Page 39 of Rio

“Meu Deus, just when I thought today couldn’t get more colonial,” I toss at him.

“Meu Deus?”His eyes twinkle with mischief, and he puts his hands on his hips.“I’m not God, though you might be forgiven for thinking so.”

“Why are you here?”I hiss, poking a finger into his chest.

“I could ask the same.”He takes hold of my finger, his eyes burning, his jaw locked.His touch is like fire.It always is.I flinch.

Tomas steps in.“We should get a move on, boss.”

It’s only then that I realize how close we are to one another.Rio drops my finger like I burned him.

I’m not the only one who felt the fire.

But Rio ignores the man and stays put, folding his arms as my gaze falls to the faint outline of his biceps under that T.His black and gold designer watch glints under the sun.

“Are you people behind Delport Realty?”My heart is racing, and I’m hoping to wake up from this nightmare.It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had a dream about this man.

He doesn’t answer.

We’re like two bulls, facing each other, ready to lock horns.

“Tomas?”Alma turns to him.So do I.

“Tomas.”I look him in the eye.“Is Delport Realty a subsidiary of Knight Enterprises?”

He shrugs.“I’m sorry, I don’t know.”

“What does it matter if it is?”Rio asks.

I’m still trying to process this very unlikely event and start to wonder if he’s stalking me.“You people… you people infect everything you touch.”

“Not everything.”His gaze dips lower, to my lips, then lower.I know, I justknow, he’s talking about whatever is going on between us.He’s already there.Bringing our personal matters to the fore.

“Was Daddy not available to escort you to this fight?”

He shakes his head slowly, showering me with disapproval.“Always fighting talk with you, huh, prin—” He cuts off, remembers where he is, who he is and what he’s representing.But, at the same time, clearly, he’s remembering what went down between us.He clears his throat.“I’m here to monitor and protect legitimate investments.”

Meu Deus.

Itisall owned by Knight Enterprises.

“You people manage to get your claws and your hooks into every decent part of the world,” I snap.“Into anything and everything that you can make money off.”

“We should look around the site,” Tomas tells him, glancing at his watch, “If we’re to meet the—”

“I’d love to stay and make small talk with you,” Rio interjects, making me wonder what Tomas was going to say that he didn’t want me to hear.“But I have meetings to attend, things to do.”

I close my eyes, and take a moment after Rio disappears out of sight.

“You do know each other,” Alma says softly.“The way you just lit up.It was like fire was burning inside you.”

I wince.This is not what I needed.This man is a complication wrapped in temptation.He’s dangerous in every way that matters.I came here to have a much-needed break, from Pierce, from work.

But also from this man.

Because I remember everything.The heat of his mouth, the way he looked at me like I was a dare he couldn’t resist.A single glance from him still gets under my skin.He makes me feel reckless, like the girl who once dreamed of escape, not the lawyer who fights for it now.And beneath all that is the bigger truth, and problem.This resort, this damage, this fight, it’s all tied to Knight Enterprises.To them.That family.“Did you know they were behind it?”I ask her, ignoring her question.

“Who?”