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CHAPTER FOUR

‘A DOUBLE-SHOT AMERICANO, por favor.’ Inez smiled absently at the barista while she tried to juggle her sketchpad and fish out enough change from her purse to pay for the coffee.

It was barely nine o’clock and yet the heat was already oppressive, even more than usual for a Thursday morning in February. Normally, she would’ve opted for a cool caffeine drink but her energy levels needed an extra boost this morning.

She’d slept badly after the fund-raiser last night. And what little sleep she’d managed had been interspersed with images of a man she had no business thinking, never mind dreaming, about.

And yet Theo Pantelides’s face had haunted her slumber…still haunted her, if truth be told.

The last time she’d seen him he’d been leaning against the terrace bannister outside the ballroom, his eyes fixed firmly on her. Inez wasn’t sure why her attention had been drawn outside. All she knew was that something had compelled her to look that way as she danced with a guest.

Even from that distance the tension whipping through his frame had been unmistakable, as had the blatant dark promise in his eyes as his gaze raked her from head to toe.

More than anything she’d wished she could lip-read when she’d watched his lips move to answer whoever was at the other end of his phone conversation.

That last look plagued her. It’d held hunger, anger and another emotion that she couldn’t quite decipher. Brushing it off, she smiled, accepted her coffee and headed outside. She was a little early for her class with the inner city kids but she hadn’t wanted to spend another moment at the tension-fraught breakfast table with her father and brother this morning.

In contrast to Pietro’s third degree as to what exactly had happened with Alfonso Delgado, her father had been cold and strangely preoccupied. The moment he’d stood abruptly and left the table, she’d made her excuses and walked away.

Even Pietro’s reminder that they had a dinner engagement she couldn’t recall making hadn’t been worth stopping to query. All she’d wanted was to get out of the mansion that felt more and more as if it was closing in on her.

‘Bom dia, anjo.’ The deep murmured greeting brought her thoughts and footsteps to a crashing halt.

Theo leaned casually against a gleaming black sports car, a pair of dark sunglasses hiding his eyes from her. But her full body tingle announced that she was the full, unwavering focus of his gaze. Her breath stalled, her heart accelerating wildly as her pulse went into overdrive.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’ she blurted before she could stop her strong reaction.

Aside from the devastation his tall, lean suited frame caused to her insides, the thought that he could discover where she was headed or what she did with her Tuesday and Thursday mornings made her palms grow clammy. By lunchtime today, if Pietro were to be believed, Theo would be firmly entrenched as a business partner in her family’s company. Which meant constant contact with her family. Which meant he could disclose parts of her life she wasn’t yet ready to disclose to her family.

‘Are you following me?’ she accused hotly as she approached him, her senses jumping with the possibilities and consequences of her discovery.

‘Not today. My trench coat and fedora are at the laundry.’

‘Keep them there. In this heat, you’d boil to death.’

A smile broke across his face. ‘Do I detect a little unladylike relish in your voice, anjo?’

‘What you detect is high scepticism that you’re here by accident and not following me,’ she snapped.

‘You give me too much credit, agape mou. I asked for the best coffee shop in the city and I was directed here. That you’re here too merely confirms that assertion. Unless you go out of your way to sample bad coffee?’

Before she could respond, he straightened and reached for the hand wrapped around her coffee. Curling his hand over hers, he brought his lips to the small opening on her coffee lid and tilted the cup towards him.

He savoured the drink in his mouth for a few seconds before he swallowed.

Inez fought to breathe as she watched his strong throat move. The slow swirl of his tongue over his lower lip caused darts of sharp need to arrow straight between her legs.

‘Delicious. And surprising. I would’ve pegged you for a latte girl.’

‘Which goes to show you know next to nothing about me,’ she retorted.

He slowly raised his sunglasses and speared her with his mesmerising eyes. Although a smile hovered over his sensual lips, some unnameable tension hovered in the air between them. A charged friction that warned her all was not as it seemed.

Hell, she knew that. Theo Pantelides spelled danger. Whether smiling or serious, dallying with him was akin to playing with electricity. Depending on his mood, you could either receive a mild static frizzle or a full-blown electrocution. And she had no intention of testing him for either.

‘Sim, I don’t know enough about you. But I intend to remedy that situation in the near future.’

She shrugged. ‘It is your time to waste.’

He merely smiled and turned towards his car.

‘I thought you came to get coffee?’ she probed, then bit her lip for prolonging a meeting she wanted over and done with. Last night she’d told herself to be thankful that she would never see this man again. And yet, here she was, feeling mildly bereft at the notion that he was leaving.

He paused and his gaze slid over her. Immediately, she became supremely conscious of the white shorts and blue tank top she’d hurriedly thrown on this morning. Her hair was caught up in a ponytail because it helped keep it out of the way during her class. Her face was devoid of make-up except for the light sunscreen and the gloss she’d passed over her lips. All in all, she projected a much different image this morning than the sophisticated hostess she’d been last night.

Catching herself wondering whether he found her wanting now, she mentally slammed the thought down. She didn’t care what Theo thought of her.

‘I have the kick I need to keep me going. See you tonight.’

‘Tonight? Why would you be seeing me tonight?’ she demanded.

His smile slowly disappeared as his gaze slid over her again. This time, his hot gaze held an element of possessiveness that made her fight to keep from fidgeting under his keen scrutiny.

Stepping back, he activated a button on his car key and the door slid smoothly upward. She watched, completely captivated, as he lowered his tall masculine frame inside the small space. A touch of a slim finger on a button and the engine roared to life.

‘Because I want to see you. And I always get what I want, Inez,’ he said cryptically, his tone suddenly hard and biting. ‘Remember that.’

I always get what I want.

Another shiver of apprehension coursed down her spine.

All through the two art and graphic design classes she taught from ten till midday, the infernal words throbbed through her head as if someone had set them on repeat.

She managed to keep her focus, barely, as she demonstrated the differences between charcoal and pencil strokes to a group of ten-year-olds. Once or twice she had to repeat herself because she lost her train of thought, much to the amusement of her pupils, but the satisfying feeling of imparting knowledge to children who would otherwise have been left wandering the streets momentarily swamped the roiling emotions that Theo had stirred with his unexpected appearance this morning.

The suspicion that he had been following her didn’t go away all through her hurriedly taken lunch and the meeting she’d scheduled with the volunteer coordinator at the centre.

Her decision to forge her own path by seeking a permanent position at the centre had solidified as she’d tossed and turned through the night.

Seeking her independence meant finding a paying job. To do that she needed more experience, which she hoped her longer hours spent volunteering would give her.

Thanks to her father’s interference, all she had was one semester at university. It wasn’t great but, until such time as she could further her education, it was better than nothing. That plus her volunteering was a starting point.

A starting point that was greatly enhanced when the coordinator agreed to increase her hours to three full days.

She was smiling as she activated her phone on the way to her car after leaving the centre.

The first text was from Pietro, reminding her that they were dining out that evening. With Theo Pantelides.

The unladylike curse she uttered won her a severe look of disapproval from an elderly lady walking past. The urge to text back a refusal was immediate and visceral.

After last night and this morning, exposing herself to the raw emotions Theo provoked was the last thing she needed.

And even more than her suspicions this morning, she had a feeling he’d engineered this dinner. Hell, he’d as much as taunted her with it with his last words to her this morning.

As much as she tried to think positive and hope that the dinner would be quick and painless, a premonition gripped her insides as she slid behind the wheel and headed home.

‘Filho da puta.’ Her brother’s habitual crude cursing wasn’t a surprise to her. That it had seemingly come out of nowhere was.

‘What’s wrong?’ She eyed him as they stepped out of the car at the marina of the exclusive Rio Yacht Club just before seven p.m.

She pulled down her box-pleated hem and wished she’d worn something a little longer than the form-fitting mid-thigh-length royal-blue sleeveless dress. The traffic had been horrendous and she’d arrived home much later than planned. The dress had been the nearest thing to hand. Now she stared down at the four-inch black platform heels she’d teamed with it and grimaced at the amount of thigh and legs on show.

The light breeze lifted a few strands of her loose hair as she turned to her brother and saw him jerk his chin towards the largest yacht moored at the far end of the pier. ‘Trust Pantelides to rub my nose in it,’ he said acerbically.

She looked from the sleek black, gold-trimmed vessel back to her brother. ‘Rub your nose…what are you talking about?’

With a sullen look, he strode off down the jetty. ‘That’s my boat.’

‘Yours? When did you buy a boat?’

‘I didn’t. I couldn’t. Not after the mess up with Pai’s last campaign. That boat was supposed to be mine!’ Dark anger clouded his face.

Her heart jumped into her throat. ‘Pietro, a boat like that costs millions of dollars. Besides that very unsubtle hint that I in any way stood in the way of your acquiring it—which is preposterous, by the way—there’s no way you could ever have afforded a boat like that, so—’

‘Forget it. Let’s go and get this over with. It’s bad enough Pai pulled out of coming tonight. Now I have to schmooze for both of us. You have to play your part, too. It’s clear Pantelides’s got a thing for you.’

Disgust and anger rose in her and she snatched her hand away from Pietro when he tried to lead her down the gangplank.

‘I won’t participate in another of your soulless schemes. So you may as well forget it right now.’

‘Inez—’

‘No!’ Feelings she’d bottled up for much longer than she cared to think about rose to the surface. ‘You keep asking me to throw myself at prospective investors so you can fund Pai’s campaign. You’re his campaign manager and yet you can’t seem to function without my help. Why is that?’

Pietro’s eyes darkened. ‘Watch your mouth, sister.’

‘Show me some respect and I’ll consider it,’ she challenged.

‘What the hell has got into you?’

‘Nothing that hasn’t always been there, Pietro. But you need me to point it out to you so I will. I’m done. If you want me to accompany you as your sister to Theo Pantelides’s dinner, then I will. If you have another scheme up your sleeve, then you might as well forget it because I am not interested.’

Her brother’s lips pursed but she saw a hint of shame in his eyes before his gaze slid away. ‘I don’t have time to argue with you right now. All I ask, if it’s not too much, of course, is that you help me secure this deal with Pantelides, because if we lose his backing then we might as well pack up and head back up to the ranch in the mountains.’ He set off down the jetty.

She hurried to keep up, picking her way carefully over wooden slats. ‘But I thought everything was done and dusted this morning?’ she asked when she caught up with him.

Anxiety slid over Pietro’s face. ‘Pantelides cancelled the meeting. Something came up, he said. Except I know it was a lie. I have it on good authority he was parked outside a coffee shop chatting up some girl when he was supposed to be meeting us to finalise the agreement.’

Inez stumbled, barely catching herself from toppling headlong into the water a few feet away.

‘You’re having him watched?’ How she managed to keep her voice even, she didn’t know.

Petulance joined anxiety. ‘Of course I am. And I’d bet my Rolex that he’s doing the same to us.’

The thought of being the subject of anyone’s surveillance made her skin crawl, even though a part of her had reluctantly accepted the truth: that her father’s business dealings weren’t always legitimate. But hearing her brother admit it made her stomach turn.

And if that was the way Theo Pantelides conducted his business as well…

She pressed her lips together and looked up as Pietro strode past the potted palm lined entrance to the Yacht Club.

‘Aren’t we dining in there?’

He shook his head. ‘No. We’re dining on my…on his boat,’ he tossed out bitterly.

Inez glanced at the yacht they were approaching.

This close, the vessel was even more magnificent. Its sleek lines and exquisite craftsmanship made her fingers itch for her sketching pad. She was so busy admiring the boat and yearning to capture its beauty on paper that she didn’t see its owner until she was right in front of him.

Then everything else ceased to register.

He wore a black shirt with black trousers, his dark hair raked back from his face. Under the soft golden lights spilling from the second deck his sculpted cheekbones and strong jaw jutted out in heart-stopping relief.

At the back of her mind, Inez experienced a bout of irritation at the fact that he captured attention so exclusively. So effortlessly.

Even as he shook hands with Pietro and welcomed him on board the Pantelides 9, his eyes remained on her. And God help her, but she couldn’t look away.

On unsteady feet, which she firmly blamed on the swaying vessel, she climbed the steps to where he waited. When his eyes released hers to travel over her body, she grappled with controlling her breath. She reached him and reluctantly held out her hand in greeting.

‘Thank you for the dinner invitation, Mr Pantelides.’

With a mocking smile, he took her hand and used the grip to pull her close. Despite her heels, he was almost a foot taller than her, easily six foot four. Which meant he had to lean down quite a bit to whisper in her ear, ‘So formal, anjo. I look forward to loosening your inhibitions enough to dissolve that starchy demeanour.’

Her pulse, which had begun racing when his palm slid against hers, thundered even harder at his words. ‘I can see how not having a woman fall at your feet the moment you crook your finger can present a challenge, senhor. But you really should learn the difference between playing hard to get and being plainly uninterested.’

His eyebrow quirked. ‘You fall into the latter category, of course?’ he mocked.

‘Sim, that is exactly so.’

He looked towards where Pietro had accepted a glass of champagne from a waiter and was admiring the luxuriously decorated deck, at the end of which a multi-coloured lit jet pool swirled and shimmered.

When his gaze re-fixed on hers, there was a steely determination in his eyes that sent a shiver down her spine. All the earlier alarm bells where Theo was concerned clanged loudly in her brain.

‘Then I will have to get a little more inventive,’ he murmured silkily before dropping her hand.

Inez clenched her fist and fought the urge to rub the tingling in her palm. She didn’t want him getting inventive where she was concerned because she had a nasty feeling she wouldn’t emerge unscathed from the encounter.

But she kept her mouth shut and followed him onto the deck. The cream and gold décor was the last word in luxury and opulence. Plump gold seats offered comfort and a superior view onto the well-lit marina and the open sea to their right. To their left, the lights of Rio gleamed, with the backdrop of the huge mountain, on top of which resided the world-famous Cristo Redentor.

A sultry breeze wafted through the deck as a waiter served more flutes of champagne. She took a glass as Pietro rejoined them. His glass was already half empty and she watched him take another greedy gulp before he pointed a finger at Theo.

‘I wish you’d given me the chance to make you another offer for this boat before you pulled the plug on our sale agreement, Pantelides.’

Theo’s jaw tightened before he answered. ‘You had several opportunities to make good but you failed to close the deal. So I cut my losses.’ He shrugged. ‘Business is business.’

Pietro bristled. ‘And cancelling our meeting today? Was that for business too, or pleasure?’

Theo’s eyes caught and held hers. Inez held her breath, wondering if he was about to give her up. His eyes gleamed with a mixture of danger and amusement. Somehow he’d sensed that he held her in his power. And he relished that power. Her hand trembled slightly as she waited for the axe to fall.

‘I’m not in the habit of discussing my other business interests, or my pleasurable ones, for that matter. But, suffice it to say, what kept me away from our meeting was very much worth my time.’ His gaze swept down, lingering over her breasts and hips in a blatant appraisal that made her breathing grow shallow. When his eyes returned to hers, Inez was sure all the oxygen had been sucked out of the atmosphere.

‘Our business together should be equally worth your time,’ Pietro countered.

Theo finally set her free from his captivating gaze. Narrow-eyed, he glanced at Pietro.

‘Which is why I rescheduled for this evening. Of course, your father chose not to grace us with his presence. So the song and dance continues, I guess.’ The hard edge was definitely in his tone again, prompting those alarm bells to ring louder.

Pietro muttered something under his breath that she was sure wasn’t complimentary. He snapped his fingers at the waiter and swapped his empty glass for a full one.

‘Well, we’ll be there at the appointed time tomorrow. We can only hope that you will not be delayed…elsewhere.’

The upward movement of Theo’s mouth could in no way be termed a smile. His eyes flicked back to her. ‘Don’t worry, da Costa, I intend to hammer out the final points of our agreement tonight. When I turn up to sign tomorrow, it will be with the knowledge that all my stipulations have been satisfied.’

The firm belief that his statement was connected to her wouldn’t dissipate all through dinner. As a host, Theo was effortlessly entertaining. He even managed to draw a chuckle from Pietro once or twice.

But Inez couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being toyed with. And once or twice she caught the faintest hint of fury and repulsion on his face, especially when her father’s name came up.

She shook herself out of her unsettling thoughts when the most mouth-watering dessert was set down before her.

Whatever Theo was up to, it was nothing to do with her. Her father had managed their family business with enough savvy not to be drawn into a scam.

With that comforting thought in mind, she picked up her spoon and scooped up a mouthful of chocolate truffle-topped cheesecake.

Her tiny groan of delight drew intense eyes back to hers. Suddenly, the thought of dishing out a little of the mockery he’d doled out to her tingled through her. Keeping her gaze on his, she slowly drew the spoon out from between her lips, then licked the remnants of chocolate with a slow flick of her tongue.

His nostrils flared immediately, hunger darkening his eyes to a leaf-green that was mesmerising to witness. With another swirl of her tongue, she lowered the spoon and scooped up another mouthful.

His large fist tightened around the after-dinner espresso he’d opted for and she momentarily expected the bone china to shatter beneath his grip. But slowly he released it and sat back in his chair, his eyes never leaving her face.

‘Enjoying your dessert, anjo?’ he asked in that low, rough tone of his.

She hated to admit that the endearment was beginning to have an effect on her. The way he mouthed it made heat bloom in her belly, made her aware of her every heartbeat…made her wonder how it would sound whispered to her at the height of passion. No!

‘Yes. Very much.’ She fake smiled to project an air of nonchalance.

He smiled at her mocking formality. ‘Good. I’ll make a note of it for the next time we dine together.’

Before she could tell him she intended to move heaven and earth to make sure there wouldn’t be a next time, Pietro lurched to his feet. ‘I never got the chance to inspect my…this boat before the opportunity to buy it was regrettably taken away. You won’t mind if I take a look around, would you?’ he slurred.

Theo motioned the hovering waiter over. He murmured to him and the waiter went to the deck bar and picked up a handset. ‘Not at all. My skipper will give you the tour.’

A middle-aged man with greying hair climbed onto the deck a few minutes later and escorted a swaying Pietro towards the stairs.

Inez watched him go with a mixture of anxiety and sympathy.

‘He’s drunk.’ Her appetite gone for good, she set her spoon down and pushed the plate away.

‘You say that as if it’s my fault,’ he replied lazily.

‘Did you really have to do that?’ She glared at him.

He raised a brow. ‘Do what, exactly?’

‘This was supposed to be Pietro’s boat.’ No matter how unrealistic that notion had been, her brother didn’t deserve to be humiliated like this.

‘Supposed being the operative word. We had a gentleman’s agreement.’ That hard bite was back again, sending trepidation dancing along her nerve ends. ‘He didn’t hold out his end of the deal.’

‘Regardless of that, do you have to rub his nose in it like this?’ she countered.

‘As I said before, I’m a businessman, anjo. And I currently have a yacht worth tens of millions of dollars that needs an owner. The Boat Show starts next week. I relocated aboard in order to get it in shape for prospective buyers, otherwise our dinner would have taken place at my residence in Leblon and your brother’s delicate feelings would’ve been spared.’

She frowned. ‘You’re selling the boat?’ The thought of the beautiful vessel going to some unknown, probably pompous new owner made her nose wrinkle in distaste. The design was exquisite, unique…sort of like its owner. As hard as she tried to imagine it, she couldn’t see anyone else owning the boat besides Theo. Not even Pietro. Its black and gold contrasts depicted darkness and light in a complementary synergy—two fascinating characteristics she’d glimpsed more than once in Theo.

‘Needs must.’

She looked around the beautiful deck, imagined its graceful lines awash with sunlight, and sighed.

Theo’s eyes narrowed as he stared across at her. ‘You like the boat.’

‘Yes, it’s…beautiful.’

He watched her for a few minutes then he nodded. ‘Let’s make a date for Sunday afternoon. We’ll take her out for a quick spin.’

She laughed. ‘Unless I’m mistaken, this is a four hundred foot vessel. You don’t just take her out for a quick spin.’

‘A long spin, then. I need to make sure it runs perfectly. If you still like it when we return to shore, I’ll keep it.’

Her heart lurched then sped up like a runaway freight train. ‘You would do that…for me?’

‘Sim,’ he replied simply.

Genuine puzzlement, along with a heavy dose of excitement she didn’t want to admit to, made her blurt, ‘Why?’

He strolled lazily to where she stood. This close, she had to tilt her head to catch his gaze. Darkness and light. He might have been smiling but Inez could almost reach out and touch the undercurrent of emotions swirling beneath his civility. She jumped slightly when he brushed a forefinger down her cheek.

‘Because I intend to keep you, anjo. And while you will not have a lot of choice in the matter, I’m willing to make a few adjustments to ensure your contentment.’