by Maya Blake
She gazed up at him. ‘What about compromises? Are you a fan of those?’
Narrowed green eyes speared hers. ‘Explain.’
‘Have you thought about sitting down with your brother and hashing this out?’
His mouth firmed. ‘It won’t work.’
‘Why not? Because you tried before?’
‘No.’
‘Alejandro—’
‘Leave it alone, Elise.’
Her gaze dropped for a second. ‘You both want the same thing. Has it occurred to you that you can have it if you relent a little bit?’
His jaw clenched. ‘I don’t do well with family. I never have. I never will.’
She knew she ought to let it go, but the words poured out nevertheless. ‘You didn’t do well in the past. But now you’ve met Gael again—’
‘For a handful of minutes in my office.’
‘Bite my head off if you want, but I’ve seen you two together. You can salvage this if you would just—’
‘Basta! Enough.’ He linked his hand through hers and started up the slope of the shrine. Elise fell silent, partly because their surroundings were too beautiful to spoil with an argument. And partly because she liked him holding her hand. A little too much.
Later that afternoon, he stood looking out onto the lotus-flowered landscape beyond the window.
The resort was situated north of Kyoto, built beside a meandering river and extending from a central villa said to have once been the private residence of an emperor. Its natural beauty was stunning and the contemporary design blended with traditional floor-level seats and indigenous decorations.
But she didn’t see any of that beauty now, her attention absorbed wholly by Alejandro.
He sensed her behind him and turned. Her heart lurched at the contemplative look on his face.
‘About our earlier conversation. I don’t know why you think you know enough about me to present these opinions,’ he drawled, his tone gruff. ‘But let me give you a brief background about us before you think playing happy families is in any way an option for us.’
‘I didn’t say that—’
‘Gael is a product of an affair my father had with his mother when I was three years old. When I was old enough, I found out there’d been affairs before I was born, and my father had no intention of stopping after I came along. But Gael’s mother was the most...turbulent of all, probably because she was the only woman who managed to convince my father to leave my mother. And he did. For a short time, at least. He went to play happy families with Gael’s mother. Gael was born, and then suddenly my father was back home. My mother hated herself for taking him back. To her, his previous affairs had been meaningless and easily overlooked.
‘But it was different with Gael’s mother. Perversely, she felt as if he’d broken her trust. They fought day and night. You know what it’s like living with a parent who falls apart every time my father is five minutes late coming home? You know how many times she dragged me from my bed and into the car so she could go in search of him to make sure he wasn’t in another woman’s bed? Gael’s mother did that to my family.’ He turned from the window, prowling across the floor until he stood before her. ‘Do you think, coming from that, that there can be any peace between us?’
‘I’m sure Gael didn’t exactly escape unscathed, either.’
‘I know,’ he breathed, shaking his head. ‘But when you’re caught in this...powder keg, rationality goes out of the window.’
Let it go, Elise. Your own family situation is far from a bundle of laughs. Let it—
‘That was then, Alejandro. What about now?’
He shook his head. ‘It’s too late.’
‘I don’t think so.’
His expression underwent a subtle transformation. Elise was willing to bet he didn’t know how vulnerable he’d looked for just a second before his features hardened. ‘Don’t presume to know how to fix me, Elise.’
‘I wouldn’t dare. I’m only stating the obvious. I can shut up if you want me to?’
He stared at her, narrow-eyed, for a second. ‘I don’t want you to shut up. But this subject bores me. So change it, if you please.’
She grimaced. ‘Well, we’ve done the tourist thing, the business thing. We’ve made a mockery of family. What shall we do next?’
His gaze dropped to her mouth, but he didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. The look on his face told its own unfolding story, morphing from chillingly forbidding to stark raving hunger.
One hand snagged her waist. The heat in his eyes was back, full force. ‘Sex, Elise. Let’s do sex. And don’t give me the excuse about our working relationship or you not wanting me. We can make this work. The day after we first kissed, you walked back into my office and carried on working even though my behaviour was less than exemplary. You didn’t throw a tantrum or give me the cold shoulder like most women I know would’ve done. I have no doubt that whatever happens between us in the bedroom, it will not get in the way of your job.’
She tried to speak past the sudden clamouring of her senses. Tried to think. ‘Wow. I sound like a robot.’
His mouth quirked, but his gaze didn’t lose one ounce of intensity. ‘If you were, you’d be the sexiest one ever created.’
Laughter barked from her, which he joined in with for a few seconds, before the sexual gravity of the moment rendered them both silent.
‘I want you, Elise. You might not wish to reciprocate the statement right now, but let’s agree to table it for discussion after Kenzo Ishikawa’s birthday party tomorrow, sí?’
The past few days had been leading to this. Somewhere along the line, she’d decided to take the chance. But now he was laying out terms so starkly, her senses shrieked a primal warning. ‘Alejandro, I don’t know...’
‘Come on now, we’ve tried to pretend this isn’t happening, but it is. You can’t keep running from it and I don’t intend to fail the challenge and pleasure of getting you into my bed. You have twenty-four hours to yield to me. And, Elise?’
‘Yes?’ she murmured despite her spinning thoughts.
‘I don’t intend to lose this one.’
A hard kiss preceded his exit.
Elise dropped into the chair, her stunned senses trying to grapple with what had just happened.
Alejandro had dropped a giant morsel of his past in her lap. Then segued into a demand for sex. She stared at the door through which he’d disappeared. Was the instigation of the subject of sex a way to distract her from his emotional revelations?
If so, it’d worked a treat.
Skirting past the momentous subject of sex with Alejandro, she replayed his childhood story instead.
She’d thought her childhood had been horrendous with the early realisation that her parents had what amounted to an open marriage, their vows shoved into the background in the interest of accumulating financial gain. For the greater part, Elise had been handed over to the care of nannies and housekeepers while her parents pursued their single-minded interests. It hadn’t been until she hit puberty that things had changed for the worse.
Alejandro’s experiences had been worse, because the infidelity had come from one side, with pain heaped on his mother while he’d been caught in the middle.
She might not have heard Gael’s side, or know the full story, but what little she knew explained the brief glimpses of bleakness and loneliness she sometimes saw in Alejandro’s eyes.
Her heart squeezed in sympathy and despite telling herself that softening her feelings for him might be a dangerous path to take, she still found herself mourning long into the evening and into the night for the harrowing childhood he must have suffered.
As for the subject of sex, she continued to push it to the back of her mind whenever it sparked its heady temptation. She knew not confronting it wouldn’t make it go away—she’d seen a determined Alejandro in action, after all—but all the same, she held it at bay, in the hope that morning would bring the clarity she needed.
CHAPTER TEN
SHE WAS STILL set on resisting him.
Alejandro knew this from the small frown knotting her brow. She wouldn’t succeed. Having Elise Jameson in his bed had swept beyond a lustful, persistent want, into a primeval need. One he didn’t intend to deny himself.
The subject of her virginity—if it was true—unsettled him somewhat. Then again, everything about Elise was turning out to be uncharted territory for him.
She got under his skin in the most disturbing way, but not enough for him to step back from the clamouring desire raging through his blood. Perhaps, once he’d had her, she would cease to have this peculiar power over him.
He would have her.
But for now he had other matters to deal with.
‘My grandmother received your flowers,’ Elise said. Her frown momentarily disappeared, a hint of the smile that toyed with his breathing when in full bloom curving her lightly glossed lips. ‘She called when I was getting dressed. She wanted to thank you. She says to tell you they’re the most beautiful flowers she’s ever received.’
His own mouth curved. ‘She was the perfect absent hostess and she ensured our invitation to Kenzo Ishikawa’s birthday party. It was the least I could do.’
Her smile widened. ‘She did say you owe her big, though. And that she might call in her chips when you least expect it.’
‘I look forwarding to meeting her one day. She sounds formidable.’
Pride propelled her nod. ‘She’s one of the strongest people I know. She’s the product of a Pearl Harbour love story that almost didn’t happen.’ Her smile slipped a little. ‘Her childhood was rough. When it was her turn to become a mother, she tried to shield my mother as much as possible. She believes she overcompensated by spoiling my mother, which is why...’ She shook her head and stopped.
Alejandro reached for her hand. It was an unfamiliar offer of comfort, and yet it felt right. ‘You reminded me that the apple sometimes does fall far enough from the tree to seek its own roots and light. Your mother may have been spoilt as a child, but I doubt the grandmother who encouraged you to follow your dreams also encouraged your mother to take the particular path she’s taken. I bet they disagree on a few things?’
‘They disagree on everything! They fought constantly about the way she was bringing me up. My grandmother couldn’t bear it any longer, which is why she moved back to Hawaii. Surprisingly, they have a better relationship now they’re thousands of miles apart.’
‘Distance provides clarity. Sometimes.’
She eyed him, and Alejandro knew what was coming. ‘Did it do that for you?’ she asked.
Surprisingly, her question didn’t grate on him. Although the chafing layer of disquiet closely resembling guilt and regret that had manifested when Gael visited him in his office intensified.
He shifted in his seat. ‘It taught me that I never wanted to be in that situation. I’ve seen the wedding pictures. I’ve heard the stories of how they met. My parents married believing they were happy. For some reason, that changed very soon afterwards. They took pleasure in hurting one another until they were locked so fully into their macabre roles they couldn’t see anything or anyone else, not even their son. I knew very early, I wanted nothing to do with that level of emotional turbulence.’
She looked pensive. ‘True compatibility in any relationship is hard to find, I know, but just because that happened to them doesn’t mean it’ll happen to you.’
‘It didn’t just happen to me. It happened to Gael. It happened to his mother. It happened to everyone my parents came into contact with. The Aguilar brain may be good for business, but there’s no heart there to sustain meaningful relationships. I accepted that a long time ago.’
Her eyes shadowed, her face losing colour.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.
She averted her face sharply towards the window. ‘Nothing. I’m fine.’
Alejandro let it go, but he wondered if his declaration had been too harsh.
But the truth often was. Realising his parents had no room in their life for him had hurt for a long time. Time and distance had dulled the pain. Increasingly fleeting liaisons, which proved he wasn’t built for relationships, had only confirmed his suspicions.
He was more than content to accept the status quo.
Except the regret continues to chafe...
The hand within his grip moved. He gripped it tighter. As he stared down at their entwined hands something moved through him. Something numinous that had nothing to do with the electric heat of their touching palms.
The emotion further unsettled him. So much so, when the limo driving them to Ishikawa’s party drew to a stop at the top of a small hill, relief poured through him. Alighting, he took a deep, sustaining gulp of the cool evening air.
All around cherry blossoms flowered in pinks, reds and whites. Spring in Kyoto was breathtaking. But nothing surpassed the beauty of the woman who stepped out beside him a second later.
His gaze moved over her, quiet satisfaction eroding some of the tumult.
He’d called in a stylist when she’d asked for time off to go shopping. Her clear embarrassment and distress had made him probe deeper, which had led to the discovery that she hadn’t packed adequately due to a visit from her mother.
She hadn’t needed to go into great detail for him to know her mother was the reason she’d boarded his plane with shadows under her eyes. Those shadows were gone now. He paused to appreciate her feminine form in a red gown that bared her shoulders and warmed her complexion, the lightly made-up face and elegantly styled hair.
Alejandro decided then and there that he would encourage her to wear more red. Especially in bed. Drawing back from anticipatory carnal pleasures before he succumbed to the urge to hustle her back into the car and to their hotel room, he offered his arm.
She readily accepted it, a fact that pleased him greatly.
Kenzo Ishikawa’s birthday party was being held in a converted Japanese temple on the grounds of the Ishikawa private estate. The structure was a replica of the world-renowned Golden Pavilion, and, like its namesake, golden light poured from wide windows and spilled onto the man-made lake surrounding the structure.
Alejandro escorted Elise across a wooden bridge and they were met with barefooted geishas, serving champagne and canapés. He handed her a glass and took one for himself, but Alejandro wasn’t interested in drinking.
He spotted his brother from across the room and acknowledged Gael’s stiff greeting with one of his own. Then a well-dressed old man with a walking stick heading their way drew his attention.
Setting his glass down, he held out his hand. ‘Mr Ishikawa-san, thank you for inviting us to your party,’ Alejandro said. ‘Allow me to introduce you—’
‘No introduction needed, Mr Aguilar. Elise’s grandmother is a good friend of mine, and is quite adept at twisting my arm when it suits her,’ Kenzo replied dryly, his shrewd eyes lingering on Elise for a moment before returning to Alejandro.
‘We’re honoured to be here,’ Elise replied, her smile warm as she gave a small bow. She handed over the oblong ribbon-tied present. ‘A gift from my grandmother.’
The old man’s snowy brows lifted. ‘More gifts? I received yours this afternoon, Mr Aguilar. Along with your note.’
Alejandro nodded. ‘Twenty minutes of your time later, if you would be so kind.’
Kenzo’s dark eyes regarded him steadily. ‘That is twice longer than your brother requested.’
Alejandro’s kept his expression neutral. ‘Then between us we won’t take up too much of your time.’
The old man watched him with eyes that saw too much. ‘Did you not consider it expedient to speak to me together?’ he replied.
The chafing reasserted itself, rubbing harsh and relentless. ‘The timing isn’t quite right.’
Kenzo nodded, his expression holding an understanding that jarred Alejandro. ‘Of course. Timing. The one thing we all wish we were experts at.’ Before Alejandro co
uld respond, he turned to Elise. ‘Would you accompany me to my seat, my dear? I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to since I last spoke to your grandmother.’
Elise sent Alejandro a wary glance. He didn’t want to let her go. The realisation wasn’t surprising. After all, hadn’t the days since the incident on his plane been revelatory in many ways? He desired her. But he was drawn to her in other ways besides sexually. He wasn’t quite ready yet to explore those other emotions. But somewhere along the way an acceptance of his suddenly possessive disposition had settled in.
‘Alejandro?’
He focused on her stunning face, realised he was still holding on to her and released her. ‘Sí. Of course. I’ll see you later.’
Her wariness didn’t abate, but she nodded. Vowing to address it at the first opportunity, he watched her walk away, her revived smile luminescent enough to draw glances as she made her way through the crowded room.
‘Madre de Dios. If beauty like hers could be bottled, I’d be a hell of a lot richer than I am right now,’ Gael drawled from beside him. ‘Things are still platonic between you two, right? So you won’t mind if I ask her out—’
‘She’s off limits to you, Gael,’ Alejandro snarled. The icy fury that scoured through him at the very thought of Gael with Elise was shocking in the extreme. ‘For your own sake, don’t make me repeat myself on this subject. Ever.’
Gael held up his hands in mock surrender, a low laugh accompanying the gesture. ‘Okay, okay. Basta de charla!’ Enough said.
Alejandro exhaled, unclenching fists he hadn’t realised he’d balled. When another champagne server approached, he grabbed a glass, just for something to do with his hands.
‘Are you always this wound up? It can’t be good for your health,’ Gael muttered, sipping his own drink.
‘My health is none of your concern,’ he snapped.
Gael’s face closed up. ‘Of course. Trust me, you made that pretty clear in Chicago.’
The emotions eating at him suddenly multiplied, sapping his control. ‘This may be a party, but I’m here for business only. If you’re seeking me out under the misapprehension that it would be anything else, you’re about to be sorely disappointed.’
