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Chapter Thirty-nine

Author: AUTHOR_DANNY
last update Last Updated: 2023-04-17 05:41:47

“WE’RE still running tests, Mr. Regulusi, but we’re optimistic.”

Xavier sagged in relief against the white concrete wall of the medical clinic. “Thank God.”

“We’ll keep you updated.” The doctor looked at him with concern. “But you should get some rest. Before we have to check you in here as well.”

“I’m fine.”

The doctor clapped him on the shoulder encouragingly. “Don’t worry. She’s young and strong. Her chances are excellent for a full recovery.”

After he’d left, Xavier closed his eyes, feeling the fresh drizzle of rain on his face. His sister was safe. Laila was now receiving the best medical care possible. For the first time in a year, he did not have that driving fear inside him, the fear that he might fail her, the fear that she might die after he’d promised to always look out for her.

He should have been overcome with relief and joy. And yet he found himself still hunched over with grief. He looked up to see a blond woman coming out of the mist in the parking lot.

“Sylvia,” he wh
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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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