Chapter Eleven
Satyanna took a bite of the delicious coconut-flavored fish, when the light on the baby monitor flashed red. A second later Lyanna wailed.
She pushed her plate and motioned to stand up, when Maria dashed in from the kitchen and gestured with her hands for her to sit. “I’ll check on her, senhora.”
“Thanks, but you don’t have to.”
The woman flashed her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I raised four children and three grandkids. They’re all still alive, and thanks to the Duarte’s generosity with paying for their education, doing well.”
Addie gave Satyanna’s hand a light squeeze. “In this house we usually go with what she says.” Addie winked at her. “Trust me.”
Biting back a smile, she sat down, her shoulders slowly relaxing. Yes, she would finish her meal. She would have a lot of one-on-one moments with her daughter. Why not enjoy lunch?
She took a swig of mango juice, and her gaze slid from the crystal glass to the others around the nicely put table. Addie had been a joy to talk to; from the moment she walked into the house, the beautiful, blonde pregnant woman had been witty and welcoming. A tad on the inquisitive side, but Satyanna should expect that. She was the outsider, even though they all made an effort for her not to be. All but Leonardo.
The planes of his face tightened, and besides a couple comments on the food, he hadn’t exchanged a word with her. Was he upset they were treating her better than he would have liked? Like…family?
Her heart squeezed. She wasn’t family. She’d given birth to the new family member—and she’d be the one who would live quietly in a luxurious loft, according to him. Quiet, tolerant, and agreeable. Ugh. So not happening.
When he’d told her about his parents, there had been admiration in his voice. Love. She had never met anyone who respected their folks like that.
“Your husband said you were in a meeting,” she said to Addie. “What do you do?”
“Yes. I’m the president of a nonprofit organization that offers support to Brazilian natives spread throughout the country. We’re the liaison between them and the government and the private sectors.”
While she explained, her husband flashed a smile filled with pride. Satyanna watched the scene, feeling like a third wheel even though they weren’t touching. When she peered at Leonardo, who sat in front of her, she stifled a laugh.
Tension claimed the planes of his beautiful face, and the intensity in his eyes was unmatched.
“Emanuel, their other brother, has started to work with me. He’ll be taking over for a while so I can enjoy mommyhood,” Addie said.
Satyanna blinked. “Of course. And where is Emanuel? Does he live nearby?”
“He’s fighting for one of our causes…in loco.”
“Interesting.” Wow. All these people committed to making the world a better place. Leonardo was a human rights lawyer; Addie was fighting injustices. No wonder he didn’t want to marry her. Given his background and the people around him, he probably thought she wasn’t worthy of him.
Did that change Lyanna’s situation? Wouldn’t she be better off growing up with a father nearby than thousands of miles across the ocean? Unless…I give in and stay in Brazil. Bile rose in her throat. She had fought so much to have control over her own destiny. That was why she’d fled the youth house with Harry. Then, when she learned Harry wanted to control her more than any institution, she’d left him—too late. And she wrestled with her decision for years as they stayed in touch.
Could she do it? Give control over her life to a man who had been painfully, brutally honest from the beginning?
She brought more food to her mouth, but somehow the taste didn’t register anymore.
“Satyanna.” Leonardo wiped his mouth on the linen napkin and called her again. “Are you listening?”
She nodded her head. “Yes.”
He frowned, and she realized what she’d done. “For the next few days, I want you to be careful. Don’t leave the house without someone with you. I’m hiring a couple security guards to watch over you if you need to go somewhere and I’m busy. The important thing is to let us know your every move. That’s the only way we can protect you.”
“Protect me?” She squared her shoulders. How much of the conversation had she missed? A lot, if Addie’s and Bruno’s concerned looks were anything to go by. “I don’t get it.”
“Ulisses contacted me. Jacinta was found dead.”
Dead. Her breath caught in her throat, and a chilly shiver zipped down her spine. “What?”
“Someone slit her throat, a few miles from her house. A neighbor saw her go in and leave with a big bag, and that bag was missing.”
“What does that mean?”
“My hunch is she warned Clemonte, and he blamed her for letting us in and killed her. Maybe he went to his home next, but we were already gone.”
“C-couldn’t this just be a random act of violence?” she said, injecting in her voice the hopefulness she lacked inside. Harry. Even though it was warm, the little hairs at the back of her neck stood on end like some cold front had slapped her with no warning.
“I highly doubt it,” Leonardo said, rolling his eyes.
Addie shifted in her seat. “What do the police say?”
“They are treating this as a robbery. Remember they are overworked and underpaid. They don’t have the resources to go after a nanny who was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“What are we going to do?” It was Bruno’s turn to ask.
Leonardo squared his shoulders. A powerful intensity flickered in his eyes. “I want to pursue this, but before I go back to Maranhão, you need to be taken care of. I will make sure you are settled and the baby is fine. A doctor should come by to see you.”
Her pulse hammered, and she wasn’t sure if it was because she was scared of the outcome or proud he wasn’t a quitter. “A doctor? Why?”
“Because you had a baby three months ago and fled the hospital. And you got hurt. He needs to make sure you’re okay.”
The man had a point. After she ran from the hospital, she had visited some low-income clinics so she could pay with cash and go unnoticed. They took her blood pressure, did a pelvic exam and checked her scar. Still, she and the baby could do with better care. “Fine.”
Addie, who sat next to her, reached out and tapped her back lightly. “I’m sorry…about all this.”
Me too. “Thanks.” What else was there to say?
…
“Is everything okay?” he asked the doctor when he left Satyanna’s room.
Doutor Gomes, the longtime family physician, smiled. He had made enough house calls when Sergio, Leonardo’s father, had been diagnosed with brain cancer over a year ago. “She’s fine. She has recovered well after everything she went through. She’s a remarkable woman.”
Remarkable. Leonardo blinked at the adjective. A thrill of excitement surged through him, foolishly. Why did it matter what other people thought of Satyanna? Because you know a part of you deep down agrees with him. He coughed, willing those dangerous thoughts away. “And the baby?”
Doutor Gomes fixed his glasses. “Baby’s good. Growth is up to speed. I’ve given her some referrals for pediatricians in town. She should make an appointment soon for a wellness check. But all is well,” he said, clapping his hands together.
“Good. Thanks for coming on such short notice,” Leonardo said, and was leading him to the exit, when Maria called him.
“Leonardo, I’m sorry to interrupt, but you have a phone call and the man said it’s urgent. He has a heavy accent, I couldn’t understand him well,” she said, handing him the cordless phone.
Leonardo’s pulse hammered. Who else could it be? “I’m sorry. I have to take this.”
“Off you go, son. I already know my way out. See you next time,” Doutor Gomes said.
Leonardo glanced around, as if to make sure no one could hear him. Satyanna had been in her bedroom with the baby the entire afternoon, and thankfully the doctor had visited them right after dinner. He looked at the big, full moon outside through the glass wall. “Hello.”
“I believe you have something that belongs to me. Two things,” said a man with a British accent.
“Clemonte,” he said.
“We never had the pleasure of meeting face to face, but I assume you’ve heard of me. According to my sources, you’ve been looking for me.”
His stomach contracted. “I’ll find you, you son of a bitch. And when I do I’ll make you pay for stealing my daughter, my sculpture, and killing Jacinta.”
A snicker. “You’re an ambitious young man, I will give you that. Tell you what. Because you’re so upset, I’ll offer you a bargain. Give me either Satyanna or little Valentina back, and I will disappear from your life.”
It was Leonardo’s turn to chuckle. “Are you fucking with me? Never. Satyanna doesn’t want to be within four feet of you, and you’re dying before you touch my daughter ever again.”
“Watch it, Leonardo. There will be other deaths if you confront me.”
“Yes. Yours.”
“I’ll give you a couple days to think things over. I’m invested in these relationships, and I’m not going to lose them both to you. Satyanna knows she’s in the wrong. She betrayed me and abandoned me—twice—but because I am a good man, I’m willing to forgive her. As long as she understands if she sides with me, we’re moving away from Brazil, for good, with new identities somewhere else. I’m thinking Southeast Asia.”
Never. Leonardo groaned, unable to suppress the sound. He had always used his mind, his power, his skills to argue and persuade in court and in life. The world had too much violence as it was. But now his fingers curled into a ball with white-knuckled intensity. If Clemonte were within eyesight, he would have punched him. And he wouldn’t have stopped. “I don’t negotiate with rats.”
“Well, that’s where you are wrong. See, I am an intelligent, skillful rat. And I’m willing to go through great lengths to get things I want. Your threats are empty. You are a good guy at heart. You know the problem with good guys? They don’t get things done. I do.”
“I’m not giving you either of them, and a phone call isn’t enough to scare me.” He delivered his message in a firm, commanding tone.
“Well, I’m just going to have to work harder. We’ll reconnect sooner rather than later.”
He hung up the phone.
Leonardo stared at the phone before setting it down. A lot could happen sooner rather than later, and he’d make sure none of it did. Was Clemonte distracting him with a bluff just so he’d stay put and not go look into things further in the state of Maranhão? Just so he wouldn’t leave Satyanna and the baby unprotected? No.
He walked to the console and poured himself some scotch. Could he do it? Give Satyanna back to that man? No. Certainly not. His heart tightened in his chest, and frustration clogged his throat. He downed a shot of alcohol, hoping at least some of it would help him gain insight.
Are you going to tell her? Are you afraid she will go with him? Filling the tumbler again, he carried the glass as he headed to his bedroom. He’d find his cell phone and tell Ulisses about the threat. Hell, he’d have to tell someone. Until this problem was solved, he wouldn’t involve the Brazilian police. That would only set him backward.
He didn’t have to answer to anyone, and he hated even more to depend on someone else to find Clemonte—someone who didn’t want or need to get him as he did.
He called Ulisses, but it went straight to voicemail.
“Get in touch. Clemonte just called me,” he said, and then set it on the nightstand. Removing his shirt and belt, he decided at least his body would get some solace. There was no way his racing mind would come to a stop. He swallowed. Tumbling on the bed, he closed his eyes.
A beat later, someone knocked on his door. Probably Bruno. He took a deep breath. Was he ready to talk about the fear of losing them with his brother? It was too soon. And he wasn’t even sure what losing them meant. Losing his daughter would be devastating, but that would never happen. How about Satyanna? that annoying part of him asked. How would he really feel if she disappeared from his life? From their lives? “Come in.”
“I just put her to sleep,” said a voice much softer than Bruno’s.
He opened his eyes and sat upright. Satyanna walked into the room, her fingers tapping the baby monitor on her hand. An ecstatic sound chimed, and she lowered the volume and placed it on a heavy oak dresser. “What do you want?”
“Can I ask you something?” she asked, twisting her hands together.
A pulse throbbed in his throat. Should he tell her about Clemonte’s call? Maybe not yet. He’d think things through, first. Getting her worried over something she had no control over wasn’t fair. He’d seen the look of terror on her face when he’d told her about Jacinta’s death. “Sure.”
She sat on the edge of the bed. Folding her arms, Satyanna glanced around her, maybe second-guessing what she was about to say. He angled his head toward her, interested. “You must know about Linda Anderson, the lady Harry married when I was young.”
Leonardo popped his knuckles. Of course he knew. Ulisses had informed him when he’d started searching for her almost a year ago. After she left the youth house, Harry married some vulnerable millionaire, who suspiciously died shortly after the wedding.
A single tear rolled down her cheek, but she wiped it quickly. Nevertheless, her eyes were red, and the expression on her face hinted at despair for control, like a ship trying to divert from slamming into an iceberg. “I agreed to help him, to pose as the daughter of a sweet widower while he fooled her into marrying him. That’s my biggest regret.” She lifted her hand to her mouth and covered it for a moment. “He told me he’d help me find out more about my birth parents. I hadn’t seen my mother since I was four.”
“Continue,” he said, reaching for the facial tissue on the nightstand and stretching it out to her.
She glanced at it before she accepted it.
“Turns out Linda had a heart condition…one I didn’t know about. And, a couple weeks after the honeymoon, she died. Do you think Harry could have provoked it?”
“Killed her? Yes. Ulisses went to the States and interviewed one of her few distant relatives, who believes so. But he couldn’t prove it. Without evidence, the truth is useless in a court of law.”
She closed her eyes. “God.”
That ship was definitely sinking…was he going to watch it drown? Erasing the distance between them, he pulled her into his arms in an embrace she had no escape from. She fidgeted at first, maybe embarrassed she was crying. But he tightened his grip around her. “I believe you, Satyanna.”
“That I didn’t know she was sick?”
“And that you didn’t know he wanted to steal my sculpture a year ago,” he said, unable to keep it from her any longer. Warmth threaded down his spine, and he didn’t know why. Running his fingers through her massive curls was as relaxing and entrancing as listening to a violinist. Moments like this, when his hand was covered by the texture of her wild hair, felt real. Dangerous, but real.
She disengaged from him just so she could speak. He watched those glossy eyes.
“Thanks, this means a lot. I’ve also been thinking about what you said at lunch. You were so adamant about protecting Lyanna and me. That was nice. I like that.”
He nodded.
She chewed on her lower lip, as if she waited for him to say something. What exactly could he say? “I like you, too, even though you can be an asshole sometimes.”
“That’s oddly flattering,” he said.
She flashed him a smile that punched him in the gut and tore down all his defenses. He shifted on the bed, and wished he wore a shirt. But no fabric would protect from the way his skin seared from being near her. He needed a midnight swim to clear his head, or a dip in the ocean. Or simply…he needed her.
Pink stained her cheeks. She opened her mouth slightly, then closed it again. Was she…nervous? She ran her fingers through her curls, but she didn’t twirl a section around her finger like he anticipated. Instead, she smoothed her hands over her blouse. At last, she stared him in the eye.
“Tell me something good, Leonardo. If you have something nice to say about me, this is the time. I need to hear it.”
She wanted honesty, and what kind of hypocrite was he if he couldn’t give her some of it? “I like how you came back and opened the door at Clemonte’s house.”
“You didn’t think I would?”
“I had my doubts.”
She lifted her chin. “What else?”
A bubble of intimacy closed around them, and he struggled to breathe normally. “I like to see how you’re committed to taking care of Lyanna. You don’t shy away from challenges.” Wasn’t that one of his father’s traits? Sergio had taken care of his wife even as she got sick with lupus. If he had been a weaker man, he could have left his family and started a new life with a younger woman.
“Is it hard for you to say all these things?”
“Not as hard as I thought it would be,” he said, although the same thing couldn’t be said about his cock. His hard-on found the perfect way for him to release his tension and get his mind off of his problems. “You’re an incredible woman, Satyanna Darling,” he said, and waited for the relief that should come with admitting that much to her. But all he was left with was a throbbing knot in his heart. Incredible in every way.