Untouched Until Marriage by Chantelle Shaw

glanced at her. ‘I need you to sign a few papers.’
    â€˜What are they?’ Libby stared warily at the pile of printed documents, her heart sinking when she realised that Raul intended to wait while she read them.
    â€˜They relate to various decisions I have made regarding Carducci Cosmetics.’ Raul flicked casually through the papers. ‘This file gives details of a merger with a Swedish skincare company that I want to proceed with as soon as possible, and this document is to authorise the transfer of funds to one of CC’s subsidiary companies in the US. I simply require you to sign your name—you don’t have to read them.’
    Libby frowned. ‘How can I sign them when I don’t know what I’m signing?
    Irritation swept through Raul when she sat down, switched on the table-lamp, and picked up the first document from the pile. ‘This is pointless,’ he said grittily, noting how the lamplight turned her hair to spun gold.‘You said yourself you know nothing about running a company. I have no idea why my father stipulated that you should have control of Gino’s shares,’ he burst out, his frustration tangible. ‘When Pietro died I expected to take full control of Carducci Cosmetics, but for the past eight months CC has been in a state of limbo. I couldn’t find you, and because you control fifty percent of the company I have been unable to do more than keep the company ticking over.’ He took a deep breath, calming himself. ‘I’m not asking you to take a crash course in business management,’ he informed Libby curtly. ‘You can save us both a lot of time if you just add your signature to the bottom of each document.’
    Libby stared at him, watching how the lamplight flickered over the hard planes of his face. A hard knot of anger was slowly forming inside her at the realisation that he hadn’t insisted on rushing her and Gino to Italy because he was concerned about the baby living in the damp flat in Pennmar. No, all Raul cared about was Carducci Cosmetics—which, to his obvious anger, he now had to share control of with her until Gino was eighteen.
    â€˜I wonder why Pietro didn’t give you control of Gino’s shares?’ she said slowly. ‘Maybe he didn’t trust that you would look after Gino’s interests properly?’
    Rage coursed through Raul’s veins like red-hot lava flow, obliterating every other thought but the burning need to force an apology from Libby for her outrageous statement. ‘You dare suggest my father did not trust me?’ he snarled, hating her at that moment for echoing the doubts he had secretly harboured since he had read Pietro’s will. Maybe she was right; maybe his adoptive father hadn’t trusted him enough to award him controlof Gino’s share of the company. The thought tore at his heart, and anger was the only way he could deal with the pain. His nostrils flared with the effort of containing his fury—not just with Libby, but with himself and his shameful, shocking desire for her.
    She had gone too far, Libby realised when she risked a glance at Raul’s face and saw that his dark eyes were as cold and hard as polished jet. But she wanted the truth. ‘Pietro must have had his reasons for stipulating that Gino’s mother should control his share of Carducci Cosmetics,’ she insisted. And if Pietro had had his doubts about his adopted son’s trustworthiness, then so did she.
    Raul jerked his head back as if she had slapped him. ‘ Dio , someone needs to teach you to control your insolent tongue,’ he growled, goaded beyond bearing.
    He moved towards her with the speed of a panther homing in for the kill. Too late Libby realised that he intended the ‘someone’ to be him, but he had already tangled his fingers in her hair and tugged her head back, and her startled cry was lost beneath the pressure of his mouth as