Tempted in the City Read online

  TALL, DARK AND DAMN

  Meet Little Italy’s best-kept—and hottest—secret: bachelor Tony Paladino

  Little Italy is a part of Tony Paladino. The noise, the food, the people—it’s in his blood. Now he’s taken over the family contracting business, trying to keep the community as vibrant and beautiful as it used to be. But the bitch about small communities is everyone knows everyone...

  Which is why newcomer Catherine Fox is pretty much screwed. There isn’t enough cannoli in the world to convince the old-school neighbors to accept an outsider. As Tony helps Cat restore the old home she bought, however, the chemistry between them is sizzlin’ hot. And suddenly this sexy bachelor—who’s oh-so-good with his hands—is not about to say Ciao!

  “I wasn’t finished...”

  “With what?” Catherine asked, all innocence, his hungry look and low raspy voice exciting her.

  “Kissing you,” Tony said, pulling her close. The way he took her mouth, possessive and demanding, accelerated more than her heartbeat.

  It was thrilling. Her breasts brushed against his chest, her hardened nipples sensitive enough to make her breath catch. She squeezed her legs together as tightly as she could, needing the pressure, wanting so much more.

  His hands tightened on her waist, and he lifted her up onto the center island. Their eyes were level now, and she could see the black of his widening pupils.

  “Christ, you’re beautiful,” he whispered, then kissed her as he slid his hands underneath her dress, moving them up her thighs, which seemed to part of their own volition. “I’ve been thinking about this since the last time you were here,” he said.

  “Except this time, I intend to finish what I start.”

  Dear Reader,

  I’m back writing about my favorite city in the world—New York! In this gently reimagined tale of Little Italy, five generations of the Paladino family have lived in their house on Mulberry Street since 1910. Now, they’ve got a thriving construction firm where three hot brothers, Tony, Luca and Dominic, work, live and love in the shrinking, old-fashioned world of close Italian families who seem to specialize in gossip.

  In Tempted in the City, Tony Paladino meets a woman who is most definitely not one of their own. Catherine Fox works as a translator at the United Nations. After growing up in Europe, the daughter of diplomats, she’s finally found the home she’s always dreamed of in the heart of Little Italy.

  Unfortunately, the Old Guard—a bunch of nosy neighbors who should know better—objects to this stranger remodeling one of the few single-family homes in the neighborhood.

  Tony, on the other hand, loves everything about Cat. From the moment she hires his family to do the remodel, the two of them click in every way...especially in the bedroom.

  It’s supposed to be just a fling—until they finish the house. But life doesn’t always follow a blueprint.

  I hope you all fall in love with the Brothers Paladino in the hot NYC Bachelors series! I certainly have.

  Ciao,

  Jo Leigh

  Jo Leigh

  Tempted in the City

  Jo Leigh is from Los Angeles and always thought she’d end up living in Manhattan. So how did she end up in Utah in a tiny town with a terrible internet connection, being bossed around by a houseful of rescued cats and dogs? What the heck, she says, predictability is boring. Jo has written more than forty-five novels for Harlequin. Visit her website at joleigh.com or contact her at [email protected].

  Books by Jo Leigh

  Harlequin Blaze

  Three Wicked Nights

  One Breathless Night

  One Sizzling Night

  One Blazing Night

  It’s Trading Men

  Choose Me

  Have Me

  Want Me

  Seduce Me

  Dare Me

  Intrigue Me

  To get the inside scoop on Harlequin Blaze and its talented writers, be sure to check out blazeauthors.com.

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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Excerpt from Hot Seduction by Lisa Childs

  1

  “WHERE THE HELL have you been?”

  Tony Paladino stopped in his tracks as Gina, his cousin and the office manager at Paladino & Sons, came at him waving a wad of pink message slips. He held his hand up to stop her as he checked the text on his cell phone.

  Sure enough, Rita wanted to meet later, after work. She was in town only for tonight, and he wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of seeing her. He hadn’t had sex in too damn long, and Rita was just the ticket. Uncomplicated, didn’t even live in New York, and she wanted nothing from him but some hot action with a wave goodbye after. Perfect.

  He answered her text in very few words, and the moment he hit Send, Gina pounced.

  “You were supposed to be here two hours ago. Alex, the plumber on the Ortega job, says the whole system needs replacing from the ground up, and that was not in his budget, so he wants his money up front.

  “Also, Sal is going crazy at Catherine Fox’s house. He says she’s insane and if you don’t call him back right away, he’s going to pack it up and go home.”

  “Well, that’s just great.” Tony shook his head. The hits just kept on coming.

  “I’m not finished,” Gina said. “The mayor’s assistant is trying to get hold of your father to ask him to dinner as thanks for the remodel of his offices. And Leo’s truck broke down in Park Slope so he hasn’t gotten to the Walkers’ brownstone yet. There’s a bunch more, but those are the calls you need to get to right away.”

  “Sounds about right after the morning I’ve had. Thanks, Gina.”

  She put a hand on her hip and gave him the stink eye.

  “Hey, I told you I had to go to Aunt Miriam’s house.”

  “You were there this whole time?”

  “She made me physically verify every item on her final punch list while the project manager drank coffee and ate biscotti, because suddenly I’m the only one she trusts.”

  “Oh. Well, it wouldn’t have killed you to text me back.”

  “I forgot to turn my cell phone back on. But you’re right. I’ll try not to do that again. I tell you, Miriam is—”

  “A lunatic with too much time on her hands.” Gina gave him one of her best “all is forgiven” smiles when she handed him the messages. “I thought maybe you weren’t so anxious to get here. This being the first day and all.”

  “Nah, why delay the inevitable?” he said, shrugging, though anxiety had tightened his chest a few times.

>   “Congratulations, Tony. You’re going to do your father proud taking over the company. I left some files on his desk but that’s it. I didn’t touch anything. I figured you’d want to fix things up yourself.”

  “I don’t think that office will ever feel like anything but Dad’s. I’ll do my best and we’ll take it one day at a time. And by the way, let’s stop with the pink slips, huh? We can do all of this on our tablets.”

  “Thank God,” she said. “Chasing down you and your brothers is like herding cats. This way, I won’t get blamed when the three of you screw up.”

  “Gee thanks,” Tony said, slowly making his way past the reception area. “But I’m pretty sure we’ll find a way to blame you, anyway.”

  Gina laughed. It made her look younger, prettier, although that might have been the result of her new hairstyle. It used to be dark and big, and now it was lighter and smaller. He liked it.

  “Do me a favor? Call Leo. Make sure he’s got his truck taken care of and see if Dom can get over to the Walker’s place?”

  She nodded, already dialing her cell phone.

  Once in his office, Tony sat down in his father’s black leather chair behind the massive oak desk and looked around the room. Everything about it reminded him that he had large shoes to fill. Joe had run Paladino & Sons Construction and Renovation for so many years the office still held a hint of the Aqua Net hair spray he swore he didn’t use.

  As the eldest son, Tony had been with the company since he’d graduated from NYU back in 2004. Unofficially, he’d been with the company since the minute he could walk. It wasn’t the work that felt daunting. What scared him was being in charge of the Paladino legacy. Their name meant something. You wanted a job done right, on time and on budget, you called the Paladinos. They kept their word. They also kept the heart of New York’s Little Italy intact in more ways than anyone who wasn’t immediate family knew.

  They’d looked out for the people in the nine blocks on the Lower East Side. Had done so since 1912, when the first Paladino had come over from Sicily.

  At least—thank God—his father was still with them after last week’s scare. Joe’s second heart attack had been a near miss. But even with strict orders from his doctor to retire, Joe would probably sneak into the office from time to time. Not that Tony would blame him. Construction ran in the Paladinos’ blood.

  He called Sal, an old friend and one of their best project managers. He’d handled a lot of difficult clients in the past, so what was making him nuts about the Fox project?

  “About time you called,” Sal said after one ring. “Your client is insane.”

  “Why?”

  “Okay, so she says we’re supposed to avoid damaging anything that might be original to the house. Art deco, she says, that was the agreement. She wants it all restored, from tile work to crown moldings. First of all, there’s nothing like that in the contract. Second, how are we supposed to know what the hell is original in this place? It was built in 1902. Look, Tony, I’m sorry to put this on you on your first day as boss, man, but you know the schedule we’re running here, and there’s a list of jobs a mile long waiting for me. So what do you want me to do?”

  Tony opened his eyes. He hadn’t even realized he’d been cringing. The Fox contract had been one of the last his father had done. He’d started making mistakes a couple months before that, and while Tony had caught most of them, he hadn’t paid much attention to the Fox job because he trusted Sal. But this was a big project, a complete remodel from foundation to roof, and not something he could fix over the phone.

  “Look, just keep working in the areas that aren’t in question. I’ll contact Catherine Fox and find out what she’s talking about and get back to you, okay?”

  “Okay. But, Tony, this needs to be settled by tomorrow. I have another job right in back of this one, and we’re supposed to be taking down walls as soon as we get the nod from the inspectors.”

  “I know. I’ll handle it.”

  “Yeah. And, Tony. I’m sorry about your dad.”

  “Thanks, Sal. He’ll be okay.” When Tony hung up, Gina stood at the edge of his door. “What about the whiteboard?”

  The huge board was in the main office. It listed every job, its current stage and who was in charge of the operation. Joe hadn’t been big on tech. He’d done things the way his father and grandfather had. Those methods had taken them through a lot of rocky financial years, kept them, their relatives, employees and all the regular subcontractors working when a lot of other companies had gone belly-up. Tony wasn’t going to make too many changes at once.

  “Why don’t we leave it for now.”

  “So your dad will feel better when he sneaks back to visit?” Gina said, her fondness not hidden by the teasing words.

  “Actually, yeah.”

  “Good thinking,” she said.

  “Hey, were my brothers here?”

  Gina nodded.

  “See if you can reschedule our meeting for tomorrow.”

  “Already done. Luca will be here for sure. Dom hasn’t texted me back, but he’ll make time. They were disappointed you weren’t here, so they couldn’t make a fuss out of you moving over to your dad’s office. Dom brought doughnuts.”

  “Don’t tell me he actually paid for them.”

  Gina laughed. “He got them from that silly Carveccio girl.”

  “Of course he did,” Tony said, more to himself than Gina. He looked down at the other pink slips on the desk. The top message was from Angie, his ex-wife. He could put that off, but not for long. Better to get the last of the financial settlement over with, even if things would be tight until they got more caught up with their receivables. The Paladinos had always adjusted the family salaries to make their payments, and never thought of touching the money in the trust. Tony wasn’t going to change that now.

  The remaining five messages, everything from job snafus to a request for a radio interview, didn’t need his attention today. He still had to call Alex, but first he had to get in touch with Catherine Fox and make sure they met ASAP. He had one chance to see Rita tonight, and he wasn’t going to miss it.

  * * *

  “LITTLE ITALY, PLEASE, Grand and Lafayette.” Catherine settled in the backseat of the yellow cab, reminding herself she had no control over the heavy New York traffic. To go from the United Nations building to her new home was exactly 5.3 miles, but it took at least twenty-five minutes to get there. If she was lucky.

  She wasn’t lucky today.

  The whole construction debacle had come as a shock. Not just that the project manager had acted as if he knew nothing about her revised restoration plans, but that she’d accepted a verbal agreement in the first place.

  It had been completely out of character, but there’d been something about Joseph Paladino that she’d trusted immediately. At the same time, she wasn’t naive enough to think she didn’t need the amendment in writing. This home meant everything to her. What had she been thinking?

  God, she could just scream.

  Now, instead of hashing things out with Joseph, she had to deal with his son. Everything about it smelled rotten. This major snafu had caused her to be late returning from lunch, which meant she’d need to go back to work later. Worse than that, it felt like a bait and switch, which she was going to nip right in the bud. Despite all the recommendations and exceptional reviews of Paladino & Sons, they were not going to play her for a fool.

  There were other contractors, though she really hoped this was a mix-up and she hadn’t been taken in by the very sincere-seeming Paladino, Sr. She of all people should be able to spot a con artist. Her job was dependent on her ability to read nuance and body language. But just in case, she’d already started to compile a list of alternatives.

  They turned on Grand and she spotted Tony Paladino right away. Tall, dark haired and
trim, he carried a black satchel and wore dark jeans and a white oxford shirt with no tie.

  After paying the cabbie, she straightened her skirt as she approached where Tony stood facing her front door. The outside of the three-story town house was redbrick and beautiful, although there was definitely work to be done on her front stoop. Whether it would be done by this guy’s company remained to be seen.

  He turned upon hearing her heels on the uneven sidewalk. “Hello,” he said, holding out his hand. “Tony Paladino.”

  She met his chestnut-brown eyes and her heart started beating harder. “Catherine Fox,” she said, noting the strength of his handshake. “I must admit, I’m disappointed that your father couldn’t be here.”

  “He would have been if he’d been able, I assure you.”

  She took out her key and slid it into the lock. It gave her the moment she needed to think about something other than the fact that Tony was an unexpectedly good-looking man. Catherine turned the key just as a distasteful thought occurred to her. This might be exactly what she’d feared. Was Mr. Charm here supposed to distract her long enough for them to renege and have her sign off?

  The hell with that. They would finish the job, all right. Exactly to her specifications. Just as Joseph Paladino had promised.

  A moment later they were inside. The ground floor was where most of the building supplies were spread out, so they had to make their way past scaffolds, tarps and exposed pipes. The focus so far had been on the foundation, electrical and plumbing, basic work about which she wasn’t concerned. She led Tony up to the small suite she’d made her home base. It took up only a quarter of the second floor—which would eventually become her master suite and one guest room—but it was large enough for now.

  Even though the work was loud and messy during the week, she hadn’t been around for most of it, leaving her to get used to the old place on the nights and weekends. She had a makeshift bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and small sitting area where she could watch television.

  She put her purse on the table by the entrance, reminding herself to keep her cool. Smile. Act as if nothing was wrong—at least nothing that a polite conversation couldn’t fix. Drawing in a deep breath, she turned to him. “I have wine, coffee and tea. What can I get you?”