Her taste lingering on his mouth, he nodded. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s good he stopped us when he did. Of course I did earn my kiss, but you don’t want to give me too many points.”
He raised a brow.
A teasing glint appeared in her eyes. “Remember? Sexual points for good behavior? You kissed me because I moved in, right? Like a dutiful little wife? Or was that just you forgetting your own—?”
He made a quick lunge to catch her, but she was too fast this time. With lithe grace she moved to the other side of the lounger. Her robe half dangled around her elbows, giving him a perfect view of her swimsuit-clad body.
Holding his stomach tight, he sucked in a sharp breath. His wife was hot. There was no other word for it.
Like everything else she wore, the swimsuit was modest, a one-piece in hot pink. But it showcased the swell of her high breasts, the dip of her dainty waist...which would soon be rounded...the slight flare of her hips and long legs that went on forever. The memory of how she had wrapped them around him while he had thrust into her, her tight heat clenching him. He was rock-hard just thinking about it.
Which meant it was time to walk away, however painful the simple act was.
She tied the sash on her robe, stepping back as he reached her. He raised his hands. “Stay and have your swim,” he said. “I need to have a talk with Miguel anyway.”
She waylaid him again. If she kept touching him like that, one of these days he wasn’t going to be able to walk away. “I forgot to ask—how is Eduardo?”
Just hearing his half brother’s name felt as if someone had stuck a knife in his side. He stilled, the ball of guilt around his neck threatening to choke the life out of him. He had lived through busted kneecaps, broken bones and so much more, but this clawing, crippling guilt—it was going to gouge him alive from inside out.
“I’m surprised he’s not still following you around. He worshipped you.”
Every word out of her mouth was true, and every single word dug into his skin like the sharp end of a knife.
“Diego?”
He jerked back from her. “He’s in a rehabilitation clinic in Sao Paulo.”
“What? Why?”
Eduardo was the best kind of reminder as to how far Diego could go when he was obsessed with something—when he let something he wanted have control over him. Then, it had been pursuit of his wealth. Now it could be the woman in front of him, waiting for an answer.
“He’s receiving treatment for a cocaine addiction.”
“Eduardo used cocaine? But he used to be so... That’s awful. He was always so sweet and kind to me.”
Kind and sweet. They were the perfect words to describe Eduardo.
Fisting his hands, Diego rocked on his heels, bile filling his throat.
His half brother had been a nice kid, weak at heart, forever bullied by the man who had fathered them—which Diego had learned too late. Diego should have protected him. Instead Diego had been the one who nudged him that last step toward his own self-destruction.
But he wouldn’t give up. He would never give up on him. If Eduardo didn’t have the will to fight for his life anymore Diego would fight for him. He would use every cent he had, would wield all his power, if it meant he could get his half brother back.
CHAPTER SEVEN
KIM SCRUNCHED HER eyes closed and tried to recall all the literature she had been reading over the past month. With little Jennie wailing in her arms and that image from her afternoon appointment flashing before her eyes it was all a blur. There were two. She wasn’t even equipped for one.
Telling Laura, her company’s design architect, that she would look after little Jennie for a couple of hours had seemed like a good idea. She had been reading all about how to take care of a baby for almost a month. So of course she was ready for a ground test, right?
Wrong.
Sweat beaded her brow. Her arms were starting to ache a little bit.
She bent her knees and picked up the cheat sheet she had made out of Laura’s instructions, even though she knew them by heart.
She had warmed the pumped milk to precisely the exact temperature, tested it on her wrist, had fed Jennie and even tried to burp her. And then she’d put her down for a nap. Not a minute early or late.
The nap had lasted ten minutes, ending in a loud wail. According to Laura’s schedule Jennie should have napped for at least an hour.
Tucking the baby tighter against her chest, she swung a little from side to side, imitating what she had seen Laura do when she had brought the baby to the company’s premises a couple of times.
Her chubby cheeks scrunched up tight, Jennie wailed louder. The muscles in Kim’s arms quivered until she shook all over. Even her head was beginning to pound now.