5
“Forget it. No way,” Romeo Morretti snapped, struggling to control his temper. Scowling though his publicist couldn’t see him through the phone, he turned off the stereo system inside his yellow Lamborghini Veneno and took a deep breath. Every morning as he drove to work, Giuseppe Del Piero called to discuss social events in and around Milan. But for the first time in eight years Romeo wished he’d let the call go to voice mail. “I’d sooner run through the city center naked singing ‘Ave Maria’ than appear on that pathetic gossip show.”
“But you love the spotlight,” Giuseppe argued. “Always have, always will.”
“In light of everything that’s happened in recent weeks I think it’s best I lie low,” he said, rubbing his tired eyes. Working fourteen-hour days, seven days a week, was starting to take its toll on him. Romeo loved his company, Morretti Finance and Investments, and wanted it to achieve even greater success. Hence, he was working around the clock. “I need to focus on my clients, instead of wasting my time doing magazine interviews and TV shows.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. The press love you, and they’re obsessed with your fabulous, jet-setting lifestyle. You’re the Italian version of James Bond minus the Secret Service thing. If you shy away from the public now it could hurt your bottom line.”
“Life is about more than just money.”
Giuseppe scoffed, as if he’d never heard anything more outrageous in his life. “Tell that to my three teenage daughters. The more moolah I give them, the more they want.”
Romeo stopped at the intersection and stared out the window. His gaze landed on the corner newsstand, zeroing in on the headline splashed across the front of Celebrity Patella. He gripped the steering wheel so hard his veins throbbed.
Scanning the glossy magazine cover, he read the large, bold title—The Morretti Family, Sex, Lies and Secrets Exposed!—and gritted his teeth. For the umpteenth time, he wondered where he’d gone wrong, and cursed the day he’d met Lizabeth Larsen. He’d become acquainted with the lingerie model at a beach in Portugal and it had been lust at first sight.
How could Lizabeth do this to me? Doesn’t she have a heart? Romeo couldn’t wrap his head around what she’d done. They’d been broken up for over a year, and he hadn’t seen or heard from her in months, so why now? Why was she trying to ruin him? She’d given a tell-all interview to the trashy gossip magazine, and now the entire city was buzzing about the salacious story. Lizabeth had shared intimate details about their sex life and had also bad-mouthed his family. Thankfully, his brothers and cousins lived in the States and would probably never see the issue. Romeo, on the other hand, couldn’t go anywhere in Milan without people staring at him.
He swallowed hard, but the lump in his throat grew. The negative things Lizabeth had said about his family played in his mind. To his shock, she’d discussed his nephew’s fatal pool accident at his brother Emilio’s estate, the embezzlement accusations against his cousin Nicco, and his cousin Rafael’s baby-mama drama in Washington years earlier. But what hurt Romeo more than anything were the lies she’d told about his deceased mother. He only hoped his grandparents, who lived in a small coastal fishing town, didn’t hear about Lizabeth’s interview.
“You have to do the show,” Giuseppe insisted, raising his voice.
His enthusiasm was palpable, but Romeo didn’t share in his publicist’s excitement. “I don’t have to do shit. It’s my decision, not yours, so tell your producer friend at the TV station that I’m not interested in doing a sit-down interview tomorrow. Or any day for that matter.”
“Lizabeth made explosive claims about you, and I hear she’s planning to publish a tell-all book about your on-again, off-again relationship later as well.”
Reeling from the news, Romeo spoke through clenched teeth. “Good for her.”
“Want some advice?”
No, he thought, raking a hand through his thick brown hair. I want you to quit badgering me, and cancel all of my public appearances for the rest of the week. I need a break. I’m feeling run down, and I don’t want to end up in the hospital again. Romeo shuddered to think what would have happened if Giuseppe hadn’t found him in his home office that fateful day in August, and pressed his eyes shut to clear his mind. His hospital stay last year had been a huge wake-up call, and Romeo wasn’t going to let anyone or anything stand in the way of his health or his happiness. If that meant keeping a low profile, so be it.
“Go on Lifestyle TV, tell your side of the story, then give Lizabeth a million-dollar cash settlement to make her disappear once and for all...”
His eyes wide, he started down at his cell phone, unable to believe what he was hearing. Romeo didn’t need this shit. Not today. Every day brought
