The Spanish Tycoon's Takeover Read online

  He didn’t so much as crack a smile. ‘I meant are you hardworking, reliable and honest?’

  He watched the merriment fade from her eyes. He hadn’t noticed how green they were till now, but perhaps it was simply a trick of the over-abundance of light pouring in at the windows.

  ‘Are you impugning my character, Mr Ramos? Now that is something I’ll take exception to.’

  The Mr Ramos stung. He retaliated with, ‘I did not appreciate being manipulated into employing you.’

  ‘Ah...’

  The martial light in her eyes faded. It was an unusual green—not emerald or sage. It shone with a softer and truer light—like jade.

  ‘So that’s why you’re itching for a fight?’

  The unadorned truth of her words found their target. Being here—finally—in this ludicrous second-rate motel, with its ridiculous charm, had torn the scabs off the anger and outrage that had been simmering since his grandfather’s death. Now that he was here he wanted to smash something...or someone!

  But Wynne—though she was that woman’s granddaughter—hadn’t even been born when Aggie had broken Lorenzo’s heart, when she’d manipulated him and made him suffer. Xavier’s heart might burn with the injustice and heartbreak Lorenzo had suffered, but in all likelihood Wynne had no idea what had happened fifty-five years ago. He couldn’t blame her for it, or hold her responsible. And it would be outrageous to punish her for it.

  He straightened too, resisting the softening that coursed through him. Wynne needed to understand that he was in charge now. And the sooner he made that clear the better.

  ‘I’m planning to make changes here.’

  ‘Of course you are. It’s not like the place doesn’t need it.’

  ‘I have no intention of fighting you every step of the way or pandering to your sentimentality. You either do the job I’ve employed you to do or you hand your resignation in now.’

  Her chin shot up, but it wasn’t the sudden frost in her eyes that Xavier noticed so much as the luscious curve of her bottom lip. He gazed at it, and the longer he stared the harder and sharper the hunger that sliced through him. If he kissed her, would that ice melt in the heat?

  Her sharp, ‘Yes, sir!’ hauled him back.

  The flush on her cheeks and the way she avoided eye contact told him he’d been staring...and that it had made her uncomfortable.

  He didn’t want Wynne comfortable—he wanted her poised to carry out his every demand with flattering speed. He suspected if he gave the woman an inch she’d take a mile. But this was business, and he didn’t want her feeling uncomfortable on a personal level.

  ‘Do you have any other questions about how we run breakfast?’

  ‘I’d like to create a breakfast room, where guests can help themselves to a buffet breakfast.’

  ‘That would be lovely.’ Her eyes said otherwise. ‘But we don’t have the equipment or the staff.’

  ‘Yet.’

  That perked her up.

  He let her savour it. By the end of the day, when she’d had a taste of the wholesale changes he meant to make, he fully expected her unqualified resignation.

  ‘The motel does not serve lunch or dinner?’

  ‘No.’

  Good. That meant he would have her full attention for the rest of the day. He started to rise.

  ‘Well...’ She grimaced. ‘Not as a general rule.’

  He sat again. ‘Explain.’

  ‘We get a lot of repeat business at Aggie’s Retreat.’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘That means we get to know our guests as...as individuals.’

  She uttered that sentence as if it explained everything.

  He stared at her. ‘And?’

  ‘So, for example, I know that Sandra Clark from up Cairns way would walk across hot coals for a halfway decent salmon cake, and that the favourite dish of Godfrey Trent from Sydney is crumbed cutlets.’

  He gaped at her. ‘You cook their favourite meals?’

  ‘I charge through the nose for it.’

  ‘How much?’

  She told him and he shook his head. ‘That’s nothing compared to the majority of hotel restaurant rates.’

  ‘But it’s far more expensive than the Thai restaurant down the road or the tavern on the corner. I make a seventy per cent profit and the motel gets its guests’ undying gratitude and loyalty. That sounds like a win-win, if you ask me.’

  It made sound financial sense—except this wasn’t the way the Ramos Corporation ran its hotels! ‘What are you running here—a guesthouse? Because it certainly isn’t a hotel.’

  She suddenly smiled—one of those smiles. ‘That’s the perfect description. We’re a home away from home. It’s why our guests keep coming back.’ Her smile widened. ‘That and the fact that our rooms are so clean.’

  ‘Which is just as well, as your rooms don’t have anything else to recommend them.’

  ‘Ouch. That’s a little harsh. She’s getting a little tired around the edges, I’ll admit, but Aggie’s Retreat still has charm.’

  ‘She’s shabby. And the charm is wearing thin.’ He stabbed a finger to the table. ‘I want a tour of the entire building. Now.’

  ‘Rooms Three, Eight and Twelve won’t be vacated until after ten, but the rest of the motel is at your disposal.’

  He did his best to run her ragged for the next two hours, but she kept perfect pace with him. In any other circumstances he’d have been impressed, but not here. In fact the more time he spent in her company the more he realised she would have to go.

  He couldn’t fire her—he wouldn’t stoop to that—but he’d be more than happy to accept her resignation once she handed it in. And he knew exactly how to achieve that.

  He turned to her, cutting her off in mid-sentence as she told him some unpalatable truth or other about the building’s ancient plumbing system. ‘Wynne, I think it is time you learned the real reason I have bought Aggie’s Retreat.’

  ‘Excellent!’ She rubbed her hands together. ‘I’ve been wondering how long it would take you to put me out of my misery.’

  His lips tightened. ‘You do not look as if you are in any state of misery.’ It looked as if misery were completely alien to this woman’s existence. Unlike Lorenzo’s. And unlike Xavier’s own.

  He pushed that last thought aside. He had no intention of descending into self-pity. Camilla might have proved as false as any woman could, but he had Luis. He would never regret his son. He’d come here to lay the ghosts of the past to rest—his grandfather’s past and perhaps his own too. He would create a hotel that would do his grandfather proud. Maybe then both of them would have earned some peace.

  Wynne tossed her head, and all her glorious hair bounced about her shoulders. Her smile only grew wider.

  Dios, that smile!

  ‘Allay my curiosity then.’

  For no reason at all, his heart started to pound.

  Those clear green eyes surveyed him, alive with curiosity and energy. ‘After all, Aggie’s Retreat isn’t the kind of property the Ramos chain generally shows interest in.’

  ‘That’s because my interest in this establishment is personal.’

  Her eyebrows lifted. ‘Personal?’

  She rubbed her hands together again, and for a moment all he could imagine was the feel of those hands on his bare flesh. Heat flooded him with a speed that had him sucking in a breath. He couldn’t recall the last time thoughts of a woman, desire for a woman, had interfered with his work.

  ‘Ooh, it sounds like there’s a story here! I’m on the edge of my seat.’

  No! He refused to want this woman.

  He made his voice sharp. ‘This story...it is not for your personal edification. I have no desire whatsoever to provide you with entertainment or amusem
ent!’

  The light in those lovely green eyes snapped off. ‘No, of course not. I’m sorry.’

  But even though she’d apologised, he had a feeling she’d prefer to stab him through the heart with something sharp and deadly. He could hardly blame her. She’d done nothing to deserve his rebuke. Her natural effervescence, however—her sense of fun, her attempts to be generous and pleasant—chafed at him. He didn’t want her to be so congenial...so willing to approve of him...so attractive.

  He didn’t want to like her!

  ‘The “story” as you so quaintly put it, is sordid and unpleasant, and it does your grandmother no credit!’

  His teeth ground together. He had no right to tar Wynne with the same brush. If he were honest, he had no desire to hurt her either. He just wanted her...gone.

  ‘This has something to do with Aggie?’

  Her overly polite tone made him clench his teeth harder. He had no one to blame for that but himself.

  Tell her the story, tell her what you mean to do, and then accept her resignation. Wish her well and then you’ll never have to see her again.

  Before he could start, however, she broke in. ‘It might be better to take this back to the conference room, don’t you think?’

  He grew aware, then, of the rattling of the housekeeping cart in the hallway, and the fact that he and Wynne were wedged in the bathroom of the smallest room Aggie’s Retreat had to offer. It was a room Wynne didn’t currently use, due to an issue with the plumbing—the explanation of which he’d cut short.

  He gestured for her to precede him out of the room. When they reached the conference room she stood aside to let him enter first. She didn’t take a seat until he ordered her to sit. Her sudden deference had him grinding his back molars so hard he’d need dental work by the time he returned to Spain.

  Her face, when she turned to him, was smooth and opaque and so formally courteous he had to bite back another rebuke. What reprimand could he utter? She was simply behaving in the manner that he wanted her to—that he’d ordered her to. The fact that he hated it was not her fault.

  Aggie’s past sins were not Wynne’s fault either. Even if she had unknowingly profited from them.

  ‘You were about to explain why you’d purchased Aggie’s Retreat.’

  Straight to the point. That, at least, he could appreciate.

  ‘Did you know that Aggie won this establishment in a card game?’

  ‘So that was the truth, then?’ Luscious lips lifted as if they were unused to such rigorous restraint. They were garnered back under house arrest a moment later. ‘I always thought it was a story my grandmother spun for dramatic impact. She was fond of a tall tale.’

  ‘It was the truth.’

  ‘I see.’

  If she had any curiosity, she didn’t show it. Xavier swallowed back the acid that burned his throat. ‘My grandfather—Lorenzo Ramos—was the other card player. It was his hotel.’

  ‘Ah.’ She stared at him for a long moment. ‘Was he in love with Aggie?’

  His stomach clenched. ‘Why do you say this?’

  ‘When you’re next in the foyer, look at the portrait on the wall behind the check-in desk. It’s of Aggie when she was a young woman. She was very beautiful...and a free spirit in a time when that was unusual. She had a lot of admirers.’

  Admirers? His grandfather hadn’t simply been an admirer. He’d loved Aggie. And Aggie had taken advantage of that. She’d taken Lorenzo’s heart and had run it through with her deceitful, conniving ways before tossing it aside as if it were...as if it were nothing!

  And in his desolation and wretchedness Lorenzo had buckled to family pressure and married the coldest woman Xavier had ever met—his grandmother. Lorenzo’s heartbreak had led to the biggest mistake of his life, while Aggie had lived it up with her ill-gotten gains. Was there no justice in this world?

  The smooth skin of Wynne’s forehead creased. ‘Has your grandfather held a grudge all these years? Because she bested him in a card game?’

  She clasped her hands on the table, and the incredulity in her eyes burned through him.

  ‘Or is his grievance because he didn’t win her heart?’

  ‘He held a grudge because your grandmother cheated in that game of cards.’ Xavier shot out of his chair to pace the length of the room. ‘This motel should’ve been under the Ramos Corporation’s aegis all these years.’ He pointed a finger at her. ‘She manipulated him, made him fall in love with her, and then she...she cheated him.’

  He paced some more.

  When she remained silent, he spun back. ‘Are you not going to say something?’

  She lifted one slender shoulder. He couldn’t blame her for feeling at a loss. ‘Your grandfather told you all this?’

  ‘On his deathbed.’

  She stared, a frown gathering in her eyes. ‘Xavier, when did your grandfather die?’

  He had to breathe deeply in through his nose and then let the breath out through his mouth before he could answer her. ‘Not quite five weeks ago.’

  For the briefest of moments her gaze softened. ‘I’m sorry for your loss.’

  He nodded. ‘Thank you.’

  A long silence ensued. All the while he was aware of her scrutiny. It was all he could do to feign indifference beneath it.

  Finally she broke the quiet. ‘So... He asked you to...?’

  Xavier lifted his chin. ‘Before he died he made me promise to buy the motel back.’

  He had the penny piece and the Queen of Hearts card that Lorenzo had given him. He’d sworn to place them into Aggie’s hand himself. Apparently Aggie would know what they signified. He didn’t want to meet the woman who had caused his grandfather so much grief. But he had promised.

  None of this is Wynne’s fault.

  He took his seat again, biting back a sigh. ‘I am sorry if this gives you pain. I am sorry to be the one to reveal to you such an ugly truth about your grandmother.’

  He waited for an outburst—protestations. Instead her gaze was removed from his as she stared down at the hands she’d pulled into her lap. From across the table he couldn’t tell if they were clenched or not.

  ‘You have nothing to say to this?’

  ‘Um... Congratulations? You’ve won?’

  He stiffened. ‘I do not appreciate your flippancy.’

  Her gaze lifted to his. She bit her lip, but it wasn’t pain that threaded through those extraordinary eyes. It might almost be...pity!

  ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, Xavier. You expect me to believe the ravings of a dying man? Seriously?’

  His head rocked back.

  ‘And then what? You want to turn this situation—us—into the Montagues and the Capulets? Puh-lease! I have better things to do with my time. And you should have too. One thing you shouldn’t be doing is taking revenge for something your grandfather was too lazy to pursue himself while he was alive.’

  ‘Too lazy...!’

  He couldn’t help but roar the words at her. He pushed himself and his chair away from the table, his stomach cramping as the pain of the loss of his grandfather pounded through him with renewed force.

  ‘You know nothing about my grandfather! He was the kindest, most gentle of men, and he didn’t deserve what Aggie did to him.’

  ‘Have you ever noticed that when a man gets his heart broken it’s always the woman’s fault, but whenever a woman’s heart is broken she’s usually found at fault too?’ She shot to her feet, hands on hips. ‘You want to know what your sad little story tells me about your grandfather? That he was a fool risking his motel in a game of cards! What on earth was he thinking?’

  A fool? Xavier clenched his hands so hard he started to shake.

  ‘I also know that Lorenzo married and sired three sons. That doesn’t exactly speak of
heartbreak to me. And you needn’t look so surprised. Did you expect me to do no homework on the Ramos Corporation? I know that Lorenzo founded a great hotel empire.’

  Lorenzo had thrown himself into work because there’d been nothing for him at home. Not that Xavier had any intention of telling Wynne that.

  ‘Which means he could’ve bought back Aggie’s Retreat any time he wanted to while he was alive—if it was that important to him.

  If? ‘He had his pride!’

  Her jaw dropped, but her shock was far from edifying.

  ‘If he truly loved Aggie, but let pride prevent him from pursuing her, then...then he deserved his broken heart.’

  ‘You’re as heartless as your grandmother!’

  She closed her eyes and dragged in a breath. ‘I’m just pointing out that you know only one side of the story. I can tell you right now that Aggie enjoyed male attention. She never made any secret of it. I can also tell you, with my hand pressed to my heart, that she would never have cheated in a matter of honour. But as you don’t know her I don’t expect you to believe me. And here’s a novel thought for you, Xavier. What happened between Aggie and Lorenzo has absolutely nothing to do with us—it’s none of our business. And I have absolutely no intention of troubling myself with it further.’

  The burning in his chest intensified. ‘You do not love your grandmother?’

  ‘On the contrary—I adore her.’

  ‘But you do not care that I mean to obliterate every trace of Aggie—your beloved grandmother—from this motel?’

  Her brow wrinkled and she leaned towards him. ‘Xavier, Aggie resides in the hearts of all those who love her—in my heart, my mother’s heart... Lorenzo’s heart. This—’ she gestured around the conference room, presumably to encompass the whole motel ‘—when you get right down to it, is nothing more than an old pile of cold bricks.’

  The woman didn’t have a sentimental bone in her body! It didn’t give her the right, though, to make him feel guilty or...or juvenile for trying to right a past wrong.

  * * *

  Xavier lifted his jaw at just that angle—full of imperious arrogance—that made her want to slug him.