Returning to Claim His Heir

.’

‘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.’