Marriage Bargain with Her Brazilian Boss
Autor
Tara Pammi
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13
HarlequinPROLOGUE
ANUSHKA REDDY LOOKED around the luxurious cabin of the private jet, but it was hard, as a fourteen-year-old, to maintain interest in the aircraft or anything else for that matter when excitement filled her belly with a thousand swarming butterflies.
To stay with her grandparents and her half-sisters, for the entire summer.
Instant guilt speared through her at the thought. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her mom and all the adventures she had with her. As a world-renowned environmental activist and an artist, her mom traveled all over the world—sometimes to showcase her work, most times in search of inspiration—which meant Nush had, in her fourteen years, lived in the most interesting places in the world.
But her mom was also absentminded and mercurial and prone to long periods of melancholy and depression. And when that low hit, she forgot about small things. Like stocking groceries and buying clothes and books for Nush, like making sure she spent time outside and with kids her own age.
Even with an unconventional mother who’d told her at the age of eight that she’d been borne out of an affair, Nush had always longed for a permanent home base, a close-knit family. Especially the one her half-sisters had with her paternal grandparents in California, the one she’d got her first glimpse of at the same age. Their father—a has-been artist and a raging alcoholic—apparently liked variety in his lovers, and so she, Yana and her oldest sister, Mira, all had different mothers.
As allergic as Mama was to the institution of marriage, she’d never denied Anushka the knowledge of her father’s family. The six summers Nush had spent with her grandparents and her two half-sisters at their sprawling estate in California had soon become the highlight of those year.
And now she would be back with them for another summer. At least that’s what Mama had told Nush in between tears, all the while issuing conditions and threats and warnings about her well-being to the man who represented Nush’s grandparents. All of which had been received with a patience and equanimity and even a kindness that she hadn’t associated with... Caio Oliveira. And yet he’d been infinitely gentle with Mama’s irrational outbursts.
Nush pushed her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose and studied him with as much covertness as she was capable of.
Caio was a constant in her grandparents’ life. A larger-than-life former soccer player slash current coding genius from Brazil that her grandfather considered his right-hand man. She’d only ever glanced at him while hiding behind Mira because one only ever looked at the sun from a distance.
But now, at such close quarters, Nush revised her opinion of him. He wasn’t the sun. He was tall, broad, a dark golden-skinned god from one of the mythical universes that populated her favorite role-playing video game. Light brown eyes with golden flecks shone with a wicked intelligence, hooded under thick dark brows that seemed to see too much with jet-black wavy hair that was cut close to his head and a jawline that was usually found on male models in fashion magazines. The man was too...virile, she thought, testing the word she’d heard Yana use once.
If they were animals, Caio would be the alpha at the top.
There was no other way to describe him, especially when she was a bespectacled, acne-ridden, gangly teenager who didn’t know what to do with her legs or arms or her suddenly overactive hormones.
It was new to her—this sudden influx of feelings she had no control over. Usually, her logical brain was her best friend. The thing she could rely on to keep her strong when Mama wasn’t, which had been a lot in the last two years.
But she couldn’t just keep staring at him for the rest of the flight. The last thing she wanted him to think was that she was still a little weird and nerdy.
“Why didn’t Thaata come to pick me up?” she said, once the flight attendant, who’d been making eyes at him, had left them alone. She wasn’t as fluent in the language her father’s family spoke as Mira was but she was determined to make a real effort to learn this summer.
A smile lifted one corner of his mouth, drawing a dimple on one side. “So you do talk.”
An overwhelming rush of shyness hit Nush like a tidal wave. She could feel her cheeks reddening. Probably the tip of her nose too. “Of course I talk, Mr. Oliveira. But only when there’s something important to be said.” She cringed and sighed. Why couldn’t she sound normal for once?
“Now, that’s an admirable quality I find rarely, especially among adults. And no Mr. Oliveira business, Anushka. It makes me feel old.”
“You are old,” Nush blurted out, fighting the floaty sensation in her belly at how good her name sounded on his lips.
Laughter burst from him, loud and deep, drawing crinkles around his mouth and eyes. Her lungs felt like they did when she’d gone deep-sea diving—gasping for breath, unable to comprehend the magnificent beauty that surrounded her.
His smile took him from handsome to gorgeous, with a stopover at stunning.
“I mean...you’re quite a lot older than me,” she said, wanting to hide under the table between them.
“Twenty-seven is not that old, minx. But I’m jaded and cynical, so...” A shadow crossed his eyes, gone in an instant. “Also, the title of Mr. Oliveira belonged to my father. I’d feel like a cheap fake if I used that.”
A glimmer of raw ache made those eyes flash golden at the mention of his father. “If you want me to say your name right, you better teach me it,” she said, immediately wanting to distract him. “I know it doesn’t rhyme with mayo.”
“Cristo, no,” he said with a mock shudder. Planting his forearms on the table, he leaned forward. “It’s Caio,” he said slowly.
Nush repeated his name, a few times too many even after she got it, loving the sound of it on her lips.
“Perfect, Princesa.”
Mouth falling open, she bristled. “Why do you call me Princess?”
“Isn’t that what your grandpa calls you? Why is that?”
“Promise you won’t laugh at me.”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
“I was always too fond of fairy tales.”
“Why would I laugh at that?”
“Mama used to tell me that life’s too important to bury my head in outdated tales.”
He opened his mouth and then closed it. And Nush knew he’d swallowed away his own cynical opinion so that he didn’t corrupt hers. That little, innate kindness instantly made her like him a little more. Now she could say she liked Caio for more than his looks.
“What do you like about them?” he asked with a genuine tone.
“That there’s always a happy ending, whatever the affliction the princesses have. That there’s always someone right for them. It doesn’t matter if they’re too quiet, or shy or even strange. I do agree that some of them feel outdated but then I just rewrite them in my head the way I want them.”
“As long as you don’t forget that real life doesn’t work like that, Princesa. Sometimes, there’s no happy ending. There’s only crushing disappointment, dealt both by circumstance and people. Love is sometimes not enough.”
“That’s your opinion,” she said, tilting her chin up.
He shrugged and the gesture pulled her attention to the breadth of his shoulders. “I never answered your question, did I? Your grandfather wanted to come, as did Mira and Yana,” he said, mentioning her sisters. “But your grandmother had an asthma episode recently, and as I was making this trip anyway,” he said softly, “I offered to pick you up.”
“Is Nanamma okay now?”
“She is.”
“Are you and Yana still dating?” Nush wanted to disappear the moment she heard her question.
Caio was her first official crush and she was already finding this whole thing painful. Not for a second could she betray her thoughts. Not especially now, when she was moving to California and would see him on a regular basis.
Not that she’d been able to stop thinking of him and Yana since she’d realized their visitor was Caio. She adored both her sisters. To see him with Yana—who was so stunningly gorgeous that, at nineteen, she was already highly sought after as a model—would’ve felt awkward and weird. There was that word again.
She stole a look from under her lashes, and was relieved that he didn’t look irritated. “Sorry, it’s none of my business,” she whispered.
“It’s okay, Princesa. Honest curiosity never bothers me.” He drummed his fingers on the table between them. “Yana and I are not dating anymore. We realized it would hurt your grandparents and Mira and now you immensely, if we killed each other as a result of all that proximity. Which turned to be a distinct possibility.”
Nush burst out laughing. It had been clear, even to her, that they really weren’t suited to each other. She instantly sobered up as another worrying thought struck. “You and Yana are still friends now that you’ve broken up, right?”
“And why does the thought that we might not be put such a frown here, Anushka?” he said, pointing a finger at her forehead.
She pushed the glasses up the bridge of her slightly too large nose. “I don’t want to have to take sides, that’s all.”
His thick brows drawing together, he looked thunderstruck. “Take sides? How do you come to that, Princesa?”
“I know how much Thaata values you. As high-maintenance as Yana can be—that’s what Nanamma says about her—I wouldn’t want to be caught between you two when I finally have a full family.”
The shock in his eyes deepened until slowly, another smile warmed them and they glowed brightly. “I see why your grandfather thinks you’re precious.”
Heat swarmed Nush’s cheeks. Damn it, why had she opened her mouth at all? “It’s not like I like you like you...that would just be ewww...because you’re like really old,” she added, with extra affectation she’d seen in teen movies.
His raucous laughter enveloped her. The man was really beautiful and his presence did things to her insides—specifically her lower belly and lower, where she’d never felt such things before. Intellectually, she knew what it was but still, it threw her, this feverish fascination. And it scared her a bit too.
“I appreciate your consideration, Princesa. And your generosity in considering me family.” His gaze gentled. “Are you looking forward to the summer?”
She smiled. “I’ve always wanted to be part of a big family. Living with Mama is an adventure but it can also get very lonely.” She swallowed at the sudden ache that lodged in her throat. “She was very upset today. Sometimes, she can’t help herself. Please don’t be angry at her for that.”
He tapped at her tightly laced fingers and shook his head. “Not at all, Anushka. She was upset, yes, but I have enough sense to know that it was her grief at having to send you away.” His tone was so gentle that it made the ache turn into a hard lump. “Your mother’s a very strong woman to make such hard choices for your well-being. All I took from her reaction today is that she loves you very much. Not every mother could do what she did.”
Tears threatened at his kind words and Nush blinked them back. “Do you think it’s wrong that I’m so excited about being with Mira and Yana?”
“Not at all.” His brow furrowed and his voice deepened. “Never think that. You can be sad and excited at the same time. One doesn’t invalidate the other. And families are complicated, sim?”
Something in his gaze made her ask, “What about you, Caio? Do you have a big family?”
“Not really. Not anymore at least”
There was a note in his voice that clearly said it wasn’t a topic he wanted to talk about. So even as curiosity pricked, she followed his lead and let it be. She didn’t want to hurt him by probing into painful matters. Running her hands over the buttery soft leather of her seat, she asked, “So this jet...it’s yours, right?”
His eyes twinkled as if he found her endlessly fascinating. “How do you know it’s not your grandfather’s?”
“My grandparents are immigrants who came to the US with nothing. They’d never waste money on such extravagant luxuries.”
“I thought I’d successfully avoided the environmentalist’s notice. But I see I didn’t escape her smart daughter.”
“Mama would have roasted you alive with at least an hour’s lecture,” Nush said with a laugh. “Is this your present to yourself for soaring stock? You’re a millionaire now, aren’t you?”
“You’re business savvy too? No wonder your grandfather is so excited to have you come live with them.”
Nush blushed. “I follow the company news. I invested the allowance Thaata gave me in your stock.”
Surprise made him chuckle. “You’re an unending delight, Anushka.”
“My friends call me Nush,” she said, even though she didn’t actually have any real-life friends. Only online ones, kids who didn’t judge her because online she could pretend that she was perfect. “Plus I’m interested in the finance software you develop. I’ve been following its development since Thaata and you were discussing it that first time I met you. I’m a coder too.”
“Yeah?”
Something about the challenge in his gaze spurred Nush to reach for her backpack. It had been a gift from Mira and Yana on her last visit and it was her favorite possession. Soon, she had the program she’d written open on her laptop. Turning the screen toward him, she rested her chin on her clasped hands and waited for his assessment.
His golden eyes moved over the screen rapidly, and she took the chance to study him to her heart’s content, storing away the smallest details.
After several minutes, Caio plopped the laptop closed and whistled.
“You wrote the program?”
She nodded, catching the light of curiosity in his eyes. It was a look she’d seen in her own eyes when she made forward progress.
“How long did it take?”
“A week.”
Caio stared at her, his gaze calculating and shrewd. A thrill shot through her when he stuck out a hand between them. Nush let his big hand envelop hers and that swarm of butterflies took flight in her belly again. “What’s...this for?”
“A partnership, Princesa. You and I are going to rule the world together.”
Nush gave him her hand and promised herself she’d find a boy exactly like Caio when she grew up to fall in love with.
Maybe not as good-looking and magnetic and charming and so...out of her sphere.
But someone like him, nevertheless.
