Page 30 of His Fantasy Bride (Things To Do Before You Die)

“You mean running up enormous gambling debts? You should have made the little monster take the consequences.”

“He’s only seventeen.”

“So why didn’t he go to your father?”

“They’d just bought a new house. Between that and my stepmother’s latest plastic surgery, they’re broke.”

“Bitch.”

She didn’t want to get into a discussion about her stepmother right now. Theresa’s assessment wasn’t really accurate. Maria was actually quite sweet, just a little self-obsessed. “Anyway, I went to see the people involved and told them I’d pay. I gave them what I had in savings, and we sorted out a payment plan, which I could afford because I had a good job.”

“Except you broke your arm and lost your job.”

“I did. I might have scraped together the money and still been okay, but that was when my mom contacted me.” She didn’t have much to do with her mother, had never really gotten over the fact that she’d dumped her and her dad for a job in Hollywood. She was an actress but not a very successful one. They got on okay; she wasn’t a bad woman, just not a particularly maternal one. “She was ill, with this really rare disease, and the best hope of a complete recovery is this pioneering treatment only available in the States.”

“I remember. You told me it was expensive.”

“Extremely. She was selling her house to pay for it, but it was taking time, and she didn’t want to put off the treatment—delaying it would lower the chances of a full recovery. She came to me and asked for a loan—I think she expected me to go to Dad, but…” No point in rehashing that.

“You should have asked Luca. You’re family. He would have helped. Or you could have asked me to ask Luca.”

“I’m not really family. And my mother certainly isn’t.”

Theresa glared. “You are too family! You were from the day your father married Maria.”

Now wasn’t the time to get into that conversation. “Anyway, no reason to get your panties in a twist, because, in fact, I did go and see Luca. I asked him to loan me the money until mom could pay him back.”

Theresa shrugged. “So what was the problem? He didn’t turn you down did he? If he did, I’ll go set fire to his Ferrari.”

Gabby bit back a smile. Theresa could be fierce defending the people she loved, and Gabby was lucky enough to be one of those people. “Actually, he offered to give me the money.”

Theresa smiled. “Aw, my brother’s a lovely person.”

Not that lovely. “Except he asked for a favor in return.”

That was how he’d put it—a favor to help the family. And she’d jumped at the chance because she was pathetic and needy and had always wanted desperately to belong.

It should have been easy peasy.

Hah.

“A favor? What sort of favor?” Theresa sounded suspicious, and well she might. Gabby had an inkling Luca had better keep a careful eye on his beloved Ferrari.

“He asked me to try and get close to Vittorio D’Ascensio, and send him back any information I could get that might help Luca take over the company.”

“What? Like some sort of industrial spy? Isn’t that illegal?”

She frowned. “I’m not sure. It didn’t sound illegal when Luca explained it.”

“Luca is in big trouble.”

She didn’t doubt it. “Apparently, I’m Vito’s type. He always goes for blondes just like me.”

“A man with taste. I’m guessing there’s a ‘but.’”

“There is. He likesgoodgirls, girls who dress nicely and speak nicely and probably go to church. Luca had a PI look into him, and he came up with all this information, and then drew up a profile of his ideal woman. All I had to do was be that woman, make sure I popped up in his vicinity, and then make sure I stayed there and sent back anything I found out that might be useful to Luca.”

Theresa was studying her, head cocked to one side. “I bet the effort of being nice nearly killed you.”

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