Les Frères de la Vega, Tome 1 : Une nuit à Paris

** Extrait offert par Angela Bissell **

‘You owe me for this, Xav.’

Ramon de la Vega dropped into a chair in front of his brother’s desk and stretched out his legs.

Eight hours on a transatlantic commercial flight, another hour in the back of a company limo inching through endless queues of bumper-to-bumper traffic, and he felt as if he’d been straitjacketed for a week.

His mood carefully harnessed, he lounged back and perched his feet on the corner of his brother’s desk. ‘I had planned to spend the weekend in Vegas,’ he added.

His brother, Xavier, sat in a high-backed chair on the other side of the massive oak desk—an antique heirloom their father had handed down along with the company reins to his eldest son. Behind him a thick pane of wall-to-wall glass framed a sweeping view of Barcelona that drew no more than a brief, disinterested glance from Ramon. Instead, he focused on his brother, who looked impossibly cool and immaculate in a dark tailored suit in spite of the mid-August heat. As always, Xav’s features were stern, his posture stiff. Only his right hand moved, his fingertips drumming an incessant beat on the desktop’s fine leather inlay.

The sound, amplified by the dearth of any other in the vast corner office, penetrated Ramon’s eardrums like a blunt needle and reminded him that flying and alcohol made for an unwise mix.

‘Doing what?’ Xav’s voice carried the hint of a sneer. ‘Gambling or womanising?’

Ramon ignored the disdain in his brother’s voice and unleashed his grin—the one he knew could fell a woman at fifty paces. Or tease the tension out of an uptight client in a matter of seconds. Against his only sibling, however, the impact was negligible. ‘It is called recreation, brother.’ He kept his tone light. ‘You should try it some time.’

The deep plunge of Xav’s eyebrows suggested he’d sooner lose an arm than indulge in such hedonistic pursuits. His fingers stopped drumming—mercifully—and curled into a loose fist. ‘Get your feet off my desk.’ His gaze raked over Ramon’s jeans and shirt before snapping back to his feet. ‘And where the hell are your shoes?’

Ramon dropped his feet to the floor. His loafers were… He squinted, trying to remember where he’d left them. Ah, yes. In the outer office. Under the desk of the pretty brunette whose name had already escaped him. He considered the rest of his appearance: stonewashed designer jeans; a loose open-necked white shirt, creased from travel; and a jaw darkened by eighteen-plus hours’ worth of stubble. A far cry from his brother’s impeccable attire and his own usual standard, but a man had to travel in comfort. Especially when his brother had had the nerve to issue an urgent summons and then deny him use of the company jet.

Ramon made a mental note.

Buy my own plane.

At least the curvy redheaded flight attendant in First Class who’d served him meals and refreshments during the flight from New York hadn’t minded his attire. But, yes, for the Vega Corporation’s head office in the heart of Barcelona’s thriving business district, he was most definitely under-dressed.

Still, Xav needed to chill. Cut him some slack. He had ditched everything, including a weekend in Las Vegas with his old Harvard pals, and flown nearly four thousand miles across the North Atlantic—all because his brother had called out of the blue and told him he needed him.

Needed him, no less.

Words Ramon had once imagined would never tumble from his proud brother’s mouth.

Yet, incredibly, they had.

Beyond that surprising entreaty, Xav had offered no more by way of explanation and Ramon had not demanded one. As CEO, Xav technically outranked him but it wasn’t his seniority that commanded Ramon’s loyalty. Xav was family. And when it came to family there was one truth Ramon could never escape.

He owed them.

Still, he allowed his grin to linger. Not because his mood leaned toward humour—nothing about being back in Spain tickled his funny bone—but rather because he knew it would irritate his brother. ‘Flying makes my feet swell,’ he said, ‘and your secretary offered to massage them while you were wrapping up your meeting.’

A look of revulsion slid over Xav’s face. ‘Please tell me you are joking.’

‘Sí, brother.’ Ramon broadened his grin. ‘I am.’

Though he had got the impression as he’d kicked off his shoes and settled in for a friendly chat with…Lola?…Lorda?…that she’d happily massage a lot more than his feet if he gave her half a chance. And maybe he would if she was willing. Because God knew he’d need a distraction while he was here. Some way to escape the toxic memories that sooner or later would defy his conscious mind and claw their way to the surface.

Xav pinched the bridge of his nose, a Lord give me patience gesture that reminded Ramon of their father, Vittorio. Not that any likeness could be attributed to genetics: Xav had been adopted at birth by their parents after two failed pregnancies. Four years later Ramon had come along—the miracle child the doctors had told his mother she’d never conceive let alone carry to term.

Miracle Child.

The moniker made Ramon’s gut burn. He hated it. He was no heaven-sent miracle. Just ask the Castano family, or the Mendosas. No doubt they would all vehemently agree and then, for good measure, throw in a few fitting alternatives.

Ramon could think of one or two himself.

Like Angel of Death.

Or maybe Devil Incarnate.

He snapped his thoughts out of the dark mire of his past. This was why he gave Spain a wide berth whenever possible. Too many ghosts lurked here. Too many reminders. ‘Tell me why I’m here,’ he demanded, his patience dwindling.

‘There’s a board meeting tomorrow.’

He frowned. ‘I thought the next quarterly meeting was six weeks from now.’ He made a point of knowing when the board meetings were scheduled for so he could arrange to be elsewhere. In his experience, day-long gatherings with a bunch of pedantic, censorious old men were a special brand of torture to be studiously avoided. ‘Since when does our board meet on a Saturday?’

‘Since I decided to call an emergency meeting less than twenty-four hours ago.’

Ramon felt his mood start to unravel. ‘Why the hell didn’t you say over the phone it was a board meeting you were dragging me over here for?’

‘Because you would have found an excuse not to come,’ Xav snapped. ‘You would rather waste your time at a poker table—or buried between the legs of some entirely unsuitable woman!’

Ramon’s brows jerked down. ‘That’s out of order,’ he growled.

Abruptly Xav stood up, stalked to the window behind him and stared out. Ramon glowered at his back. Xav was out of order. Yes, Ramon avoided the boardroom. Pandering to the board, keeping the old cronies happy, was his brother’s responsibility. Not his. But no one could deny that he gave his pound of flesh to the Vega Corporation. He’d done so every year for the last five years, in fact. Ever since he’d accepted the vice-presidential role his father had offered him on his twenty-fifth birthday. He’d side-lined his architectural career. Gone from designing luxury hotels and upscale entertainment complexes to buying them and overseeing their management.

He’d excelled—and he’d realised in that first year of working hard to prove himself that this was how he could repay his family. How he could compensate in a tangible way for the pain he’d inflicted, the destruction his eighteen-year-old self had wrought and the shame he’d brought on his family. He could stamp his mark on the business. Contribute to its success.

It had been a tall order. The de la Vega empire was well-established. Successful. It spanned continents and industries, from construction and real estate to hospitality and entertainment. Any contribution Ramon made had to be significant.

He had risen to the challenge.

First with his acquisition of the Chastain Group—a collection of luxury resorts and boutique hotels which had doubled Vega Corporation’s market share on the European continent, and then with the expansion of their portfolio of private members’ clubs into a lucrative network of sophisticated high-end establishments.

Yes, he had made his mark.

And yet to his brother—and most of the board—the spectacular results he’d achieved year upon year seemed to matter far less than how he chose to conduct his personal life.

It rankled.

He didn’t deliberately court the press but neither did he waste his time trying to dodge the attention. Evade one paparazzo and ten more would materialise from the shadows. It was easier to give them what they wanted. Flash his trademark grin at the cameras, drape his arm around the waist of a beautiful woman and the tabloids and their gossip-hungry readers would be satisfied.

But dare to deny them and they’d stalk you like prey. Look for scandal where none existed. Or, worse, where it did exist. And the last thing he needed was someone digging into his past and shining a spotlight on his teenage transgressions. Nurturing his playboy reputation served a purpose. The tabloids saw what he wanted them to see. A successful, wealthy, aristocratic bachelor who pursued pleasure as doggedly as he pursued his next acquisition.

He reined in his anger. ‘Why an emergency meeting?’

Xav turned, his expression grim. ‘Hector is making a play for the chairman’s role.’

Ramon narrowed his eyes. ‘I thought you and Papá had earmarked Sanchez for the role,’ he said, referring to their newest and most dynamic board member—an accomplished former leader of industry who Xav had persuaded the board to accept in an attempt to inject some fresh blood into the company’s governance. Aside from Xav and their father, who was about to retire as Chairman, Sanchez was the only board member for whom Ramon had any genuine respect.

Hector, on the other hand, was a nightmare. Their father’s second cousin, he craved power and status and resented anyone who possessed more than he did. The man was self-centred. Narrow-minded. Not figurehead material.

Ramon shook his head in disbelief. ‘He’ll never get the support he needs.’

‘He already has it.’ Xav dropped into his chair, nostrils flaring. ‘He’s been working behind my back, garnering support for a coup. Persuading the others that voting in Sanchez is a bad move.’

‘Surely Papá can pull him into line?’

His brother threw him a look.

‘Papá has already taken a step back. He’s too unwell for such drama—something you would know if you made an effort to visit more often,’ Xav said, the glint in his eyes hard. Accusatory.

A sharp jolt went through Ramon. He knew their father had high blood pressure, and had suffered from mild attacks of angina over the past two years, but he hadn’t been aware of Vittorio’s more recent decline. He tightened his jaw against the surge of guilt. He kept his distance from family gatherings for a reason. There was too much awkwardness there. Too many things left unsaid. No. Ramon would not let his brother guilt trip him. He did everyone a favour, himself included, by staying away.

‘The board members respect you,’ he pointed out, marshalling his thoughts back to the business at hand. ‘Win them back.’

Xav’s jaw clenched. He shook his head. ‘Whatever diamond-studded carrot Hector is dangling to coerce their support, it’s working. Lopez, Ruben, Anders and Ramirez have all avoided my calls this week.’

Ramon dragged a thumb over his bristled chin. ‘So what’s the purpose of the meeting?’

‘To confront Hector out in the open. Force him to reveal his hand and compel the others to choose a side—show where their loyalties lie so we know what we’re up against.’

‘“We”?’

‘I need your support. As does Sanchez, if we’ve any chance of seeing him voted in as Chairman. We need to provide a united front. A strong front. One that’ll challenge Hector and test his alliances.’

A single bark of laughter escaped Ramon. ‘I cannot see how my presence will help your cause,’ he said, and yet even as he spoke he could feel the sharp, addictive surge of adrenalin he always experienced in the face of a challenge.

Something else rose in him, too. A sense of familial duty he couldn’t deny. A compulsion to help his brother.

He studied Xav’s face for a moment. It wasn’t only anger carving deep grooves around his brother’s mouth.

‘You’re worried,’ he observed. ‘Why?’

‘The Klein deal went belly up.’

Without thinking, Ramon pursed his lips and let out a low whistle. Xav’s expression darkened.

‘I’m sorry,’ Ramon said, his sympathy genuine. He too had suffered the occasional business failure. Had experienced the disappointment and utter frustration that came after investing countless hours of manpower and resources into a potential deal only to see it fall over at the eleventh hour. ‘You’re concerned that your credibility with the board is damaged,’ he surmised.

‘Hector’s already laid the failure squarely on my doorstep. Called my judgement into question.’ Xav’s voice grated with disgust. ‘He’ll use it to undermine the board’s confidence in me. We need a win to regain the board’s trust. Something that will make them forget about the Klein debacle and give us some leverage.’ He sat forward, his grey eyes intense. ‘Have you managed to secure a meeting with Royce yet?’

Ramon felt his spine tighten.

Speaking of failures.

‘Not yet,’ he said carefully.

Xav leaned back, the intensity in his eyes dimming. He breathed out heavily. ‘It was always going to be a long shot.’

His tone was dismissive enough to needle under Ramon’s skin. Setting his sights on The Royce—one of London’s oldest, most prestigious and highly exclusive private clubs—was ambitious, but his brother shouldn’t be so quick to underestimate him.

‘Have a little faith, brother,’ he said. ‘I’ve hit a minor roadblock, that’s all. Nothing I can’t handle.’

‘A roadblock?’

‘Royce has a gatekeeper.’ He downplayed the matter with a one-shoulder shrug. ‘Getting access to him is proving…a challenge.’

Xav’s frown deepened. ‘Do they not know who you are?’ His voice rang with a note of hauteur. ‘Surely the de la Vega name is sufficient to grant you an audience with Royce?’

Ramon nearly barked out another derisory laugh.

The importance of the family name had always carried more weight in Xav’s eyes than his. Their mother and her siblings were distant cousins of the King of Spain and directly descended from a centuries-old line of dukes. Marry that blue-blood lineage to the vast wealth and success of their father’s industrialist family and the de la Vega name, since the early eighties when their parents had wedded, had been inextricably linked with affluence and status.

‘Are you forgetting the clientele The Royce serves?’ He watched Xav silently bristle over the fact that their family’s power and influence, while not insignificant, did not merit any special recognition in this instance. Not from an establishment that catered to some of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world.

‘And yet if there is truth to the rumours you’ve heard, Maxwell Royce is not selective about the company he keeps. Surely a meeting with you is not beneath him?’

Ramon sensed a subtle insult in that statement. He gritted his teeth for a second before speaking. ‘It’s not rumour. The information I received comes from a trusted source. It’s reliable.’

As reliable as it had been surprising, for the discreet disclosure had come from his friend Christophe completely out of the blue. ‘Royce has a gambling problem and mounting debts,’ he said. ‘It came from the mouth of his own accountant.’ Who apparently, after indulging in one too many Manhattans in a London cocktail bar with a pretty long-legged accountant—who happened to be Christophe’s sister—had spilled the dirt on his employer. Christophe’s sister had relayed the tale to her brother and Christophe, never one to sit idly on useful information, had called Ramon.

‘Where trouble resides, so does opportunity,’ he said, voicing a belief that had served him well over the years when scouting out potential acquisitions. People resistant to selling could quickly change their tune when faced with a financial crisis. A buyout offer or business proposal that had previously been rejected could suddenly seem an attractive option.

The Royce had been owned by the same family for over a hundred years, but it wasn’t uncommon for third or fourth generation owners to opt to sell the family business. For legacies to be sacrificed expediently in favour of hard cash. And if Maxwell Royce needed cash… It was an opportunity too tempting not to pursue, long shot or not. Ramon’s clubs were exclusive, sophisticated and world-class but The Royce was in a whole different league—one that only a dozen or so clubs on the planet could lay claim to. An establishment so revered would elevate his portfolio to a whole new level.

Xav sat forward again. ‘I don’t need to tell you how much an acquisition of this nature would impress the board.’

Ramon understood. It would be the win his brother was so desperately seeking. A way to cut Hector’s critical narrative off at the knees, wrestle back control of the board and regain the directors’ confidence.

‘Deal with Royce’s gatekeeper, whoever he is, and get that meeting,’ Xav urged. ‘Soon.’

Ramon didn’t care for his brother’s imperious tone, but he bit his tongue. Xav was under pressure. He’d asked for Ramon’s support. How often did that happen?

Not often.

Besides, Ramon had as much desire as Xav to see Hector at the company’s helm.

He thought of the obstacle in his path.

Not a he, as Xav had assumed, but a she.

A slender, blonde, not unattractive she who had, in recent weeks, proved something of a conundrum for Ramon.

He’d readily admit it was a rare occasion he came across a woman he couldn’t charm into giving him what he wanted.

This woman would not be charmed.

Three times in two weeks she’d rejected him by phone, informing him in her very chilly, very proper, British accent that Mr Royce was too busy to receive unsolicited visitors.

Ramon had been undeterred. Confident he could net a far more desirable result in person, he’d flown to London and turned up at the club’s understated front door on a quiet, dignified street in the heart of fashionable Mayfair.

As expected, security had been discreet but efficient. As soon as he’d been identified as a visitor and not a member, a dark-suited man had ushered him around the outside of the stately brick building to a side entrance. Like the simple, black front door with its decorative brass knocker, the black and white marble vestibule in which he’d been left to wait was further evidence of The Royce’s quiet, restrained brand of elegance.

Ramon had got quite familiar with that vestibule. He’d found himself with enough time on his hands to count the marble squares on the floor fifty times over, plus make a detailed study of the individual mouldings on the ornate Georgian ceiling.

Because she had made him wait. Not for ten minutes. Not for twenty, or even forty. But for an hour.

Only through sheer determination and the freedom to stand up, stretch his legs and pace back and forth across the polished floor now and again had he waited her out.

After a while it felt like a grim little game between them, a challenge to see who’d relent first—him or her.

Ramon won, but his victory was limited to the brief surge of satisfaction that came when she finally appeared.

‘You do not have an appointment, Mr de la Vega.’ Grey eyes, so pale they possessed an extraordinary luminescence, flashed at him from out of a heart-shaped face, while the rest of her expression appeared carefully schooled.

Pretty, he thought upon first impression, but not his type. Too reserved. Too buttoned-up and prim. He preferred his women relaxed. Uninhibited. ‘Because you would not give me one,’ he responded easily.

‘And you think I will now, just because you’re here in person?’

‘I think Mr Royce would benefit from the opportunity to meet with me,’ he said smoothly. ‘An opportunity you seem intent on denying him.’

The smile she bestowed on him then was unlike the smiles he was accustomed to receiving from women. Those smiles ranged from shy to seductive, and everything in between, but always they telegraphed some level of awareness and heat and, in many cases, a brazen invitation. But the tilt of her lips was neither warm nor inviting. It suggested sufferance, along with a hint of condescension.

‘Let me tell you what I think, Mr de la Vega,’ she said, her voice somehow sweet and icy at the same time—like a frozen dessert that gave you a painful case of brain freeze when you bit into it. ‘I think I know Mr Royce better than you do and am therefore infinitely more qualified to determine what he will—and won’t—find of benefit. I also think you underestimate my intelligence. I know who you are and I know there’s only one reason you could want to meet with Mr Royce. So let me make something clear to you right now and save you some time. The Royce is not for sale.’

Colour had bloomed on her pale cheekbones, the streaks of pink an arresting contrast to her glittering grey eyes.

Interesting, he thought. Perhaps there was a bit of fire beneath that cool facade. He held out his business card and took a step towards her but she reared back, alarm flaring in her eyes as if he had crossed some invisible, inviolable boundary. Huh. Even more interesting. ‘Ten minutes of Mr Royce’s time,’ he said. ‘That is all I am asking for.’

‘You’re wasting your time. Mr Royce is not here.’

‘Then perhaps you would call me when he is. I’ll be in London for another forty-eight hours.’

He continued to hold out his card and finally she took it, exercising great care to ensure her fingers didn’t brush against his. Then she gave him that smile again and this time it had the strangest effect, igniting a spark of irritation, followed by a rush of heat in the pit of his stomach. He imagined kissing that haughty little smile right off her pretty face. Backing her up against one of the hard marble pillars, taking her head in his hands and devouring her mouth under his until her lips softened, opened and she granted him entry.

Carefully he neutralised his expression, shocked by the direction of his thoughts. He’d never taken a woman with force. He had no aversion to boisterous sex, and he’d indulged more than one bed partner who demanded it rough and fast, but on the whole Ramon liked his lovers soft. Compliant. Willing.

She took another step back from him, the flush of pink in her cheeks growing more hectic, her eyes widening slightly. As if somehow she’d read his thoughts. ‘Mr Royce will not be available this week,’ she said, her smile replaced now by a thin, narrow-eyed stare. ‘So unless you have extraordinary lung capacity, Mr de la Vega, I suggest you don’t hold your breath.’

And she turned and walked away from him, high heels clicking on the shiny chequered marble as she made for the door across the small foyer from which she’d emerged.

She had a spectacular backside. Somehow Ramon’s brain had registered that fact, his gaze transfixed by the movement of firm, shapely muscle under her navy blue pencil skirt even as a wave of anger and frustration had crashed through him.

The sound of Xav’s desk phone ringing jolted him back to the present. He shifted in his chair.

Xav placed his hand on the receiver and looked at him. ‘Speak with Lucia on your way out,’ he said. ‘I told her to make a dinner reservation for us this evening. Get the details off her and I’ll see you at the restaurant. We’ll talk more then.’

Ah. Lucia. Yes, that was the name of his brother’s secretary. Not Lola or Lorda. Ironic that he couldn’t recall the name of the attractive brunette he’d just met, and had already considered sleeping with, yet he had no trouble summoning the name of the English woman he’d rather throttle than bed.

Her name, it seemed, was indelibly inked on his brain, along with the enticing image of her tight, rounded posterior.

Emily.