Page 1 of The Roman's Woman (A Singular Obsession)

Prologue

Gio Morgese was so eager to leave that he didn’t see the toy lying forgotten on the leather seat in his private jet. When he sat down, he winced when the thick, plastic square dug into his back.

Fishing the cube out from behind him, he stopped and stared at it for a moment. Shoulders tight, he set it down on the table next to him, determinedly pretending it wasn’t there.

The toy was one of those interactive things with dials and buttons everywhere. It was designed to stimulate and help develop cognitive skills. Gio had done a lot of research before buying it. It had been meant for his friend’s daughter, but Calen and his family hadn’t been able to attend the impromptu reunion of his university friends.

They had gathered at his best friend Alex’s Greek island retreat for well over a week, but Calen missed it because his little girl had fallen ill. The illness was nothing serious, but because she wasn’t there, Gio left it behind on the plane. He had plenty of other gifts for his other friend’s children. Taking his duties as an honorary uncle seriously, he never arrived empty-handed when he saw them.

Without thinking about what he was doing, Gio stood and shoved the toy out of sight in one of the storage bins. Slamming the door closed with a little too much force, he grabbed his laptop. He started going over the latest reports from work, but his mind refused to focus. Giving up, he set his computer aside and poured himself a large glass of bitter Amaro before settling heavily back in the chair.

Gio hated to admit it, but it was getting harder to spend time with his best friends. And the reason why made him feel like shit. They were all so happy now. All three of his old university mates had found love with fantastic women.

After his divorce, Gio had started to doubt good women existed, but his friends had proved him wrong. Each of those former playboys had found someone to love, wasting no time to snap up their chance at happiness. They were even starting families—leaving him behind.

Gio rocked back further in his seat, ignoring the pang in his chest. He’d always wanted children. A lot of them. When he was younger, he believed he would have at least two or three by now. But his dream image of a big family had been shattered along with his marriage.

Everything he’d planned for had slipped away from him. In a giant, ironic twist, his friends now had the lives he wanted for himself. He’d never expected to see the day any of them would give up their hard-partying and womanizing ways for relationships. Or that they would stay monogamous after marriage.

Stop that. They were his best friends, and he loved them. He was the problem.I’m turning into a cynical sonofabitch.

Gio took a bracing sip of his drink and squeezed his eyes shut. But the image that had just popped into his head was burned into his brain. He hadn’t meant to spy. Calen and his little fairy Maia had taken a break during their Italian honeymoon to stop at Gio’s Tuscan villa to visit. He had put them clear across the house to give them privacy. It was too bad that Calen hadn’t availed himself of it.

He’d gone to call his guests into lunch only to find them making love in the garden. Calen had pinned his new wife against an ivy-covered wall, her lithe legs wrapped around his waist. He had been whispering something in her ear as he took her, each forceful thrust punctuated by Maia’s feminine moan.

Gio had walked away quickly, hurrying back inside the villa. He did his best to forget what he’d seen, but the intimate scene stayed with him, replaying in his mind on a loop.

It was unsettling. He wasn’t jealous exactly. Well, yes, he was. But not over Maia—although she was a doll. But it wasn’t her he wanted. It was thefeelinghe coveted.

Passion.

That was what he’d seen in the garden, what he saw when visiting his friends. Though he’d had his share of lovers, he realized now he’d never experienced true passion. Lust, yes, but passion was different, wasn’t it? With passion came love. Or at least, it was supposed to.

Once upon a time, he thought he’d found both. He’d been dead wrong. Now he knew what the real thing looked like. However, the knowledge came only from observation. He hadn’t been fortunate enough to learn the lesson first-hand.

Enough of this. Dwelling on the past would only make things worse. He was done regretting his ill-fated marriage. His tendency for introspection was bad for his soul. It was holding him back and making him bitter.

He downed the rest of his drink and straightened in his chair. A renewed sense of purpose flooded through him. From now on, he would keep an open mind. If his friends had found genuine and loving partners, there was a chance for him to do the same.

One thing was clear—something had to change, and it was probably him.

Chapter1

Two Months Later

Gio threw the tabloid rag on the seat next to him and swore. “Puttana d'Eva maiala troia!”

He wished he was home so he could burn the damn thing in the fireplace. A little dramatic, but fire seemed like a good way to destroy the filth.

Was his marriage going to haunt him forever? Even now, after his divorce had been final for years, it was coming back to bite him in the ass.

It had started a few weeks ago. His ex-wife, Maria Gianna, had gotten involved in yet another car accident. She was cited for reckless driving. A few days after the drug tests came back, she was charged withguida in stato d’ebrezza, or driving under the influence. Despite being known as a party girl, the fact she had multiple drugs in her system had been a surprise to him. She’d never been associated with drugs, at least not publicly. And he wasn’t the only one who hadn’t known.

The press was having a field day with the new revelation. Which was typical. As much as the gossip rags liked to build someone up, they loved tearing them down even more, as Maria Gianna was learning the hard way.

It was a lesson long in the making, one she deserved as far as he was concerned. When he’d first heard the news, he thought it would be a good thing for her in the long run—until she did her first “interview” afterward.

Maria’s response to the negative attention was to shift the blame elsewhere. And she’d chosen him as her scapegoat.

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