Secrets and Seduction: 5 Romance Novels (92 page)

“Michael,” his mother objected sharply.

“Son, we thought nothing of the sort.”

Then Michael felt guilty. “I’d give my life for both of you.” He headed for the front door before he cracked.

His father’s firm hand on his shoulder stopped him before he could leave. “We’ve put a burden on you a son shouldn’t have to bear.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I know you don’t. We’ve grown to count on you.”

Michael turned to see his parents’ serious faces. “I know.” He hugged his dad hard and then his mom. “I love you.”

And then he fled.

“One of our stores was robbed last night,” Esteban Calderon reported to his heirs. “And one of the Hernandez stores was hit last week.”

“Citadel Import-Export had a break-in two nights ago,” Ileana remembered. “Could these robberies be related?”

Juan Carlos gave her a sharp look. “How do you know that?”

“I’ve been getting to know our suppliers. I was having dinner with Michael Ziffkin when he got the call about the break-in.”

“Dinner, Ileana?” Her father’s voice was sharp.

“A business dinner, Papá. You have those.”

“Not with an unmarried man. Not without your family to escort you.”

“Papá, I’m twenty-nine years old. I don’t need a chaperon at a business dinner.”

“Juan Carlos could have gone in your place.”

“I’m meeting suppliers, Papá, as a representative of Calderon. Because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I’m meeting prospective husbands.”

“Ileana,” her father reprimanded. “Show a little more respect. Of course Ziffkin is not a prospective husband. He is white.”

They’d gotten away from the topic. Ileana steered it back. “What have you found out about the robberies?”

“I have found nothing. I want the two of you to solve them and prevent any more thefts.”

“Isn’t that the police’s job?” Ileana asked.

“The police offer no hope. They do not know the Hernandez robbery might be related to ours. But the two of you do. Start there. Ileana, go and talk to Hernandez. Remember that Calderon is the oldest of the family-owned chains. The others look to us to lead.”

When Ileana and Juan Carlos left her father’s office, she took the reins. “We should divide the list of chains and contact all of them.”

“I’ll make the list. I’ll put it on your desk when I’m finished so you can make your calls when you get back.”

“It will take less time to call Hernandez.”

“
Tio
Esteban wants you to go there in person. I agree with him.”

“You were Roberto’s brother. How can you push me towards Hernandez?”

“Roberto is dead, Ileana. Long dead. You are not. I understand how his death was a terrible blow for a sensitive seventeen-year-old girl, but my brother would not have wanted you to remain unmarried for his sake.
Tio
Esteban wants a merger between the families. I want a merger. You say you want what’s best for the family, for Calderon. Then do your duty. The head of Calderon works for the good of all of us.”

Ileana bit back a scathing retort as he retreated to his office. Juan Carlos had done his duty for his family and hers. He’d stepped into Roberto’s shoes at Calderon, married a daughter of a Cuban family owning a chain of restaurants, and would soon produce an heir. Juan Carlos may not have solidified the merchant families, but he’d cemented a link with another line of Cuban exiles. It was about tying the Cuban community together.

That he’d made a love match in the bargain was amazing. It also made Ileana angry that he wanted her to settle for less, especially after he’d seen what she’d shared with his brother.

Ileana tracked down Emilio Hernandez, heir and acting president of the Hernandez family chain of retail shops, in the middle of his monthly inspection tour. He agreed to meet her in an hour at one of his shops on the beachfront.

Emilio greeted her with a kiss on each cheek and a spark in his brown eyes that made Ileana’s stomach hurt. He was a fit forty-five-year-old with jet-black hair and swarthy skin. He would be considered handsome...by a woman his age, or by a twenty-year-old whose family wanted a merger. Unfortunately, Ileana fell in the middle—too young to be impressed and too old to be naïve.

“It is so good to see you again, Ileana. Your father is well?” Emilio’s accent was almost as thick as her father’s.

“As well as can be expected with his doctor telling him what to do.”

“Yes, he is a man who directs, not one who listens well.”

He didn’t have to tell her. “Your daughters are well?”

“They are a beautiful handful. They need a mother’s love and guidance. Arletta will have her
quince
this year. It would be wonderful if she had a woman to talk to and guide her, one who understood how to choose a proper
novio
.”

Ileana had met her
novio
at her
quince
, her fifteenth birthday party. But she was not prepared to take on ready-made motherhood or talk to any young girl about dating and marriage. After all, what did she know of marriage?

Emilio took hold of her hand. His was warm and dry. “My father has spoken to your father. I assume by your presence you are aware I have finished my period of mourning. You have finished yours. Our fathers would be pleased and delighted were I to become your
novio,
and after a proper period of courting, your husband. I need sons, Ileana.” He stroked her palm.

Emilio’s old-world Cuban manners reminded her of her father and grandfather. Those two men would, indeed, be delighted with Emilio’s suggestion. Her mother and grandmothers would immediately begin to plan the wedding. She wouldn’t even have to lift a finger. One day—no, one hour—after Emilio became her
novio
the Calderon and Hernandez lawyers would begin to iron out the merger details, which would await only the end of the nuptials to be signed.

One word from her would make dozens of people happy.

“You are a beautiful woman, Ileana.”

But she wouldn’t be one of them. She couldn’t picture herself sharing physical intimacy with Emilio. A scene with Michael burst into her mind, of them doing the things she’d done with Roberto and more, other things she hadn’t known to do because she’d been young and sheltered.

Well she wasn’t sheltered now, or young. But she was a Calderon. “I’m flattered, Emilio, that you would trust me with your young daughters.”

Emilio’s face lit.

“But it’s not true. I haven’t finished my mourning for Roberto yet.”

“But it has been so long. Perhaps I could help you to put your grief aside. Maybe you cannot do it alone. I have experience in this. You could trust me. I would be a gentle
novio
.”

Duty beat at her. Her father’s words, her mother’s, Juan Carlos’s. But she couldn’t do it. “I know you would be gentle, but I’m not ready. I can’t be what you need.”

A frown marred his face, nearly anger, but he was Cuban enough not to show it to a marriageable female. “Then why are you here?”

“We had a break-in. My father said you did, too. We need to know if this was the same person or persons.”

They sat at a small table in the back room and compared notes. Each store had been breached during the night via a hole cut in a window pane. A delivery had been made during the previous day. Emilio’s stores stretched further south than theirs did. He’d heard of a break-in last week down the coast at a chain run by a Middle Eastern family.

“You think these break-ins are related,” Emilio mused.

“Citadel Import-Export was robbed, too. We’re all in the same business. It’s too coincidental not to be related.”

“It will be expensive to hire full-time security to protect our stores,” he calculated.

“For us as well.”

“But if it prevents further losses, I’ll have to do it.”

“Juan Carlos and I are looking into the matter. We’ll do our best to stop these robberies so the families are safe.”

Emilio nodded. “It is right that Calderon lead the way. But you need not stand alone, Ileana. A cousin is a strong right hand, but a husband could take your burdens from you and make the families strong in solidarity.”

“I’ll keep your offer in mind, Emilio.” She rose.

Good manners had Emilio on his feet in an instant. He took her hands in his and brushed his lips against both her cheeks. His touch lingered longer than was proper. She knew he coveted her as his next wife. If only she could.

Ileana pulled gently away so as not to offer offense. “Thank you for meeting me, Emilio. I’ll keep in touch.”

He gave her a business card. “Here is my cell phone number. Feel free to call me.”

“I will.”

Ileana hurried to her car. She cursed her heritage and her family for putting her in this position where she felt guilty for wanting to live her own life, for wanting a man who loved her as the other half of his soul, and for wanting to stand by a man’s side and deal with the dark side of life together as partners. She’d always accepted that a Cuban man was her destiny. But the longer she’d stayed single, the more she wanted from her marriage. She didn’t want to be cosseted and relegated to child-rearing. She wanted to help her family’s business grow and flourish. She’d seen beyond the Cuban stereotype. Why couldn’t her family?

• • •

Michael couldn’t control his racing heartbeat when his secretary ushered Ileana into his office. Her bright, red dress did the most amazing things for her figure without being vulgar or indecent in the least. The gathered bodice clung to her full breasts in a way that made him think of pulling the top down to expose her fullness to his marauding lips. His cock came to stunning life. With a flush of embarrassment, he stood and shook her hand.

“Ileana.” Her hand was soft and smooth.

“Michael.”

She was so beautiful and alluring. Her slanted eyes made him think of the look she would give him to indicate her satisfaction after hours of frantic sex. A look like that meant there’d be another round as soon as she’d caught her breath.

Michael shook himself like he’d come out of a dream. She hadn’t worn the dress for him. She was Cuban and carried herself with pride. Of course she’d dress with care. She’d been beautifully clothed each time he’d seen her. Still...

“Your dress is beautiful.” He could kick himself for saying it aloud.

“Thank you.”

With an effort, he yanked his mind away from thoughts of her lifting that dress’s hem to impale herself on him in his lap. Was she wearing underwear? Of course she was. He indicated she should sit and reminded himself that he’d decided the other night not to pursue a relationship with her.

“What can I do for you, Ileana?” If she only knew what he really wanted.

“The families have had some store break-ins. I thought they might be related to yours.”

Michael sat up straighter. “Tell me what you know.”

She told him everything. The methods used differed. The only thing the incidents had in common was they happened at night. He didn’t see how they were related, and he said so.

“We’re in the same business,” Ileana pointed out. “Could it be a pattern against our industry?”

“To what effect?” he asked.

“I don’t know. My intuition says there’s a link.”

“We can give the information to the police and let them try to find a connection,” he suggested.

“The police gave us no hope.”

“Me either. But if there’s a burglary ring operating in and around Miami, the various police departments may not be aware of what’s happening in other areas. It might not hurt to clue them in.” Michael reached in his wallet and pulled out the detective’s card, jotted down the information on a piece of paper and handed it to Ileana. There was a jolt of electricity when her hand brushed his to take the card.

His mouth dried, and his pulse sped up. Her full lips were infinitely kissable. He wanted her curvaceous body pressed to his. He wanted to hear her moan as he tasted the soft skin beneath her ear and along the curve of her neck all the way down to... His gaze snapped back up to hers. He’d seen her nipples pebble through the tight top. Her pupils had expanded. How he wanted her.

His cell phone blared into the silence and Michael jerked. He grabbed it off his desk, intending to turn it off. But caller ID showed his parent’s home number. What bad timing. His blood was too thick in his veins and other places to think rationally.

“I’ve been waiting for this call.” His thoughts jumbled. He didn’t want Ileana to leave. If it was good news, he could take her out to celebrate. “Excuse me a moment.”

She nodded and he turned slightly away to answer. “Hello?”

“The doctor just called,” his father reported. His breath hitched. “It’s back. Cancer.”

Michael’s chest constricted. “How bad?”

“They ordered tests. Dr. Ramos wants us at the hospital this afternoon.”

God, this couldn’t be happening. Michael closed his eyes.

“He’s going to meet us there and read the results himself,” his father continued. “Michael,” his father’s voice broke. “Michael, she’s all I have.”

Michael’s throat closed. His dad was losing it. “Nothing’s going to happen to her, Dad. We’ll take her to whatever specialists she needs in whatever country has a cure. We can beat this thing.”

“That’s what they said last time. They said we’d beaten it. They said we’d won, that she was clear. It’s been months.” His father drew a ragged breath. “She can’t see me like this. I don’t know how brave I can be today.”

“Dad, I’ll be there. What time do you have to be at the hospital?”

“Two o’clock, but you’ve got work to do. I don’t expect you to have to hold my hand.”

“I’ll pick you and Mom up at one-thirty.”

“But...”

“I want to do this, Dad.”

His dad’s sigh sounded relieved. “Thanks, son. I knew I could count on you.”

“Where’s Mom?”

“She’s in the garden. I don’t think she wanted me to see her cry.” He choked.

Damn it. Michael rubbed at his face. He felt like crying himself or hurling something at the wall. “We’ll beat this, Dad.” His voice was hoarse.

“I’m sorry to fall apart like this.”

“It’s a shock. Don’t let Mom see you. Tell her I’ll be there in a few hours.”