The Moretti Seduction by Katherine Garbera Page A

affair when he was in university and Antonio had realized whether they wanted to believe in a curse or not he and his brothers had inherited Nono ’s bad mojo when it came to love and women.
    “He’s also not the businessman Lorenzo was.”
    “I see. Since you are good at business, it follows you’ll be a screwup with women.”
    Antonio turned on the long winding driveway that led to his parents’ estate in San Giuliano Milanese. He stopped the car in the circular drive at the front of the house. “I have never been a screw-up with women. You asked about love and that’s an emotion I’ve never really sought out.”
    And it had never found him, he thought. Until now. Seeing the disappointment in Nathalie’s eyes, he wanted to be the man who could give her everything she wanted. Including love.
    He wanted to be able to make a grand gesture as his father had when he’d walked away from Moretti Motors.
    “I guess I understand what you are saying. You haven’t looked for love and it hasn’t found you.”
    “Have you?” he asked. The thought of Nathalie loving another man made a red rage fill him. He didn’t want any other man to have any claim on Nathalie. And that very possessiveness bothered him as nothing else ever had.
    She shook her head. “I’ve always been too focused on making a name for myself at Vallerio Incorporated.”

    Antonio’s family was warm and welcoming to her. They had dinner in the garden under the stars and it didn’t take her long to realize what Antonio had meant by the love his parents shared.
    The men left the table to have a cigar in the lower part of the garden. Nathalie felt a moment’s panic when she realized she was going to be alone with two women she had nothing in common with—Antonio’s mother and his sister-in-law.
    “I’m so glad you could join us tonight for dinner. The boys are so excited about their new car, and working with your family to get the Vallerio name is so important to them,” Philomena said.
    Antonio’s mom was short, curvy and still had ebony-colored hair. She had held her own during dinner, but it had been obvious to Nathalie that she doted on the men in her life, and hearing her call Antonio and his brothers “the boys” was something that made her smile.
    “Thank you for inviting me. I’m glad to see my grandfather’s name being used in conjunction with a car again.”
    “Marco said your grandfather was pure magic when it came to open-wheel racing,” Virginia said. She was a lively woman who had an aura of earthiness about her. She held her son cradled in her arms and often bent down to brush a kiss on Enzo’s forehead.
    Nathalie sadly had never seen her grandfather drive. She was more acquainted with the man he’d been after Lorenzo Moretti had married and divorced his sister. The man who had retreated into his workroom and focused more on what was happening under the hood. “I never got to see him drive until today.”
    Dom had put together a documentary that they were going to run in their suite at the F1 races for the rest of the year. The film showed Lorenzo and Pierre-Henri in their glory days. To be honest, the film had done a lot to make her look at all the Morettis in a different way. They had honored her grandfather in a way she hadn’t believed they would.
    She hoped even her father realized that. If he didn’t, she was now determined to convince him.
    Philomena’s question intruded on her thoughts.
    “How long will you and Marco stay in Milan?” she asked Virginia.
    “Just another night. Then we are off to Barcelona for the Catalunya Grand Prix. Actually, I’m not sure if Marco mentioned this to you but we were hoping you’d babysit little Enzo here. It’s our anniversary of sorts,” Virginia said.
    “We’d love to. You know I had a nursery prepared here as soon as we had the news of your pregnancy.”
    “Thank you,” Virginia said.
    “I’ve always wanted grandchildren, but I feared my boys were never going to