The sound of his phone vibrating in his jacket pocket brought a welcome distraction from his murderous thoughts.
‘Excuse me, gentlemen.’ He walked away without a backward glance, gaining the double doors leading out to the wide terrace before activating his phone.
‘Heads up, you’re about to get into serious trouble with Ari if you don’t fess up as to why you’re really in Rio,’ Sakis, his brother, said in greeting.
‘Too late. I’ve already had the hairdryer treatment earlier this evening.’
‘Yeah, but do you know he’s thinking of flying down there for a face-to-face?’
Theo cursed. ‘Doesn’t he have enough on his hands being all loved up and taking care of his pregnant fiancé?’ He wasn’t concerned about a confrontation with Ari. But he was concerned that Ari’s presence might alert Benedicto to Theo’s true intentions.
So far, Benedicto da Costa was oblivious as to the connections Theo had made to what had happened twelve years ago. The older man had been very careful to erase every connection with the incident and sever ties with anyone who could bear witness to the crime he’d committed. He hadn’t been careful enough. But he didn’t know that.
Having another Pantelides in Rio could set off alarm bells.
‘You need to stall him.’
‘He’s concerned,’ Sakis murmured. Theo heard the same concern reflected in his brother’s voice. ‘So am I.’
‘It needs to be done,’ he replied simply.
‘I get that. But you don’t need to do it alone. He’s dangerous. The moment he guesses what your true intentions are—’
‘He won’t; I’ve made sure of it.’
‘How can you be absolutely certain? Theo, don’t be stubborn. I can help—’
‘No. I need to see this through myself.’
Sakis sighed. ‘Are you sure?’
Theo turned slowly and surveyed the ballroom. Rio’s finest drank and laughed without a care in the world. In the centre of that crowd stood Benedicto da Costa, the reason why Theo couldn’t sleep through a single night without waking to hellish nightmares; the reason anxiety hovered just underneath his skin, ready to infest his control should he loosen his grip for one careless second.
Inexorably, his eyes were drawn to the female member of the diabolical family. Inez was dancing with a man whose blatant interest and barely disguised lust made Theo’s fist curl over the cold stone bannister.
His stomach churned and adrenaline poured through his system the same way a boxer experienced a heady rush in the seconds before a fight. This fight had been long coming. He would see it through. He had to. Otherwise he feared his demons would never be exorcised.
He’d lived with them for far too long, and they needed to be silenced. He needed to regain complete, unshakeable hold of his life once more.
His other hand tightened around his mobile phone, his heart thundering enough to drown out the music. He spoke succinctly so his brother would be in no doubt that he meant every word.
‘Am I sure that I need to bring down the man who kidnapped and tortured me for over two weeks until Ari negotiated a two million ransom for my release? Hell, yes. I’m going to make him feel ten million times worse than what he did to me and to our family and I don’t intend to rest until I bring all of them down.’
CHAPTER FOUR
‘A DOUBLE-SHOT AMERICANO, por favor.’ Inez smiled absently at the barista while she tried to juggle her sketchpad and fish out enough change from her purse to pay for the coffee.
It was barely nine o’clock and yet the heat was already oppressive, even more than usual for a Thursday morning in February. Normally, she would’ve opted for a cool caffeine drink but her energy levels needed an extra boost this morning.
She’d slept badly after the fund-raiser last night. And what little sleep she’d managed had been interspersed with images of a man she had no business thinking, never mind dreaming, about.
And yet Theo Pantelides’s face had haunted her slumber…still haunted her, if truth be told.
The last time she’d seen him he’d been leaning against the terrace bannister outside the ballroom, his eyes fixed firmly on her. Inez wasn’t sure why her attention had been drawn outside. All she knew was that something had compelled her to look that way as she danced with a guest.