Page 46 of Rio

I swallow.“Did you really?"

He looks at me in something that looks like disbelief.

Caraca.

He played me.

"I didn't, but it was a nice surprise, seeing you, once I got over the shock of it."

He's saying that to make me feel better.My heart pounds and I try desperately to say something witty and clever.And I fail.

“We have unfinished business," he says.

That's when I remember something I’ve been wanting to ask him."I heard that you were smitten by Dani.Couldn't take your eyes off her at the special evening your father hosted."

He opens his mouth, and his eyes start to widen, just a little.Just enough for me to know he's feeling uneasy because he hasn’t uttered a word .

"You even had a photo of her in your apartment," I add, watching his reaction like a hawk.

He swipes a hand across his beard."I was wondering when you might ask me about that.I guess there are no secrets between you and Dani.”

"It's true, then?"

"Oh, princesa, you weren't sure?"

"I was sure.Dani wouldn't lie to me."

"You jealous?"he asks.And for the first time tonight, I feel a little of how he must have felt when that guy wanted me to dance.

I am jealous.Or, Iwas.I'm not now.I'm thankful, more than anything.I'm thankful that he didn't pick Dani.That his interest was only short lived.

"I wonder what your babies would look like, yours and Dani’s."What a stupid thing to say.I immediately regret it.He recoils in disgust, then gently wraps his fingers around my wrists.

"Dani is in love with Dex, and he's completely in love with her.Me, princesa?I like the thrill of the hunt.I like the chase.I like the flirtatious phase that comes before I fuck the only woman I have eyes for.Our babies, yours and mine, if you ever give me the chance, will be beautiful and bold, charming and fearless."

My mouth hangs open, my heart thumping, and my breaths quicken, shallow and uneven.Heat spirals low in my belly as the rough promise of his words spark a hunger I'm trying so hard to resist.

He loosens his grip but doesn’t completely let go.Instead, his thumbs stroke the insides of my wrists.It's one of my erogenous zones and I'm already feeling clammy between my legs.

"That time in Miami,” he says, his voice husky and low, making my insides heat, “that time when I showed up in the restaurant, allegedly unexpectedly …"

"Youplannedit?"I murmur.Each lazy brush of his thumb on my skin makes sparks shoot up my arms.My body betrays me each time this man is near me.I shouldn't want him this much, and yet, I always do.

"I sure did.I wanted to see you."

"And so you ...you had a meeting in order to—"

"No meeting.I just paid a guy in the bar across the street to say we did."

I sink back into myself.The levels of manipulation on these Knights is astounding.Yet, I'm oddly touched, that he went to such lengths, just to see me.A warmth unfurls in my chest, sneaky and uninvited, and I hate that it makes me smile.This man is dangerous, and I know better, but the happiness bubbling up is impossible to ignore.I can't deny that I feel something for him.I'd be lying to myself if I did.I want him, and he, it seems, wants me.He’d go to any lengths to see me.If I’m honest with myself, that terrifies me, too.

“We should head back,” I say, wondering if he’s going to make a move.He lets go of my wrists, and I miss the touch of his fingers.The flickering fairy lights look like fireflies in the distance and night is falling.I don’t want to walk barefoot in the dark.He starts to walk.I guess we are heading back.

When we return to our chairs, Vilma and Edwin are standing in a group of people.

“We’re going to the lagoon.Why don’t you come?”Vilma asks.

“You’re going where?”Rio asks.