She dialled the number, put the phone to one ear and a finger to the other to drown out the background noise.
A male American voice answered. ‘Paul Haldron.’
‘Hi, Paul, it’s Beth Granger.’
A beat of silence.
‘Do you know who I am?’
‘I’m familiar with the name.’
‘I’m Raul Belmonte’s granddaughter.’
Another beat of silence.
‘I’m his sole heir. Once probate’s dealt with, I’ll be the joint majority shareholder of the Rosbel Group.’
‘I did wonder if that would be the case,’ he said slowly. ‘What can I do for you, Miss Granger?’
‘Call me Beth, and it’s not so much what you can do for me but what I can do for you. I understand you spearheaded the recent attempt at a hostile takeover.’
More silence and then a cautious, ‘That’s in the past. Xavi de la Rosa fought it and won.’
‘He won because he had my grandfather’s shares in his pocket. Those shares now belong to me…well, they will once probate’s been granted. In a matter of months, they will be mine to do as I please, as will the rest of his estate, which I’m sure you must know is worth alotof money.’
‘Okay…?’
‘How amenable would you be to selling your shares to me?’
He laughed.
‘Paul…may I call you Paul?’
He laughed again. ‘Sure.’
‘Paul, Xavi will never relinquish his control of the Rosbel Group. You can try again, as many times as you like, but you won’t win. He will never let you win.’ And neither would she. The Rosbel Group belonged to the de la Rosas and Belmontes. She might not have her grandfather’s name, but she was the only Belmonte left. Her grandfather and Ferdinand had built the company from nothing, and, having forced herself to think about it with rationality rather than emotion, she knew she couldn’t destroy their legacy and put it in the hands of strangers. The only thing she wanted to destroy was Xavi.
‘Cut to the chase, Miss Granger.’
‘Beth,’ she corrected. ‘You can’t beat him, but I can. Name your price.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Your shares. I want them, and I’m prepared to pay any price for them.’
The silence this time went on for so long that she thought he’d hung up on her.
‘You’re preparing your own takeover?’
She ignored the question. ‘You bought the shares as an investment fourteen years ago. Your investment has increased twelvefold. I’m prepared to pay more than the market price for them—I’m prepared to payanyprice. You’re a businessman, Paul. You invested in the Rosbel Group to make money. Now’s the time to recoup that investment and make some serious money. Name your price.’
‘I’ll need to speak to my business partners,’ he said slowly.
Beth smiled. Fired up with hurt and pain after her 2 a.m. call with Xavi, she’d thrown herself into researching Paul Haldron. His efforts to take over the Rosbel Group had cost him financially, and his other investments were performing poorly. He couldn’t mount another hostile takeover attempt even if he wanted to. ‘You do that. Get back to me with a price—I trust you will approach this with discretion?’
‘Mom’s the word.’
‘Good, because for this to happen, not a word about it can leak.’
