His Paris Affair (The Albury Affairs) (4 page)

The three kids who ran past him laughing loudly drew Ruiz’s
attention. He smiled as he watched them dash for the jungle gym, climbing up
the steps into the pirate ship and disappearing into the tube with Aurora tailing
behind. Since Tyler and Mark met and forged a friendship, Aurora was left
behind quite a few times. She was jealous of the bromance and had to resort to
pouting and whining as she followed them around until they would relent and
include her. The hold she had on Mark that had amused them all before had been
broken by Tyler’s arrival. Riana had tried to arrange play dates with girls
Aurora’s age but she would ditch them to run after Tyler and Mark.

There were three happy families in Allan’s side of the
compound and Ruiz was the odd one out. Once, he thought he’d achieved it—the
beginning to his happily ever after. The proof of that belief sat in the center
of his chest, held there by the chain around his neck. It burned his flesh,
constantly reminding him of what he’d lost a year ago, just a flimsy moment
after he had attained it. It was a cruel joke played on his heart. Worse of
all, it had caused tension in his family. If it wasn’t for Riana, Allan would
have disowned him already.

Melody…

He stared at his phone’s screensaver like he had a million
times before since he last saw her. A year and he still hadn’t changed it. It
was a picture of Melody taken in the Bahamas just before the relocation to the
States. She was in her bikini, with her wet hair swept over her shoulder and
the most beautiful smile he had ever seen that made her brown eyes twinkle like
honey gold. The two of them were left behind to handle the change over in the
Bahamas as Matthew handled everything else in the United States, giving Reno
and Loraine the time they needed to get past the disaster their wedding night
had been. And of course the space they needed to mourn the child they lost
while reassuring Tyler of his place in their lives. It had taken a few months,
but right after Reno moved his family to the States, Melody and Ruiz began
their tour of the Red Roses branches worldwide. Paris had been their last stop
and the place that changed both their lives.

The woman had bewitched him, left him love sick and
disillusioned. She had also turned him into the man he used to be—lonely,
bitter, resentful and full of rage. All he had worked hard to rid himself of,
flooded back with a vengeance, drowning him in renewed pain.

Why couldn’t the one thing he wanted in his life to go
right, go right?

“Hey, what are you thinking about that’s making that face?”

Ruiz’s lips pulled in a faint smile as he looked up at his
sister. She looked so good with a baby cuddled to her chest. Ruiz placed his
beer down and tucked his phone into his cargo pants pocket then he reached his
arms out. “Why don’t you let me hold him for a few so you can enjoy the
barbecue?”

“What about you? Don’t you want to enjoy the barbecue?”

He shrugged. “I’ll enjoy myself more if you hand over my
nephew.”

She stared at him for a long while, her face not betraying
the worry he knew she felt before she placed her son into Ruiz’s waiting arms.

Ruiz cradled little Allan to his chest. For some reason he
always felt whole when he held his niece and nephews, like they could
temporarily save him from his own misery.

“Allan doesn’t hate you, you know.”

Ruiz scoffed keeping his eyes on his nephew. He smiled at
how little Allan smacked his pink lips repeatedly as he settled to sleep. It
was cute and funny.

“He really doesn’t,” she insisted.

“He hasn’t seen his little sister in over a year. She didn’t
even come home for Christmas because she’s avoiding me. Yeah, totally not a
reason to hate me, nor the reason he’s so cold towards me,” he finished
sarcastically.

Riana sighed heavily. “You need to understand his position—”

Ruiz cut her off with a look that said he was done with the
conversation. He couldn’t stand another day past the year of her pestering. He
knew her concern was out of love but god, he wasn’t interested in hearing this
again.

“Riana stop. Things are the way they are because they just
are. Now, go enjoy your day, I’ll stay here with the kid.”

Her face creased in annoyance as she turned around and
stomped away muttering, “You are so damn stubborn.”

Ruiz sighed with relief. He’d earned himself a reprieve for
a few minutes before Loraine came along and tried to talk him into finding
Melody, though she orders more than suggests, in a sweet and serene voice. Ever
since she became a wife and mom, she was always so concerned with everyone
else’s happiness. She wasn’t so crass and up-in-your-face anymore. She was
softer, more patient and according to her parents she smiled a lot more than
they could ever remember. Her hippie mother described it as the little sun in
her heart shining bright with joy and love touching everyone around her,
infecting them with happiness. Compared to some of the other things she’d said
before, that was easy to comprehend.

Ruiz turned his head slightly and watched from his
peripheral view as Reno settled himself in the lawn chair next to him with a
grunt. His brother, though the go-to-guy to solve a problem, wasn’t exactly the
open-heart conversationalist, so he wasn’t surprised when Reno didn’t speak
immediately. But Ruiz already knew what he was thinking what he didn’t want to
utter and hadn’t done so since the day it happened and it annoyed the hell out
of him.

“One of these days you are just going to have to come out
and say it.”

After two beats of silence, Reno said, “Say what?”

Ruiz bit down on his teeth. “I told you so.”

“Why would I say that?”

“Because you told me this would happen. Right before the
move you said my relationship with Melody would be disastrous to the family if
it didn’t work out and you were right. Allan can barely stand my presence and
Riana is caught in the middle.”

Reno nodded. “I did say that, but that wasn’t what I was
thinking just now.”

Ruiz faced his brother. “Then what?”

“He’s thinking what kind of idiot spends over a year mopping
around the world instead of chasing after the woman he loves?”

Ruiz turned around at Allan’s booming voice. He wasn’t sure
if he was stern or angry because the guy knew how to control his facial
expression too damn well; it was probably the reason why he was such a shark in
the boardroom.

“Why haven’t you gone after my sister yet?” he demanded.

“She made it very clear she wants nothing to do with me.”

“And why is that?” Reno asked more calmly.

Ruiz shook his head. He was stumped on that one, but seeing
her with another guy who looked more suited to her class right after she told
him to hit the road was a message he received loud and clear.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Where do you guys
want me to go next?”

Reno and Allan just stared at him probably both silently
debating who’ll throttle him first.

“Paris,” Matthew added, coming up next to Allan with a
bottle of beer in his hand.

Ruiz was grateful for the save, but that was the last place
he wanted to go. He had wanted this globetrotting job and he had to do it
whether he liked it or not. He’d just have to push the memories back, do his
job as fast and as efficiently as he possibly could and move on.

“What do you want me to checkout?”

“The books don’t add up and we’ve received some complaints
from some well known clientele. Apparently the Paris Red Roses doesn’t live up
to the standards we preach and we’ve had enough bad press to last us a lifetime
with the whole Torino business.” Ruiz caught Allan’s clenched jaw and he bet
the rest did too, but none commented on it. “You’re going to straighten the
place out. Stay there as long as it takes to make sure things don’t fall out of
sync again.”

Ruiz nodded. He’d heard the Red Roses in Paris had begun to
struggle holding itself up and that was becoming a liability to the entire
franchise. He knew exactly what Matthew meant. Ruiz had to fix the issues there
and if he failed, Red Roses Paris would have to be shut down immediately.
Cutting off a rotting finger before it putrefied the rest of the hand. That
would mean the loss of hundreds of jobs, a hold up for the ground breaking of
the Rio De Janeiro Red Roses and of course the bad publicity. They had come too
far with Red Roses, had sacrificed a lot and suffered much because of it. They
couldn’t let it fail.

“When do you want me to leave?”

“Tomorrow would be great.”

Good. Ruiz stood brushing the wisp curls away from his
nephew’s little forehead, kissing it before handing him over to his father. He
watched as Allan took his namesake in his arms. The look that crossed his face
was so powerful it shook Ruiz to the core. Ruiz felt jealous of the love in
Allan’s eyes for his son that Ruiz never received from his own father.

 
“I should go
home and pack.”

“Ruiz, if Melody is your true love, you should think about
what your brother and I went through before you completely dismiss our
concern.”

Ruiz nodded. “I’ll think about it Allan, but you need to
understand this is what your sister wanted.”

Reno stood. “We wanted different things and were ready to
give up the women we love until they and life told us otherwise. If you don’t
want to listen to us, talk to Matthew. He’s the only one who had a drama free
relationship.”

Matthew laughed. “Not exactly drama free but the normal kind
of drama—disapproving father and an overconfident brother.”

Ruiz chuckled. “Yeah, I think I’ll get my advice from
Matthew. My drama is in his category.”

“Smart ass!” Allan smiled at him, a first since he came back
to the States without Melody.

“More like damn ass.” Reno clapped him on the back. “Make
sure to say goodbye to the ladies before you leave. I don’t want Loraine biting
my head off over it.”

“Life with a pregnant wife.” Matthew and Allan spoke in
unison and they all laughed except Ruiz who forced a grin. He wished he was
part of the group with his own pregnancy comedy—horror stories. But Melody had
stolen that chance from him and he couldn’t see himself going through that with
anyone else.

His phone rang and he quickly excused himself, glad not to
have to pretend any longer. He stepped into the house, answering his phone.

“Ruiz?”

He groaned closing his eyes. He never thought this day could
go from bad to worse. Why hadn’t he checked the caller ID?

“Ruiz, are you there?”

“Yes mother, what is it?”

“Is that anyway to talk to your mother?” she admonished.

“When I know you’re going to start harping about getting
what’s rightfully mine, yes.”

 
“You should
never have let him sell your inheritance,” she hissed.

Ruiz rolled his neck. He was tired of this argument. “You
wanted what was yours and I paid you back—with interest in fact, so will you
please let this go!” He heard the impatience in his harsh tone but he was
beyond caring. He’d grown up listening to her complaining and whining and he
just wanted the matter closed.

“No, I won’t! I wanted the resort not payment. When you left
here you were supposed to get the resort and what did you do? You let that
bastard sell it!”

Ruiz clenched his jaw at the insult. He felt it as if it was
meant for him, and in fact it should. He already knew who the legitimate son
was and who wasn’t. Reno had told him the truth a few months back after Ruiz
fessed up about his true intentions the first time they met. So though
technically his mother’s money was the capital, legally it all belonged to Reno
as the old man had willed it because his mother was the old guy’s legal wife.
If Ruiz let his father’s betrayal continue to overshadow his life, eating him
up inside, he would have missed out on what he currently had. Ruiz turned
around to face the backyard and he couldn’t help but smile. Truthfully, he
liked having a family more than the resort, one that loved and immediately
accepted him without demanding one thing from him. The only reason his mother
wanted it was for vengeance and Ruiz didn’t want to hurt his brother and
sister. The funny thing was, Reno had being trying to give it to him and he’d
refused it adamantly. If his mother knew, she would flay him alive.

“Goodbye mother.”

“Ruiz, if you don’t get it back, I’m going to disown you!”

It was probably the best thing that could happen to him,
being set free from her malice, but Ruiz would never say that to her.

“Goodbye mother,” he finished, hanging up.

* * * *

Paris. He never thought he would be back here, not willingly
anyway. There were so many memories, so many unforgettable moments he’d shared
with Melody there that he didn’t want to relive knowing he’d lost her forever.
There was a good way to handle that. Avoiding all the places they went to
together. However, avoiding the hotel was impossible, but drowning himself in
work would do. That wouldn’t be hard to accomplish because he was sure that was
exactly what he was in for if he was to save it.

He nodded at the hotel driver who’d come to pick him up at
the airport and frowned at how rude he was. Yanking the trolley out of his
hands without even a ‘by your leave’ and walking briskly away, expecting Ruiz
to follow him through the crowds playing catch up. When they got to the car,
the guy threw his bags in, banged the trunk door shut and moved to the driver
seat without a word, leaving Ruiz standing there with his mouth hanging open.
The driver sat in the car, waiting for Ruiz to enter and the moment he did, he
jetted off not even giving him a chance to close the door or buckle his seat
belt.

If this was what Matthew was talking about, Red Roses Paris
may just end up with a whole new staff once Ruiz was done.