In the Brazilian's Debt(81)

                ‘Apart from the hurt when you left?’ She shrugged. ‘I just feel awful about the whole episode now. I should have spoken out. I should have confronted my parents in front of witnesses and called them liars to their faces.’

                ‘No one wants to believe badly of their parents, Lizzie. We make excuses for them, and always try to find some redeeming feature.’

                ‘That’s our common bond,’ she said with a small smile. ‘That, and learning to trust again.’

                ‘You’ve been talking to Maria.’

                ‘Yes, I have,’ she admitted, ‘and she filled in even more of the blanks than you have done.’

                ‘Running wild in the barrio?’ he suggested, slanting a wry smile.

                Lizzie laughed as she admitted, ‘Something like that.’

                ‘And your grandmother. What did she tell you?’

                ‘She would never say a word against her son, or my mother. Old-fashioned values prevailed, I suppose—family pride, and all that. Preserving what little remained of our reputation took up most of her time, and the rest she devoted to repairing what my father had destroyed.’

                ‘Your parents won’t have the chance to destroy anything more now I’m here.’

                ‘Agreed. I doubt they’d take you on.’ Shaking her head, Lizzie laughed.

                ‘I suppose there are some compensations to my being the barbarian they talk about in the press.’

                Lizzie angled her chin to stare up at him. ‘A barbarian with a great way with horses, and that’s what matters. So, where will you start?’

                ‘My immediate plans?’ Chico’s eyes had begun to burn with humour.

                ‘No,’ she warned without much force as he ran one fingertip lightly down her cheek. ‘Not those.’

                ‘I’m going to expand the training and breeding programme at Rottingdean,’ he said, pulling away. ‘But first I’m going back to Brazil and you’re coming with me.’

                When she began to protest that she had duties here in Scotland to attend to, he added, ‘Before you say no, consider this: you need that diploma on your wall, Lizzie, if you have any thoughts at all of involving yourself in the business here.’

                ‘Working under you?’

                ‘If that’s your preference.’

                Chico’s eyes were the most eloquent eyes she’d ever seen, and right now they were inviting her to do more than help him with his equine breeding programme.

                Was she in danger of taking herself too seriously? Lizzie wondered as she gave Chico a stern look. Yes. Quite suddenly, sleeping with the boss seemed like a hard-earned perk that she was most definitely entitled to, rather than a reckless risk that could land her in trouble.

                ‘Yes,’ she said, holding Chico’s wicked gaze with a challenging stare. ‘I think I might take you up on that offer. And working under you would be my preference too—at least, to begin with.’

                * * *

                Chico kicked the door shut behind him, and she was in his arms before it slammed shut. ‘I’ve missed you,’ he husked, and that was all he had time for before she was reaching for his clothes and ripping them off.