Page 10 of One Week To Claim It All
He looked over at the younger woman and saw that she was looking at her father’s widow through narrowed eyes. There was no love lost there, and that was with Esmeralda unaware of just how low Carmelina had gone to try to push her out. And as far as he was concerned she would never know. He’d promised Ivelisse he’d never tell and he didn’t plan to go back on his word.
But now Esme was poised to take possession of the prize Patricio’s widow had spent decades scheming to control. Carmelina wasn’t stupid, but she was getting more desperate by the day. And a desperate Carmelina was very dangerous.
“What do you want?” He didn’t even attempt to mask his derision for her.
Carmelina was dressed in her usual matching jacket and skirt combo, evoking old-school Jackie O. It was probably custom Chanel. But it didn’t matter how much money the woman spent on designer clothes, she made everything look cheap.
“Just came to personally let you know I’ve forbidden any private footage of my husband from being used for this farce.” She turned to Esme then. “If you don’t know anything about your father, it’s because he wanted it that way. You’re going to have to continue your little attempt at moneygrubbing without watching his interviews.”
“Carmelina,” Rodrigo snapped, menace clear in his voice. “Watch your tone.”
But Esmeralda didn’t flinch or give any indication she was fazed by the woman’s vitriol. “I never requested any footage,” she said, indifferent. “I have plenty to work with.”
“Iasked that the footage be made available to you,” Rodrigo retorted. “It’s from a documentary we were planning as part of the studio’s thirty-fifth anniversary next year. But we weren’t able to finish it.” That pang of dull pain he still felt whenever he thought about Patricio flared in his chest as he spoke to Esme. He could see the conflicted sadness in her eyes at the mention of her father’s passing, such a contrast to Carmelina’s dismissive scoff.
“Is he being very helpful, giving you guidance and advice?” The bitterness that fueled Carmelina resonated in every word she said. “The honorable Rodrigo Almanzar, who turned his back on his own family so he could steal my son’s rightful place. Don’t trust him, querida. This one would betray his own mother to keep this office.” Her voice dripped with contempt, but he’d learned long ago to not let Carmelina’s words get to him. The only thing he cared about was that she didn’t get her talons into Esmeralda.Thathe would not tolerate.
Carmelina wasn’t finished. “He’s the one you need to be careful with, you know. I don’t need Sambrano.” She smiled sharply, a hyena with her prey in her sights. “I haveneverneeded Sambrano Studios—Patricio marriedmeformymoney.” She laughed shrilly. “I’m doing this to preserve my husband’s legacy and what rightfully belongs to hislegitimatechildren.”
He would never lay a hand on a woman, and that was the only thing that kept him from physically removing Patricio’s widow from his office.
“Carmelina, get out,” he snarled, fury boiling over in an instant. The things he could throw in her face about the messes he’d had to get her son out of through the years...
“I have a right to Sambrano, too,” Esmeralda said calmly, as if Carmelina’s hateful words had barely registered.
“Leave.” Even he could hear the menace in his voice.
The older woman shrugged, an unfriendly smile on her lips. “So testy. Don’t worry. I’m going.” She made for the door, but stopped again in front of the rack of dresses. “There’s not couture expensive enough to hide the fact that you’re Patricio’s bastard.”
Esmeralda took her hand off the rack and moved until she was just a few feet away from Carmelina, the smile on her lips dangerous and cold in a way he’d never seen from her.
“Well then,” she said, feigning a placidness she was clearly not feeling. “If people are wagging their tongues anyway I might as well make an appearance at the reception.” Esme crossed her arms and looked straight at her father’s widow. “And if you think coming over here to call me names is going to distract me from wanting to take all this from you, you have another thing coming. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have dresses to try on.”
“Esmeralda, stay right where you are,” he demanded, making the younger woman stop in her tracks. “Carmelina, if you’re done. Miss Sambrano-Peña and I have things to discuss.”
“You’re not winning this,” Carmelina warned Esmeralda before storming out. Rodrigo’s heart pounded like a drum in his chest. But it had nothing to do with Carmelina and everything to do with the hellion in front of him. Esmeralda. Time and distance had done nothing to diminish his desire for her. And now, seeing her like this, standing up proudly, unashamed. Ready to claim her place. It cracked something in him. Despite the mess he’d made of things, he was proud of her, admired her strength.
“She’s really still that terrible, isn’t she?” Esme asked shakily, after he closed the door to the office. She’d held her own but he could see Carmelina had gotten to her.
“She’s worse,” he assured her, exhausted from the exchange. “Forget her. Despite what Carmelina may think, she has no power to override the board’s decisions. You and I are still in the running for CEO and she only gets one vote in that decision.”
“More like three if you count my siblings,” she said with distaste, and he couldn’t deny that was probably true. Perla and Onyx could care less if the studio went up in flames as long as someone still covered their Amex bills.
“My hope is that it won’t come down to their three votes. Carmelina has a lot of enemies on that board, and people won’t just go along with her. Put her out of your mind for now. I have something to show you.” He lifted his hand to take hers, but then just let it fall to his side, curbing once more the almost overwhelming need to touch her. He went to the hidden door on the wall parallel to his desk and pushed on the panel. It slid to the side to reveal the hidden bedroom suite that Patricio had built for himself. Rodrigo had no idea why he was doing this. There was no reason for him to show her this now.
“You’re joking,” Esme said, as she looked at the narrow hallway that led to a spacious bedroom with an en suite bathroom. “Please tell me this isn’t some kind of assignation room, because I really don’t think I can handle that image of my father.”
A laugh burst out of him at the feigned horror in her voice, and the warmth that spread in his chest at being able to hear her make jokes again was a revelation. “I can’t confirm or deny what went on in this room, but I do know that Patricio had it built a long time ago. The man always had a flair for imitating some of the telenovelas he produced, for better or worse.” He frowned at the memory of the night his mentor had first shown him what was behind the secret panel. Patricio had confessed that not even six months into their marriage, he’d needed to find a way to get some distance from Carmelina. He lived for his work, so he’d built himself a suite where he could stay when he needed to focus on Sambrano.
“His marriage to Carmelina was never a happy one. It was a business arrangement that those two had, and initially I imagine it seemed mutually beneficial, but in the last ten years I saw Patricio become harder...bitter. They brought out the worst in each other. He always said that the only person who could remind him of who he was before he built all this was your mother.”
“He didn’t deserve her,” she said quietly, still not taking a step toward the bedroom.
“No, he didn’t. And I think how things ended with them was one of his biggest regrets.” He extended a hand toward the bedroom. “You can change in there. Figure out which dress you want to wear.” He pointed at the garment bag hanging from a hook on the wall next to his office door. “I’m changing here, too.”
She didn’t look too sure about it, but when he pushed the rack into the room she followed. “My assistant can get you that makeup artist.”
This time her expression was hard to decipher. Not shuttered, but also not exactly open, either. “I think I can handle my hair and makeup.” She paused as she looked at him again, like she was hoping to find whatever underlying motives he had to do this for her. “But thank you for the dress. I think you’re right. I need to show the boardandCarmelina that I’m not planning on scurrying away. I’m here to work, but I’m also here to claim my place. And if that means champagne and canapés at The Cloisters, then so be it.”
