Kidnapping the Brazilian Tycoon (10 page)

He scratched his chin, his fingers still tingling from caressing her skin.
Will it ever stop?

Chapter Eight

Bruno sighed.
Another dinner party.

The invitations to parties and events were endless. Rio’s high society loved novelty, and having such a successful native visiting after many years gave Bruno royalty status. He didn’t enjoy the instant celebrity treatment, having gotten used to a life of privacy and self-preservation. He only attended a fifth of the invitations he received.

They had been in Brazil for over two weeks. While he confined himself in the office or paid a visit to his father at night, Addie hung around the house, ran errands with Camila, or attended social functions. A couple times, Bruno had caught Addie gardening, which had been praised by his father.

His father hadn’t brought up the Toca do Tigre sale anymore, and Bruno had decided to buy time and omit his decision of waiting to sell. Despite Addie’s opinion, what was the use of coming home after fourteen years to give his father the send-off he deserved if he was just going to argue with him during the few moments they shared?

Bruno walked in the spacious, glamorous, and, thank God, air-conditioned living room. Dozens of beautiful women wearing brand-name sequin dresses and high-end jewelry laughed, their hair impeccably smooth.

He searched for Addie among them, with the eagerness of a child on Christmas Eve. Except she was a gift impossible to unwrap, despite the tingles racing through him when she was around. Her behavior showed him the Kwanis were the ones she stood by. The ones she protected.

“There you are,” said a soft feminine voice behind him.

Not Addie’s. He set his glass down on the windowsill, to buy time before turning to face Serena. His movements a tad robotic. “Hi,” he managed to say.

Serena nodded, her eyes glossy. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you, Bruno. I didn’t know if I should.” She played with the flute of champagne in her hand, and he noticed her fingers trembling, tapping on the crystal.

“We don’t have to do anything, Serena. I’ve forgiven and forgotten.”

“Hey, what about me? Don’t you see I suffered, too? I always suspected my mom was involved in dirty schemes, I’ve seen her do drugs once or twice. But what she made you do was beyond words.”

He curled and uncurled his fists, then shoved his hands in his pockets with a shrug. Such assumption, that she had been a victim as much as he, hadn’t crossed his mind ‘til now.

She softened her expression, let go of her drink, and strode closer to him. “I loved you, with all my heart. The future I planned for us was yanked from me.” Unwavering, she held the gaze.

Future. The idea was laughable now. How could he have been so naïve to think a gardener would have anything remotely public with the mayor’s daughter? “You could have believed me, Serena.” He outlined her features, as if confronting an old ghost for the first time. “Trusted me,” he added, pushing the word from the pit of his stomach.

He withdrew his hand and flexed his fingers. His body, his skin showed no reaction to her.

“I was too young. Everything was black and white. You hurt me by not trusting me.”

He sighed. “Would you have stuck around if you knew?” The party around them continued without a hiccup, the guests enjoying the lavish buffet, and the waiters rushing to fill semi-empty glasses. Someone called his name, but Bruno didn’t move an inch.

Serena gave him a once-over. “Today, yes. Back then, no. I wasn’t mature enough to understand. Does your…wife know?” She shuffled her weight from one foot to the other.

“No. And it’s not your place to tell her.”

“I won’t, but you should tell her. How can you be happy with someone who doesn’t know you entirely?”

He reached for the flute on the windowsill, gulped the remaining liquid down, and set it back where it was. The champagne, now warm and less bubbly, left a dry aftertaste on his palate. “That’s not your problem.”

Serena chewed on her lower lip. “You’re right. I want you to be happy, Bruno. Sorry.”

He stared at the marble floor and then focused on her. “Listen, I’m sorry, too,” he said, his voice a tad more strained than he would have liked. “For everything.”

She gave him a lopsided smile and nudged his elbow. “I wish it had been different. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could go back in time for a do-over?”

Someone cleared her throat, and Bruno raised his eyes to Addie. She twisted on her sleek high heels. A couple of long necklaces hung from her neck, made from green and red beads he guessed were from the Kwanis.

“Addie.” Bruno bowed his head.

“Serena.” The smile on Addie’s lips didn’t match her assessing eyes.

Serena chuckled, the nervous sound doing nothing to lighten the mood. It was as if the three of them were miles away from the chatter of the party. “I didn’t mean to hog your husband, we were just reminiscing. Interesting, I thought I recognized you from our first meeting, Addie. Your face seemed familiar, and I kept digging to see if I could remember.”

Addie pursed her lips. “I have one of those faces.”

“I was doing some research for a medical lab I defend, and found a picture of you on an environmental website,” Serena continued.

Addie frowned. “It must have been the piece I wrote for a nonprofit organization about my journey from teaching to learning from the Kwanis.”

Bruno leaned forward to hear what Serena had to say.

“Yes, that article. Your boyfriend at the time was an activist, wasn’t he? What was his name again?” Serena asked.

“Michael Lipp.” Addie lifted her chin.

An ex-boyfriend. An activist. Bruno tasted the bile at the back of his throat and swallowed hard. The image of another man touching Addie, making her laugh or holding her hands… His blood went cold.

“Yes. Very well known. Is he still working in Brazil?” Serena added a notch of sweetness to her tone.

Addie took a step back. “No.”

“Why not? From the article, he seemed invested.”

Addie straightened her shoulders. “He was murdered. As he was trying to save a woman from being raped.”

Bruno inhaled and stopped breathing for a moment. Was it selfish that, besides the sympathy for Addie, a wave of jealousy filled him? Her former boyfriend had been a hero. He had died protecting a woman. It didn’t take a genius to read the discomfort in Addie’s stance.

Serena’s jaw dropped. “I’m very sorry. How…devastating.” Her gaze ping-ponged between Bruno and Addie. “I’m glad you could overcome such tragedy.”

“Overcome? What do you know about overcoming? Just because you made a bad decision and lost the gardener who’s now filthy rich?”

Serena drew back as if Addie’s words had punched her in the face.

“If you’ll excuse me…” Addie stormed out of the living room and headed toward the empty outdoor garden.

“Crap. I didn’t meant to—” Serena turned to him, her eyebrows reaching her hair line.

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle it,” he said and marched out to the terrace, following her path, unsure if he should be thankful or angry at Serena for exposing a part of Addie’s life that brought more questions than answers. Why hadn’t she confided in him and told him about her ex?

Dry leaves crackled under his shoes. He found Addie on the deck, entranced by the breathtaking view of the statue of Christ the Redeemer.

He opened the top button of his shirt. The scorching humidity didn’t make it any better.

“Is Michael the reason for all this?” he asked under his breath. “You lied to me. You told me your top priority was the Kwanis’s welfare, yet I find out through a third person it was a lie.”

She blinked. “What? I didn’t lie. The Kwanis are my mission. You would have known about Michael if you had bothered to get to know me.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, the cold sweat sticking to his palm. “Don’t turn this around. How do you expect me to trust you if you don’t even trust me enough to tell me about someone you lost?”

Addie gasped then shook her head. “Michael was the love of my life. If he had lived, I’d probably be married to him today. Not to a business transaction like you.” She went to leave, but he seized her wrist.

A business transaction. Was that all he would ever be? For anyone? The expression punched him to the core. “A business transaction that just the other day, you ensured I continue. You can’t have it both ways, Addie. You can’t hit the higher moral ground when it’s convenient.”

“I’m taking a cab home. Suddenly, I lost my appetite.”

She marched off the deck and made her way through the crowd. He watched her go, and the buzz of the party faded even when he joined it again. They had arrived together, and she’d left him alone, not caring who saw her walk away from him in a public event. Again, disrespecting the rules of their arrangement.

Cabs roamed continuously in Rio, and, by the time he got out of the house, she was already gone.

While he waited for the valet to fetch his car, he agonized over their argument. Addie made a fool out of him. She’d failed to tell him she had a fiancé, a guy Bruno guessed had been the right man for her.
Not the wrong one like me
.

During his drive to his house, he waited for his frustration to subside. It didn’t.

Why had she been that defensive? Why didn’t she share with him that she’d been close to marriage once? Why the hell was he so bothered that she had it all with someone else? The real relationship. The kind he could never offer.

Her ex had been an activist. A man who fought for other people’s rights, like Addie. The kind of man who deserved her. As he entered his house and went up the stairs toward their bedroom, the anger dissolved. Why did he still want to talk and drill answers out of her? Wasn’t it easier to keep their relationship superficial, without demands?

He crossed the empty bedroom and followed the light coming from the bathroom.

The moment he spotted her, his heart drummed, and he understood it had stopped being easy a while ago. Having no control over his emotions scared the hell out of him.

Addie was washing her face, arching over the sink.

“You’re impulsive,” he accused and tilted against the doorframe.

Addie turned off the tap and stood straight, grabbing a hand towel from the holder. She inhaled and faced him, eyes glossy and red. She’d been crying.

“I agreed to marry you after two minutes. I guess you can say I’m impulsive.” Her attempt to lighten the mood had the opposite effect.

He let a sigh out. “I’m sorry.” He choked out the words.

She tossed the towel on the counter and cleared her throat. “For my loss, or for acting like a jerk about it in the first place?”

He drummed his fingers on the frame. “Both.”

“Save your breath. All you care about is how I make you look.” She folded her arms. “You don’t care how I feel.”

Caring wasn’t part of the equation. Yet, how could he deny it? He gave her a slow once-over, dying to figure out why she was so different—from him, from the women he dated… Different from what was familiar and safe. Different from what he wanted. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,” his accent thickened. “You said I never tried to get to know you. That’s not true. I asked you about your real relationships on the porch the other day, and you didn’t tell me you were engaged before. You said that doesn’t even cross your mind anymore.”

She tapped her fingers over her neck. “I meant experiencing that bond with someone else doesn’t cross my mind because I don’t know if it’s possible again.”

For an uncomfortable minute, he hesitated. “You could have mentioned that. I’d feel like less of an idiot right now.”

“I didn’t know you wanted to know these things. You aren’t the talkative type. Well, not about things that matter, anyway.”

He clenched his hand on the frame as if seeking support. “What if you’re wrong? What if getting to know you matters to me?”

With her lips parted in surprise, she grabbed the towel she had just tossed, her fingers clasping it as if it was more than just a hand towel. “’Til now, you’ve kept me at arm’s length. How can I be sure you don’t want me to let my walls down just as collateral in case you don’t follow through with our deal?”

“Standing in front of you right now, the deal and its repercussions is the last thing on my mind. You make it all go away, Addie. I want to know what makes you tick. I also want to know what you feel like beneath me, what you sound like when I pleasure you.”

She wiped a tear with her index finger. “I have to think this through. I don’t know if I’m ready for…being intimate with someone.” Her last sentence lost energy at the end. “With you.”

Relief and apprehension wrestled inside him. He opted for taking one step back, eyes fixed on hers. “Then you’d better find out.”

…

His words stayed with her long after she’d finally fallen asleep on the couch. He’d once again insisted she take the bed, but sleeping alone on the big bed, especially after what they had discussed, was more than she could handle. She had risen to many challenges in her life, but not knowing if she wanted to face her growing interest for Bruno was disturbing. Was it right to indulge in a fling when there was so much at stake?

The next morning while taking a shower, her necklace opened and fell to the tiled floor. It had fallen off a couple of times, and now the lobster clasp was bent, making it easy for the chain to slip off.

Stepping from the shower, she picked it up and put it on the granite countertop before drying herself with a fluffy towel. Then, dressed in a denim skirt and black V-neck shirt, she scooped it from the countertop. Her fingers toyed with the sterling necklace.

Michael had never had the chance to buy her a proper engagement ring. He’d given her that necklace instead, and it meant everything to her. She opened the top drawer and carefully put it inside.

Just until I find a jeweler and get it fixed
. She sauntered into the bedroom, picked up the phone, then dialed her parents’ number.

Addie’s heart thumped at every ring. Maybe they wouldn’t be home and she could leave a message. Oh, that would be so much better.

Every other Sunday, she phoned her parents, regardless of where she was. Their unspoken agreement was to contact them at least a couple times a month, no excuses, even if she were out of the country. She’d missed making the call last weekend, and now it was time to deal with the consequences.