The Moretti Seduction Read Online Free Page B

you are simply bragging or if you have the goods.”
    He arched one eyebrow at her. “ Cara mia, do I look like a man who doesn’t have the goods?”
    She shook her head. “I refuse to answer that on the grounds that no matter what answer I give you, you will take it as a positive.”
    Antonio shrugged his big shoulders. “I’m used to making everything into a positive. That is why Moretti Motors is where it is today.”
    “I’d heard that about you. That you never take no for an answer. Much like Lorenzo Moretti when he ran right over Anna Vallerio.”
    “That is very true about my not taking no for an answer. But I promise you, Nathalie, I’m not going to run over you or your family. This generation of Moretti Motors is committed to doing business differently.”
    He walked away on that note and she watched him leave. She wanted to believe his words, but at the end of the day Antonio was still a Moretti. And he was going to put those interests before her or her family.

Three
    A ntonio’s mobile phone rang as soon as he pulled out of the parking lot of Nathalie’s hotel. He glanced at the caller ID. Damn. His brother was very well connected in Milan—hell, they all were—but if Dom was seriously following his moves that closely, then there was more at stake than just the Vallerio car model.
    “ Buona sera, Dom.”
    “How’d the meeting with Ms. Vallerio go?”
    Dom wasn’t one of those guys who wasted time on small talk. There had been a leak in their office over the last year and though they had gotten closer to the snitch, they still hadn’t found him. Something that Antonio knew annoyed Dom to no end.
    “Fine.”
    “I’d say better than fine. Genaro said that you were upstairs with her for more than thirty minutes.”
    “Gee, Dom, I hope that you don’t think I seduced her in thirty minutes.”
    “Well…it is a little quick, but I figured you might have your mind on other things.”
    “No wonder your relationships don’t last longer than a tank of gas. Women want to be seduced by a man. They want a man who will linger and act interested in them.”
    “Which is neither here nor there. What did she say?” Dom asked.
    Antonio activated the hands-free option that was built into his GPS.
    “Can you hear me?”
    “Yes,” Dom said. “What happened?”
    “We talked. The Vallerio family isn’t going to be easy. Are you sure we need his name?”
    “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Dom said.
    “I just wanted to make sure. The negotiations are going to be long and hard on this one, and right now we don’t need that.”
    That was an understatement. Not only was the production date breathing down their necks, but they still hadn’t identified the leak in their office.
    As if he read his mind, Dom said, “I am close to figuring out the leak. I have set some things in motion now that will take care of it.”
    “What things?” Antonio asked.
    “More proprietary information given only to two people. I’ve almost narrowed it down. If I’m right about who it is, it’s going to be someone close to us.”
    “Whom do you suspect?” Antonio asked, not even thinking about the Vallerio business for a minute. Corporate espionage was a big deal and the leaks they had lately were enough to seriously cripple Moretti Motors.
    “I’d rather not say at this moment. I’ll take care of the leak. You just do what you need to with Vallerio. So, if you didn’t seduce the girl, what’s your plan?”
    Antonio had turned onto the street where he lived. He had a nice place with assigned parking on the street. There were times when he wished he had the space his parents did in their palatial house outside of the city limits, but he liked city living.
    He switched his phone back to the handset and got out of the car. His street was quiet this late at night.
    “My plan is the same as it always is. Find her weakness and then use it to our advantage,” Antonio said. Though for the first time he was