Read Online LusitanianStud by Francesca St. Claire - Free Book Online Page A

knew.
    * * * * *
    We entered my grandmother’s library, a place where in the
past weeks I’d enjoyed looking at family albums to learn about my ancestors,
and went straight to her roll-top desk. I opened it without the slightest
hesitation. I was sure if she’d kept Diogo’s letters they would be there. I
quickly combed through bills and notes, newspaper clippings and old postcards,
and just as I was starting to despair, I saw a box tucked away in the back of
one of the drawers.
    I gasped. “This is it!” I said, barely holding my excitement,
hoping I wasn’t wrong.
    “Open it,” Diogo urged gently, his tone soothing, though he
had to be as nervous and anxious as I was.
    I slowly opened the lid and stared in wonder. There lay all
five handwritten white envelopes. Tears long held back streamed down my face. How
could she? Diogo pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight, rocking me
through every heart-wrenching sob. When I finally stopped crying I felt as if I’d
cleansed my soul, and I settled into Diogo’s arms on the sofa and began reading
his first letter.
    It was a lovely letter and so were the following ones. My
heart went out to him, how saddened he must have felt when he got no answer
from me, and then I loved him even more.
    When I picked up the last envelope one other remained in the
box, this one addressed to my grandmother. “Why is this here?” I wondered out
loud.
    “Maybe she put it there by mistake,” Diogo offered.
    Curious, I turned it over in my hand and read the return
address. “Francisco de Sousa Carvalho. Rua Sao Jose, Lisboa.” I felt Diogo
stiffen and glanced up inquisitively. “Do you know this person?”
    He answered without hesitation, his face closed. “Yes, I do.
He was my maternal grandfather.”
    Why would my grandmother keep Diogo’s grandfather’s letter
together with Diogo’s?
    “Open it.”
    I began to suspect Diogo knew the contents of the letter. “Do
you know what this is all about?”
    He nodded slowly. “I believe I do.”
    “Tell me.”
    He curled his lips inward before he spoke, as if he was
trying to find the right words. This was clearly a delicate subject he didn’t
want to mess up. “Our grandparents were high school sweethearts, then my
grandfather went away and he ended up marrying a girl he met in college. I
believe he broke your grandmother’s heart, actually I’m sure he did because she
never spoke to him, or his descendants, ever again.”
    I gasped in astonishment. Oh my God! How hurt she must have
been to hold such a grudge her entire life… No wonder she went berserk when she’d
found me in bed with Diogo, the grandson of the man who had ditched her for
another, and broke her heart in the process.
    I read the letter, and more than the words, the tear-stained
paper told me of a broken heart that had never mended. How sad. I felt so sorry
for her, though I had nothing left in me to give but my sympathy. My energy and
attention were channeled to the man cradling me in his arms, petting me with
light kisses and soothing words, showering me with his love.
    S he still had no right to withhold those letters from me
all this time. Of course not, but I could understand her. Now that I was
sure of Diogo’s love it was easier to be merciful toward Grandma Ana and
forgive her for her wrongdoing. I sighed deeply, chasing away all the residual
effects of the emotional turmoil I had gone through in the past hour.
    “I think you need some comfort food and a nice long bath to
help restore your emotional balance.”
    These were great suggestions from a very caring man—my
man—but not what I wanted. I felt too languid, too needy, too in love to be
bothered with food and a bath right now. I wanted to stay cradled, my head on
his shoulder, his arms around me. And I longed to feel him inside me, moving
slowly as I gazed into his beautiful eyes, melting as much from desire as from
love, wishing he’d go on kissing me forever and knowing in my heart he felt