Chapter Two
XAVI WATCHED BETH’S reaction closely. Other than the slightest twitching of her lips, she gave nothing away…
not unless you counted the sudden loss of colour on her face.
Although the knuckles of the fingers holding her glass had whitened, too, nothing suggested she was about to throw the glass at him.
He would never forget the sound of shattering glass in the moments before he’d kicked open the door of the bathroom she’d locked herself in.
He’d found the tiled floor covered with shards of glass and clumps of wax from the scented candles she’d thrown on it, but his fear that she’d been hurting herself went unrealised.
By the time he’d smashed the door in, all the emotions driving her to destroy his bathroom had worked their way out of her system.
Beautiful face red and blotchy through crying, she’d looked him in the eye, apologised for the mess she’d made, and with quiet dignity walked out of his life.
Two years passed before he next saw her in the flesh at her grandfather’s eightieth birthday.
She’d embraced him warmly and even made a joke about the state she’d left his bathroom in.
He’d been relieved, but also strangely disconcerted.
It wasn’t that he’d wanted histrionics or a glass of water thrown in his face, but to find he’d meant so little to her that she could treat their break-up like a joke had thrown him.
The tendons of her neck stretching, she jerked her head, indicating for him to explain his reasoning.
‘I appreciate my proposition must come as a surprise.’
Her face scrunched up, and she matter-of-factly said, ‘Just a tiny bit considering we once spent a whole evening discussing the kind of wedding we wanted, and then weeks later you dumped me.’
Chest and stomach wincing simultaneously, he inclined his head in agreement. ‘I never did apologise for the way I ended things with you, did I.’
She waved an airy hand and rolled her eyes. ‘Xavi, it was eight years ago.’
Eight years and yet he still remembered their time together so vividly that it could have been days ago.
He doubted it was the same for her. For all her words of love, Beth had got over him pretty damned quickly, something he knew he had no right to resent.
He had no right, either, to feel jealousy whenever she posted photos on social media of her raising a glass with a group of friends that usually had equal numbers of men and women.
Whenever he made the occasional comment to her posts, she always reacted, whether with a thumbs-up or a heart or with a witty remark that made his mouth smile and his heart hurt.
He made his mouth smile now. ‘I’m just saying that I appreciate my clumsy way of ending things will make it harder for you to take my proposal seriously.’
She smiled. He’d always loved Beth’s smile. Her top lip was just the slightest bit fuller than the bottom one, and when she smiled her mouth formed an upside-down heart. ‘Forget the past and tell me your reasoning. If nothing else, I’m curious.’
‘For one, it better protects the business and both our interests in it,’ he answered steadily. For all her smiles, there was a sharpness in Beth’s stare that told him she would detect any hint of bullshit.
‘How?’
‘Your grandfather’s death has already increased speculation and scrutiny of the business, and it will encourage the sharks to start circling again.
Marriage will allow us to pool our shares the same way our grandfathers did and allow me to continue running the Rosbel Group without outside interference and make us both a lot of money—profits have increased significantly since I took control.
Us marrying gives certainty to the tens of thousands of people we employ around the world and gives certainty to the financial markets, too. ’
‘Wow, you really know how to make a girl feel special with that reasoning for marriage.’
Refusing to allow himself to remember how he’d woken one morning to find her already awake and gazing at him and how he’d said, ‘We are going to marry, aren’t we?
’ he pulled a rueful smile. ‘You could entrust them to me or I could buy the shares from you, and the effect would be the same, but marrying me protects you, too.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Hmm…how have you worked that out?’
‘You’re a very wealthy woman now, Beth. The sharks won’t just circle the business, they’ll be out circling you, too.’
‘Why would the sharks know about me?’
‘It will soon be public knowledge that Raul left everything to you.’
‘Not if no one tells them.’
Xavi knew she wasn’t naive enough to believe that.
‘Your grandfather was one of the richest men in Europe. Whoever he left his wealth to would make the news—that he’s left everything to the granddaughter who didn’t want it adds to the story.
That his granddaughter is beautiful by anyone’s standards will have the press salivating.
Every shark and chancer in the western hemisphere will want to take their chances with you.
Once the news breaks, you will find yourself unable to trust anyone you don’t already know. I can help you navigate this world.’
‘That doesn’t require marriage.’
‘Agreed. But it will make it easier for me to protect you.’
She laughed and pulled a face. ‘I don’t need protecting.’
‘You will, very soon, and you are not prepared for it.’
‘Again, protection doesn’t require marriage. I can buy an army to keep me safe.’
‘Beth, you will never be able to trust another man again. That is your new reality. Always you will wonder if it’s you they want or your money, and those suspicions will not go away if you have the children you always wanted with them.’
For the first time, he detected a flash of emotion in the crystal-clear green eyes. ‘But you expect me to trust you?’
He dragged his fingers through his hair and forced air into his lungs.
This was do or die. If Beth refused to marry him, the business would never be safe from the predators.
‘I have always hated myself for hurting you, but if I had to make that choice again, I would make it without hesitation because the business has to come first. I lost sight of that when I was with you. I lost my focus and made some stupid but dangerous errors that would have cost the business dearly if our grandfathers hadn’t picked up on them.
It dented their confidence in me and made me see how close I’d come to destroying everything they’d built.
My life and focus had been all on you when it should have been on the business, and I needed to switch it around and prove their confidence in my abilities to run the Rosbel Group wasn’t misplaced. ’
Pretty lips trembled as she looked him up and down before they pulled into a tight smile. ‘That’s a lot of words to reiterate that you chose the business over me.’
A statement he could not and would not deny.
‘Beth, since my father died, all I’ve wanted is to step into the shoes he was unable to fill and take over the running of the Rosbel Group—you know this.
My grandfather wanted to retire twenty years ago, but he couldn’t have predicted his only son would die at such a young age.
’ Xavi’s father had died when he was fourteen.
Not even billions in wealth could stop cancer’s advance.
‘That’s why our grandfathers’ bond remained so strong—they both lost a child.
They both lost the heirs they expected to take the company forward. ’
‘My grandfather lost his daughter long before she died.’
‘Yes, which is why it was so important that I stepped up to the mark. I always knew it had to be me. I was the only family member left from either side of the partnership with the aptitude and willingness to do it.’
Like Beth’s mother, Xavi’s father had been an only child. Xavi’s sisters had never had any interest in the business, one growing up to be an archaeologist, the other a human rights lawyer.
As a child, he’d happily imagined himself working with his father, whom he’d hero-worshipped. His father would take over the running of the Rosbel Group, and then one day, Xavi would step into his father’s shoes.
He’d had no idea fate had such a cruel trick planned for his family.
‘I know I ended things abruptly with you,’ he continued, ‘but I saw it like ripping off a plaster—once I knew I had to end it, I knew it was better to make a clean break.’
Pressing her crystal glass to her breasts, she arched an eyebrow. ‘Better for whom?’
He would not look at her breasts. ‘For both of us. I was too young for marriage back then. We both were. Hell, I was twenty-four and fresh from six years of back-to-back university degrees, and you’d only just turned nineteen.
What were we thinking, talking about marriage and children when we were barely adults ourselves? ’
‘I completely agree.’
‘You do?’
‘Absolutely. I was young and foolish and believed in love at first sight, whereas what we had, if we’re thinking logically, was more of an instant lust thing than love.
’ She gave another smile. ‘If it meant what we both believed it to mean while we were living it, neither of us would have moved on so quickly.’