His eyes narrowed speculatively on her face before he took hold of her elbow. ‘Dance with me.’
He led her to the dance floor and pulled her close.
‘You have a big family,’ she said, more for something to fill the silence.
‘They can be a pain in the rear sometimes.’
‘Regardless, you all seem to watch out for each other.’
He shrugged. ‘Force of habit.’
‘No, it’s not. Does Ari know who I am?’
His mouth tightened. ‘He suspects. I didn’t enlighten or deny because it’s none of his business. He’s welcome to draw his own conclusions. Why do you ask?’
‘Because he’s been watching me like a hawk since we got here and he hasn’t spoken more than two words to me. That’s what I mean. What you have with your brothers isn’t habit. It’s love.’
His mouth twisted in a way that evidenced his dark pain.
‘Love hasn’t conquered the nightmares that have plagued me for all these years, Inez.’ The raw pain in his voice made her throat clog. She forced a swallow.
‘Because you haven’t allowed it to. You resisted any attempt at help because you thought you had to face this demon alone, do things your way.’
The honest barb struck home. He was silent for the rest of the song. Then abruptly he spoke. ‘I didn’t want to appear weak. I hated myself every time I couldn’t walk into a dark room or down an unlit street. I haven’t been able to cope with the smell of cigars without breaking out in a cold sweat. Do you know what that feels like?’ he asked in a harsh undertone.
She shook her head. ‘No, but I know it will never go away if you keep it buried.’
Her warmth, her strength hit him hard and he wanted to reach for her with all he had. Suddenly, everything he’d ever craved, ever wished for seemed coalesced in the woman before him.
‘It’s no longer buried. A month ago I was still the messed-up boy Ari dug up from that hole twelve years ago. But you did something about that.’
‘No, I’m not responsible for that.’
His hand cupped her nape and he whispered fiercely in her ear. ‘You are. You’ve seen me, Inez. I can’t sleep with the lights off. I used to panic whenever someone shut a door behind me. That’s why I surrounded myself with glass. With you by my side I flew here with no need for sleeping pills.’
‘Even though you refused to speak to me for hours.’
He exhaled. ‘Things are upside down and inside out right now. Let’s just…we’ll get through this wedding and head back to Rio. And we will damn well fix this thing between us. Because I’m not prepared to let you go yet.’
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
‘I TOLD YOU, you’re so much better than a damn sleeping pill.’
Inez laughed as Theo tugged her dress down and lifted her out of it. Leaving it on the floor of the master cabin bedroom, he waited for her to kick her shoes off before he crossed over to the bed. The diamond pendant he’d looked incredibly pleased that she’d worn lay nestled between her breasts.
‘Keep that on,’ he instructed, just as the plane jerked through turbulence and they fell onto the bed together, a tangle of hard and soft limbs and hot, needy kisses.
‘I’m glad I have my uses,’ she said, laughing, when he let her up for air.
His face grew serious as he stared down at her. ‘You’ve attained the ultimate purpose in my life, querida. Now more than ever you’re my saviour: my angel.’ He cradled her head as he kissed her.
Inez closed her eyes and imagined that she could feel his soul through his reverent kiss. She studiously ignored the voice that mocked that she was deluding herself.
When he finished undressing her with gentle hands, she tried to stem her tears as he made love to her with a greedy passion that touched her very soul.
Afterwards she held him in her arms as he fell asleep. Unable to sleep, her mind drifted back to the wedding.
Theo had introduced her to his mother and again she’d witnessed the sadness in her eyes. When he’d hugged her at the end of the evening and murmured gently into her ear, his mother had burst into tears. Inez had watched as the brothers closed around her and soothed her tears.