The Vet's Convenient Bride
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Luana DaRosa
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11
CHAPTER ONE
A LONG SIGH that spoke of the myriad sleepless nights Maria had struggled through over the last weeks dropped from her lips. Exhaustion sat deep in her bones, and there was no end in sight.
‘Looking at the accounts again?’
Maria looked up from her desk and received the cup of coffee her sister Celine held out with a grateful smile.
‘Obrigada, this was exactly what I needed,’ she whispered into the brew as she basked in its aroma streaming up her nose.
‘So, what’s up?’
Maria took a long sip, avoiding her sister’s piercing gaze for a moment as her face vanished behind the coffee mug. ‘It’s...not looking too good, Celine,’ she finally said with a frown she saw reflected on her sister’s face.
‘Daniel really screwed us over,’ Celine mumbled, and drew a scoff from Maria’s throat.
‘That’s putting it mildly.’ She would have used much more vulgar language to describe her deadbeat brother. Without his poor decision-making and downright betrayal of the family, she wouldn’t struggle to pay the bills so they could keep the doors of their animal sanctuary open.
Their work already didn’t pay well, even though their charity was a vital part of the community in Santarém. Nestled right along the Amazon River and surrounded by swathes of the rainforest, they provided services for the most vulnerable in their society—wild animals. They were the voiceless when it came to the deforestation works happening in the rainforest, so her grandparents had established this charity to help the animals in need. They might not be able to stop deforestation, but at least they could try and help the victims of these works.
They hadn’t told anyone they were in financial trouble. The kind-hearted people of Santarém would probably sell their most expensive heirlooms just to keep the charity of Rodrigo and Alma Dias alive. Just as they had done when Gabriela, who ran the local charity shop, had fallen and broken her hip. Or when some vagrants broke into José’s store and destroyed all of his machines. Both times the entire community had rallied around their members, giving whatever they could spare—and sometimes even more.
Maria’s parents had continued their work because of that sense of belonging and togetherness. When they’d left to live out the rest of their retirement in Switzerland, the responsibility to continue had fallen to Maria, Celine and their brother, Daniel.
Because their animals had no owners and no one to claim them, they relied almost exclusively on donations from different sponsors. The lion’s share of their monthly donations had come from a wealthy tech entrepreneur from Minas Gerais—that was until her brother ran off with the donor’s wife.
The donations had stopped, and Maria had failed to attract new sponsors to make up what her brother had taken from them. They needed so much money to keep afloat, much more than anyone in Santarém could afford, that she didn’t want to ask anyone. Because they wouldn’t say no—they would just give. Only one option remained.
‘We have to shut down,’ Maria said into the quiet spreading between her and Celine. ‘Even with the additional income from the vet clinic, we aren’t even near to breaking even.’
In a last-ditch effort to keep her family’s legacy from shutting down for ever, Maria had hired an additional vet and started offering treatment for a wide range of domestic animals. She looked after any of the exotic and wild animals that needed rehabilitation, while Celine covered the farms in the area as a livestock veterinarian, and three months ago Dr Rafael Pedro had joined their clinic to look after the domestic pets of the area.
Regret constricted her chest when she thought of Rafael. He was a quiet man, not prone to sharing much of himself, yet they had still formed a friendship by co-existing in the same space—both in the practice and at home. Part of the deal for this job included the spare room in the Dias house.
Their areas of responsibility rarely overlapped. Despite that, something between them clicked into place as they worked around each other. A sense of connection, a live wire that crackled and sizzled with the heat and veiled longing.
Their conversations almost always turned flirty, leaving Maria with a sense of unfinished business. That there was something brewing between them was undeniable, yet an invisible boundary had stopped her from acting on the attraction. She was his boss, and though it had been a long time since she’d felt attracted to anyone like that, she couldn’t go there with an employee. That would be inviting trouble into her own house. Literally. She didn’t even know if he was interested or just being polite. The last time someone had asked her out had taken her by surprise.
Maurice, a gringo seeking investments in Brazil and owned of a company providing boat tours up and down parts of the Amazon River, had found an injured snake and instead of simply killing it he’d brought it to her so she could nurse it back to health and release it. After that, he’d come by a couple of times whenever he found something along the river, and eventually he’d asked her out on a date.
Though she had liked him enough, their relationship never went anywhere—her work always taking first place in her life. That much hadn’t changed. If she wasn’t here, she was at home taking care of her abandoned niece.
That didn’t leave any room for romance, no matter what she sensed in the air between her and Rafael.
Celine seemed to have read her mind, for she smirked at her elder sister. ‘Maybe if he’s not our employee any more, you can finally ask him out.’
Maria rolled her eyes, but her pulse fell out of step at her sister’s words, sending her heart tumbling through her body.
She had to admit that Rafael caught her attention. Though the muscled arms and strong chest had drawn her immediate attention when he’d first arrived, it was the warmth in those hazel eyes that had her pulse racing. The way he spoke to distressed animals, handling them with such care as if they were his own family members, opened up something inside her that made her want to consider what Celine had just suggested. But when her brother left with his mistress, he didn’t just doom their sanctuary. He also abandoned his daughter, to whom Maria was now a mother figure. She had a hard enough time understanding how Daniel could have done this to them—it got even harder when she tried explaining it to her niece.
‘Maybe you should, since you seem so obsessed with him,’ Maria deflected, and drew a laugh from her sister’s lips.
‘I’m legally still married, if you remember. Plus, I’m not the one making doe eyes at him every time I see him.’
‘I’m telling you we have to shut our sanctuary down and all you can talk about is the hot vet I hired?’ How had they landed on Rafael in the first place? There were so many more important things happening right now.
‘Hah, so you do think he’s hot.’
‘Celine! Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?’
‘Of course I do.’ Celine sighed. ‘But I don’t know what you want me to say. I’m devastated to close this place, but we both know you and I have done everything we can to stave off the inevitable.’
Maria sighed as the weariness in her chest grew heavier. ‘I’ll talk to Rafael first before calling the lawyer. He should know he’s about to lose his job.’
Celine walked over to her, giving her a comforting pat on the shoulder. ‘Let me know once you’ve spoken to the lawyer and what our next steps are.’
Maria nodded and when her sister closed the door behind her she let her head fall back onto the top of her office chair. She closed her eyes for a moment, willing her racing heart to slow down.
She needed to admit defeat and focus on rebuilding her niece’s life, no matter if that put her own life’s plans on hold—again. Her search for love, for a person to start a family with, hardly mattered when Mirabel had had the rug pulled out from under her by the one person who had sworn to protect her. She had ignored the longing clawing inside her chest for a long time, wanting to focus on her career first. She had thought there would be a moment where everything came together...or was she living that moment right now but unaware of it because she had never really let herself get attached to anyone?
Maria shouldn’t even be thinking about this. Especially as she hadn’t even asked the target of her attraction if he felt the same way and wanted to go out some time. But if they shut down the charity portion of the sanctuary, the vet clinic was all that remained. And, as much as she wanted him around, she didn’t need another vet and she certainly couldn’t afford it.
Maria would have to fire Rafael today.
Sweet and gorgeous Rafael. The innocent smiles and stolen glances they exchanged throughout the day sent jolts of unreserved happiness through a life marred with hardship. His friendship had become something she treasured, their passion for animals leading to an instant bond. Giving up on him was adding salt to her already mounting wounds.
If only things were different. That was the dream world Maria liked to escape to in the quiet moments, where her traitorous brother and empty bank account couldn’t reach her, only the soft kisses of her would-be lover.
Not that Rafael had ever expressed such a desire for her, but the looks and the smiles were there, along with the gentle familiarity that came only from a friend.
Maria sighed again, leaning forward and burying her face in her hands. Maybe this was for the best. With the impending closure of the charity she had poured her heart and soul into, and becoming the full-time legal guardian of her niece, she had enough going on without needing to add romantic adventures to the mix.
Still, this conversation was going to suck.
Rafael sat behind the counter of the reception typing out his notes when the door to the clinic opened. ‘Sorry, we are not open any more,’ he said without looking up from the screen in front of him. But the soft shuffling of bare feet on the tiled floor only got louder.
Exhaustion sat deep in Rafael’s bones, and he couldn’t take on another walk-in. It was already after nine and he’d been woken up by a call from Emanuel, the owner of the local café, at an ungodly hour. The family dog, Rex, had sneaked into the pantry and found some chocolate he wasn’t supposed to eat. At least Emanuel knew his regular coffee order by now and had asked his son to deliver it, along with some pastries, as a thank you.
Because of that he had missed dinner with Maria and the Dias sisters’ children. Even though he was a tenant and not a family member, Maria had invited him to dinner consistently until it became a habit. Those easy meals they spent together talking about their days in the clinic were a highlight of his days here in Santarém—along with the Sunday markets in the town square that they visited together.
He hated missing any of those occasions to speak to her, but he didn’t get to decide when his patients would need him.
Paulo, the ten-year-old son of Irina, who ran the small grocery store in town, held a cardboard box out in front of him and looked somewhat lost. Rafael got off his seat with a furrowed brow. ‘Paulo, what’s the matter?’ he asked as he circled around the reception desk separating them.
‘My mãe told me to bring this here. She said you look after lost animals,’ the boy said, and pushed the box into Rafael’s hands.
He took it, placing it on the reception counter, and hissed when he opened the flaps to look inside. A kitten lay among some grass the boy and his mother had collected to make it feel more comfortable. Someone had ripped parts of its fur out from the neck and Rafael saw a deep cut further down. The blood had already congealed, closing the wound, but there was no way of telling if they had hit any vital organs.
‘Where did you find it?’ he asked, his eyes narrowing on the boy. It wouldn’t be the first time he had to treat an animal that fell victim to the cruel whims of humans.
The boy seemed to sense Rafael’s apprehension, for he lifted his hands in a gesture proclaiming innocence. ‘We found it near the river and my mãe asked me to run here so you could take care of it. It was lying on the floor next to a small fire, but there wasn’t anyone around when we got there.’
Rafael looked at him for a moment, considering his words. He knew that neither Paulo nor Irina would have hurt a kitten like that. They had their own clowder of cats running around town. Milo, the only black cat out of the bunch, regularly went to the river exploring, and came back with lots of trinkets and baubles. He must have led them there.
He nodded, closed the box again and lifted it off the counter. ‘This kitten might have a shot thanks to you,’ he said with a small smile and a wave as the boy left, before vanishing into the exam room, where he took the injured animal out of the cardboard box and lay it on the table.
‘Okay, let’s have a look at you.’ He stepped closer, his hands gentle as he began his exam. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed the markings on the remaining fur, his brow furrowing. ‘You’re not a domestic cat...’
Rafael placed his hand under the animal, propping it up as he looked at its face, prising the lips open to examine its teeth. ‘Are you a baby ocelot?’
With the size of the kitten, it was hard to tell, but the markings on its fur were not ones commonly found in domestic cats, especially not in a rural region like this one where most people kept barn cats.
The ocelot didn’t even flinch when he probed at the stab wound. ‘You’ve been hanging in there for quite some time, haven’t you?’ he mumbled as he picked his patient up and took its temperature, careful to keep it tucked in under his arm to reduce the stress on the already suffering animal.
‘Forty point three... Higher than we would like it to be, but that might be from the stress more than anything else.’ Rafael set the ocelot down again and frowned. Big cats like ocelots were part of the overall training they received, but he hadn’t worked with them since veterinary school. He was pretty sure he knew what to do—ultrasound to check for any internal bleeding and, if everything checked out, bandage the wound and set her to rest.
Were the topical anaesthetics the same as for domestic cats? Doubt crept into his mind and Rafael sighed. He needed to check in with Maria. He glanced at the clock, frowning. Interrupting her this late wasn’t something he wanted to do, even though he knew she’d want to know about the ocelot in their care.
Ever since Rafael had started working at the clinic, the gorgeous owner of the charity had invaded every quiet moment afforded to him. Whenever his mind wandered, he’d inevitably think about her, wondering where she was or what she was doing. Missing her when he’d gone a day without seeing her.
A thought that was as ridiculous as they came. How was he so attached to her already, when all they did was talk about animal welfare? Or was it that kind of simplicity that drew him to her?
Because Maria was unlike any of the women who had entered his life. Granted, all of them were fame-hungry socialites who wanted to benefit from the wealth a romantic link to him promised. Through gossip papers and social media they all knew that the person who married Rafael Pedro would finally unlock the trust fund his famous grandparents had set up for him years ago.
One had almost succeeded in tricking him into marriage, setting up everything so perfectly that Rafael hadn’t suspected anything until he stumbled upon the truth by accident. That was the moment he had disavowed his family and love altogether, instead dedicating his life to his work as a veterinary surgeon.
And Maria was his friend, one he cherished way more than he had originally planned—along with the entire village of Santarém. What had only ever been meant as an escape had become as close to home as he had ever felt. A large part of the credit went to Maria, who had taken the time to befriend him and introduce him to everyone in the village.
He could acknowledge all of that, yet the yearning within him grew louder, hotter, as they spent more time together. Whatever that was blooming in his chest, he needed to stomp it out right now—before it got out of hand.
Rafael picked up the ocelot again, placing her in a little pen next door to keep her comfortable while he stepped away. The main building was solely dedicated to the sanctuary’s rehabilitation efforts. Outside of two small treatment rooms, there was also a bigger surgery and several rooms to house crates with their overnight and long-term patients. Next to this building was a smaller house where the Dias family—and he—lived.
Rafael breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the lights in the kitchen were still on. He opened the door, closing it silently behind him so as not to wake the children, and stepped into the kitchen to find Maria sitting at the table, her delicate fingers wrapped around a steaming mug of tea.
Her look of utter defeat as she glanced up at him stopped him dead in his tracks and, for a moment, he forgot why he was here as a bout of irrational protectiveness surged in his chest.
‘What happened?’ he asked before he could rethink it.
The shock on her face told him she hadn’t realised he knew her well enough to read her expressions. She shook her head. ‘Nothing,’ she said, somewhat too quickly.
Rafael narrowed his eyes but decided not to pry. There were more pressing things happening in this moment.
‘Hey, I need you for a quick consult,’ he said, pushing all the unwelcome feelings and reactions towards Maria away.
‘What’s the matter?’ The look of defeat vanished, replaced by concern as she got up from the chair.
‘Someone dropped off an ocelot with a strange knife wound. Not sure what that’s even about, but I just wanted to double-check my steps since I’m not sure how much wild cats deviate from the treatment of a house cat.’
Maria nodded and walked past him, motioning him to follow as they crossed the yard to get to the clinic. ‘Did they rip out the fur of the ocelot too?’
Rafael nodded. ‘It’s alert but tired. I was going to suggest an ultrasound before we stitch it up.’
He led Maria through the door and she went onto her knees in front of the pen with the ocelot, stroking its exposed chest. ‘Some people in the area ritually kill baby ocelots or monkeys. We occasionally get some of the failed sacrifices here to patch them back up.’
‘What? The indigenous communities wouldn’t do that, would they?’
Maria shook her head. ‘They know the value of an animal’s life much better than most of us do. No, it’s a strange occult sect terrorising the local animals.’
Rafael swore under his breath, struggling to imagine how anyone could do such a thing. To think this happened often enough that Maria could recognise the injury on sight alone.
‘It’s breathing okay. Going by the angle, I don’t think they hit any of her organs, but her temperature is elevated.’
‘Could just be the stress,’ Maria mused as she looked at the wound. ‘Grab me the ultrasound.’
Rafael went to the storage room and grabbed the handheld device, dabbing some gel on the ocelot’s chest before Maria placed the transducer on the skin, scrutinising the image on the screen.
‘Doesn’t look like there are any internal injuries,’ Rafael said.
‘The blade just missed this artery here.’ She pointed at the screen and Rafael took note as she explained the surrounding organs.
‘Should we stitch up the wound?’ That was the part he’d been uncertain about and why he’d gone to look for Maria’s advice. He wouldn’t have suggested stitches on such a wound on a cat or small dog, but there were potentially other factors with wild cats he didn’t know about.
Maria grabbed a sponge and gave the wound a careful wipe. ‘No, this wound is a couple of hours’ old at this point. We would do more harm than good if we disturb it. Best to observe and intervene if we find any infection.’
She picked up the ocelot and hugged it close to her chest for a moment, cooing as she petted its head. ‘You poor thing. We’ll get you back out there once you are all healed up.’
Rafael smiled at that small gesture, appreciating the place of compassion it came from. His profession was full of people with incredible drive and passion, yet in the three months since he’d been here, Maria had surpassed all expectations with her level of care for anyone coming through her door—animals and humans alike.
What a shame his parents had schemed and pushed so much that he’d lost any confidence in having a normal relationship with a woman without fearing for both his and her sanity. But after losing the one woman he’d ever loved to his family’s plots, trust didn’t come easy to him any more. Laura—his ex—had been in league with his parents all along, whispering sweet nothings into his ears and making him believe that he could find love after all. The brutal sting of rejection rose in his chest at the memory, reinforcing his ironclad defences.
Defences that didn’t seem fortified enough. Watching Maria work and provide value to her community had such a profound impact on Rafael and the way he worked that he had caught himself fantasising about having this—her—for the rest of his life, as more than just the friend she was to him now.
The part of him that had been hurt in the past cautioned him to be careful, and it mingled with the fear of losing what he had built for himself here. Was it worth risking the friendship they shared for a shot at something more when he wasn’t sure if he was broken beyond repair?
Maria felt the warmth of his stare on the back of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine. She stayed in the adjacent room for a moment and fought to find the strength within her to start the conversation she needed to have with Rafael. It didn’t help that he’d stayed longer to help an injured ocelot that had found its way into their clinic—same as it didn’t help how much she enjoyed seeing him every day, how much their friendship meant to her.
She bit her lip as she got back to her feet. This was beyond ridiculous. In the three months he’d been here, he’d not made a single move that would signal he wanted more. No, quite the opposite. Whenever they spoke, the sense between them was one of easy familiarity. There was no reason why this sort of heat should lick across her skin from a mere glance.
Taking a deep breath, she stood up straight and walked back into the room. An awkward silence spread between them as they shot each other tentative glances. How did one even start such a conversation?
She swallowed hard before she opened her mouth. ‘Listen, while I have you...’
Rafael turned towards her, his hip leaning against the exam table as he looked at her with those hazel eyes that turned her insides into gooey puddles. Oh, God, why had she let the flirting go so far? Now her tongue suddenly felt too large for her mouth, unable to form the words she needed to say.
‘The charity isn’t doing so well at the moment. It hasn’t been in a while if I’m honest.’ She took a breath, her lips trembling when genuine concern lit up his eyes.
‘Is that what’s been bothering you this last week or so?’ he asked.
Maria’s eyes widened at that question, thinking back to the few moments they had shared since she’d woken up nine days ago and admitted to herself that the charity had to close. Of course he would have noticed.
She closed her eyes, focusing on the task in front of her as her mind drifted and heat rose in her body as she sensed the connection of genuine attraction zing to life between them once more. That was the last thing she needed to concern herself with.
Though when she opened them again Rafael’s face was so full of concern for her that the heat pooling in the pit of her stomach exploded, sending sparks all around her body.
‘Last year we lost our biggest sponsor. Ever since then we’ve been struggling to keep our heads above water. Opening the vet clinic was a last effort to see if the revenue would help us make ends meet.’ Maria bit down on her lower lip, glad that her voice didn’t crack as she delivered this news that she’d been dreading.
Rafael looked down at his feet as he crossed his arms, a sigh expanding his chest. ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’
Maria’s hand went to her chest as her pulse accelerated. Though she knew already there was nothing he could do, the fact that he’d bothered to ask opened something inside her that she wanted to remain closed. Now that they’d started this conversation, he’d be leaving soon, and along with him the sense of excitement and attraction that she hadn’t felt in such a long time.
This small gift she’d received after all of the turmoil she’d been through would fade away as well.
‘No, unfortunately not. Unless you know someone who has some money they’re looking to give away,’ she said with a half-smile.
An expression flitted over his face, a strange sharpness entering his eyes that she couldn’t understand. She watched as he took a few breaths, wanting to know the thoughts she could see building in the way he looked at her.
‘I actually do know someone like that who would be willing to be your new benefactor.’
The warmth drained out of her body, replaced by an unearthly cold as she processed his words, hoping against hope that they were true and she wasn’t just imagining them because those were the words she’d wanted to hear. A new benefactor? Someone to replace what Daniel had stolen from them with his reckless libido?
‘What...? Who?’ It didn’t matter that she wouldn’t recognise the name. If he knew someone who could keep the doors of their sanctuary open, she didn’t care if it came with strings attached.
‘Me,’ Rafael said, and heat swept through her once more, colliding with the chill in her bones and whipping up her insides into a merciless storm.
‘You? But...you live in my guest room.’
‘Ah, yes. Unfortunately, my money is tied up in some clerical red tape.’ He looked away, a flash of discomfort and self-doubt in his eyes. ‘My grandparents set up a trust for me, but they wanted their hard-earned money to benefit me and my siblings only once we were ready to start our own families.’
Maria furrowed her brow, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him. Who were his grandparents that they’d left him so much money? ‘Clerical red tape?’
Rafael chuckled, a sound that stoked the already brewing storm in the pit of her stomach. ‘My grandparents thought the best way to ensure all the Pedro grandchildren used their money how they intended was to put in a clause which only allowed us to access the money once we were married.’
Her heart leapt inside her chest, crushing against her ribcage. Her eyes darted to his left hand, scanning for a ring but finding nothing but an empty finger. If he wasn’t married, how was he going to become their new benefactor?
The thought of Rafael getting married caused a strange dissonance in her mind, and she shook her head to get rid of the fleeting sensation.
‘I imagine you’re not married since you’re telling me all of this.’ The surge of hope she’d felt just a moment ago faded as quickly as it had appeared.
‘No, I’m not married.’ He paused for a moment, and the sudden intensity in his eyes made her breath catch in her throat.
Maria could hear nothing but her own heartbeat thundering through her ears as she realised what Rafael had just suggested. That couldn’t be real. Was he seriously suggesting that they should get married? No, such a thing didn’t happen in real life. This was the plot of a novela.
‘I’m not sure I follow,’ she forced herself to say, her voice sounding distant. ‘Because what I think you’re saying makes no sense.’
‘Maria,’ he said, and took a step closer, ‘I think the solution to your problem is to get married.’
