LITMIR.BIZ

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a bottle of wine and one of the bartenders placed two glasses in front of them, then simpered for a few seconds, doe-eyed, before reluctantly walking back to the bar.

      ‘Well...what?’

      ‘What was the order of events? Heady marriage, fairy-tale honeymoon and then, lo and behold, no more money? Life can be cruel. And where was your brother when all this was happening?’

      ‘In America.’ She sighed.

      ‘By choice, even though he knew?’ With the family company haemorrhaging money, surely it would have been an indulgence for Oliver to have stayed in California, enjoying himself...

      ‘He didn’t know,’ Sophie said abruptly. ‘And I don’t know why...how all this is relevant.’

      ‘I’m fleshing out the picture,’ Javier said softly. ‘You’ve come to me with a begging bowl. What did you think I was going to do? Give you a big, comforting hug and write out a cheque?’

      ‘No, but...’

      ‘Let’s get one thing straight here, Sophie.’ He leant forward and held her gaze. She couldn’t have said a word even if she had wanted to. She could hardly breathe. ‘You’re here to ask a favour of me and, that being the case, whether you like it or not, you don’t get to choose what questions to answer and what questions to ignore. Your private life is your business. Frankly, I don’t give a damn. But I need to know your levels of capability when it comes to doing business. I need to know whether your brother is committed to working for the company, because if he was left to enjoy four years of playing sport in California, then I’m guessing he wouldn’t have returned to the sick fold with a cheerful whistle. Most of the directors of the company aren’t worth the money they’re being paid.’

      ‘You know how much they’re being paid!’

      ‘I know everything worth knowing about your crippled family company.’

      ‘When did you get so...so...hard?’

      Roughly around the same time I discovered what sort of woman I’d been going out with, Javier thought with the sour taste of cynicism in his mouth.

      He leant back and crossed his legs, lightly cradling the stem of the wine glass between his long fingers.

      ‘You don’t make money by being a sap for sob stories,’ he informed her coolly, keen eyes taking in the delicate bloom of colour in her cheeks. ‘You’ve come to me with a sob story.’ He shrugged. ‘And the bottom line is this—if you don’t like the direction this conversation is going, then, like I said before, you’re free to go. But of course, we both know you won’t, because you need me.’

      He was enjoying this little game of going round the houses before he laid all his cards on the table, before she knew exactly what the terms and conditions of her repayment would be.

      It wouldn’t hurt her to realise just how dangerously close the company was to imploding.

      It wouldn’t hurt her to realise just how much she needed him...

      ‘If you knew about your husband’s hare-brained schemes and addiction to gambling, and you allowed it to go under the radar, then are you a trustworthy person to stand at the helm of your company?’

      ‘I told you that there was nothing I could do,’ she said with a dull flush.

      ‘And if your brother was so clueless as to what was happening on the home front, then is he competent enough to do what would need to be done should I decide to help you out?’

      ‘Ollie...doesn’t have a huge amount of input in the actual running of things...’

      ‘Why?’

      ‘Because he’s never been interested in the company and, yes, you’re right—he’s always resented the fact that he had to finally return to help out. He’s found it difficult to deal with not having money.’

      ‘And you’ve found it easy?’

      ‘I’ve dealt with it.’

      Javier looked at her narrowly and with a certain amount of reluctant admiration for the streak of strength he glimpsed.

      Not only had she had to face a tremendous fall from the top of the mountain, but the loss of her husband and the father she had adored.

      Yet there was no self-pity in the stubborn tilt of her chin.

      ‘You’ve had a lot to deal with, haven’t you?’ he murmured softly and she looked away.

      ‘I’m no different from loads of people the world over who have found their lives changed in one way or another. And, now that you’ve got the measure of the company, will you lend us some money or not? I don’t know if my brother told you, but the family house has been on the market for over two years and we just can’t seem to sell it. There’s no appetite for big houses. If we could sell it, then we might be able to cover some of the expenses...’

      ‘Although a second mortgage was taken out on it...’

      ‘Yes, but the proceeds would go a little way to at least fixing certain things that need urgent attention.’

      ‘The dated computer systems, for example?’

      ‘You really did your homework, didn’t you? How did you manage that in such a small amount of time? Or have you been following my father’s company over the years? Watching while it went downhill?’

      ‘Why would I have done that?’

      Sophie shrugged uncomfortably. ‘I know you probably feel... Well, you don’t understand what happened all those years ago.’

      ‘Don’t presume to think that you know what goes on in my head, Sophie. You don’t. And, in answer to your preposterous question, I haven’t had the slightest clue what was going on in your father’s company over the years, nor have I cared one way or the other.’ He saw that the bottle was empty and debated whether or not to get another, deciding against it, because he wanted them both to have clear heads for this conversation.

      When he knew that he would be seeing her, he had predicted how he would react and it hadn’t been like this.

      He’d thought that he would see her and would feel nothing but the acid, bilious taste of bitterness for having been played in the past and taken for a chump.

      He’d accepted that she’d been in his head more than he’d ever imagined possible. A Pandora’s box had been opened with her brother’s unexpected appearance at his office. Javier had recognised the opportunity he had been given to put an end to her nagging presence, which, he now realised, had been embedded in him like a virus he’d never managed to shake off.

      He would have her and he had the means to do so at his disposal.

      She needed money. He had vast sums of it. She would take what was offered because she would have no choice. His terms and conditions would be met with acquiescence because, as he had learned over the years, money talked.

      He had slept with some of the world’s most desirable women. It had followed that whatever she had that had held him captive all those years ago, she would lose it when he saw her in the flesh once again. How could she compete with some of the women who had clamoured to sleep with him?

      He’d been wrong.

      And that was unbelievably frustrating because he was beginning to realise that he wanted a lot more from her than her body for a night or two.

      No, he needed a lot more from her than her body for a night or two.

      He wanted and needed answers and his curiosity to pry beneath the surface enraged him because he had thought himself above that particular sentiment when it came to her.

      Nor, he was discovering, did he want to take what he knew she would have no choice but to give him in the manner of a marauding plunderer.

      He didn’t want her reluctance.

      He

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