Brianna laughed and walked to the sofa. Settling herself down, she opened her shirt and adjusted her son for a feed.
Perla sat on the sofa too and they both stared back at her. Their open curiosity made her nape tingle.
‘We won’t keep you long. I just wanted to run the itinerary by you because, frankly, I don’t trust the men with the information. We have a casual dinner tonight, followed by a quick rehearsal. Most of the guests arrive in the morning and the wedding is at three o’clock, okay?’
‘Okay.’ She ventured a smile and Brianna’s eyes widened.
‘Gosh, you’re stunning! How did you meet Theo again?’
‘Brianna!’ Perla admonished with a laugh.
‘What?’
Inez fiddled with the clasp of the velvet box and pushed down the well of sadness that surged from nowhere. These two women were not only almost family, they were friends too. Whereas her family was in utter chaos and she had no friends to speak of.
She forced another smile. ‘He had some business in Rio. I was…am helping him out with it.’
‘Right. Okay.’ Perla struggled upright and nudged Brianna. ‘We’ll leave you alone. I think the guys are rowing in about an hour. It’s an experience you don’t want to miss if you’ve never seen it before.’
Brianna gently dislodged her drowsy baby from her breast and laid him on her shoulder, gently patting his back as she stood.
The door opened as they neared it and Theo’s large frame filled the doorway.
His gaze zeroed in on her, then dropped to the box still clutched in her hand before coming back up. Her throat dried at the sight of him and the ever present tingle that struck her deep within flared heat outward.
‘Um, Theo?’ Perla ventured.
‘What?’ he snapped without taking his eyes from Inez.
‘You need to move from the doorway so we can leave.’
He snorted under his breath and entered the villa. He turned with his hand on the door, causing Brianna to roll her eyes. ‘We’ve given Inez the schedule so you have no excuse to be late.’
‘I’m never late.’
‘Yeah, right. You were almost two hours late for Perla’s engagement party and an hour late for Dimitri’s christening.’
‘Which therefore means I’ll only be half an hour late for this wedding. Now, please go and pester your other halves and leave me alone.’
The women grumbled as they left. He turned from the door with a smile on his face but it slowly dimmed as his gaze connected with hers.
‘Did they harass you?’ he asked, a touch of wary concern in his eyes.
She shook her head. ‘No. They were lovely.’
‘I don’t know about lovely but I tolerate them.’ Contrary to his words, his voice held a fondness that made her chest tighten.
Theo understood family. Enough that he’d been devastated when his had been broken. And yet he’d wanted to rip hers apart.
Despite understanding the reason behind his motives, the thought still hurt deeply.
‘Inez?’
She turned sharply and headed back to the bedroom. He followed and grabbed her wrist as she reached out to set the box down.
‘What’s wrong?’
Her throat clogged. ‘What isn’t wrong?’
His eyes narrowed. ‘If Brianna or Perla said something to upset you—’
‘No, I told you they were wonderful! They were kind and funny and…and incredible.’ Tears threatened and she swallowed hard.
‘You only met them for twenty minutes.’
‘It was enough.’
‘Enough for what?’
‘Enough to know that I want what they have. And that I’ll probably never have it. So far my record has been beyond appalling.’
He frowned. ‘You don’t have a record.’
‘Constantine used me to get dirt on my father and—’
‘I don’t want you to say his name in my presence,’ he interrupted harshly.
‘And what about you? You make me hope for things I have no right to hope for, Theo. What sort of fool does that make me?’
‘No, you’re not a fool. You’re one of the bravest, most loyal people I know.’ He said the words gravely. ‘It is I who is the fool.’