He shrugged and hurriedly threw open the door, a part of him reeling at what he’d just admitted. ‘We all have our flaws,’ he retorted.
‘Were you born with it?’
His jaw clenched once. ‘No. It was a condition thrust upon me quite against my will.’
‘But…you seem…’
‘Invincible?’ he mocked.
Her lips pursed. ‘I was going to say self-assured.’
‘Appearances can be deceptive, querida. After you.’ He indicated the door he’d just opened.
She stopped dead in the middle of the room. From where he stood, Theo could see what she was seeing. With the glass walls and white carpet and furnishings and nothing but the view of the blue sky and sea beyond, the vista was breathtaking.
‘Deus, I feel as if I’m floating on a cloud,’ she murmured with an awe-filled voice.
‘That is the primary aim of the property. Light, air, no constrictions.’
He’d learned to his cost that constrictions triggered his anxiety and fuelled his nightmares. Which was why every single property he owned was filled with light.
‘It’s beautiful.’
The strong pulse of pleasure that washed through him had him stepping back. Things were getting out of hand. He needed to walk away, go to his meeting with Benedicto and remind himself why he was in Rio. This need to bask in Inez’s presence, touch her skin, indulge in the urge to taste her sensual lips once more needed to killed. He had to stick to his game plan.
‘Make yourself at home. I’ll be back later. We’re going out this evening. Dinner at Cabana de Ouro, then probably clubbing. Wear something short and sexy.’
Her eyes widened at his curt tone but he was already turning away. He didn’t stop until he reached the landing. On a completely unstoppable urge, he looked over his shoulder. Through the glass walls, he saw her frozen in the middle of her suite, her eyes fixed on him.
She looked lost. And confused. And a little relieved.
With grim determination he turned and headed down the stairs. And he hated himself for needing the reminder that Benedicto da Costa had damaged not just him, but his whole family.
The payback should be equal to the crime committed.
* * *
The black satin boy shorts she chose to wear were plenty stylish and sexy. They also moulded her behind much more than she was strictly comfortable with but everything else she’d hastily packed was too formal for dinner at Cabana de Ouro, the trendy restaurant and bar in Ipanema. Coupled with the dark gold silk top, with her hair piled on top of her head and gold hoops in her ears and bangles on her wrist, she looked good enough for whatever club Theo intended to take her to after dinner.
Clubbing wasn’t strictly her entertainment of choice. But since, for the next twelve weeks, Theo expected her to obey his every command, the least she could do was learn to pick her battles. And she’d already endured one battle this morning in the form of confrontation with Theo. And found out he was claustrophobic.
He’d been right; she’d secretly imagined him to be invincible. The way he carried himself, the innate authority and self-assurance that seemed part of his genetic make up, she’d had no trouble seeing him best each situation he found himself him.
Hearing him admit to a deep flaw that most grown men would be ashamed of had floored her. Coupled with his concern when he’d seen the marks her father had inflicted when she’d announced she was moving in with Theo, she’d been seriously floundering in a sea of uncertainty by the time he’d left her bedroom.
She examined the marks on her arm now and released a shaky breath to see that they were fading. She was shrugging on the shoulder-padded waist-length leather jacket that went with the outfit when she heard Theo’s Aston Martin roar into the driveway.
Her fingers trembled as she fastened the long-chained gold medallion necklace at her nape.
He’d left her so abruptly this morning she hadn’t had the time to question him about sleeping arrangements. A closer examination of her suite after he’d left had revealed no presence of another occupant, and after talking to Teresa, his housekeeper, she’d found out that the senhor’s suite was directly above hers, taking up the whole glass-roofed top floor of the house.