Читать книгу Amazon Awakening - Caridad Pineiro - Страница 5

Arrogant was the only word Paola Lopes could use to describe the man standing in front of her desk.

Devastatingly male was the second. Although of course those were two words, she thought, and failed to stifle her chuckle.

“Do you find me amusing, Ms. Lopes?” Rey Peralta said, an almost ebony brow taking flight above eyes that were a glacial blue. The frosty color did little to cool the heat of anger in his gaze.

“I find you…determined,” she began, carefully choosing her words so as not to offend. There were judges and attorneys who might call her a shark, but unlike some of her colleagues, she reserved her aggression for the courtroom and negotiating table.

“I am determined,” Rey Peralta replied and motioned to her guest chair.

Since he had arrived unannounced and her time was precious, not to mention expensive, Paola had been tempted to show him the door. But the enticing masculine energy he possessed was difficult to ignore. His dangerous virility pulled at her, creating unexpected temptation. Plus, today she had the time to listen to his plea, especially considering who had entrusted him with this mission.

She gestured for him to take a seat and was grateful that the width of her desk created space between her body and his potent masculinity so she could regain perspective. “You say my grandmother sent you?” She leaned back in her executive leather desk chair, adding even greater distance between them.

Rey settled himself in the chair, although his long, lean body was decidedly cramped in the small space of the chic designer furniture. He wasn’t meant to be contained. Although his clothes were made from high-priced fabrics and exquisitely fitted to his muscled physique, Rey would look infinitely better in nothing but his skin. Heat erupted across her body when she imagined him running free in something other than his suit.

As if sensing her feminine interest, he smiled and a small dimple emerged along the right side of his mouth. He shifted to the very lip of the chair and leaned forward, narrowing the precious space between them. “Your grandmother wishes to see you before her time comes,” he said, his voice pitched intimately low.

She ignored the way his tone tied her insides into knots of need. “My grandmother hasn’t seen me since I was…three, I believe.”

Not that she remembered anything about the visit. Her family had gone back to Brazil and the remote Amazonian plantation owned by her father’s family. It had been meant to be a last chance to repair a crumbling marriage. Instead, her mother had returned home to New York City with Paola within just a few weeks. Less than a year later, her father had died suddenly, ending any connections to the Lopes family.

“It was not your grandmother’s choice to leave you,” he said, obviously aware of the strife between her mother and her father’s family. Before her father’s death a bitter custody battle had ensued, but it had ended with her father’s abrupt passing.

“Why would my grandmother want to see me now? After so long?” It was a question that had remained unspoken for too long, always a buried ache within her heart. She had wondered for years what had driven her parents apart, especially since she could see the love in her mother’s eyes whenever she mentioned her father. She had likewise pondered why her paternal grandmother did nothing other than send checks for special occasions, unlike her maternal grandparents who came for regular visits.

“As I said, she is concerned about her health, and you are the heir to the Lopes legacy,” he stated calmly, but she could see the tic along his jaw, signaling discomfort. He was as uneasy about his mission as she was about his request and her inexplicable attraction to him.

“A legacy? As in money?” At her question his lips tightened into a knife-sharp line. The words which followed were cutting.

“Is that what attracts you? Money?” he said, shifting his gaze around her office where an assortment of items spoke to the wealth she was accustomed to handling. Trophies from a variety of corporate mergers, or celebrating multimillion-dollar legal actions she had won, were prominently featured along the shelves and walls.

“Money makes the world go round,” she replied defensively, not that she believed it. It was just that he seemed to be able to push her buttons. Feeling cornered by his virile presence, she needed to push back somehow to regain her composure.

“If money is what it will take, you should be aware that as the Lopes heir, you stand to inherit millions.”

She understood the price to be paid for that legacy even if he hadn’t said it. “But only if I abide by my grandmother’s request to come for a visit. Is that it?”

Passion and purpose filled his gaze as he said, “Despite what you say, I don’t believe that it’s only about money for you. Am I wrong?”

She locked her gaze with his and connected with him on a level that went far beyond the physical attraction she had been feeling from the moment Rey walked into her office. This link went much deeper and was possibly far more dangerous. She was used to hiding her emotions in court; confusion set in about how Rey could read her so well in so short a time.

“You’re not wrong. I’ve always questioned what happened with my parents. Why things turned out the way they did.”

Rey’s gaze lost a little of its chill and the sympathy that crept into his demeanor unsettled her. “It must be difficult having no answers to the questions you’ve had your whole life.”

With a shrug that she hoped would end what was becoming a too-personal discussion, she replied, “I’ve survived. I have my job—”

“Don’t you want your life to be about more than these four walls and their limitations?” He gestured all around her sleek corner office.

How often had she asked herself the same thing? Paola thought. In recent months, the demands of her job had enslaved her, and, as she scrutinized Rey, she realized that he was a man who would never allow himself to be imprisoned like that. Again, that image of him running free, that powerful body unchained and unfettered, created unwanted desire in her. Needing to regain control of the situation, she said, “I have a meeting shortly and need to prepare.”

His small smirk proved that he recognized her lie, but he graciously didn’t press. He rose and towered over her, lethally masculine. Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out a card and carefully placed it on her desk. “I’ll be here until Friday. If you wish to come, I will personally escort you to your family’s plantation.”

She rethought the arrogant part of her description of him in spite of his earlier challenging actions. She realized now he was just a resolute man who wanted only one answer from her.

“Why is this so important to you?” she asked as she picked up his business card.

“Because I love your grandmother as if she were my family. I wish to see her happy before it is her time.”

With that, he left, gently closing the door behind him. Not that his departure did anything to lessen the force of his presence. It seemed to linger, daring her to deny it. Demanding that she consider his request—and not just because of her grandmother.

She perused the card in her hand.

Rey Peralta. President, Lopes Industries.

Her father’s family’s business. She didn’t really think of herself as part of the Lopes family. Although she had occasionally sought out information about them, the Lopes family was a secretive lot. The only things she had unearthed were articles every now and then about the growth of their enterprises and their devotion to protecting the Amazon and the indigenous peoples within the rain forest.

Worthy causes, she thought, laying down the business card and glancing at the walls of her space.

Most would consider her a success. At twenty-eight she already had a reputation for being one of the best in her field. Yet lately there had been a niggling sense of uselessness within her. A desire for more. She wanted the freedom to build instead of destroy.

She thought of her parents then. What if her father had felt something similar? Something that had driven him to return to his home, but which had pushed her mother away?

There was only one way to find out the answer to that question. An answer that was long overdue.

But as she prepared for her upcoming meeting, doubts lingered about the wisdom of going anywhere with the intriguing Mr. Peralta.