PALOMAFELTASthough she was trapped in an endless nightmare. Her kidnap ordeal, her grandfather’s unexpected death and now this. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that the image of her and Daniele wasn’t real. But when she cautiously lifted her lashes, the picture on the screen was still in front of her. The photo had been blown up to almost life-size and appeared to show them sharing an intimate moment beside the swimming pool in Tunisia.
Daniele’s arms were wrapped around her waist, while her body, clad in a skimpy swimsuit, was pressed up against him. But it was the yearning expression on her face that made Paloma wish she could sink into the thick pile carpet on the boardroom floor. The photo had captured her in an unguarded moment when her lips had been parted in an invitation for Daniele to kiss her.
She felt too embarrassed to look at him. She was conscious of the disapproving glances from the group of men around the table and her face grew warm. ‘It’s not what it looks like,’ she stammered.
Franco crashed his hand down on the table, making Paloma flinch. ‘What it looks like is a gross breach of policy with regard to the professional conduct of employees and representatives of the company. If the photograph were made public, I have no doubt the shareholders would be horrified by the evidence that you are having a casual affair with Daniele and the disrespect you have both shown for Marcello, days after his death and before he has been laid to rest. To protect the good name of Morante Group, I propose that the board should vote against you succeeding Marcello and appoint me as chairman with immediate effect.’
For a moment Paloma seriously considered if she should walk away from the company as her uncle and the rest of the board clearly hoped she would do. The trustees were elderly men who were set in their ways and likely to oppose any new ideas she tried to introduce. It would be easier to hand power over to Franco.
Maybe she wasn’t good enough to take her grandfather’s place anyway. Doubt piled upon doubt as her old insecurities surfaced. She’d never been good enough for her mother, who had wanted Paloma to be a party-loving socialite, and she hadn’t been good enough for Calum, who had married her when he’d been in love with someone else.
But she had meant everything to Nonno. Paloma had never doubted her grandfather’s love for her, and she owed it to him to fight with every means at her disposal for her right to succeed him as the head of the company and the charitable foundation that he had worked tirelessly for. The jumble of thoughts inside her head cleared, and she sucked in a deep breath as she prepared to take the biggest gamble of her life.
‘It’s not a casual affair. I am going to marry Daniele,’ she blurted out. Nine pairs of eyes swung in her direction, but she was only conscious of his glittering amber gaze focused intently on her. ‘We have had...feelings for each other for quite a while.’ Paloma knew that if her plan backfired she was going to look very foolish in front of the board, whom she needed to impress. ‘Naturally, my fiancé was the person I turned to for comfort while I grieved for my grandfather.’
‘Is this true?’ Franco asked Daniele. ‘Marcello never mentioned that you are engaged to his granddaughter.’
Paloma held her breath, remembering her angry response when Daniele had suggested she should marry him. How she regretted her stupid pride. He had been right when he’d warned her that her great-uncle was determined to seize control of the company. Her future at Morante Group was in Daniele’s hands.
Her gaze dropped to his strong, tanned hands resting on the table. Hands that had burned through her swimsuit when he’d held her against his whipcord body. But his touch had been unexpectedly gentle when he had run his fingers through her hair. She forced her eyes up to his face and wished she knew what he was thinking behind his enigmatic expression. His silence stretched her nerves to snapping point.
‘I trust you are not implying that my fiancée is lying, Franco,’ Daniele said curtly. ‘Marcello’s sudden death was a shock to all of us. Paloma and I decided to postpone announcing our engagement because of the deep respect we both felt for her grandfather.’ His voice was icy, and Paloma could have sworn that the temperature in the boardroom had dropped by several degrees.
Daniele fixed his hard stare on each of the trustees in turn. ‘Your concerns about Paloma succeeding her grandfather are unfounded. I will support and guide her in preparation for when she takes control of Morante Group on her twenty-fifth birthday. You are all aware that when I established the company’s online presence, new markets were opened up in Asia and profits soared. Marcello demonstrated his trust in me by appointing me as a lifelong member of the board. Now I am asking you to trust that, with Paloma as my wife, we will work as a team to take the company forwards to an exciting and successful future.’
God, he was good! Paloma was almost convinced of Daniele’s sincerity, and it was evident from the approving nods from many of the trustees that he had won them over. Nonno had joked that Daniele could sell wine to a vintner, she remembered ruefully. She must not forget that his marriage proposition was a cold-blooded arrangement that would benefit both of them.
Daniele stood up and walked around the table towards Paloma. She could not tear her gaze from him. His elegant suit was undoubtedly bespoke, and the superb tailoring drew attention to his broad shoulders and long, lean frame. The sensual musk of his cologne evoked an ache low in her pelvis.
Her eyes widened when he drew her to her feet and lifted her hand up to his lips. He brushed his mouth lightly over her knuckles, and a sensation like an electrical current shot through her fingers and up her arm. She felt her nipples pinch and prayed they were not visible beneath her dress.
‘I am sorry,carissima, that events have forced us to reveal our marriage plans,’ Daniele murmured. His eyes gleamed when he met Paloma’s startled gaze. ‘You are the only woman on the planet who I want to marry.’
She blushed when he gave her a mocking smile, but she needed his help, and so she resisted the temptation to grind her stiletto heel into his foot. ‘And you are the only man for me,caro,’ she simpered. Daniele’s lips twitched, but when he turned to address the board of trustees, his expression was serious.
‘We had intended to wait until after Marcello’s funeral before revealing our relationship. The photograph is an invasion of our privacy, and I will call in private investigators to try and discover who was behind the attempt to discredit us.’ Daniele’s eyes narrowed on Franco before he continued. ‘Paloma chose not to wear an engagement ring until our relationship became public, but now there is no reason for me to wait to put my ring on her finger.’
With mounting disbelief, Paloma watched as Daniele reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and withdrew a small leather pouch. The ring he tipped into his palm was poignantly familiar. An oval-shaped sapphire surrounded by diamonds, it had belonged to her grandmother who had died before Paloma was born. Her grandfather had treasured the ring, and she had no idea how Daniele had come to have it in his possession.
‘Paloma,tesoro mio,’ Daniele murmured. She froze when she realised that he was actually going to propose to her right there in the boardroom. His deep voice was as soft as a velvet cloak against her skin. ‘Will you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?’
She knew that Daniele was putting on an act, and there was no explanation for why her pulse was racing. Paloma’s mind flew back to when her ex-husband had proposed. Calum had used every cliché. A romantic dinner at her favourite restaurant, a bouquet of red roses, and he had even dropped down onto one knee when he’d presented her with a ring, but not his heart, she had discovered soon after the wedding. Would she ever receive a marriage proposal from a man who loved her for herself? she wondered with a pang.
She forced herself to smile at Daniele. ‘I will.’
For some reason, her hand trembled when he slid the ring onto her finger. Incredibly, it fitted perfectly. Paloma stared at the exquisite piece of jewellery and felt an urge to tear it off. Marcello had given the ring to her grandmother, and theirs had been a true love match. The pretence that she and Daniele were in love felt like a travesty of the deep emotional bond between her grandparents that had been evident in their wedding photographs. Nonno had loved his wife for his entire life, even though her death had parted them far too soon, and he had never remarried.
The gentle ripple of applause from at least some of the trustees jolted Paloma from her thoughts, and her heart missed a beat when she discovered that Daniele had moved closer to her. He placed his hands on her waist and drew her towards him. Her breath became trapped in her throat when she realised his intention. His amber eyes were focused on her mouth as he dipped his head and brushed his lips across hers.
The kiss was over almost as soon as it had begun, but it seared Paloma down to her soul. She fleetingly tasted Daniele’s warm breath, and his raw, male scent evoked a sharp tug of desire in the pit of her stomach. When he lifted his head, it was all she could do not to cling to him. The unsatisfactory kiss had left her aching for him to claim her mouth with hungry passion as he had done three years ago.
‘Bravo!’ Gianluca heaved himself rather stiffly to his feet, and most of the other trustees followed suit and offered their congratulations. Only Franco and the two men on either side of him said nothing.
‘I am curious, Daniele, to know how you will prepare Paloma for leadership of Morante Group at the same time as running your e-commerce company,’ Franco said tersely. ‘You cannot be in two places at once.’
‘I have an excellent executive team working for me at Premio.’ Daniele shrugged. ‘My business interests are varied, but for the past ten years, I have been involved in some way with Morante Group and the Morante Foundation.’
He looked at Paloma. ‘The first decision you and the board must make is whether to cancel the charity foundation’s gala ball that is meant to take place next weekend, two days after Marcello’s funeral. Will it be too soon to host what is essentially a celebration while you are still mourning your grandfather?’