Page 24 of Rio
“Rio?”She hesitates, as if she’s searching for words.“Rio’s complicated.”
“That’s one word for him.”
She turns to me.“How would you know?”
I swirl my champagne, feigning nonchalance.“It’s a gut feeling.”
I can see that she doesn’t buy it, but she lets it go.I lean back, letting the tech paint my nails.“When’s the wedding?”
Dani snorts.“Hon, we just got engaged.We’re not rushing.We’re taking it slow this time.”
I raise an eyebrow.“Hopefully there’ll be no more drama.”
“Not this time.Why would there be?I told you why we had an arranged marriage.”
She did.I had no idea that AO Eletronica wasn’t doing so well.Hopefully things will get better now.Uncle Arminio has been such an inspiration and so many have looked up at him.
“Did I ever tell you about me and Rio?”she asks, casually, like she’s asking me what nail color I like the best.
“You and Rio?”I feel like I’ve been punched.
“He was awestruck when he first saw me.Remember I told you about the social evening Paul Knight held at his penthouse, where all the Knight boys turned up?”
I nod.She told me about that.She never told me about her and Rio.She sits back and holds up her hand, admiring her nails as the technician moves on to her other hand.She has no idea that her words gnaw away at my insides.
“What about you and Rio?”I ask, in a voice I don’t recognize as mine.
She laughs, her green eyes twinkling like this is an amusing story.For her maybe.“He was so mesmerised he could barely speak.”
I force a laugh, and think back to the smooth talking, confident man who sets me on fire each time we’re in the same room, and I can’t reconcile him with this awe-struck, speechless version Dani’s telling me about.
“I can’t imagine that,” I manage to say.
She goes on to tell me how much he liked her, how later on, Dex told her that Rio had a photo of her in his apartment.That he was smitten by her.Every word she says, every image my mind builds, is like a hook reaching into my gut and ripping my heart to shreds.It feels so sharp.So painful, and it surprises me that I feel this.I’ve never been jealous of Dani.We both had lots of admirers in college, but this news about Rio cuts in a way I’m not prepared for.
“But I chose Dexter instead,” she says, with a giggle.
I find the idea of Rio being in awe of Dani extremely unsettling.She and I are both capable of turning heads wherever we go, but she has a lushness, a voluptuousness, and those twinkling bright green eyes, not to mention her height—something I don’t have.
“Why Dex?”I ask, relieved that she did.
“Because he didn’t fall at my feet,” she answers, innocently, oblivious to the tsunami of emotions sweeping over me.I feel hollow to my core.“He barely spoke to me.”
I dread to think what might have happened if he had.If Dani had chosen Rio.If she and Rio had gotten married.And I don’t like thinking about that.
“Are you still working nonstop?”she asks.
I groan.“Yes.I’ve got a new case coming up—environmental justice stuff.Something messy down in Belize.Corporate corruption, deforestation, the works.”
“That sounds intense.You must be loving that.”
“I do.It sounds meaty, and you know how much I love fighting for our planet, and how much I hate these big corporations pissing all over the small people.Pierce is giving me mixed signals about it.He wants me to look at it, but he’s not too keen on my going out.”I can’t get a read on him for this one, but I don’t want to think about him or work for now.
“Is your boss still...you know, repugnant?”Dani makes a pained face.
I wrinkle my nose in disgust.“He’s insufferable.I need to leave.I’ve been saying that for months but I really need to make it happen.”
Chapter 7
