Return of Her Italian Duke Read online

  The duke she’s never forgotten...

  When Gemma Rizzo applied to become pastry chef at the gorgeous Italian castello where she grew up, she never expected to get the job. But neither did she expect to find that her new boss was silver-eyed billionaire Vincenzo Gagliardi—the man who left her brokenhearted!

  Her first instinct is to run, but when Vincenzo finally reveals the devastating truth of what caused him to flee eleven years before, Gemma must decide if she can trust the haunted man she never stopped loving...

  The Billionaire’s Club

  Meet the world’s most eligible bachelors...

  by

  Rebecca Winters

  For tycoons Vincenzo Gagliardi, Takis Manolis and Cesare Donati, transforming the Castello di Lombardi into one of Europe’s most highly sought-after hotels would be more than just a business venture; it was a challenge to be relished!

  But these three men, bound by a friendship as strong as blood, are about to discover that the chase is only half the fun...as three women conquer their hearts and change their lives forever.

  Return of Her Italian Duke

  Available now!

  And look out for Takis’s and Cesare’s stories, coming soon!

  Dear Reader,

  Some of you who’ve read my books in the past know I’ve always had a passion for the adventure stories of the great French writer Alexandre Dumas. The Man in the Iron Mask and The Count of Monte Cristo are two of my favorites!

  Once again I’ve written a novel where his brilliant storytelling has inspired me to write another version of The Count of Monte Cristo, Rebecca Winters style. It just happened without my realizing it. That shows what a great influence he has had on me as a reader and a writer over the years. I hope all of you will read with fascination Return of Her Italian Duke. It’s the love story of the gorgeous Vincenzo Nistri Gagliardi, the Duke of Lombardi, and his childhood sweetheart Gemma. After his eleven-year disappearance, how will she handle seeing him again? How would you?

  Enjoy,

  Rebecca Winters

  RETURN OF HER

  ITALIAN DUKE

  Rebecca Winters

  Rebecca Winters lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. With canyons and high alpine meadows full of wildflowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favorite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her romance novels, because writing is her passion, along with her family and church. Rebecca loves to hear from readers. If you wish to email her, please visit her website at cleanromances.com.

  Books by Rebecca Winters

  Harlequin Romance

  The Vineyards of Calanetti

  His Princess of Convenience

  The Montanari Marriages

  The Billionaire’s Baby Swap

  The Billionaire Who Saw Her Beauty

  Greek Billionaires

  The Millionaire’s True Worth

  A Wedding for the Greek Tycoon

  The Greek’s Tiny Miracle

  At the Chateau for Christmas

  Taming the French Tycoon

  The Renegade Billionaire

  The Billionaire’s Prize

  Visit the Author Profile page

  at Harlequin.com for more titles.

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  To my darling daughter, Dominique, a wonderful romance writer who has an editor’s instinct and insight to keep her mother’s writing on track and believable. She, too, is a Dumas lover. We’re both Francophiles at heart.

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  EPILOGUE

  EXCERPT FROM THE MILLIONAIRE'S ROYAL RESCUE BY JENNIFER FAYE

  CHAPTER ONE

  Castello di Lombardi, ten years ago

  AT TWO IN the morning, Vincenzo Gagliardi, newly turned eighteen, quickly dressed in jeans and a hoodie he pulled over his black hair. The long sleeves covered the bruises on his arms. He could feel the welts still smarting on his back and legs as he slid his pack over his shoulders. Then he looked around his room one more time, glancing at the bed.

  A vision of Gemma, the woman who’d been entwined in his arms there the night before, wouldn’t leave his mind. After the pleasure they’d given each other despite his wounds, and the plans he’d envisioned for their future, it killed him to think he had to leave her at all. But the difficulties with his father made his flight necessary. Worse, he couldn’t tell her where he was going or why. It was for her own protection.

  Once his father, the acting Duca di Lombardi, started looking for him, he’d interrogate everyone, including Gemma, and he would be able to tell if she was lying or not. If the girl he’d grown up with from earliest childhood knew nothing about his disappearance, then his father would sense it and have to believe her.

  Arrivederci, Gemma, his heart moaned. Ti amo.

  Making sure no one saw him, he hurried through the fourteenth-century castello to Dimi’s room in the other tower. His cousin had left his bedroom door open. Closer than brothers, they’d been planning Vincenzo’s disappearance for a year.

  Dimi was waiting for him. “You’re late and must go now! I’ve been watching from the parapet. The guard with the dog won’t be walking past the entrance for another seven minutes.”

  “This is it, cousin. Remember—when I’m established in New York, I’ll contact you. Look for the phone number through an ad in the help wanted of Il Giorno’s classified section. Be sure to call me on a throwaway phone.”

  Dimi nodded.

  “It won’t be long before you turn eighteen. I’ll wire you money so you can join me. And as soon as I reach my destination, I’ll phone our grandfather so he won’t worry.” Both boys were the grandsons of the cancer-stricken Emanuele Gagliardi, the old Duca di Lombardi, who no longer could function and verged on death.

  His cousin’s eyes teared up. “Che Dio di benedica, Vincenzo.”

  He tried to clear his throat. “God be with you, too, Dimi. Promise me you’ll keep an eye on Gemma.”

  “You know I will.”

  Vincenzo hated this situation that took him away from her, but there was no going back. He thanked his cousin for his sacrifice, hating their gut-wrenching separation and the horrible position he’d been put in. But they both agreed the danger was too great to do anything else.

  As they hugged hard, Vincenzo realized that he could barely see through the tears. The deep well of shame and pain because he hadn’t been able to protect his mother was something he would have to carry for the rest of his life. Gemma was better off without him.

  Because of Dimi’s loyalty, no one would ever know where he’d gone. This was the way it had to be.

  Now that Vincenzo had been forced to cut himself off from the world he knew, the need to make money had taken hold of his life and had become his raison d’être.

  * * *

  Gemma lay in bed, wide-awake, at six in the morning, reliving the moments she’d spent with Vincenzo the night before last. When she’d heard he’d suffered injuries from a fall off his horse, she hadn’t been able
to resist slipping up to his tower bedroom to see if he was all right.

  Despite his physical pain, they’d tried to love each other until he’d told her she needed to get back to her room. Gemma had wanted to stay the entire night with him and couldn’t understand why he’d been so insistent she leave. She’d wanted to lie in his arms forever.

  It was painful to have to tear herself away from him. After making sure no guards were watching, she slipped down the winding staircase at the back of the castello to reach the rooms where she and her mother lived behind the kitchen.

  Yesterday after school she hadn’t seen him at all, and she feared his injuries were worse. If she didn’t spot him in the back courtyard today after she got home, she’d go up to his room again tonight to find out why.

  He was such an expert rider, it was hard to believe he’d been hurt so badly. While she suffered over what had happened to him, she heard a knock on her bedroom door. “Gemma? Get up and get dressed, then come in the main room quickly!”

  She didn’t normally get up until six thirty to start getting ready for school. Alarmed by the concern in her mother’s voice, Gemma did her bidding.

  When she emerged from the small room, she saw a sight she’d never forget. Vincenzo’s father, the acting Duca di Lombardi, stood there while three policemen searched their rooms off the castello kitchen.

  He and Vincenzo bore a strong likeness to each other, but there was all the difference in the world between them. The duca’s stare at her was so menacing, she shuddered.

  Her mother grabbed her hand. “The duca wishes to ask you a few questions, Gemma.”

  He’d never talked to her personally in her life. “Yes, Your Highness?”

  “Where’s my son?”

  She blinked. “I—I don’t know what you mean,” she stammered.

  “If you know anything, you must tell him, Gemma.”

  “I know nothing, Mamma.”

  The police reappeared, shaking their heads. The duca took a threatening step toward her. “My son is missing from the castello, and I believe you know where he’s gone.”

  Gemma froze. Vincenzo was gone? “I swear on my faith in the Holy Virgin that I have no idea where he would be.”

  His face turned a ruddy color. He shot a fiery glance at Gemma’s mother, who crossed herself. “She’s lying! Since you can’t get the truth from her, I insist you leave the premises immediately and take your baggage with you.” Gemma flinched. “I’ll make certain you’re never able to get another job again!”

  He wheeled around and left. The police followed and shut the door.

  Gemma ran to her mother and hugged her hard. Both of them trembled. “I swear I don’t know anything about Vincenzo. I swear it, Mamma.”

  “I believe you. Start packing your bag. I’ll do the same. We have to get out of here as soon as possible in case he comes back. I’ll call for a taxi from the kitchen. We’ll leave for the train station and go back to Florence.”

  Fifteen minutes later they assembled in the kitchen. The other cook and her daughter, Bianca, Gemma’s best friend, were there, too, with their bags. The duca’s fury knew no bounds. As they hurried out of the service entrance at the back of the castello to wait, the duca’s words rang in her ears.

  She’s lying! Since you can’t get the truth from her, you must leave the premises immediately and take your baggage you. I’ll make certain you’re never able to get another job again!

  When the taxi arrived, Gemma climbed inside feeling as dead as last winter’s ashes.

  New York City, six months ago

  After Dimi had phoned Vincenzo during the night with news that had come close to sending him into shock, he made calls to his two best friends and asked them to come to his Manhattan penthouse above his office ASAP.

  Once arrangements were made, he told his assistant he wouldn’t be in the office today and didn’t want to be disturbed for any reason. Within two hours they’d both shown up using his private elevator.

  The ultra-contemporary apartment suited Vincenzo perfectly. He liked the modern art on the white walls and the floor-to-ceiling windows that let in the light. Up here there were no dark reminders of the past. Here, he could breathe. Or he’d thought he could, until Dimi’s phone call.

  “Thanks for coming so fast,” he said in Italian. “I’m just thankful you were available.”

  Cesare nodded. “You made it sound like life or death.”

  “It is to me.”

  His friend Takis eyed him curiously. “What’s going on, Vincenzo?”

  “Something that will surprise you. I’ll tell you over breakfast. Come to the dining room.”

  Once they sat down and started to eat, Vincenzo handed them each a photograph of the massive Castello di Lombardi. “You’re looking at the former residence of the Gagliardi family. From that family, two hundred years ago, sprang the first illustrious Duca di Lombardi, an important political figure in that region of Italy.”

  They stared at the photo, then looked at him in confusion.

  “Why am I showing you this?” He read their minds. “Because there’s more to me than you know. What I’m about to tell you could cause you to distrust me. You would have every right to walk out of here and never look back.”

  “Tell us what?” Cesare asked in total bewilderment.

  “I haven’t been completely honest about myself. You know me as Vincenzo Nistri, but my full name is Vincenzo Nistri Gagliardi. Nistri was my mother’s maiden name.”

  Takis blinked. “So you’re full-fledged Italian? For some reason you remind me of one of my Macedonian friends.”

  “That’s what I thought, too,” Cesare said. “Maybe Eastern Europe.”

  “Is that so?” Vincenzo grinned, amused by their honesty. “Not that I know of. The castello you’re looking at was my home for the first eighteen years of my life.” And the woman I left behind there so cruelly is still the only girl I ever loved, though there’ve been women since. “If a great tragedy hadn’t happened to my family—one that caused me to flee—I would have taken over as the next Duca di Lombardi upon my father’s death.”

  There was no question that he’d stunned his friends. Neither of them said a word. They kept staring at him as if he were an alien being speaking an unknown language.

  “Let me tell you a story so you’ll understand everything. My father and uncle did very bad things, evil things. At one point I realized my life was in danger.”

  When he’d given them details, he said, “The old duca, my grandfather, died nine years ago, leaving the way open for my father and uncle to bring down the house of Gagliardi. To start paying their debts, they sold off family treasures, including other properties that had been in the family for hundreds of years. Inevitably they let go the staff who’d served our family faithfully.

  “Then a month ago my father was riding his horse through the forest behind the castello in a drunken rage. The horse reared and my father fell, breaking his neck. That left my uncle, Alonzo in charge.

  “He has just been sent to prison, where he’s now serving a thirty-year sentence for manslaughter, drunkenness, embezzlement and debt in the millions of euros. The family has now disintegrated, and the authorities have closed up the castello.”

  His friends shook their heads. “How could such a thing happen to a powerful family like yours?” Takis asked.

  “There’s one word for it. Corruption. Absolute and truly terrible. The family coffers had been raided for so long there was nothing left but staggering debt they’d accrued. They were like two bad seeds.

  “My maternal grandparents died two years ago, and the only remaining family members on my father’s side besides my imprisoned uncle are my cousin Dimi, who is like a brother to me, and his mother, Consolata. They live in a small palazzo in Milan given to her by her grandmother be
fore her marriage to my uncle.”

  It was the only piece of property that neither Alonzo nor Vincenzo’s father had been able to lay his hands on at the end.

  “Dimi lives there quietly with her because she’s in a wheelchair, suffering from dementia, and needs care.” He eyed them directly. “Can you forgive me for omitting all of this until now?”

  “Si—” both men said in unison. Takis’s brows met. “Your life was in grave danger.”

  “But that’s in the past. Now I’m faced with something I hadn’t imagined, and I wanted to discuss it with you.”

  Cesare’s solemn gaze played over him. “Tell us.”

  “The castello is now in receivership. I swore to God I would never return to Italy, but the thought of my heritage being sold to some foreign potentate to help the slipping Italian economy is anathema to me.

  “My cousin Dimi is particularly concerned. He has an eye on what’s happening everywhere. Both Italy’s Villa Giulia museum in Rome, built by Pope Julius III, and the nine-hundred-year-old Norman palace in Palermo, the seat of former kings, are soon to be on the list to be sold off by the government, too.

  “In view of such a frightening prospect, I wondered if you might like to go into business with me. Dimi will assist behind the scenes. Not only will my cousin and I be able to preserve our own family heritage, we’ll transform the castello into a glorious hotel with a restaurant that could be the toast of Europe. It would mean the three of us would have to put our assistants in charge of managing our businesses when we’re not in the country.”

  After a pronounced silence, both men let out cries of excitement. For the rest of the day the three of them brainstormed.

  “Now that we’ve talked things out, there’s one favor I must ask. I intend to be the silent business partner in this venture and prefer to remain anonymous because of the family scandals.”

  Their solemn acknowledgment of his request warmed him and he knew they’d honor his request.

  “Now, you can imagine that when word gets out that the castello has been sold and turned into a resort by two businessmen from the US, the press will be all over it. Dimi will send me the necessary information and put you in touch with the contact person to get the ball rolling.