The baby his secretary c.., p.1
The Baby His Secretary Carries, page 1
Being her employer, Gio had always been careful to keep his low-key arousal to himself, but everything about their relationship was changing, becoming far more personal.
“If I agree to those terms, will I have your solemn promise that you will never tell anyone about...?” She dropped her gaze to her thickening waistline.
“I can promise that.” He held out his hand.
“Do we have an agreement?” he prodded. “Are you thinking about extorting more for the signing bonus first?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re already being very generous. Thank you.”
He snorted. “I’m not generous, Molly. Merely willing to pay the price required to get what I want.”
Bound by a Surrogate Baby
Two couples. One baby. A billion-dollar scandal!
When secretary Molly agrees to be the surrogate for her best friend, heiress Sasha, she’s giving her the greatest gift of all.
But what started as a simple act of kindness soon turns complicated when pregnant Molly gets promoted by her gorgeous Italian boss—to his convenient fiancée!
Don’t miss Molly and Gio’s story in
The Baby His Secretary Carries
Available now!
When Molly goes into early labor, it’s time for Sasha to become a mother to her tiny son while finally facing the still-sizzling passion between her and her estranged husband!
Enjoy Sasha and Rafael’s story
Coming soon!
Dani Collins
The Baby His Secretary Carries
Canadian Dani Collins knew in high school that she wanted to write romance for a living. Twenty-five years later, after marrying her high school sweetheart, having two kids with him, working at several generic office jobs and submitting countless manuscripts, she got The Call. Her first Harlequin novel won the Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best First in Series from RT Book Reviews. She now works in her own office, writing romance.
Books by Dani Collins
Harlequin Presents
One Snowbound New Year’s Night
Innocent in Her Enemy’s Bed
Awakened on Her Royal Wedding Night
Four Weddings and a Baby
Cinderella’s Secret Baby
Wedding Night with the Wrong Billionaire
A Convenient Ring to Claim Her
A Baby to Make Her His Bride
Jet-Set Billionaires
Cinderella for the Miami Playboy
The Secret Sisters
Married for One Reason Only
Manhattan’s Most Scandalous Reunion
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
For you, Dear Reader, for your endless love of dramatic, glamorous, passionate romance. I hope you find all of those things in this one.
Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EPILOGUE
EXCERPT FROM THE ITALIAN’S PREGNANT ENEMY BY MAISEY YATES
PROLOGUE
MOLLY BROOKS WAS already hyperaware of her sale-rack blouse, cotton culottes and discount sandals when she stepped off the elevator onto an upper deck of the Alexandra. She hadn’t had time to shop and had had to make do with what was in her closet, not that she owned clothing that belonged in this setting, anyway.
The superyacht was gliding past Cyprus as though barely touching the water, but she was thrown off balance when someone in a crisp white uniform asked sharply, “Are you supposed to be here?”
No. Definitely not.
Her immediate supervisor, Valentina, had twisted her knee while skiing yesterday. Molly had been on a plane within the hour and was strictly here as a gofer so Valentina could stay in her stateroom and keep her leg elevated.
“I’m bringing this to my employer, Georgio Casella.” She nodded at the leather portfolio she held with the freshly printed document inside it. “For his review and signature.”
“Why isn’t he doing it electronically?” the man asked with a scowl.
Because it was a court document detailing the theft of proprietary information, not that it was any of his business.
“I’m not privy to his reasons.” Molly channeled Valentina’s polite smile and cool tone. “Perhaps you’d like to ask him when you show me where to find him?”
With a grumble, he led her through an opulent lounge, where emerald cushions accented ivory sofas placed to view the wall of windows overlooking the sea. A crystal chandelier sparkled and the fresh flowers on an end table perfumed the air as they passed.
They moved into a darker room with tinted windows and a curved cherrywood bar. Colorful bottles were arranged behind it and glasses dangled above. The stools were low-backed and upholstered in black leather. Highboy chairs and drink tables were arranged near the windows and the doors opened onto—
He was in the freaking pool.
Please don’t keelhaul me, she pleaded silently as she looked into the mirrored finish of Gio’s unforgiving sunglasses.
If she hadn’t felt his attention zone in on her like a raptor swooping for a bunny, she would have thought he was asleep. He didn’t even lift his head. He sat low with his arms splayed along the edge of the free-form pool. The water cut across his tanned, muscled chest, right in the middle of his brown nipples.
Don’t look!
Molly jerked her gaze back to his sunglasses, hoping he hadn’t seen her ogle him. She didn’t mean to, but the man absolutely fascinated her, leaving her mouth dry every time she had to talk to him. Thankfully, that wasn’t often. Valentina was his executive assistant and Molly was Valentina’s support. Until this trip, she had never seen him outside the London office and he was only there on and off, as he traveled constantly, usually with Valentina by his side.
Today, he had a topless woman next to him. She lowered her sunglasses to give Molly a look that asked, What on earth has the cat dragged in?
Oh, God.
Gio was a guest aboard this yacht. He wouldn’t like her embarrassing him or jeopardizing the deal he was working out with the yacht’s owner, Rafael Zamos.
She sent a wavering, apologetic smile to the handful of people here with him: the other couple in the pool, also mostly naked, the two men at the bar, one with his shirt hanging open over his barely there swimsuit, and the two women lying topless on nearby loungers.
“I—” Her throat closed and her heart stalled as she recognized...Sasha?
She looked so different! Her burnt caramel hair was tinted a bright blond. Her face and figure were elegant and lean, not rounded by youth and pregnancy. She wore pink gloss on her lips, eyelash extensions and diamonds in her ears.
She also wore a look of horror as she yanked her filmy cover-up across her naked breasts.
“What are you doing here?” Sasha—or Mrs. Alexandra Zamos, Molly was realizing through the rushing sound filling her ears—sounded livid.
All the blood in Molly’s body drained into her sandals. A plummeting sensation assaulted her gut. She genuinely thought she might faint.
“What’s wrong, Alexandra? Is the help supposed to stay belowstairs?” Gio’s topless paramour was laughing at Molly, though, not her friend. “You’re such a snob.”
“Molly is my assistant’s assistant,” Gio said crisply. Now his head came up. “What do you need, Molly?”
“Valentina, um...” Molly cleared her throat, trying to recover from seeing her adopted sister’s mother for the first time in eleven years.
She should have done her homework! Her coworkers had been green with envy that she was leaving the blustery November streets of London to spend a week aboard the Zamos yacht, but Molly hadn’t bothered looking up photos or gossip about the owners. She had used her time on the flight to Athens to study the deal the men were negotiating. It had been made clear to her that she was expected to stay on the crew level. If anyone would rub elbows with Gio’s vaunted peers, it would be Valentina, exactly as it always was.
And how could Molly ever imagine she would bump into Sasha like this? She had known Sasha’s family was wealthy, but not this wealthy.
“Valentina finished the, um...” She waved the portfolio, mind splintered, voice still jammed. “She said you wanted to sign it as soon as it was ready.”
She hoped Gio attributed her raging blush to the mortification of finding them all like this, rather than the anguish that she was dragging Alexandra’s painful past into what seemed to be the happily-ever-after she very much deserved. Would she tell Gio to fire her? No. She wouldn’t do that to her. Would she?
“Your executive assistant has an assistant?” the man behind the bar drawled as he poured from a silver shaker into martini glasses. “No wonder it was so difficult to get hold of you to extend this invitation.”
He must be Rafael Zamos, the yacht’s owner and Sasha’s husband. Molly couldn’t make that detail work in her head, but she pushed aside her utter astonishment, even though she was highly curious about him. He was very easy on the
She glanced once at the ashen face that Alexandra was smothering with big sunglasses and a floppy hat, and pulled herself together. Betray nothing.
“I’m very sorry I’ve interrupted your...” Orgy? “Shall I leave this?”
She forced herself to meet the glint in Gio’s sunglasses again when she actually wanted to sprint to the bowels of the ship.
“No. Valentina is right. I want to keep that moving.” He turned and set his hands on the ledge, propelling himself upward, seemingly without effort. One foot touched the ledge and he was standing before the water had fully sluiced off him.
How dare he? Now he was nothing but swarthy skin, sculpted muscle and neatly trimmed body hair. He had the lean physique of a swimmer with broad shoulders and long limbs. His narrow hips wore a slash of black that barely contained whatever cockatiel he was smuggling. Not that she was looking!
“Sir.” The purser hurried forward with a towel.
Gio—he was always Gio in her head, even though she’d never called him anything but Mr. Casella—took the towel in a laconic reach of his arm and wrapped it around his hips. He rolled his wrist to invite Molly closer.
With her heart pounding, she picked her way past Sasha’s painted toenails and opened the leather portfolio.
She felt everyone’s gaze pinned on them as he read the top page, then swiped his fingertips on the towel before he lifted the second page.
Rafael began dishing out martinis, briefly distracting everyone’s attention.
“Thank you, my love,” Sasha said, then took a hefty gulp of hers. Her hand seemed unsteady. Did Rafael’s gaze linger on his wife an extra second, noticing that?
The yearning to talk to her old friend was so strong, it was like a scream trapped in Molly’s throat. Her hands felt sweaty and all her muscles were threatening to twitch violently, purely to discharge the tension trapped within her.
“Pen?”
Gio had finished reading. She stared at her own reflection in his sunglasses, wishing she could see his eyes, but also glad that she couldn’t. His mother’s Icelandic blood was crystal-clear in his blue eyes and they often felt as though they pierced into her soul. His eyes always mesmerized her, being such a contrast to the rest of him, which was a reflection of his father’s Italian heritage.
She shakily fished into the pocket of her culottes.
“Calm down,” Gio said in an undertone that only she could hear. “I’m not angry that you’re here.”
He had noticed how rattled she was. As much as she loved her job, however, getting fired right now was the least of her worries. She was terrified of exposing Sasha when she had promised so sincerely and solemnly that she would never, ever reveal her secret.
Gio took the pen she offered and grasped the edge of the portfolio. His cool fingertips grazed the overheated skin of her own hand.
What fresh hell was this?
She stayed very still while he applied the weight of his signature, holding her breath until she could bolt.
“You can get this to the mainland for me?” he asked Rafael as he returned the pen to her. “I’d like it in London by morning.”
“Of course.” Rafael nodded at the man in the white uniform, who continued to stand by, waiting to escort the riffraff back where she belonged.
“Again, I’m very sorry,” Molly said to the gathering, closing the folder and doing her best to hide behind it. “I’ll stay below from now on.”
“I was just surprised,” Sasha said in a defensive tone. She adjusted the fall of her bathing suit cover so it was level across the top of her thigh. “I like to know who is on board, including any staff our guests bring along.”
“You thought we had a stowaway?” Rafael was sipping his martini, once again watching his wife with a narrow-eyed, inscrutable expression.
“What exactly do you do for Gio?” Sasha asked without answering her husband.
“As Mr. Casella said, I report to his executive assistant, Valentina. I help her with emails and correspondence, assist with reporting and presentations. I also run personal errands to free her time, so she can be more accessible to Mr. Casella. She suffered an injury so I came along at the last minute to be her legs. That’s probably why you didn’t see my name on the passenger list.”
“I didn’t see ‘Legs,’ either,” Sasha said, prompting a few dry chuckles. She turned a pout upward to her husband. “Much as it pains me to admit it, I think you may be right, darling. I need my own assistant. Either that or you should hire an assistant for Tino, so little things like sending me an updated passenger list doesn’t fall through the cracks.”
“Happy wife, happy life. I’ll have Tino call an agency today.”
“I’ll reach out to him myself once I know exactly what I want. Tell me a little more...Molly, is it?” Sasha didn’t give her a chance to reply. “Never mind.” She flicked her hand. “We don’t need to discuss that here. Come by my stateroom tomorrow. Have breakfast with me,” she offered with a pleasant smile. “You can tell me about your duties so I can hire exactly the right person. Would you mind, Gio?”
“If you’re planning to poach her, then yes. I mind very much.” He threw off his towel and levered himself back into the pool. “I’m sure Valentina would, too.” He took little notice of the woman who drifted closer, bare breasts practically grazing his rib cage as he stretched out his arms again. “Molly may make her own choice, of course.”
Was that a threat? She shot a look of alarm toward the water, but he didn’t sound worried.
“Come by at ten,” Sasha said. “The men will be in their meetings. Everyone else will still be sleeping. Won’t you, dolls?”
“Oh, I expect to be up all night and needing my beauty sleep, yes,” the woman in the pool purred as she slithered even closer to Gio.
Ugh. Molly did her best not to think about that and smiled weakly at Sasha. She didn’t know if she should be relieved that she would be able to speak privately with her, or filled with dread. Should she call her mother? Pack her bag and prepare to find her way back to New York?
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said and quickly made her escape.
CHAPTER ONE
Eight months later...
“MOLLY. MY OFFICE.”
Molly jolted as she came back from the powder room to find Gio standing in the doorway between her office and Valentina’s.
How did the man get more compelling each time she saw him? He wore one of his tailored suits. This one was a dark gray pinstripe, but he’d removed the jacket.
She was a sucker for any man wearing a vest and tie over a crisp white shirt, but when he wore it, she was dazzled. Maybe it was the way his icy blue eyes glittered and the way his jaw gleamed from a fresh shave. Maybe it was the fact he wore his hair in a more rakish style these days, still short at the sides, but a little longer on top, giving him a lean, hawkish look that was intolerably sexy.
Not that she wanted to notice, but she was a woman with a pulse, wasn’t she?
“Let me get my tablet.” She rubbed her clammy palms against her hips, nervous because today was the day she was asking Valentina for a medical leave. They had a meeting with Gio in the diary. Afterward, she planned on talking to Valentina privately.
“You don’t need it.” He waved for her to move through Valentina’s sumptuous office ahead of him. Valentina’s office was empty, the lights not turned on yet.
Strange.
Gio’s office was a massive, airy space in relaxing earth tones. There was a comfortable lounge area where an oxblood sofa and matching chairs faced a view of London’s skyline. A discreet nook held a bar and a kitchenette to service the small table for dining or hosting a one-on-one meeting. Nothing so crass as a whiteboard existed in here. That was saved for the boardroom down the hall, beyond the carved, double doors.
She reflexively moved to stand in front of the chair she used when she and Valentina met with him in here.
“I understood you were coming in at ten for our meeting. Is Valentina on her way?”
“Valentina isn’t coming.” After shutting the door to Valentina’s office, he moved to close the double doors as well. The click seemed overly loud and ominous.
