‘My respect for your father,’ Alejandro declared in a dangerously soft, slightly accented voice that was chilling in its intensity, ‘allowed you to get past my secretary and buy five minutes of my valuable time.’ Dark eyes became icily dispassionate. ‘I suggest you make good use of it.’
‘My father doesn’t know I’ve initiated a personal appeal,’ Elise assured him in immediate defence.
‘It makes no difference. My decision is irrevocable.’
The words were clipped, hard, and horribly final. ‘How can you say that?’ she demanded, launching into passionate speech. ‘He deserves——’
‘Another chance?’
‘Why don’t you let me finish a sentence?’ she parried with mounting antipathy, and encountered his visible cynicism.
‘Four minutes and thirty seconds doesn’t allow for verbose explanation.’
She wanted to hit him. She almost did. Yet there was something electrifyingly primitive beneath his sophisticated façade that warned her that he would retaliate in kind without the slightest qualm.
‘Without your help, my father faces bankruptcy,’ she enlightened him starkly, and glimpsed no visible change in his expression.
‘I head a multinational corporation which has a complex variety of investments throughout the world. Although I retain a controlling percentage, as director I am responsible to a number of shareholders. Your father’s latest appeal for a further extension resulted in extensive feasibility studies. The findings negate any possibility of directorial board approval for either an increase in borrowings or an extension of time.’
Elise felt her misgivings increase at his inflexibility. ‘He’s ill,’ she stressed with a sense of desperation. ‘Conclusive tests reveal the necessity for heart surgery.’
‘I cannot gamble with my shareholders’ money.’
The hard unyielding words brought a rush of anger she barely managed to contain. Don’t blow it, an inner voice cautioned. ‘My father is a very proud man for whom honesty and integrity are sacrosanct. Hansen Holdings has been a family company for three generations,’ she informed him with commendable steadiness, given the short rein she held on her temper. ‘It will kill him if he loses everything in a bankruptcy action.’
His expression did not change. He was a superb tactician, watchful, waiting for her to plot the next move. There was no doubt he would win the game, but for the moment she was still a player, even if he held all the cards.
‘Commendable sentiment isn’t sufficient reason for me to grant the extension your father requires.’
He was an obdurate, unfeeling monster, she decided with bitter acrimony. Truly el diablo. Pride lifted her chin and lent her eyes a fiery sparkle. ‘What would you consider to be sufficient reason?’
His eyes darkened fractionally, and she was unable to look away. His intent gaze had a mesmeric effect, and a slow heat suffused her body, reaching deep to unleash an entire gamut of sensations she was loath to recognise.
A deep insistent burr was almost an anticlimax as it broke the fraught silence, and Elise watched as he reached for the in-house phone, privy to the brusqueness of his voice as he checked the time and intimated he was on his way.
Replacing the receiver, he moved away from the desk. ‘I am needed in the board room.’
She endeavoured to keep the desperation from her voice. ‘Please…’
His eyes seared hers, lancing right through to her soul. After what seemed an interminable silence, he drawled, ‘Have dinner with me tonight.’ He named a well-known restaurant. ‘Meet me there. Seven-thirty.’
Her lips formed a single negation, only to have it remain locked in her throat.
‘A test of filial loyalty, wouldn’t you agree?’ He moved with lithe ease towards the door. ‘My secretary will see you out.’
* * *
A shiver shook Elise’s slim frame as the image disappeared and, no matter how hard she concentrated, it was impossible to recall.
Alejandro paused beside her, his expression intent as his eyes raked her pale cheeks. ‘What is it?’
She lifted a hand and smoothed a stray tendril of hair back behind her ear. Slowly she turned towards him, her eyes shadowed and pensive.
‘I was in your office.’ She drew in a deep breath, then relayed a description. She looked at him, puzzlement creasing her forehead. ‘I was appealing to you to extend my father’s company loan,’ she explained shakily. ‘You were angry,’ she revealed slowly. ‘We both were.’
She’d felt it, breathed it in those few brief minutes, a palpable entity so vivid it made her feel terribly afraid.
His expression was impossible to fathom. ‘How much were you able to remember?’
Was that why she’d married Alejandro? To save her father?
Her head began to reel, and she drew a deep breath in a conscious effort to stave off a spell of dizziness.
‘You were called in to a board meeting,’ she revealed slowly, trying desperately to recall the elusive image without success. ‘I can remember walking to the lift, stepping into it,’ she said helplessly. ‘But that’s all.’
His hands lifted to cradle her face, then his mouth closed over hers in a light tasting that elicited little response. It was as if her mind were still caught up with the desire to recapture the past, and she didn’t offer a word as they made their way back to the house.
Elise found it difficult to shake off an inclination towards introspection for the rest of the day, and even during dinner she was unusually quiet.
‘Anxiety won’t help hasten the return of your memory,’ Alejandro advised as she pushed her plate aside.
She glimpsed the inherent strength apparent, and her eyes took on a shadowy quality. ‘I can’t help the feeling of defencelessness that has always lurked in the background,’ she revealed slowly, holding his gaze.
‘You have no reason to be uncertain. About anything,’ he added with deliberate emphasis.
She wasn’t quite so sure, but at the moment she had little option but to accept his word.
He rose to his feet and began collecting cutlery and stacking plates. ‘Sort through the video cassettes while I take care of the dishes.’
Elise wandered into the informal lounge, and after some deliberation she selected an action movie that threatened to swamp the viewer with lots of thrills and spills.
Alejandro walked into the room just as the previews concluded, and as she made for one of the single chairs he tugged her down on to the two-seater beside him.
With maximum ease he adjusted their positions so that she rested between his thighs and leaned back against his chest. His hands moved to link together over her lower abdomen.
The desire to stay there overcame any willingness to protest, and she forced herself to concentrate on the superbly fit male actor on screen as he launched into a daring choreographic karate routine with his opponent.
Elise must have fallen into a doze at some stage, for when she woke she was in bed and it was morning.
After a leisurely breakfast Alejandro tossed their bags into the boot, locked up the house, and drove back to the city.
‘You look so much better,’ Ana beamed with approval as she greeted them on arrival, and her pleasant features creased into a genuine smile. ‘It is good to see the colour in your face again.’
Elise’s mouth curved with a certain wry humour. ‘Alejandro has been feeding me up and taking me for walks along the beach.’
‘I