Kidnapping the Brazilian Tycoon by Carmen Falcone Page B

finally spoke. Maybe quiet, but not any less threatening. He had big, hazel eyes that resembled his father’s.
    “I was born in Florida, but I moved to Houston when I was a teenager.” Her father’s way to cope with her mother’s addiction. Let’s all move and forget we lost the house . Brilliant. She put a chunk of bread in her mouth and chewed it, avoiding looking at Bruno. She was pretty sure he measured every word that escaped her lips.
    “How did you two meet?” Leonardo narrowed his dark green eyes, giving his brother a side glance before returning his attention to her.
    She swallowed and cleared her throat. “We met in New York City, through a mutual friend.” She offered Leonardo a smile. If he or anyone discovered her real past, they probably wouldn’t buy the marriage idea, and then she’d have to say good-bye to their deal. “I like to think we were predestined to meet, one way or another.”
    Leonardo nodded, apparently happy with her reply.
    “That’s sweet,” Camila added. “I don’t know why the press insisted he was marrying that other woman.”
    “Erika is a mutual friend used to the limelight. When those rumors surfaced, she didn’t mind taking the hit since my Addie is very…private,” Bruno stepped in, his voice sweet as caramel.
    He winked at her, and butterflies took flight in her stomach. Bruno certainly acted like they’d known each other for a long time.
    She rubbed her thumb on the ring. Bruno had told her that the diamond was the real thing, a rare, natural green. Whatever. To sit in front of his family and pretend to be engaged when the truth was far from it didn’t come natural to her. How could she grin when their relationship was as superficial as a plastic candy ring?
    …
    Bruno opened the door of the storage room, where gardening tools, pool cleaning chemicals, and a lawn mower fought for space. There was also a twin bed with rumpled sheets and a thin mattress.
    “ Meu amor, I saw you coming in early,” she said with a giggle, sauntering out of the tiny bathroom. He drew in a breath, taken aback by her huge brown eyes, which matched the easy smile on her gorgeous face. Her slick brown hair tumbled down her body, and she had on the same yellow knee-length dress she’d worn when they first kissed the month before. “I couldn’t wait ‘til my parents left.”
    He snatched her into his arms and kissed her. “I suppose the weeds and bushes can wait…”
    Bruno blinked, leaving behind the memory of a much different door, and knocked on the one in front of him. “Pai? You wanted to talk to me?”
    Tereza, the nurse, opened the door. “Please come in.”
    After a couple seconds of hesitation, Bruno strolled into his father’s bedroom. Pai lay on the raised hospital bed. Though health care equipment and supplies took up most of the room, a large wood-framed window offered an enticing view of the outside gardens. Strategically placed lamps outlined the rose bushes and the trees.
    Bruno had been back in Brazil for half a day, and the puzzling emotions tormenting him since his arrival hadn’t prepared him for a chat with his father. Sergio had exchanged a couple of words with him during lunch, and after everyone had gone to enjoy a cup of café in the living area, he’d muttered he wanted to talk to his son. Tereza had wheeled him to his room, giving Bruno a few minutes to gather his wits.
    What could they have to talk about? So much yet so little. Years of monosyllabic, superficial greetings over the phone echoed in Bruno’s ears. As he sat next to his father’s bed, time regressed. Like thorns, anxiety pierced his chest.
    “You may go,” his father told Tereza.
    With a nod, the nurse sauntered out of the room and closed the door behind her.
    “When you left, I didn’t imagine it would take this long for you to return.” Sergio’s voice sliced the air.
    Bruno cleared his throat. “You told me you never wanted to see me again.”
    Sergio moved his head to the