Reunited With Her Italian Billionaire

It started with a marriage for their baby...

Now Marco’s back—to claim his wife for real!

Brianna’s marriage to Italian tycoon Marco Dirici was for the sake of their unexpected baby. But Brianna needs the one thing she’s realized Marco can never give her—love. Fleeing to New York with her young son, Brianna tries to forget the magic of her husband’s touch. Until Marco arrives on her doorstep, determined to reclaim his family!

NINA SINGH lives just outside of Boston, USA, with her husband, children, and a very rambunctious Yorkie. After several years in the corporate world she finally followed the advice of family and friends to ‘give the writing a go, already’. She’s oh-so-happy she did. When not at her keyboard she likes to spend time on the tennis court or golf course. Or immersed in a good read.

Also by Nina Singh

Miss Prim and the Maverick MillionaireThe Marriage of InconvenienceSnowed in with the Reluctant Tycoon

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Reunited with Her Italian Billionaire

Nina Singh

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-07726-2

REUNITED WITH HER ITALIAN BILLIONAIRE

© 2018 Nilay Nina Singh

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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Version: 2020-03-02

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To my parents—you always said I could.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

CHAPTER ONE

SHE SHOULD HAVE known he would come.

The dark, commanding man at her back door was the last person Brianna wanted to see. Though she should have guessed. Marco Dirici had a knack for showing up in her life unbidden and unwelcome.

Brianna peeked through the side window again. She knew it was him. The voice had confirmed it. Still, she couldn’t help but wish that maybe if she looked again it would be someone else standing there.

No such luck. It was definitely Marco, in the flesh. Not that she was surprised. He wasn’t the kind of man to stay away.

Brianna looked down at the worn gray T-shirt she was wearing and swiped at the dark smudges under her eyes. Great. Six long months since she’d last seen him and he had to catch her on a morning when she looked her absolute worst.

But what did it matter anyhow? She no longer cared what she looked like in front of Marco. Except that he was immaculate as usual. The leather jacket he wore brought out the black of his eyes. His dark hair fell over his forehead the way she remembered. It hadn’t been that long ago that she’d taken great pleasure in gently stroking that wayward lock off his face, only to have it fall forward again.

“Brianna, open the door. I know you’re in there.” His voice sounded from the other side of the door, dripping with that sexy Italian accent that haunted her dreams.

“Cara, open the door,” Marco repeated. “I don’t want to have to ring the bell. Little Enzo is probably still sleeping.”

At the mention of her son, Brianna forgot all about her appearance and her apprehension. Two-year-old Lorenzo was the reason Marco was here.

Slowly, she unlatched the lock and stepped aside to let her husband in.

Marco brushed past her without so much as a glance.

“What took you so long? I had to go around the back when you didn’t answer the front door.”

She’d been in a deep sleep. Enzo had kept her up half the night refusing to go into his crib.

He gave her a stern look when she didn’t answer. “I thought the little old lady across the street was going to come at me with a broom. I’m positive she thinks I’m here to commit some kind of crime.”

Are you?

Brianna shoved the door closed and turned to face him. “What in the world are you doing here?”

“What do you think? I spoke to Nonna.”

Of course. She should have never made that phone call to Marco’s grandmother. But Brianna had been truly desperate for some advice from someone else who loved and cared about Enzo.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she answered.

“I grew tired of waiting for you to come to your senses,” he said. “And I missed my son. What did you expect me to do?”

A small part of her wanted to hear that he’d missed her as well. But that was such a silly thought. He wanted nothing to do with her. He never really had. As she stood aching inside at seeing him again.

If it was possible, he was even more handsome than she remembered. Those dark eyes she’d lost herself in so many times in the past were as deep as always. She couldn’t lose herself again. Not to this man. Not ever. She had given him too much of herself already.

“I didn’t expect you to do anything.” She walked over to the baby monitor on the counter and turned it up, just to give herself something to do. “Only to respect my wishes and give Enzo and me the time we need.”

“You’ve been gone for six months.”

“Nothing has changed, Marco. You’ve wasted a trip across the world for no reason.”

“You want a divorce, cara. I am not divorcing my child.”

Brianna stiffened. “That’s not fair. You know that’s the last thing I want.”

He let out a laugh which sounded far from amused. “Is that what you call hauling him thousands of miles away?”

She took a deep breath. “Look, when I left I promised you we’d come to a fair agreement about visitation. Until we do that, you can’t just show up here unannounced. You can see him at designated times or not at all.”

He was in front of her in an instant, hardly an inch of space separating them. “I don’t think so. You throw me crumbs and then have the nerve to threaten those measly bits. That I cannot allow you to do.”

Brianna’s heart pounded. She had to stand up to him. “Don’t fight me on this, Marco. I need to make a clean break.”

He took her hand in a gentle but firm grip. “I won’t let go of my son, Brianna.”

Any hope she had that Marco might have changed over the past few months evaporated. “And I don’t want that either. I’m sorry you don’t understand.”

He sighed and dropped her hand. “You’re right. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand why your desire to cook for others in New York City overrides your desire to be my wife back in Italy. I certainly don’t understand why you needed to leave.”

He was certainly right about that. He never did understand. “I had no choice.”

“So you seem to believe.”

For the briefest moment, Brianna thought she saw utter weariness in his face. But the look was gone in an instant. Perhaps she had imagined it.

“No, you’re wrong. I couldn’t have been a good mother to Enzo being as unhappy as I was.”

“And this.” He gestured around the small house. “This is what makes you happy?”

Brianna crossed her arms in front of her chest. She didn’t know how to answer that. No, she wasn’t happy. Things hadn’t worked out at all the way they were supposed to since she’d moved back to New York. Mostly, and to her utter horror, her son had so far not adjusted well at all.

But those last months in Italy, things had just been getting colder and colder between them. In fact, they weren’t even pretending to be an actual married couple anymore. Simply two people living under the same roof. That was what happened when one tried to force a family into existence. She should have known better.

Still, she hadn’t expected to miss Marco as much as she did.

He looked at her expectantly. His next words made her wonder if he’d somehow read her mind about missing him. “So tell me what makes you happy, cara.” His dark, smoldering eyes fell to her lips.

He stepped closer. Brianna forced herself to look away. If she wasn’t careful, she could so easily fall into the Marco Dirici trap again. His voice, that look.

“Do you remember being happy at least at first?” he asked.

And what kind of a question was that?

As if she could forget. Her mind automatically recalled the first time he’d kissed her. They’d met only hours before. Yet, she couldn’t resist his charm and sheer magnetism. She hardly recognized herself that night and the following week after meeting him.

A small wailing sound from the monitor jarred her back and she glanced at the wall. “Now see what you’ve done? He’s awake. It’s at least an hour until his usual wake-up time.”

Marco sighed then stepped away from her. Was that a hint of disappointment she detected in his eyes? Probably not.

“I’d like to see my son.”

Brianna took a steadying breath and waited a beat for the pounding in her chest to slow. Then she made her way toward the stairs.

* * *

Marco watched her walk away and cursed himself. After six months without laying eyes on her, the second he’d seen her again he’d felt like a damn hormonal teenager. The same way he had close to three years ago. And just like back then, it had only taken one look at her. Her emerald-green eyes still blazed, just as he remembered. And her lips. Heavens, those lips reminded him of sin. Her nightwear left little to the imagination. But he already knew every inch of her. She was exquisite, she was stunning. And for a while, she had been his.

But never completely.

What was it about this woman that made him lose such control? The last thing he’d had on his mind when he’d walked in here was to travel down memory lane and reminisce about the first time he’d laid eyes on her.

He rubbed his brow. He couldn’t let his attraction to her complicate matters on this trip. The attraction was merely physical. Same as always. He needed more from her than she was willing to give. He’d never begged a woman for anything.

He certainly wasn’t going to start with his soon-to-be ex-wife. And certainly not to delay the inevitable.

He had only two reasons to be here: to tell Brianna she could have the divorce she so wanted and, most importantly, to work out final custody of Enzo. His son was all that mattered now. He’d never really expected Brianna to stay around. Women came and women went. But familia... He would fight to keep his blood.

He looked around the house he knew she rented. The kitchen was tidy, with a small round table in the center. Through an arched doorway he could see a living room with a center sitting area. A bay window overlooked the street. The house was small, modest.

There was nothing overtly wrong with the place, but it certainly didn’t compare to the expansive mansion Brianna had lived in as his wife.

She preferred it here.

Not that he was surprised. His arrival in her life three years ago had served to totally derail it. At that time she had just landed a new job, was working hard to make a name for herself in the New York culinary world. Then he’d come along and disrupted it all. Before they knew it and to their combined utter shock, they found themselves unwed and expecting. He’d asked her to marry him and join him in Italy. For a while it seemed as if the union might work. But it quickly became obvious they were headed down a rocky road.

For one, Brianna had a difficult pregnancy. Passion, the one thing that bound them, had to be put on hold. And the expansion of Dirici Foods had hit snag after snag, taking him away from home consistently.

Still, Marco had hoped she would fall in love with her new home. That she would try to acclimate and settle into the new life she found herself in, regardless of how unexpectedly it had come about. But that had not happened. He never should have expected it. Foolish, really.

Something tightened in his gut. The time had simply come to cut his losses.

He had to finalize things with her in New York quickly, and then he had to get out of her life as best he could.

* * *

The hard children’s book hurtling toward Brianna missed her head by mere inches. She rose from her ducked position as the book bounced against the wall with a thud and landed on the floor.

“Now! Now! Now!”

“Enzo, we don’t throw things at Mama,” Brianna scolded. A teddy bear hit her on the chest.

“Do you want me to start taking your favorite toys out of your crib?”

“Out! Now!”

Brianna picked up the screaming child and held him close, hoping to calm him down. Enzo smelled of baby shampoo and the delicate scent of talc.

Even during moments like this, Brianna couldn’t believe the sheer wave of emotion that holding her child brought forth. She’d never expected to have a child at this stage of her life. But she was grateful beyond words to have him. Especially considering the terrifying touch-and-go moments that plagued her pregnancy. She’d prayed daily that her precious little boy would be born full term and healthy, so thankful finally when he had.

“Keech!” Enzo shouted in her ear.

“We’ll go down to the kitchen in a moment,” Brianna said. “But first I need to tell you something.” She set him down.

Enzo ran toward the stairs, not listening at all. She followed close behind. He hadn’t quite mastered going down the steps yet but that never slowed him down.

“Enzo, wait.”

He was already pulling open the unlocked safety gate at the top of the stairs when Brianna caught up to him.

“Keech! Keech!”

“All right, all right.” Brianna took his hand and slowly, carefully walked him down the stairs. “We’re going down there now. There’s someone here to see you.”

As soon as they reached the first-floor landing, he ran to the kitchen.

“Joos!”

When he spotted Marco, Enzo came to a sudden halt. Brianna noticed the thinly veiled derision in Marco’s expression as he lifted Enzo into his arms.

The baby monitor. Marco had overheard her and Enzo’s little exchange.

“Hi!” Enzo said loudly, grabbing Marco’s collar. “Joos!”

“Hey, little man,” Marco said, rubbing his cheek against Enzo’s. “Did you miss Papa?”

Her chest tightened at the scene and at Marco’s words. She had no reason to feel guilty. She couldn’t have stayed any longer in a marriage that wasn’t working, one that had simply originated out of necessity because of pregnancy. Sure, it had been painful to take Enzo away from Italy and his papa. Not to mention the doting great-grandmother who adored him. But Brianna was slowly becoming a mere shell of herself there. That was no way to raise a child. Especially considering she was doing most of it on her own with Marco gone long hours for days on end.

“He likes to sit by the window and drink it while I get his breakfast ready,” she said, handing Enzo a full sippy cup.

Marco sighed and put his son down. Enzo immediately scuttled to the love seat in front of the bay window.

“Do you suppose he remembers me?” Marco asked.

“I’m sure he does.”

Marco looked skeptical. His eyes bored into hers. “I’m glad one of us is sure.”

The implication was clear. There was no doubt in her mind who Marco would blame if Enzo in fact didn’t remember him.

CHAPTER TWO

BRIANNA CHOSE TO try to ignore the tension in the air. Pushing her way around Marco to grab the bread off the counter, she dropped two slices into the toaster and stared at it, as if toasting bread took the utmost concentration. All the while she could feel Marco’s gaze on her back.

“I have to get to the restaurant today,” she said. “You’ll have to find a way to keep yourself busy.”

She moved to the refrigerator for the butter. Marco stood directly in front of it. He, of course, refused to budge. She brushed past him, the slight physical contact just enough to inflame her nerves.

“I’ll stay right here with my son,” Marco said.

Opening the door as wide as she could with him standing there, Brianna reached for the butter drawer. “I’m afraid not.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Enzo’s nanny will be here any minute. She usually has the whole day planned for him.”

He shrugged. “You can give her the day off.”

Brianna slowly shut the refrigerator door. “It’s too late to do that. She’s probably on the train right now.”

“So tell her when she gets here. I don’t see a problem.”

“I’m not going to tell her she’s wasted a trip. Or that she’ll have to miss a day of compensation.”

Marco looked up to the ceiling and sighed. His expression made him look every bit the part of a man holding on to the last of his patience. “I’ll compensate her for the commute and give her two days’ pay for her trouble. A week’s pay.”

That was so typical of Marco. “You think you can solve anything with money.”

“I’ve found very few issues money couldn’t solve,” he replied, his voice hard.

“Well, this is my home and I won’t allow it,” she declared just as the doorbell rang.

At the sound, Enzo jumped up and yelled “Ding-dong!”

Brianna barely caught him before he tumbled off the cushion onto the floor. He wailed in protest. The doorbell rang again. And again.

“I’m coming. I’m coming.” Brianna set Enzo down gently on his feet. Marco gave her another amused smirk.

She scowled back and opened the door. “Mrs. Schelling. You’re here.”

Her nanny trotted inside and let out a loud “humph” before turning to her. “I only came for one thing, and then I’ll be going.” The grim set of the woman’s lips sent alarms ringing in Brianna’s head.

Not now, not today. She forced a smile, almost certain she knew what was about to happen. “Oh. All right. Why don’t we go talk in the kitchen?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I’ve come to quit.”

Brianna’s heart dived. Somehow she kept her smile in place. Putting her arm around the other woman’s plump shoulders, she tried to move her toward the kitchen. Away from Marco.

“Don’t even joke like that, Mrs. Schelling.”

Mrs. Schelling didn’t move. “This is no joke, Miss Brianna. I refuse to tolerate any more from that young man.” Squinting, she pointed to Enzo. Enzo in turn stopped sucking on his cup long enough to give Mrs. Schelling a wide grin.

“I don’t understand.” Brianna dropped her arm.

Mrs. Schelling held out her palm. “I quit and I’d like my remaining payment.”

“But why?”

“I can no longer take care of your son. Life is too short. And I’m afraid I’ve already lived the bulk of mine at my age.”

Brianna didn’t dare look at Marco. She had no doubt what he had to be thinking. In his eyes, she had failed him as his wife and now she was clearly failing as a single mother.

This was the last impression she would have hoped to give upon seeing him again. Rather than proving her independence and abilities, she was instead coming off as flighty and in disarray, unable to get her act straight.

All she’d ever wanted was a stable home, some roots. With the arrival of her son, that had seemed like a real possibility. But now it was all going to rot somehow. She may have ended up with a family but it had come about in a random and haphazard manner. Now even that was falling apart.

“I’ve been thinking about this all night. Agonizing over the decision,” Mrs. Schelling was saying. Listening to her was like trying to focus as the walls crumbled around her. Brianna had tried so hard to lay the groundwork perfectly for her return to the United States. All to watch it implode now. And just her luck, Marco was here to witness the latest catastrophe.

The older woman paused to take a deep breath. “Your son is simply too much for me to handle. I dare say he’s too much for anyone to handle.”

Now that was a bit much. Brianna looked directly into the older woman’s eyes. “He’s barely two. He just doesn’t know any better.”

Mrs. Schelling took a tiny step back. Maybe it was the edge that had crept into her voice. It was a small source of satisfaction.

“Nevertheless, I don’t have to put up with his behavior. Not for any amount of money.”

Brianna tried to steady herself and her emotions. It didn’t help that Enzo was running in circles and shaking his spill-proof cup so furiously that he was managing to spill it anyway.

“Tell you what,” Brianna began in a much softer tone. “Why don’t you let me get dressed and we can discuss all this over a cup of coffee.” She indicated Marco with a nod of her head. “He was just leaving.”

Mrs. Schelling turned to look at him. Acknowledging Marco for the first time since she’d arrived, she studied him thoroughly. Apparently, she didn’t like what she saw. Then she turned her eyes to Brianna’s short T-shirt.