Page 32 of Marriage Bargain With Her Brazilian Boss (Billion-Dollar Fairy Tales)

Anything like what? Sex? Was the damned man going to leave her hanging again? “You know that I grew up with Mama hating anything related to marriage. She thought it was nothing but an institution held up by men to control women.”

“It does become that in certain circumstances, full of poison and control,” he added in such a savage tone that she was shocked by it.

When he didn’t elaborate, she said the first thing that came to her mind. “I always wondered if she sometimes regretted not accepting when my dad proposed. Although seeing that he’s incapable of anything but his commitment to alcohol, she made the right choice.”

“He proposed to your mother?”

Nush nodded.

“Does it bother you that you...are illegitimate?” There was a fierce quality to the question as if the injustice of it bothered him.

“Not really. Being Mama’s daughter meant understanding real-life matters at a very young age. And that I got to meet Thaata and everyone when I was four made me realize it didn’t make a difference. Mira and Yana had nothing I didn’t have. In fact, I was the one who had a mother that loved her. Even if sometimes, her mental health didn’t make for the warmest, greatest upbringing.”

“Your devotion to her is admirable.”

Nush frowned at his question. But one look in his eyes told her he wasn’t being contentious or dismissive, that he was even angry on her behalf.

“She could have easily handed me off to Thaata. It became clear that he asked her to, enough times. It would have made her life, her work, her moods...everything easier. She could have just visited me when she had time. But she didn’t. She loved me, as much as possible for her, in whatever way her mind allowed. She tried her best and that’s all I needed.”

He stared at her with such stark, naked emotion that Nush looked away. It wasn’t uncomfortable but it made her feel as if she’d suddenly bared all of herself to his gaze—every insecurity, every vulnerability—and he was rooting through it all.

Staring at her fingers, she struggled to bring back the topic to what plagued her. “She’d spent years brainwashing me to never give in to marriage and yet when I asked her if she wanted to attend the ceremony...she was beyond excited. I think it has something to do with you,” she said, solving at least one puzzle.

Astonishment painted over his features. “What?”

“I think you’re the one man who managed to win Mama over. She trusts you and...” Nush swallowed the hard lump of gratitude that lodged in her throat. “Thank you for always being kind to her, Caio. For always thinking of what’s right for her, especially when I couldn’t. I know that she felt threatened by Thaata to let him handle it.”

“I didn’t do it for your gratitude, Nush.”

“Why did you?”

“Because she needed looking after. And so you’d be happy and settled and worry free. I told you before. You reminded me of myself at my most...powerless. And yet, you didn’t...” he cleared his throat, “you don’t let bitterness touch you. I’m arrogant enough to like it that I had a hand in keeping you like that. Untouched and innocent.”

She scrunched her nose at that, not liking it one bit. Not liking it at all that he still saw her as some sort of fragile creature to be protected. “That makes me sound like fruit,” she said, loathe to disturb the strange, tension-filled truce they seemed to have reached.

“Would it be better if I said fruit that is ripe and ready to be eaten?”

“You need work on your flirting. That soundsewww.”

Sitting down on the bed in front of her, he pinned her with that weighty gaze. His thighs straddled hers and the thick, hard press of them caging her felt deliciously lethargic. “What’s truly bothering you, Princesa?”

“You’ve never even had a girlfriend for more than a week. It’s hard to believe that you’re doing this because you...want to.”

Arms folded, he seemed to consider his words. “Just because I didn’t mention marriage doesn’t mean I don’t believe in it. I had other things occupying all my attention.”

“Like this acquisition?” she poked again.

He sidestepped her yet again by giving her a morsel of something she was desperate for. “My parents had a great marriage built on trust and respect and an unshakeable foundation of...friendship.”

She had a feeling he meant to say love but left it out on purpose. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that either. Did she want him to profess love to her?

God, no, came the instinctive, immediate answer.

She wouldn’t believe him to begin with. Love never had anything to do with Caio’s actions. He didn’t even let anyone close. Even now, even when he was giving her this commitment, she had a feeling she wasn’t going to get anything more than what they already had.

Whether a relationship between them could survive with his conditions and her fears was anybody’s guess.

“We already have the foundation, Nush. A commitment is all that’s needed. And I’m making that to you.”

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