Page 52 of Brazilian Revenge

“How are you holding up?” he asked Bruno when he slumped down on the oversize chair in front of him.

Bruno raised the glass of whisky he had brought with him. “As good as it gets.”

Leonardo nodded. “I’m sorry. Listen, I don’t want to overwhelm you, but I promise I’ll get this guy.” Before he hurts anyone else. The idea of telling Bruno about Clemonte’s call and the next day’s meeting crossed his mind quicker than a bullet. As he observed Bruno passing his hand over his face, he realized it was better not to. What could his brother do? Offer to go along? That’d only bring more problems.

“Count on me for anything,” Bruno said before taking a swig of his drink. “You look like shit, too. What happened?”

Surging to his feet, he walked to the console and grabbed the square bottle. He clenched his fingers around it as he poured more of the amber contents into the tumbler.

“Is it Satyanna?” Bruno asked.

He took the glass to his lips. “I got a hold of Camila and told her about Maria. Have you talked to Emanuel?”

“Yes.” Bruno swiveled on his chair so his eyes followed his moves. “But I’m sure there is something else bothering you. Spill it.”

Something other than a death in the family and a psychopath at large who wanted to hurt them? “Satyanna.”

Bruno nodded. “I figured. What’s up?”

Leonardo took a big gulp, the burning alcohol rolling down his palate. Shaking his head, he decided sitting was a better option if he planned on getting drunk all night.

“I’m not getting into it. She doesn’t want to follow my advice on something when I obviously know better.” And I accused her of wanting to flee with Clemonte. How stupid had that been? He rubbed the back of his neck and stretched his legs. His body was still tense from that conversation. His head had spun the moment he caught her talking to Clemonte, and making all decisions without running it by him.

“That is?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Bruno chuckled. “You never do. You think you know better and you always have. Watch out for that.”

Leonardo scratched his chin. He supposed his brother had a point. Although how could he be any different? From an early age, he had been in charge of an entire family. His mother fell sick, his older brother left, and his father—who until then had been working outside the home—started to care for his mother and get smaller jobs. Which meant Leonardo took care of his siblings and made decisions that affected them all. “Then she said she had hoped I’d love her one day. But not anymore.”

Bruno made a face while he glanced down at his drink, and then waved him off. “People say things like that when they’re pissed.”

Leonardo’s heart thrummed. “No. This is different… I lost her.”

“Did she change her mind on that contract you made her sign?”

His gut contracted. “No, but I can tell you. Romantically, we’re done,” he said, using that intuition that had won him many cases in court.

“Is that what you want?”

Leonardo drew in a breath. “What I want is complicated.”

“Then make it simple. Ask yourself…how do you feel about her? If you two didn’t have that gorgeous baby…would you want to be around her?”

“Of course I would. But marriage… I want to marry forever, like Mom and Dad. You took a chance with Addie, and it worked out for you,” he said, hinting at the marriage of convenience Bruno proposed to Addie before they actually fell in love with each other. “I can’t be that naive. Not everyone is so lucky.”

Bruno clapped his hands together, as if there was nothing more he could say, and stood on his feet. “You need to figure things out. I’ll leave you to it.”

When his brother touched the handle to open the door, Leonardo murmured, “Thanks.”

Great. He was now even more confused than before.

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