Untouched Until Marriage by Chantelle Shaw Page B

been his father’s mistress and he did not understand how he could want her. He had kissed her in anger, wanting to punish her for suggesting that Pietro had not trusted him. But the punishment had backfired, because from the moment his mouth had claimed her soft, moist lips he had been consumed with a burning need to possess her.
    He halted on his way out of the door and glanced back at her, heat searing his insides when he saw that her lips were red and swollen and unutterably tempting. She was a witch, he thought broodingly. A beautiful milky-skinned, doe-eyed sorceress who had ensnared his father—but from now on he would guard himself against her magic.
    â€˜I have a prior engagement tonight,’ he said coldly, ‘and as my aunt has informed me that she is feeling unwell and will not be joining you for dinner I have arranged for your evening meal to be served to you up here in your suite.’ He paused, and when she made no reply continued, ‘I have called a meeting of all Carducci Cosmetics’ senior executives for midday tomorrow. We’ll leave for Rome soon after breakfast as I have a number of things to attend to in the office before the meeting. Silvana will look after Gino.’
    Libby bit her lip. ‘How long will we be away? I don’t want to leave him for too long.’
    â€˜I imagine the meeting will last for most of the afternoon. There are numerous urgent matters to discuss,’ Raul told her with barely concealed impatience, thinking of the months that CC had stagnated while he had searched for his father’s mistress. ‘We have also been invited to a business dinner in the evening.’ He shrugged when Libby frowned. ‘Attending these sorts of events is a necessary part of running a company. Social networking is a vital avenue of business.’
    He paused and then said smoothly, ‘Of course there is a way that you could devote all your time to Gino, and perhaps have time to take up your painting again.’
    Libby gave him a puzzled look. ‘How?’
    â€˜You could sign over control of Gino’s shares to me.’ Raul spoke savagely when Libby immediately shook her head. ‘ Dio! I have spent most of my life preparing to take my father’s place as head of CC. Pietro erred on the side of caution, but I have plans for the company that will make it a world leader in the twenty-first century.’
    â€˜Maybe your father wished you were more cautious,’ Libby said slowly. ‘Maybe he was worried that you would take too many risks with Carducci Cosmetics, and that’s why he stipulated that Gino’s mother should have control of his shares until he is an adult. I might not know much about running a company,’ she admitted, ‘but I’m not stupid. I understand that high risk can mean high returns, but I’m not prepared to gamble with Gino’s birthright, and I won’t agree to any business ventures that I feel are too risky.’
    Black rage swept through Raul. So the battle lines were drawn, he thought bitterly. The only subject he and his father had ever disagreed on was the future of Carducci Cosmetics. Pietro had been content for the company to follow a path of safe investments and carefully considered proposals, while he, Raul, had seen the potential for expansion and diversification. Admittedly they came with risks—but hadn’t he proved, by amassing his own personal fortune on the stock market, that his gambles always paid off?
    It was clear that his father had not trusted him. By awarding his mistress Gino’s shares Pietro had found a way to control Raul from beyond the grave. The only possible solution, Raul realised, lay in the clause Pietro had added to his will stating that if Libby were to marry control of Gino’s shares would pass to him. A clause that she was unaware of, because back at her flat in Pennmar she had not bothered to read the will in its entirety, pointed out