Xavier loved this other woman?This was too much for her to bear.Sylvia bit the bottom of her lips as she looked upwards towards his direction.She wanted to speak but the lump which had risen in her throat earlier had refused to return thereby shutting her words completely.Running her hand through her hair, she began to imagine how Laila looked.She felt the sudden urge to get to know this woman personally but she did know why.His stark words caused a tremble through Sylvia’s heart, a whisper of pain that she couldn’t understand.She swallowed hard before mustering pleasure to speak “And you think once she’s in your care, you can save her. You think you can wake her. Don’t you think it’s already too late?” she asked“Her husband who was supposed to be by her side has doomed her to die,” he said in a low voice. “I won’t allow that to happen. I will see to it that Laila lives and I will make sure that it happens. I will do anything to make sure that she wakes up from that coma.”Sylv
Sylvia had read about Stavrakis resorts. They were swanky hotels for rich people, the kind of glamorous places she read about in celebrity gossip magazines. Utterly out of reach of a regular person like her.She glanced around the cottage. Cozy as it was, on a private beach with devoted housekeeper, she still wouldn’t be surprised if it cost ten thousand dollars a night.And they would be sharing this intimate space alone. She looked back at Xavier, and the cottage suddenly seemed a little smaller.“There’s no television,” he said. “But I don’t think you’ll miss it.”She licked her lips. “Why not? What will we be doing?”“A selection of new books and magazines has been provided for you. The housekeeper will prepare delicious meals and clean and do anything else you need. You’ll have nothing to do but sit on the beach and work on your tan. If you get bored, you can take a tour around the house. That's all I can offer. I hope you love to read.”She stared at him. Then she scowled. “Mean
She’d felt his arm along the back of the white leather sofa behind her, so close to her body, and she’d trembled. Every time he looked at her, the intensity and heat of his dark gaze turned her inside out.Sylvia didn’t want to think about it now. Or why she’d not only noticed his favorite flower in a lush garden, but she’d also picked a Sylvia for him and placed it in water.Looking up from her book, she noticed the dark-haired, plump young housekeeper struggling to carry a table across the beach to a spot overlooking the surf. Relieved to leave the lanai and lounge chair and all her disconcerting thoughts behind her, Sylvia got to her feet and hurried down to the beach. “Wait! Can I help?”The housekeeper, who looked only a few years older than Sylvia, shook her head, even though she looked as if she were fighting back tears.“Really?” Sylvia bit her lip. “Please, Mrs. Vadi, won’t you let me help?”“No,” the woman said, then burst into tears. Within minutes, Sylvia had learned the w
Sylvia dumped some spaghetti on each plate, then looked down at her cold, rather unappetizing concoction. She had hoped the food will come out looking better but she could tell she had been wrong.She’d had to improvise for ingredients. She’d used rice noodles for pasta, and since she hadn’t found a handy can of marinara sauce or even tomato paste, she’d improvised by smashing fresh tomatoes into a rudimentary sauce. She’d added a mishmash of chopped mystery meat she’d found in the fridge with whatever spices she could find in the kitchen, and hoped for the best.All right, so she wasn’t always the best cook—except where candy was concerned—but even she couldn’t ruin something as simple as spaghetti, she hoped.She took a bite, and discovered she was wrong.It was awful. And cold, in the bargain. She nearly choked it out, then covered up her gag reflex with a cough before she managed to swallow it down. “Wow,” she managed to say.Xavier took a bite and blanched. Standing up, he threw
Her breathing quickened as his gaze fell to her mouth. He was going to kiss her. She could feel it. He stroked her cheek, tilting her head up toward his, and she could barely hear the roar of the ocean over the rapid beat of her heart.“I’ve never met a woman like you before,” he said softly, his black eyes searching hers as he stroked her bare forearm lightly with his fingertips. “You…amaze me.”This honeymoon cottage, so remote in the middle of a wide, distant ocean, seemed like their own distant world. His handsome, rugged face, the powerful curve of his body as he leaned toward her, the light feeling of his touch against her skin, made her brain stop working. She trembled, licking her lips. Would she fall into his arms when he kissed her? Would she fall into his bed? He glanced down at her half-empty plate. “Are you finished?”She stared up at him, unable to even say yes.He smiled, then took her hand in his own. “Come.”He led her from the kitchen to the large sitting room and s
You deserve better than a man like me.The next morning, Xavier woke up stiff and sore from sleeping alone outside in the hammock on the beach. He still couldn’t believe it.He’d had her. Naked and ripe for the taking. He’d seen it in her body’s reaction to his touch, in the quiver of her neck and shoulders beneath the stroke of his fingers, in the flush of heat on her skin.He’d had her. Getting her to release him from his promise, luring her into just gasping out the words kiss me would have been the easiest thing in the world.It had taken slightly longer than he’d thought it would, but he’d finally succeeded in getting her where he wanted her. Bedding Sylvia last night would have been at once his revenge—and his reward.And yet he’d let her go. He’d stumbled away from the bathtub, and her body covered with bubbles, without a word. Once outside, he’d stripped off his dusty clothes and dived naked into the sea to clear his body of dust. To clear his soul of desire.You deserve bette
Standing before her in yesterday’s T-shirt and jeans, Xavier held himself still. His hands clenched with the effort it took not to kiss her. “Why were you thinking about me? Why do you even care about me? You shouldn't because I kidnapped you.”“You try to pretend you’re selfish and cruel,” she said softly. “But I keep thinking about you and coming to one conclusion. You’re a good man. You are just in a bad situation and you need to save yourself desperately. You were placed in a terrible position by Arnold and I understand your actions.”He gave a low laugh, like thunder reverberating across the dark sky. “I am not good. I am the good man you think I am and I want you get that thought out of your head.” Something snapped inside him and he reached for her shoulders, looking down into her eyes searchingly as he whispered, “But you…you are. You have the purest heart I have seen in a while.”“Oh.” She blushed. “I’m not so very good. I’ve been feeling quite stupid, actually, driving you
Xavier leaned his head against the cool marble of the shower, then turned off the water. He got dressed in khaki shorts and a snug black T-shirt.He threw a tortured glance toward the lanai where she waited. Yes, he was hungry. But not for food.He took a deep breath. Could he ruthlessly seduce a woman like this—a woman with such a kind soul that she believed the best of everyone, even him? Could he really make his desire come before his integrity? Could he let his desire take over him?She’s not some innocent virgin, his lust argued. He would make sure she thoroughly enjoyed their affair. She would have nothing to regret.And yet he knew she would. A woman like Sylvia didn’t take lovers easily. She couldn’t have done. She wasn’t jaded enough. If he took her to bed, she wouldn’t just give him her body; she might give him her heart.But he wanted her. She would be with him for days, maybe longer. How would he keep himself from taking her? He didn’t have any practice at resisting desire
Sylvia hesitated outside the closed doors of the huge, flower-strewn library, frightened out of her mind.She could hear the rumble on the other side of door, the mutters and whispers. The wedding had been scheduled to start thirty minutes ago, and everyone was obviously starting to assume the worst.But there was no way around it. She had to get through it. With a deep breath, she pushed the doors open.The enormous two-story library had been modeled after an old English abbey with walls of gray stone. It was now festooned with white roses and candles, with hundreds of chairs set up to create an aisle down the middle.At the sight of the bride standing at the end of the aisle, musicians hastily began to play ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’ on guitars and violins. Sylvia stopped the music with a chopping gesture across her neck.Silence fell. She could have heard a pin drop as three hundred pairs of eyes turned to her.She trembled, passing a hand over her eyes. Then she heard her baby
Xavier had to hurry. Every second he wasted with Sylvia was like a grain of sand falling through a fatal hourglass. He had to leave at once.And yet he couldn’t.Leaving her felt like a death. He took a deep, shuddering breath. ‘This isn’t over,’ he said hoarsely. ‘I’ll be back after I close the deal in Rio.’‘Of course.’ Sylvia’s shoulders straightened, even as her lower lip trembled. ‘I will never stop you from seeing Robby. I hope…I hope you’ll see him often. He needs his father.’Xavier heard the music start to play downstairs and thought of the guests surrounded by white roses and candlelight, waiting for the wedding ceremony to begin. He clenched his hands, feeling that same strange spinning, sinking feeling in the region of his chest.‘Remember,’ he said tersely, looking at her. ‘This was your choice. I wanted to marry you.’She swallowed as tears streamed unchecked down her pale cheeks. ‘I’ll never forget that.’No, he thought suddenly. It couldn’t end like this. Not like this!
Two weeks later, Sylvia stared at herself blankly in the mirror.An elegantly dressed bride in a long, white lace veil and satin sheath gown stared back at her. It still didn’t feel right. She picked up her neatly bundled bouquet of white roses and looked back in the mirror.It was the morning of her wedding. In less than an hour she would have everything she’d barely dared to dream of—she’d be Mrs. Xavier Regulus. Robby would have his father.So where was the joy? She should have been ecstatic with bliss and hope. So why, looking at herself in this beautiful dress, standing in a suite of this beautiful rented mansion outside her village, did she feel so…empty?Xavier had wanted to marry her immediately, in Rio, but he’d quickly given in to Sylvia’s begging when she’d asked to have their wedding in New Hampshire, so her family could attend.‘We can get married in New Hampshire, of course we can, if that’s your wish,’ he’d told her. ‘But after the ceremony, we must live in Rio. Do you
Sylvia woke up with a start to see the soft curl of a pink sunrise through the windows. She sat up in bed abruptly, the blanket falling from her naked chest. Had she heard her baby next door?She listened, and heard nothing except Xavier’s even, steady breathing beside her in the shadowy bedroom. Then she heard Robby’s voice again.‘Ma…ma…ma!’Quietly Sylvia rose from the bed and pulled a robe off the bathroom door hook. Leaving Xavier’s room, she went down the hall to her own, where she found her baby son sitting up in his crib. Whispering soft words of love, Sylvia took him in her arms. Holding him tenderly, she fed him, rocking him in the rocking chair. The baby, now yawning with a full belly, swiftly fell back to sleep.But Sylvia knew she would not.Putting him back in his crib, she went to the en-suite bathroom, closing the door silently behind her. She turned on the shower and dropped the robe to the floor. As the steam enveloped her body, she climbed into the marble shower. Sh
By the time they arrived back in Rio two hours later, one thought kept repeating in Xavier’s mind. One thought over and over.‘Here,’ he said to her, covering her shoulders with his tuxedo jacket as they entered the lobby of his building. She threw him a grateful glance. Her red designer gown now hung askew on her body, the zipper broken from when he’d ripped the dress off her earlier.As they passed the security guards, Xavier glanced at them out of the corner of his eye. His white shirt was rumpled, the cuffs hanging open, his tie crumpled in the pocket of his trousers. Sylvia was looking at him breathlessly, her eyes luminescent, her makeup hopelessly smudged and her lips full and bruised.He saw the security guards nudge each other with a smirk, and he knew he and Sylvia had fooled no one. There could be no doubt what they had been doing.Normally he wouldn’t care if people knew he’d taken a woman as his lover. But this was different. This was Sylvia. And one thought kept going th
Trembling, Sylvia folded her arms.‘Ah,’ Felipe Oliveira said, stroking his chin with satisfaction as he looked from her to Xavier with canny eyes. ‘Now I understand.’‘No!’ Adriana gasped. ‘It can’t be true!’Sylvia’s gaze rested anxiously on Xavier. His dark eyes were deep as the night sky. She saw him take a deep breath. Then slowly, very slowly, he came toward her. Never looking away from her face, he took her in his arms. Biting her lip in apprehension, Sylvia waited for his jaw to clench with fury and resentment. Waited for him to say something biting and cruel.Instead, he gently kissed her cheek, then turned to face Oliveira and Adriana.‘We weren’t going to tell anyone yet. But yes, Robby is my son. I wanted to wait until after our wedding to make it public. It seemed more proper.’‘Proper?’ Adriana sneered. ‘When have you ever cared about proper?’Xavier stiffened, glaring at her. ‘I have always cared about doing what is right,’ he said in a low voice. ‘I would never leave m
The Fantasia gala ball was the single most sought-after invitation of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval. Sylvia had read about it in celebrity gossip magazines in the United States. The glamorous event, held in a colonial palace on the Costa Verde south of Rio, attracted beautiful, rich and notorious guests from all around the world. And tonight, Sylvia would be one of them. Tonight, she would be Xavier Regulus’s beloved mistress. His pretend mistress, she corrected herself fiercely.The door of the black Rolls-Royce sedan opened, and she and Xavier stepped out onto the red carpet that led inside the palace, which had once been owned by the Brazilian royal family.Xavier looked brutally dashing in his black tuxedo. Sylvia felt his hungry gaze on her as he took her arm. She tried to ignore it, tried to smile for the benefit of the paparazzi flashing cameras around them, but her body shook beneath the palpable force of his desire.I want you, Sylvia. And I will have you.Liveried doormen in wig
With a gasp, Sylvia pulled back her hand and slapped his face.‘How dare you!’ she cried.The sound of the slap echoed in the bedroom. He stared at her incredulously, his hand on his cheek. Then his eyes narrowed. ‘Why are you pretending it’s not exactly what you want?’Sylvia sucked in her breath, feeling overwhelmed by need for what she could not—could not—allow herself to have. ‘Even if I want you, Xavier, I know you’re no good for me. It nearly killed me last year after our night together when you kicked me out of your life—’‘Kicked you out of my life?’ he demanded. ‘You’re the one who left!’‘You didn’t try to talk me out of it. You didn’t even ask me to stay!’‘I was trying to do what was best for you,’ he said. ‘I knew you wanted a husband, children. You needed a boss who didn’t demand your life and soul. You needed a man who could love you as I cannot. So I gave you up, when it was the last thing I wanted! And what did you do?’ He glowered. ‘You let yourself get pregnant by s
It's only an act. Only an act!But in spite of the constant repetition of those words, Sylvia’s heart still didn’t believe it as she looked up into Xavier’s dark eyes.‘Really,’ the other man drawled in accented English. His eyes traced over Sylvia. ‘She’s certainly beautiful. But this is all too convenient.’ He folded his arms over his belly. ‘You’ve fabricated this affair, so I’ll still sell you Açoazul.’Sylvia’s pulse hammered in her chest. Convinced that their plan had failed before it had half started, she pulled away from Xavier. But he held her tight in his powerful arms, even as he never looked away from the other man.‘Why would I do that?’ Xavier said coolly.The man looked at Adriana’s tall beauty, then back at Xavier with a scowl. ‘You know why.’‘You’d be a fool not to sell me Açoazul,’ Xavier said sharply. ‘No other competitor has offered you a fraction of the price. Théo St. Raphaël certainly won’t. Don’t lose a fortune based on some unfounded fear!’The older man stif