She had accepted his reason that he never spent the entire night with her because he was a restless sleeper and did not want to disturb her, but she didn’t know what caused his insomnia. There were a lot of things she did not know about him, she thought ruefully. Diego was as much of an enigma now as he had been when she had started working on the PR campaign for DC Diamonds three weeks ago.
Their schedule every day had been hectic. She had organised a huge publicity campaign to promote Diego’s new business venture, and he had insisted on her accompanying him in his private helicopter to TV and radio stations in cities all across Brazil so that he could give interviews and advertise his new jewellery shop franchise.
She stretched her arms above her head, unaware that the sheet slipped down to reveal her bare breasts, or of the feral gleam that flared in Diego’s eyes as he viewed the plump mounds of flesh, each adorned with a dusky pink nipple. ‘What time is it?’
‘Eight o’clock.’
‘Why have you woken me up? You might be able to function on six hours’ sleep,’ she muttered, ‘but I need a full eight hours.’
He gave a husky laugh that stirred Clare’s body to instant arousal. ‘You need to get up, anjinho, because if you don’t I will join you in bed, and either way you won’t get any more sleep.’
She pretended to consider. ‘What will you do to me if I refuse to get up?’
‘Don’t tempt me.’ Beneath his playful tone was a rougher note of raw sexual need. ‘Seriously, querida, I want to take you out for the day. Cruz and his wife, Sabrina, have arrived from their home in Portugal with their baby twins. They are renting a beachfront villa along the coast and have invited us to spend the day with them.’
Clare sat up and pulled the sheet over her breasts to hide them from Diego’s heated gaze. ‘But tonight is the launch party for DC Diamonds and I need to be here to oversee final preparations and deal with any problems.’
‘There won’t be any problems. I’ve seen the size of your folder of notes regarding arrangements for the party and I’m certain you have everything under control. I have been impressed with the PR campaign you organised over the past three weeks. You should be proud of yourself.’
She shot him a glance and realised he wasn’t teasing her. His praise made her feel stupidly happy, but she shoved the thought to the back of her mind, along with the other thought that after tonight there would be no reason for her to remain in Brazil. Unless she was pregnant. Her heart lurched. She was only two days late, she quickly reminded herself, and in fact she felt slightly nauseous, which was usually a sign that her period was about to start.
‘It will be good for you to spend the day relaxing before the party,’ Diego said persuasively.
‘What time are we expected to meet Cruz and Sabrina?’
‘I told them we would be over in an hour.’
‘Mmm...’ She let the sheet slide down her body and slipped her hands under his T-shirt, running her fingertips over the golden hairs that grew thickly on his chest. ‘So I can stay in bed for a bit longer. Care to join me?’
‘Minx,’ he growled, helping her pull his shirt over his head. Clare caught her breath when he cupped her breasts in his palms and flicked his thumbs across her nipples, making them tighten and tingle. Their passion for one another had not lessened in three weeks; in fact it seemed to intensify every time they had sex—and they had sex a lot.
She felt hot all over as she remembered the previous day when Diego had called her into his office to supposedly discuss the PR campaign. She should have guessed his intention when he’d instructed his secretary not to disturb them and locked the door. ‘I thought we were meant to be having a meeting,’ Clare had reminded him when he’d unbuttoned her blouse.
‘We are. My body is going to meet with yours, and I promise you the outcome will be very productive,’ he’d told her, and had proceeded to make love to her bent over his desk.
It wasn’t just the sex that was amazing. They spent all day every day in each other’s company, either working on the campaign or relaxing over dinner at the penthouse or a restaurant, and they made love several times every night. The only downside was that he never stayed all night with her. But perhaps it was a good thing because she knew she was increasingly in danger of falling in love with him. Waking up in an empty bed each morning was a stark reminder that the closeness she felt to Diego was an illusion she would be foolish to believe might become real.
* * *
They were only half an hour late to meet their hosts, after Diego had made love to her and then carried her into the shower, where he had been very inventive with a bar of soap.
If Cruz and Sabrina noticed the hectic flush on Clare’s face, or Diego’s smug smile, they were too polite to say so. Clare liked the couple instantly. Cruz’s dark, brooding good looks contrasted with his wife’s English rose complexion. Lady Sabrina Bancroft, as she had been before her marriage, was elegant and refined, but she exuded a warmth and friendliness that drew people to her, which was one of the reasons, Clare suspected, that her husband was utterly besotted with her.
The couple’s nine-month-old twin boys, Vitor and Henrique—named, Sabrina explained, after their two grandfathers—were adorable. Both babies had dark brown curls and green eyes, and were already displaying signs that they had inherited their father’s determined personality.
Watching the little boys crawling across the rug, Clare felt an unexpected tug of maternal longing. She had never given much thought to babies, and had assumed she would have children some time in the future. But for the last few days as she’d waited anxiously for a sign that she had not conceived Diego’s child, she’d found herself imagining holding her own baby in her arms.
The two men spent the morning riding jet skis on the sea, while Clare stayed on the beach and helped Sabrina chase after the babies, who were intent on crawling away from the shade of a parasol.
‘Which of your godsons do you want to hold?’ Cruz asked Diego after they had returned to the house.
‘I don’t want to show favouritism so you’d better hand me both of them,’ Diego replied easily. Watching him with the baby boys, Clare felt another tug on her insides as she pictured him cradling a blond baby who was their son or daughter. Stop it, she told herself firmly. She couldn’t be pregnant. The strange light-headed sensation that had swept over her before lunch, when she’d thought she might faint, had been a sign that she was stressed about tonight’s party.
The buffet lunch was a relaxed meal that continued into the afternoon. While the twins napped in their prams there was a chance for the adults to chat.
‘How is Earl Bancroft?’ Diego asked Sabrina.
She smiled. ‘Dad is very well. My father lives in a stately home in England,’ she explained to Clare. ‘He has opened Eversleigh Hall to the public and he seems to enjoy giving tours of the house.’
Clare suddenly made the connection. She turned to Diego. ‘So the English earl who owned a diamond mine that you once worked in is Sabrina’s father?’
He nodded. ‘Some years after Henry sold the Old Betsy mine, Cruz and I were in a position to buy it. Cruz had earned a fortune as a banker, and I inherited money from my father’s family. We decided to gamble and invest in the diamond mine, and luckily the gamble paid off.’
She was puzzled. ‘I thought you didn’t have any contact with your father.’
‘It’s true I never met him. He knew my mother had given birth to his child but he wasn’t interested in finding me. He died young, but before he passed away he told his father that he had an illegitimate child in Brazil. It was a total shock when Father Vincenzi found me and gave me the news that I was my grandfather’s only heir.’
‘Who is Father Vincenzi?’
‘He is a priest who helped me when I...’ He broke off abruptly and Clare knew she had not imagined the sudden awkward silence that fell over the table, or the swift glance that passed between Cruz and Sabrina. ‘The holy Father helped me when I was a you
ng man.’ Diego did not elaborate on his statement. Instead he stood up and spoke curtly to Clare. ‘It’s time we were leaving. I expect you’ll want plenty of time to get ready for the party.’
* * *
Diego had demanded something spectacular for the launch party of DC Diamonds and, with an unlimited budget to spend, Clare had chartered one of the world’s largest and most luxurious super-yachts, Serendipity, for the party venue.
From the balcony of her stateroom she watched helicopters flying to and fro, bringing guests out to the yacht, which was moored in Copacabana bay. She and Diego had arrived by chopper in the late afternoon, and she had spent a couple of hours checking final details with the team of chefs who were preparing canapés, and the bar staff who had created a special cocktail in honour of DC Diamonds, which they had named ‘Bling.’
During the party, champagne fountains would flow with Cristal, which guests could enjoy while they watched a catwalk show. Clare had hired top models to wear jewellery from the DC Diamonds collection. Later in the evening there would be a disco with music provided by a world-famous DJ, and the climax of the night was to be a firework extravaganza viewed from Serendipity’s decks.
A glance at her watch revealed that the party was due to start in fifteen minutes. All she could do now was hope that everything went to plan. She felt a flutter of nerves in her stomach that grew stronger when there was a knock on her door and Diego strolled in.
He had been uncommunicative when they’d left Cruz and Sabrina, and Clare had not seen him since they had boarded the yacht. But now her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him in a black tuxedo teamed with a black shirt. With his blond hair falling over his collar and his chiselled jaw shaded with blond stubble, he looked dangerously disreputable and utterly gorgeous.
The lazy curl of his smile told her that he had got over his earlier bad mood, and she warned herself to be on her guard against his sinfully sexy charm. But the expression in his eyes was harder to decipher as he said in an oddly rough voice, ‘I have never seen you look as beautiful as you do tonight.’
Clare spun round to the mirror to hide the fact that she suddenly felt ridiculously self-conscious. ‘It’s a beautiful dress. I have to say, you have very good taste in dressing women,’ she said, needing to remind herself that he probably had plenty of experience in choosing clothes for his mistresses and had not made a special effort when he’d picked a dress for her to wear to the party.
The sapphire-blue velvet gown with off-the-shoulder straps was a fishtail style, tight-fitting over her bust and hips to show off her curvaceous figure, and the lower part of the skirt flared out into a small train at the back. She had piled her hair into a loose knot on top of her head with a few tendrils framing her face. A coat of mascara on her eyelashes and a slick of pink lipgloss completed her look. She certainly did not need to wear blusher, she thought ruefully when she saw the flush on her cheeks as Diego came to stand behind her.
‘You look beautiful whatever you are wearing, but my personal preference is for you to wear nothing at all,’ he murmured, bending his head to feather kisses along her collarbone.
‘Mmm, not very practical for the party...’ She managed to keep her tone light to hide the fierce sexual excitement that made her breasts tingle.
Diego gave a sigh that sounded more like a wolfish growl. ‘I can’t wait until the party is over and I can have you to myself. Shall I tell you what I plan to do to you when we are alone, anjinho?’
‘You had better not!’ She laughed breathlessly and stepped away from him. It was hard to resist his charisma and sexual teasing. ‘You need to go down to the main deck to greet the guests.’
He slid his arm around her waist and led her towards the door. ‘I suppose so,’ he said regretfully, ‘but I insist that my favourite PR expert stays by my side all evening.’
Clare told herself not to read too much into Diego’s words, or his attentiveness during the party. True to his word, he kept her close to him as they strolled around the yacht’s ballroom and chatted with the guests. Clare sampled a couple of delicious canapés but opted for sparkling water rather than champagne, explaining that she was on duty and wanted to keep a clear head.
There was a buzz of excitement as the jewellery show was about to begin and guests took their seats on either side of the catwalk. She and Diego had front row seats with a perfect view of the models as they sauntered down the runway. The female models wore identical black full length gowns and the men were dressed in black suits so that the audience focused on the fabulous diamond necklaces, earrings and watches being showcased by the models. But Clare’s attention was caught by one model in particular. ‘Mark?’
* * *
‘I get the feeling you wouldn’t pay me any attention even if I was butt naked.’
Diego registered the sarcasm in the female voice and he flicked an impatient glance at the woman standing next to him. He had a vague idea that Tiffany Delany was the daughter of a diplomat, and an even vaguer memory that he might have slept with her once. She was attractive and blonde—which were his only requirements, he thought self-derisively. At least, they used to be. He looked back to the dance floor, where Clare was dancing with one of the male models. Diego’s eyes roamed over her petite figure in the blue dress that hugged her curves and her auburn hair, gleaming like burnished gold beneath the disco lights, and he acknowledged that she was the only woman he wanted.
‘Who’d have guessed that Diego Cazorra would suffer from woman trouble?’ Tiffany drawled. ‘Your little redhead must be something special—you haven’t stopped staring at her. Someone ought to warn the guy dancing with her that you look like you want to kill him.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ As he strode away from the blonde he knew he should apologise for his curtness, but Tiffany had touched a nerve. Watching Clare dance with her supposedly ex-boyfriend had stirred a violent jealous rage inside Diego. But was it a murderous rage? He was seriously tempted to rearrange Mark Penry’s pretty-boy features, but what if he had actually punched the model and seriously injured him, or worse? Was that what he had done when he was seventeen and tried to protect his mother from the man who’d been beating her? Had he punched the man with such force that he’d killed him, which was what his mother had told the police?
Although Serendipity was a huge yacht, it was packed with party guests and Diego felt a tightness in his chest as he pushed his way through the crowd. Memories of an overcrowded prison cell flashed into his mind. Violent, desperate men, the stench of sweat in the hot, airless cell. He couldn’t breathe.
He ran up the stairs to the top deck, burst into his stateroom and opened the sliding glass door so that he could step on to a private deck area that was only accessible from his suite and Clare’s room next door. Fresh sea air filled his lungs as he leaned against the balcony railing and fought to control the panic attack. Deus, was he capable of murder? Tonight had exposed the blackness in his soul.
Clare had disappeared immediately after the jewellery show and Diego had scoured the yacht for her before he’d seen her dancing with a handsome model—Mark Penry, he had learned from one of the guests. He’d instantly recognised the name as the guy who Clare had said had broken her heart. The way she had snuggled up to Penry suggested that she was still keen on her ex, and Diego had come close to striding across the dance floor and snatching her into his arms.
This was why he had never become emotionally involved with any of his mistresses. He could not risk feeling strong emotions like love or hate, jealousy or anger. Especially anger. He was afraid of what he might do if he was pushed too far. The blinding rage that had swept through him when he’d seen Clare with Mark Penry had shocked him. She meant nothing to him, he reminded himself. Sure, she was fun to be with, and the sex was good. The sex was amazing. But it meant nothing.
He stiffened at the sound of footsteps crossing the deck. A delicate fragrance of roses assailed his senses and Clare’s soft voice made his gut twist.
‘I was looking for you. The fireworks are about to start.’ She came to stand beside him and Diego was bitterly aware of the immediate effect she had on his body as he felt himself harden. ‘Mind you, we probably have the best view from here.’
‘That’s the reason I came up here,’ he lied. ‘You looked as though you were having fun dancing. I didn’t know you had hired your ex-boyfriend for the catwalk show.’ Diego despised himself for sounding like he cared, but Clare didn’t appear to notice his strained tone.
‘I didn’t. I was shocked when I saw Mark, but he explained that he replaced Tom Vaughn, another model from A-Star PR, who should have been on the assignment but broke his ankle a few days ago.’
Some of Diego’s tension eased. At least Clare had not arranged for Penry to come to Brazil. ‘So, are you tempted to get back with a guy who models underwear for a living?’ he said lazily.
She laughed. ‘No. I realised during the one dance I had with him that he is completely self-obsessed. He spent most of the time discussing his hair. To be honest, I don’t know why I got so upset over him. I think I was flattered that he showed an interest in me.’ She hesitated. ‘But now that the DC Diamonds campaign is finished I have decided to fly back to England with the models. It will be company for me during the flight and give me an opportunity to catch up on what has been happening at A-Star PR while I’ve been away.’
Diego felt his gut give another twist. ‘Do you know for certain that you are not pregnant?’
‘I’m ninety-nine per cent sure. My breasts feel really sensitive, which is usually a sign my monthly period is about to start. I expect I’ll be able to confirm the news you are hoping for tomorrow.’
Master of Her Innocence (Bought by the Brazilian) Page 13
