by Jennie Lucas
What had it taken for the man to convince Laura to surrender the life she’d yearned for, and accept instead just the crumbs of her childhood dreams?
“Gabriel?”
He looked up to find her anxious eyes watching him. “What?”
“What will happen after we arrive in Rio?”
He leaned back in his seat, folding his arms. “Oliveira is hosting an afternoon pool party at his beachside mansion on the Costa do Sul. Adriana will be there.”
Laura bit her lip, looking nervous. “Pool party? Like with a swimsuit?”
“And after that,” he continued ruthlessly, “you will attend the Fantasy Ball with me.”
“Fantasy, huh?” Her full lips twisted. “I hope Brazilian shopping malls sell magic fairy dust, ’cause that’s the only thing that will convince anyone I can compete with Adriana da Costa.”
“The first person you must convince is yourself,” he said harshly. “Your lack of confidence is not attractive. No one will believe I’d be in love with a woman who disappears in the background like a wallflower.”
He had the hollow satisfaction of seeing the light in her beautiful face fade. “I just meant…”
“We made a deal. I am paying you well. For the next twenty-four hours, Laura, you will be the woman I need you to be. You belong to me.”
Her eyes narrowed with anger and resentment, and as she turned away, some part of him was glad he’d hurt her. He heard the soft snuffle of the baby’s breath, and it was like a razor against his throat.
He’d once been comforted by the thought of Laura back at home with her family, following her dreams. Now she’d taken that from him. She’d betrayed him.
And he hated her for that.
CHAPTER FOUR
AS they descended through the clouds toward Rio de Janeiro, Laura stared out the porthole window at the city shining like a jewel on the sea. She folded her arms with a huff of breath, still furious.
You belong to me.
Her hands gripped her seat belt. Looking past Robby’s baby seat, where he was thankfully sleeping again after a fairly rough night, Laura glanced at Gabriel on the opposite side of the jet. She allowed herself a grim smile.
Poor Robby had been crying half the flight. Gabriel must have been gnashing his teeth to be trapped in his private jet with a baby. Karma, she thought with a degree of satisfaction. Folding her arms, she turned back to the window to see the beautiful, exotic city as they descended through the clouds.
It had been difficult for her to leave her mother and sisters in the middle of Becky’s reception. But instead of being angry, her mother and sisters had seemed pleased. They’d hugged her goodbye for the quick weekend trip. “You were so happy working for him once,” her mother had whispered. “This will be a new start for you and Robby. I can feel it. It’s fate.”
Fate.
Laura had barely gotten on this jet before he’d insulted her. Now, he glared at her as if she were a stranger. No, worse than a stranger. He stared at her as if she were scum beneath his feet.
As the jet finally landed at the private airport, her hands gripped the leather armrest. She would never again feel guilty about keeping their baby a secret from Gabriel. After this, she would never let herself feel anything for him. She would do her job, pretend to be his adoring mistress—ha!—then collect the check and forget his existence. She would.
As the door of the private jet opened, Robby woke up with one of his adorable baby smiles. His toothless grin and happy cooing were worth any amount of sleepless nights, she thought.
“We’re just here for one night, Robby,” she told her baby, kissing his forehead as she unbuckled his seat. “Just a quick night here and we’ll go straight back home.”
“Did he sleep well?” Gabriel said sardonically behind her.
She gave him a pleasant answering smile. “Did you?”
As they stepped out of the jet, Rio’s sultry heat hit her at once. She went down the steps, blinking in the blinding sunlight and breathing in the scents of tropical flowers, exotic spice and tangy salt from the sea. Lush, white-hot Brazil was the other side of the world from the frigid February weather she’d left behind her.
Looking across the tarmac, Laura saw a waiting white limousine and snorted. The other side of the world? This was a different world entirely!
“Bom dia, Miss Parker,” the driver said, tipping his hat as he opened the door. “I am glad to see you again. And what’s this?” He tickled beneath Robby’s chin. “We have a new passenger!”
“Obrigada, Carlos,” Laura said, smiling. “This is my son, Robby.”
“Is the penthouse ready?” Gabriel growled behind them.
The driver nodded. “Sim, senhor. Maria, she has organized everything.”
“Good.”
Laura climbed into the backseat and tucked Robby into the waiting baby seat, ignoring Gabriel climbing in beside him. Carlos started the engine and pulled the limo off the tarmac, going south.
As they traveled through the city, now crowded with tourists for the celebration of Carnaval, Laura stared out bleakly at the festive decorations. Gabriel didn’t speak and neither did she. The silence seemed like agony as the car inched through the traffic. As they finally approached the back of Gabriel’s building, Laura heard loud thumping music, drums, people singing and cheering.
“This is as close as I can get, senhor,” Carlos said apologetically. “The avenida is closed to cars today.”
“Está bom.” Setting his jaw, Gabriel opened the door himself and got out of the limo.
Laura looked out her window in awe. Ahead of them, she saw the street blocked and people gathering on Ipanema Beach for one of the largest, wildest street festivals in Rio. She looked up at Gabriel’s tall building above them. He had bought it two years ago, as a foothold in Rio while he wrestled his father’s company back from Felipe Oliveira. The ground floors held restaurants and retail space. The middle floors held the South American offices of Santos Enterprises, still officially headquartered in New York. The top two floors of the building were apartments for his bodyguards, household staff and Maria. The penthouse was, of course, for Gabriel—and, the last time she’d been here, for Laura. She swallowed. She’d never thought she’d be back here.
Especially not with a secret. A baby.
The car door wrenched open. She looked up, expecting Carlos, but it was Gabriel. To her shock, the expression on his handsome face was suddenly tender and adoring. His eyes shone with passion and desire.
“At last you are home, querida,” Gabriel murmured. He held out his hand. “Home where you belong. It nearly killed me when you left. I never stopped loving you, Laura.”
She gasped.
Suddenly she could no longer feel the hot sun blazing overhead or the fresh breeze off the sea. Loud music, horns and drumming and singing from Ipanema Beach all faded into the background. Her heart thrummed wildly in her throat.
Gabriel’s black eyes sizzled as he looked down at her, catching up her soul, collecting her like a butterfly in a net.
Then he dropped his hand with a sardonic laugh. “Just practicing.”
Setting her jaw, she glared at him. “A million dollars is almost not enough to deal with this,” she muttered.
His lip twisted. “Too late to renegotiate.”
“Go to hell.”
“Is that any way to speak in front of your baby?”
Turning back into the car, Laura unbuckled Robby. Her son cooed happily, reaching up his chubby arms for her embrace, and she was happy she had one person in Brazil who actually loved her. Leaving the baby carrier in the limo, she scooped him out of his seat. He giggled, clinging to her wrinkled satin bridesmaid’s dress.
Laura felt tired, grungy, dirty. After her poor night’s sleep on the jet, after traveling halfway around the world, and most of all, after the constant friction of having Gabriel near her, Laura’s emotions were too close to the surface. The flash of his dark eyes, the slightest touch of his hand
, the merest word of kindness from his sensual lips, still made her tremble and melt.
He was poison for her, she thought grimly. Poison wrapped in honeyed words and hot desire.
She held her baby close and walked around Gabriel with as much dignity as she possessed, her shoulders straight. Her pink high heels—picked out from a thrift shop by Becky for five dollars—clattered against the marble floor as Laura walked through the back entrance and past the security guards toward the private elevator.
Gabriel followed her without a word. The elevator doors closed behind them, and she breathed in his scent. She felt his warmth beside her. She didn’t look at him. His tall, powerful body was so close and she felt every inch.
The last time they’d been together in this elevator, they’d been on the way to the penthouse, after they’d just made love downstairs on the desk in his office. It had been her first time. He’d been shocked she was a virgin, even apologetic. He’d kissed her so tenderly in this very elevator, taking her back up to the penthouse with whispered promises that this time would be different, that he’d make it good for her, that he’d make her weep with joy.
And he had.
The elevator dinged at the same instant Robby struggled in her arms with a plaintive whine. Looking down, Laura saw he was peeking behind her at Gabriel, reaching out his plump arms. Gabriel didn’t move to take the baby, or even smile. Of course he wouldn’t. Why would he take the slightest interest in his own child? She knew she was being unreasonable, but she still felt angry. Exhaling, Laura walked into the penthouse.
His modern, masculine, clutter-free apartment had two bedrooms, a study, a dining room and main room off the kitchen. The whole place had clean lines, white walls and high ceilings, and a stark decor. A wall of windows two stories high showcased the breathtaking view of the pool and terrace, with Ipanema Beach and the Atlantic visible beyond.
“I’m so glad to see you again, Senhora Laura.” Maria Silva, Gabriel’s housekeeper and former nanny, was waiting for them. Her gaze moved to Robby. “This must be your sweet baby.”
“Senhora?” Laura repeated, confused at how she’d just gotten promoted to a married woman.
The plump-cheeked, white-haired woman blushed. “You’re a mother. You deserve respect,” she said, then held out her hands to the baby. Robby gave a gleeful cackle, and Maria took him happily in her arms.
Frowning, Laura slowly looked around her. The penthouse seemed the same, but it had changed somehow. She saw to her surprise that all the electric plugs and sharp edges had been covered. Peeking into the dining room, she saw it was entirely filled with toys.
Laura turned to Gabriel in wonder. “All this?” she said. “For one night?”
He shrugged. “Don’t thank me. Maria did it.”
Laura’s heart, which had been rising, fell back to her shoes.
“We’ll have a wonderful time this afternoon, won’t we?” Maria said to Robby, whirling the baby around to make him giggle. “If you need us, Mrs. Laura, we’ll be making lunch.”
Laura turned to follow them into the kitchen, but Gabriel stopped her. “They’ll be fine. Go freshen up.”
She scowled at him. “Stop barking orders at me. You weren’t this bad when I worked for you.”
“Do you want a shower or not?”
From the kitchen, Laura dimly heard Maria getting out pots and pans as she sang a song to the baby in Portuguese. Robby started banging the pans with a wooden spoon, keeping the beat. They seemed fine. Laura set her jaw, then grudgingly admitted, “I do want a shower.”
“You have ten minutes.” When she didn’t move, he lifted a sardonic eyebrow. “Need help?”
She saw his lips curve as he turned away, walking down the hallway. Pulling off his shirt, he dropped it to the floor as he stopped in the doorway of his bedroom. He looked back at her with heavy-lidded eyes. “Go. Right now. Or I will assist you.”
“I’m going!” With a gulp, Laura ran for the safety of her old bedroom.
Her room had changed, as well. All the old furniture she’d had as his live-in secretary was gone, of course. The space had been turned into a bland guest room. Except…
She saw the brand-new elliptical wooden crib beside the bed, the changing table with diapers and baby clothes and everything else Robby might need. She exclaimed with delight as she touched the smooth wood. In the closet, she saw new clothes for her, as well. Gabriel had truly thought of everything. Going to the closet, she touched a black dress with a soft, satisfied sigh.
Then she saw the size on the tag.
Well, she thought with dismay, he hadn’t thought of everything.
CHAPTER FIVE
TEN MINUTES LATER, Gabriel paced beneath the hot sun across his rooftop terrace. He stopped, staring down at Ipanema Beach across the Avenida Vieira Souto. He could hear the loud music from the crowds celebrating below. Lifting his eyes, he looked past the throngs of people, past the yellow umbrellas and food vendors to the shining waves of the surf, trying to calm his pounding heart.
Now Laura was here, everything would soon be sorted out. Oliveira and Adriana would both believe that they were in love. They had to believe. Otherwise….
No, he wouldn’t let himself think about failure, not even for an instant. He couldn’t lose his father’s company, not now that it was finally within his grasp. He gripped the railing, glaring at the bright horizon of blue ocean. All along the coastline, tall buildings vied with the sharp green mountains for domination of the sky.
He’d changed into khaki shorts and an open, button-down shirt over a tank top, with flip-flops on his feet, Carioca-style. He paced his private rooftop. Bright sunlight reflected prisms from the water of his swimming pool. Turning back, he stared down blindly at the scantily clad women on Ipanema Beach, to Leblon to the west, ending in the stark, sharp green mountain of Dois Irmãos.
Gabriel had been only nineteen when he’d lost everything. His parents. His brother. His home. His hands tightened on the rail. When he’d had the chance to sell his family’s business the day after the funeral, Gabriel had taken it. He’d fled to New York, leaving his grief behind.
Except grief had followed him. Consumed him. Even as he created an international company far larger than his father’s had ever been, the guilt of what he’d done—causing the accident, but being the only survivor; inheriting his father’s company, only to carelessly sell it—never left him. Never.
“Well, I did it,” Laura gasped suddenly behind him. “Ten minutes.”
“Very efficient,” he said, turning to face her. “You should know that—”
His words froze in his throat.
Gabriel’s eyes traced over her in shock as he watched her towel off her long wet hair. He took in the erotic vision of her obscenely full breasts overflowing the neckline of her black dress. He couldn’t look away from the fabric outlining her full buttocks and hips.
“Where,” he choked out, “did you get that dress?”
She stopped toweling her hair to look at him, tilting her head with a frown. “It was in the closet. Wasn’t it for me?”
“Yes.” He couldn’t stop his gaze from devouring her curvaceous body. He became instantly hard, filled with the memory of how it felt to have her in his arms, for the most explosive sexual night of his life. He wanted her. Here in Rio, beneath the Brazilian sunshine, suddenly he could think of nothing but taking her, right here and now. He licked his lips and said hoarsely, “But I didn’t expect it to look like that.”
An embarrassed blush rose to her cheeks as she pushed up her black-framed glasses in a self-conscious gesture. “I gained a little weight with my pregnancy,” she mumbled. “I’m not so thin as I used to be.”
“No.” Gabriel stared at her, feeling his body tighten with lust. “No, you’re not.”
Willing himself to stay in control, he pulled out a chair at the table next to the pool. “Maria made breakfast. Come and eat.”
Laura scowled. “Is that an order?”
&nbs
p; “Sim.”
Carefully folding her towel and setting it on a nearby table—instead of just dropping it to the floor, as he would have done—she sat down.
“I probably shouldn’t eat anything. Not if I’m supposed to wear a bikini,” she said in a low voice. “I’ve tried to diet, but…”
“Never diet again,” he said tersely. “You are perfect.”
He pushed her chair back under the table. He paused, allowing his hands to remain on the back of the chair, next to her shoulders. He could almost feel the warmth of her soft skin.
She looked up at him over her shoulder with a scowl. “You’re just being nice.”
He stared down at her. “When have you ever known me to be nice?”
Her full pink lips suddenly curved into a smile as her blue eyes twinkled. “Good point.” She tilted her head, considering. “So you really think I look…all right?”
“Hmm.” His eyes lingered on her spectacular figure. She’d been beautiful before, but now, it was almost like torture to see her perfect female shape. Those hips. Her curvaceous bottom. Those breasts—!
She was almost too attractive, he thought. He wanted to convince Oliveira and Adriana he was in love with Laura, not have every other man on the Avenida Vieira Souta enjoy the luscious spectacle of her body. “You’re fine,” he said, irritated. “But that dress is unacceptable. We’ll buy you something else when we go shopping today.”
“Shopping. Right.” Pouring milk and sugar into her cup, she stirred her coffee with a silver spoon. “I can hardly wait.”
He sat down across the table. “You have nothing to worry about.” He pushed the bread basket toward her. “It’ll be fine.”
She took a roll and sipped her coffee, and as they ate, Gabriel couldn’t stop staring at her. Once, their relationship had been easy. A friendship. A trust. Now, he couldn’t quite read her.
Strange.
