Bound by the Millionaire's Ring(7)

"Tough love," she said, voice jagged beneath the irony.

He swore and she heard him exchange his empty glass for the one she  hadn't touched. He knocked back that shot and his breath hissed again.

"It was a test. You passed."

"Because I didn't turn on you and your family?"

Such a cold bastard. What had she ever seen in him? Aside from his  incredible devotion to his family, of course. And his unbending will to  win, his lust-worthy looks, his charisma, brilliant intelligence and  unwavering confidence.

She wanted to turn on him now.

But she couldn't. It wasn't in her to walk away from people who needed  her. Even when her own heart was twisted beyond recognition by staying.

That was her specialty, in fact. Wasn't it? Helping her father and  mother navigate the pain they caused each other, standing by both of  them while they went through it. She carried on, fractured and battered  by a heartrending personal life. Why should her professional life be any  different?

Forcing herself to move, she closed herself into the powder room and  checked her makeup. There was an emotive redness around her eyes and her  lipstick was faintly smudged. She smoothed her hair and used a damp  tissue to repair her lips, all the while thinking of the times her  father had said he was proud of her. Not just for following in his  footsteps, but for other things, too.

That love of his had pulled her through a lot-the devastation of learning he wasn't biologically her father, for instance.
         

     



 
Bernardo was her anchor, her moral compass, her silver lining in a world  too often clouded and stormy. He was the parent her mother was  incapable of being.

He would never wind up in such a ridiculous position, but if he had to  choose whether to work with a Sauveterre or against one, she knew what  he would do: whatever was asked.

He would stay loyal to the offspring of the man who had convinced him to accept the child her mother had passed off as his own.

Isidora owed the Sauveterres for the man she called "Papa," not that they knew it.

At least, when this was over, she would feel she had settled that debt.



Ramon savored the subtle bite of the anise, letting the fragrant  sweetness roll on his tongue, thinking it was not unlike Isidora's  personal flavor. That kiss. As he finally had a moment alone, he gave in  to the memory of driving his tongue into welcoming heat. He had half  expected her to drive her knee into his groin, but the kick of her  response had been even more devastating. That hadn't been mere  surrender. It had been a chemical explosion that had burned away  everything he understood about kisses and women and sex.

What the hell?

He had held many beautiful women. None had sparked such a profound  reaction in him. He had lost himself for a moment, absorbed in a vast  landscape he instinctively knew would take a lifetime to explore.

Then the insanity of their public location had struck. He'd pulled out  of the worst tailspin of his life, dazed and, yes, instantly defensive  at having his thick shields penetrated so effortlessly.

If he had realized they were so sexually compatible-

No. He poured a third drink, refusing to go back and reexamine the turns  he had already made. That was his brother's MO. Henri liked to track  results on spreadsheets and weigh options as he made projections and  charted his next moves. That invariably resulted in accurate predictions  that efficiently achieved the result he wanted, but it wasn't Ramon's  style. He let his gut pick the goal and shot toward it via the swiftest,  shortest line, making corrections as problems cropped up.

His aim was to protect his family, first and foremost. Always. He never  let his libido distract him. It was a weakness. Strength was his only  option. Too many people depended on him, especially now that Henri had a  wife and two defenseless infants to look out for.

But Ramon did have weaknesses. Some of them came around annually as a  long, dark night of the soul. When he was not in a position to spend  those nights with family, he sought company, usually female. That was  how he had come to enter a bar in Madrid and find the ex-wife of his  father's best friend, five years ago.

Francisca Villanueva was a delicate soul who carried a lot of pain. He  had taken her home to keep less honorable men from taking advantage of  her. He couldn't save her from herself indefinitely, but he could for a  night.

She had made him laugh and revealed her own pain, exposing more cracks  in her family than he had ever guessed from Bernardo's composed demeanor  or Isidora's sunny smiles.

Coming face-to-face with Isidora as he left the next morning had been  like one of those moments on a racetrack, where a split-second decision  had to be made.

Isidora had been making calf eyes at him since adolescence. The longer  her legs grew, the more difficult it was to ignore her. Temptation had  been closing its grip on him as she blossomed into an ever more alluring  woman, but she was too young and inexperienced for the light, temporary  affairs he offered.

As her smile of delighted recognition had faded into confusion and  suspicion, then betrayal and devastation, he had let the disillusionment  happen.

He could have corrected her assumption. He could have told her that his  night with her mother had been wine and conversation and a chaste kiss  on the cheek when her mother went to bed alone. He could have kept  Isidora's fixation on him alive, but to what end? He was never going to  marry her. It wasn't personal. He would never marry anyone. Children  were completely off the table. His siblings might be changing their  minds about opening themselves to liability, but Ramon hadn't and  wouldn't.

So what had been his alternative in that moment? Encourage Isidora to  keep mooning after him? Eventually date her, sleep with her, then break  her heart? No. He had used the opportunity to cut her off the lane she  was on. Cruel, yes, but a type of kindness. She was on track to crash  and burn otherwise.

He had not foreseen that Henri would hire her years later, but he  couldn't argue with the appointment. Isidora had grown into a composed,  accomplished woman with cutting-edge PR skills, and who possessed wit  and intelligence. Most of all, she brought to the table a deep  understanding of their family dynamics, allowing them to skip past  painful history lessons.         

     



 

Ramon accepted that she was angry. Hurt even. That she didn't want to  lie about their being engaged. His proposal had been another reflexive  move. Cruelty without kindness, but there was no backing out. They would  have to make the best of it.

He stroked his thumb on the curve of the glass he held, trying not to  fall back into dwelling on how exquisite her response had been. It was a  dangerous distraction when he needed to stay focused on what his family  needed.

The powder-room door opened and Isidora came out wearing an expression  that was both calm and-Was that a light of joy as she let a broad smile  take over her face?

It kicked him in the chest. Dios, there really was no ignoring how lovely she was.

"Better?"

His ears rang so loudly it took him a moment to catch the sarcasm.

"You said I could leave when I managed to look happy about this. Good enough?" She dropped her smile.

The radiance in her expression dimmed so fast and sharp, he felt it like the chill when the sun went suddenly behind a cloud.

"You'll need a retirement party and an engagement party," she continued  matter-of-factly. "Two different ones, to maximize the coverage." She  crossed to where she had left her phone. "We should do something around  all the restructuring and promotions, too. We'll call them team-building  sessions, but something visual, like zip lines or a fun run. We'll link  it to a charity for a higher profile. You and I can make appearances,  invite the press to watch you shake hands with your new CEOs. If I'm  going to all this trouble to snag news coverage, Sauveterre  International should benefit. I'll need a ring. Something flashy. Gaudy,  even. The gossip outlets are on ring watch with Angelique so let's give  them something to notice. I won't keep it, so I'll arrange a loan-"

"I'll get the ring," he interjected, not quite trusting this abrupt  switch in attitude. "You're doing this, then? No more arguing?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll argue, but you haven't given me much choice, have  you?" She took a moment to set her shoulders and lift her chin, as  though bravely facing down a firing squad.

Was it really such a monumental favor? He hitched his hands on his hips, wanting to roll his eyes. "You'll be compensated."

"That's not what I'm after." She flashed him a cross look, offended.  "I'll always do what I can to help Trella. All of your family. But...  How long does this have to last? Three or four months?" Her brow  furrowed with calculation. "Once Trella has her baby and Angelique  announces her engagement, you and I can have a nice public breakup, yes?  Unless something else comes up along the way and we need a story?"