A slight guilt prickled in his chest. The end justifies the means, he repeated his mantra in his head. That had served his purpose well over the years. Now was not the time to go sentimental even when he admired the tenacity of the CIA officer.
“Who’s out of his reach now?” Renata appeared at the mouth of the dining room fully dressed and ready for the office. Nico, in contrast, trailed sleepily behind her in sweatpants and a shirt.
“Ariana Ortega,” Luis said.
Renata rolled her eyes and took her seat beside him across from Luis. “Are you still obsessed over that Miss Goody Two Shoes?”
“She has her qualities,” Antonio said. Ariana fit his requirements for a wife. She was beautiful and had a heart of gold that would make his tarnished one a bit … well, less tarnished. But Ariana’s requirement was love, and Antonio couldn’t give it. That wasn’t in his nature. Sure he could go through the motions of romance—take the lady out to dinner, have his secretary order her flowers. But the kind of love that would have him make silly vows of unending devotion? His mouth twisted in derision. That was not Antonio Andrade. And he was unapologetic about it.
“Antonio does not obsess,” Luis said. “He moves on to the next acquisition.”
“Tio Antonio is not that cold,” Nico said, “Right, Tio?”
Ah … the hero worship of a young man. “As a matter of fact …” he let his words hang there and smiled into his coffee again.
“At the rate Antonio is going, he’s going to end up like Luis,” Renata said dryly.
“If you’re referring to me as a jaded, bitter man, Renata, you are mistaken,” his mentor stated softly. “I found my one true love and family years ago. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time together before my job took them from me.” Luis stared at Antonio meaningfully. “You are trying to avoid the same pain that I’ve been through, but until you’ve loved the way I have, you haven’t truly lived.”
“So you always say, amigo,” Antonio said lightly, even when his heart hurt for his friend. There was always something so melancholy about Luis whenever he spoke about the young wife and child that was lost to him because of his job as an enforcer.
“When will you show Charly our bat cave?” Nico asked, excitement in his voice. “Or do you want me to show her? It looks like you’re going to the office today.”
“I’ll do it,” he said. “I have a meeting with Martinez at ten but should be home by lunch.” Renata flinched at the mention of their common friend. She needed to get used to seeing Martinez, especially since the BOPE officer would be interviewing her. Still addressing Nico, he added, “You have information for me?”
The young man grinned wide. “I worked all night on it.”
“Send your report to my office,” Antonio said. This time he gave his full attention to the woman beside him. “Are you okay, Renata?”
She looked up. “Yes. I think I’ll go straight to the clinical testing sites. I don’t think I can bear to see Pierre’s empty office knowing he’s gone.”
She was lying. She didn’t want to see Martinez. “You know I need you there. I have other things to do here.”
Renata narrowed her eyes at him. “You just want to play with your doctor. I’ll be stuck doing all your work.”
Antonio raised his brow. “That’s what I have you for, no? If you want my job and to call the shots, then maybe you need to apply for one of the director positions instead of hiding on my management team.”
“I do a lot. Luis and I ran the company for you while you were mooning over Ariana in the U.S.”
That wasn’t true, of course. Antonio was building his connections in the American market. And it irked him that Renata knew this and still used Ariana to strike at his pride.
“Yes, you do like all the power without the responsibility,” Antonio said. “You make the mistakes, but I take the fall.”
“You’re an asshole,” she seethed and pushed away from the table. “I’ve lost my appetite.” She stomped away and a few seconds later, the front door slammed.
“That was a bit harsh,” Luis said.
“She’s trying to avoid Martinez,” Antonio replied.
“For obvious reasons,” Ida said. “And what’s this about showing Dr. Bennett the lab? I didn’t think she agreed to work with you yet. Something tells me you’ll have to be careful with that one.”
Antonio stared at the staircase, wondering if she was awake.
“I locked her room last night,” Ida said, as usual reading his mind. “We don’t want her wandering around the estate by herself.”
He didn’t like it especially after her help at the favela last night. “Make sure she gets breakfast.”
“I’ll check on her now.”
“And make sure she knows that she’ll be having lunch with me.”
He ignored Ida’s raised brow and the regard of the others around the table. Antonio knew he was behaving differently with Dr. Bennett. Was it wrong to take care of her like she was a prized asset? He liked new and shiny things after all, he assured himself. As soon as he got what he wanted from her, this compulsion to see to her every need would go away.
Unable to stand the scrutiny of the people who’d known him since he was that street kid from the favelas, Antonio quickly finished his breakfast, stood from the table, and left for work.
7
“That’s the report from our underwriter,” his director of finance, Vicente Rossi said. “People are looking forward to Andrade Industries going public.”
“What do you think, Simone?” Antonio turned to his head of legal.
“That report was compiled before Pierre Hudson’s death,” Simone Oliveira commented. “The market doesn’t like scandal. I suggest we not advertise our desire to go public yet.”
“She has a point,” Rossi replied. “Let’s hold
