The Billionaire's Second-Chance Bride (The Romero Brothers, #1) by Shadonna Richards Read Free Book Online

be able to get close to his mother but she was cold and hard as he’d ever seen her. She maintained that she would keep her distance from Antonio and that he should do the same.
    So much for love and money.
    So much for true love and marriage.
    The thought left a bitter taste in Antonio’s mouth. Perhaps that was why he never truly trusted women. Because it was always about what a man could do for them. Men were to be providers and nothing more. Still, the pain of the rejection was too much for Antonio, who had always craved his mother’s approval. Why would a mother reject her own child?
    At least sending the flowers to her anonymously assuaged his soul in a way no one could possibly understand. It was just his own crazy way of coping. It was wrong for a woman to give birth for money and the hell if he was going to think of himself as some purchased object, some stock option.
    Still, Antonio vowed he was never going to get married.
    And he was never going to have children.
    Heck, if he could change his last name and live anonymously somewhere else in the world—somewhere exotic and unknown, he would do it.
    “Are you okay, Antonio?” Mariam’s voice pierced his thoughts. And it was probably a good thing, too.
    “Yes, I’m fine,” Antonio lied with conviction. He recomposed himself. He knew what this was all about now, didn’t he? That woman marrying his grandfather.
    And then there was that other woman who was running through his mind and his system from the day he laid eyes on her. The girl who owned that crazy wedding agency. Lucy Shillerton. There was something about her he just couldn’t shake off and it drove him out of his mind.
    What was it about her?
    He’d never felt that way about any woman before. Was it because she didn’t seem to give a damn about his wealthy background or his assets? And the fact that she was so hot? Not only that but whenever he spoke and gave a command, women, especially, heeded it. That was because they were all about men and power. He could clock their reactions automatically.
    But Lucy Shillerton.
    She was unpredictable. She was different. She really didn’t seem to give a damn. The thought of him shutting down her business by Friday if she didn’t heed his order to stop his grandfather’s risky wedding to the young opportunist didn’t sit too well with Antonio because that would mean he would have to hurt her.
    The thought then ran through Antonio’s mind about seducing Lucy Shillerton.
    However, he wasn’t into breaking women’s hearts on a whim. He would always be upfront about what he wanted. Sex. No love. Just pure, physical, hard sex. But this wasn’t about sex, it was about destroying her business and all that she had worked for after taking over for her aunt’s enterprise.  Could it be Lucy was so different from every woman he had ever known? Could it be that there really are decent, honest, hardworking women who cared about people and not solely material things?
    Antonio rubbed his throbbing temple after his lengthy meeting with Mariam once they discussed the last minute preparations for their annual Diamond Ball and Fundraiser Dinner on Thursday and Mariam’s role in taking over for him for the next short while as he attended to other matters.
    He sat there alone. Thinking. Pondering over Lucy Shillerton. She was like a song he could not get out of his mind. What was the term they use? Earworm, oh right. But, oh, worms or not, that song brought a smile to the corner of his lips. He wasn’t into skinny girls and he loved a healthy-looking woman with curves in all the right places—and she was that girl.
    Yet, he still felt that he had to get this pretty young thing out of his mind and out of his system if he knew what was good for him. It was just way too dangerous. All he knew was that Lucy Shillerton had better follow his orders.
    CHAPTER FIVE
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    L ucy Shillerton's jaw toppled open as she and Maxine drove up to the sprawling