The Italian's Bought Bride

Kate Hewitt

Литагент HarperCollins EUR

Step into a world of sophistication and glamour, where sinfully seductive heroes await you in luxurious international locations.One bride: purchased and paid for!Allegra Avesti never imagined that her fiancе, wickedly handsome tycoon Stefano Capozzi, saw her as just another item on his agenda. On discovering the truth, Allegra fled. How could she share her life with a man who’d negotiated the terms of their wedlock in the boardroom rather than the bedroom…?Years later, Stefano needs Allegra – and is determined to claim his runaway bride. Independent Allegra is no longer the innocent young girl Stefano remembers, but this ruthless billionaire always gets what he demands: the defiant but ohsodesirable Allegra will return to Italy with him – and if he has to seduce her into agreeing, then that will make it all the more pleasurable for him…

She was just about to pull her coat on when she heard a voice…a voice of cool confidence and warm admiration.

A voice that slid across her senses and into her soul, stirring up those emotions and memories she’d tried so hard to lock away.

It all came rushing back with that voice… The memories, the fear, the regrets, the betrayal. She relived the worst night of her life once more, simply by hearing two little words that she knew somehow would change her world for ever.

‘Hello, Allegra,’ Stefano said.

Kate Hewitt discovered her first Mills & Boon® romance on a trip to England when she was thirteen, and she’s continued to read them ever since. She wrote her first story at the age of five, simply because her older brother had written one and she thought she could do it too. That story was one sentence long— fortunately they’ve become a bit more detailed as she’s grown older.

She has written plays, short stories, and magazine serials for many years, but writing romance remains her first love. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, travelling, and learning to knit.

After marrying the man of her dreams—her older brother’s childhood friend—she lived in England for six years, and now resides in Connecticut with her husband, her three young children, and the possibility of one day getting a dog.

Kate loves to hear from readers—you can contact her through her website: www.kate-hewitt.com

Recent books by the same author:

RUTHLESS BOSS, HIRED WIFE

THE GREEK TYCOON’S CONVENIENT BRIDE THE ITALIAN’S CHOSEN WIFE

THE ITALIAN’S BOUGHT BRIDE

BY

KATE HEWITT

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To Abby, for being a wonderful friend and confidante. You’ve seen my tears! Love, K.

CHAPTER ONE

STEFANO CAPOZZI SAT in the well-appointed office of one of Milan’s top psychiatrists, his eyes glittering in a face set like stone.

‘It has been eight months,’ he said flatly, even though Renaldo Speri had the case notes on his desk. ‘Eight months of every treatment available, imaginable, and no change.’

Speri smiled in sympathetic understanding. ‘You cannot expect a miracle cure, Signor Capozzi. You may not be able to expect a cure at all.’ He trailed off as he took in Stefano’s unrelenting gaze.

Stefano shook his head. ‘I want better.’

He would have better. He wouldn’t accept brush-offs or excuses. He’d come to Milan to find the best therapist for the child in his charge, and he would have it.

Speri ran a hand through his thinning hair and sighed. ‘Signor Capozzi, you must face the very real possibility that Lucio falls on the spectrum of pervasive development disorder—’

‘No.’ After eight months of Lucio’s silence and stress, he would not accept it. He was used to obstacles in business, and personal ones would prove no different, no more difficult. ‘Lucio was normal before his father died. He was like any other child—’

‘Autism often manifests itself at three years of age,’ Speri explained gently. ‘Lucio had only a little speech before his fat