yes.
‘I’m here to work, Mr Aguilar. There’s nothing in my contract that says I can’t be nice to other people. So unless you have another problem with me, or something specific you wish me to work on, I’ll be in my office.’
She turned and walked away, painfully aware of his gaze tracking her every step.
Elise entered the room she’d used yesterday and stopped in her tracks. The space had been transformed. A computer had been set up, together with a phone, sleek stationery and her own refreshment trolley. Two large ferns had been placed at each end of the window, and a bouquet of fresh, expensive-looking flowers stood on a pedestal beside her desk.
She looked over her shoulder to find him staring at her. Elise’s lips parted with the urge to say something, but, after their terse exchange, appropriate words failed her.
Alejandro turned away from her and the moment passed. Strolling with lean-hipped grace, he took a seat at his desk.
‘Your brief today is to find me an in to Kenzo Ishikawa,’ he ordered.
Her eyes widened. ‘You’re going after the grandfather?’
He eyed her. ‘Contrary to what you may think, I don’t go around annihilating every opponent who crosses my path, Elise.’
She flushed. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’
‘You’ll do better than that. You insist on reminding me of the terms of your contract, so let me remind you that your contract holds as long as you remain useful to me. Find me something I can use, or you’ll cease to be useful.’
The warning gripped the back of her mind all morning and afternoon, long after the video conference that proved to be a colossal waste of time.
Ten minutes into the call, it was clear the Ishikawa brothers were merely spouting platitudes in order to buy themselves more time. She was surprised Alejandro went along with it, giving them the further week they requested to iron out what were clearly nonsensical minor issues.
Then he and the team spent the rest of the week digging deeper into every aspect of the Ishikawa Corporation.
Elise felt a moment’s unease when the words hostile takeover were thrown on the table. Alejandro’s head lifted and he stared directly at her as he vetoed the idea. She wasn’t sure why her heart tripped over. Nothing had changed between them. Their Tuesday morning conversation had set a precedent for their stilted relationship.
Each morning, Alejandro gave her a different brief. She clocked off late in the evening by presenting him with a carefully typed-out report.
He never invited her to dine with him in his private dining room. He never offered her a lift home.
She told herself she was glad about that. Very glad.
ALEJANDRO READ THE message on his phone for the fifth time as he stood before his window on Monday morning. For the umpteenth time, he wondered if he’d been right in contacting Gael in the first place. What had seemed like a sound idea—calling his brother to warn him he didn’t intend to lose—in the early hours of Sunday morning coated his mouth with distaste a few short hours later.
He hadn’t expected Gael’s quick response, nor had he expected the request contained within his brother’s email.
Gael wanted a meeting.
The stark request sounded more like an order. Clearly, his estranged brother hadn’t lost his renowned arrogant swagger. As for the caveat that the meeting take no longer than fifteen minutes...
Pursing his lips, he dialled the number attached to the email. It was just after 6:30 a.m. on the east coast, which meant the middle of the night in California. With an unhealthy amount of relish, he pressed the phone to his ear.
It was answered on the fourth ring. ‘Aguilar.’
His name on another’s lips threatened an influx of memories. Memories that revolved around why his brother existed in the first place. Ruthlessly, he pushed them back.
‘If I’ve disturbed your beauty sleep, just say the word and I’ll call back at a more appropriate time,’ he said.
He received a scoffing grunt in return. ‘The only thing you’ve interrupted is a hearty breakfast, followed by a proper greeting of the woman currently warming my bed, both of which I intend to get back to in less than sixty seconds since I don’t anticipate this call lasting any longer.’
‘You make a habit of eating breakfast in the middle of the night?’
‘The great thing about not having to answer to anyone is that I can do whatever the hell I want, when I want. But as it so happens, we’re in the same time zone, mi hermano, so your concern about my digestive system is touching, but unwarranted.’
Alejandro gritted his teeth at the familial term, wondering why Gael insisted on taunting him with a past he was sure they both wanted to forget. He’d never bothered to confirm the rumours behind Gael also leaving his childhood home in Spain the moment he’d reached adulthood, but they’d involved their father.
And yet, Gael never missed the chance to remind him they were related.
Dismissing the baited response, he carried on. ‘About this meeting tomorrow—’
‘I’ll stretch it to half an hour if you wish. But no longer than that. I have back-to-back meetings in New York in the afternoon that I need to fly straight back for.’
Alejandro’s mouth twisted. ‘A face-to-face meeting needn’t take place at all if you see reason and back off. Now.’
Terse silence greeted him. He knew the line hadn’t dropped because he could hear Gael’s steady breathing.
‘Need I remind you that you contacted me?’ his brother eventually snapped, a throb of annoyance in his voice.
Alejandro started to shrug, then stopped at the futile action. Unbidden, Elise’s voice sliced across his mind.
The looking-into-the-whites-of-their-eyes approach...
It annoyed him greatly that snippets of their conversation darted into his thoughts when he least expected it. Even greater was the despised thought that perhaps one of those snippets was what had fed his desire to contact Gael. A decision he regretted with each passing second. ‘I was mistaken to think you would pay better attention if we were face to face. But that would be disrespecting you. You can hear me just as succinctly over the phone. This has gone on for long enough.’
‘And it will keep going until I win the merger. I’ll be at your offices tomorrow as scheduled. I advise you to be there.’
‘You’ll do well not to issue threats, Gael.’
‘Or what? You’ll up sticks and relocate again?’ There was a gruff note in his brother’s voice that made Alejandro’s brow twinge in a brief frown.
‘I have no intention of going anywhere. What I’ll do is pull out all the stops to end this if you don’t back off.’
Gael laughed. ‘I look forward to hearing all about it when I arrive in Chicago tomorrow. And don’t bother sending your jet for me. I have one of my own.’
Alejandro braced one hand on the window, welcoming the cold glass’s fractional calming of his turbulent emotions. Slowly he breathed out. ‘Gael, I don’t wish to go to war with you.’
Another pulse of silence ensued. ‘This only ends one way, brother. With one of us walking away. And I don’t intend it to be me.’
Alejandro closed his eyes against the morning sun’s glare. Behind him he heard the door open. He didn’t need to turn around to know Elise had arrived, at precisely 6:45, as she’d done all last week. He also knew that he’d spend the day with