Page 50 of Brazilian Revenge

Chapter Fifteen

A Beethoven symphony cut through the silence. Satyanna rocked back from the leather reclining chair across from her bed, and stomped her feet on the floor. The soothing sound was the ringtone from Leonardo’s cell phone. She’d gotten used to listening to it lately, with his assistant constantly calling him about rescheduling meetings. He must have forgotten it in her room when he came to check on the baby. She looked at Lyanna sound asleep and sighed.

Ever since that hike a few days ago, he’d raised the wall between them again. He had asked her to sign the contract the next day, and she was sure it wasn’t just a symbolic gesture. In the rainforest, he’d lost control and obviously wanted it back again. She picked up the iPhone and searched for the ID. Unknown Caller. It could be a telemarketing company. Ugh. She hated those.

As the ring continued, she swallowed. Her intuition hinted this was not someone trying to sell him shit. Sucking in a breath, she slid her finger on the phone and accepted the call.

“Alô,” she said.

“Hello, my darling,” Harry’s musical, elegant drawl sounded on the other end. “Good to know you’re in control again.”

Anxiety knotted inside her. She clenched the cell phone hard so her sweaty palm wouldn’t let go of the device. There was no way she’d miss this conversation. Her heart thumped. Harry. “Did you kill Maria?” she asked, enunciating every word. Why did she have to ask? Because I wanna hear it from the horse’s mouth. So there would be no doubts, no wondering. No believing.

“That lovely woman was a casualty. I spared her from a life of getting old working for the tedious Brazilian one-percenter.”

Nausea rose in her throat, and she clamped her lips for a second trying to control all the anger bolting through her. Why would he kill just to make a point? “You’re a monster.”

He chuckled as if she had told him a freaking joke. “I suppose no one is perfect. The fact of the matter is I’m not going to let Leonardo steal both of you from me.”

“You stole my child. Do you have any idea how I felt? If I hadn’t been arrested and called him, we would never have discovered she was still alive.”

A sigh came from the other side.

She could picture him shifting on his seat slightly, or getting ready to light a cigarette. “When you had eclampsia and fell into the coma I had to make a decision. You weren’t in any condition to raise a child. Calling that awful man was out of the question. He would throw us both in jail. So I decided to keep the baby until you got better. As far as paperwork went, it was easier to have declared her dead. I was already on the run from the US and in Brazil. But you betrayed me, and ran from me yet again…when you woke up, before I even got to the hospital you took off.”

Why was he on the run in the US? Sure, he’d had a handful of fake IDs, but what could he have possibly done wrong to avoid going back? She cleared her throat. This wasn’t the time to deviate from the subject. “How altruistic of you.”

“See? I knew we could bury the hatchet.”

“Stay away, Harry. From me and from my daughter.”

“Now, why are you going backward? Leonardo Duarte will never marry you. We can travel the world together, Satyanna. All three of us.”

She balled her fingers into a fist. “No. This isn’t going to happen.”

He breathed into the phone. A cough. Yep, he was smoking. “Leonardo’s sister-in-law…what’s her name? Addie. Such a pretty woman. And an activist, isn’t she? One wonders how brave she must be, visiting those tribes and talking to authorities.”

Her nerves tensed immediately. She gritted her teeth. There was no way in hell she’d allow him to think of—or to even talk about—hurting Addie. “Leave her out of this. Do you hear me?”

“Let’s meet in person, Satyanna. Just you and me. If I see anyone else, I bolt. And I’ll find a way to hurt someone else. Trust me.”

Game on. She couldn’t pass up on the opportunity of meeting him. If she had to be the bait to get Harry arrested, so be it. “Where?”

“I’ll call you tomorrow at one.”

“I’ll be waiting. Remember. You come alone,” she said before he hung up.

The dull sound echoed against her ear. She glanced at the phone, her fingers caressing it to make sure that conversation just happened. It felt warm against her skin.

“Waiting for what?” Leonardo asked behind her.

She jumped. Crap. Just her luck she would have no time to process the conversation or find a way to tell him. She set his phone on the nightstand and twisted her hands together. “What are you doing here?”

“I took a shower and realized I left my phone in here. I didn’t want to be away from it in case Clemonte called.” Leonardo’s jaw clenched. “It was him, wasn’t it?”

She lifted her brow. The way he stood, with his towel hanging low on his waist and spine locked into place, told her this wasn’t going to be a fun chat. She motioned for him to get out of her room so they could chat in his next-door. Waking up the baby was out of the question. When she was inside his domain, she finally said, “He wants to see me.”

“No.”

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