His eyes and lips filled with such tenderness. “As long as the hurt is a good one.”
Burying her lips in his neck, she trembled with emotion. “The absolute best.”
Pulling back, he caressed her flushed cheek. “I shouldn’t have broached this huge subject when I have to run. But mull it over. Think practicalities and logistics. I realize it’s a lot to take on, but I want us to do it. For Diego, and for us.”
She nodded, a galaxy full of stars in her eyes as he kissed her and stood to leave.
Cupping her cheek, he pledged, “Eu te amo, minha Eliana, my answered prayers. The prayers I never even prayed.”
* * *
She went back to sleep as soon as Rafael left, dreaming such wonderful dreams. All vague and unconnected to their reality or the new possibilities with Diego. But she woke up soaring. And almost certain about something.
An hour later, after calling one of those pharmacies that delivered, the “almost” part was gone.
She was pregnant.
Sitting down, heart pounding, she held the strip with the vivid pink lines in her hand.
This was...too much. Everything was too perfect. Too incredible. Rafael on his own was already all that. But his love, a future with him, with Diego joining their family...and now a baby already?
She was certain she’d conceived that first time he’d taken her. He’d claimed her so completely, and she’d surrendered so totally that night, needing him to put his mark on her. And he had. His seed had taken root inside her and was growing into a precious, little miracle.
She couldn’t wait to tell him. Though he might be a bit disappointed he’d have to compete with his child so soon for her love and attention, it was up to her to show him he never had to worry. Her love for their baby would never interfere with hers for him. Never.
Jumping up, she dressed in a hurry, intending to surprise him. As he now no longer went to his offices on weekends, he was having his meeting in a hotel nearby. He never brought work and work-related people home. The only ones exempt from being considered work were his brothers.
Stopping, she groaned. She’d forgotten. He’d invited three of those intimidating Black Castle men for dinner.
After meeting the other two who were coming tonight, Raiden Kuroshiro and Numair Al Aswad, she considered Graves the lesser evil.
Rushing downstairs, she called Rafael’s driver, and Daniel told her Rafael had finished his meeting and was already back home.
Joy swept her as she rushed to find him. It was 6:00 p.m. and his brothers should arrive around eight. She had time to tell him the news. And maybe for one more lovemaking session.
Approaching his study—“their place”—she heard him talking. Slowing down, she debated whether to walk in or wait until he finished his call. Then she heard another voice. Then another. His brothers were already here.
Dammit. What were they doing here so early?
As she stood undecided about what to do, one of them said something. It was Numair. She’d recognize his arctic voice anywhere. And what he’d said hit her between the eyes like an icicle.
He’d said, “We put our bigger plans on hold so you could come to Brazil and get close to Ferreira. We did only because you wanted the satisfaction of looking him in the eye as you destroyed him.”
Before she could muster an explanation for those words, Rafael spoke and ended her fumbling efforts.
“Destroying him anonymously will do, as well.”
“Stick with your original plan, Numbers.” That was Raiden. Deceptively suave and even more deadly for it. “Once that guy is rotting in prison, you can walk up to him and tell him it was you who put him there. He wouldn’t be able to do anything about it or say anything to anyone.”
“Actually, your original plan is nothing compared to your new one,” Numair said. “Landing his daughter, making her spill his secrets, is your best weapon yet. Right after the wedding, you can use it to strike him down and be done with it.”
“Then you can tell him,” Raiden added. “With his daughter in your bed and at your mercy, he’d keep silent forever.”
Graves cracked a harsh laugh. “You, my boys, have no idea what kind of land mine you’ve just tripped over here.”
Their voices kept coming closer. It was only when she found herself on the threshold of the room where her life had once changed forever that she realized she’d walked in on them.
They all rose as one. Dismay was the one thing she saw in their eyes. Something made her seek Rafael’s last. Dread that she’d find confirmation in them. And that was exactly what she found.
“You want to destroy my father?” The voice that croaked out of her didn’t sound like hers anymore. “You ‘landed’ me to bring down my father? That’s why you’ve been milking me for information? Why you’re marrying me?”
“Eliana, no...” He stopped, swung toward the others. “What are you waiting for? Get the hell out.”
Raiden and Numair looked at him as if he’d gone mad. Then, with no trace of their earlier dismay, they regarded her stonily as they passed her on their way out. It was only Graves who looked almost as apologetic as he did.
Once alone, Rafael neared with the caution he’d use to approach a frightened gazelle. “I’m sorry you heard that.”
Numbness spread. “That’s all you have to say?”
His lips thinned, his jaw hardened more. “I would have given anything for you to never know that. Especially now.”
“Now? That’s your only problem? That I heard it before your plans come to fruition? That’s the only reason you’re upset? Because now that I’ve heard them, they won’t?”
“I didn’t want to upset you.”
“You want to send my father to prison, but you don’t want to upset me?”
His eyes, the eyes of the man she’d loved with every fiber of her being till minutes ago, sparked with danger. “Your father deserves whatever I will do to him. But I wanted to spare you as much as I could.”
And it registered at last. The blow of realization. What rewrote the past ten weeks, explained them far better than what had seemed too good to be true. Because it was.
This was the truth.
The ice that encased her started cracking. “Everything we’ve had...from the first moment...it was all a plot. A lie.”
“No.” He hauled her to him. “That first night was all true. I didn’t realize who you were until I saw you with him.”
She tore out of his embrace. Unable to go far, she slumped to the ground by the couch where they’d shared their first intimacy.
Swearing harshly, Rafael swooped over her, swept her up into his arms and sat down on the couch with her on his lap. Unable to push away again, she lay limply against him, tremors racking her body.
“That’s why you walked away,” she choked. “Then you realized you could use me...and came back as soon as you had another plan in place. Everything ever since...a lie. Everything.”
His arms convulsed around her. “No, Eliana. Everything between us was real. Is real.”
Her head rolled weakly over his shoulder, her eyes refusing to meet his, tears beginning to fall. “I can see it all now. Everything that didn’t register at the time. I