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She took a couple of steps back and folded her arms. Her heart was beating fast and she could feel light perspiration beading on her upper lip.

‘Okay, great! So, tomorrow…’

‘Breakfast goods were brought along with the meal we’ve just had. Feel free to come down here and eat whatever you want. Don’t expect to see me, but if we agree to meet in the hall around twelve thirty? Should give you time enough for a good night’s sleep. And in answer to your question about my continuing search for my brother…’

‘You’re worried about him. I get that.’

‘He’s due to start at the company very soon. A disappearing act at this juncture is going to send all sorts of wrong signals to the shareholders. I need to have Carlos in place and ready to begin the process of climbing the corporate ladder.’

‘What if he doesn’t want to do that?’

Javier looked at her thoughtfully. For the first time, he felt his easy expectations that his brother would fall in line with what was expected of him begin to wobble.

He’d assumed.

He’d spent years assuming many things about Carlos. Just as his father had assumed that Javier would devote his life to responsibilities he’d never signed up for at the age of fifteen.

‘If he doesn’t want to do that…’ Javier said quietly as he considered that possibility for the very first time, ‘…then a conversation will have to be had.’

‘You mean that?’

‘I… Of course.’

It stung that the woman dithering in front of him knew his brother a million times better than he, himself, did.

And yet… There were those Christmases when he had shaken Carlos awake as a five-year-old and a six-year-old… When he’d brought him his presents and watched him indulgently as he’d opened them on his bed before the day had had time to begin.

A long time ago. Before everything had begun to go pear-shaped.

Losing all that now felt like a mark of failure. His lips thinned as he pulled back from the pointlessness of self-recrimination and the accompanying acknowledgment of weakness that went with it.

These thoughts felt unfamiliar. He could only blame the woman staring at him with those great big green eyes and rosebud mouth for opening a Pandora’s box.

‘Go to bed, Hope,’ he said roughly.

She hesitated and in response, he spun round on his heels, walked to the sink and began dumping the dishes in it. In a second, he’d try and hunt down the dishwasher…

* * *

Hope awoke the following morning, groggy and disoriented.

This wasn’t her bedroom. This bedroom was more like a suite. When she glanced towards the source of light, she saw the panoramic view of sky and, in the distance, sea.

She’d forgotten to use the remote to lower the blinds and the sun was pouring into the bedroom, bathing it in bright light.

She sat up, looked at her watch, saw that it was nearly eight thirty and gave a little yelp.

She wasn’t going to be seeing Javier until midday, at the arranged time and the arranged spot, but just before that there was something she needed to do…

* * *

Javier had planned on working solidly until lunchtime. He’d already alerted his pilot to have the helicopter on standby to take them to the main international airport, from where they would leave for the Caribbean.

Hope’s words from the night before ran through his head. The inference that Carlos might not want to climb the corporate ladder that was ready and waiting for him…

Actually, not so much climbing a corporate ladder as opening the door for a seat at the top table. Yes, the job itself would require hard work and dedication but the rewards would be phenomenal. Besides, his degree in business would have trained him to understand what he would be dealing with.

Easy.