The Fiancée Caper

The Fiancée Caper
Maureen Child

To Catch a Thief, It Will Take a Thief He comes from a long line of charismatic jewel thieves. But Gianni Coretti made a deal to save his family and now walks the straight and narrow. When Marie O’Hara, a beautiful security expert, asks him to steal for her as part of a sting, his interest is definitely piqued. The fact that she’ll be pretending to be his fiancée is an added bonus. But as their fierce attraction blurs the line between ruse and reality, Gianni has to wonder: does a man with such a dubious past deserve a glorious future with this woman?

“As you wish.”

“You’ll come to Tesoro with me.” Gianni stood up, scowling at having all choice snatched from him. He wasn’t used to being outmaneuvered, but damned if he hadn’t been this time. “We leave in three days.”

“Three days?” She chewed at her bottom lip and he knew what she was thinking. How could she keep an eye on him from her hotel—wherever that was?

He’d thought the same and there really was only one solution to this entire situation. “You’ll stay here.”

“Excuse me?”

“We’ll need the three days to practice,” he told her.

“To practice what?”

His gaze flashed to hers. Finally, there was doubt in her eyes. “Why, to practice being a couple.”

“A couple of what?”

Her voice hitched higher and Gianni enjoyed her outrage.

“My family will never accept my bringing a stranger along to my new nephew’s christening …” He paused for effect, and watching her reaction was entirely worth it when he added, “So for the next week or so, you’re going to be my loving fiancée.”

The Fiancée

Caper

Maureen Child

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

MAUREEN CHILD writes for the Mills & Boon

Desire™ line and can’t imagine a better job. Being able to indulge your love for romance, as well as being able to spin stories just the way you want them told is, in a word, perfect.

A seven-time finalist for the prestigious Romance Writers of America RITA® Award, Maureen is the author of more than one hundred romance novels. Her books regularly appear on the bestseller lists and have won several awards, including a Prism, a National Readers’ Choice Award, a Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence and a Golden Quill.

One of her books, The Soul Collector, was made into a CBS TV movie starring Melissa Gilbert, Bruce Greenwood and Ossie Davis. If you look closely, in the last five minutes of the movie, you’ll spot Maureen, who was an extra in the last scene.

Maureen believes that laughter goes hand in hand with love, so her stories are always filled with humor. The many letters she receives assure her that her readers love to laugh as much as she does.

Maureen Child is a native Californian, but has recently moved to the mountains of Utah. She loves a new adventure, though the thought of having to deal with snow for the first time is a little intimidating.

To my son, Jason … who would make a fabulous romance hero!

I love you.

Contents

Cover (#u7b78fc1a-73d4-5a2c-83dd-0ebb98a8b224)

Introduction (#u599e0ddb-c225-5c6f-9ff8-c40fbe0eb397)

Title Page (#u629b82f8-b8e8-50f8-b54c-bb8c4984b0fe)

About the Author (#u2b76b463-7a51-589b-b76b-52ce97b00d10)

Dedication (#ue7800aaf-e11b-5e22-b726-714a8225aabf)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Extract

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

One (#u7571f912-203c-580d-96c0-fc94e308a684)

“Papa was behind the Van Court emerald theft last week, wasn’t he?” Gianni Coretti kept his voice low as he looked across the table at his brother, Paulo.

The other man shrugged, took a sip of his scotch and smiled faintly. “You know Papa.”

Gianni scowled and shoved one hand through his hair. That answer was deliberately vague, he told himself. Yet he hadn’t really expected anything different. Of course Paulo would side with their father.

Letting his gaze slide from his brother’s, Gianni looked out at the well-lit, exquisitely tended lawns of Vinley Hall. Crouched in the heart of Hampshire, on the southern coast of England, the luxury hotel was always the Coretti family’s inn of choice—not only for its innate elegance, but also for its convenience to Blackthorn private airfield.

The Corettis never flew commercial.