Chapter Four
R aquel stood outside Club M, a brightly colored building looking incongruous beside sedate cafés and boutiques which lined the street. She’d spent the last half hour at a café across the club deliberating, planning her next move—which was locating Alexandre.
As soon as she’d confirmed her pregnancy, after a discreet visit to a clinic far from her house, she knew that she had to tell Alexandre about the baby.
She didn’t know how he would take the news, but one thing was certain—she wanted him to know before she told her family, and the thought filled her with dread.
She was unsure of Alexandre’s reaction to the news, but she knew how her family would react.
A stranger’s child born out of wedlock? No one would pop the champagne in celebration!
Her mother would be livid—and so would her sisters. Her oldest sibling Arcanjo was busy with his own life in America, so for the time being, she didn’t have to worry about his reaction.
No matter how she presented the news to her family, and she would have to eventually because a pregnancy wasn’t something she could hide forever, there would only be one outcome—she would be kicked out of her home.
There was no forgiveness in the DaCosta household. If you didn’t follow the edicts of Sylvia DaCosta who ruled with a firm hand, you were as good as dead to her.
It had taken Raquel an entire day to come to terms with her situation—she was ruined!
Pregnant with a stranger’s child when she was promised to one of the most eligible bachelors in Goa. There would be no mercy from her mother, and certainly none from the society when the news got out.
Her mother and sisters were successful and well-known.
Sylvia was an astute businesswoman who had a cluster of high-end boutiques and saloons.
Her older sister, Anabela was a doctor and her younger sister, Tahlia was a fashion designer.
Even her brother ran a very successful business in North America.
Raquel on the other hand, was a music teacher at a girls’ school run by the Catholic nuns.
Most people didn’t know she was a part of the famous DaCosta family but if her news got out, she was certain it would bring shame to her family, and Sylvia would never forgive her for smearing the family name.
Uncertain how to find Alexandre, Raquel had racked her brain for the location of his apartment. When she’d fled his apartment, she’d been blinded by tears and hadn’t paid any attention to her surroundings, but she regretted it now.
How was she to find this man? She couldn’t just look him up on the internet—surely there would be thousands of Alexandres in the country, even one like India where Christians were a minority.
Her only resort was to make enquiries at Club M. Hadn’t he taken her to the VIP lounge? That meant he was someone important and the staff would know something about him.
But how would she enter an establishment closed during the day? She couldn’t wait till evening, not when she had a dinner party to attend. Her own pre-engagement dinner, where she would, for the first time, meet her fiancé!
Sweat beaded on her brow as Raquel gingerly walked toward the entrance of the club. For a minute, she stood looking at the closed door, willing it to open.
“Help me, Holy Mother,” she whispered as her stomach churned. Bile rose to her throat. “Please help me.”
As if in response to her heartfelt prayer, the door opened, and a man walked out. He walked past her without even noticing her, something which didn’t upset her, because no one ever did.
Only Alexandre had noticed her, and his undivided attention had gone to her head, and landed her in the predicament that she was in now.
Not waiting to think, she rushed to the door which was about to swing shut and stepped inside the club. The interior was dark, but the bar area was lit, so she made a beeline toward the woman who stood wiping the counter.
Walking up to the bar, Raquel asked, “Do you...um... know where I can find Alexandre...?”
The woman looked up. “He’s in the manager’s office. That way.”
Surprised that the woman didn’t ask her who she was and why she was looking for Alexandre, Raquel followed the woman’s direction to a dimly lit passageway.
Her heart fluttered with anticipation.
Alexandre was here! She was finally going to see him after five weeks!
A frisson of excitement shot through her, but it was short lived.
Theirs wouldn’t be a joyful reunion, she reminded herself. What man would be happy having a woman, one he had a one-night stand with, turn up out of the blue with a life-altering announcement?
Fear paralyzed her as she stood outside the manager’s nondescript door.
What if Alexandre didn’t believe her? What would she do then?
Her head spun and she leaned against the wall, taking in huge gulps of air. She couldn’t faint now, she thought as black dots danced maniacally in front of her eyes. She had to share her news with Alexandre, and she had to do it before she fainted at his feet.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and a harried woman stepped out.
“What a bastard he is!” she spat, glaring at Raquel.
Raquel scowled at the animosity radiating from the tall woman.
“He fired me! Me!” she huffed with indignation. “For taking some money that he surely doesn’t need. What’s a few thousand to him?”
Raquel didn’t know how to respond to the agitated woman who clearly thought stealing was alright.
“I didn’t believe it when people told me he is a hard man to please. Nothing and no one can please the great Alexandre. A mouse like you—” She looked derisively at Raquel. “—he will chew you up and spit you out before you can say boo!”
Raquel bristled with anger, offended at the assumption that she was dull and displeasing as a mouse, but before she could say anything, the awful woman stalked away.
Scowling, she turned back to the door, took a deep breath, and knocked.
****
A lexandre stood looking at the sole palm tree in the employee parking lot. It was just noon and already he was tired.
Today started off badly with a phone call from his half-brother reminding him about the dinner party that evening.
Pre-engagement dinner.
He couldn’t believe his brother agreed to an arranged marriage with a woman he literally knew nothing about.
Alexandre had nothing against arranged marriages.
In India, it was still the most popular way to get married.
It was a time-tested method where people often met others who were socially, economically, and religiously compatible.
But Alexandre was certain that his brother had agreed to such an insipid arrangement to please their grandfather.
He wanted better for his brother, but once Leandro made up his mind, nothing could sway his decision.
What bothered him equally was meeting Carlos and his brother’s soon-to-be-in laws.
Big family gatherings distressed him.
Though he carried the Monteiro surname, he didn’t feel like one.
Carlos had adopted him many years ago when his mother—Liza—threatened to go to the press with the news that Carlos’s golden son, Rico, had fathered a bastard child.
Relations between him and the Monteiros were strained on the best of days, but he was certain Carlos would be incensed if he turned up at dinner that evening.
Family meant everything to Carlos and Leandro, and while Carlos didn’t consider Alexandre a part of his family, Leandro most certainly did. Hence the invitation to the shindig tonight and he knew he would go to the blasted dinner party, if only to please his brother.
Only, he wasn’t in a mood to meet anyone. And hadn’t been since the day he left Raquel sleeping in his bed.
That morning when he’d reached for her a second time, he hadn’t been fully awake. His hands had reached for her, drawing her closer so he could tease her awake. And she had responded immediately, her eyes fluttering open, hazy from sleep and reaching for his turgid flesh with her small hands.
It had been bliss, sliding into her from behind, slipping into the warm clutch of her core which had her moaning unashamedly. Their coupling had been slow but deliciously erotic as he came inside her with her leg draped over his thigh and her breast in his palm.
The strong climax had jolted him awake, and he’d almost immediately regretted taking her again. But nothing could tear him away from the moist embrace of her muscles, milking him dry even as he began to distance himself mentally.
He never slept with the same woman twice—but Raquel was the exception. He’d walked away from her, but he feared he’d lost a piece of himself to her.
She was constantly in his thoughts and in his dreams. He remembered every detail about her—her beautiful brown eyes, her lovely lips, and her sexy body.
He toyed with the idea of looking her up, not understanding why he wanted to connect with her again or why he felt the intense compulsion to recreate the magic of that one night.
It was beyond sexual gratification, he realized.
Physical attraction he understood, but emotional intimacy was something he steered clear of.
He’d been a woman’s pawn once—his mother had used him like a bargaining chip, promising him things which never materialized. A home, a father—and love. He’d believed that Liza had loved him, but she had merely used him to feather her paltry nest.
Never again , he thought, forcing himself to concentrate on his present.
Never again would he become a woman’s pawn.
He wouldn’t give his love again. His own mother had betrayed his trust, and if the woman who gave him birth could treat him so abysmally, could he expect anything better from another woman?
Alisha, whom he’d just fired from work, was one example of how people betrayed his trust.
He’d decided to help her because she came from a poor family.
And despite having a juvenile record, he had offered her a job.
But she had first tried to get into his bed, and when thwarted, helped herself to his money.
He had forgiven her once—let her off with a warning, but his patience ran out when she stole several thousand from him, again.
It wasn’t about the money but integrity.
He came to the club to speak with Alisha himself but coming here had been a mistake.
Stepping inside the club had been like stepping back in time because he was reminded of the night he’d met Raquel.
Images of her filled his head—her smell, her touch, her taste flooded his senses, making his shaft jump to life, forcing him to admit that even after five weeks, he was unable to forget her.
With a sigh, he sat down.
“Come in,” he said, when there was a knock on the door. His heart slammed to a stop when he looked up and saw—Raquel!