Tina Duncan - Da Silva's Mistress

Only she hadn’t.

And then there was the way she’d kept on defying him.

That didn’t make sense either.

She should have taken the opportunity to try and attract him, not argue with him. After all, he was far wealthier than Joseph would ever be—not to mention younger and better-looking.

But Morgan hadn’t given a damn what he thought of her.

It was those apparent anomalies that were making it so damned difficult to put thoughts of her out of his head.

It had nothing to do with those wicked black I’m-in-charge leather boots. It had nothing to do with thickly lashed black eyes and slanting cheekbones. And it certainly had nothing to do with the seductive curve of her mouth or how she’d tasted when he kissed her.

‘Luca!’

Luca blinked and frowned at the blonde sitting across from him. ‘What?’

‘I was talking to you.’ Now that she had his attention she was all smiles. ‘As I was saying…’

Luca tuned her out again.

He’d had enough of Michaela. Her company had begun to pall.

Since when? a little voice asked inside his head.

He hadn’t been the least dissatisfied when he’d made love to her the night before. He hadn’t thought about ending things until—he dragged in a deep breath—someone he wanted more had crossed his path.

He stared across the table. Suddenly he saw Morgan Marshall sitting there, with her brightly defiant eyes and flyaway hair.

Irritation, annoyance and anger clamped his jaw tight.

Desire hardened everything else.

‘Luca!’

Luca looked up blankly. Michaela was out. He wouldn’t be sharing her body or her bed again. And he’d tell her exactly that when he—

The phone in his pocket vibrated. Out of respect for the other diners he’d switched off the ring tone on both of the phones he’d brought with him.

Dipping his hand into his jacket pocket, he used his fingertips to sense which phone was receiving a call and pulled it out.

It was the slimline Nokia.

Joseph’s phone.

It had been easy to convince his brother-in-law to leave it behind. Mobile phones could be problematic in other countries. Some worked fine. Others didn’t. Much easier, Luca had suggested, to use the local mobile phones he’d arranged to be ready and waiting for them on their arrival in Sydney.

Stefania had been equally persuasive. She didn’t want Joseph working while they were away. They deserved a holiday. Why not leave the phone and let Luca handle all his business calls?

Luca hazarded a guess this wasn’t a business call.

Not only was the number unregistered, but a glance at the platinum and gold watch adorning his wrist told him it was eight-forty, too late under normal circumstances for any of Joseph’s business colleagues to be calling him.

‘Excuse me,’ he said to a pouting Michaela. ‘I have to take this.’

He put the phone to his ear and pressed the button to connect the call. ‘Hello?’

Silence greeted him.

He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen, checking to see if the caller had hung up. The display showed the call was still connected, its duration ticking over as he watched.

He put the phone back to his ear. ‘Hello? Is anyone there?’

Still all he could hear was silence. No, he was wrong about that. If he listened carefully he could just make out the sound of someone breathing. ‘Hello? Can you hear me?’

The back of his neck prickled. His fingers tightened around the phone and some instinct made him say, ‘Morgan…?’

He heard a faint gasp, barely a whisper of sound, and then the line went dead.

Luca exhaled sharply as icy fury sliced through him.

Madre del Dio!

The little witch had called her lover despite everything he’d said to her today.

His hands clenched into fists.

He’d let Stefania down once before; he wouldn’t do so again.

It would take someone a hell of a lot smarter than Morgan Marshall to get the better of him.

In the end his will would prevail.

As it always prevailed.

It was time to up the ante.

Oh, yes, it was time Morgan learned just how serious he was about this.

He thrust back his chair and stood up, ignoring completely the fact that they hadn’t finished their meal. ‘We’re leaving!’

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