The heavy painkillers he’d been given on the island had become a dangerous crutch in the weeks after he’d awoken. His pain had been a relentless presence, along with the anxiety that stopped him sleeping or eating. Soon he’d begun to crave the oblivion those pills offered, and he had progressed to hoarding his dosages to achieve the maximum effect. Luckily, the nurses had recognised the signs and had made it impossible for him to continue down that path.
When a man was in constant pain, anything could become a vice, so he had adopted a strict, clean lifestyle and focused on healing his body naturally. But even now that he had his physical regimen under control, he still felt that restless hunger within him at times. It was as if he had come back to life with a great big chunk of himself missing, and no matter what he did...nothing filled the space.
His thoughts wandered back to the first moment he’d laid eyes on the woman from his dreams. Nora. How she had looked at him in that rain-soaked street, the shock and relief on her delicate features right before she’d embraced him. He’d felt something shift within him, as if something in his broken mind had awoken and growled mine.
Perhaps they had been lovers before his accident? She was certainly eye-catching, with her vibrant red waves of hair and large silver eyes. The thought of the two of them together filled him with a rush of sensual heat—until he remembered that she had been heavily pregnant with another man’s child when he’d found her.
If they had been lovers, she had clearly moved on quickly.
Shrugging off the dark turn his thoughts had taken, he reminded himself of the more pressing matter that she was clearly in need of help and fearful of some unknown force. Afraid enough to pack up her life and move cities in an advanced stage of pregnancy.
He winced, remembering how he had told her he would get his answers. Suddenly the idea of getting answers seemed overshadowed by the idea that she might fear him. She was made of steel, that much was clear, and yet he’d seen flashes of vulnerability on her face that had made him tense with the primal need to protect.
His fists clenched tight and he shut off the water with an impatient growl. From the villa’s hilltop vantage point he could see the last rays of the late evening sun glittering on the waves of the Atlantic below. He took a deep breath and wrapped a towel low on his hips, inhaling and exhaling the salty spray until he felt a sense of calm logic return.
If he had any chance of getting information from Nora he would first need to gain her trust. She was a new mother, in dire need of help, but he got the feeling that she would not accept help from him easily. Luckily for him, patience had always been something he had in abundance.
He let out a deep exhalation, a plan already taking shape in his mind.
He would get what he needed from Nora Beckett—one way or another.
‘This can’t be legal.’ Nora stood by the edge of her hospital bed, her suitcase packed at her feet and the small bundle of her son in his baby carrier. ‘It’s been a full week and you’ve said yourself I am well enough to leave.’
‘You’re well enough to go home—not to fly across the country.’ The doctor spoke in a firm tone. ‘Miss Beckett. You will not be cleared to fly in your condition. I won’t allow it. Recovery from pre-eclampsia needs to be closely monitored, and you will both need regular check-ups here in Rio for at least another five weeks.’
‘I can’t stay here,’ she said weakly. ‘I have nowhere to go.’
‘You have a home address listed, right here in Rio.’
Nora looked down at the form on the doctor’s clipboard, seeing Duarte’s name at the top and noting that the address listed was for his palatial villa up in the hills. A place where she had stayed before, numerous times.
‘That’s not my home.’
‘We have been advised to stop you leaving.’
‘Advised by who?’ She raised her voice, looking around at the burly security man who had suddenly appeared outside her door and the slightly uncomfortable look in the doctor’s eyes. ‘Has someone asked you to keep me here?’
‘I asked them.’
Duarte Avelar appeared in the doorway, impeccably dressed in a sleek navy suit and light blue shirt. How unlucky could she get? He had become even more gorgeous, while she had been in a haze of sleepless nights with a newborn and had barely mustered the energy to brush her hair in the week since she’d last seen him.
‘I told you I didn’t need your help.’ Nora squared her shoulders.
He gestured to the doctors and the guard to leave, closing the door behind them. His eyes drifted down, narrowing as he took in the small suitcase at her feet and the baby bundled up in the infant carrier she’d asked one of the nurses to order for her. Thankfully she’d set aside a small provision of cash for clothing and supplies for her son, but she hadn’t expected to need everything so soon.
‘You have no right to intrude on my privacy this way.’ She shook her head in disbelief. ‘I told you I didn’t need your help.’
‘I’m listed as your next of kin. The doctors called and filled me in on your plans to leave because they have concerns. I’ll admit that I do too.’
His eyes met hers with an intensity that took her breath away.
‘Packing a bag and then asking for internet access to book a flight?’
Nora swallowed hard, looking away from him and crossing her arms, ignoring the tender pain that still lingered in her chest from repeated failed attempts to nurse her son. She felt raw inside and out, and having Duarte reappear was just another thing sending her closer to the edge of her control.
‘I am not doing anything wrong.’ She forced a tight smile and deliberately slowed and calmed her voice. ‘The doctor has said herself that both Liam and I are ready to be discharged. Not being allowed to fly has put a snag in my plans, but I will find a way.’
His frown deepened even more. ‘Planning to leave the city?’
She looked down at her hands, feeling the heavy weight of her situation take hold. Without a flight, Manaus was almost three days away—at the other end of the country by the mouth of the Amazon. It was utterly ridiculous even to try to plan that kind of journey with a newborn and in her condition, putting them both at the mercy of public transport and cheap motels. She’d spent almost every last real she had paying to rebook her flight.
‘I need to get out of Rio.’
She heard the desperation in her voice but didn’t care. For all she knew, her father’s men were waiting outside at this very moment. She had never felt so helpless and she hated it.
‘Tell me why,’ he said softly. ‘Are you in danger?’
She bit her lower lip, looking away from him as she felt her eyes fill with panicked tears. She was losing every ounce of control she’d gained for herself, for her son. It infuriated her, feeling so utterly powerless.
Beside her, Duarte cursed softly under his breath and looked away for a moment. ‘Nora, you must know you can’t travel right now. If you need protection...’ He seemed to measure his words for a moment. ‘We’ve got about three minutes before the doctor returns, most likely in the company of someone from social services, who is going to ask some pertinent questions about the welfare of your child.’
Nora clutched at her throat, feeling it clamp tight with fear and realisation. She couldn’t afford for anyone to go digging into her background right now. She needed to keep herself and her son out of her father’s reach.
Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, completely aghast at the severity of her situation. Was this how she was starting her journey as a mother? Every single plan she’d made had gone wrong and now she was going to be investigated for child endangerment barely a week into her son’s life!
‘My home is nearby.’ His eyes were steady on hers. ‘You can stay there as my guest until they say you can fly. You’d have almost an entire wing of the house to yourself, along with anything you might need
.’
‘I can’t fly for five weeks...’ She half whispered the words.
‘There is no time limit on my assistance,’ he said softly. ‘I believe that you played a vital role in saving my life and I would like to help.’
‘Does this assistance come with a catch?’
She forced herself to look at him, to analyse his face so she could see if he was sincere. He seemed genuine as he spread his hands wide and shrugged one powerful shoulder.
‘I believe you have valuable information that will help me to bring a very dangerous man to justice. I understand why that must seem overwhelming in your current position, so I won’t press you for answers yet. Right now, it’s my job to prove to you that I am trustworthy, and I am willing to wait and work for your trust.’
Nora bit her lower lip, focusing on calming her thoughts and laying out all her options in her mind. The way things stood, she was trapped between two utterly terrible outcomes. If she tried to leave alone she risked the attention of the authorities, and thus her father, who had webs in every area of the city. But the alternative was accepting an offer from a man who at any moment might remember who she was and what had happened and bring her whole world crashing down. A man she had spent six months mourning and dreaming of.
Could she hold herself together for five weeks?
‘I want my flight changed to a later date, when I’m cleared to travel,’ she said quietly, standing up straight in an effort to project an air of confidence. As though any of this was actually her choice...
‘I will have it taken care of immediately.’
The door of the room opened suddenly and the doctor appeared, introducing a stern-faced woman in a pale grey suit as a representative from social services.
As Nora felt her body go slack, Duarte’s hand reached out to her elbow and held her upright. She looked up at him, seeing the question in his eyes. Like a woman about to sign her own death sentence, she nodded once. She watched his pupils dilate, the briefest flash of triumph glowing in his amber eyes before he turned away, using his body as a shield between her and the others.
Nora felt as though she had entered a twilight zone version of her life as Duarte easily commanded the situation in a way that somehow managed to be both dazzlingly charming and authoritative.
As she watched his bodyguard gather her things, she tried to shake off the feeling that, after spending months ensuring she escaped her father’s control, she had just volunteered to step into another shiny cage.
CHAPTER FOUR
DUARTE TRIED TO ignore his strange feeling of relief at having Nora agree to come under his protection.
Once they were safely within the gates of his home he allowed her some privacy to settle in, instructing his housekeeper to give her a tour of the rooms he’d had set up for her and to serve her lunch in private while she rested. He was painfully aware of the fact that he had no idea what a newborn needed, so he’d enlisted the help of his assistant at the Avelar Foundation, a young mother herself, and had instructed her to spare no expense.
Not wanting to crowd his guest, he spent the afternoon in various meetings at his city offices. With Angelus Fiero still recovering from his injury, it fell on Duarte to step in and oversee the final stages of locking down their lands for future renovation projects.
He returned to the house much later than he’d expected, his back and shoulder aching from exertion. The house was strangely silent as he slipped into the kitchen and grabbed a premade salad from the refrigerator. Usually he took pleasure in cooking his own meals, but tonight he just wanted to eat quickly and get some sleep. He was not used to being back in the world of boardrooms and business deals, surrounded by the hum of conversation. It made him restless and edgy, as if he wanted to crawl out of his own skin.
He knew he needed to get back into practice if he had any hope of returning to his full workload as CEO of Velamar. His sister had sent him an email with details of the launch of their new headquarters in Florida the following month—a week of grand events in Fort Lauderdale to celebrate their new US and Caribbean charter routes.
A noise jolted him upright and he looked up to see Nora, standing frozen in the doorway of the kitchen. She held an empty baby’s bottle in one hand and her small son in the other.
‘Can I help?’ he asked, standing up.
‘No, thank you.’
She moved with impressive agility, balancing the infant in one arm as she prepared his milk with the other. Duarte frowned, making a mental note to call in a nurse tomorrow. If she wouldn’t accept help from him, he’d ensure she got it elsewhere.
‘I hope you have everything you need?’ he said.
‘You ordered a lot of things...’ She met his eyes for a brief moment. ‘I can’t repay you for any of this.’
‘I’m happy to help you any way I can.’
‘In return for information?’
She spoke with a practised lightness to her tone, but he could see shrewd assessment in her gaze.
He placed both of his hands on the marble counter between them. ‘I meant what I said at the hospital. Five weeks. I am a patient man, Nora. Right now my priority is keeping you safe while you rest and recover. Nothing more.’
She hovered in the doorway for a long moment, her red hair seeming to glow under the lamps of the corridor behind her. ‘What if in five weeks... I still can’t tell you anything?’
He heard the fear in her words, noting her use of the word can’t rather than won’t. He measured his words carefully. ‘I think you should think about the kind of power I might hold over whatever it is that you fear. I might be able to help.’
She shook her head once, a sad smile on her lips. ‘I wish it were that simple.’
She turned and disappeared back up the corridor, leaving Duarte alone with his thoughts.
Nora practically tiptoed around the palatial villa, in an effort not to run into Duarte. For the most part she was successful. She spent her days adjusting to Liam’s needs, and was grateful for the help of the kind young nurse Duarte had provided to keep on top of her own aftercare.
Breastfeeding had turned out to be impossible with her terrible supply of milk, and she’d sobbed with guilt when her nurse recommended she stop before Liam had even reached his two-week milestone. Without the pressure of her own failure hanging over her, she found she became slightly more relaxed. In a matter of days, her blood pressure readings returned to normal range and she began to smile again.
She was slowly beginning to feel a little more human, but still she found herself scanning the exterior grounds and refused to walk outside the house.
In the early hours of the morning that marked the start of her third week as Duarte’s guest Nora awoke in a blind panic, her skin prickling with awareness as she jolted upwards in the gigantic four-poster bed. Blinking in the darkness, she placed a hand over her heart as though trying to calm her erratic breath. Her skin felt flushed, and the sheets were twisted around her legs as though she’d been thrashing in her sleep.
It wasn’t the first time her dreams had been invaded in such a fashion, but this one had been by far the most X-rated. In it, Duarte had touched her with such gentle reverence, his eyes drinking her in as though she were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She had heard herself moan that she never wanted him to stop, her voice husky in a way she’d never heard before. She had felt every touch of his mouth as he kissed a path of sensual heat down her neck...
Shaking off the shiver of awareness that still coursed down her spine, she took a deep breath and peered over into the small cot beside her bed to ensure that Liam still slept peacefully. She adjusted his blanket and tried not to think of her handsome host or his frequent appearances in her subconscious.
If she’d expected Duarte to break his vow and demand answers, she’d been completely wrong. If anything, he’d gone out of his way to give her space
. He spent much of the day out of the house, likely working somewhere in the city. Some nights he didn’t return at all, like tonight.
She hated it that she was so hyper-aware of his movements, his presence. She’d tried her best to train herself to think of him as a benign stranger, but it was hopeless—especially while she was staying in this villa where memories of their time together assailed her.
Every time she walked into the living room she remembered the first night he’d taken her there...his mouth on hers as they failed even to make it to a bed. He’d been shocked to discover she was a virgin, and he’d insisted on bathing her afterwards. He’d sat behind her in a large claw-foot tub, overlooking the mountain view, and his hands had stroked over her body so reverently...
After that, she’d come to the villa countless times, always after the staff had been excused for the night. She’d been living in her own fantasy, imagining that she would build up to telling Duarte the truth of her identity and never incur his wrath or suspicion.
And all the while her father had been completely aware of her movements, plotting his revenge for her lies and deception. She’d been nothing but a pawn. A disposable entity to both powerful men in her life.
Now, lying back on the pillows in the silent house, she felt on edge. Earlier that day she’d tried to take a walk outside, for the first time since arriving. But while wandering around the courtyard, with Liam tucked tight against her chest, she’d thought she’d seen a familiar dark blue car parked at the end of the driveway. Her heart had stopped and she’d moved quickly back into the house, peering out of the window to see the car remain in place for another half-hour before slowly moving further down the road.
She’d had such a broken sleep tonight that it was possible she was being overly sensitive. It was only natural that she would be feeling the effects of her captivity. She wasn’t technically a prisoner here, but she knew she couldn’t leave. Not yet.
Returning To Claim His Heir Page 5