Chapter 206

• He knew his brother-in-law would not have taken the time to get to know her as a person; he would have been attracted to her physical attributes as any red-blooded man would be.
• For God’s sake, he was fiercely attracted to her himself! Being in the same room as her, smelling her feminine fragrance, seeing her cast her eyes downwards in that shy manner she had perfected to an art, had stirred his senses more than he would have thought possible. His blood had been boiling in his veins at standing so close to her just moments before. It had been unnervingly tempting to reach out and pull her into his arms and taste the sensual promise of her blood-red lips. He had never felt the urge to touch someone quite so intensely before. His relationships were always on his terms and his terms only. He started them and ended them as he saw fit. The thought of becoming involved with one of his brother-in-law’s cast-offs was anathema to him. Apart from Chiara, Rocco had appalling taste when it came to women.
• Thinking of his younger sister made him all the more determined to do whatever it took to keep this scandal out of the papers. Chiara had always been a little blind to Rocco’s faults; she loved him so desperately she could not see how little he cared for her in return. They had only been married a year, and during that time Vittorio had been sickened to learn how many times Rocco had betrayed her. He just hoped that in time Chiara would feel strong enough to leave Rocco and build a better life for herself. But in the meantime there was not only his sister to worry about but the tiny baby she was carrying. If Alex Sharpe gave a damning interview to the press as she had threatened, it would devastate his sister and possibly jeopardise the baby’s safe arrival.