Page 7 of Marriage Bargain With Her Brazilian Boss (Billion-Dollar Fairy Tales)

What do I do to make you see me like that?

Do you feel this too or is it just me?

Nush looked at the empty glass in her hand, following the trails of condensation, willing her body to ignore the warmth emanating from his. To not draw the scent of him into her lungs. To not chase this shaky desire she felt at his nearness like an addict. “Is there a reason you’re stating the obvious?”

If he noted her bitchy tone, he ignored it. “What did Yana say to upset you?”

“Just bringing me up to speed on some politics at OneTech.”

He tapped at her knuckles. “Don’t worry about it, Nush. I’ll handle it.”

“Is Ms. Huntington joining the executive team?” The question escaped her before she’d decided to ask it.

He sent her a long, leisurely sideways look and Nush tried to not fidget. His surprise wasn’t unwarranted. Usually, she stayed miles away from the politics of OneTech, happy to be in her lab. Thaata had tried numerous times to get her involved in the running of the company but she’d hidden. Usually behind Caio’s broad shoulders. Had used him as a shield again and again.

“Probably. Laura, unlike her useless brother, would be a great addition to the team. For a Huntington, I like her immensely,” he said with a grin.

He liked Laura. Immensely.

She couldn’t remember a time when he’d actually said he liked a woman or a man. Outside of her sisters and her and their grandparents, he had no close friends. Not in any context. The long hours he worked made him just as much a loner as she was. And his family, she’d learned long ago, was a forbidden topic for all of them.

Her chest ached as if someone was pushing a tremendous weight down on her. Even with her eyes closed, she sensed him turn fully toward her. Felt his gaze sweep over her features. His fingers were firm as he lifted her fisted hand from her side. “What did your grandfather’s note say?”

She jerked her hand away, giving him her shoulder. “It’s private.”

“Even to share with me?”

“Despite what you think, I have a life that doesn’t revolve around you, Caio. Beyond being your good little worker droid, making you millions, I mean.”

She sensed his shock in his sudden stillness. “Worker droid?” Cool, smooth tone still. “Jesus, you’re more than upset if you think that’s what I think of you. What’s going on with you, Nush?”

“Leave me alone. Don’t manage me. Don’t—”

“Leaving you alone during this time is the last thing your grandfather would expect of me. Whatever’s...bothering you, we can find a solution.”

Was that all he saw her as? As a duty he owed to the man who’d loved him? As an obligation? “Did you make the same offer to Yana and Mira?”

“Look at me, Anushka.”

She hated it when he said her name in that tone. As if she needed to be reprimanded. “Answer my question, Caio.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why not?” she asked, genuinely curious. What was the difference in how he saw her and her sisters? Where did that stem from?

More silence greeted her question.

“Because they’re strong enough that they don’t need your condescending advice and protection? Because they don’t need you to look after them?”

“Cristo, Nush...”

Nush rubbed her hand over her face. God, she was just making a fool of herself. “I’m not myself...”

She felt his fingers on her shoulder, pressing gently. “You’re not alone, Anushka. Not today, not in the future.”

He didn’t say more but she sensed his confusion. She never threw tantrums, or insisted on having things her way all the time like Yana did. Neither did she retreat behind a calm, indestructible facade like Mira so that no one could reach her behind it.

Maybe it was the fact that living with her volatile mother had taught her not makes waves, to be content with whatever life dealt, to curl herself into the smallest corner and be still. Maybe it was the fact that she’d learned to be self-sufficient, to find her happiness in books and computers from a young age. Most importantly, she never fought with anyone. Least of all Caio.

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