Her Ruthless Italian Boss

Christina Hollis

Step into a world of sophistication and glamour, where sinfully seductive heroes await you in luxurious international locations.Expecting the boss’s baby… Beth Woodbury thinks she’s put the past behind her. Until she discovers her new boss is ruthless Italian Luca Francesco! Beth has to beg his forgiveness for the past. She needs this job! Luca lets her stay on one condition: she’ll assist him in the day – and warm his bed at night! And this time there’ll be no talk of marriage…or babies…But soon Beth is pregnant – with her formidable boss’s heir!

‘Beth?’

As Luca spoke her name she trembled. She knew his touch came at a price, but she no longer cared. The same wisdom that made her desperate for him also warned she would be nothing more than his next conquest. Still she could not resist.

When his fingers traced their way around the heart-shaped outline of her face, she looked up. Tears were threatening to fill her eyes, but before she could apologise for it, he kissed her.

In an instant, all her fear and pain slipped away. Desire filled the void he had left in her body. The warmth of longing infused her. It was such a long time since he had held her with genuine passion like this. She relaxed, savouring every second of the experience.

She was in Luca’s arms.

Christina Hollis was born in Somerset, and now lives in the idyllic Wye Valley. She was born reading, and her childhood dream was to become a writer. This was realised when she became a successful journalist and lecturer in organic horticulture. Then she gave it all up to become a full-time mother of two, and to run half an acre of productive country garden. Writing Mills & Boon® romances is another ambition realised. It fills most of her time, between complicated rural school runs. The rest of her life is divided between garden and kitchen, either growing fruit and vegetables or cooking with them. Her daughter’s cat always closely supervises everything she does around the home, from typing to picking strawberries!

Recent titles by the same author:

ONE NIGHT IN HIS BED

COUNT GIOVANNI’S VIRGIN

THE ITALIAN BILLIONAIRE’S VIRGIN

Dear Reader

1908 was a wonderful year for lovers of romantic fiction. Mills and Boon was born, and over the years their books have helped millions of readers escape to a world filled with excitement, love and passion. I started reading them as a teenager, sharing the rollercoaster ride of couples overcoming all sorts of obstacles in the search for their happy-ever-after. My favourites were the stories where an independent, unconventionally attractive girl broke through the defences of her unattainable hero. They gave such hope to the stroppy, lumpen fourth-former I was in those days!

Writing for Mills and Boon was a distant dream for me then. When my first book was accepted, I could hardly believe my luck. HER RUTHLESS ITALIAN BOSS is my fourth Modern™ Romance for Harlequin Mills and Boon, and I’m still high on the excitement of it all. I hope you love the hero, Luca, as much as I do. Strong, self-reliant men have always fascinated me. As an ex-soldier, Luca is all that and more. If only he could forgive Beth for the way she treated him in the past, he would be the perfect man. But as far as Beth is concerned he’s always been her ideal. If she can’t have him, then she doesn’t want anyone else.

I’ve really enjoyed making Luca into a hero to continue the Mills and Boon tradition. It’s a real privilege to be writing at the beginning of the company’s second century. With you, I look forward to enjoying hours of reading pleasure in the future.

With my warmest wishes

Christina

HER RUTHLESS ITALIAN BOSS

BY

CHRISTINA HOLLIS

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

To Kate Walker, for all her good advice.

CHAPTER ONE

FROM the first moment she saw Venice from a waterbus, Beth was entranced. La Serenissima rose from the lagoon like crystals growing up through mist. If a city could be described