Read Online Kidnapping the Brazilian Tycoon by Carmen Falcone - Free Book Online

side to regard his son. Bruno’s feet tapped on the hardwood floor, and he wished he could run from this awkward conversation. “This woman. Addie. She’s different from the women in the newspapers.”
    “Addie’s special. She goes through great trouble to protect those she loves.”
    His father shifted on the bed. “Does she love you?”
    Restless, Bruno rose to his feet as though his father’s words had struck him. “Where are you going with this?”
    “I didn’t mean to offend.”
    Bruno shook his head. The years of blame, pain, and regret lumped in his throat. How could he say everything to a man whose life was coming to an end? “I’ve moved on in my professional life. It was time I addressed my personal life.”
    Satisfaction pursed Sergio’s mouth. “I like her. Does she know you well?”
    “I’m not discussing my misspent youth with you, Pai.” What was the point?
    “I don’t want to, either, son. In fact, if anything, this disease has taught me we can’t cling to what once was. The past is buried. Your mother is buried, and soon I’ll join her.”
    Buried . The word punched Bruno in the gut. He’d missed his mother’s funeral. “Why did you want to talk?”
    “You should sell Toca do Tigre.”
    “I am. I just had to postpone it to relocate the Kwanis.”
    “Don’t postpone happiness, Bruno. If you want to be happy with Addie, you shouldn’t allow the past to have such a part in your life anymore. You bought that land to take it from someone who threatened to ruin you. You’re obviously not ruined. However, keeping it will always remind you of why you bought it.”
    Bruno paced in a small circle. “I wanted to give it to you.”
    “I never wanted anything to do with that land.”
    “Why does it matter that I sell it now?”
    “I’ve seen your mother.” His father’s voice lost energy. Bruno stopped pacing and checked his father’s monitor to make sure he was okay. “The nurses tell me hallucinations are part of the cancer. They don’t believe me. Your mother comes to me, and we talk. She’s told me the only way for you to move forward is to let go of the past. Therefore, you must sell it. Bury it forever,” he whispered before he dozed off to sleep.
    Bury it? Bruno strode out of the room. Tereza smiled at him as she walked in, but her mumbled words were muffled by the pounding of his heart. Bury it. All those years, Sergio had never asked him for anything. They didn’t speak much, true, but ever since he’d acquired wealth and recognition, his father had thanked him in a rather reserved fashion.
    This was the time. He wanted to sell the damned land, and his father would be glad, too. That, along with his wedding, would make things right at the end. What if Sergio only had less than a month to live? He’d make it a month in which he’d both prove his father wrong and yank some approval out of him.
    Bruno stopped in his tracks. The wedding. He couldn’t deceive Addie. He owed her the truth, at least. He sprinted upstairs and knocked on her door, resolved to talk to her and come up with a new agreement. Maybe even draw up a new contract.
    “We need to talk,” he said, panting by the time she opened the door.
    “About?” she said and tilted her head to the side. She was dressed in a white peasant-style shirt and faded jeans. Her damp curls hinted at a recent shower.
    He caught a whiff of her strawberry shampoo, which stirred his libido as she leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed and chin lifted. Her neck was soft, delicate. His eyes followed the main vein, observed it pulsating. “What’s wrong?” she demanded.
    Bruno stretched to his full height. “I don’t recognize the shirt you’re wearing from our shopping trip.”
    “You wanted to buy me a wardrobe I won’t need after this trip. Fine. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop wearing what makes me me.”
    A sudden urge to stroke her cheeks hit him. Would she lean into his touch, or jerk back as if she’d been