Perfect Revenge (Revenge Series Book 1)

by Catherine Edward

  Axel grinned at her long message and thought he really did know nothing about her family. He was about to type a response when his mobile beeped again.

  "Oh, I forgot to mention our cat, Mr. Whiskers."

  "Your family sounds great. So, what did they say about us?"

  "They like you. They are having a good entertainment just by pulling my leg at every chance they get."

  Axel smiled fondly on reading her message. He never knew how it would feel to grow up with siblings.

  "I can only imagine how it could be. Hey, do you think I can meet your parents now?"

  "Why not? I mean, if you are willing to then we can arrange something."

  He thought about it for a moment and meeting her parents felt like the right thing to do.

  "You've already met my parents. It's only fair that I meet yours and get to know them."

  Samantha grinned from ear to ear as she read his message. He wanted to meet her family.

  "Sure. You can come over for a weekend or dinner."

  "Weekend sounds fine," Axel confirmed.

  "Or better why don't we invite Sara and Henry too. We can have a barbecue in our backyard."

  Axel smiled widely at her thoughtfulness. At that moment, Axel liked her a bit more. Alicia never got along with his parents. He remembered once his mother got terribly ill that he had to take a few days leave from the school to look after her. He was dating Alicia at that time and she never asked a word about his mom’s health.

  “Mom and dad would love to come over. Thank you for inviting them.”

  “I love Sara and Henry. They are really nice.”

  “I’m glad you do.”

  “Hey, the new client is on line two. See you later, boss.”

  “That sounds extremely sexy coming from you now. Bye, Sam. Miss you.”

  Samantha read the text again and again with a blush that was creeping on her cheeks.

  “Miss you too, Axel.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  It was soon dinner time and Axel stood in one corner chatting with his cousins. Andrea nudged Axel in his ribs pointing the door and his other cousins snickered next to him. Axel’s jaw ticked at the sight of the brunette who walked in as if she owned the place.

  “Axel!” She squealed, her face lit up like Christmas lights.

  “Busted,” Andrea sang under her breath as she pretended to sip her expensive wine.

  Axel scowled at his cousin. “Who invited her? I thought this was a family dinner.”

  Their conversation was interrupted when Vannina launched herself at Axel, rubbing her fake boobies at him as she hugged him. Axel bit his lips to stop a snarky comment from forming and pushed her away with his left hand as his right hand clenched around the glass of water he was holding.

  “Vannina,” he gritted out, not bothering to hide his displeasure at seeing her. She was a family friend of his grandfather Rodrígez Del Campo and pretty much showed up at all their family gatherings.

  Vannina never tried to hide her interest in Axel and if anything his own grandfather was happy at their non-existent union. Well, to Rodrígez Del Campo money and power was everything next to family. Vannina and Axel’s union meant a strong business empire. After all, Rodrígez and Vannina’s father Oreal’s joint venture made to the top ten in the marketing charts, where Axel has only made to the top thousand.

  Axel caught his mom’s eyes, who immediately jumped to his rescue.

  “Vannina darling, how are you?” Sara cooed.

  “Aunt Sara! Oh, I missed you,” Vannina chirped as she hugged Sara.

  Axel rolled his eyes as Andrea snorted beside him. Their grandfather had a soft spot for the girl and that was the only reason they had to put up with her antics. Grandpa Joaquin accepted the flowers from Vannina as they shared a few pleasantries.

  Andrea squeezed his hands gently in assurance as she led him further to the dinner. Axel dreadfully followed her to the dining room wondering how the evening was going to unfold.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  "Papa, please try to understand. We are not interested in your proposal. My son won't marry Vannina. He's not a commodity and he's already got a fiancée."

  The previous night had gone surprisingly well. Everything was going fine until Rodrígez announced that Axel would be marrying his friend’s daughter, Vannina at the breakfast table.

  "Fiancée?" Rodrígez bellowed.

  "Yes."

  Sara squeezed Axel’s hand under the table to keep quiet. Axel didn’t have to be told twice about how to behave in front of his grandfather, who had a temper like a volcano.

  "Who? That good for nothing secretary of his, the social climber who managed to creep her way up the ladder? I've heard a lot already. I am doing you a favor and saving your boy from that girl."

  Axel clenched his fists under the table and his jaw ticked as his expression changed. His face no longer held the calm and composed façade. His grandfather was not on good terms with him for years and now he wanted to arrange a marriage to cement the business partnership with his friend.

  He now understood why Vannina showed up once again for breakfast this morning. Vannina flirted with him shamelessly and he had to retire early to bed last night, just to avoid her. Someone tried to open his room after a few minutes and he didn’t have to open to know that it was Vannina. Fortunately, he remembered to lock the door.

  The gentle breeze did nothing to calm his raging nerves. They were in their backyard that overlooked their beautiful rose garden. This was supposed to be a relaxing morning event with only their family and now Axel couldn’t wait to get out of that place.

  "Enough!" Sara slammed her hands on the table, startling everyone including Axel. His mother was always calm and it was not often she lost her temper. "Papa, my son's life is for him to decide. We're here to spend some quality time with our family and I would appreciate if you don't drag your business in."

  Rodrígez grumbled as his face turned red with anger. "Mind your words, young woman. I am still your father."

  "And he is my son!"

  Henry rubbed Sara's hand in a soothing motion and her posture relaxed a bit.

  "Quiet everyone! Rodrígez, your daughter is right. No more business talks at the dinner table," Grandpa Joaquin chastised.

  Rodrígez was not pleased, but he kept quiet as his father's intense glare bored holes in his skull.

  "So Axel, tell me about this girl of yours," Grandpa Joaquin asked when the tension died down.

  A ghost smile spread across his lips at the mention of his girl. She was his girl indeed. "She is someone who made me smile and see the things around me with a different perspective. Seeing her smile makes my day and she is someone I feel comfortable with and she understands me better than anyone else, apart from mom and dad, of course."

  "No need to say more, son. The smile that lit up your face on hearing her name is enough for me to know that she is the one for you," Grandpa Joaquin beamed.

  Rodrígez pushed his chair aside and left the table without finishing his food. He didn't bother to hide his displeasure and none seemed to be affected by his tantrums. They were used to his behavior and they knew he would be sulking for a long time.

  Sara's mom passed away after birthing their younger sister and her father turned cold after her death. She eyed Vannina who toyed with her food, a permanent scowl etched her features and Sara sighed. She wouldn't let her father decide her son's future. She married the man she loved and her son would marry only for love. She would definitely not have it any other way.

  Axel smiled fondly at his mother. He felt blessed to have his parents, and he felt ashamed for putting them through so much pain during his younger years, all because of a girl. He would never repeat the same mistake again and he would make sure that the happiness lasted.

  Chapter – 17

  It was Tuesday evening already and he wondered, how Samantha was managing the work alone. They were six hours ahead of the USA and he will have to wait to speak to her. He
felt bad for leaving everything to her. However, there was no one he would trust his work with. He believed that she would handle it just fine.

  Around eleven-thirty p.m. he called Samantha, unable to hold any longer.

  “Hello.”

  His insides lit upon hearing her sweet voice.

  “Hi… How are you?”

  “I’m good. How about you?”

  “Good, kind of. If you exclude the small argument with my grandfather and the incident where I had to lock myself in a room to save my virtue.”

  “Tell me everything.”

  Axel chuckled lightly, the possessiveness and the sudden flare of her anger could not be missed. It was new to him and he liked it.

  “Apparently, my grandfather wants me to marry the daughter of his business partner and my mother gave him a piece of her mind, which shut him up.”

  “What’s her name?” Samantha growled.

  “Vannina Blanco Solís, you know the daughter of –“

  “Oreal Blanco Solís.”

  “Ah – yes.”

  “That man has a joint venture with Rodrígez Del Campo. Their company made it to the top ten this year.”

  “Wow, Sam… You’re a genius. So now you must know that Rodrígez Del Campo is my favorite grandfather,” Axel quoted sarcastically.

  “Del Campo is your grandfather?”

  “Yes, but he never liked me. My mom fell in love with my dad and eloped with him, so he kind of hates me.”

  “Oh, so what did this Vannina do exactly?”

  Axel was enjoying this new side of Samantha, her possessiveness only seemed to excite him. “She was doing the stalker stuff and tried to enter my bedroom. I have locked the door with a deadbolt, so she couldn’t enter,” he answered truthfully.

  “She is so dead when I get there. Stay away from her until then. She is more dangerous than a poison ivy.”

  “You’re coming here?”

  “Yeah, I forgot to tell you sooner. I am coming on Saturday and I want you to pick me up from the airport.”

  “Sure… Why are you coming here? I mean, ah… are you coming just to deal with Vannina?”

  “No. Initially I was going to come to meet my friend. She is just an added task.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “I am warning you, Axel. You better stay away from her.”

  “I will and I wish you were here now. And, I like when you are jealous.”

  “Oh dear, it’s not jealousy. I’m simply protecting what’s mine. I will skin her alive if she tried something with you, so if you want her alive you better keep your doors locked.”

  Axel laughed out loud on hearing her threat and on the other end Samantha snickered. “You know what, mom told my grandfather that I already have a fiancée and she will never accept his proposal.”

  “Aww… She said that?”

  “Yes, she did.” Axel grinned, though he knew she couldn’t see him.

  “Why do I feel like there is more? What are you not telling me?”

  “Well, after the breakfast he met me alone. He warned me to break up with you and marry Vannina or else he would ruin my business.”

  “He said that?”

  “Yes. And I told him to fuck off. I don’t give a flying shit about his threat.”

  “Hmm… Do you think he will follow through his threat?”

  “He was really angry. He may or it’s just a dog bark. But, he does have ways to do it if he wanted to.”

  “Okay.”

  “So, how was work today?”

  “Same boring stuff. Um… Axel, I am receiving a call. I’ll talk to you later, it must be my dad. He said he would pick me up after work.”

  “Oh, sure. Good night, then.”

  “Good night.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  Samantha lay comfortably on her bed. She was glad to be home after living alone for a while. Growing up with an overprotective father and brother was not easy.

  When she felt like it was the time that she did things on her own and explored the world without the support of her father or brother, she started searching for a job outside and denied the place offered by her father in their company.

  Her father opposed her decision to work for an outsider and did everything in his power to block her path. However, her mother intervened and argued with her father, who grudgingly gave her six months time to find a job outside. Samantha was over the moon and she finally had the freedom to do whatever she wanted.

  Finding a job in New York was like searching a needle in the haystack, especially the companies who recognized her father by her name rejected her saying that they didn’t want to get into the bad side of Gregory. Only, Axel seemed unfazed by the fact and she wondered if he ever paid attention to that small detail at all.

  She knew his grandfather Rodrígez Del Campo. Her father and brother discussed their business a lot when they were home much to the dismay of her mother. Rodrígez was headstrong. To him, money and power meant everything. She wondered if he would follow through his threat.

  A part of her knew he would try. Rodrígez has done similar things in the past. He was like a predator, waiting for the right time to attack. He would definitely try to do something immediately just to prove his point to Axel. Her mind reeled as different possibilities popped into her brain. She didn’t want anything drastic to happen when the company was under her watch, or even after that.

  She will have to speak to her dad tomorrow. He would know what to do and Samantha was sure, Rodrígez was in for one hell of a ride if he ever tried to mess with Axel.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  Rodrígez smiled victoriously as he figured out a way to show Axel what he was capable of doing. He had promised Sara’s hand to Oreal thirty years ago and then, she had eloped with Henry, thereby spoiling his plans.

  He hated his good for nothing son-in-law and he disowned them until his father reached out to them. His father forced him to accept Sara and her family, which he did eventually as his father provided him with no other option. Joaquin still held the fifty-one percent of company shares and he threatened that he would give it all to Axel if he wouldn’t comply.

  Rodrígez typed the email furiously and grinned when he got an immediate response to his email. He was planning this for a year and finally, Axel took the bait by accepting the offer.

  When he found out that Vannina liked Axel, he decided to repair the damage done by Sara. So, he arranged one of his acquaintances to indulge a business deal with Axel. He knew about Axel’s past and he saw this as the only leverage against him.

  Axel had invested most of his earnings on his new business deal. He was working harder to send the shipment on time and now Axel’s customer would conveniently send the information to him stating that he no longer wanted to deal with Axel’s company.

  There was a clause in their contract which allowed the customer to finish the deal and now he would use it against his dear grandson. If Axel doesn’t agree then he would lose everything he had and will have to start from the scratch. No one would even doubt his hand behind all this.

  Axel would have no other option, but to agree with him, Rodrígez smirked at the thought.

  Good luck, Axel.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  Samantha furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. It just took one day for her father's team to collect the details about the ruthless Rodrígez Del Campo. Her lips twitched as her eyes found a detail which pleased her.

  The mighty Rodrígez was trying to seal a billion dollar deal with her dad. If it happened then it would boost up his market and his business would evolve into a whole new level. The Del Campo family initially started with real estate and construction. Later they evolved as hoteliers and now owned several three star and four-star hotels in Spain.

  Other information on page sixteen caught Samantha's attention. She didn’t know that the Del Campo’s had a company that exported seafood. Rodrígez must be planning to corner Axel for a very long time, if not why did he start an export c
ompany in the name of his business associate to export seafood.

  Something clicked as if the puzzle pieces fell together in place and she smirked. "Busted," she sang and dialed the number to her brother's office.

  "Mark, this is Samantha. I want you to email me the details of all the communications that happened between Sinclair International and the Del Campo's. I’ve already spoken to dad and Eric, you can check with them if you want."

  "Oh, hi... Yeah, sure. No problem at all. Anything else you need Ms. Sinclair?" The head of business development inquired politely.

  "Call me Samantha and that's all, for now, Mark," she replied politely.

  "Sure."

  It was going to be a long day. She called their logistics department and confirmed that the shipment was on track before calling Axel’s lawyer Jerry and telling him to go over the contract they signed with the European company. Axel has invested a huge amount in this deal, they had ninety days credit period after product delivery. He and Jenson was taking a risk with this deal.

  Samantha could see why Axel took up on this deal. If it happened then it would open the European market for their products. Axel didn't want to miss the chance and he went overboard to make it happen when the European company approached them with an attractive offer.

  How fortunate, that European company was also one of the partners of Del Campo. Rodrígez was playing century old game and luckily for Axel, he had her. Axel was the most genuine person she met so far and he didn't deserve the deception that was coming his way.

  His heart was broken once and it took ten years for him to even look at another woman. He has put his blood and sweat into this business and just the thought of Rodrígez made Samantha furious.

  She was a calm natured girl. However, she was like her dad when someone messed with something that belonged to her. Samantha stood up and went to the window, staring at the busy city and magnificent skyscrapers. The sun was high up and it was a bright day.

  Her mind wandered to Axel. They might be just starting out on their relationship, but she already considered him as hers. She smiled at the memory of Sara mentioning her as Axel's fiancée, which reminded her that she would need a ring while she visited Spain.