Page 18 of Rio (Knight Empire #3)

RAQUEL

I’m in my room now and I imagine it’s different from where Rio is staying. Daddy’s credit card will have expensed the very best.

It’s been a long day, but my emotions are further frayed by running into Rio Knight. I wonder why he’s here. What connection he has to the eco resort. These Knights seem to get their dirty little paws everywhere.

A big part of coming here was to do the work I love, but equally, it was also to get away from Rio.

I’m still trying to recover after the last weekend where he showed up unexpectedly in Miami.

Now, my situation just became a million times worse, because not only is he here, but he’s involved in the very case I’m working on.

It’s my worst nightmare. He’s my enemy, and one I lust after when my thoughts are adrift. I’ll have to work even harder to focus, though he did look pretty fine in his shades and T.

It’s too much of a coincidence and it doesn’t add up, that of all the places in the entire world, he showed up here.

Naturally, my mind starts working overtime.

Did he follow me here? I shouldn’t be too presumptuous.

He’s not here because of me. He’s here because Knight Enterprises have business interests all over the world, and while this is eerily freaky, crazier things have happened. Such as Dani marrying a Knight.

It’s humid in this room, even though I have the AC cranked up high.

It looks old, like it could do with a replacement, and every now and then it sputters, like it’s going to die on me.

I swipe a hand across my neck, my sticky, clammy skin feels uncomfortable.

I’m tempted to take a cold shower but I need to work.

I glance at the papers strewn across the desk and the bed, and sigh.

I have so much work to do and I’m not sure it’s possible within the week Pierce has given me. I might need to stay longer.

But I’ve lost focus. Concentrating has become harder.

Things might have been different had I not run into that man, had he not been here, but now he is, my thoughts are as scattered as the documents showing the eco damage.

Somehow I’m supposed to put everything together into one big cohesive report that clearly shows the construction is not above board.

It means long days, working on this around the clock.

My laptop buzzes and an email from Pierce pops up. “How’s the eco vacation?”

“Not a vacation,” I whisper to myself. I don’t even click the email.

I don’t want to read it. This is meant to be a break from Pierce as well.

But I’m going to have to tell him soon about EcoGuardians changing their position.

That’s one conversation I’m not looking forward to.

I click away from my email, feeling more conflicted than ever.

This wasn’t supposed to be a case. I wasn’t supposed to get involved like this.

I was supposed to walk around, take notes, maybe snap a few photos for the firm’s newsletter—”CEO’s firm supports the planet”—then fly back and bury myself in Pierce’s work.

But now?

Now there’s a village losing its water. Mangroves are dying. And a woman I look up to looks at me as if I’m the only one who can help them.

The sounds of distant waves and chirping birds distract me and I pad across the floor to look out of the window.

I could have said “No” to this. Maybe before I went to see the coastline, a part of me was thinking it wasn’t going to be so bad.

That I could still walk away. Tell myself it isn’t smart, that I need to think of my career.

I wanted to have something worthy to put on my résumé, and now I have it: a possible fight with a subsidiary of the Knights. I’ve always loved a good fight.

I pull my hair up and fix it with a crocodile clip, the way I always do when I’m getting ready for battle.

I need to start documenting the land and water damage.

Alma’s anxious that we file soon. I get nervous just thinking about it.

Pierce needs to know, but I can’t bring myself to call him just yet. What I want to do is bury my head.

I’m drowning in so much stress, not just career stress but personal stress.

Rio Knight stress.

He’s the last person I expected to see. The last person I wanted to see, even if I do lie awake at night thinking about him more than I should.

***

RIO

I set down my emptied third glass of tequila when the old man calls and demands an update on the situation.

I wonder if he’s heard something.

“Everything’s fine,” I assure him, even though it’s absolutely fucking not. Raquel Monteiro is everything that’s wrong.

I’ve been trying to piece it all together.

The NGO’s been causing some noise, sure, but they’re moving pretty quickly if they’ve been talks with a law firm in the US.

I could ask the old man if he’s heard any rumblings, but if I do, he’ll know something is up.

He’ll think I can’t handle things over here, and I don’t want that.

So I remain quiet on that front. Maybe Raquel can give me answers.

I’m sure she’d love throwing her facts at me.

She likes one-upping me, and I quite like it, too.

“And the resort? How’s it coming along?” he asks.

I tell him that it looks great. It’s exactly what the brochures said it would be.

Low, airy, buildings with thatched roofs, and timber walkways raised over golden sand.

Villas dotted around, far enough apart for privacy.

Lush, native plants lining the paths, while the rooftops glitter with solar panels.

The reception area is open-sided, catching the sea breeze.

Even the furniture is made from reclaimed wood and dyed fabrics.

It looks inviting and full of promise. The perfect vacation for people who want to save the planet and have a good time.

“I might go and check out the coastline tomorrow,” I tell him. “I need to see if for myself.”

“What for”? he snaps. Then, without giving me a chance to reply, “Stick to what I told you.”

I run a hand over my beard. “I need to be seen looking at their complaints. Just paying lip-duty.”

“If you’re after environmental data, we’ve got some, up to date, from the consultants. Want me to send it to you?”

“Sure. Anything that helps.”

I hang up.

Today was a full-on day at the construction site. That was enough for one day. I saw the layout. Talked to the site team. Met with some local officials. Assessed timelines, took notes. Nothing stood out—on the surface.

But the biggest fucking deal of the day?

Seeing her.

It knocked my concentration. Made my heartrate rocket. It was like a kick in the stomach. And a stroke of my cock.

Raquel has that effect on me. It riled me up, because of how she left me last weekend, and it also sent my pulse soaring.

My heart does that soft, stupid flutter whenever I see her.

And she leaves me hard and aching, but it’s not just lust and desire.

It goes way deeper. It’s more than familiarity.

It’s like we have a connection that transcends time and space.

It sounds crazy, and it’s not something I’d tell Dex, but this is what it is.

She wasn’t wearing that red lipstick that’s imprinted on my mind forever. Today she was fresh faced, and still as beautiful as ever. Still as feisty as ever. I like that more about her each time I see her.

The woman is fire. The way she and I play off one another, the way we hate and loathe each other, it’s impossible to get her out of my mind.

Coming out here was meant to be a break for me.

It was supposed to help me forget her. Now, she’s not only here, she’s working for the NGO.

Now, I not only remember how we kissed outside that restaurant in Miami, but I’m also remembering that night in S?o Paulo.

My cock is so hard, I’ll have to fist myself to release later.

The way I’ve had to do a lot of times. Getting off to a visual of Raquel in my head.

Wait until I tell Dex who I ran into here.

Then it hits me, I can’t tell Dex, because if I do, word will get back to the old man, somehow. I don’t want anything personal getting back to him.

About Raquel.

Or me.

As if anything is going to happen.

This is the stuff of my dreams, right? Me and Raquel, on an exotic island.

It’s work related, granted, and neither of us knew the other would be here, but it feels like destiny.

Feels like this what meant to be. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to walk away from her, but when the old man sent me to Belize it seemed like the perfect distraction.

But she’s here. And somehow, it feels like divine intervention. Fate or not, she’s in front of me again and I’m losing my ability to focus.

I’ll check out the coastline tomorrow since Tomas keeps bugging me about it. When I asked him why, he said, “Because you need to see. You need to know more than what you’re being told.”

He sounds cagey. Careful with his words. I asked him whose side he was on, ours or the NGO’s?

He said he wants me to see both sides. It gets me thinking as something gnaws in the pit of my stomach. Do I believe my old man? Or do I believe Tomas?

I know what type of man Paul Knight is. He’s not known for speaking truth, or for his philanthropic ways. Hell, he’ll easily lie to us. He lied to my mom, and to Dex’s mom, his wife. There is no bottom when it comes to him.

But now some things are starting to get under my skin. Suspicion rears its ugly head, and I can’t shake it away. The old man is shady, but do I trust Tomas? And what about Orlando, the foreman? Tomas told me that he only joined last month, around the time EcoGuardians started to make noise.

Who do I trust? Who do I believe?

And just like that, I know. There is someone I can go to for answers, even if its unethical. Even if she enjoys slicing my balls and wouldn’t hesitate to serve them to me on a platter.

One person who has no compunction over telling the truth.

Raquel.

She’ll give me the answers, whether I’ll like what she has to say or not.