Jason raised his head, speared him with a triumphant look. ‘Mr Aguilar, you’re intruding on a—’
‘Do not speak!’ he snarled, his gaze fixed on Elise’s back, which remained rigidly turned to him. ‘Turn around, Elise. Now.’
She turned slowly. Her face was coolly indifferent. But her eyes blinked sultrily as if she was drunk. Drunk on another man’s kiss.
‘Explain this to me,’ he rasped.
One shoulder lifted. ‘I would’ve thought it was obvious?’
The loud clanging in his head wouldn’t stop. ‘Why?’
‘I don’t owe you any explanations, Alejandro. Not when it comes to my personal life. Just as you don’t owe me any about yours.’
Alejandro stared at her, heard the cool words. Still his mind refused to compute.
‘Was there something else you needed?’
Shaky fingers spiked his hair. ‘Madre de Dios, I thought you were different.’
An expression crossed her face, but he was too far gone to read it accurately. But then her features settled once more into serene, treacherous perfection. ‘I am different, Alejandro. Shame you’re too blind to see it.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Six months later
ALEJANDRO STARED AT his flashing phone. Margo wouldn’t put the call through if it weren’t essential. She’d borne the consequence of not heeding his do not disturb edict the single time she’d taken her eye off that particular ball.
A fleeting twinge in some remote corner of his being was the only sign that he regretted his scathing reaction to her mishap. To her credit, she hadn’t cried. Or thrown a tantrum. She’d sucked it up and made sure it didn’t happen again.
He admired that. Her ability to be what he wanted her to be. If he was brutally honest with himself, Margo was the only constant in his life.
Now that everything had changed.
Which made him certain this call was probably important.
He started to reach for it. It stopped ringing. He exhaled in relief and turned in his seat. About to rise and head to his window, he paused as his mobile began to ring.
He recognised Gael’s number. This twinge was a different sort. A hint of apprehension. Anticipation. His brother had called only once since Japan. The conversation had been tense, the past tentatively broached. It had by no means been a reconciliatory call, and Alejandro wasn’t certain if they’d ever get there.
But somewhere in his heart a tiny sprouting of hope lingered. He hadn’t decided whether to feed it yet...
He picked up the phone and slid his thumb across the surface. ‘Alejandro.’
‘Good to know you’re alive. Now I don’t have to badger your PA into listening at your door for signs of life,’ Gael drawled.
‘Anything in particular I can help you with?’ he demanded gruffly.
Gael paused a tense beat. ‘Your diary is clear for the next two hours. And no, Margo didn’t divulge that information. I graduated first in my class from MIT. I know my way around computer code.’
Alejandro gritted his teeth. ‘Please tell me you did not just admit to hacking my company’s system?’
‘Of course not. Your appointment is with me.’
Discomfort moved through him, but then so did a certain level of acceptance. For better or worse, Gael was his brother. The question now remained how to move forward with this. ‘Then why are you calling me beforehand?’
‘You have a private chef. I’m proposing a lunch meeting to discuss new developments.’
Alejandro exhaled. ‘The food will be taken care of. Explain the second part.’