Page 26 of One Week To Claim It All
“Good,” Jimena said approvingly. “I’ll have my assistant arrange a car for you,”
Esmeralda shook her head. “It’s only a few blocks from here, it’ll take longer to drive. Besides, it’ll give me a chance to calm down.”
Rodrigo’s friend canted her head to the side, as if she were only now really looking at Esmeralda. “You have guts, but you’re not a hothead,” she stated, approval in her voice. “You’ll be good for him.”
Esme was not going to answer that, and made a move to walk out, but Jimena’s voice stopped her. “He’ll be pissed I told you, but it’s about time Rodrigo learned he can’t do everything on his own.”
Sixteen
“Iknew you’d come. I told that girl you’re only loyal to yourself.”
Rodrigo took one deep breath and then another as he walked into the small conference room Carmelina had arranged to sell out her husband’s legacy. He looked at her and could barely keep the bile from rising in his throat. Carmelina had been a beautiful woman when she was young, with her pale skin and striking blue eyes. But she had not aged gracefully. Her face was twisted and swollen from too many procedures. She wore one of her signature Chanel suits in a navy blue with cream on the neck and cuffs. It was expensive and elegant, but on her it looked shabby, ill-fitting.
“So you’ve taken it upon yourself to sell the studio,” he stated, barely able to contain his anger.
“Yes, I have.” She looked smug as hell sitting at the head of the conference room table waiting for him. She really thought she had him. After years of trying to manipulate him, she thought she’d managed to find the one thing he would betray Sambrano over. But that had always been Carmelina’s problem—she was too self-interested to ever notice that not everyone was motivated by the same things she was. She’d invited him here thinking she had him in her clutches. She had no idea how badly she’d miscalculated.
“You didn’t think it was appropriate to consult the board on your plan to sell three-quarters of the company out from under them?” he asked, too incensed at this woman to not demand answers.
Carmelina lifted a shoulder as she poured packet after packet of sweetener into her iced tea. “I don’t need to consult the board. All I needed was three out of the four majority shareholders on board. I have that,” she said triumphantly. She smiled that cutting, menacing smile and a wave of disgust ran down Rodrigo’s spine. “This isn’t about money. This is about preserving the respectability of our name.”
“Stop, Carmelina. We both know what this is about—spite and money. You can’t get rid of Esmeralda, so you’d rather see Patricio’s company destroyed.” He didn’t know if he was expecting remorse or even a flicker of emotion, but it was like talking to a wall.
“I guess youaresmarter than you look, Rodrigo.”
He ignored the jab as he fought for control. “Do you not care at all about the ramifications of this?”
“The only thing I care about is making sure I never have to hear or see that girl’s name again.”
He couldn’t take it anymore. “Esmeralda being a part of the studio was Patricio’s decision. It was his final wish, for goodness sake. Are you so dead inside that you don’t care about your husband’s legacy?”
“Patricio was always too sentimental. I’m the only one who’s willing to do what’s necessary. This is for the best.” That’s how Carmelina had done it all these years. The woman was so good at persuading people because the truth wasn’t even a concept to her. She sounded convincing because to her, if she said it,it wasthe truth.
She looked Rodrigo up and down, her eyes roaming from his face all the way to his shoes, and the expression on her face told him that as always she found him thoroughly lacking. “But that’s something someone like you would never understand.”
Ten, hell, even five years ago those words would’ve stung. The reminder of his family’s shame, of what his father had done slicing across his pride. Because she was right—there were not enough Brioni or Zegna suits in the world to cover up the fact that if it wasn’t for Patricio’s help his family would’ve ended up on the street. But he was not ashamed of who he was, and his conscience was clean. He’d never taken advantage of anyone to get to where he was. And now he had amassed enough wealth to never have to worry about money again. Rodrigo knew exactly what it took to stay on top when everyone around you wanted to see you fall. And what Carmelina didn’t know was that he was about to beat her at her own game.
“That must be Deringer and his people.” Carmelina jumped to her feet as the door opened. “And try not to look like you’re about to go to the gallows, Rodrigo, would you?”
In that moment three men walked into the room—one he recognized as Deringer, the other men he assumed were his attorneys. Deringer’s face was constantly all over the news. The online retail magnate who had turned his interests to television and film, and in the past few years had amassed multiple networks, streaming services and film studios. The disturbing part was that he seemed to transform the programming into nothing but advertisements for his other companies. If Deringer acquired Sambrano he would turn it into a whitewashed Spanish language infomercial.
“Gentlemen, come in,” Carmelina crowed, all smiles. The introductions were being made when a harried Onyx walked into the room.
“Ah, my children are here, we can finally get started.” The frown on the younger man’s face and the worry lines bracketing his mouth were a sharp contrast to Carmelina’s overly genial tone. Carmelina kept her eyes on the door to the conference room while Onyx whispered in her ear, as if waiting for someone else to walk in.
Rodrigo smiled to himself, well aware of what was coming. He caught the exact moment she understood what was unfolding. Her shoulders stiffened and her mouth twisted into a snarl. He could tell she was battling to control herself. That she didn’t want Deringer to figure out there was a problem. And Rodrigo went in for the kill.
“Perla’s not coming, Carmelina,” he said in her same sickly sweet tone. She pivoted her head up, looking at him suspiciously.
“Of course she is,” she snapped, and then stopped herself, probably remembering she had an audience.
“Is there an issue?” asked one of the two men flanking Deringer. The magnate had not looked up from whatever he was doing on his phone, seemingly only there to sign the paperwork and go on with his day. The fact that Carmelina was willing to hand over everything her husband had worked so hard for to someone who only saw it as another pawn in his chessboard galvanized Rodrigo’s anger.
“Just a little hiccup with my daughter. But we’ll get her over here right away,” Carmelina assured the man as Onyx looked at his mother with a terrified expression.
“Oh, I’d say there’s more than a little hiccup,” Rodrigo told her. “You no longer have seventy-five percent of the shares to sell.”
Carmelina laughed hysterically, her eyes wide as she rushed to talk over Rodrigo. “What are you talking about? My children and I are ready to sell to Global Networks. We have three out of four votes as majority shareholders.”
