Page 6 of Marriage Bargain With Her Brazilian Boss (Billion-Dollar Fairy Tales)

Nush’s belly crashed down like an elevator car whose strings had been cut. She couldn’t help rolling the hem of her threadbare T-shirt up and down, couldn’t help contrasting her “weird” outfit, her thick glasses, her uncontrollable hair, and—the worst—her tendency to hide in corners during meetings and parties and gatherings...against the polished and entirely social Laura.

“Are they...together?” she asked, hating the crack in her voice.

“Not yet, as far as I know,” Yana said with the authority of a woman who always had her finger on the pulse of all the gossip. “But even you must agree that they could be the force that would appeal to the different factions at OneTech. So if you want him, now’s the time to—”

“I can’t just...come on to him, Yana,” Nush said, even her words faltering. The few times she’d tried to have sex—to get Caio out of her mind—had been utter disasters. She was beginning to wonder if she had some kind of mental block. If she tried it with Caio, she’d probably melt into a puddle of insecurities before she even touched him and further humiliate herself.

“Why not?” Her sister sounded genuinely confused.

“What if it destroys our relationship as it is?” she said, giving voice to her biggest fear. “I can’t lose him.”

Sympathy flared in Yana’s eyes. “Then move on, Nush. Start living your own life instead of being a spectator in the margins of his.”

“Why do you think I’ve been dating every Tom, Dick and Harry this past year? Why do you think I lasted weeks with Peter Jr. even though he makes me want to pluck my own eyeballs out?” That she’d hoped it would incense Caio, who hated Peter Sr. and Jr. with the same loathing as they did him, Nush kept to herself. It felt more than a little twisted to let him direct who she dated but she’d done it anyway.

“Then be prepared to see them ride off into the sunset together, Nush. Who knows? You might get to be the flower girl at their wedding.”

“I’m not a kid, Yana,” Nush retorted, but she knew that Yana was right.

If nothing changed, she’d have to see him marry Laura or someone else equally perfect, drunk dance at his wedding because that was the only time she danced, buy his wife and him pretty crockery for a wedding gift, probably babysit his perfect kids and be their weird aunt who taught them coding in the summer and...

Nush shuddered. “Tell me what to do. Please.”

“Seduce him.”

The thought of his rejection—or worse, the thought of him laughing at her attraction to him—made hot acid gurgle up her throat. Her shoulders slumped as she realized her stupid fantasies would have to remain just that. She might be a genius when it came to computers and numbers but with Caio... “I can’t, Yana. I don’t think I can even put it in words.”

Yana sighed and pulled her closer. “Nushie-kins, you’re beautiful and smart and kind and funny... Any man would be fortunate to have you in his life.”

“You’re my sister. You have to say that.” Tears prickled and Nush blinked to keep them at bay. Maybe this was not only the year of loss but also of letting go. Of moving on. “What do I do, Yana?”

“If you can’t face trying to seduce him, then break this hold he has on you. Decouple yourself from him and OneTech. Start a new branch in New York, or better yet, Switzerland. Go on a tour of the world. Have a scandalous fling or five. Step out of your lab and live your life, Nush.”

By the time Caio reached her, Nush was trembling with the need for action. Marveling at how death and grief could fill one with a raw, painful urgency to live life. To move on.

Yana was right. She couldn’t spend another minute much less a decade mooning over him. Couldn’t stand still and be a spectator as he lived his life. Even now, she couldn’t turn away as he finished his conversation with Laura and made his way to her.

As his tall form drew near, Nush noted the dark shadows under his eyes. He’d forgone a shave this morning. There was a tension to his shoulders that she recognized. Her heart ached as she remembered he’d been a part of her grandparents’ life longer than she’d been.

She wanted to hold him through this aching emptiness Thaata had left in both their lives. She wanted to lean into him and help him through the grief she saw in his eyes.

But he wouldn’t lean on her. Because he was the one who was supposed to be the protector. The one who looked after every legal headache that she and her sisters would have to handle. The one who’d arranged every single detail with the funeral. The one who’d made sure their alcoholic father had showed up to the funeral in respectable clothes and mostly sober.

Because Caio Oliveira didn’t need anyone in any way. Least of all her. Even as he’d entrenched himself into the very fabric of her life. And it was time to rip him out of it.

He handed her a glass of water wordlessly and leaned against the wall beside her, their shoulders just touching. Resentment built in her chest even as she took the glass from him. How did he know there was a boulder-sized lump in her throat?

She didn’t have to look at him to know he’d have pulled one foot up against the wall, that the other hand would be tucked into his pocket. That his gaze would sweep over the room, assessing the situation, wondering if there was a fire he’d have to put out.

His intense physicality, his indefatigable energy had always awed her. But now it felt exhausting to be so in tune with his every word, gesture and nuance, his very breath. More than disenchanting to admit that he’d never know her or want her on that level.

Holding that feeling close, Nush drank the water. As hard as it was to bear, it was the thing that would help her move on.

His shoulder nudged hers, his profile sharp and stark. “You’re upset, Princesa.”

Are you and Laura Huntington dating?

Have you had sex with her?

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