His Royal Love-Child Read Online Free Page A

Danette ?”
    Her head snapped up at the sound of the company president’s voice coming from her open doorway.
    “Signor Scorsolini !” She jumped up from her chair, looking around her, trying to focus on the now while her mind was still stuck on sales figures.
    The hall outside her office was on dimmed lighting for after hours and the silence surrounding them told her that she was one of the few people left in the building. The small clock on her desk said it was eight o’clock.
    Her mouth rounded in an, “Oh…” and then she gave him a rueful grimace. “No wonder my legs feel like they’ve petrified in one position.”
    “You work too hard.”
    She laughed as she stretched, realizing as she did so that her entire body was seriously cramped from sitting at her desk for so long. “That’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think? Your workaholic hours are legendary around here.”
    “I do not expect my employees to give up all life outside of work in order to serve Scorsolini Shipping.” He watched her stretch with disturbing intensity. “It is not the same for me. I have more reasons than most company presidents to make sure my business is a success.”
    “What do you mean?” she asked curiously as she smoothed her hair with a nervous hand.
    The flirtatious facade she had created to deal with men deserted her in his company. She was lucky to string two syllables together that made sense when he spoke to her.
    “The people of my country rely on the income from Scorsolini Shipping worldwide to maintain a standard of living in line with the other industrialized nations.”
    “You mean Isole dei Re?”
    “Yes, naturally.”
    She didn’t want to sit down again, but she felt exposed standing there behind her desk. She compromised by busying herself stacking the papers related to the sales projection report. It was the way he was looking at her…not at all like a boss looks at his employee.
    More like a predator sizing up its prey.
    She searched her mind for something to say. “I don’t understand how Isole dei Re can be so reliant on this division of Scorsolini Shipping. There are only a handful of your countrymen and women employed here.”
    “You know this how?”
    “I asked.”
    “It is interesting that you care.” His still predatory gaze probed her speculatively.
    “Everything about the company I work for interests me.”
    Marcello moved further into the room. “And the man you work for, does he interest you, I wonder?”
    “You didn’t just say that.” She stared at him, shock coursing through her.
    He smiled, his blue eyes full of knowing amusement. “I did, but we will leave it for the moment and I will answer your other question. While I do not employ many of my country’s subjects, half of the net profits of all Scorsolini companies are paid into the national treasury and used to maintain and improve the country’s infrastructure.”
    “You mean things like hospitals?” she asked, fascinated. It had never occurred to her that the royal family gave back to their country on such an overwhelming scale.
    “That and roads, schools, police and fire departments…the many things citizens of larger countries take for granted as being paid for by tax dollars.”
    “Wow.”
    “The money must come from somewhere.”
    “And Scorsolini Shipping is it?”
    “Along with what tax dollars we do receive in revenue and the other enterprises of our country. My older brother, Tomasso , has recently supervised the discovery of lithium mines on Rubino . He has taken Scorsolini Mining and Jewels to an unprecedented level.” His voice rang with pride in his brother’s achievement.
    “Funny, that’s what Angelo Gordon told me you had done with the Italian arm of Scorsolini Shipping.”
    “My father and older brother are pleased with my efforts.”
    “They should be.” And then she blushed at the vehemence of her words.
    But he smiled, apparently pleased by her words. “My