Her Mediterranean Playboy by Melanie Milburne Page A

disgust before she could stop herself. ‘You low-life bastard!’
    ‘So you chose a convenient lover to fill in for you, not for a moment thinking of the consequences?’ Vittorio said, pointedly ignoring Ally’s vehement outburst.
    Rocco briefly met Ally’s blistering gaze and hastily turned away. ‘I thought Alex was a woman of the world. She told me she had been married and divorced. I figured she would be agreeable to a short-term affair. I did not for a moment think she would want anything long term. Nor did I expect her to toss in her job and follow me to Rome.’
    Ally decided to remain silent. She didn’t know enough about her sister’s motivation to relocate to Italy. In fact she knew so little she was starting to think she had made the biggest error of judgement in her life. Exchanging places with her twin when they were ten years old as a mischievous prank was one thing; doing it when she was twenty-five was another thing entirely. This was certainly not child’s play, and as each moment passed she felt she was sinking in even further over her head.
    ‘It is of no importance now,’ Vittorio was saying. ‘The problem has been solved. Ally and I are intimately involved, and that is all the press and the rest of our family needs to know right now.’
    Rocco sent Vittorio a penetrating look and switched to Italian. ‘You are being straight with me, are you not, Vito? You do not have to pretend with me, remember? I asked you to solve this problem, not to take my place and sleep with her yourself.’
    ‘But what did you ask her to do?’ Vittorio asked with a searing look. ‘Or should I take a wild guess?’
    Rocco’s eyes flicked to Ally and back again. ‘She set me up, Vito,’ he said in an undertone. ‘The bitch tried to trap me. What else was I supposed to do?’
    Vittorio had to fight hard to disguise his reaction. His gut clenched as if a powerful fist had grabbed at his intestines andcruelly squeezed. He felt his hands go to fists at his sides; although not a violent man by nature, he wanted to smash his brother-in-law’s face against the nearest hard surface.
    ‘You told me she stole that money from you,’ he said, the pieces of the puzzle finally falling into place. ‘But that is not what happened, is it, Rocco? You gave it to her, did you not? You gave it to her so she could—’
    ‘Excuse me…’ Ally inserted testily. ‘But do you mind speaking in English when I am in the room? I find it rather disconcerting to be left out of the conversation, since I suppose the discussion has everything to do with me.’
    Rocco curled his lip. ‘You told him about the abortion, didn’t you?’ His cold gaze dipped to her flat stomach. ‘I assume you had it performed, as I insisted? I gave you enough money—more than enough, if the truth be known.’
    Ally felt her belly contract in fear. Oh, dear God , she thought in anguish. Don’t tell me this is what Alex has been through! No wonder she had been so emotionally fragile, so close to the edge, as if nothing mattered any more—not even life itself. No wonder she had made such an unexpected attempt on her life.
    ‘No…’ Her voice came out on a strangled whisper. ‘No…oh, please…no,’ she said, the colour draining from her face. ‘How could you have asked that of…of…?’ She swayed and almost fell, her legs buckling beneath her.
    Vittorio sprang to support her to the nearest chair, settling her into it and handing her a glass of water before he sent his brother-in-law a searing black glare that would have cut through a wall of diamonds. ‘Do you have any idea of what you have done, Rocco?’ he barked.
    ‘I gave her the money to get rid of it,’ Rocco said with no hint of remorse. ‘I was going to pay it back to the company. How could I have a pregnant mistress while my wife was giving every indication she was about to lose our baby? It was the only thing I could do, but this money-hungry bitch refused to comply. She threatened