Vettori's Damsel in Distress (Harlequin Romance Large Print) by Liz Fielding

should be outraged. She was pretty sure she was outraged... ‘I don’t believe we’re having this conversation. No, scrub that. I don’t believe you had this conversation with Lisa.’
    But it went a long way to explaining that edgy undercurrent between them this morning.
    ‘
Mi dispiace
, Angelica. It is, as you say, quite outrageous.’
    ‘So you applied a little pressure of your own?’ And when, exactly, had he come up with that idea? ‘How does Giovanni feel about that?’
    ‘The man is in love. He’ll do whatever she asks.’ The thought did not appear to give him great pleasure.
    ‘I imagine you’re banking on the fact that after a day of joy and celebration her family will realise that he doesn’t have horns and a tail.’
    ‘You’re not convinced?’
    ‘I don’t know your family,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know Giovanni, but I do know that weddings tend to be emotional affairs. There’s the risk that, after a few glasses of the bubbly stuff, tongues will be loosened and fists will fly.’
    ‘Maybe. Then they’ll all get drunk, fling their arms around one another, vow eternal friendship and cry.’
    ‘Or they’ll all land in jail.’
    ‘Or that.’ He sat back. ‘You don’t have to take the job but if you’ll just play along until they leave I’d be grateful.’
    ‘I get that. What I don’t understand is why throwing us together is so important to her.’
    ‘We’re doing each other a favour, Angelica. Does it matter if Lisa has her own agenda?’
    Did it?
    Lisa wanted to get them into bed together. Okay, so she’d been way ahead of her on her own account, but that was different. This was different... ‘If you’ll excuse me,’ she said, sliding off her chair and standing up. It was time to leave. ‘I’ll pay for my breakfast and then I’ll go and pack—’
    He was on his feet, had caught her hand before she could move. ‘Angelica...’ She didn’t pull her hand away, but she didn’t look up at him. ‘I haven’t dated since my fiancée broke off our engagement a little over a year ago. Lisa thinks it’s time I got back on the horse.’
    He’d been dumped by the woman he loved? How unlikely was that? Then her brain got past the fact that any woman would dump him and she heard what he’d actually said.
    ‘And I’m the horse?’ she asked very quietly, aware that they were now the object of a dozen pairs of eyes. ‘Gee,
grazie
, Dante. Or do I mean gee-gee
grazie
?’ And, as everything suddenly fell into place, she took a step back. ‘Is that what this has been about?’ she demanded.
    He tightened his grip on her hand. ‘This?’
    He’d known within minutes of her arrival that she was in trouble. All she’d seen was a man who could melt her underwear at twenty paces. All he’d seen was an opportunity. ‘You’ve been using me from the beginning. Damn it, I should have known. If it looks too good...’ she muttered, hurt, angry and feeling stupid. Again. ‘Tell me, Dante, what would you have done without the kitten?’
    ‘More to the point, what would you have done?’ He closed the gap between them. ‘You would still have needed somewhere to stay.’ He reached up, touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers and the heat trickled through her, sweet and seductive as warm honey. ‘There were two of us in that bedroom last night, Angelica. Which of us walked away?’
    She flushed with embarrassment, well aware that it hadn’t been her. That she’d wanted him with all the ‘hang the consequences’ recklessness of her Amery genes.
    ‘I suppose I should be grateful that you weren’t prepared to go that far,’ she said, fighting the urge to lean into his hand. ‘Oh, no, I forgot. You couldn’t make a move in your own apartment. You need me off the premises so that it’s not some totally sordid exchange that’s open to misinter—’
    ‘Basta!’
His fingers slid through her hair, captured her head, shocking her into silence.
    Around them, the café went