Page 153 of Modern Romance March 2025 (5-8)

“Yes, I know,” Alexandra said with a good-natured smirk. “That’s why I invited you up here. Ah. Thank you.” She gratefully took the bottle from the tray as it was delivered, then offered it to the baby, sinking into the rocking chair as he took it. “I’m not prying, Stella. People think I’m a gossip because I listen to it, but I don’t repeat it. Not to anyone but Rafael. He and I are a team. We protect each other by sharing what we learn about the players on the other teams.”

“That’s an overstatement of my relationship with Atlas,” Stella assured her. She absently plucked the rumpled blanket from the crib and folded it, leaving it across the rail. “I don’t actually know him very well at all. I don’t think that’s something he allows and I’m just as guilty of keeping to myself. Maybe we’re all like that.” She perched on the edge of the daybed and tucked her hands between her knees.

“Guarded? Life knocks us around and makes us that way, doesn’t it?” Alexandra was looking tenderly to her baby. Her smile held a poignant quality. “Sometimes letting your guard down pays off, though. It does with this little one. And Rafael, of course.”

“How did you know you’d be safe to do that with Rafael?” Stella asked curiously.

“I didn’t,” Alexandra said with a rueful shake of her head. “Not at first. Honestly, I don’t think you can know until you take that leap of faith and find out. It’s a gamble.”

Stella shook her head, already knowing she didn’t have the courage for high-risk stakes like that. She steered the conversation back to Atticus and his teeth.

* * *

As the women left, Rafael invited Atlas into the den.

He was reluctant to be out of earshot for Stella. Rafael’s wife seemed unfazed by his bringing her, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t a cat behind closed doors. His own sister could turn from syrup to strychnine in a heartbeat.

Despite her inner strength and determination, Stella was also sensitive and inexperienced. He was still processing that she’d never had sex. It made no difference to him beyond the fact that she needed a slower pace than she might have if she’d had other lovers.

No, he was far more disturbed that she wanted to end their affair within the week. His brain had nearly exploded at that. Hell no. There was no way a week would be long enough to burn out this chemistry between them.

She wouldn’t let him support her, either.

That’s not the kind of relationship I want with you.

She’d made his offer sound tawdry when he was only trying to facilitate her spending as much time as possible with him. He was in demand around the world. He wanted her with him and, if she had worries like a stepmother who struggled to make ends meet, he wanted to alleviate that for her.

“You went to considerable trouble to get this meeting. Let’s get to it.” Rafael closed the door, but didn’t sit or invite him to. He leaned his hips on the desk, comfortable, but no longer the amiable host. Now he was pure CEO.

“You’ve avoided me for years,” Atlas pointed out. “Are you now seeing there are several fronts where DVE could partner with Zamos International and benefit both?”

“I’ve always seen opportunities between our two companies,” Rafael said blithely. “I approached your father eight years ago with a proposal and he slammed the door in my face. It wasn’t a business decision. It was personal. He saw me as an upstart, which I was, but he wanted to keep me down. He wasn’t the only one who treated me that way. I don’t forget a single person that did.” Or forgive, was the heavier implication.

Typical Oliver. He believed himself better than everyone else and therefore entitled to the success he enjoyed. He didn’t even work for it. He succeeded in spite of his bloated sense of self-worth, not because of it. The reality was, Atlas had been responsible for most of the gains at DVE in the last five years. The board knew it, even if Oliver refused to admit it.

“I’m not my father,” Atlas said simply.

“No?” Rafael didn’t look to the ceiling where the murmur of the women’s voices could be heard, but Atlas recognized the comparison to Oliver’s serial philandering.

“No,” he asserted, but it felt less than true when he was jockeying for an affair with an innocent whose advantages were considerably fewer than his own. “I’d love to say yours is the only bridge Oliver has burned over the years. It’s not. I’m doing my best to rebuild them. We have very different approaches. Give me a chance to prove that and I will.”

“Is there any truth to the rumor you’re taking over DVE?” Rafael asked bluntly.

“Oliver’s retirement plans are confidential.” Judging by Oliver’s scathing email reacting to the photos of Atlas with Stella, those plans were postponed indefinitely.

“You’re aware that Zamos closed with Casella Corporation last year? We’re on the brink of a huge expansion.”

Atlas gave a curt nod. It was the reason he had pushed so hard to meet with Rafael. Zamos International would be looking for funds to support and sustain the growth he was projecting. “That’s why I wanted to meet with you.”

“Now is the time to hammer out a letter of understanding, so our companies can expand together,” Rafael said. “The most obvious is the volume of DVE products that Zamos can transport, but there are other areas where we can dovetail.”

“Agreed.” Triumph flared in Atlas. Closing a lucrative deal like this with Rafael would give him the leverage he needed with the board to support his takeover at DVE

“But I won’t negotiate anything with DVE as long as Oliver is at the top,” Rafael said flatly. “I don’t trust him.”

That punched the breath out of him.

If Atlas had been engaged to Iris rather than coming off this scandal with Stella, he might have had a shot at persuading the board to support him in replacing Oliver against his will, but right now he looked as impulsive and supercilious as Oliver.

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