Kate Hewitt - Moretti's Marriage Command

‘So how do you propose —no pun intended—to make this work? Not,’ Hannah informed him with swift asperity, ‘that I’m actually thinking of going along with this idea.’

‘Of course not,’ Luca murmured.

Hannah watched, mesmerised, as he tugged off his tie and then began to unbutton his shirt. ‘What are you doing?’ she squeaked.

‘Changing. We’re due for cocktails in an hour.’

‘Can’t you use the bathroom—?’ She nodded towards the door that led to what looked like a sumptuous en suite.

‘Why should I?’ Luca’s smile was wicked. ‘We’re engaged to be married, after all.’

Hannah took a deep breath. ‘So, you still haven’t told me how this is going to work.’

‘We’re going to act like we’re engaged. Simple.’

‘Simple?’ She opened her eyes to glare at Luca. He stood across the room, buckling the belt on a pair of grey trousers. His chest was still gloriously bare. ‘It’s not simple, Luca. We’re not engaged. We barely know each other. If someone asks either one of us anything about our relationship or how we met we’ll have no idea what to say.’

‘It’s best to keep as close to the truth as possible,’ Luca advised as he reached for a light blue shirt and shrugged into it. ‘You’re still my PA.’

‘And we just happen to be engaged? Convenient.’

He shot her a quick, hard smile. ‘It is, isn’t it?’

After spending three years as a die-hard New Yorker, KATE HEWITTnow lives in a small village in the English Lake District with her husband, their five children and a golden retriever. In addition to writing intensely emotional stories, she loves reading, baking and playing chess with her son—she has yet to win against him, but she continues to try. Learn more about Kate at kate-hewitt.com.

Moretti’s Marriage Command

Kate Hewitt

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To all my readers.

Thank you for your encouragement and support. It’s always a privilege to write stories for you.

Contents

COVER

INTRODUCTION ‘So how do you propose —no pun intended—to make this work? Not,’ Hannah informed him with swift asperity, ‘that I’m actually thinking of going along with this idea.’ ‘Of course not,’ Luca murmured. Hannah watched, mesmerised, as he tugged off his tie and then began to unbutton his shirt. ‘What are you doing?’ she squeaked. ‘Changing. We’re due for cocktails in an hour.’ ‘Can’t you use the bathroom—?’ She nodded towards the door that led to what looked like a sumptuous en suite. ‘Why should I?’ Luca’s smile was wicked. ‘We’re engaged to be married, after all.’ Hannah took a deep breath. ‘So, you still haven’t told me how this is going to work.’ ‘We’re going to act like we’re engaged. Simple.’ ‘Simple?’ She opened her eyes to glare at Luca. He stood across the room, buckling the belt on a pair of grey trousers. His chest was still gloriously bare. ‘It’s not simple, Luca. We’re not engaged. We barely know each other. If someone asks either one of us anything about our relationship or how we met we’ll have no idea what to say.’ ‘It’s best to keep as close to the truth as possible,’ Luca advised as he reached for a light blue shirt and shrugged into it. ‘You’re still my PA.’ ‘And we just happen to be engaged? Convenient.’ He shot her a quick, hard smile. ‘It is, isn’t it?’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR After spending three years as a die-hard New Yorker, KATE HEWITT now lives in a small village in the English Lake District with her husband, their five children and a golden retriever. In addition to writing intensely emotional stories, she loves reading, baking and playing chess with her son—she has yet to win against him, but she continues to try. Learn more about Kate at kate-hewitt.com .

TITLE PAGE Moretti’s Marriage Command Kate Hewitt www.millsandboon.co.uk

DEDICATION To all my readers. Thank you for your encouragement and support. It’s always a privilege to write stories for you.

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

EPILOGUE

EXTRACT

COPYRIGHT

CHAPTER ONE

LUCA MORETTI NEEDED a wife. Not a real one—heaven forbid he’d ever need that. No, he needed a temporary wife-to-be who was efficient, biddable, and discreet. A wife for the weekend.

‘Mr Moretti?’ His PA, Hannah Stewart, knocked once on the door before opening it and stepping inside his penthouse office overlooking a rain-washed Lombard Street in London’s City. ‘I have the letters for you to sign.’

Luca watched his PA walk towards him holding the sheaf of letters, her light brown hair neatly pulled back, her face set in calm lines. She wore a black pencil skirt, low heels, and a simple blouse of white silk. He’d never really bothered to notice his PA before, except at how quickly she could type and how discreet she could be when it came to unfortunate personal calls that occasionally came through to his office. Now he eyed her plain brown hair, and lightly freckled face that was pretty without being in any way remarkable. As for her figure...?

Luca let his gaze wander down his PA’s slender form. No breathtaking or bodacious curves, but it was passable.

Could he...?

She placed the letters in front of him and took a step back, but not before he caught a waft of her understated floral perfume. He reached for his fountain pen and began to scrawl his signature on each letter.

‘Will that be all, Mr Moretti?’ she asked when he’d finished the last one.

‘Yes.’ He handed her the letters and Hannah turned towards the door, her skirt whispering against her legs as she walked. Luca watched her, eyes narrowed, certainty settling in his gut. ‘Wait.’

Obedient as ever, Hannah pivoted back to face him, her pale eyebrows raised expectantly. She’d been a good PA these last three years, working hard and not making a fuss about it. He sensed ambition and willpower beneath her ‘aiming to please’ persona, and the weekend would require both qualities, as long as she agreed to the deception. Which he would make sure she did.

‘Mr Moretti?’

Luca lounged back in his chair as he drummed his fingers on his desk. He didn’t like lying. He’d been honest his whole life, proud of who he was even though so many had knocked him back, tried to keep him down. But this weekend was different. This weekend was everything to him, and Hannah Stewart was no more than a cog in his plans. A very important cog.

‘I have an important meeting this weekend.’

‘Yes, on Santa Nicola,’ Hannah replied. ‘Your ticket is in your passport wallet, and the limo is set to pick you up tomorrow morning at nine, from your flat. The flight leaves from Heathrow at noon.’

‘Right.’ He hadn’t known any of those details, but he’d expected Hannah to inform him. She really was quite marvellously efficient. ‘It turns out I’m going to need some assistance,’ he said.

Hannah’s eyebrows went a fraction higher, but her face remained calm. ‘Administrative assistance, you mean?’

Luca hesitated. He didn’t have time to explain his intentions now, and he suspected that his PA would balk at what he was about to ask. ‘Yes, that’s right.’ He could tell Hannah was surprised although she hid it well.

‘What exactly do you require?’

A wife. A temporary, compliant woman. ‘I require you to accompany me to Santa Nicola for the weekend.’ Luca hadn’t asked Hannah to accompany him on any business trips before; he preferred to travel and work alone, having been a solitary person from childhood. When you were alone you didn’t have to be on your guard, waiting for someone to trip you up. There were no expectations save the ones you put on yourself.

Luca knew that Hannah’s contract stipulated ‘extra hours or engagements as required’, and in the past she’d been willing to work long evenings, the occasional Saturday. He smiled, his eyebrows raised expectantly. ‘I trust that won’t be a problem?’ He would inform her later just what extra duties would be required.

Hannah hesitated, but only briefly, and then gave one graceful nod of her head. ‘Not at all, Mr Moretti.’

* * *

Hannah’s mind raced as she tried to figure out how to handle this unexpected request from her boss. In her three years of working for Luca Moretti, she’d never gone on a business trip with him. There had been the odd, or not so odd, late night; the occasional all-nighter where she supplied him with black coffee and popped caffeine pills to keep sharp as she took notes. But she’d never travelled with him. Never gone somewhere as exotic as a Mediterranean island for the weekend. The possibility gave her a surprising frisson of excitement; she’d thought she’d put her would-be travelling days behind her long ago.

‘Shall I book an extra ticket?’ she asked, trying to sound as efficient and capable as she always was.

‘Yes.’

She nodded, her mind still spinning. She needed to call her mother as soon as possible, make arrangements... ‘I’ll book an economy ticket—’

‘Why on earth would you do that?’ Luca demanded. He sounded irritated, and Hannah blinked in surprise.

‘I hardly think, as your PA, I’d need to travel first class, and the expense—’

‘Forget the expense.’ He cut her off, waving a hand in dismissal. ‘I’ll need you seated with me. I’ll work on the flight.’

‘Very well.’ She held the letters to her chest, wondering what else she’d need to do to prepare for such a trip. And wondering why Luca Moretti needed her on this trip when he hadn’t needed her on any other. She studied him covertly, lounging as he was in his office chair, his midnight-dark hair rumpled, his thick, straight brows drawn into frowning lines, one hand still drumming the top of his ebony desk.

He was an incredibly handsome man, a compelling, charismatic, driven man; one business magazine had called him ‘an elegant steamroller’. Hannah thought the nickname apt; Luca Moretti could turn on the charm, but it was only to get what he wanted. She’d observed him from the sidelines for three years and learned how to be the most efficient PA possible, and invisible when necessary. She liked her job; she liked Luca’s force of personality, his boundless energy for his work. She’d always admired his determined work ethic, his drive for success. She might only be a PA, but she shared that drive, if not quite to the same degree.

‘Very well,’ she said now. ‘I’ll make the arrangements.’ Luca nodded her dismissal and Hannah left his office, expelling her breath in a rush as she sat down at her desk. She and Luca were the only occupants of the top floor of his office building, and she appreciated the quiet to organise her thoughts.

First things first. She called the airline and booked an additional first-class ticket for herself, wincing at the expense even though Luca Moretti could well afford it. As CEO of his own real-estate development empire, he could have afforded his own jet.

That done, she quickly emailed her mother. She would have called, but Luca forbade personal calls from the office, and Hannah had always obeyed the rules. This job meant too much to her to flaunt them. She’d just hit Send when Luca emerged from his office, shrugging on his suit jacket and checking his watch.