Page 13 of One Week To Claim It All
“I’m serious, I—”
He never got the last of that sentence out because at the next moment Onyx Sambrano made sure every pair of eyes in the place were on him and Esmeralda.
Esmeralda let her eyes roam around the room and noticed that Carmelina and Onyx were talking in a corner, their shoulders stiff as they leaned toward each other, heads close together. It was almost like they were attempting to talk while staying as far away from each other as possible. The tension in her brother’s body was noticeable even at a distance. Esmeralda sipped from her champagne as she watched them, intrigued by the discomfort in their body language. Such a striking difference from the warmth and ease she had with her own mother.
They were clearly in a heated conversation but there was no warmth there. Abruptly, Onyx backed away from his mother, his lighter complexion mottled with red. He looked angry as he stormed off, leaving Carmelina to glare at him. Whatever had passed between those two had not been a pleasant mother and son moment. Esme’s eyes stayed on Carmelina’s angry face for a second, but the woman stormed off in the direction of the stairs.
Esme’s gaze returned to roaming the lavish garden until she found her other sibling. Unlike Esmeralda, who had gotten her coloring from their father, Perla Sambrano was fair and very slender, almost frail looking. She was beautiful, with cascading blond hair and piercing gray eyes. Tonight, she was dressed impeccably in a royal purple empire-waist gown, though she looked very small standing in a corner trying to capture the attention of a man who barely seemed to notice she was there. He was tall and commanding, dwarfing her with his height. She looked like she was pleading to him, but he barely looked at her, and after a few more attempts she gave up and walked away, swiping her fingers under her eyes.
As Perla briskly made her way to the exit she seemed to notice Esme, and for a moment she paused, hesitant. Esme’s heart kicked around in her chest, curiosity and the need to feel seen by these people betraying her feigned indifference. Perla looked in her direction so intensely that for a second Esme thought she was going to walk over, to say something. But she didn’t; her younger sister just lowered her gaze and left through one of the limestone arches. Esme didn’t know what to make of the disappointment she felt when her sister walked away. Nothing was simple in this place, with this family. Every feeling only served to burst open another more complicated and unwanted one.
Esme stood there considering the tableau she’d just witnessed—and trying to untangle her feelings about all of it—when her phone buzzed in her clutch. She smiled sadly at the flurry of messages she had from her mother and her tías. She’d sent a selfie of herself in her green gown and their responses ranged from firework emojis tobellísima,hermosaand every other word for “beautiful” in Spanish they could come up with. It was a good reminder she had people who loved her waiting not far from here. People who had her back and would never leave her to cry alone in a corner, or speak angry words to her where everyone could see. She had something to prove to the Sambranos, but she didn’t need their approval.
“Well, well, well...if it isn’t my father’s dirty little secret. Are you getting tired of pretending you belong here?” a very loud voice called in her direction. It took Esme a moment to react, but then she saw him. Onyx was sauntering up to her unsteadily as every eye in their vicinity turned toward her. Her face felt hot with embarrassment and she wanted to hide. She hated being a spectacle. But if Onyx thought he was going to hurl insults at her and she’d just take it, he had another thing coming.
“Nice to see you, Onyx. Did you have to take some time out from your busy schedule of photobombing celebrities to make it tonight?” She sounded like a bitch, but she didn’t care.
“I hope you enjoy the free booze, because you won’t be around much longer.” From the slur in his words, it seemed he was enjoying the open bar enough for the both of them. “You will never be CEO of Sambrano. My mother will see to that.” Her brother’s mouth twisted into an ugly sneer as he looked at her with naked loathing. He really hated her, which shouldn’t have been the surprise it was. On the couple of occasions her mother had sent her to spend time at their father’s house, Onyx had barely acknowledged her.
He was just a couple of years younger than her and they’d both been small then—barely in elementary school—but she always remembered how he’d looked at her. Like she was something distasteful and unpleasant. Something he didn’t like in his space. And it seemed like that feeling had only grown in the years since. That realization was a sucker punch. She’d expected defiance, even some territorial pettiness, but this hatred cut her. To know that people who shared her blood despised her without knowing much about her...
It hurt, but she would be damned if she let anyone see it.
“Sorry to inform you, brother, but Sambrano Studios is mine, too. That was how our father wanted it. Now you and I even own equal shares.” She tipped her glass to him as if to toast the happy news, even as her stomach felt like it was trying to crawl up her throat. “Means you better get used to seeing me around.” She avoided looking around, not wanting to see all the disapproving faces. She could agonize about it all later, but right now she would not give any of them the satisfaction.
Onyx looked even more furious. “You don’t belong here. You’re not his real daughter!” he spat, stalking closer. But before he could take another step toward her, Rodrigo yanked Onyx’s arms so hard he lifted him off his feet.
“Don’t even think about it!” Rodrigo whispered furiously, as he plucked her brother off his feet like a rag doll and proceeded to physically remove him from the room. She started after them as Onyx struggled in Rodrigo’s grip, but it was pointless. Onyx was not a large man and he was certainly no match for six feet and two inches of solid muscle.
“Let me go.” Her brother raged as Rodrigo made his way through the room, headed for the archway that led to an exit. You could hear a pin drop in the room, other than Onyx’s enraged protests and the clicking of her stilettos as she followed the two men. Every single person in the room was frozen in fascination watching the drama unfold. She should’ve known this would happen. In the back of her mind it occurred to her that this was very much out of character for Rodrigo. The man hated messiness but here he was diving right into the fray. It was better not to dig too deeply into the why of his actions. She already had enough to deal with.
She wouldn’t be surprised if a video of this shitshow wasn’t on every New York City gossip website within the hour. From the corner of her eye she thought she saw Perla looking on as Rodrigo manhandled her brother. For a second she wondered if Carmelina would join this circus, and really give all these people the show of a lifetime. But Rodrigo moved fast and soon he was shoving Onyx through a door leading into a small alcove and propping the smaller man against the nearest wall.
“Rodrigo, put him down,” she pleaded from a safe distance, aware that getting between the two men was not advisable.
But it was like talking to a wall. He completely ignored her and continued to get in Onyx’s face. If people could only see the cool, calm and collected Mr. Almanzar now. “Are you out of your damn mind, Onyx?”
“Get your hands off me,” Onyx screeched, batting furiously at the tight grip Rodrigo had on his arm to no avail. When he wasn’t able to make the taller man budge, Onyx looked around as if he could find someone to help him. When his eyes landed on Esme that familiar vicious expression returned to his face.
“Oh, I see how it is. You two are scheming together.” He threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, honey, have you hitched your star to the wrong wagon. This one is a cold-blooded bastard. He only looks out for himself. If he’s who you’re counting on then we definitely have nothing to worry about.” He twisted his mouth into what she assumed was a satisfied smile.
“I guess you do have something against people who work for a living,little brother.”Esme knew the smartest move was to keep her mouth shut and let Rodrigo handle Onyx. But it incensed her to hear her brother talk about her ex-lover like that when he’d done so much to keep their father’s company going.Rodrigo shot her a surprised look, then turned his attention back to Onyx when he tried to lunge for her.
“You don’t know anything about me. About any of us. You’re not a part of this family.” Onyx’s ugly sneer disappeared when Rodrigo shook him hard, pressing him harder to the wall.
“Don’t talk to her. You little shit, you’re not good enough to lick her fucking boots.” Onyx paled and even Esmeralda could hear the cold menace in Rodrigo’s voice.
This was a freaking mess. Rodrigo was seconds from completely losing his temper and when he did this was truly going to go to hell in a handbasket. Onyx would make sure everyone knew what had happened and somehow she’d be blamed for it. She moved fast and got as close as she could without running the risk of getting elbowed in the face.
“Rodrigo, please stop,” she asked with as much calm as she could manage. “He’s not worth it. He’s got nothing to lose. We do.” She could see how the words landed by the way he ground his jaw. After a moment, he stepped back and released his grip on Onyx, who stumbled for a moment, but quickly began to run his mouth again.
“If you’re sleeping with him, my advice is that you cut your losses now. He’ll sell you out in a minute to stay on top.”
“Are you trying to get your ass beat, Onyx?” Rodrigo growled. “I’m so fucking tired of you people and your drama.” Onyx just weaved in place, that drunk smile on his face. They’d keep doing this all night until they came to blows or Onyx barfed, and she’d had enough.
You people.The loathing in Rodrigo’s voice was like a slap in the face. He meant the Sambranos. He meant her, too.
“I didn’t ask you to get involved in this, Rodrigo. I can take care of myself.” She didn’t even give him a chance to respond and moved toward the door. She was done with this. She needed to get back to what she was here to do: prove to the board she was the only one who could take the helm of the television empire.
