The Italian's Innocent Cinderella

CATHY WILLIAMS can remember reading Harlequin books as a teenager, and now that she is writing them, she remains an avid fan. For her, there is nothing like creating romantic stories and engaging plots, and each and every book is a new adventure. Cathy lives in London, and her three daughters—Charlotte, Olivia and Emma—have always been, and continue to be, the greatest inspirations in her life. Books by Cathy Williams Desert King’s Surprise Love-Child Consequences of Their Wedding Charade Hired by the Forbidden Italian Bound by a Nine-Month Confession A Week with the Forbidden Greek The Housekeeper’s Invitation to Italy Secrets of the Stowe Family Forbidden Hawaiian Nights Promoted to the Italian’s Fiancée Claiming His Cinderella Secretary Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk. The Italian’s Innocent Cinderella Cathy Williams www.millsandboon.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-008-92869-8 THE ITALIAN’S INNOCENT CINDERELLA © 2023 by Cathy Williams Published in Great Britain 2023by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental. 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Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries. www.millsandboon.co.uk Note to Readers This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings: Change of font size and line height Change of background and font colours Change of font Change justification Text to speech “Explain,” Maude whispered, already predicting what he was about to say and dreading confirmation of her suspicions. “What...what was in the paper, Mateo?” “I debated bringing it but in the end, I thought better of it.” “Why?” “Because we’re engaged.” Maude’s mouth fell open and she stared at him in utter shock. “Sorry?” “It would seem that I found the love of my life with you and we’re engaged.” “No. No, no, no, no...no...” Contents Cover About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Note to Readers Introduction CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN Extract About the Publisher CHAPTER ONE ‘NOT WHAT I was expecting...’ Mateo’s dark, lazy voice from behind feathered along Maude’s spine and she turned around slowly to look at him. Ever since this arrangement had been made the evening before, Maude had had time to ponder and had come to the conclusion that it was just a terrible idea. What had possessed her? Mateo Moreno was her boss. Her billionaire boss. She had spent the past two years climbing the career ladder, doing her utmost, as one of five structural engineers at his prestigious London firm, to impress him with her initiative and drive. She was thirty-two years old with an exemplary record when it came to productivity and already in charge of a small team. She had always made sure to keep her professional life separate from her private one so why on earth had she been crazy enough to succumb to this reckless adventure? If it could even be called ‘adventure’, as opposed to ‘hare-brained scheme that defied all logic and would end in tears’. She knew why. Of course she did. He had caught her in a weak moment. There they’d been the evening before, long after everyone else had left the towering glass building that housed his lavish offices, discussing the latest project and inspecting the scale replica village on the concrete table in his office, when her phone had pinged and she’d read the text that had sent her into a tailspin. Angus, the plus-one she had roped into her brother’s pre-wedding party the following evening, had bailed on her at the last minute. Maude was mystified as to why her brother had to have a pre-wedding party when the actual wedding was only a matter of weeks away, but it had been unavoidable and, that being the case, she had asked Angus to help her out. Matter sorted...until she’d got that text. His boyfriend had fallen off a ladder. He had decided on a whim to paint the ceiling in their bedroom and had fallen, splintering two bones in his ankle. Why on earth Ron had wanted to paint the ceiling in the first place was a mystery, because he loathed anything to do with DIY. Naturally, there was no way Angus could possibly go to the party while Ron was laid up in hospital, being patched up. And, in response to a couple of sympathetic questions from Mateo, Maude had done what she had vowed never to do—she had opened up to her boss. He had noted the dismayed expression on her face and had perched on the edge