Wanton Heat (A Feel the Heat Novel) (Entangled Brazen) by Nicola Marsh Read Free Book Online Page B

wheel.
    “Shit,” she muttered, and he laughed.
    This time, when he said move over, she obeyed, changing seats with him in a hurry.
    “So how about it?”
    He cast her a playful look she couldn’t fathom, and while Zoe would have liked nothing better than to flirt back, she had to convince this moody man that her ad campaign was a winner. With a bit of luck, she could do that this afternoon, and they might have time to play, waiting out the storm before heading back to Osturo. Sounded like a plan.
    “Don’t go getting any ideas,” she said, tilting her nose in the air. “This kidnapping is for business purposes only. I need you to hear me out and not behave like a big baby by walking out, so here we are.”
    He chuckled at her haughtiness. “You could’ve just asked. I was planning on taking you to Ancora this afternoon anyway.” His smile faded. “After I apologized, that is.”
    Who knew? His Haughtiness did have a soul.
    “I’m listening,” she said, finally relaxing into her seat now that she knew he wasn’t super pissed at her for kidnapping him, and he wasn’t going to throw her overboard.
    “I’m sorry for walking out on you,” he said, sounding suitably sincere. “It was unprofessional.”
    “And childish,” she said, unable to resist baiting him a little. “And incredibly sulky. Bet you were the kid who threw a tantrum when the silver spoon was ripped from his mouth—”
    “Shut up.” He took his eyes off the water for a moment to stare at her lips, and she could’ve sworn her gloss evaporated clear off. “You should put that mouth to better use.”
    Stunned by his innuendo, Zoe didn’t say a word.
    He smirked at her speechlessness and refocused on the water. “This kidnapping caper isn’t so bad after all.”
    She begged to differ.
    …
    As the boat cut through the water toward Ancora, Dominic felt some of the residual tension he wore like a coat these days dissipate.
    When was the last time he’d headed out here, let alone taken the boat for a spin?
    It used to be one of his favorite relaxation methods, to leave everything behind and spend a few days in solitude.
    If the rooftop conservatory in the castle had been his go-to place as a kid, Ancora assumed that honor when he hit his teens. He didn’t bring many people out here, and certainly not any of his dates. It spoke volumes that Lilia hadn’t seen the island either. She hadn’t been interested, spending most of her time jetting from Rome to Milan to Venice, overseeing the fashion buyers for her parents’ couture house. When they caught up, it was usually in Rome, where he indulged her passion for dining in fine restaurants, theater, and shopping. Sadly that passion hadn’t extended to all areas of her life.
    He hadn’t minded at the time, content to lose himself in a relationship that brought stability and warmth to his life at a time he needed it most. Lilia’s enthusiasm had thawed his frozen heart following his parents’ death. She’d resuscitated him.
    Only to plunge him back into despair when she died a year later in a horrific head-on collision. While in the car of a developer who wasn’t averse to trying any tactic to get him to sell Osturo land, apparently.
    Dominic never knew if Lilia had been unfaithful or if she was just plain greedy, hell-bent on getting him to agree to anything, including pillage the island he called home. But he’d seen the evidence of her treachery when he’d cleared out his things from her apartment in Rome and had discovered irrefutable proof—copies of soil reports, zoning permits, and all the land deeds he owned on Osturo—that his trust had been violated.
    Never again.
    Mulling that awful time made him pull out his cell to check his e-mails. With a little luck he’d have some more info from the PI. Info he could use to help send his kidnapper back to the mainland once and for all.
    He quickly scrolled through his in-box. Nada from the investigator. So he fired off another e-mail