Page 12 of One Week To Claim It All
Eight
“Ex-girlfriend,” Rodrigo reminded Esmeralda for the fifth time since they’d arrived at The Cloisters. He should’ve been glad that his ex, Jimena, had shown up when she did. Saving him from himself and the utterly idiotic thing he’d been about to do. He didn’t know what was going on with him. Ever since Esmeralda has stepped into that boardroom he’d been doing one stupid thing after the other. And what was worse, he could not make himself feel sorry for any of it. And didn’t that make him a fool.
“She certainly seemed all cozy with you for being an ex.” He returned his attention to Esmeralda, who was currently glaring at the beautifully lit courtyard where the reception was being hosted. The Cloisters were built as a replica of a medieval French abbey, with priceless tapestries and grand limestone arches everywhere. The reception was in a semi-enclosed rose garden, which was lit by what seemed like thousands of twinkling lights. It was stunning, but so far Esmeralda seemed unimpressed. She’d been in a mood on the drive over to the reception, too, as if he’d violated some kind of code by dating someone without her knowledge.
No. That primal thing pulsing in his chest was not satisfaction from seeing her jealous. Because he was not that stupid. Except, Esmeralda had always been the one place where Rodrigo forgot himself. The person who drove him to break his carefully guarded rules. She’d been the one person in his life who could always recognize the toll it took on him to hold his family together when his father lost everything they had in casinos. She had been the one to show up at the hospital while he waited for his mother to have her first round of chemo that summer they’d become more than friends. She’d been his harbor, and he’d desperately wanted to be hers. But instead he’d been one more person in her life to disappoint her.
“We’re friends, Esmeralda.”
She pursed her lips in a familiar expression he recognized as “stop BSing me” and his lips tugged up of their own volition. “We’re grown adults who had a relationship, and then when things ran their course, we ended it amicably.” He shrugged while she scowled and no matter what he did that feeling like his chest was expanding would not quit. Yes, he liked that she was being possessive. Even if he could do absolutely nothing with that.
“We’re colleagues. She’s one of the legal counsels for Sambrano, and honestly we’re better as friends.” Esme raised an eyebrow in question, apparently still too annoyed at him to talk. He couldn’t help the humor in his voice when he explained. “It means we’re both too committed to our jobs to be good partners.”
“So you say.”
Damn, but she was sexy when she got like this. He dearly wished he could drag her to a dark corner and give her a real reason to be hot and bothered. Could she really be upset about this? Or maybe Jimena said something to her. The woman could be a bit of a pit bull when it came to her loved ones, and Esmewastechnically gunning for his job. “Did she say anything untoward to you when I excused myself to use the restroom?”
He cleared his throat at the mention of the moment after Jimena had walked in on them kissing. He’d had to escape to another room before he embarrassed himself.
To his relief Esme shook her head. “No. Nothing like that. She wasn’t super friendly, but she wasn’t hostile, either. I didn’t know that was your type,” she said, before taking a sip from the flute of Moët she’d gotten off one of the servers. Again his dick was getting ideas. But it was hard not to when she was looking at him with those curious tawny eyes, her sensual mouth parted slightly as if she was waiting for his answer with bated breath.
“My type?” he asked tersely, and that brought a pink flush to her skin, and damn but he wanted to ravage her.
“Ivy League prep school, Latinx dynasty.” He tried to read her expression, listened for mockery in her tone. To his surprise all he caught was a bit of discomfort there. She looked...embarrassed as her gaze roamed the crowded room. “We’ve been here less than ten minutes and you’ve already run into three people you went to Yale with.” Ah, she felt out of place. Esmeralda hated feeling like an outsider. She always had. And if she’d been his, he’d make sure every person in this room knew she was a queen. That they needed to bow down to her. It was what she deserved. But she wasn’t his anything. Not anymore.
“You mean pretentious asses who think they’re better than everyone?” His teasing tone brought a smile to her lips.
“Yeah. Something like that.” She smiled wide and again a pulse of something that felt a lot like happiness glowed in his chest. And he absolutely needed to wean himself off the need to comfort Esmeralda. Him trying to fulfill that particular role had already cost him too much.
“It’s the world you’re fighting to get into. Don’t lose sight of that,” he answered harshly and he saw the moment his words sank in. The softness in her mouth turned into a taut line and her honey-colored eyes, which had been wide and curious seconds before, narrowed in a shuttered expression.
“Oh, believe me. I’m very aware of the kind of compromises involved. I’ve seen it happen.” She ran her eyes over him and then stormed off without another word.
His face tightened and his pulse quickened as shame coursed through him—and he welcomed it. This was what needed to happen. Pushing her away was the sane thing to do. He would give her the help she needed like he’d been tasked. But nothing between them could be like it used to. Because there was no middle ground for him when it came to Esmeralda. And at the end of this week he would have to be ruthless if he wanted to stay CEO.
“She’s seen the error of her ways then.” Instead of answering Jimena’s taunt he took a long drink from his tumbler of Zacapa Centenario as he watched Esme storm off.
“You’re not funny. And is sneaking up on people your new hobby?” he asked gruffly as he turned to face his friend.
She grinned as she reached for his glass.
“Get your own, Jimena.”
“Oh, my. So moody,” she muttered, looking in the direction Esmeralda had gone. “She can clearly still get under your skin. And wow, you’re on her like a hawk.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He sounded pissed off and distracted because he was, tracking every step his rival for the top job at the studio made around the courtyard. He noticed he wasn’t the only person aware of the fact that Esmeralda Sambrano was the most stunning woman in the room. People were turning to look at her and, yes, it was curiosity, at least at first, but plenty of them were sending her appreciative and very long glances as she made her way through the crowd. Once she got to the bar, she was barely standing there for a second when men started swarming her. She was handling them like a pro, though. Polite but keeping her distance.
“I’m just making sure she’s talking to the right people.”
Jimena laughed at that, because he was lying his ass off and they both knew it. “Sure, you’re all business. She’s nice, not what I expected. But she’s too pure, Rodrigo. She won’t be able to swim with these sharks and keep that idealism.”
“She can handle them. I wasn’t sure she was up for it, but she’s a fighter. You should’ve seen her today going toe to toe with Carmelina. People underestimate her because she’s not cynical and jaded. She’s not what they’re used to. But she’s sharp and she’s hungry. She’s willing to bust her ass to get what she wants and that’s how she can win.” He meant every word, too. He knew her father’s rejection hurt her, but not growing up around the likes of Carmelina Sambrano and her scheming had let Esme grow in ways she would not have been able to otherwise. She had integrity and a work ethic like only the child of immigrants could have, and that would take her far.
“Sharp, hungry and willing to work is not exactly what I’d associate with Sambrano offspring, that’s for sure.” Jimena was not a fan of Carmelinaorher children. The three of them had been an ongoing headache for the entire legal department at the studio. “I know you want this job, but are you willing to see her get destroyed by the likes of Carmelina Sambrano? Because that’s what she’ll do under the guise of ‘protecting the legacy.’ Try to break her down. She’s done it before. She did it to Patricio.” Jimena’s voice was barely over a whisper when she said that last part. And she was right, Patricio’s illness had ravaged him, but his wife had accelerated the process.
Rodrigo kept his gaze on Esmeralda as he talked to Jimena. “I’ll make sure Carmelina doesn’t get up to any of her tricks, but this is a competition and I’m not Esmeralda’s protector.”
That elicited an amused laugh from Jimena. “Are you sure about that?”
