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From chalet maid...
To millionaire’s date!
In this Cattaneos’ Christmas Miracles story, Anissa Lang was going for gold when an accident ended her skiing dream. Now she’s cleaning mountain chalets—until she meets brooding millionaire Leo Baxter. He can’t resist whisking her to New York for a date, and under the twinkling Manhattan lights these kindred spirits glimpse a new future. But they must confront their pasts before their Christmas wishes can come true!
SCARLET WILSON writes for both Mills & Boon True Love and Medical Romance. She lives on the west coast of Scotland with her fiancé and their two sons. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached via her website: scarlet-wilson.com.
Also by Scarlet Wilson
The Italian Billionaire’s New Year Bride
Resisting the Single Dad
Locked Down with the Army Doc
The Cattaneos’ Christmas Miracles collection
Cinderella’s New York Christmas
And look out for the next two books
Heiress’s Royal Baby Bombshell by Jennifer Faye Available November 2018
CEO’s Marriage Miracle by Sophie Pembroke Available December 2018
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
Cinderella’s New York Christmas
Scarlet Wilson
www.millsandboon.co.uk
ISBN: 978-1-474-07818-4
CINDERELLA’S NEW YORK CHRISTMAS
© 2018 Harlequin Books S.A.
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 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.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk
To my fab NHS work colleagues
Kathleen Winter and Janice Traynor.
I value the fact I work with such kind,
supportive friends.
Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
About the Author
Booklist
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
Extract
About the Publisher
Our dearest Leo,
You have no idea how much joy it gives us to write this letter. We have hoped and prayed for this moment for so long. We hope you are well, we hope you are healthy, and we want you to know that we’ve spent every day thinking about you, and the last thirty-five years looking for you. You have always been in our hearts, Leo, always. Please believe that.
Thirty-eight years ago we were young, foolish teenagers who fell in love. Our parents disapproved and when we fell pregnant with you we were forced to give you up for adoption.
We want you to know that it was never what we wanted. From the very first moment we knew you existed we wanted to keep you. But times were different then. Our parents bullied us, refused to support our relationship, and were ashamed of their illegitimate grandchild.
It broke our hearts, but we were penniless and had to agree to give you up for adoption, or we would have both been flung out of our homes.
Every day we talked about you and imagined where you were. We prayed you had parents who loved you as much as we did, and who nurtured and supported you.
Despite what our families thought, we stayed together and eventually married. As soon as we had some money we started our search for you. But the world was full of paper records then—people who kept secrets and those who told lies. It took years for us to learn you’d gone to the US, and then the trail went dead.
It broke our hearts all over again.
You have a brother, Sebastian, and a sister, Noemi. We always found it difficult to talk about your adoption to your siblings, but now that we’ve found you we would love it if our family could be reunited.
It has always been our dream that one day we could have all our children sitting around our table for Christmas dinner, like the true family we always wanted to be. We would love it if this could come true this year and wish that you could join us at Mont Coeur, Switzerland—the place where we have always loved to spend Christmas.
We’ve missed you every day, Leo.
Knowing that you are alive and well has brought us so much joy. We know you may be settled in your life. We know that you may well think of your adoptive parents as your only parents, and we will always respect your decisions and your wishes, but, please, please consider our request to meet.
There is nothing we want more than to throw our arms around our firstborn son and tell you how much we love you.
With our hearts,
Mamma e Papà
Salvo and Nicole Cattaneo
CHAPTER ONE
HE SHOULD NEVER have opened that letter.
His insides curled uncomfortably as he took the final few steps up to the veranda around the luxury chalet. Even though it was the beginning of November it seemed the Mont Coeur ski resort in Switzerland had moved into full Christmas mode. Maybe it was the cold weather and snow that made the whole population think it was normal to have Christmas trees up at the beginning of November. But as his car had woven its way through the resort it had seemed that every business and shop in Mont Coeur was fully on board for the festive season.
Everywhere he looked there were garlands, twinkling lights and piped music.
On any other day he’d think the whole place was picture perfect—like a scene on one of those Christmas cards. But today wasn’t like any other day.
His parents’ luxury chalet seemed to be a leader in the festive decorations. Through the glass-panelled doors he could see the Christmas tree decorated in reds and gold as a focal point in the spacious living area; boughs of holly had been wound around the banisters and across the mantelpiece, where a fire was roaring beneath. And above him, against night sky, gold twinkling fairy lights adorned the outside of the chalet. The quintessential idyllic Christmas scene.
This should be different. This should be so different.
He should be coming here today to meet the parents who had given him up for adoption thirty-eight years ago. He should be coming here to learn more about the people who’d said they’d thought about him every day since. Instead, he was here at the insistence of a family lawyer he didn’t know and a sister, Noemi, whom he’d never met, for the reading of his parents’ will.
The warmth and the family feel of the chalet felt totally alien to him. He’d never experienced this lifestyle. He’d never experienced the true joy of a happy, family Christmas. And he couldn’t shake the guilty feeling that if he hadn’t been found, hadn’t answered their letter, then his parents would never have died in a helicopter crash on their way to meet him.
Now he was here at their request for the will reading—and to meet his two siblings.
Everything about this felt awkward and wrong.
His stomach churned again as he knocked on the glass door. Maybe no one was home? Maybe his siblings had changed their minds? It would be so much easier to turn on his heel, go back and find the alternative luxury chalet his PA had booked for him.
There was a flicker behind the glass. A woman rushed towards him. She was tall and slim with a short brown angled bob. Behind her, walking much more warily, was a tall, muscular man. Even from here Leo could see the creases along his brow.
The woman flung the door open. ‘Leo?’
Her brown eyes were hopeful. He could see her hands twitching at her sides. She was barely able to contain herself.
‘Yes,’ he replied hoarsely. It was all it took.
She let out a squeal and flung her arms around his neck. ‘Oh, Leo, I’m so glad to finally meet you.’
He stood frozen to the spot, not sure of whether he should lift his arms to hug this woman back. After what seemed like the longest time she finally pulled back, wiping a tear from her eye. ‘I’m Noemi. You know that, don’t you?’ She wiped away another tear and gestured to the man behind her. ‘And this is Sebastian, your brother.’
It had to be the most awkward meeting in history. Animosity was rolling off Sebastian in waves. He didn’t even step forward, just gave the barest nod of his head.
Leo steadied himself for a second. This was his brother and sister. When he’d been growing up he’d always wished he was part of a large family. He would have loved to have had a brother and sister. But his adoptive parents had already decided one child was too much. He was never quite sure why they’d adopted him as they’d shown so little interest in him.
All he wanted to do right now was turn and walk out the door. It made him feel pathetic. He was a businessman, a CEO. He spent his life in difficult business dealings. This should be nothing to him. But everything about this was unravelling a whole pile of emotions that he’d never acknowledged.
It was obvious that everyone in Mont Coeur was rich, even by his standards, his brother and sister included. Maybe they were worried he was here for money? Money that he didn’t need or want.
Noemi grabbed his hand. ‘Come in, Leo, come in. I want to hear all about you. I want to know how you are.’ She bit her bottom lip as a few more tears escaped. Was his sister always this tearful? He wasn’t big on emotion at the best of times and he was already feeling the overload.
Her hands were warm against his chilly skin and she pulled him inside. She drew him straight into the heart of the house, between the Christmas tree and the fireplace. ‘Give me your jacket,’ she said enthusiastically, tugging his dark wool coat from his shoulders.
Sebastian had barely moved. The muscles around the bottom of his neck were tense. He glanced at Leo as he shrugged his way out of his coat. His words were stiff. ‘My wife, Maria, and son, Frankie, hoped to be here but...’ his voice tailed as if he were trying to decide what to say ‘...they’ve been unavoidably delayed.’
Something in his gut told Leo that Sebastian hadn’t been exactly truthful when he’d spoken. He looked like a coil about to burst from into a spring. Either his wife and son didn’t want to meet the ‘new’ brother, or Sebastian was hiding something else completely. Leo had done enough business dealings to know when someone was being economical with the truth.
Noemi patted the sofa next to her. ‘Please, sit. Giovanni will be here soon, but I want a chance to chat first.’
Giovanni. The family lawyer who’d persuaded him to attend the reading of the will. Giovanni, who right now he wanted to email and tell him that he’d changed his mind.
He sat down on the sofa and was almost swallowed up by it. Leo wanted to laugh out loud, because that’s how he was feeling in general about the visit here.
His eyes caught sight of family pictures on the wall. There was a whole array, obviously taken over years, starting with a young smiling couple with a baby and toddler, going up to four adults all standing with their arms around each other. Love was plainly visible in every picture.
Something gripped in his chest. The family that he should have had. The family he should have been part of.
It was like a million little caterpillars creeping up his spine. He actually thought he might be sick.
He wanted to go over and grab the photos, hold them up to his nose and study his parents. He wanted to see the last thirty-eight years. What they’d been like, how they’d grown, how they’d aged. All things he’d been cheated out of.
He pushed himself up from the impossible sofa. ‘This was a mistake...’
‘What? No.’ Noemi looked instantly stricken.
Something twisted in his chest. He really couldn’t handle this. He wasn’t equipped to deal with this. He’d spent a lifetime devoid of any love. Forming relationships wasn’t his forte. The last woman he’d dated had described him as ‘cold’ and ‘hard’—two things he couldn’t really deny.
Getting that initial letter from his parents had been like a bolt out of the blue. It had taken him two weeks to reply. When he had, he’d been hit by the overload that was his mother, who’d emailed every day, making plans to visit.
Getting the call from Noemi—the sister he’d never met—to tell him that their parents had been killed in a helicopter crash while on their way to visit him in New York had almost taken the air from his lungs.
He so wasn’t ready for any of the emotions attached to having a family. Guilt. Expectation. Judgement.
He’d wanted to see them. Curiosity had made him fly to Switzerland to stand in the same room as his brother and sister and talk to them in the flesh. But now he’d done it.
He had to get out of here. He had to get some air.
A hand came down firmly on his arm. ‘Don’t go.’
Sebastian. His brother.
He could see Sebastian was struggling with this too. ‘Not yet.’ It was almost like he couldn’t quite get the words out.
Sebastian shook his head. ‘You just got here.’ He wasn’t really meeting Leo’s gaze. ‘Take a breath. Take a moment.’
Leo looked to his left. Noemi’s chin was trembling. He couldn’t watch her cry again.
Leo couldn’t work out if Sebastian was doing this for him or for his sister. Their sister. Noemi was their sister. Not just Sebastian’s.
Brain overload. This wasn’t him. Nothing about this was him. All of his life he’d been cool, calm and collected. Those three words were synonymous with how most of his work colleagues described him.
He pulled his arm away from Sebastian’s. He turned to face him. ‘I know I was asked to listen to the reading of the will. But now I’m here, I can see this isn’t appropriate. I don’t want anything from you both. I don’t need anything. I’m not here to take what you think is actually yours.’
A flicker of anger flashed across Sebastian’s eyes. But before he had a chance to respond there was another voice.
‘Ah, Leo, I see you made it. Perfect timing.’
Leo turned to face the figure standing at the now open door. ‘Giovanni Paliotta,’ said the grey-haired, designer-suited man as he closed the door behind him and walked over with his hand outstretched. He tilted his head to the side as he got closer. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you. You’re so like your father.’
It was like a kick in the guts.
Giovanni didn’t seem to notice, and waved his hand towards a large table in the corner of the room. ‘Shall we sit?’
Noemi looked at the table, then glanced around the rest of the room, as if she were trying to find another place to sit, but Sebastian moved behind her, putting his arm at her waist and leading her over.
Leo’s gaze flickered. Twelve chairs. Enough for a large family gathering. Was this the table that his mother and father had traditionally sat around at Christmastime? Was this the table that his mother and father had intended for him to sit around with his brother and sister?
Leo had never wanted to bolt from a place so much in his life. He steadied his breathing.
Giovanni settled in one of the chairs and spread his papers in front of him.
Sebastian and Noemi sat down with only a glance at each other. Leo took a few seconds then dragged out one of the heavy chairs too.
Giovanni waited until everyone was settled then gave them all a nod.
‘We all know why we are here.’ He nodded again in particular to Leo. ‘I was your parents’ lawyer for the last thirty years, and I loved them, and miss them, and everything I do today is in accordance with their wishes.’
There was an edge of anxiety in Giovanni’s voice that Leo picked up on. He cast his eyes over his brother and sister again as he shifted in his seat.
Giovanni started reading from the paper in front of him. ‘This is the last will and testament of Salvo and Nicole Cattaneo. Salvo and Nicole were the sole owners of Cattaneo Jewels, currently valued at around seventy billion euros.’
Leo blinked. He knew the jewellery line was famous and international, but he hadn’t realised his parents’ fortune rivalled even his own.
Giovanni kept talking, ‘It was the wish of Salvo and Nicole that in the event of their death, the business should remain with the family.’ Giovanni pressed his lips together for a second, looking decidedly nervous. ‘As such, the controlling stake in Cattaneo Jewels will pass to Leo Baxter, their eldest biological child.’
‘What?’ Sebastian’s chair landed on the floor as he stood up and thumped his hands on the table.
Noemi’s mouth opened, then closed again.
Giovanni cleared his throat, refusing to fix on Sebastian’s red face.
‘No,’ said Leo, shaking his head. ‘I have no interest in the family business. I don’t even know anything about jewels.’ He stood up too. All he wanted was to get out of there.
‘I’ve trained for this my whole life,’ raged Sebastian. ‘Who is he to inherit the business over me?’
‘Your brother,’ snapped Giovanni. For the briefest second Leo realised why Salvo and Nicole had worked with this lawyer for thirty years.
Giovanni held up his hands. ‘Sit down, both of you.’
Leo met his brother’s angry gaze. He got it. He did. And he had absolutely no interest in this business, but his brother’s reaction annoyed him. It didn’t matter that he partially understood it. He couldn’t hide his flare of anger. Sebastian had got to spend a lifetime with his parents—Leo hadn’t even got to meet them.
Giovanni gave a shake of his head and Leo settled back into his chair, staring pointedly at Sebastian until he did the same.
Giovanni continued slowly. ‘There are conditions attached.’
‘What conditions?’ Leo couldn’t help it. He’d been in business too long to get caught out.
‘Leo must hold the controlling stake in the business for a minimum of six months. The shares can’t be sold, or transferred, to any alternative controlling company or family member.’
‘What happens if he does?’ Noemi’s voice was shaky.
Giovanni looked at all three of them. ‘Any attempt to violate the terms of the will mean that the company shall cease trading and will be liquidated with its assets distributed amongst the other existing four hundred shareholders.’
‘What?’ Sebastian’s voice sounded wheezy. His eyes were wide.
Leo sat frozen in his chair. He was a businessman. He had a head for business. He knew exactly what this was.
‘This is blackmail,’ he said coldly.
‘No,’ said Noemi quietly.
‘Manipulation, then.’
She turned to face him and gave a slow nod. ‘You could be right.’
‘But why?’ Leo leaned across the table towards Giovanni. ‘Why on earth would—’ he couldn’t even bring himself to say the words ‘parents’—‘Salvo and Nicole do this?’
Giovanni sighed and leaned back in his chair.
‘Did this just happen?’ interjected Sebastian angrily. ‘Did they just do this because they found Leo?’
Leo drummed his fingers on the table. He couldn’t get his head around this at all. ‘Were they sick?’
Giovanni started.
Leo’s brain was struggling to make any sense of this at all. He asked again, ‘Were they sick?’ He shook his head. ‘This doesn’t make any sense. I don’t imagine for a second that they could have predicted the accident they were in, so the only other thing I can think of was that they were sick. They were trying to find a way that we...’ he paused for a second at that word ‘...would all have to work together. Nothing else makes sense.’
Sebastian looked pale. His eyes found Noemi. ‘We would have known. They would have told us.’
She gave a bewildered shrug. ‘They didn’t tell us about Leo until a month ago. And only then because I found his letter.’
Giovanni cleared his throat. ‘Their will has always said this.’
‘What?’ This time it was three voices in unison.
Giovanni gave a slow shake of his head. ‘They always believed they would find Leo. Initially, the will just named him as “the eldest biological child”. They never stopped searching. Even if they died before they found him, they still wanted him to know he was always part of the family, and to give him the opportunity to know the family business.’ Giovanni took a deep breath. ‘They believed in family. You know that.’ He shook his head. ‘They changed the will to include his name as soon as they found him. But the truth is he was always included. In their eyes, he was always part of the family—whether they knew his new name or not.’
Noemi blinked and looked between Leo and Sebastian. ‘This isn’t about the business,’ she said quietly.
Leo could tell Sebastian was still angry. There was a tiny tic in his jaw. But he met his sister’s gaze and gave her the slightest nod. ‘I know that.’ It was the most conciliatory thing he’d said since Leo had got there.
Leo felt blindsided and he hated that. Every business meeting, every potential deal, he always went in prepared. He would know the background, the finances, the personalities and their quirks before he even set foot in the room.
But here? For the first time since he’d been a child he felt totally out of his depth.
It felt as if the room was closing in around him, suffocating him with the heat from the fire, the love from the pictures on the wall, and that horrible feeling of emptiness inside.