THE ELEGANT STRAINS of a violin carried across the ballroom of La Reina. Sequins sparkled under the light of the chandelier, silk flashed as dancers spun across the floor and champagne bubbled in over a hundred glasses.
“I’m still irritated that you chose champagne over my wine,” Adrian said as he took a sip.
Everleigh patted her belly. “And I’m still irritated that I can’t drink any of it.”
They stood off to the side of the ballroom with Alejandro, watching as guests arrived. Even though the event was designed primarily to show off La Reina to the board, Alejandro had followed Adrian’s lead from the merger party he and Everleigh had hosted a couple months ago and invited his employees.
“Not too bad.” Antonio appeared next to Alejandro and clapped him on the shoulder. “Perhaps we should go into business together more often.”
Alejandro smiled as his eyes roamed over the crowds. “Perhaps.”
“Looking for someone?”
Adrian’s voice was light, but Alejandro didn’t miss the edge in his older brother’s tone.
“Perhaps.”
Everleigh leaned in. “Did you decide what you’re going to do?”
Alejandro’s eyes snapped to Adrian’s face. “You told her?”
“Told her what?” Antonio asked, his gaze swinging back and forth like he was watching a tennis match.
Everleigh blushed. “I’m sorry. He was so irritable in Paris that I pried it out of him.”
“I wasn’t irritable!” Adrian retorted.
Before his family could drive him nuts, Alejandro walked away. He would deal with his brothers and soon-to-be sister-in-law later. Now, he wanted to find Calandra.
She had truly outdone herself. The food, brochures full of pictures of La Reina’s completed rooms and a story about where the ship would be in a year, sprigs of lavender she’d added to the rose centerpieces in a nod to some of the excursions they’d be offering—all of it was better than he could have ever envisioned.
“Alejandro!”
He turned, unable to contain his grin as his mother approached him, arms open wide.
“I’m so proud of you!” she gushed as she hugged him. “You’ve turned this ship into a marvel.”
“Gracias, Madre.”
He started to say more when a flash of yellow caught his eye. He turned. His heart stopped in his chest.
He hadn’t been sure she’d wear it. But after he dropped her off in Marseille to do a final walkthrough of La Reina yesterday morning with a heated kiss and a whispered goodbye, his feet had guided him down the lane to the boutique. He’d wanted to give it to her in person, see her face when she opened it. By the time he was done with his own preparations for the party, and he’d cracked open the door to the guest suite, Calandra had been fast asleep. He’d had to settle for leaving the petal-pink box with a white ribbon on the table.
The longing to crawl into bed with her, to wake her with kisses and hear her say his name as he slid inside her again, had been almost unbearable. But something held him back. They hadn’t talked the rest of the night in Provence, aside from whispering each other’s names as they’d woken sometime around midnight and made love again. Then once more in the morning when they climbed into the shower together and she’d sunk to her knees and taken him in her mouth. He’d nearly come undone before he’d grabbed her by her elbows, lifted her up, wrapped her legs around his waist and thrust inside her as hot water had poured over their naked skin.
The car ride had been spent in pleasant, companionable silence, their fingers woven together. Talk had been unnecessary.
Until they did talk, clarified what this new development meant and how she felt about him, he wouldn’t push his luck and risk pushing her away.
Although he’d worried if he’d crossed a boundary by buying her the dress. Now he had his answer.
She’d mentioned the little girl who hid in the shadow of her father, who had continued to hide all her life. But not tonight. Tonight she shone, the yellow of the dress making her skin glow. She’d left her hair unbound, loose curls falling over her shoulders as she made her rounds, whispering a word to a server here and propping up a rose in an arrangement there.
Still the same confidence. Still the same power. Unlike four months ago, though, tonight her shoulders were relaxed. Her movements less rigid, more assured and less tense.
And she smiled. His heart clenched as their eyes met. She glanced down at her dress, then back at him and mouthed Thank you.
“You care for her.”
His mother startled him out of his musings. He swung his head around, summoning a jovial grin.
“She’s a good friend.”
“Ah. I didn’t realize you were capable of being so discreet.”
He arched an eyebrow in her direction. “When have I ever not been discreet?”
She snorted. “The Venetian Hotel...”
“Everyone brings that up.”
“The Louvre,” she continued.
“A minor misunderstanding.”
She shook her head. “I worried about you, you know.”
He paused. Her comments had always been sparse on his activities. He loathed the idea that he’d caused her stress. “I’m sorry.”
She waved her hand. “I worried. All mothers do. I wondered if you were truly happy. And,” she added with a twist of her lips, “I didn’t like the insinuations of the tabloids. There’s so much more to you than what the world sees.”
The same words Calandra had spoken to him. Words that warmed his chest.
Had it been just four months ago? Four months since he’d seen Calandra standing in the midst of the chaos left by Adrian’s guests, resolution firming her face even as her shoulders had sagged the tiniest fraction? That night, all he’d wanted to do was help. Be someone’s savior, for once, instead of their curse. And the more time he’d spent with her, the more he’d seen something all too familiar.
Someone hiding behind a mask no one bothered to look past.
Perhaps that’s why they had such explosive chemistry. In those moments, they didn’t just lust after each other and sate their desire with sex. They ripped their masks off for the only other person in the world they could be themselves with.
His eyes drifted to Calandra. He’d felt possessive over La Reina, but it was a mere flicker compared to the inferno that blazed anytime he pictured Calandra round with his child.
Doubt slithered into his mind. Was it possible, to go from wanting nothing to do with matrimony a week ago to contemplating a marriage proposal? What if his feelings for Calandra, his desire to be a dad, were misplaced? If La Reina succeeded, would he be this focused on being a father?
“Alejandro?”
His father’s voice cut through his dark musings and made his spine straighten. Slowly, he turned.
“Padre.”
If his mother sensed the sudden tension between father and son, she didn’t let on. She crossed to her husband, who took her hands in his and smiled at her like she was the most precious thing in the world.
The look on his mother’s face, one of happiness and love, was the only thing that had made him hold his tongue over the years. Made him hold it now despite the red haze of anger that colored his view of the room.
“Good evening, my dear.”
“Good evening.” Madre kissed him on the cheek, then gestured to the ballroom. “Our son has achieved something wonderful here tonight.”
“He has.”
Alejandro resisted rolling his eyes. Always an act, always the supportive father in public and his number one critic in private.
“Alejandro, may I have a word?”
He wanted to say no, to tell his father that until the board held their vote at nine o’clock, he had no interest in being within a dozen feet of him.
But with his mother looking on with such pride and exuding pure happiness, he had no choice but to incline his head and follow his father out of the ballroom.
As they walked out, he looked up. Calandra watched him, eyes flitting between them, a frown on her face. He gave her a small smile. Knowing she would be waiting for him gave him a boost, one he desperately needed if he was going to face Javier.
He strode past his father and led the way into an alcove off the grand foyer. He stood off to the side, waited for Javier to follow him inside and then moved in front of the doorway. One wrong word and he was gone. He would not have his night of triumph ruined.
“The board has already informed me of their decision.”
His stomach sank, followed by a swift rush of anger. Based on the emails, the conversations he’d had as he circulated the ballroom, he thought they’d vote in favor. The impulsive part of him wanted to turn around, walk back to the ballroom and demand an explanation for their duplicity. Few of them had seen him at his angriest. Perhaps it was time.
“Seems like you won this round, then.”
Javier blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Getting the board to vote against La Reina.” He leaned in, flashing a devil’s smile. “No matter. La Reina will succeed. All that money you accuse me of wasting has been accumulating a nice bit of interest in a Swiss bank account. More than enough to see her through her first year of operations.”
His father frowned. “There’s been a misunderstanding. The board is voting unanimously to complete the renovation of La Reina and support its opening later this year.”
Triumph zinged through his veins. He raised his chin. “I’m glad they saw sense.”
Javier clasped his hands behind his back and started to pace. “Is that what you truly think? That I was trying to beat my own son, to make him fail?”
Alejandro bit back the first words he wanted to utter. He tucked his hands in his pockets and leaned against one of the pillars.
“When have you ever given me cause to believe otherwise?”
Javier sagged. Suddenly, his father looked very old, his wrinkles deepening as he sank down onto a settee and hung his head. Alejandro never would have guessed himself capable of pity for his sire. But the sight of the patriarch of the Cabrera empire, shoulders drooped, skin gray, inspired just that.
“I’ve been too hard on you.”
He must have misheard.
“What?”
Javier scrubbed a hand over his face. “I was a terrible father to you. To your brothers.” He let out a hoarse laugh. “I don’t even know why your mother stayed with me.”
“I don’t, either. How long did you cheat on her?” Javier’s head snapped up. “Or are you cheating on her still?”
“No!”
His father’s denial echoed down the foyer. Alejandro arched a brow.
“Careful, Padre. Unless you want to draw attention to who you really are.”
“Who I...”
Javier’s voice trailed off as his eyes widened slightly. “Minerva.”
“Minerva?”
“The woman you saw me with in the library.” Javier swallowed. “You’re right. I cheated on your mother.”
Cold anger chilled his veins and tightened his fists. He’d known for years. But hearing the confirmation elevated his hatred to a new level.
“Although not the time you saw me.”
Alejandro barked a laugh. “Does it matter?”
“It does.” Javier hung his head. “You know your mother lost a child, a daughter, between you and Adrian, yes?” At Alejandro’s nod, he continued. “I loved...love,” he corrected, “your brother. You. Antonio.”
The closest his father had ever come to saying “I love you.”
“But I’d really looked forward to having a girl.” Another emotion he’d never expected to see on his father’s face: sorrow. “When we lost the baby...your mother retreated into herself. And I buried myself in work.” He stared down at the floor, lost in memory. “Losing a baby wasn’t as talked about back then. It’s not an excuse for how I behaved. It just...counseling, mental health, they weren’t as accepted.
“When your mother got pregnant with you, she barely got out of bed. The doctor encouraged her to rest. But she was so scared that she hardly ever left her room. And then I met Minerva. It’s because of her that I worried about the women you associated with.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I met Minerva at a hotel bar. I’d been drinking. A lot. Before I knew it, we went back to my room and...” He waved a hand in the air. “One time. The biggest mistake of my life.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Because you saw us together at our house in Granada? Yes, I can see why.” He ran a hand through his hair. Hair that, Alejandro now noticed, was thinning at the top.
“Minerva, it turns out, wanted more. Much more. I told her in the morning that I had made a mistake. I told her about losing the baby, your mother being pregnant with you, everything. She didn’t care. She wanted a ring on her finger. And if she couldn’t get that, she wanted money.”
Alejandro arched a brow. “She blackmailed you?”
Javier nodded once. “For almost twenty years, until I found evidence that she had embezzled funds from a charity she managed. A stalemate, but I haven’t heard from her in thirteen years. The day you found us in the library, she had just upped her demands and provided a picture she’d taken of us in bed together while I’d been asleep.”
Alejandro’s stomach rolled. Such a photo would ruin his mother.
“Every time I saw you...knowing that my weakness had led to such a mistake, I could barely look at you. When you started to act out more, I saw myself in you.” His lips quirked up into a sad smile. “I became determined to make sure you didn’t duplicate my mistakes. So instead of focusing on the good, I came down hard. The more you misbehaved, the harder I tried to correct you.”
“You didn’t just come down hard.” He hadn’t even known himself capable of the wrath that infused his voice. “You abandoned me, then brought me to my lowest point.”
“I’m sorry, son.”
“Sorry?”
Javier stood, slowly, as if a great weight rested on his shoulders.
“What else can I say? I’m sorry I placed the burden of my mistakes on your shoulders so young. That I pushed you into the life you lead now.” Javier huffed. “Ironically enough, turned you into me.”
A hum started in his head, low but steadily building to a roar.
“What do you mean?”
“I was just like you when I met your mother. Different women, clubs, spending money left and right.”
Just like your father.
The world tilted. His father might be making amends now, but that didn’t erase decades of pain. Madre had often spoken of how quickly they’d fallen in love, how absolutely certain they both had been about their future together.
Just like him and Calandra.
“I hope if you ever have children, son, you can avoid the many, many mistakes I’ve made.” Javier took a tentative step forward. “Chief among them ever making you doubt that I didn’t want you to succeed. I was harsh. Unnecessarily so. I wanted you to succeed, wanted you to be the man I knew you could be.”
If the situation wasn’t so sad, he would laugh. Finally, he had an explanation, an apology, even words of support from his father.
Words that had come at a price. He’d based his entire existence, the man he was today, on what had transpired in that library. And for what? Nothing. And now he had to confront the possibility that, if he continued to pursue a life with Calandra, he would fall into the same trap his father had. Trying to turn himself into someone capable of love, fidelity, fatherhood, only to fail and leave Calandra broken, just as her father had done to her mother, and their child alone, just as he’d been. Just as Calandra had been because of the sins of her father.
“What if I can’t break the cycle?”
He hadn’t meant to utter the words aloud. They echoed in the stillness.
Javier gazed at him with sad eyes. “You’re a strong man. You’re capable.”
“But if I can’t?” Alejandro demanded, his voice hoarse.
His father breathed in deeply. “If you can’t, then don’t get married. Don’t have children. Don’t risk hurting a woman who deserves none of the pain men like us are capable of causing. If you don’t know for sure that you want that in your life, then it’s not worth it.”