‘I appreciate my proposition must come as a surprise.’
Her face scrunched up, and she matter-of-factly said, ‘Just a tiny bit considering we once spent a whole evening discussing the kind of wedding we wanted, and then weeks later you dumped me.’
Chest and stomach wincing simultaneously, he inclined his head in agreement. ‘I never did apologise for the way I ended things with you, did I.’
She waved an airy hand and rolled her eyes. ‘Xavi, it was eight years ago.’
Eight years and yet he still remembered their time together so vividly that it could have been days ago. He doubted it was the same for her. For all her words of love, Beth had got over him pretty damned quickly, something he knew he had no right to resent. He had no right, either, to feel jealousy whenever she posted photos on social media of her raising a glass with a group of friends that usually had equal numbers of men and women. Whenever he made the occasional comment to her posts, she always reacted, whether with a thumbs-up or a heart or with a witty remark that made his mouth smile and his heart hurt.
He made his mouth smile now. ‘I’m just saying that I appreciate my clumsy way of ending things will make it harder for you to take my proposal seriously.’
She smiled. He’d always loved Beth’s smile. Her top lip was just the slightest bit fuller than the bottom one, and when she smiled her mouth formed an upside-down heart. ‘Forget the past and tell me your reasoning. If nothing else, I’m curious.’
‘For one, it better protects the business and both our interests in it,’ he answered steadily. For all her smiles, there was a sharpness in Beth’s stare that told him she would detect any hint of bullshit.
‘How?’
‘Your grandfather’s death has already increased speculation and scrutiny of the business, and it will encourage the sharks to start circling again. Marriage will allow us to pool our shares the same way our grandfathers did and allow me to continue running the Rosbel Group without outside interference and make us both a lot of money—profits have increased significantly since I took control. Us marrying gives certainty to the tens of thousands of people we employ around the world and gives certainty to the financial markets, too.’
‘Wow, you really know how to make a girl feel special withthatreasoning for marriage.’
Refusing to allow himself to remember how he’d woken one morning to find her already awake and gazing at him and how he’d said, ‘Wearegoing to marry, aren’t we?’ he pulled a rueful smile. ‘You could entrust them to me or I could buy the shares from you, and the effect would be the same, but marrying me protects you, too.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Hmm…how have you worked that out?’
‘You’re a very wealthy woman now, Beth. The sharks won’t just circle the business, they’ll be out circling you, too.’
‘Why would the sharks know about me?’
‘It will soon be public knowledge that Raul left everything to you.’
‘Not if no one tells them.’
Xavi knew she wasn’t naive enough to believe that. ‘Your grandfather was one of the richest men in Europe. Whoever he left his wealth to would make the news—that he’s left everything to the granddaughter who didn’t want it adds to the story. That his granddaughter is beautiful by anyone’s standards will have the press salivating. Every shark and chancer in the western hemisphere will want to take their chances with you. Once the news breaks, you will find yourself unable to trust anyone you don’t already know. I can help you navigate this world.’
‘That doesn’t require marriage.’
‘Agreed. But it will make it easier for me to protect you.’
She laughed and pulled a face. ‘I don’t need protecting.’
‘You will, very soon, and you are not prepared for it.’
‘Again, protection doesn’t require marriage. I can buy an army to keep me safe.’
‘Beth, you will never be able to trust another man again. That is your new reality. Always you will wonder if it’s you they want or your money, and those suspicions will not go away if you have the children you always wanted with them.’
For the first time, he detected a flash of emotion in the crystal-clear green eyes. ‘But you expect me to trust you?’
He dragged his fingers through his hair and forced air into his lungs. This was do or die. If Beth refused to marry him, the business would never be safe from the predators. ‘I have always hated myself for hurting you, but if I had to make that choice again, I would make it without hesitation because the business has to come first. I lost sight of that when I was with you. I lost my focus and made some stupid but dangerous errors that would have cost the business dearly if our grandfathers hadn’t picked up on them. It dented their confidence in me and made me see how close I’d come to destroying everything they’d built. My life and focus had been all on you when it should have been on the business, and I needed to switch it around and prove their confidence in my abilities to run the Rosbel Group wasn’t misplaced.’
Pretty lips trembled as she looked him up and down before they pulled into a tight smile. ‘That’s a lot of words to reiterate that you chose the business over me.’
A statement he could not and would not deny. ‘Beth, since my father died, all I’ve wanted is to step into the shoes he was unable to fill and take over the running of the Rosbel Group—you know this. My grandfather wanted to retire twenty years ago, but he couldn’t have predicted his only son would die at such a young age.’ Xavi’s father had died when he was fourteen. Not even billions in wealth could stop cancer’s advance. ‘That’s why our grandfathers’ bond remained so strong—they both lost a child. They both lost the heirs they expected to take the company forward.’
‘My grandfather lost his daughter long before she died.’
‘Yes, which is why it was so important that I stepped up to the mark. I always knew it had to be me. I was the only family member left from either side of the partnership with the aptitude and willingness to do it.’
