by Christina OW
* * * *
Melody watched as Ruiz rushed out of the room without even a goodbye. It annoyed her sometimes when he did that. At this crucial moment he should have said bye, even given her a kiss in case Allan really did kill him. God why were they early?
She thought she had at least two full days to think up an explanation a way to appease her brother. She’d even pushed their predestined first meeting in sixteen months out of her head and concentrated on the launch party because she was sure she had time to fret and panic later. Unfortunately, later had arrived sooner than she’d anticipated and her husband had gone off to brave the storm alone. Why were they here so early?
She turned to Riana and demanded, “Why are you guys early?”
She’d gotten the shock of her life when Loraine, Riana and Amy busted into the room and attacked her with hugs. Amy only stayed a minute before Matthew called her out about…Melody couldn’t remember. She was so stunned by their presence that all she could do was scream.
“You’re two days early, why are you two days early?”
Riana sat on Melody’s other side on the settee, wrapped her arm around her and rested her chin on her shoulder. “Calm down, no need to panic. We just thought it would be fun to surprise you.”
Melody snorted. “We are surprised alright.” She shifted Esme to her other breast. “So surprised I’m sure surprising us isn’t the real reason you’re here two days early. Who organized this surprise anyway?”
“Allan,” Loraine blurted out, lowering herself on the bed. She looked so uncomfortable. Melody didn’t miss that part.
Melody’s nervousness grew. If Allan organized the early trip then something more was definitely going on. She didn’t want to think about that, not now. She hadn’t seen her ‘sisters; in over a year.
“So, boy or girl?” Melody asked hoping to distract herself from what was going on beyond the closed door.
Loraine got a content and happy look on her face that made her glow. The joy she felt beamed through her eyes that it made Melody smile. “It’ a girl. We’re thinking of naming her after our mothers. Cora as her first name and Susan as her middle name.”
“Cora Susan Albury. It’s beautiful.”
Riana sniffed at her shoulder and Melody patted her hand comfortingly. She knew how Riana felt. She missed her mother too and having a daughter only made that ache worse. A girl needed her mother when she was pregnant and even more when she had a daughter. Boys were different from girls in a major attitude way and who better to learn from than a woman who’d raised a daughter, survived the experience and became one of her best friends. Loraine was lucky she still had her mother to hold her hand through it all.
“Hey, no crying.” Loraine’s voice broke with emotion, tears gleaming in her eyes. “Oh hell, let’s all cry. Then let’s go to Reno red faced with running mascaras and tell him we are all crying because of the forced celibacy he has imposed on me. I might as well join a nunnery at this point!”
They all laughed at that, tears quickly forgotten. Esme pulled away from Melody, full and content now that she was fed. She went to pass the baby to Jackie when Riana stilled her.
“Let me. I’ve been dying to hold her since I saw her.” Melody happily handed Esme to her aunty. “She’s gorgeous Melody,” Riana cooed, holding Esme over her shoulder and patting her back so that she would burp.
Melody smiled, brushing Esme’s unruly curls away from her face. “Thanks. She’s our finest work.”
“What’s her name?”
“Esmeralda,” she answered, but she didn’t offer any back history. She had a feeling no one knew about Esmeralda, Ruiz’s nanny, yet, and much of his past if at all. Melody believed she only got the cliff notes and everything else Ruiz either deemed unimportant or unnecessary for her to know. The meeting with his mother certainly explained a lot about his closed off nature, especially about his past.
The door opened again and Melody held her breath for just a second until Amy stepped in. She was truly on edge about finally meeting up with Allan.
“Hi, Mom!” she cheered rushing to Melody with her arms wide open. Melody stood to receive the hug. Someone else she’d truly missed. “Congratulations on the baby and the husband. Too bad we weren’t present for either.” She pulled away and added with a censure.
Melody felt her cheeks burn. “I’m sorry. Things kind of just got away from us.”
“Yeah, baby, wedding, break up, make up—I can see how things could have gotten away from you. Especially since there wasn’t a whole year somewhere in between that you could have taken five minutes from to call and tell us,” Loraine said sarcastically.
Melody stuck her tongue out at her. “I called you!”
“Yeah, but you left the gorgeous angel out of the conversation and the fact that you’re now Mrs. Albury,” Riana pilled it on.
“Sinclair-Albury, I’m a hyphenate.” And to Loraine she said smugly, “And it was wedding, baby, break up, make up, break up again then finally make up, thank you very much.”
“Oh, you must be so proud.”
“Such drama, she should write a novel,” Riana added laughingly.
Melody turned to glare at her. “You are spending way too much time with Loraine. You’ve caught her annoying sarcasm.” They laughed and Melody did her best to suppress her smile and act offended. With a dismissive wave of her hand she said, “Whatever, what’s done is done. Now that you’re all here maybe we can do something together?”
Amy nodded. “The guys need a time out from whatever they are discussing. Things are so tense in the living room I didn’t even stop to say hi to Ruiz.”
The panic was back and in full force. “I’ll get dressed.”
* * * *
“So it’s true. Someone had been using Red Roses Paris to launder money?” Allan spoke in a dangerously controlled tone.
Ruiz nodded. “He’s been doing it for almost a year.”
“A year?” Allan turned to Matthew, eyes blazing. “And we are just finding out about this now?”
Matthew turned to Ruiz. “Those transactions weren’t for running the hotel?”
He shook his head. “I thought so too but Jon Luc—the lawyer Dante hired—found out otherwise. He’s very effective and efficient at his job.”
He cautiously watched as Allan seethed. “The board was right. I’ve grown soft, slacking at my job.” He shot out of his chair in barely controlled anger and turned away from the room.
Reno stood. “Don’t start that again. You aren’t that ruthless business mogul anymore. Things have changed—you have changed. You have a wife and children now to think about. Sinclair Enterprise is no longer your only concern.”
Allan turned on him. “And what’s your excuse? Red Roses is your responsibility! Why did a year have to go by before you decided to have someone step in?”
“Because Melody was here. I knew it was struggling but I chose to trust Melody, to give her time to turn things around,” Reno returned calmly.
Ruiz had to hold himself down in his seat to keep from jumping in and defending Melody. If they knew the circumstances, they wouldn’t be arguing right now.
Matthew stood and moved between Reno and Allan. “Let’s just calm down. It’s been handled and everything is on track, right Ruiz?” he asked pointedly.
Ruiz stood too, his tightly clenched fists in his pockets. “Yes it’s been handled. The bank and the authorities have also been notified. No one knew the laundering was happening, not even the bank.”
“That’s still no excuse!” Allan barked. “How the hell did whatever his name even become a signatory?”
Ruiz rolled his shoulders and begged for patience. “Melody was pregnant then. She trusted the new general manager and its clear now her trust was misplaced.”
“Clearly!” Allan huffed.
“Where is he now?” Reno asked.
Ruiz prepared himself for the explosion before he said, “The cops can’t track him down.”
“W
hat!” Allan roared.
Sparing him a glance Ruiz faced his brother. “Worse, there is no record of him. Antonio Otorin does not exist, anywhere.”
Allan’s laugh was harsh and lacked amusement. “Perfect! Just perfect! No one bothered to do a background check on this guy?” He paced a few steps then stopped. “I thought we all had to agree on the general manager before he or she was made a permanent hire?”
“Yes, we do,” Matthew responded. “But remember we gave Ruiz and Melody power of attorney to make decisions on behalf of the Red Roses board of directors during their tour.”
“Yeah, and we ended up with a money laundering bastard as general manager,” Allan turned on Ruiz, then, “What the hell were you two doing back then, besides the obvious?”
“You mean besides getting married and breaking up a month after?” he retorted angrily then quickly took a deep breath when Reno shook his head at him, warning him off. “All this yelling is beside the point. The problem has been fixed and I’ve made sure it won’t happen again.”
“How do you know it won’t happen again?”
“Just trust me on it.”
“Trust him, he says to trust him. We trusted you with Red Roses Paris and it’s been bled dry and then used as a front for criminal activity. I trusted you with my sister and she ended up pregnant and alone. You weren’t there when your daughter was born, what if something happened to one or both of them? If it wasn’t for Reno’s cockamamie ploy to not get involved and let you two solve your own problems I would have had her home before her first trimester was done. Then this awesome plan to send you here and ‘kill two birds with one stone’, you’d still be in his guest room drinking and mopping around. If you truly cared about my sister, there shouldn’t have been a plan to get you here and be with her!”
“Allan! That’s enough,” Reno ordered curtly.
Ruiz took a deep breath and said, “Allan, I know why you’re angry. There is nothing you can say to me that I haven’t already said to myself. I left my wife alone when she was pregnant, worse vulnerable to a criminal with a false identity. I wake up in cold sweats just thinking about all that could have gone wrong.”
“Good!”
“But if you want to assign blame, you should add yourself to that list.”
“What?”
“Antonio Otorin or whoever he truly is hates the Sinclairs—you in particular.”
Allan’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as he approached Ruiz with the grace of a jaguar ready to pounce. “What are you talking about?”
Ruiz suddenly wished he hadn’t said that because now he would have to get into something he wasn’t fully prepared for, but hell he was tired of being judged!
The door opened behind him and a panicked Melody made her presence known. “We are off to brunch all of us. Whatever you are fighting about can wait an hour.” She stopped next to Ruiz and faced her brother with her shoulders back and pushed her chin stubbornly out, but Ruiz could feel her shaking like a leaf next to him. He gave her credit for her bravado. Ruiz stood where he was, his fisted hands in his pockets tightening as he waited for Allan’s reaction.
Allan glanced at him like a bulldog would a puffing Chihuahua and snorted dismissively before he turned to his sister. “Come here rug rat.”
Melody ran and launched herself into her brother’s arms, her own winding around his neck. Allan hugged her tight and Ruiz could see him visibly relax. Having her in his arms after so long, confirming that she was okay—maybe that had been his problem all along and not how they’d dropped the ball with Red Roses Paris.
“I’m so sorry.” Ruiz heard Melody’s strangled whisper.
“You and I have a lot to talk about young lady. For now, don’t do that again, ever!” he ordered sternly before he placed her on her feet. He smiled down at her as he tenderly wiped her cheeks dry with his thumb. “A wife and a mother at twenty-five. The brat is all grown up.”
Melody turned to Ruiz with a radiant smile before she faced Allan again. “Did you see her? Isn’t she beautiful?”
“Why do you think I was so eager to hold her in the room?” Riana commented, moving to stand beside them, “Allan wouldn’t let her go until she started fussing.”
“She looks just like you when you were a baby, but she’s got the Albury eyes,” Allan added with a lopsided smile.
“They all do,” Loraine added as she walked with a slight waddle in her step to stand by her husband. “I’m sure this one will too,” she added patting her belly.
Riana wrapped her arms around Allan’s waist. “Are you okay?”
He released Melody who stepped back into Ruiz’s waiting arms and wrapped his arms around his own wife and said, “I’m better now.”
“Okay then. Time for food. I’m starving, let’s go!” Loraine ordered already heading for the door.
“And the kids?” Reno asked following his wife.
“Jackie is going to call her daughter and granddaughter to help out. I wish they weren’t sleeping. I really wanted to see them, I miss them!” Melody whirred.
Ruiz rubbed her arms from shoulder to wrist. “We’ll see them when we get back. They should be awake by then.” Then when the others began to shuffle out, he held her back.
Melody turned to face him. “We need to call room service to get the rooms ready and to move all my stuff into your room. Although, I have a feeling that’s not why you held me back.”
“Mel, we’re going to have to tell them about Antonio.”
Melody shook her head her eyes wide with fright. “Allan is going to lose it!”
“There is no helping that. We need to find out what this guy has against your brother.”
“Ruiz, I’m scared,” she whispered fearfully, cuddling against his chest.
Me too, he thought. Ruiz hugged her tight. “It will all turn out fine. Let’s go before someone comes back for us.”
Chapter Twelve
Ruiz sat on the bed doing up the cuffs of his shirt as he half listens to Melody’s nervous chatting. He’d tried to pay attention at first, respond when he was required and make all the right conversation noises until he realized her mouth was stuck on a loop. She said the same thing twice, asked the same questions five times and finally asked him what went with what so many times he stopped answering, but she kept on talking. He chuckled softly shaking his head wondering if Esme would inherit her mother’s nervous chatter or his quiet watchful nature. Well he didn’t care which. The chatter was endearing and he usually just listened to the sound of Melody’s voice and not her words these days and the quiet watchful nature would make her wiser. With this weird wacky world she would need to be slower in action and quick in thinking.
Melody stuck her head out of the bathroom. “Are you listening to me?”
He stood, tucking his shirt in his open tux pants, “Are you still talking about the launch party and how nervous you are that all goes well, that the food tastes great and we attract some big clientele to make it up to Allan for letting him down the first time?”
She raised a freshly shaped brow. “Yes.”
“Then no, I wasn’t paying attention.”
She stepped out of the bathroom, hands on her hips glaring at him accusingly. “Ruiz!”
He raised his hand to stop her as her mouth parted to speak. Beautiful red lips that matched her red lace underwear and strapped sandals with golden six inch heels. She looked like she’d stepped out of one of his fantasies. Right out of his head into the real world to have her wicked way with him.
His eyes travelled back up and he caught the smug look on her face. “Guess who’s not getting any of this for ignoring me?”
“Really?” He took one step closer to her, making sure she saw how turned on her little outfit had him. “What if I promise to do very wicked things to you?”
He could feel her eyes touching him as she stared at his chest then slowly lower and settle on his crotch for so long it actually twitched in greeting. She swayed forward then quickly
took a step back shaking her head as if to clear it of the desire he was burning in her eyes.
“No, stop trying to seduce me. I don’t have the time to redo my makeup or fix my hair after you mess it up. So stop it!” she ordered, pointing a red manicured finger at him.
“That color on you does weird things to my libido. What if I promise not to mess up your face and hair?”
She looked tempted for a moment but quickly shook her head. “Turn around!”
“Why?”
“Because these panties barely cover my ass and I don’t want you watching me walk away.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her his best wolfish grin.
“Fine, I’ll just back peddle.”
“Fine, I’ll just stare at those magnificent breasts.”
“I just fed Esme.”
Ruiz gagged. “Why the hell did you have to go and say that?”
Melody laughed, strutting into the bathroom. “You’ll never look at my boobs again if you think you’re defiling your daughter’s source of food.”
Ruiz gagged again. She was right. His fantasies would have to take a back seat until Esme stopped breast feeding. Even then he wasn’t sure he could look at them the same way knowing his next child would feed from them. Good thing he wasn’t too grossed out about her vagina. Now that would be one hell of a problem, for them both.
He finished dressing and was shrugging on his jacket when Melody stepped out of the bathroom dressed in a floor sweeping red gown held up with the tiniest shoulder straps he’d ever seen and a shy smile on her face.
“I love the theme today. You’re gorgeous.”
“Thank you.” He wasn’t sure if the red on her cheeks was makeup blush or natural blush.
“And keeping up with the theme.” She walked to him—the way the dress danced around her feet she looked like she was floating—with something red in her hand.
“What’s that?”
She smiled up at him as she tucked something in his front jacket pocket. “A red silk handkerchief. It stands out well with your black tux and black shirt. Where is your bowtie?”