The illustrious billionaire

chapter 6

Understanding that cafezinho was the word for coffee, Grace gave an

enthusiastic nod before glancing at Rafael for confirmation. ‘She’s

inviting me to sample the coffee?’

‘She’s offering you hospitality.’ The sunlight gleamed on his dark head

and his mouth was set in a hard line. ‘In the circumstances it’s more than

you deserve. Accept.’

More than she deserved? ‘What circumstances? Why is she upset?’

‘They’d like to offer you their hospitality and in return they hope you

will repay them with honesty.’ His eyes shimmered with barely

contained anger. ‘The game is up, Miss Thacker.’

Game? What game? But she didn’t have time to ask him to elaborate

because he was accompanying Carlos and Filomena to the nearest house,

leaving her to follow along the narrow path that traced the line of the

river and then curved up a terraced slope towards the buildings that

clustered against the dense, lush backdrop of the rainforest.

Drained by her abortive attempts to interpret Rafael’s caustic

comments, Grace glanced in surprise at the fruit trees, flowers and the

wide variety of different plants. ‘It’s so beautiful. Do they grow other

things as well as the coffee?’ If she’d hoped that her interest would

endear her to him then she was instantly disappointed because his reply

was brief and discouraging.

‘They grow a variety of crops. It’s a way of minimising pests and

diseases.’

‘It must be hard for them, so much depending on their environment.’

They’d reached the house and Rafael stood to one side and allowed her to follow the family through, his eyes reflecting his anger. ‘Not all

the threats to their way of life come from the environment.’

They sat down and Grace gratefully accepted the cup of coffee she was

handed. She sipped slowly and gave a low moan of appreciation as the

aroma and flavour teased her senses. It was strong and sweet. ‘It’s

delicious. It tastes even better here than it does at home.’

There was a long silence and then Filomena started to speak and there

was such passion in her voice that her husband reached out and put a

hand on her arm, as if trying to silence her.

Grace put her coffee-cup down on the table, suddenly aware of the

atmosphere in the room. ‘What’s the matter?’ She turned to Rafael.

‘What’s she saying?’

His eyes held hers. ‘She wants to know why, if you like the coffee so

much, you’re not prepared to pay a fair price for it.’

Grace was silent for a moment as she digested his words. Was this

what it was all about? He didn’t think she was paying enough for the

coffee? ‘We pay a fair price. We sell organic, shade-grown coffee. It’s

part of what makes our business special. The quality of the product.’

‘But quality costs, doesn’t it, Grace, and it’s hard to make a profit if

you’re paying top dollar?’

She frowned. ‘You’re suggesting that we don’t pay a fair price for our

coffee, but we pay well above the market rate. You can check the

numbers.’

His gaze hardened. ‘I have checked the numbers. Why do you think I

refused to extend the loan I made to your company? ‘Because I hadn’t made you a profit. Because …’ she broke off as his

words sank in. ‘Are you telling me that your decision not to extend the

loan was based on the price we’re paying for the coffee? If that’s the case

then you’ve made a mistake. I believe in paying a good price for quality

goods.’

‘But to whom?’

She stared at him. ‘I don’t understand what you’re saying.’

‘Over the past few years Café Brazil has gradually squeezed the price

down until this fazenda can barely afford to operate. Without subsidy

this farm would no longer be a viable business and as it is it can no

longer sustain the needs of this whole family.’ His voice had an explosive

edge. ‘They’ve reached the point where the children will have to move

away to try and find work. On what you pay, Carlos can’t afford to feed

his children and grandchildren. You’re looking at the consequences of

your greed, minha paixao. Do you understand what I’m saying now?’

Grace sat, frozen in stillness.

Greed?

As she looked at the lined, worried faces of the couple sitting in front

of her, Grace’s heart started banging hard against her chest. She didn’t

understand what she’d done wrong but it was obvious from the grim set

of his features that he truly believed her guilty of a serious

misdemeanour. And these people believed it too. ‘We pay a great deal

for the coffee,’ she said hoarsely, stating one of the few things she knew

to be fact. ‘It’s one of the reasons it’s taken us so long to see a profit from

the business.’

‘Your company accounts would suggest otherwise.’ Rafael turned his attention back to Filomena, who was speaking again. ‘She says that they

can no longer afford to sell to you at the price you pay. They are

searching for an alternative buyer.’

‘No! She mustn’t do that. The coffee is really special, I know that and

so do the customers. Wait a minute …’ Trying to think on her feet, Grace

leaned forward and stretched her hand out to the woman in a gesture of

conciliation. Then she let it fall back into her lap. The woman didn’t

want conciliation, she wanted money and clearly she wasn’t receiving it.

‘Please tell her that there’s been some mistake. I don’t know all the facts

yet but I will, I promise. I’ll look into it. I’ll find out what’s gone wrong.

But don’t stop supplying us.’

‘You’ll look into it?’ His voice was loaded with sarcasm. ‘What is there

to look into?’

‘You’ve seen the accounts. You know that we pay a great deal of

money for the coffee.’ Her palms were sweating and she rubbed her

hands over her trousers. ‘It’s one of the reasons that our overheads are so

high.’

‘I’ve seen that you pay a great deal of money to the dealer who

imports the coffee for you.’

She stared at him. ‘You’re suggesting that our money isn’t getting

through? That the dealer my father uses is overcharging? That he’s

dishonest?’

He gave a faint smile. ‘Oh, I don’t think the dealer is the only

dishonest one here. The money you’re paying is grossly inflated. Far

beyond the price of the coffee. I’m sure there are several beneficiaries.

Unfortunately, this fazenda isn’t one of them.’Her mouth was suddenly dry. ‘You think we have some sort of shady

agreement with the importer? That he charges us too much and then we

split the difference?’

‘It looks that way.’

‘You’re accusing me of fraud.’

‘That’s right.’ His tone was silky smooth and he seemed entirely

unperturbed by her growing tension. ‘I am.’

She stared at him, trying to get to grips with the enormity of his

accusation. ‘And it doesn’t occur to you that there might be another

explanation for the figures?’

‘Offer me one.’

She bit her lip. ‘I can’t. Not yet. But I will.’

‘When you’ve had a chance to think one up?’

‘No. Not that.’ She rounded on him angrily, panic pricking her usually

even temper. ‘When I’ve discovered what’s been happening.’

‘Perhaps you’re just incredibly fond of the dealer.’ His eyes dropped to

her mouth and then to her breasts and his implication was obvious.

His barely veiled reference to their steamy encounter in the forest

brought the colour flooding into her cheeks but she didn’t respond. She

opened her mouth to defend herself and then closed it again. What was

the point? What was the point of telling him that she didn’t normally

behave with such a complete lack of restraint? It would merely flatter

his already overdeveloped ego and anyway, he wouldn’t believe her.

And she could hardly blame him for that in the circumstances. Her

response to him had been every bit as hot and uninhibited as his.‘There’s obviously something going on, I agree. And I don’t blame you

for thinking that I’m involved because all the evidence would suggest

that I am. I need to make some calls.’ She muttered the words, almost

talking to herself as she ran through her options. ‘I need some

information.’

‘Don’t bother with the calls. Your business is finished but you needn’t

worry. I’m sure you could make a reasonable living as an actress. You’re

very convincing.’ Rafael stifled a yawn and rose to his feet. ‘We need to

get back to the lodge before dark. And it gets dark very quickly in the

rainforest.’

She didn’t care about the dark and she didn’t care about the dangers

lurking in the rainforest. Her demons were much closer and more real

than that.

Something had gone wrong with her business. If he was right, and she

had no reason to doubt him, then someone had been fiddling the books

to make money.

But how could they have got away with that? And who was

responsible?

She intended to find an answer to both questions just as soon as she’d

persuaded Rafael Cordeiro that she was innocent.

But did it really matter what he thought of her?

What really mattered more than anything was that these people, these

gentle, hospitable people, thought her guilty.

And perhaps, in a way, she was guilty, she thought miserably as she

sifted through the sparse facts at her disposal. True, she hadn’t taken the money but it was her business, her

accounts, and she hadn’t noticed that anything was amiss.

Racked with contrition for the fact that they’d suffered because of her,

she tried to work out what she could do to make amends. Impulsively

she dropped to her knees and took Filomena’s hand in hers.

‘I will find out what’s happened and I will repay the money we owe to

you. Your family will not suffer,’ she promised, her voice shaking with

emotion. She turned her head and spoke to Rafael, her voice fierce.

‘Translate for me.’

His eyes were cold. ‘I don’t believe in giving false hope.’

‘Translate for me!’ The emotion in her voice clearly had some effect

because he studied her for a long moment and then gave a faint shrug

and said something in Portuguese to the woman.

Filomena hesitated and then put a hand on Grace’s shoulder and

nodded.

‘There we are,’ Rafael’s voice held a sharp edge, ‘you’ve convinced her

that you’re as innocent as the dawn. Happy now? Is that your motto?

Why let someone down once if you can let them down twice?’

Still racked by self-reproach, she stood up, her fingers biting into her

palms. ‘No. I’m not at all happy. I’m not happy that they’ve been hurt

and that they’re struggling because of me. And I’m not happy that

someone is using my business for personal gain. This is my life you’re

talking about. Café Brazil means something to me. We were helping

people. Helping people who were struggling.’ And she knew all about how

it felt to struggle. ‘I’m sure you were.’ His faint smile was derisory. ‘You’re just a saint,

Grace Thacker. A saint in high heels.’

Her mouth tightened. ‘Obviously there’s something going on and, in

the circumstances, I can’t blame you for thinking that I’m involved. But

I’m not. And you obviously have no idea how upset I am.’ What an

enormous blow it was. Everything she’d built was collapsing around her

and she had none of the answers. How? How?

For a moment she felt old familiar feelings of helplessness roll over her

and she just wanted to curl up into a ball and hide from her life.

And then she looked at Filomena’s craggy, anxious features and heard

the children playing outside, shrieking and laughing, with no idea that

their future was in jeopardy. She couldn’t curl into a ball and there was

no hiding.

People were relying on her.

She lifted her chin and looked him in the eye. ‘I find your assumption

that I had something to do with this really offensive.’

‘I find fraud offensive, particularly when the victims are innocent

Brazilians.’

She took a deep breath. ‘Given what you’ve told me, you have a

perfect right to be angry and I understand now why you refused to

extend the loan on the business.’

‘Good. Then we won’t need to waste any more of each other’s time.’

‘Don’t say that.’ She reached out and put a hand on his arm, the

message in her eyes suggesting that this was the most important thing

that had ever happened to her. ‘If you pull the loan on my business then I can’t put this right. I can’t fix things. And I want to.’

His gaze was blisteringly unsympathetic. ‘I’m sure you do. It can’t be

easy to see such a large part of your income about to vanish in smoke.’

‘I don’t care about my income. This isn’t about my money. Why can’t

you believe that? If something has happened then it’s happened without

my knowledge.’

The expression in his eyes was as hard as the tone of his voice. ‘You’re

a director of the company and you have access to the company accounts.

It would be impossible for you not to know.’

Grace stared at him in mounting horror as something occurred to her.

Would it be impossible?

No, it wouldn’t be impossible. It wouldn’t be impossible at all.

Suddenly the pieces started to slot together like a jigsaw and the

black, murky picture that began to emerge sickened her. Things that

Rafael Cordeiro had said since she’d arrived came back to her, things

that she hadn’t understood at the time. I don’t know how you can sleep at

night.

It could have happened.

And now she knew how it could have happened. She knew how, but

not who.

Horrified and more than a little panicked, Grace was suddenly

tempted to blurt out the truth but the grim set of his mouth prevented

her from speaking. It was too late for the truth. You didn’t have to be a

genius with people to see that he’d already tried her and found her

guilty. She could see the anger, raw and elemental, flickering deep in his eyes and suddenly she bitterly regretted not being honest at the

beginning.

She should have told his business team all about her limitations from

the start. She should have been open and honest. But if she’d told them,

they never would have invested. Rafael Cordeiro would have written her

off, the way everyone did.

Everyone, including her father.

And she was so used to covering up—so used to finding her own way

round her problem—that she’d kept it a secret.

And she still couldn’t quite believe what was facing her. Unwilling to

accept what he was saying, she searched for alternative explanations and

came up with nothing.

She swayed slightly and then felt strong male hands on her arms as

Rafael forced her back into her seat.

‘Sit down,’ he said roughly, ‘and try to get a grip. If you commit fraud

you take your chances and deserve to be found out. These people are

entirely innocent and your actions have brought them close to ruin.’

Grace licked dry lips, desperately trying to think straight. ‘We buy our

coffee from a company and we pay generously. Obviously they’re not

passing that on to the producer. They must be doing something with the

money. They must be splitting it with someone in my company.’

Rafael gave a contemptuous smile. ‘And I wonder who that could be?

The owner, perhaps?’

She shook her head, too shocked and numb to muster a spirited

defence. ‘No. Not me.’ But who? What she really needed to do was go back through the company

accounts in minute detail, but how could she do that?

Whom could she trust?

She almost laughed at the irony of the situation.

It was ironic that the one man who had the skills to help her was

watching her with grim distaste. How much greater would his

disapproval be when he knew the truth about her? To clear her name

she had to tell him everything about herself and yet even as the thought

entered her head, she dismissed it.

She’d never made excuses for herself and she didn’t intend to start

now. And anyway, the fact that she wasn’t directly to blame didn’t

absolve her of responsibility.

Café Brazil was her business.

She’d been too trusting—and that misplaced trust had had disastrous

consequences.

No, she couldn’t ask Rafael Cordeiro for help any more than she could

blame him for not agreeing to extend the loan. It was over. She’d go

home, back to England, and somehow discover the answers she needed.

And then she’d look somewhere else for the finance she needed to pull

her company out of trouble. THE walk back through the rainforest to Forest Lodge was charged with

tension, the atmosphere between them snapped taut after the outpouring

of emotion at the fazenda.

And that was hardly surprising, Rafael said to himself as his long legs

swallowed up the distance. Women were never at their best when they’d

been found out. And Grace Thacker had been well and truly found out.

There was no more hiding. Her fraud was exposed, the consequences of

her actions thrust in her face. With him standing over her shoulder and

Filomena crying, she’d had little choice but to express guilt and remorse

and she’d done it most convincingly.

In fact, she’d been extremely convincing. If he hadn’t known it to be

impossible, he would have thought that the accusations levelled at her

had come as a surprise. Indeed, her shocked response and her almost

remarkable display of self-condemnation had both been sufficiently

compelling to have him on the verge of reaching out with words of

comfort and support.

He’d even run through the facts in his head one more time, just to be

absolutely sure he couldn’t have made a mistake. Was there any way she

could be innocent of the fraud he’d uncovered?

The answer was no. There was no way. She had access to the

accounts. She knew the company figures. In addition to that, the person

in charge of finances at her company was her own father. So obviously it was a family job.

Glancing behind him, Rafael was surprised to see her right on his

heels. He was walking fast but she, despite her lesser height and build,

was keeping up.

And then he saw the emotion in her eyes and knew that she wasn’t

even aware of her surroundings.

Was it simply anger and frustration he was seeing? Probably. After all,

her fraudulent money-making scheme had been exposed and terminated.

He had no doubt that her convincing display of regret at the fazenda

had been played out for the benefit of Filomena and Carlos. Why was he

impressed when he, better than anyone, knew just how well a woman

could perform when she found herself in a tight spot?

Didn’t he know better than anyone just how low a woman could stoop

in order to yank herself from poverty to riches?

Grace Thacker’s business was about to fold and, despite her

impassioned request, he had no intention of throwing her the lifeline she

so desperately wanted.

Rafael frowned and concentrated his attentions on the path ahead.

He’d arranged for the helicopter to collect her the following morning

and fly her back to Rio de Janeiro so that she could catch a commercial

flight to London.

Which meant that she had one more night in the rainforest to stew in

her guilt.

Only he had no doubt that once she reached the privacy of her room

she wouldn’t be wasting time on emotional demonstrations of regret and remorse. Why bother if she didn’t have an audience?

They arrived at the lodge and Rafael turned to her. ‘You have two

hours until dinner. I expect you’ll want to rest.’

She didn’t look as though she’d even heard him so he repeated the

words and this time she glanced at him in shock as if she’d forgotten his

existence. ‘Sorry?’ She blinked several times, clearly forcing herself to

concentrate. ‘Yes. Thank you.’

He still had a feeling she hadn’t heard anything he’d said and he found

himself noting the pallor of her skin and the dark shadows under her

eyes. She looked stricken. Exhausted.

Rafael frowned. They’d walked miles in challenging conditions and

she hadn’t once complained but the physical challenge had to be taking

its toll.

‘You need to take a shower and lie down for a while.’ Even as he

spoke the words he wondered why he was bothering to show such

solicitude and she must have wondered the same thing because her eyes

widened.

‘I’m sorry to inconvenience you by staying another night.’ She was

back to sounding like a polite child taking leave of a party and he found

himself wishing she’d come back at him with the fighting spirit he’d

grown accustomed to during their walk through the forest.

The woman was a mass of contradictions and almost impossible to

read. She was a strange mix of humour and seriousness. Innocence

mingled with an intense sexuality that seemed entirely unconscious. She

didn’t flirt and yet every movement of her body seemed to seduce. Birds swooped over the lodge in a kaleidoscope of bright rainbow

colours but this time their antics drew no gasp of delight from her. No

acknowledgement and no questions. In fact she didn’t seem to notice.

It was as if she was in shock.

‘I’ll meet you at dinner.’ Up until that moment he’d had no intention

of eating dinner with her and the flicker of surprise in her eyes told him

that she was equally astonished by his invitation.

Why did he want to spend another evening with her? Why not just walk

away from her, relieved that the whole sordid matter had finally been

cleared up? By the morning she’d be gone from his life.

Only he knew that shaking her off wasn’t going to be that easy.

There’d been more to that kiss in the forest than just a steamy

encounter between consenting adults. Far more.

Even now it was between them, shimmering like an invisible force,

pulling them together. And she must have felt it too because she made a

nervous gesture and backed away. ‘Perhaps I should have dinner in my

room. But I’d be grateful for the use of a phone. I’ll reimburse you, of

course.’

Given the sick state of her finances, he wanted to ask ‘what with?’ but

he held the words back. ‘There’s a phone in your room. Use it, but you’ll

eat dinner with me.’

She didn’t argue, apparently compliant, but he wondered whether she

was just too worn out and ground down to argue. She seemed—

defeated?

Which was a good thing, he reminded himself firmly, running a hand over the back of his neck to prevent himself from putting a hand on her

arm. If her remorse and regret were genuine then she might even be put

off doing a similar thing again.

Grace dropped the phone down into its stand and flopped back on the

bed.

Nothing.

No one.

Her father was away on business and so was the manager she’d

appointed to help with her business-expansion plan. She’d even tried

ringing the dealer herself but had got no further than a message service.

The answers to the desperate questions that had formed in her mind

were obviously not going to come easily. Especially not when she was

thousands of miles away in the rainforest. Right now she needed to be

back in London, tracking down the person who was so cleverly

defrauding her company.

But London was an eleven-hour flight from Rio and she was still in the

jungle. And she still had a whole evening to get through. An evening

with a man who had every reason to think that she was a nasty piece of

work.

It was ironic, she thought helplessly, that the action which had finally

confirmed to her that Rafael Cordeiro wasn’t the cold-hearted man he

was reputed to be was the very one that was going to deprive her of her

beloved business.

He was going to withdraw his loan because he thought she’d hurt

Carlos and Filomena. It hadn’t been because he was determined to squeeze the last bit of profit out of her. It had been because he hadn’t

liked seeing her cheat those straightforward, honest people who were

struggling to survive alongside nature.

And how could she blame him for that decision, given the facts at his

disposal?

If he was right—and she had no reason to doubt him—then her

company had cheated those people and the fact that she’d known

nothing about it didn’t excuse her. It was obvious that he cared about

them deeply and the knowledge pleased her. So he wasn’t so damaged that

he couldn’t feel, was he? There was good in him, if you bothered to look

deep enough.

But that didn’t help her business.

Everything she’d built was about to disintegrate into dust. People were

going to lose their jobs and it was all her fault. She should have known.

She should have noticed. Except that she knew that there was no way she

ever could have noticed. She knew that.

Should she tell Rafael the truth?

But what was the point of that? Anything she said now was just going

to look like an excuse. It was too late for explanations. Far, far too late.

She wanted to cry but the tears wouldn’t come. Instead she lay there,

numb, staring at the ceiling and trying to work out her next step, but

lying still was impossible when she had so much pent-up emotion inside

her.

She felt angry, confused, lost, afraid—but most of all she wanted

answers. She wanted to know who had done this to her. Unable to lie there when her life was falling apart, she sprang off the

bed and paced across the bedroom, listening to the calls of birds and

monkeys high up in the trees.

Suddenly she wanted to be out there too, back in the soothing, verdant

rainforest where city life and corporate problems seemed so far away.

And then she remembered what Maria had said about the forest pool.

Didn’t they always say that exercise was good for relieving tension?

Well, she’d swim and then maybe she’d be calm enough to sustain a

conversation during an evening with Rafael Cordeiro.

If they didn’t stray on to the subject of business, s*x, love or marriage,

they just might be able to keep the evening civil.

She slipped into her red bathing costume and pulled on the linen

dress, reminding herself to be careful with it because it was all she had

to wear for dinner.

Taking a towel from the bathroom, she pushed her feet into her shoes,

carefully wrote something on her hands and made her way downstairs.

Not trusting her directional skills, she wandered through the lodge to

find Maria.

The housekeeper was in the kitchen, chopping a variety of exotic

vegetables, but she willingly stopped when Grace asked to be reminded

of the way to the pool.

She led her out through the glass atrium and onto a path that led

away from the fazenda and into a different part of the rainforest.

Grace glanced to her left and right, delight mingling with trepidation.

It was the wildest and yet the most beautiful place she’d ever seen.