Page 5 of One Week To Claim It All
“Excellent.” Octavio certainly did not seem like a foe now, and she could use a friend or two in her corner.
“I’ll need a space to work and access to the archives and programming schedule. I’ll also need to receive briefings from each production studio.” Blood rushed to her ears as her mind raced with all the things she needed to prepare. “Including film. I know they’re on the West Coast, but we’ll need to set up a conference call with the different heads of departments.” She pulled out her phone to make some notes and stood up, ready to get started.
“Esmeralda.” Her head snapped up at the tone in Octavio’s voice; something about the way he called her name made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. “Rodrigo Almanzar, who has served as interim CEO for the past year and was our CCO for almost eight years prior to that, will be your go-to person as you prepare. He will also be consulting with you on the content we’d like to see.”
No. No.No.
Her body ran hot and cold at that piece of news. This was it. The reason why Octavio had been all pleasant and calm about all this. They never intended her to take the position. This was all theatrics. They’d pretend they were giving her a chance while Rodrigo tripped her up every step of the way. This was the board covering their asses before they shut her out.Of courseRodrigo would help them do this to her; the board probably hatched this plan the moment they learned about Patricio’s will. She fisted her hands, struggling to suffuse the hurt and anger boiling within her.
This was how it was in the boardroom. Low down dirty tricks and backstabbing. They expected her to tuck her tail between their legs and thank them for setting her up to fail. Well, she would show them. “If that’s what the board wishes.” Her voice was as cold as she could make it, and when she turned to Rodrigo she could hardly see him through her narrowed eyes. “I’m sure Mr. Almanzar will do his duty. He always does. No matter the consequences.” She infused that with as much venom as she could, but it seemed he was not taking the bait.
“You can call me Rodrigo, Esmeralda.” He was next to her, so close that she could swear she felt the heat radiating from him body.
“Only my friends call me Esmeralda, and you’re not my friend,” she said, before turning away.
Octavio cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. “We trust that Rodrigo will do what is best for the studio.” The finality in the man’s voice told her there was no point in arguing. This was what she had to work with.
She turned her gaze to her former lover. His mouth was in that mutinous line again but she could see the hurt in his eyes. Her words had put it there. She dearly wished she didn’t react to that knowledge. But more than anything, she wished that Rodrigo Almanzar was not who she would need to work with on this. Because beyond anything he was planning to do, her own feelings for him were her biggest liability.
She willed herself to feel nothing as she looked around the boardroom again, her eyes never stopping, not even on Carmelina’s smug face. “I’ll get to work then. I will see you all here in a week.”
With that she strode out of the boardroom, Rodrigo hot on her heels. But if Esmeralda had learned one lesson from her mother it was that when life gave you lemons you made lemonade. She vowed to herself the next time she walked out of this room, she would be the new president and CEO of Sambrano Studios.
Four
Rodrigo followed Esmeralda out of the boardroom, his mind reeling from what had gone down in there. He’d had no idea this was the board’s plan. Octavio had not been dead set against Patricio’s request, but some in the board were furious about it. They’d told him they were going to activate a contingency plan in the event she actually showed up. This was the brilliant idea they’d come up with? Forcing him to be the one to walk her through this fiasco and take the brunt of her anger when things went sideways? Because she would mostly likely fail. Having industry experience did not translate to having the know-how to manage a billion-dollar studio.
And he would not pull punches when it came down to it.
And where the hell was she going?
“Esmeralda, wait,” he called as she made a beeline away from the boardroom. “We need to talk.”
“I need a minute, Rodrigo.” She still wasn’t facing him, but he could hear the tension in her shaky voice. His protective instincts immediately kicked in, urging him to reach for her. He’d always had a hard time keeping his head in the game when it came to this woman. Which was why over the next week he’d have to remind himself as much as necessary that Esmeralda was his competition. Just from those few minutes in the boardroom he knew it would be a grave mistake to not take her seriously.
Not that he had ever thought Esmeralda was anything but brilliant. But what she’d done today, that took guts. To walk into that boardroom and claim her place had to have been terrifying, but she’d done it and held her own. He respected that. And even now, when it felt like the stress of it all was enough to make him snap in two, it was hard to ignore the pulse of desire. And this was absolutely not the moment for any of that.
“Joya, espera.” As he expected, that stopped her in her tracks. She turned on him, those leonine eyes flashing with fury.
“You don’t get to call me that anymore, Rodrigo Almanzar.” Her mouth was pursed, nostrils flaring as she glared at him.
It had been a low blow, he knew that, to use the nickname he used to call her all those years ago, when against his better judgment he’d gotten involved with Esmeralda. No,involvedmade it seem like it had been a fling, something that had run its course after a time. When in fact it had been earth-shattering, all-consuming, the thing that brought him almost to the brink of losing everything. But that was what she’d been: his jewel.
Patricio Sambrano had named his children after precious stones. Esmeralda, Onyx, Perla. And Esmewasthe first jewel in her father’s life. But Patricio never knew how to care for her the way she deserved. He’d never been able to appreciate the gem he’d been given. But Rodrigo had. He’d loved her as a kid, been protective of her. Of the child who lived in the shadows of her father’s life. And then he’d loved her as a woman, who even at twenty had had a clear sense of who she was. Ten years of hustling for a dream that seemed to stay constantly out of her reach had not dimmed her light. If anything, at thirty she shone even brighter.
At the moment the light in Esme’s eyes was not warm, it was mutinous. He gestured to one of the small workrooms that were scattered around the studio. Private offices where the staff who worked in cubes could have a conference call or work on more sensitive material without disrupting others. “Let’s talk in here.” He would’ve taken her to his office, but since that was the office she was here gunning for, he figured they’d stay in neutral territory.
She wasn’t moving, her feet firmly planted on the ground. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” She pointed in the direction they’d both come from, her face pinched with fury. “You set all that up.”
He considered her for a moment. The stubborn set of her shoulders, the defiant look in her eyes. Just beyond that there was a small quiver of lips, and a brittleness to her demeanor that told him this was getting to her. And if she was anyone else, he’d go in for the kill. He’d begin listing every reason why she would fail. How unprepared she was. But thiswasEsmeralda.
“I had no idea this was what they were planning.” From her expression it was clear she didn’t believe him, and he wished that didn’t sting as much as it did. “Despite how you or the rest of the world may feel about me, I don’t actually spend my day scheming about how to steal this company.”
“You have no idea how I feel about anything,” she said coldly, before turning on her heel and heading into one of the offices. His eyes instantly drifted to the curve of her waist and the swell of her backside as he walked in after her and closed the door.
Her smell filled the space. The same spicy fragrance of lemongrass and ginger that she’d been using for years. This was going to be an absolute fiasco, but not in the way Esmeralda thought. He was the problem,his reaction to herwas the issue.
“I know you’re angry, but you won’t win by letting your emotions get to you.”
