The Vows He Must Keep by Amanda Cinelli

Author:Amanda Cinelli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-08-12T17:38:20+00:00

* * *

Dani didn’t fight him. She barely even spoke on the drive back to the villa, knowing that Valerio needed time to cool down after the adrenaline rush of the false alarm. She had been scared too, but he had moved swiftly from fear and protective mode to anger towards himself. She was beginning to see a pattern with him. Did he have a hero complex? Or was he hiding something about himself?

An email on her phone caught her attention as they entered the large open-plan living area of the villa.

‘The board have accepted my plans for Nettuno and the charities.’ She frowned. ‘But I never got the chance to send them my files before you asked me to step back.’

‘I sent them.’ He turned to her, both hands in his pockets. ‘I looked into your plans further after the meeting and I knew they were the best course of action. You’ll get full credit, and I’ll keep you in the loop on everything regarding Duarte’s projects.’

‘Valerio...that means more than you know—thank you.’

‘You don’t need to thank me. I should be thanking you for being so good at what you do. I’m being honest when I say I wouldn’t ask you to take this step back if it wasn’t important.’

She nodded once. ‘And you still won’t tell me exactly why?’

Valerio’s gaze became instantly defensive and he prepared to turn away.

‘No arguments, remember?’ she said quickly, knowing that she needed to take a different tack. This was a business deal, after all—why shouldn’t she employ one of her oldest moves? Entertain the opposition...keep them close. ‘I’m not going to launch into a fight, if that’s what you’re thinking. I want us to keep to our deal. A weekend of fun, starting now.’

She moved to one of the sideboards she’d investigated earlier, returning with a deck of cards. ‘How do you fancy your odds?’

‘Poker?’ He raised one brow, picking up the deck and shuffling the cards with seasoned practice. ‘You sure you’re up to playing me?’

‘You forget that I’ve been schmoozing your clientele in Monte Carlo these past few months. I’ve become quite a pro.’

‘We don’t have any chips.’

He shuffled the cards again, dancing them easily between his hands with the lightest touch. She watched his movements, transfixed by how effortlessly he manipulated the deck. The man was good with his hands...

Clearing her wandering thoughts, she sat up straighter. ‘I used to play without chips with Hermione back in college. We sat up all night, creating this stupid game where you get a forfeit instead of chips, while we were supposed to be studying for exams.’

‘A forfeit?’ His eyes met hers across the table. ‘Like Truth or Dare?’

‘More like Truth or Lies. You have to ask awkward questions and try to get the other person to lie or refuse to answer. But be warned: I’m pretty good at this.’

The premise of the game was simple enough: a crazy mix-up of various card games that only Hermione could have concocted. Each player

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