Mistress of His Revenge (Bought by the Brazilian #1)

by Chantelle Shaw

  He sounded so grim, and so final. Sabrina bit her lip. Was she part of the past that Cruz wanted to leave behind?

  ‘If you don’t want me to go to Eversleigh I’ll stay here...or go with you to wherever your next business meeting is as I agreed when we made our deal,’ she offered tentatively.

  ‘Ah, yes, our deal!’ He looked at her broodingly and she was startled by the flicker of pain she thought she glimpsed in his eyes before his expression hardened. He swung round and looked out over the balcony at the gardens. Sabrina had the idea that he would rather look anywhere than at her.

  ‘It’s over,’ he said tersely. ‘I am releasing you from our arrangement and you no longer have to be my mistress.’

  Shock stole her breath so that she could not speak. But even if she could, she did not know what to say. Pride prevented her from asking him why, and she would not plead with him to allow her to stay. It was clear to her that by revealing that she had loved him ten years ago she had overstepped a boundary. He had not wanted her love then and he did not want it now.

  Her throat ached with tears, but she swallowed hard, determined not to break down in front of him. She dug deep into her reservoir of mental strength and managed to answer him with cool composure. ‘In that case I had better go and pack.’

  Cruz did not turn round but he sensed that Sabrina had walked into the bedroom and minutes later he heard the sound of a suitcase zip. He clenched his hands on the balcony rail until his knuckles felt as if they would split open. This was what he had to do, he reminded himself. He had to let her go because she deserved to meet someone far better than him. He was so bitterly ashamed of how he had treated her that he could not even bring himself to look at her because surely he would see disgust in her eyes where once there had been love, if only he had not been too blind to see it.

  * * *

  It had been raining ever since Sabrina had arrived back at Eversleigh Hall three days ago. The depressing weather echoed her mood as she stared out of the window and watched the geraniums being battered to death.

  ‘You don’t look very happy,’ Earl Bancroft commented. ‘What’s the matter with you?’

  ‘Nothing.’ She blinked away her tears before she turned to face her father.

  ‘Tristan told me you were dating Cruz Delgado again. Do you think that was wise after he broke your heart years ago?’

  ‘Probably not,’ she said dully. ‘Anyway, I won’t be seeing him again.’ Ever. The knowledge felt as if a knife had been plunged through her heart. She forced herself to concentrate on her father, who looked in remarkably good health. ‘I’m glad you are okay. I was worried about you.’

  ‘Were you?’ he said casually. ‘You should have known I’d turn up sooner or later.’

  ‘Tris mentioned that you have plans for Eversleigh Hall.’

  ‘Ah, yes. I’ve had the brilliant idea of turning the estate into a wild animal park.’ The earl ignored Sabrina’s startled expression. ‘You know the sort of thing, lions and tigers in enclosures, and monkeys. I thought of basing myself in Africa so that I could arrange for animals to be shipped over to England.’

  ‘So, who will organise the animal park here at Eversleigh?’

  ‘You will, of course.’

  She stared at her father, feeling exasperated by his assumption that she would remain at Eversleigh for ever, like a lonely Victorian spinster, she thought bleakly. ‘Have you ever thought that I might have other plans for my life?’

  Earl Bancroft looked intently at his daughter. ‘I have a feeling that you would like your plans for the future to include Delgado.’

  Sabrina did not deny it. ‘When I left Brazil and came back to Eversleigh ten years ago, why didn’t you tell me that there had been an accident at the mine and Cruz’s father had been killed?’

  Her father sighed. ‘I felt guilty that I hadn’t tried harder to convince Vitor not to go into the deepest section of the mine. I knew the roof supports were unstable and I had arranged for them to be reinforced, but the work was delayed.’

  ‘Did you send Vitor back to look for more diamonds that might have been as valuable as the Red Star?’

  ‘Good heavens, no! I pleaded with him not to go back, but he was obsessed with finding a diamond that would make him rich. They call it diamond fever, and Vitor had it badly. After his death, I decided to sell the mine. When I came back to Eversleigh that summer I didn’t tell you about the accident because I knew you were suffering after you had lost a baby. You were so thin and pale, drifting around the house like a ghost. I was relieved when you decided to go to university that autumn and it seemed best not to mention what had happened in Brazil.’

  The earl gave her a speculative look. ‘Cruz is a decent man, from what I’ve heard. He and his business partner, Cazorra, have pushed for improvements to safety in Brazil’s mining industry, and they pour money into a charity they set up to help children living in the favelas. I guessed that you fell in love with him ten years ago. Is there a chance that the two of you will get back together?’

  Sabrina turned her head towards the window so that her father would not see her tears as she remembered Cruz’s unyielding expression when he had sent her away from Quinta na Floresta. ‘No, there is no chance,’ she whispered.

  * * *

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me the truth about Papai’s accident before now?’ Cruz spoke in Portuguese. He leapt up from the sofa in his mother’s house and dragged oxygen into his lungs as he tried to come to terms with her shocking revelation. ‘Why did you allow me to think for all these years that Earl Bancroft had forced Vitor to go back into an unsafe area of the mine?’

  ‘I was afraid that if I told you what had really happened, you would think less of your father.’ Ana-Maria wiped tears from her face. ‘Vitor was a good man but he became obsessed with finding another valuable diamond like the Estrela Vermelha. His obsession became almost like an illness. He would not listen to me or to Earl Bancroft, who pleaded with Vitor not to go into the deepest part of the mine until the roof supports had been strengthened. Your father ignored the earl’s advice and lost his life as a result.’

  ‘Deus.’ Cruz dropped his head into his hands. ‘I wish I had known.’

  ‘You blamed the earl and believed that Vitor was a hero, and I saw no reason to tell you the truth,’ his mother admitted. ‘You had idolised your father when he was alive, and I wanted you to carry on feeling proud of his memory. I realised I should tell you how the accident had really happened when you brought the Bancroft girl here and I saw your face when you looked at her. But I did not say anything these past weeks because Sabrina broke your heart once and I was worried she might do so again.’ She hurried after Cruz as he strode towards the front door. ‘What will you do now?’

  His jaw clenched. ‘Obviously I need to apologise to Sabrina for my unfair accusation that her father was responsible for Vitor’s death.’

  Deus, he had so much to apologise to Sabrina for, Cruz thought grimly. He kissed his mother’s cheek and walked out of her house, craving solitude while he tried to come to terms with what she had told him. It was true he had idolised his father, and with hindsight he realised that he had wanted to blame Earl Bancroft for Vitor’s accident rather than accept that Vitor’s obsession with diamonds had ultimately resulted in his death.

  He had allowed his skewered view of events that had happened ten years ago to affect his opinion of Sabrina, Cruz acknowledged grimly. When he’d taken the time to get to know her properly, he had discovered that she was as lovely as the girl he had fallen for years ago. He’d sent her away because he was consumed with guilt at the way he had treated her and he believed he did not deserve her.

  But she had loved him once.

  Perhaps she could fall in love with him again?

  His heart was hammering and his steps slowed as another thought rocked him to his core. Was he allowing his guilt at how he had behaved with Sabrina to stop him from fighting for her? He had told himself he was doing the
honourable thing by letting her go. But he was a coward, Cruz told himself contemptuously. All his life he had fought for the things that mattered to him. He had escaped poverty and fought to take care of his family. So why the hell wasn’t he fighting for the person who he now realised mattered to him more than anything in the world? Yes, he was ashamed of how he had treated Sabrina, and if she rejected him it would be nothing more than he deserved. But he could not, would not, allow his guilty conscience to hold him back from going after her.

  * * *

  Sabrina was thankful that her father quickly lost interest in his idea of creating a wild animal park but her relief was short-lived when he announced that he was thinking of starting an alpaca farm. The truth was she did not care what happened to Eversleigh Hall, which, a few months ago, would have been unthinkable. For the past ten years she had devoted all her time and energy to her family’s stately home, but she had poured her emotions into Eversleigh to hide from the fact that she had never stopped loving Cruz.

  Unable to concentrate on her latest furniture-restoration project, she walked listlessly around the estate. The hawthorn bushes along the lane were covered with tiny white flowers that smelled divine, but the beauty of the Surrey countryside in early summer failed to lift her from her black hole of misery. Out of habit her feet took her in the direction of the stables. She was even imagining that she was hearing things, she thought despairingly. But her heart gave a jolt when she recognised a familiar whinnying from the other side of the beech hedge.

  As she walked across the yard she told herself she must actually have lost her sanity, and her eyes were deceiving her. But there was no mistaking the chestnut-coloured head that appeared over the stable door. Monty greeted her with the snuffling sound she had missed so much, and when she lifted a trembling hand to pat him, he nuzzled his face into her neck.

  Nothing made sense. How could her beloved horse be back at Eversleigh? Something at the back of the stable caught her attention and she discovered it was a package addressed to her. She opened it with trembling fingers and stared at the painting of a horse that Cruz had bought for her from the market in Portugal. She had forgotten to pack the picture when he had sent her away from Quinta na Floresta.

  How had the picture got here...? Unless...

  She jerked her head round and made an inarticulate sound when she saw Cruz standing in the yard. Her brain registered that he looked utterly gorgeous in black jeans and a polo shirt topped with a tan leather jacket. She closed her eyes, but when she opened them again he was still there, still real, still the keeper of her heart as he would always be.

  Her voice shook. ‘Why are you here?’

  His smile held faint irony. ‘I think I’ve proved that I can’t keep away from you, Sabrina, meu amor.’

  My love! She only knew a few words of Portuguese but she told herself she must have misunderstood him.

  ‘I wanted to deliver Monty in person. I know how much you love him,’ he said softly. ‘I tracked down his new owners and persuaded them to sell him. Now he is yours for ever.’

  She bit her lip. ‘I don’t understand. You told me you don’t want me to be your mistress.’

  ‘It’s true, I don’t.’

  She stifled a gasp of pain. ‘Then why did you go to the effort of finding my horse?’ She dared not hope that his gesture of returning Monty to her meant anything. But as she stared at his face she saw deep grooves beside his mouth and an expression of wretched despair in his eyes that she knew was mirrored in hers.

  ‘Cruz...’ Her feet had been rooted to the ground but suddenly she was able to move and she ran to him, not caring that she was giving away the secret she had tried to keep hidden from him for the past weeks. She was tired of pretending that she felt nothing for him. Ten years ago she had been too unsure of herself to fight for the man she loved, but she was determined to fight for him now, even if it meant risking his rejection.

  Tears streamed down her face as she flung her arms around his neck. ‘I’m sorry I left you years ago.’

  ‘You’re sorry?’ Cruz groaned. ‘You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m the one who should apologise for wrongly accusing your father, and especially for the way I treated you.’

  Sabrina eased away from him so that she could look at his face, but he pulled her hard against his chest and wrapped his arms around her, holding her so tightly that she felt the uneven thud of his heart.

  ‘My mother told me the truth about my father’s accident,’ he explained. ‘Your father did not send Vitor back to search for more diamonds. Papai chose to go back into the mine against Earl Bancroft’s advice. His obsession with finding diamonds made him ignore the risks and it was because of his decision that he left behind a grieving widow and two little girls without a father, and left a son so full of anger and bitterness that I behaved in a way that shames me,’ he said roughly. ‘I came to Eversleigh Hall to demand the map of the diamond mine from your father, but instead I met you and from the moment I saw you I was determined to have you in my bed again.’ His voice was laced with self-contempt. ‘Hardly the most noble ambition, but at the time I believed I had a right to want revenge for my father’s death and I was angry that you had left me ten years ago. Believe me, querida, when I say that I deeply regret forcing you to become my mistress.’

  Sabrina shook her head. ‘You didn’t force me.’

  ‘I used your love for your home to blackmail you into selling yourself to me.’

  ‘I chose to be your mistress for one reason only,’ she said fiercely. ‘It wasn’t to save Eversleigh or to help my brother.’ She met his gaze fearlessly. ‘It was because I wanted you, the only man I have ever desired...and the only man I have ever loved and will love for the rest of my life.’

  ‘Sabrina,’ Cruz said hoarsely. But she hadn’t finished. She had found the courage to open her heart and now she could not hold back her emotions.

  ‘I wish you hadn’t made your fortune, because then I could prove to you that I love you for who you are, a wonderful man who took care of his family and worked hard to support them, a man who will never forget the hardship he endured as a child and has set up a charity to help other children living in poverty in the favelas. I would be proud to marry you if you were penniless because love is more precious than anything.’

  She looked at him with her heart in her eyes. ‘I wish I had been brave enough to accept your marriage proposal ten years ago. I wish I had stayed in Brazil with you.’

  ‘I wish I hadn’t let you leave. I should have told you that the reason I had asked you to marry me was because I loved you.’ He gently stroked her hair back from her face. ‘I won’t make the same mistake a second time, meu amor.’

  There was a catch in Cruz’s voice as Sabrina’s words swirled in his heart and healed the ache that had been with him for so long that he was almost scared to believe that her beautiful smile was for him and him alone.

  ‘I love you so much it hurts,’ he said rawly.

  ‘Cruz...my love.’ Sabrina could hardly speak through her tears, but there was no need for words as he claimed her mouth, kissing her with passion and a bone-shaking tenderness that revealed the true depths of his love for her.

  ‘Eu te adoro, I adore you.’ He whispered the words over and over again, in between taking soft sips from her lips, beguiling her with his tender adoration. She made a small sound of protest when he lifted his mouth from hers, but then caught her breath as he dropped down onto one knee in front of her and took a small square box from his jacket pocket.

  The solitaire white diamond ring sparkled in the sunshine that had emerged from behind the clouds. The square-cut precious gem was flawless, perfect, just as Sabrina was perfect, Cruz thought. ‘Will you marry me, meu anjo, my angel, and be my only love for the rest of our lives?’

  ‘Willingly, and so very happily,’ she said, blinking back more tears as he slid the ring onto her finger. ‘But we won’t love each other exclusively.’ Her voice shook a little. ‘We will always
love our first baby, Luiz. And hopefully there will be more children for us to love. I’d like at least four,’ she told him with a teasing smile that Cruz knew would hold his heart prisoner for ever.

  ‘Only four?’ He swung her up in his arms and strode into the hay barn, pausing to secure the latch on the door so that they would not be disturbed.

  ‘I don’t think we should wait to start trying for a family.’ Sabrina pulled off her tee shirt and bra and felt a delicious shiver of anticipation run through her as she watched Cruz sling his jacket on top of a hay bale, followed by his shirt, and move his hand to the zip of his jeans.

  ‘Indeed,’ he murmured, ‘and when do you think would be a good time to start trying, gatinha?’

  ‘Right now.’ She stepped out of her skirt and panties and smiled when he drew an audible breath.

  ‘How do you feel about holding our wedding here at Eversleigh Hall, followed by a honeymoon in the Seychelles...’ he paused for a heartbeat ‘...and making our home at Quinta na Floresta? There are stables for Monty, and your cat can move in too, if you insist.’

  ‘Of course we must take George with us.’ Sabrina linked her arms around Cruz’s neck and felt his very hard arousal push between her thighs. Her eyes gleamed wickedly. ‘I love him almost as much as I love you.’

  ‘I’m glad you said almost—’ Cruz pushed her flat on her back on a hay bale and grinned at her gasp of surprise as he surged into her ‘—because I plan on being the number one male in your life for ever, meu amor.’

  ‘For ever sounds perfect,’ she agreed.

  * * * * *

  If you enjoyed this story don’t miss Chantelle Shaw’s conclusion to her fabulous duet BOUGHT BY THE BRAZILIAN in... MASTER OF HER INNOCENCE

  Coming soon!

  Keep reading for an excerpt from THE MARRIAGE HE MUST KEEP by Dani Collins.