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if he could hear her every heartbeat.
She really needed to get herself together.
She pulled up the next item on the agenda. ‘The investigators sent the latest report on Pueblo Oliviera.’
The hand next to hers curled on the table and a different sort of tension seized his frame. This time, Saffie couldn’t stop herself from looking up.
A hard, cynical mask stared back at her. But this close, within the depths of his eyes she saw something else. Ferocious, supremely intimate purpose. The kind birthed through whispered vows made in chilling darkness. The kind she’d made to herself when despair had held her in its tightest grip. When deepest yearnings had risen to the fore and threatened to consume her alive.
It was on one of those dark nights that she’d sworn she would never remain alone, that she would fulfil her promise to her foster mother and surround herself with a family, even if it was a family of two, and put the desolate solitude and heartache she’d suffered as a child behind her.
Pueblo Oliviera.
Even though she’d suspected, she’d never asked Joao for confirmation. From the naked flames leaping in his eyes, now wasn’t a good time either.
And yet...a small voice called to her, urged her to probe.
‘He’s your father, isn’t he?’
‘A biological donor I had the dubious honour of being named after, sim,’ he replied with a harsh rasp.
She’d done an Internet search early on in her role when she’d spotted the confidential memos on the man. Pueblo was rich and influential. Nowhere in his son’s league, of course, but with enough clout in the business world to go after the same deals Joao did.
It hadn’t taken long to recognise the brutal rivalry between the two men. Rivalry that went beyond mutual business interests.
‘Do you two speak?’
He laughed bitterly. ‘Sim, we do. Through the profit-and-loss score board. Specifically, my profits, his losses.’
‘Why?’ She didn’t need to elaborate.
His eyes hardened and she held her breath, afraid she’d overstepped. She was about to excuse herself when he straightened abruptly and strolled to the elaborate drinks bar set into the side of one sleek table. He poured himself a shot of Hardy L’Ete Lalique champagne cognac that Saffie knew cost more than most people’s monthly salaries. In another glass, he poured mineral water and returned to the desk. She took the glass and set it down, too frazzled to drink.
He downed his in one go, and slid the glass onto the polished table.
‘My birth was a mistake. One he wasn’t prepared to acknowledge. So, let’s just say I’ve made it my business to remain in his crosshairs.’
She gasped. ‘He said that to you? That you were a mistake?’
Hooded eyes met hers before he shrugged. ‘In certain circumstances, words aren’t needed. A child is aware of how its parents feel about him without vocal expression. It’s not a failing to admit you’re not ready for fatherhood and take steps to prevent it. I know that for myself. It is a shame he didn’t.’
A tight hollow pushed against her diaphragm, making it agonising to breathe. ‘You don’t want children?’ she asked through numb lips, seeking clarification despite everything she’d learned about him pointing to this.
He didn’t answer for the longest time. A stretch of time when something shrivelled inside her.
Eventually he shrugged. ‘It’s not a goal I’ve set for myself. Pueblo could’ve walked away from his mistake, instead he set out to make himself my enemy. It’s been...infinitely amusing to lock horns with him.’
‘You don’t look particularly amused,’ she replied, throwing herself back into the conversation so she wouldn’t have to examine why her heart mourned.
‘Não, not this time. Because he’s got it into his head that he can steal the Archer deal from under my nose.’
‘That’s why you’re so determined to win, isn’t it? Because he’s your main opposition?’
‘You forget that I’m first and foremost a businessman. And this is the most lucrative deal to cross my desk in a few years.’
Despite the reminder, Saffie knew that wasn’t all. Joao intended to beat his father at the highest level, once and for all.
Why? What exactly had happened between father and son?
