Seducing His Opposition (14 page)

“Selena?”

She started as she heard her name and turned to see Paulo standing there. She got up and gave her cousin a hug.

“I think I already reviewed your contract,” she said.

“You did,” he said. “I noticed your suitcase in the car. Are you leaving?”

“Yes, I am. I was just here to make sure that Luna Azul didn’t take advantage of you all in the fine print. I’m almost done.”

“I must have missed
abuelita
’s call. I thought she was going to have everyone over before you went back home.”

Selena flushed as a weird sensation made her stomach feel like it was full of lead. “Uh, I kind of haven’t told her I’m leaving yet.”

“What? What’s going on? Are you okay?” he asked.

“Nothing is going on. I just got word that all of the vendors at the Mercado were ready to sign their contracts and there is no reason for me to stay anymore.”

“No reason…what about family?” Paulo asked.

“I am not leaving the family, Paulo. I’m—”

“Is this about that guy you were dating?” he asked.

“No. The guy—Justin—he’s not responsible for this,” she said. She needed to make sure her family understood that what was going on had nothing to do with Justin and everything to do with her. “I have to get back to my job, that’s all.”

“Your job?” Paulo asked. “Maybe if I hadn’t known you since we were in diapers I’d believe that. But to leave without saying anything to our grandparents…
Tata,
that is not like you. Even after Raul you said goodbye to them.”

She shook her head. “If I don’t leave now, Paulo, I think I’m going to make an even bigger mistake than I did before.”

He hugged her close to him. “What kind of mistake? I can help you.”

She pulled back and realized how much she really loved her family. “You can’t. I wish you could.”

“There is nothing that is so big that you have to run away.”

“I know it seems like I’m running away, but truly I’m not, Paulo, I’m simply going home.”

“Is New York really your home?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said with all the confidence she could muster. She wanted Paulo to believe it because maybe if he did, she would.

“That’s a lie,
tata,
” he said. “When you came down here you were buttoned up, wearing all black and looking like anyone else from up there. But after a few days your hair was down and you blossomed back into the woman you really are.”

“I haven’t changed,” she said.

“Then you aren’t being honest with yourself. I hope you wake up to the fact that you can’t ever really be comfortable in your own skin unless you acknowledge that your family is a huge part of who you are,” he said.

Paulo was being hard on her. Almost as hard as she was sure her grandparents would be. “I’m not going to change my mind.”

“I hope someday you do. When are you calling
abuelita?
”

“I will do it in a few minutes when I’ve finished reviewing this last contract.”

“Make sure you do. I don’t want to keep secrets for you.”

Paulo walked away and she shivered. If she wasn’t so afraid she’d try to find a way to stay, but there were no doubts in her mind that she needed to go back home and get some perspective. But Paulo had a point and for the first time she’d seen how badly it had hurt her family the way she’d left before, but they had understood. If Paulo was that mad, how would Enrique and her grandparents react?

How would Justin?

What was she running from? Was she making a huge mistake?

She rubbed the back of her neck. She shouldn’t leave without at least saying goodbye to her grandparents. She couldn’t. “Paulo!”

“Si, tata?”

“Will you come with me to
abuelita
’s?”

“Definitely. I think this is the right thing to do.”

“Paulo, I’m so confused. No one has ever made me feel this way.”

“You mean Justin?”

“Yes. And he’s not…he’s not like anyone else I’ve ever known. I’m afraid to trust myself.”

“You shouldn’t be. You are a very smart woman,
tata,
” Paulo said. A few minutes later they were in his car driving toward her grandparents’ house.

Selena wanted to pretend that she was still getting on that airplane and leaving Miami but a part of her no longer wanted to go.

Justin arrived at the Ritz twenty minutes before he was supposed to pick Selena up. He went to his room and packed up his luggage and had it taken to his car before he went to check out. Selena was going to look right at home in his waterfront house on Fisher Island. It would be nice to see her there.

“How can I help you, sir?”

“I’m checking out,” he said. “Justin Stern.”

The front desk hostess nodded and started working on her computer and a minute later glanced up and smiled at him. “It says we have a letter for you. Let me grab that while you look over the folio.”

She handed him his resort bill and he glanced down at it before signing his name. Then she passed him an envelope and told him to have a nice day.

The handwriting on the front was Selena’s and he knew what it said before he even opened it.

But he tore it open anyway. He glanced down at the note on the hotel stationery.

Justin refolded the letter and put it in his pocket as he walked out of the club. He got in his Porsche 911 and drove like a madman away from the Ritz. He had no real destination in mind until he found himself parked in front of Selena’s house.

He remembered the night they’d made love by her pool. The night that had changed everything between them and though he’d thought he had the luxury of time to make up his mind about her and what he wanted from their relationship, he just realized that Selena was battling the same things he had been. And she’d decided that a quick, clean break was the simplest solution.

But he knew it wasn’t. She thought that now that she’d gotten everything she wanted that she could walk away from him, and he felt used.

He’d been the one who’d started this and he’d be the one to end it. Justin Stern wasn’t her lapdog…he wasn’t about to let Selena get what she wanted and then walk away.

He fired up the engine of his car and drove back to his office building. If that was the way she wanted to play things then he would show her that he was more than willing to play her game. And he would beat her at it.

He pulled out the contracts and then had his assistant bring him the list of other local business owners who weren’t in the Mercado. The zoning ordinance simply
said that it had to be a local vendor, not that it had to be the same ones.

He drew up a list of comparable businesses and then called Cam to tell him to hold off on celebrating.

“Why?” Cam asked.

“Because we’re not going to be lying down for the committee. If they want to be a part of the Mercado they will have to meet our terms,” Justin said.

“What has changed in the last two hours? And how much is it going to cost us to break the contracts with our current vendors?”

Justin knew he had to tell his brother something but he didn’t have the words right now. “I will tell you later. Let’s just say that I think an expert played us. And that makes me mad.”

“What does Selena say?”

“I have no idea, she’s gone back to New York.”

There was silence on the line and Justin knew he’d said too much.

“You can’t go back on the deals we have in place. I know you are angry. Hell, I’m pissed for you, but there is no way we are going to let a woman ruin the good thing we have going.”

“I know. I really know that it’s not the best idea, but I want to hurt her, Cam.”

“I understand that,” Cam said. “I’m coming back to the office. Don’t do anything rash.”

When Cam ended the call, Justin stood up, trying to get rid of the restless energy that was making him feel like he was going to punch something. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind to work right now, he knew that, but he had no idea where he would go.

The gym. He needed physical exercise and a lot of
it. He would love it if he could go to a boxing ring but the closet one was thirty minutes away and he wasn’t in any shape to drive right now.

He kept a bag of workout clothes at the office and grabbed them and his iPod and left. The gym was only a block away and he walked there, got changed and was on the treadmill in less than twenty minutes.

He put his headphones on and ran. It took about two miles for his mind to settle down and he realized that revenge was not the smartest reaction to have to her leaving.

He cared too much for Selena. He knew that he wanted to hurt her the way she’d hurt him by leaving with only a note to explain her actions. But he also liked Tomas and Paulo and all of the other business owners. Hurting them might succeed in getting Selena’s attention but he wasn’t interested in ruining Luna Azul and his new friends in the process.

“Want some company?” Cam asked as he walked up. He got on the treadmill next to Justin and started running.

“No, but I don’t think you are going to listen to me.”

“I’m not,” Cam said.

“How did you find me here?”

“You’re pretty predictable, bro.” Cam took a long look at Justin before he started up the machine. “Are you still thinking like a knucklehead?”

“No. I know I can’t throw away everything we’ve worked for because of a woman.”

“Good. What else have you figured out?”

“I still want her, Cam. Maybe this is what Dad felt
about Mother. Maybe he realized that he couldn’t live without her.”

“Maybe, little brother, I never understood the two of them. But this is about you.”

How true. He didn’t care about his parents’ relationship; it was time to break the cycle. He realized he wasn’t interested in doing anything that was going to harm Selena. He wanted her back. When he had her in his arms again, he’d make damned sure she never left.

Selena was his. She’d made that choice when she’d given herself to him on his yacht. He hadn’t realized it at the time but a bond had been formed.

It took him two more miles of running on the treadmill until he had the seeds of a plan. Normally he’d play his cards close to his chest and keep this wound private but he knew to win Selena he was going to have to pull out all of the stops and involve not only his family but hers as well.

As Justin stepped off the treadmill, he turned to Cam with a smile on his face.

S
elena was cold. It was almost April and though spring had definitely been present in Miami, it wasn’t very warm here in Manhattan. She’d been back for one weekend. That was it, even though it felt like a lifetime.

She pulled her coat a little closer as she exited the subway station nearest her office and started walking. There were a lot of people on the street but she kept her head down and just walked.

Selena’s talk with her grandparents and brother the day she left had been…somber, but she’d done what needed doing. Her boss had been very happy to see her back from her leave of absence so soon and had immediately put her on a project.

The kind of project she loved, one where she just worked 24/7 and was consumed with all the research
she had to do. Being a corporate lawyer meant lots of time reading case studies and finding precedence.

She wanted to believe she’d made the right choice but she felt alone and missed Justin. He hadn’t called her and to be honest she hadn’t expected him to. She hadn’t really given him an opening to.

She entered her office and walked past the security guard flashing her badge. He smiled at her as he did every day and called good morning to her. But she didn’t smile back. She just didn’t have it in her to pretend to be happy when she wasn’t.

She took the elevator to the seventh floor where her office was and when she was seated behind her desk she looked around.

She shook her head as she waited for her computer to boot up.

What was she doing here?

Waiting.

She’d spent her entire life waiting.

Her phone rang and she glanced at the caller ID. It was her brother.

She picked up and said, “Hi, Enrique.”

“I’m sorry to bother you at work but we need you back in Florida.”

“Why? What is going on?”

“The Stern brothers have offered me a gig. I want you to be here. It’s my first legit gig,” Enrique said.

“When is it?”

“This weekend. I know you said you needed to be back in New York, but I really want you here for this.”

“Let me see what I can do,” she said. She couldn’t avoid the important events in her brother’s life. “I will let you know if I’m coming.”

“
Tata,
I need my sister there. We are all each other has.”

“Enrique, you have
abuelito
and
abuelita
there.”

“It’s not the same. I want my big sister to be here.”

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Good.”

They hung up and she stared at the phone. It was odd that her grandfather hadn’t told her about the gig when they spoke on the phone last night. But he was still mad she’d left and had refused to tell her anything about the Mercado, so that might explain it.

She went online to research airfares and almost booked her flight, but she realized if she was going back she wanted to see Justin. She needed to see him. She picked up the phone and dialed Justin’s number. Something she’d done numerous times in the past. But this time she hung up before he answered. The same thing stopped her now, as had each time over the last several days.

What was she going to say to him? She honestly had no idea what he was going to be like when she phoned. If she knew she’d get his voice mail she’d stay on the line even if just to listen to his voice. And if he answered she could make up some excuse about wanting to read Enrique’s contract for him or find out how the Mercado was progressing but that wasn’t the truth.

She missed him.

There, she’d said it.

Since she’d been back, she’d been existing.

Existing…hadn’t she always wanted more from her life?

Her boss walked by and paused in the doorway.

“You look like you are pondering something big.”

“I am. I think I am going to resign.”

“Why?”

“I don’t belong here, Rudy, I need to be back in Miami.”

He shook his head. “I knew I shouldn’t have let my best lawyer go to Miami in March.”

“It’s not the weather,” she said.

“What is it then?”

No way was she going to tell her boss that it was a man. A man who might not even want her after the way she’d left. She’d made a mistake but if Justin had cared for her even a tenth as much as she loved him, then he would at least listen to her and that was all she needed.

Her time in Miami had reawakened her fighting spirit.

“It’s my heart. I left it down there and I don’t think I’m surviving very well without it.”

He nodded. “That I understand. Can you at least finish the case you are working on?”

If she worked around the clock she could get her research finished and her notes in order so that she could pass it on to another attorney. She nodded and got to work.

Suddenly she didn’t feel so lethargic. She looked out the window, realizing soon she’d be back home in Miami and that was really all she needed.

She decided she’d go to Miami for Enrique’s gig this coming weekend. It would give her a chance to find Justin and try to make amends before she moved back there permanently. And if she hustled, she could finish her move by the time Luna Azul’s tenth anniversary party rolled around.

She didn’t want to waste any more time now that she’d decided what she wanted. She felt silly that it had
taken her so long to realize that Justin owned her heart. She suspected she’d known it when she’d gotten on that plane in Miami to fly back here.

When Justin got off the private plane Hutch Damien had loaned him and walked across the tarmac to the heliport, he thanked his lucky stars. Nate’s celebrity friends sure came in handy.

Flying to New York City had been his last resort. At first he’d harbored a few fantasies of Selena coming crawling back to him but those had died quickly.

Given her past with men, he knew he was going to have to compromise and be the one to make the first move. He was still mad at the way she’d run off. But he loved her. He’d known that almost the instant he’d read her letter and realized that she was leaving him.

It had taken him one lonely night before he was able to admit it out loud and then he knew that he had to get her back. On his own. He knew her family was more than willing to help him get her to come back, but this was strictly between him and her.

There was no way he could spend the rest of his life without her.

His cell phone rang before he got on the chopper for his ride to midtown Manhattan and Selena’s office.

“Stern.”

“It’s Tomas. Enrique called Selena this morning and…told her about the gig. I think she is coming home.”

“Dammit. I told Enrique I could do this without his help,” Justin said.

“He loves his sister and he wants her to be happy.”

Of that Justin had no doubt. “I thought I said I was handling this.”

“You did but our family doesn’t want to leave anything to chance.”

Justin shook his head. “Thanks for letting me know. I will call as soon as I have some news.”

“Just bring our
tata
home,” Tomas said.

Justin had every intention of doing just that. Selena belonged by his side. Together they had made a good team but they had also completed each other. This wasn’t some big show to convince her to overlook his flaws. She hadn’t changed who he was at his core; she’d just shown him that the right woman was all he needed to be happy.

Years of short-term affairs had left him with the feeling that he was just like his father. But one month with the right woman had convinced him that he had been wrong.

He needed Selena the way he needed to breathe.

He got on the chopper and watched the views as he flew over Manhattan. Not bad. What he hadn’t told her family but had told his brothers was that if Selena wouldn’t come back to Miami, he was going to move here. He even had a possible apartment lined up just in case.

The chopper landed at the heliport and his driver met Justin. Soon they were on their way to Selena’s office.

He knew her well enough to know that she would be at work even though it was almost six in the evening. She was the kind of person who poured herself into whatever task she took. But more than that, she’d run away not only from him but also from her family. It was going to take a lot of work to keep her mind busy so she wouldn’t have to think of all she’d left behind.

Tonight she was going to have no choice but to think about it. He was back. And he was going to get
the answers he needed from her about her actions and then he was going to find the key to both of their happiness.

He was sure it was in the both of them. That they belonged together. Now all he had to do was convince her of that.

His phone buzzed and he glanced down to see a text message from his brother.

Justin had to laugh. One would think a make-or-break business deal hung in the balance the way Tomas and Cam were anxiously awaiting news. But he knew that both men had his best personal interest at heart. This wasn’t about business.

Cam had been worried, angry and then understanding when Justin had come to him and told him that he had to go to Manhattan and that there was a chance he was going to move there.

It had taken Cam less than twenty-four hours to figure out a plan to keep Justin in the business no matter where he ended up. He wanted to bring what he called “a taste of Miami Latin to the club scene in Manhattan” and Justin would be in charge of finding a new location and getting it up and running if he decided to stay in New York.

When the driver pulled to a stop in front of Selena’s
building, Justin jumped out of the car. He entered the skyscraper and went right up to the security guard at the reception desk.

“Can I help you, sir?”

“I’d like to see Selena Gonzalez,” he said, and gave the man the name of her law firm.

“Is she expecting you?” the guard asked.

“No, she isn’t.” Never in a million years. But then he figured she didn’t know him as well as she should have. How much he needed her. If she had, she might not have ever left him in Miami.

“Have a seat over there, sir.”

Justin walked a few feet from the desk but couldn’t sit down. Not now. He was ready to see Selena and no matter what happened he wasn’t leaving this building until he did.

The guard hung up the phone and motioned for him to come over. Justin did and was handed a pass and given instructions on how to get to Selena’s office.

Selena hung up the phone and immediately pulled out her compact and checked her makeup. It was shallow, she knew, but she wanted to be looking her best when Justin got up here. She reapplied her lipstick but there was no disguising the dark circles under her eyes. She was tired and he was going to be able to tell without much effort.

She could hardly believe he was here. What if she’d imagined the call? All day she’d thought about the fact that if she moved back to Miami there was a very real chance for her to reconcile with him.

Reconcile? She would probably have to get down on her knees and beg him to give her another chance. And she was in a place in her life right now to do that. She
wanted Justin. He was the reason she was quitting her job and moving back to Miami.

She heard the outer door of her office open and got to her feet, poking her head around the corner.

Justin.

He looked better than she’d remembered. His hair was casually tousled, his skin tanner than the last time she’d seen him and his eyes very intense.

She had to force herself to stay in the doorway and not run to him. But she wanted a hug. She needed one. She hadn’t had a single good night’s sleep since she left him and she craved the feeling of those big strong arms around her.

“Hello,” she said.

“Thanks for agreeing to see me,” he said.

She stepped back and retreated behind her desk as he walked toward her. But when he entered the room she realized she wasn’t in a position of power, not anymore. She’d tried to protect herself by leaving Miami but she was completely vulnerable where Justin was concerned.

She’d give him whatever he wanted if he forgave her.

“I figured it was the least I could do.”

He tipped his head to the side. “The very least…why did you run away?”

“I was scared. I guess I didn’t want to take a chance on staying and letting you hurt me.”

“Why would I have hurt you?”

“Because all the men in my life have. Maybe not my
abuelito
. But my papa died when I needed him the most and Raul took my heart and my money and then he left. I didn’t want to give you the chance to do the same thing to me. So when I realized our business was
done and that I had a small window of time to get out of Miami—I took it.”

“Have I ever done anything to make you think I would leave you like that?” he asked.

“You suggested we have a vacation affair. That we pretend that our lives were separate. That isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement for giving your heart to someone.”

“You were afraid of me and what I made you feel. From the beginning it was me coming on strong and you backing up. I guess I should have expected you to run.”

Selena looked at him and saw the man she loved. Saw the pain she’d caused him when she’d left. If she had to guess, she’d say it wasn’t just the leaving but the way she’d done it. Sneaking out of Miami the way Raul had done to her.

“I’m sorry.”

“Me, too.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“That you felt you had to leave like that.”

“I care for you—hell, I love you, Justin, but I’m not sure I can trust any man with my heart. I ran away from everyone because the desire to stay was so strong I couldn’t trust it.”

“You love me?” he asked her.

She nodded. There was no way she was going to deny it. She wanted Justin back in her life and he realized it would take a lot for him to trust her again but it was what she wanted more than anything else.

“Yes, I do.”

“I’m still angry at you for running away,” he said.

“I expected as much. I don’t know if I’d be able to forgive myself.”