Adriano was proud of being a peão, a country boy. But having that pride rubbing up against wealth like this for months on end… he didn’t like it.
The entire resort was done in what they called mission style. There had been places like this in Brazil, old places from the time of Portuguese rule, built by his African ancestors. Not fakes like this.
There were many families on the circuit who bragged about how they’d been ranching for over a century. But this place… this place practically intoned, We’ve been here for several centuries. And we’ll be here for many more. It was a place that made a kid who’d grown up in the kind of poverty these Americans couldn’t imagine feel as out of place as a bull in a milking shed.
“No,” she said. “I live in the ranch house. With my brother Luke.”
“Ah. So I move in and we all become one big happy family?”
She chewed on that, her soft lips pursing as she did. He didn’t remember her kisses as being soft though. They’d been as fiercely demanding as the lady herself.
“Luke will come around,” she said finally.
Adriano wouldn’t put money on that. But she was the pregnant woman here, and if he wanted to turn her toward his plans, he’d have to give in to some of her demands. “If you’re certain.”
That caught her by surprise. “Are you saying yes?”
“Yes. But we’ll have to set some rules.”
“No sex,” she said quickly.
He smiled at how rapidly she got that out. He didn’t even have to steer her into that one. “I agree.”
She pointed a finger at him. “And we’ll have to agree to compromise on stuff.”
“Like we’ve just been doing?”
She laughed, clear and strong and uninhibited. It hit him right in the chest, made his mouth tip into a wide smile of its own. Her laugh was a powerful thing.
The waiter came back then with steak frites for Adriano and a spinach Cobb salad for Lil. “Here you are,” he said cheerfully, as if he hadn’t backed away from their argument earlier. But once their plates were down, he was out the door again quick as could be.
Adriano dug into his steak. It was excellent, perfectly cooked and with a rich flavor he didn’t get often in the beef here.
She was eating her salad fairly steadily. Good.
“Make certain to eat all that,” he said. There, there was a bit of care.
She rolled her eyes. “This isn’t going to work if you’re going to order me around.”
He blinked in surprise—that had hardly been an order. “I only want you and the baby to be safe. This won’t work if you’re going to be headstrong.”
“Welcome to Headstrong City, cowboy. If you want to convince me, you better be ready to meet me halfway.”
He almost laughed but kept his expression still. He didn’t want her to think she could get around him with humor, no matter how powerful her laugh was. “I’m here, aren’t I? This is your territory.”
That hit—he could tell by how her eyes widened, just a fraction. “I don’t exactly own all this. It’s owned by the company, which benefits the entire family.”
Ah yes, that legacy she’d been going on and on about. As if she was the only one who cared about family. “You said Luke lives in the ranch house. What about the rest of the family?”
She smiled as if amused by a private joke. “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll get to meet them. Soon. Benedict and Luke want to have a chat with you.”
Damn. He’d only just arrived, and already her brothers were throwing their weight around. Although to be fair, he’d have done the same if it were his sister.
“And where can I find them?”
Her smile went smug. If she weren’t pregnant, he’d kiss that smile right off her face. And she’d kiss him back just as powerfully, and soon enough there’d be dishes flying.
He blew out a low, slow breath, trying not to let her hear. Moving in with her was going to be hazardous to his self-control. Focus.
“Benedict’s office is off the main corridor,” she said. “Follow the signs pointing to the corporate office.”
Corporate office. As if he were an employee to be reprimanded. “Sounds easy enough.”
She was laughing again, but only with her eyes. “Oh, it is. And be sure to tell Luke and Benedict I said hi.”
She thought they’d scare him. He was a bull rider—two angry brothers weren’t going to run him off.
“Of course.” He let his own smile grow smug, watched her expression sag into uncertainty. “I’d be happy to.”
Let her think she’d won this battle. He was only setting himself up for the longer struggle to come.
One he was prepared to win.
CHAPTER FOUR
Oh, these two thought they were tough.
Adriano lounged in a chair across from Benedict Merrill’s desk. The man himself sat behind it, another man propped against the wall behind him.
The office itself was stark, luxuriously bare as only the truly wealthy can achieve. All eyes were meant to be on Merrill, not some decorations. Funnily enough, his secretary had enough plants out there to start a nursery. She’d also given Adriano a small smile as he’d walked past, so he wasn’t entirely surrounded by enemies.
Benedict hadn’t risen when he’d entered, hadn’t offered a chair, hadn’t said anything more than, “So, you’re Silva?”
The other man said nothing, simply leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. His sleeves were rolled up to the elbow, revealing tattoos twining down his forearms and ending at the wrist. Adriano knew his type. Tough enough to cover himself in tattoos but still made certain they’d never show beneath a suit.
Adriano had no tattoos. His scars from his rides were mark enough of his character. No need to set it in black and white, not when it was already carved in relief.
“That’s me,” he agreed. He slowly jiggled his foot as it rested across his knee. Enough to speak to impatience but not anxiousness. “You must be Merrill.” He flicked a glance to the other brother. “Both of them.”
Neither were pleased at his casual manner, he could tell. Well, he wasn’t pleased at this show of force.
“Liliana’s a Merrill too,” Benedict said. Staking his claim on her.
“She’s carrying my child.” Adriano had a claim to stake as well. “That makes her part of my family now.”
The silent one didn’t like that. He shifted, the ropes of muscle on his forearms bulging. But he couldn’t deny it.
That one must be Luke, his new roommate. Her other brother. Oh, Adriano had a surprise coming for these two.
Benedict folded his hands together. “How exactly did that happen?”
He damn well knew, but he wanted to Adriano to recite it like a shamed teenager.
“The same way these things always happen.” They’d used protection, but… Well, God had willed it. “If you think I mean to shirk my duties to Liliana, you’re wrong. We’re moving in together.”
“What the hell?” That got the silent brother sputtering, his movements jerky as he shoved off the wall.
Now who had control of this little meeting? Adriano sat back, putting on a half smile.
Benedict motioned for silence. “Moving in together?” He watched Adriano closely, his body quiet. If he was pissed, he was hiding it well. “That strikes me as… extreme. Liliana agreed to this?”
“She did.” Let them think it was his suggestion.
Benedict’s jaw clenched—he was struggling with this. He clearly thought stepping up to take charge of a lady pregnant with one’s child was the right thing—yet when the lady in question was his sister, he liked it less. “We’re standing by Liliana in this. No matter what she decides.”
If she were to decide that Adriano had to go, they’d be quicker to throw him out than they were to welcome him, he could tell.
“I am standing by Liliana as well. And our child.”
Luke snorted. “Great. So I’m supposed to live with her and you?”<
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“Yep. I’m guessing the house is big enough that we can avoid each other.” Adriano didn’t keep the sarcasm from his voice. He wasn’t cowed by their wealth. Or even impressed.
Benedict drummed his fingers on the desk. “Huh. You don’t have a place of your own?”
“There’s no need. I’m always traveling for the rodeo.” Nothing to be ashamed of in that.
Benedict leaned back, his gaze sharpening, keenly speculative. “Look, I get it. You grew up poor, have no place of your own.”
Adriano doubted very much that Benedict understood him. Not if he called this place home.
“You find out Lil is pregnant,” her brother went on, “and you think this is your chance. A place to live, all her wealth—”
Fuck you. “You think I grew up in a favela?” Always the favela with these Americans, as if his home held nothing else. “How would I have learned to ride bulls in a city? Brazil is more than beaches and favelas and Carnaval. I grew up in Mato Grosso do Sul, nothing like the beach or Rio de Janeiro. Not that you’ve probably even heard of it.” Small-minded idiots. “I came to this country to ride bulls, not seduce rich girls. And I make good money riding bulls.” He jabbed a finger at Benedict, his teeth snapping together. “I’ve no need of Liliana’s wealth. If you’re not convinced, take a look at my lifetime earnings on the Internet sometime.”
Adriano might not be rich enough for these fools, but he was rich enough for this country. And coming from where he had, that was saying something.
“I already did,” Benedict said mildly. “And I investigated what your sponsors are paying you. I’m not saying it’s nothing, what you’ve earned, but some men can never have enough. And Liliana has a lot. Enough that even a man as rich as you are might covet it.”
Adriano could understand the impulse to protect his sister, but he wouldn’t let that come at the expense of his honor. “I went to Liliana because I was compelled by her. Not her money.” Something flickered in Benedict’s gaze. “It was her own self that drew me. You insult her to suggest differently.”
She still compelled him, that brash attitude coupled with her delicious body, no matter what rules they’d laid down. And she was to be the mother of his child, always and forever. Benedict could sling all the slurs he wanted and it wouldn’t undo that simple fact.
No matter that Adriano meant to convince her to give their child to him—he’d still defend her.
“That’s a pretty speech.” Benedict made it sound anything but pretty. “But words ain’t shit. You’ve got to prove they’re true. I guess if you’re moving in with Lil, you’ve got the chance.”
He didn’t need to earn Benedict Merrill’s approval—he was his own man. And yet, he was Lil’s brother.
You’ll have to meet me halfway.
Well he was about to, not that she was here to see it.
“The baby will want for nothing. I swear it.” Not quite a concession, but perhaps better than one.
Benedict put on a rather cruel smile. “And I’m just in the pool house, in case you two need anything.”
Lil hadn’t mentioned that wrinkle. One brother in the house, one next door—how many more relatives were going to pop out of the bushes, promising to watch over her?
Adriano smiled back. “Wonderful. That will make Lil happy—and we all want her to be happy, don’t we?”
The brothers had no response except for matching scowls.
Liliana plucked at a weed, imagining that it was Adriano.
Not that he was scraggly, green, or unwanted. No, he was as irresistible as he’d been in Vegas. His eyes still looked too beautiful to be true. And his skin, several shades darker than his eyes, the color of antique gold or aged bronze. The luster of it put her in mind of velvet, but under her fingers it had been as smooth and warm as slept-in sheets. And beneath his shirt and Wranglers, a body that could have been a Greek statue come to life.
She sighed. God, listen to her. Going on about him like some overwrought poet. He did that to her though. Made her lose her head and wallow in her visceral response to him.
Rufio, her Jack Russell terrier, set his paws on the edge of the raised garden bed and cocked his head as if to say Are you okay? One of the barn cats watched from the fence, silently judging them.
She rubbed the dog behind the ears. “Letting him move in might be a terrible mistake.”
It felt good to admit that aloud, that everything might go to hell. Adriano’s behavior over lunch had been worrisome.
Yet… he’d bought that pregnancy book. And read the entire thing. It was kind of sweet—except it was probably all part of his plan to convince her he should have the baby.
Some might say she shouldn’t have suggested moving in together so quickly, should have taken her time, gone slow.
But that had never been Lil’s way. She always had to make things harder for herself. Perhaps if she’d gone slower in Vegas with him, this might not have happened. But it was done now. The only way out was through.
Assuming he survived his meeting with her brothers.
Lil found another weed and pulled it from the soil. A little weeding each and every day kept the garden neat. And it soothed her, looking over her plants, smelling the sharp scent of their leaves and the deeper notes of the soil beneath, getting the dirt on her hands. These had been her mother’s garden boxes before her—Lil could still remember her father mortaring the bricks into place, the excitement of keeping the secret until her mother’s birthday.
Rufio tore off toward the house, barking at something coming along the path on the far side. She chuckled at the sight. He was so little, yet so fierce, all of him jerking with the force of his barking. His tail began to wag and his barks turned from menacing to friendly.
Lil rose and brushed the dirt from her hands, knowing who was coming.
Her brothers appeared, looking grim.
No need to ask how their meeting with Adriano went. Maybe they wouldn’t be moving in together after all. But she suspected it would take a hell of a lot more than her brothers’ anger to run off Adriano at this point.
“Hey, Lil,” Luke called.
Benedict simply nodded.
“Hey, guys,” she said. The look on Benedict’s face just killed her. He hadn’t looked like that since Josh had gone to prison. “How was your day?” she asked brightly, as if none of this pregnancy stuff had ever happened.
Luke stared at her for a moment, then cupped his forehead in his palm and started laughing. “Jesus, Lil.”
But Benedict remained grim. Always the worried older brother with him.
“Okay,” she said, “tell me this: is Adriano still alive?”
Luke laughed harder while Benedict kept on frowning.
“Of course he’s alive,” Benedict said.
“Oh good. That would have been hard to explain to the baby.”
Benedict did smile then, but only for a moment before the scowl was back. “Are you certain about this?”
Hell no. “It’s too late to turn back. You guys didn’t scare him off, did you?” She kept her tone light, airy, as if her stomach weren’t tying itself into knots.
“If he’s not scared of you, then he ain’t going to be scared by us.” Benedict said it with grudging admiration. Apparently Adriano had held his own with her brothers.
“I can’t believe you’re letting him move in here. But you want him gone, tell us and he’s gone.” Oh so easy for Luke to say that. As if he could toss Adriano out the front door, dust off his hands, and the matter would be settled.
If only it could be that easy. But Adriano’s insistence that he was just as fit a parent as she complicated things, along with the situation with his mom. Not to mention their bargain, which she definitely was not mentioning to her brothers.
“We’re trying it out while we work on the visitation stuff.” The truth, if an airbrushed version of it.
“And if it doesn’t work out?” Benedict raised his eyebrows, the all-knowing older brother.<
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She didn’t want to think of that. It would be like being divorced, only without having ever been married. The two of them might be passing the kid back and forth like a game of hot potato.
Not for her baby, not if she could help it. But she couldn’t deny Adriano’s wish to return to Brazil, to his family—and to have his child know his homeland too.
“It has to,” she said. “You got your he-man chest-thumping talk with him, and now you two need to keep out of it.” She’d never convince Adriano that Cabrillo was the best place for the baby if her brothers continued to piss him off.
“It doesn’t have to work out,” Luke said, crossing his arms.
Oh Jesus. “Knock it off. It was cute before, but now that he’s here, you’ve got to cool it.” If Luke screwed this up for her…
She pushed past them and went for the house. Rufio followed, stumpy tail wagging.
“Where are you going?” Benedict demanded. “We need to talk about this more.”
She kept on. “I have to finish dinner. Which he’s coming to, so best behavior please.” She stopped, turned back. “Benedict, are you eating with us?”
“Yep.” Residual anger made the edges of his voice ragged. “Pilar is coming too, if that’s all right.”
“Of course. I actually like Pilar.”
Benedict rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. When shit goes south, you deal with him yourself. Go right ahead.”
Lil gritted her teeth. “Maybe I will.” She would call him on his dare. Just watch her.
She turned—and stopped dead when she saw Adriano. His hat shaded his eyes, but the set of his mouth was grim—and he was holding a huge bunch of roses.
“Oh. Hey.” Weak, but she wasn’t expecting him to be listening in on her fight with her brothers. Great show of family unity there.
Rufio jumped up on him, leaving dusty paw prints on his Wranglers.
“Down!” The dog was usually better about that, but it seemed that her entire family was out to embarrass her today.
Adriano smiled as he rubbed at Rufio’s ears. “It’s okay. He’s happy to see me.” He straightened and his mouth flattened again, probably because she wasn’t as happy as her dog was to see him. He shoved the roses at her. “How are you? Did you rest today?”
Her Bull Rider's Baby Page 5
