Tycoon's Delicious Debt

by Susanna Carr

  “I’m not reckless like you,” she finally said, clasping her evening purse and shoes against her. “I made my fortune by being methodical.”

  “But you are not diabolical,” Cooper pointed out.

  “You don’t know that.” For all he knew she could be on her best behavior.

  His eyes narrowed as he studied her. “You know what I think?”

  She looked away and stared at the crashing waves on the shadowy beach. “I’m breathless with anticipation to find out.”

  He took a step closer and her muscles locked. Serena felt as if she was in fight-or-flight mode. She truly didn’t know which choice she would make if he reached for her.

  “Either you don’t have the proof,” Cooper said softly, “or you don’t have the killer instinct.”

  Serena turned her head abruptly. Why was he taunting her? Did he think she would unsheathe her claws the moment he questioned her determination? She had more control than that. “And you make this assumption on what? The fact that I’m a woman?”

  “Not at all. I’ve known women who could be dangerous and vengeful.”

  She was sure every one of them had been an ex-lover.

  “But the revenge you’re seeking is obsolete,” he continued gently. “It no longer applies.”

  Obsolete? Her knees almost buckled as the rage, hot and bitter, poured through her.

  “You directed your misplaced anger onto my father, but he had retired before you decided to act.”

  Serena’s arms and legs shook as the dark fury whipped through her. “Misplaced?” Her voice cracked.

  “Now you direct this anger onto me and it doesn’t make sense,” Cooper continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I have done nothing to your family.”

  “You benefited from the crimes your father committed,” she said, her voice lashing with anger. “You lived in luxury that you didn’t deserve and were given so many opportunities you didn’t earn. You never questioned that you could afford the best education and you waltzed fearlessly through life knowing that your future was bright. That should have been my path but your father stole it from me.”

  Cooper shook his head. “You are wrong. Your father stole it from you.”

  Serena inhaled sharply. “How dare you.”

  “He stole your security and your future when he chose to betray his business partner.” Cooper stretched his arms out. “He’s the one you should be angry at.”

  She would not listen to this. She would not allow Cooper to poison her mind. There had been a time when she had been furious at her father. She had wondered why he felt he had the power, the right, to betray Aaron Brock. Why couldn’t he have walked away? Why couldn’t he have been strong enough to stand up to Aaron and hold on to his beliefs?

  But she had kept that to herself. Her father had been fragile, suffering with the guilt and shame. If Felipe Dominguez knew how she viewed him, it would have been the final blow.

  “What Aaron did was excessive,” she argued. “He didn’t just retaliate. He demolished everything my father had. The punishment did not fit the crime.”

  Cooper looked away, the lines that bracketed his mouth deepening. “Then why isn’t your father fighting back?”

  “Because he can’t,” she said in a low growl.

  “Why did he send his daughter into battle?” His mouth twisted with distaste. “What kind of man hides behind a woman?”

  She gripped her shoes as she controlled the urge to throw them at Cooper’s head. “Say what you will about me but you do not talk about my father that way.”

  Cooper watched her as if she was a curiosity. “He’s a grown man. He doesn’t need your protection.”

  “Yes, he does!” Serena blurted out the words and immediately regretted it. She didn’t want anyone—least of all a Brock—to know how weak and defenseless her parents were.

  “He doesn’t need you to fight his battles.”

  “My father has a different set of skills,” she argued, thinking fast. She needed to emphasize Felipe’s strengths. Image was everything. “That’s why your father joined forces with him in the first place. My father is debonair and the life of the party. He can make anyone feel special.”

  “I understand he retired years ago.”

  “Retired?” She drew her head back. “Where did you hear that? Your research team needs to be fired on the spot. My father is always working on a deal.” Although none of them seemed to gain traction. Felipe Dominguez still refused to believe that no one wanted to invest in him.

  “But you support him financially,” Cooper said.

  Serena thrust her chin out. She knew all about his belief that a man should be the provider but she would not let him diminish her father. “There is nothing wrong with providing for my family.”

  “And who looks after you?”

  No one. And even if someone tried, she wouldn’t know how to accept that help. She wouldn’t trust it, always wondering when the support would be yanked away. From her experience, any assistance disappeared when she needed it the most. When she had asked and begged for it. She would not put herself in that position again. “I can take care of myself. I’ve had to ever since Aaron destroyed my world.”

  “He did not ruin your family. From the sounds of it, Felipe would have self-destructed eventually. My father only sped up the process.”

  Serena wanted to snarl at him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You didn’t describe your father as a good businessman,” he pointed out. “You said he was debonair and the life of the party. It was all window dressing. He’s like a chameleon and adapted to please whoever was in power. He didn’t have the courage to face opposition.”

  “My father didn’t do anything illegal,” she told Cooper, the stiletto heels digging into her palms.

  “True,” he admitted, “but his ethics and moral standards were definitely questionable. His business was going to fall down like a house of cards and he didn’t want to believe it, always thinking the next deal was going to pull him through. I’m surprised my father didn’t know. I guess he had fallen for Felipe’s smoke and mirrors.”

  Serena was surprised that Cooper understood what kind of man her father was. Felipe had the soul of a gambler and believed luck was always around the corner, even after they had lost everything. All Felipe needed to do was maintain his suave image and convince others that he was successful. Once Serena had realized this about her father, she knew she could no longer rely on him. She had felt as if her childhood, her innocence, had been stripped the moment she could no longer trust Felipe would take care of the family.

  Cooper sighed. “And your mother would have eventually left Felipe for a richer man.”

  She flinched. “My mother is not a gold digger.” Her mother sought security over love. Serena understood that need but she disagreed with Beatriz’s desire to have a strong and successful man to depend upon. Serena believed relying on anyone—especially a man—was the biggest risk a woman could make.

  Cooper crossed his arms. “I believe she’s living in London,” he said nonchalantly. “What is it that she does?”

  Her nostrils flared as she held the last shred of her temper. Cooper knew that her mother was a kept woman for a very wealthy, much older gentleman. Once again, Beatriz Dominguez had made the questionable decision to have a man control her finances and her future. This so-called security could be withdrawn at any moment and for no reason at all. She didn’t understand her mother’s choice but she didn’t appreciate Cooper’s tone.

  “I got it, cowboy.” She raised her hands high, her shoes dangling from her fingers as she gestured her defeat. “You think my life would have turned out this way no matter what. Aaron Brock had nothing to do with my father’s fall from grace. But you’re wrong.”

  “And I also th
ink you are fixated on something that you can’t change.”

  Serena ignored that. She had heard that plenty of times over the years. No one seemed to understand that if she demonstrated power and weakened the Brocks, even for just a moment, she could prove to herself that she no longer had to fear them. That if she stood up to the family that had created her worst nightmare, she could conquer anything.

  “Your parents aren’t fighting for what they think is an injustice,” Cooper pointed out. “They’ve moved on. Why haven’t you?”

  “They were too busy trying to survive to fight back.” Serena glanced at the hotel over her shoulder. She wanted to run back to her room. Get away as fast as she could.

  “No, that’s not it. You hung on to this revenge idea because it’s your nature. You have this passion inside you and you don’t know where to focus it.”

  She jerked her head back and stared at Cooper. “You’re suddenly an expert on me?”

  “I noticed it the moment we met.” He strode toward her as if he was done with this conversation. “It’s what drew me to you.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” She scurried back. “I tried to keep you away from me. I did not encourage you at any time.”

  “Your passion is something you can’t hide,” he said as if the words were torn from deep within him. “It radiates from you.”

  “I believe that’s my rage you’re seeing.”

  “You are scared of that passion.”

  “I am not!” She realized she was shouting. Serena relaxed her grip on her shoes and purse and lowered her voice. “If anyone should be scared of it, it’s you.”

  “Why?” He flashed a lopsided smile. “I welcome it. I want to see more of it.”

  She watched him with great caution. He seemed to genuinely mean what he said. “Be careful what you wish for.”

  “You poured all of your focus and energy into revenge because you had nowhere else to direct it,” he explained as he reached for her. “It’s consumed you for years but it’s not enough anymore.”

  Serena was startled when he wrapped his arm around her waist. “I’m sure you have plenty of ideas on where I should focus my passion,” she said.

  He dragged her against him. “On me, of course.”

  “I am focusing it all on you,” Serena said through her clenched teeth. She was very aware of how small and delicate she felt against his hard muscular chest.

  “I’m honored.” Cooper stroked his fingers along her spine. His smile widened when he felt her shiver of pleasure. “But you can’t deny the attraction between us.”

  She growled low in her throat. “Trust a man to make this all about sex.”

  “I want the passion to wash over me.” His voice was low and seductive. “I want to see it reach its full power and then I want to...”

  “Tame it?” She tried to break free but his hold tightened. “Dream on. I will never allow you that close to me.”

  “We would be great together,” he murmured as he bent his head. “You know it but you won’t consider it. You are giving up something that could be amazing.”

  Serena knew there was some truth in what he said. She wanted to be with Cooper. Even for just one night but she couldn’t allow it. Her plans were holding her back. Her revenge was always preventing her from living to the fullest.

  “Your need to retaliate is destroying you,” Cooper whispered. “Destroying your life. You have the power to stop it.”

  She wished she could stop it. Her world had become small and narrow. Numbing. She knew there was something more out there and she ached to find it. She could discover it right now with Cooper.

  His mouth pressed against her ear. “Let me show you what it can be like when you just let go.”

  Let go? Serena gasped. She couldn’t. She wanted to but she was afraid to let go. Her vengeance was the only constant thing in her life. What would become of her, what would she turn into, if she didn’t have that?

  She tried to push away, her shoes and purse bumping ineffectively against his broad shoulders. “Do you usually make a point of sleeping with the enemy?”

  “No, but I don’t see you as the enemy.”

  “That is a mistake,” she insisted. “You should.”

  “You don’t want to hurt me.” He rubbed his hand against her back. “You want to be with me.”

  “Are you kidding?” She pulled away abruptly and was almost surprised he had let her go. “I am not interested in going to bed with you, Mr. Brock.”

  He laughed. “Why so formal, Serena? Call me Cooper. And you want me to take you to bed. I promise you have nothing to be scared about.”

  She scoffed at his words. “I’ve seen what a Brock can do.”

  The amusement died in his eyes. “You’re confusing me with my father. Is that why you call me Mr. Brock?”

  “And you’re confusing me with those lingerie models you date who cling to your every word,” she told him. “I cannot be tricked that easily.”

  “I’ve wanted you even before I knew what you were after,” he reminded her.

  “But will you want me after I get the shares?” she asked as she took a few backward steps. “Will you still look at me that way if we don’t come to an agreement? If I destroy your business, your future? No, I don’t think so.”

  His expression darkened. “Do you think I can just turn this off?”

  It suddenly occurred to her that he didn’t want this attraction, this crippling lust, any more than she did. “I think you can,” she replied slowly. “And I think you will when this deal doesn’t go your way.”

  “I’m sure we can come up with a compromise,” he said. “We can both get everything we need.”

  What kind of compromise? What was he willing to offer? Her eyes widened. Why was she considering a compromise? That was not enough. She had gone through too much pain and suffering to settle. She wanted to see the defeat in Cooper’s eyes.

  Cooper had the power to lull her senses even in an argument. This man was very dangerous. She had to make a retreat before she lost any more ground.

  She turned away and marched to the hotel. “I’ve listened to you enough,” she said over her shoulder. “You have until tomorrow evening to agree to my terms. If you don’t, then I am releasing the information I have on your father.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  COOPER STRODE THROUGH the luxurious spa, noticing it was almost empty this early in the morning. The white-on-white interior design was probably supposed to be calming, but it did nothing to relax him. Only one thought went through his head: he was not going to be bested by a spoiled princess.

  He rounded the corner and passed by a sauna. He knew Serena wouldn’t be there. Not enough pampering included in that treatment. Serena Dominguez was a glamorous woman who expected a certain level of comfort. She was avoiding him and what better way to hide than having a full day at a world-renowned spa? She probably thought he wouldn’t consider looking for her here.

  It was true that Cooper hadn’t been in this part of the hotel grounds. If he wanted to get rid of tension, he would run hard on the beach or swim in the ocean to the point of exhaustion. He had already completed a punishing circuit at the health club. It didn’t clear his head or tame the anger inside him. He refused to wait around anymore. He had to talk some sense into Serena.

  Cooper didn’t think it would do much good but it was worth a gamble. He knew all about rich girls who had too much time on their hands and didn’t get enough attention. He had dated quite a few until he realized they weren’t worth the aggravation. One thing he learned was if you let them have their way, they became very dangerous.

  Why did he think Serena would be different? He had tried to be reasonable. He’d even tried to be sympathetic, which was not his strong suit. Cooper thought he had given a solid argument
when they had walked along the beach the night before. She needed to let go of this idea of revenge before she wasted her life on something that didn’t matter. It wasn’t going to make a difference other than soothe her hurt feelings for a moment.

  If Serena Dominguez thought she could back him into a corner and blackmail him into surrendering to her will, then she was going to learn that no one screwed with a Brock.

  Cooper spotted the closed white door that led to Serena’s aromatherapy treatment. He rolled back his shoulders and took in a deep breath. He knew he couldn’t come on strong. He couldn’t show the anger, the indignation, flowing through him.

  If his opponent had been a man, he would be a whirlwind of aggression and power. But his opponent was known as the Brazilian Bombshell among his peers. She was a young woman who used her beauty and femininity to get her way. The only way to fight back was to use his masculine charm.

  And if she didn’t get her way, she would have one epic tantrum. Cooper clenched his fists as he imagined the aftermath. Serena Dominguez would not only ruin his family and his business, but she would also destroy the lives of his employees and the community the Brock empire supported. They were his responsibilities and he could not live with himself if he let everyone down.

  But the spoiled little princess didn’t think about those innocent people. Had she considered them or was her tunnel vision too focused on the Brock family? No, it was all about her. About how she didn’t get the life she had expected. The lifestyle she thought she deserved.

  Cooper flexed his hands and smoothed down his tie before he buttoned his suit jacket. Serena needed to grow up and discover that the world did not revolve around her. And he was going to enjoy teaching her that lesson.

  Cooper swung open the door and marched inside the steamy room. He stopped abruptly when he discovered Serena was in a white sunken bath. His sharp reflexes shut down, his senses overwhelmed as his mind registered one thing at a time. The surprise in Serena’s eyes. The heavy scent of roses. Her hair pulled up high into a topknot. A blanket of dark red rose petals. Her wet skin. A peek of her dark pink nipples under the clear water.