The Billionaire’s Baby Surprise (Italian Rivals #10)

Prologue

IN THE TWO YEARS since the spectacularly devastating end of his marriage, Raf Santoro had lost count of how many women he’d slept with, and how much Scotch he’d drunk.

He knew only that anger fuelled him, a bitter resentment driving him to expunge every last thought of his ex-wife from his mind—and life.

It worked, for a while. But always there was the lingering emptiness inside of him, the sense of pain at the baby he’d believed they’d conceived, and lost, only to discover the entire pregnancy had been a ruse, construed to force his hand into proposing.

Strange that a fictitious pregnancy should affect him so completely, but the truth was, he’d believed her.

He’d believed he was expecting a baby, that they were going to become parents, and even though his relationship with Marcia had been far from perfect, he’d been overjoyed at the thought of welcoming their child into the world.

Now? He felt the exact opposite. He couldn’t imagine ever letting himself get close enough to a woman to contemplate that kind of future, much less to open his heart to the thought of a baby.

Every single one of his siblings might have been paired off and procreating as though it were an Olympic sport, but that had no bearing on Raf.

No. He was perfectly content with his life—a life that revolved around hating almost everyone and everything he came across.

He stepped back, eyes raking over his appearance in the mirror, his custom-tailored suit the perfect fit for his lean, athletic frame, his dark hair brushed back from his brow.

At his collar, a hint of ink was visible, creeping up his chest, the curled serpent a reminder to himself of snakes, venom.

Poison. Once bitten, twice shy, and Raf never intended to get bitten again.