A Spanish Seduction (4 page)

‘It’s relevant.’ His tone was unapologetic. ‘Just listen.’

Great.
Just as well the guy had such devastating looks because he wasn’t much of a conversationalist if he thought his family and business problems were in any way riveting conversation. They weren’t. Not after the bombshell he’d dropped about her identity theft and the paparazzi interest.

‘The lifestyle I lived up until a couple of years ago, was one in the fast lane — on and off the race track.’

She felt her lips twist in disgust. ‘Let me guess. You enjoyed fast cars and equally fast women — the latter which you probably changed more frequently than your pit crew changed your tyres.’

His grimace told her she’d hit pretty close to the mark. Was she supposed to feel sorry for him when he clearly had a vastly different value system than she did?

‘I was tagged as a superficial playboy.’

‘It sounds as though you earned that tag.’

Ignoring her dig, he drummed his fingers on the table. ‘In the last two years, I’ve changed. I’ve stopped racing cars, I don’t party hard and I no longer find any satisfaction in availing myself of every beautiful woman who throws herself at me.’

How noble of him. Did he want a medal?
  ‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘What I want now, is to prove myself in the business arena,’ he continued. ‘I want the top management role at the Garcia Corporation and I believe my leadership is crucial for the company to survive.’

At face value the words seemed egotistical in the extreme, yet Jess heard the sincerity in them and got the impression he truly cared about the company.

The intensity in his entire demeanour told her he was ambitious. His sheer presence was dynamic and commanding and instilled confidence in his abilities.

She recognised that her attraction for him went way beyond superficial appearance. He wasn’t just sexy because he had a body that looked like it was honed to perfection, and a face that could tempt a nun to abandon her vows of chastity. His appeal also lay in his aura of power. It held her riveted and had made the loan shark run in the opposite direction.

She pulled herself back to the present. ‘How are your ambitions relevant to me?’

‘My brief involvement with this woman has brought major problems,’ he explained. ‘It’s damaging because the newspaper reports are suggesting an adulterous affair, and that isn’t something the board members would tolerate.’

‘Don’t expect any sympathy from me,’ she told him tightly. ‘I agree with the board.’

He ignored the judgemental statement, but his eyes smouldered with fury. ‘The tabloid story may also damage the reputation of the charity I’ve set up in Spain to help underprivileged children. That organisation, and the work it does, is very important to me.’

Jess regarded him more closely, impressed that he’d used his fame to establish a charitable organisation. ‘I can understand why you find yourself with a problem,’ she agreed. ‘Perhaps you should distance yourself from both organisations?’

‘Why,’ he vented through gritted teeth, ‘should I do that when I’ve been falsely implicated and slandered through someone’s lies?’

His words had been soft but may as well have been screamed. The rigidity of his shoulders signalled that he was barely repressing an outraged eruption at her suggestion.

He went on tightly, ‘I hold the sanctity of marriage vows very seriously. I‘ve never been involved with a married woman. I’ve also never cheated on any woman I’ve dated.’

So, the self-confessed playboy had some moral standards.

‘Then you have to tell everyone exactly what this woman did to you.’

His mouth twisted. ‘Even if the board members believed me, there’s still a problem.’ He stared at his glass for a moment before he said, ‘The financial hardship across Europe has impacted badly on the whole luxury car industry. My uncle borrowed heavily to finance the development of a new sports car. The project encountered several engineering problems. Although I’ve discussed the designs with the engineers, and believe we’ve found the solution, we require a little more time to make adjustments and launch the vehicle.’

‘Look, I really —’

‘The company is heavily in debt to a private bank.’ He looked straight at her. ‘The woman I’ve been photographed with is the new, young wife of the man who owns the bank.’

‘Oh dear. You are in a tangled mess. It’s unfortunate this has happened just when you want to fix your image and be elected into the top job.’ Did he deserve her sympathy? But as she wondered, another thought struck her. ‘Hang on! You weren’t deliberately set up, were you?’

His eyes flared with a warm light of admiration. ‘You’re a very astute woman.’ One index finger tapped against the rim of his glass. ‘I suspect a set up but can’t prove anything. If I become CEO I will rebuild the company and the debt will be repaid quickly. That would not be in the banker’s best interest. I’ve also learned he has shares in a rival motor company. It would be to his advantage on multiple levels for the Garcia Corporation to become insolvent.’

‘Oh my gosh!’ She let out a low whistle and started to empathise with him. ‘I’m not so naive as to think things like this can’t happen, but it still amazes me what lengths people will go to in pursuit of wealth.’

Angry energy still emanated from him in palpable waves. ‘When the photograph was published, the board convened. The banker sent an email to all board members demanding an apology and my immediate resignation. The members confronted me about the allegation. I denied it and asserted the newspaper was wrong. I was convinced there must just be a similarity between the banker’s wife and the woman I’d just started seeing. I told the board members the woman in the photo was not Carla Lorezzi. I swore I was involved with Jessica Harris, a remedial massage therapist from London.’

One hand flew up to her chest as shock pervaded every cell. ‘Oh hell, no!’

‘Of course I denied the press report and cited your name. I believed the press were mistaken! In order to prove it to myself, I went straight to the internet and googled an image of Carla Lorezzi — the woman I was reportedly involved with. It was then I discovered the papers were right.’

Jessica cursed.

‘I confronted Carla.’

‘And?’ She was hanging on his words now, anxious to see how this story unfolded.

‘She denied it was a set up. She claimed she’d been neglected by her husband and fancied she’d have an affair with me.’ The disgust etched into his features as he bit out every word of condemnation swayed Jessica to feel compassion for him because she genuinely believed he’d been duped.

‘Carla must tell the truth. She has to go public and admit she lied to you and gave you a false identity. That’s the only way to clear your name with your board of directors and with her husband. It will also ensure the press pack don’t hound me.’

‘I demanded she tell her husband and make a statement to the press.’ He looked away for a second and she thought he was trying to contain his outrage. ‘She refused. She’s told me she’s denying the entire story and advised me to do the same.’ He gave a harsh laugh. ‘She declares she loves her husband and won’t do anything to put her marriage in peril.’

‘That’s disgraceful!’ Jessica was angered on his behalf. ‘A pity she didn’t realise how much she supposedly loved her husband before she decided she was prepared to have an affair with you.’ Rage welled inside her. She might have only met Ricardo, but she had definite ideas about living by a moral code and she did feel badly for his predicament. ‘To lie is bad enough. To hurt someone’s reputation in the process of doing so is even worse, and in my book infidelity is simply unforgivable. It’s imperative she tell the truth.’

He leaned forward as he said, ‘She won’t, and after my initial demand I realised that to do so would embarrass her husband and possibly impact negatively upon my corporation. But, there is another way out of this mess.’

Jessica wracked her brain trying to think how he would smooth the way with the members of his board.

‘The photo was taken from a distance. It’s quite grainy and an expert has assured me the quality will not improve even if it’s blown up. A contact at the newspaper has sworn this photo was the best of all they had.’

‘So, there’s no absolute proof it’s this Carla woman, it could be anyone. It’s your word against the newspaper and the husband. If Carla is denying it as well, this should all go away.’

‘But there would still be the question over the identity of the woman in the photo. Fortunately, you and Carla are both roughly the same height and both of you have dark hair.’

The way he regarded her made her uneasy. Somehow, she’d become so caught up in his story she’d forgotten he’d come to her and told her he had a business proposition. Adrenaline surged through her as she began to put the pieces of the jigsaw together. She had a dreadful flash of insight that she knew what his proposition would entail. Her voice was almost a scratchy whisper as she asked, ‘What do you want of me, Mr Garcia?’

His skin seemed tight over his jaw and cheekbones. ‘I need Jessica Harris — the real Jessica Harris. I need to introduce you to the board and have you pretend to be my lover until all this blows over and I’m made CEO.’

Panic, disbelief and denial combined to create a hot prickling of nerves which crawled across her chest. ‘No.’ The word was barely audible. ‘That’s quite impossible.’

‘It’s my only option.’ His hands moved emphatically. ‘I swore you were the woman I was seeing. Nobody will believe Carla stole your identity. Even if they do, it exposes me as a fool to have been set up so convincingly.’

‘That’s not true. You said you met her just a week ago. Are you supposed to investigate every woman you get involved with?’

‘Allowing myself to be deceived isn’t going to inspire the board’s faith in me.’ A muscle ticked in his cheek. ‘Remember, I swore to the board in good faith that I was involved with Jessica Harris, a massage therapist from London, because I thought it was the truth. Now, I need to have you by my side.’

Jessica shifted awkwardly on her seat and threw up her hands in sheer helplessness. ‘The whole idea is crazy.’

The more she protested the more she felt the determination radiate from him.

‘As of now you owe only half the debt your husband accumulated before he died. Agree to do this and we’ll sign another contract. All the debt currently in your name will be paid off. You’ll never be troubled again by the guy who attacked you tonight.’

They were tempting words. To have Jett’s debt paid off would be the answer to all her prayers — the end to having to work day and night in two jobs. But, she couldn’t carry out the deception Ricardo planned.

Another thought hit her — a truth that hurt as surely as a bullet piercing her chest. ‘There’s no way people would believe you’d take someone like me as your lover.’

His eyes bored into hers and it was an interminably long time before he responded. ‘You’re referring to your appearance?’

Unable to find her voice, she merely nodded.

‘Looking as you do now? No.’ His confirmation of her objection was unhesitating.

Despite the impervious barrier she thought she’d built around her heart, his words pierced it. Yet, even in her anguish, flames lit her skin as she looked up and saw his critical gaze travel over her.

His hand moved dismissively. ‘You’ll consult with someone who’ll help you improve your appearance and make the most of your better features.’

Jessica drew herself up straighter in the chair, determined to be resilient in the face of his assertion. ‘You have a direct line to a Fairy Godmother with a magic wand?’

‘Better than that, I have an open cheque book. How else do you think I’ve hired investigators and obtained information so quickly? Money makes things happen.’

Her pent-up breath released in a rush. The man didn’t even realise how insulting his words were. Okay, maybe it would take limitless money to make her look half decent, but it was the height of rudeness and insensitivity to point it out to her.

‘I’m under no illusions about my looks, Mr Garcia, nor will I use the obviously vast sums of your money it would take to have a decent makeover. I have no wish to look any different than I do now.’

Liar!
Her inner voice taunted.
You’re afraid to take a chance and end up being disappointed with the result.

She’d seen a counsellor when it became obvious her marriage wasn’t working. Her appearance was one area the counsellor had tried to touch on and one of the areas Jessica had refused to discuss.

‘You’ll thank me once a consultant has been allowed to transform you.’

She held her head high. ‘I realise you probably move in exalted circles with all the fashionable people in the world. I’m unsuitable for the role you’re suggesting.’

‘I —’

‘My appearance doesn’t make me any less worthy than others.’

The harsh tone of the Spanish words he uttered, and the fury in his expression, made her believe he was cursing profanely. Despite being fairly fluent in Spanish, she’d never come across those words before!

‘Why the hell would you want to continue looking so drab?’ he demanded in English.

Her lips parted, surprised at the vehemence of his attack. ‘You’re so insensitive! You’re trying to get me to do something you want and yet you insult me at every turn. Not exactly what I’d recommend to win friends and influence people!’