in a white suit, his black hair shiny and slicked back. He looked like the old man—probably his son. Riana didn’t like him on the spot, especially since his gaze perused Allan with contempt.Riana turned to Allan to see if he’d noticed their presence. He had, and he returned the stare with one of his tight smiles but his eyes had a glint in them. Riana knew that look all to well, it spoke of mischief. Allan was up to something. What?Riana trapped her lower lip between her teeth to hide the budding smile and turned to the third person. The lady was beautiful but Riana could already see she was going to have trouble keeping her away from Allan. She leered at him like a bitch in heat! And Allan was doing a damn fine job pretending he didn’t notice.She was wearing a kn