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“Luciana, Carlos, this is Ava Peters.”
Her heart throbbed heavily but her smile didn’t drop. “A pleasure to meet you,” she murmured, extending a hand to Luciana. The other woman took it, her smile reserved.
Carlos was less dubious. He shook Addie’s hand, then put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her deeper into the beautiful living space. Santiago was sitting on the balcony, as he had been the night before.
“We thought we’d eat outside, as the sun goes down. I presume these two have told you of their ritual?”
“Sunsets?” Addie asked, stepping out onto the balcony.
“Sunsets,” Carlos confirmed. “Always sunsets.”
“Only on the island,” Guy said from behind them, reaching for Addie’s hand and squeezing it in his. Could he sense her nervousness? Her apprehension?
“Santiago.” She approached the older man, her heart warming when met with his look of genuine pleasure at seeing her again. “Have you had a good day?”
“I have worked,” he said with a shrug, confirming what Guy had told her the night before. Having seen the way Guy operated, she could understand Santiago’s drive. With Guy, it wasn’t about needing to work. Heavens, they were richer than anyone needed to be. Money conservatively invested would still return an exorbitant income for them to live off. No, they worked because they needed to, because it was a compulsion that ran through their blood. She could see many similarities between Guy and his grandfather.
“The Australia deal?” Guy asked, guiding Addie to the same seat she’d occupied the night before, on the sofa opposite Santiago. She sat and crossed her legs neatly, tilting her head towards Guy by accident and then wishing she hadn’t, when the heat from his eyes almost burned through her.
Santiago made a grunt of acknowledgement and then gaze shifted, to some of the staff who were bringing trays of food and bottles of wine.
The low-set table between them was overtaken with platters of delicious morsels, all finger-food size, and beautifully fragranced. Addie’s tummy, so silent all day, gave a little kick of interest now.
“Have something,” Guy murmured, his hand creeping to her knee and curving around it. Warmth spread through her body. She knew he was playing a part, but God, she loved it when he touched her. When he used that gentle, coaxing tone with her, the voice that she’d taken for granted when they’d been dating before.
“Yes, yes,” Luciana took the seat beside Santiago, and gestured a manicured hand over the platters. “There are many local delicacies here. The calamari is particularly good.”
“You always loved the calamari,” Santiago said with a laugh.
Luciana shrugged, her shoulders slim, her tan golden. She was very beautiful, and she was also very … expensive looking. There was an indefinable quality to the woman, but it all added up to create the image of someone who spent a lot of time and money on beautification. Her hair was immaculately cut and styled, falling in long dark waves down her back. Her lashes were long and surely synthetic? Her nails, the same. Her lips appeared slightly cosmetically enhanced – though very tastefully done – her breasts likewise. Even her feet were works of art, perfectly painted toes that showed off slim, tanned feet and ankles that were crossed.
“It’s too slippery for me,” Carlos said, taking the only armchair available, his back to the view.
“Oh, you should sit here,” Addie said instantly, standing to gesture to her seat. “You won’t see the sunset.”
“I’ve seen many sunsets from this balcony,” Carlos assured Addie, at the same time Guy said,
“You are sitting here, querida.”
Querida. Dear. He’d called her that all the time back then, and the word had feathered through her soul, lifting her up and making her fly. To be someone’s dear was a beautiful thing. It spoke of being adored and cossetted, loved and cherished.
And she had been.
At least, she’d felt like it. Guy had found her heart, a heart that had been turning colder and colder in the wake of The Accident, and he’d brought it back to life. It was the worst possible time, but emotion throbbed in her gut, making tears tang the back of her throat with their saltiness.
She swallowed, and leaned forward, her own hair forming a curtain that disguised the rich emotions in her face as she lifted a little ball that looked deep-fried.
“It is a crab croquetas,” Guy said softly, leaning closer.
“Croquettes?” Addie took a bite from one end, and couldn’t help the low moan that escaped. Her eyes clung to Guy’s. “It’s so good,” she said as soon as she’d swallowed, lifting the salty morsel back to her mouth for another bite.
“I’m glad you approve,” he grinned, such warmth flowing to her from the simple gesture that her stomach flipped.
&
nbsp; “Your mother was just explaining the logistics,” Santiago said with a mock-impatient tone, earning a light slap from Luciana.
“You would rather turn eighty five and have no fanfare?”
