Hello everyone! Ally, thanks for allowing us to promote our books. Here's an
excerpt from Valente's Baby, a Silhouette Desire that reached #2 on the
Waldenbooks Bestseller List for series books last month. Yeah! More information
about the book can be seen on my website:

http://www.maxinesullivan.com

Maxine
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"You're a father."

Matt Valente broke into a grin as he sat down on the hotel bed. "I didn't know I
was pregnant."

"Don't be smart, Matthew," Cesare Valente snapped down the telephone line. The
founder of the House of Valente perfume dynasty was clearly not amused.
"Remember Lana Jensen?"

The smile dropped from Matt's lips. "She was my top accountant a while back, so
yeah, I should remember her." That perfect body…that beautiful face… those
Nordic blue eyes hinting at a Scandinavian heritage that seemed as clear as
crystal but were in fact deep and hiding lies.

"She had your baby."

A baby?
No way.

The only thing she'd had was him.

They'd both been a little tipsy at the office Christmas party and she'd taken
advantage of his inebriated state to seduce him. They'd made love on the sofa in
his office.

Not that he'd been any less to blame for succumbing to her charms, despite her
giving him the come-on for months, her blue gaze skittering away every so often,
teasing him with a sensual game of cat and mouse.

Afterward he'd regretted not keeping to his golden rule of no personal
involvement with office staff. As chief financial officer for the family
business, he didn't need any complications in the workplace.

"I don't believe it. She's lying."

"I saw the child with my own eyes, Matt. I was in my Mercedes waiting for the
light to change when Lana crossed in front of me pushing a small child in a
stroller. I checked out the birth certificate. Your name's on it."

Matt's hand tightened around the phone. "Dad, that's a breach of privacy."

His.

Hell, if his name was on that birth certificate he needed to sort it out.

"Matt, I did what needed to be done. And that included a background check on
Lana."

Matt's lips twisted. "Why am I not surprised?"

"It was necessary. She's the mother of my grandchild."

"And she'd suitable?" he asked with a touch of sarcasm.

"As far as I'm concerned, yes. Her parents are dead, and she has an uncle who
lives in France and is a respected businessman. Do you want to know more?
There's some other information on her family. I can send you the report."

"No, thanks." He knew all he needed to know about Lana Jensen. More than enough.

And he needed to make his father see sense.

"Dad, look, you can put any name on a birth certificate. I didn't think you'd
fall for that old trick."

"She's a Valente, figlio mio." Son of mine. "She looked just like you. There's
no doubt in my mind."

Something odd bounced around in Matt's chest. "It's a girl? Er… I mean, she's a
girl?"

"Yes. And I'm delighted. It's about time we had another little girl in the
family."

Matt grimaced. Girl or boy, it didn't matter to him. "Well, I'm not."

"You will be once you see her."

"Who said I was going to see her?"

"She's my granddaughter, Matt. If you don't go to her, then I'll bring her to
you."

Matt's jaw clenched. "This is to trick me into getting married, isn't it? You
may have forced Alex and Nick to marry, but I'm not falling for it, Dad."

A year ago they'd been about to branch into the North American market with their
top-selling perfume, Valente's Woman, when Cesare had threatened to sell the
business out from under Alex's feet if he didn't marry. Then a couple of months
ago, Cesare had promised to give the Valente estate to anyone but his second
son, Nick. Both his brothers had been given no choice but to do what their
father wanted or lose what they loved most. As youngest son, Matt had decided
there was nothing his father could do to him to make him marry.

"Matt, I admit I had no compunction in forcing your two brothers to marry, and I
would have found a way to force you to marry, too. Only now I don't have to, do
I? You've brought a daughter into this world and you will give that daughter
your name. She will be known as a true Valente."

"Don't dictate to me, Dad. If this child is mine, and I'm in no way convinced of
it, then I'll give her my name. You can count on it."

"That's all I wanted to know. The family jet is at Brisbane Airport waiting for
you. Nick and Sasha are already there and will attend the conference dinner in
your place."

His father was like a damn bulldozer at times. Not even the heart attack had
stopped his interfering in his sons' lives.

"I've got a date for the dinner tonight."

"You had a date. I suggest you break it and get back to Sydney tonight and go
see the mother of your child as soon as possible. I like Lana and I'm sure
she'll be reasonable."

At the mention of Lana, his gut clenched, but there was no way he wanted his
father to know that. Cesare would somehow use that knowledge in future if he
could. He could imagine the older man's reaction if he ever told him Lana was a
thief and that he'd covered up for her without telling anyone. And he couldn't
wholly blame his decision not to report their theft on Cesare's heart attack at
the time either.

"What woman is ever reasonable, Dad?" he mocked.

Cesare laughed and said goodbye, and Matt hung up the phone and went to stand at
the window in his hotel suite. He looked out over the sweeping coastline of
Queensland's Gold Coast as the rolling surf of the Pacific Ocean tumbled onto
the golden beaches of Australia's tourist capital.

Tonight he'd planned a romantic dinner and a night of lovemaking with a lady
friend of his.

Now he could only think of one woman.

Lana Jensen.

She'd been the only woman he'd made love to without a condom. He'd been so hot
for her, and the alcohol he'd consumed had lowered his guard.

But if that child was his—if Lana had lied to him about being protected from a
pregnancy—then she'd done more than stolen that fifty thousand dollars from the
House of Valente.

She'd just stolen his freedom.

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