Kidnapping the Brazilian Tycoon Read Online Free PDF Page B

time to shop for a real bride. Since you want something I can give, we could negotiate.”
    “But marriage… That’s too much.” She thought of Michael and how they planned their wedding. They were going to marry in a stretch of green field, barefoot, she wearing a crocheted dress, with yellow lilies adorning her hair. She never envisioned herself married to anyone else, let alone to Bruno Duarte.
    “Think of it as a temporary agreement. You go to Brazil with me, pretend to be blissfully happy until my old man dies. And then you’re free. I’ll help your cause and give you eight months to move the people.”
    “Eight months?” she repeated. That was the perfect amount of time.
    She touched the silver necklace around her neck. Her finger brushed against the crisp, somewhat tarnished heart pendant. Could she do this? Wouldn’t that be a painful reminder of everything she had planned and lost with Michael?
    “How far are you willing to go for the Kwanis?” He put his free hand behind his head. “I am giving you an option.”
    “What if I say no?”
    “Then you aren’t the martyr you’ve painted yourself to be. Since it’s obvious you aren’t going to kill me, at some point you will have to release me. And when you do… What’s the maximum sentence for kidnapping in the state of New York?” He whistled. “My lawyers will make sure you get it. What good would you be to the Kwanis behind bars?”
    She rubbed the back of her neck, desperate to take some pressure off her decision. Restless, she tapped the laminate floor with her left foot as her mind raced. “That’s blackmail.”
    “I call it the art of negotiation.” His lips curled with satisfaction.
    “One year. Give them one year.” The hard part would be to find the right place to move them to. Since they didn’t have funds, and neither did she, they’d have to rely on either the government mapping a territory to make theirs by law, or she’d mediate among different nonprofit organizations and private corporations for incentives. She would probably try to do both and see which one came through first. Brazilians loved red tape.
    “Ten months.”
    “Ten months, and you’ll give me your support and make me their liaison to mediate with the bigger agencies. In fact, you’ll make a donation to a nonprofit of my choosing in the amount of one—”
    “Ten months. I’ll do minimum public appearances and offer limited support as I see fit. And a donation to your nonprofit, once I verify its credibility, of one million dollars.”
    She swallowed. One million dollars? Her initial hope was one hundred thousand.
    This was the right thing to do for the Kwanis. But…was it right for her? If she put her own selfishness aside, would she do it? Her finger toyed with her necklace. Marrying him was the perfect, twisted arrangement. “I’ll do it.”
    “Time to release me,” he said smoothly and jangled the cuffs. The clang of metal on metal sent a spark of fear inside her, but the suspiciously slow smile forming on his lips scared her more.
    She curled and uncurled her hands, the weight of her decision prickling her fingers. Could she trust him? No. Did she have an option? Not really. She reached into her messenger bag, retrieving the agreement she’d printed earlier. Keeping their recent deal in mind, she scribbled some changes on the document, initialed it, and gave him the two sheets that carried the future of many. “This is an agreement to ensure you won’t go back on your word. It doesn’t contain all we just talked about, at least not the marriage part, but I made a couple of changes regarding the time and donation.”
    His hearty chuckle reverberated through her. “How convenient, Ms. Reed.”
    “Sign it.” She offered him the pen, but when it changed hands, the brush of his fingers on hers made her jerk back and suppress a gasp.
    Bruno smirked, and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, fidgeting with her fingers while he signed