hadn’t been ready to let him be.
Gael had arrived in California shortly after him. And Silicon Valley hadn’t been large enough to contain the two of them. Especially when his younger half-brother had started making himself a nuisance by going after the same deals Alejandro showed interest in. Wiping out Gael’s burgeoning e-commerce start-up would’ve been an easy accomplishment for Alejandro. But that would’ve indicated he cared one iota about the life he’d put behind him. It would’ve given the impression that the countless instances of infidelity, rancour and falsehood that had peppered his childhood still had the power to matter.
So he’d walked away.
He might be an Aguilar, but he was so in name only. Nothing about it was worthy of being lauded. He’d cut all ties. As far as he was concerned, he existed in this world alone.
Except his half-brother hadn’t got the memo. A decade after meeting for the second and final time, it appeared Gael was determined to insert himself into Alejandro’s business once again. Or at the very least, scurry away with the deal Alejandro had worked tirelessly to pull together.
Turning off his engine, he launched himself from the car and crossed the underground car park of his company’s building. Entering the lift that would take him to the top-floor offices of SNV International, he recalled that last exchange with his brother when Gael had found out he was leaving California.
‘I hear you’re relocating your business. Why? You scared I’m going to show you up?’ Gael’s white smile, cocksure, taunting and tinged with bravado, had reminded Alejandro too much of their father’s, eliciting nothing but cold indifference.
‘Don’t kid yourself. My company is successful enough to thrive anywhere in the world. But perhaps you should count your lucky stars that I’m leaving and removing myself from the temptation to crush you into the dirt. This way you at least have a hope of making something of yourself.’
His brother’s smile had evaporated like mist in sunshine. A look Alejandro had ironically recognised in himself—one of implacable will and determination—had passed over Gael’s features.
‘I look forward to the day when I make you swallow those words, hermano.’
Alejandro had shrugged and walked away. He hadn’t bothered to tell Gael they would never be true brothers because they’d never meet again. Crossing paths once when they were teenagers had been bad enough. A second time, in their twenties, was overkill.
He’d thought there wouldn’t be a third.
Except, walking away hadn’t ended it. Foolishly, it seemed Gael had taken offence at his words at their last meeting. And like a damn virus he was determined to corrupt as many of Alejandro’s dealings as he could.
He strode into his office as the April sun rose over Lake Michigan. Normally, he stopped to admire the view as he enjoyed his morning espresso. This Monday, however, he tossed his car keys on his desk, tugged off his jacket and went to work.
By 9:00 a.m. he had definite confirmation that it was indeed Gael meddling with the Japanese deal.
He sat back in his chair, fingers tented together as he forced down the acid bite of distaste. Gael’s company, Toredo Inc., had grown into an e-commerce powerhouse second only to Alejandro’s own company. Not for a single moment had that reality fazed him. His company was worth billions, and more than held its own in the industry. At times when he felt generous, he even welcomed Toredo’s competition.
Not this time. Bagging this deal would launch SNV into an echelon of its own. It would be the culmination of the success he’d striven for since walking away from the tatters of what the common man termed a family. Others might accommodate such failures. He didn’t. He’d cut his losses on an irredeemable life because nothing he did could fix what was permanently broken. Instead he’d concentrated on what he was successful at. He’d made his first million at twenty-four, just before he left California. In the ten years since, he’d risen to the top.
The Ishikawa deal would be his crowning glory. He’d worked too long and hard to see it dismantled by Gael.
His strategy team had suggested hiring a PR company experienced in dealing with Japanese companies to work alongside his in-house PR department. Alejandro had shelved the idea until negotiations had stalled. Although he still had his doubts as to the efficacy of employing an outside PR company, he opened the first file.
The headshot caught his attention immediately, although, staring at the picture critically, Alejandro couldn’t pinpoint why. Her mouth was too wide and full, her nose a little too perfectly pointed. Her almond-shaped hazel-gold eyes held too many shadows, and, for his taste, she was wearing a little too much make-up; he preferred the natural look. The shadows and the make-up alone jarred him further into memories he didn’t want to dwell on. Like the memories of his brother, they were reminiscent of a past he’d striven hard to forget.
Yet he couldn’t drag his gaze away from Elise Jameson’s picture. The almost absurd notion that if he stared for long enough the image would come to life gripped him. His gaze dropped past her jaw and neck and he experienced the tiniest stab of regret that there wasn’t more to see.
Gritting his teeth, he perused her academic accomplishments, which were impressive enough to compel him to read on. The discovery that Jameson PR was a family company brought a twisted smile, but Alejandro suppressed the useless threat of emotion. Not every family was as dysfunctional as the one he’d left behind.
Suficiente!
He needed his head screwed on straight to see this merger through, not spend time dwelling on the past. He moved on to the other two files. Within minutes he’d dismissed the other candidates.
When he found himself staring at the headshot again, he reached for the phone.
‘Margo, set up an interview with the Jameson PR people for this afternoon, would you?’
‘Umm, one of their executives is already here. Shall I send her in? Your diary is free since you’ve cleared most of your appointments already.’
He frowned. ‘They came here on the off chance I’d want to see them?’ Alejandro wasn’t sure whether to applaud them for their brazenness or condemn them for wasting valuable man hours on the likelihood of being hired by SNV.
‘Wendell thought it might be prudent in case you wanted to move quickly on the PR front.’
Alejandro made a mental note to increase his team leader’s bonus. His gaze dropped to the headshot. ‘Which representative from Jameson is here?’
‘It’s a junior executive—Elise Jameson. I can arrange for a senior member to come in if you pref—’
‘No, it’s fine. Send her in.’ He would glean as much from the younger Jameson as he would from her parents. Besides, he didn’t have time to waste. ‘I’d like some fresh coffee, too. Gracias.’
A brisk knock on the door a few minutes later brought his head up.
Margo entered first, wheeling in a tray of coffee. Alejandro’s gaze swung past her, his attention almost compelled to focus on the dark-haired woman who followed. A part of him disliked the fizz of compulsion almost as much as it anticipated his first glimpse of her.
True, his wholehearted immersion in this potential merger had left little time for physical dalliances for the better part of a year now. The occasions when he’d been tempted to indulge in carnal pleasures, the chase had surprisingly grown boring. Enough to abandon his date at the after-dinner-coffee stage on more than one occasion. Nevertheless, he was a red-blooded male, as the momentary tightening in his groin informed him now when Elise Jameson stepped into the office.
The early morning sun struck her face as she paused on the threshold, bringing every feature in her photo to vivid life. Her face was impeccably made-up, just like in her headshot, but where he’d been healthily captivated before by the glossy two-dimensional version, he was paralysingly riveted by the flesh and blood reality.
She