was mine.’
Luis’s smile returned. ‘Then either celebrate with me or drown your sorrows. Either way, we’re finishing this champagne.’ He poured two more glasses.
Ramon waited a beat, then raised his glass and recited another clipped birthday toast before tossing back the drink. Luis, his point made, proceeded to drink most of the bottle, while Suki sipped hers.
All the while tension reigned, heightened even further by the looks Ramon kept casting her way.
She breathed a sigh of relief when Luis rose just after midnight, his predatory gaze on a stunning redhead smiling at him from two seats away.
‘Time to make a significant start on my second quarter-century.’
Suki pushed away her half-finished glass. ‘I think I’ll head home—’
‘Stay,’ Ramon said. Before she could reply, he turned to his brother. ‘My limo is outside. Have the driver deliver you wherever you want to go.’
Luis clapped his hand on his brother’s shoulder. ‘I appreciate the offer but I’m going to tread delicately with this flower. We don’t want her overwhelmed and bolting at the sight of all those Acosta billions before I get the chance to close the deal, now, do we?’
Ramon’s jaw tightened before he shrugged. ‘Very well. I’ll leave you to serenade your paramour on the night bus.’
‘Dios, everything is such an extreme with you, isn’t it? There’s such a thing as a black cab, you know? And even with the lowly salary you pay me as junior marketing executive, I can still afford one.’
‘If you say so. Either way, I expect you to report to the office sober and whole on Monday morning.’
‘As long as you promise to deliver Suki home, safe and sound.’
She shook her head, grabbing her handbag as she rose. ‘There’s no need. I’ll be fine getting home by myself.’ Although she would be relying on the maligned public transport, the reason to keep a close eye on her spending casting a sudden grey shadow on her birthday. Her phone hadn’t rung in the four hours since she’d called the hospital to check on her mother so she must be having a relatively restful night. At least she hoped so.
‘Sit down, Suki,’ Ramon drawled, his tone throbbing with implacable power. ‘You and I aren’t finished.’
She ignored him. Or at least she tried. She cast a desperate look towards Luis, but her friend merely reached across the table and hugged her close, murmuring in her ear, ‘It’s your birthday, Suki. Life’s too short. Give yourself a break and live a little. It’ll make you happy, and it’ll make me infinitely ecstatic!’
Before she could respond, he was headed for the redhead’s table, smiling that smile that made women trip over themselves.
‘I said, sit down,’ Ramon pressed.
There was no way to leave the booth while he blocked her exit. With Luis’s words ringing in her ears, she slowly sank back into her seat. ‘I can’t imagine why you’d want me to. I have nothing more to say to you.’
His gaze gradually defrosted from arctic cold to heated green as he scrutinised her face with that unnerving intensity. ‘I think we established that I owe you...something.’
‘An apology. Is that a difficult word for you to say?’
He shrugged and opened his mouth, just as raucous laughter fuelled by hours’ long hard drinking erupted from a group nearby.
Distaste crossing his face, he rose and stationed himself at the mouth of the booth. ‘Come, we’ll continue this conversation elsewhere.’
Despite his imperious tone, Suki stood, telling herself she was obeying just so she could make a quick getaway once they were outside. Ramon Acosta had revealed a part of himself tonight that scraped her giddy dreams raw. She’d seen the ruthless man the financial papers wrote about, the insufferable deity-like brother Luis complained about. She’d also seen a bitter man turned lethally furious by his broken engagement.
Whatever had happened between Ramon and Svetlana still pulsed ill-feeling through his veins. Even now, she felt him loom like a dark lord behind her, quiet fury pouring off him.
The glimpse into his character was a timely reminder that Suki grabbed and held close. Her experiences of men, including her own father, had left her with a deeply ingrained distrust that, unfortunately, received further validation with each interaction with the opposite sex.
Thus far, Luis was the only one who’d breached that distrust. He was the reason why, believing there were other exceptions like him, she’d attempted, despite her mother’s bitter warnings about men, to date six months ago.
Stephen turning out to be a two-timing louse had left her hurt, but not surprised. The part of her that still stung now warned her that whatever was going on with Ramon, she wanted no part of it.
Exiting the pub into brisk October air, she breathed in deep. And started to walk away.
A firm hand caught her elbow before she’d taken three steps, dragging her to a halt. ‘Where do you think you’re going?’ Ramon breathed.
With the sounds of the pub now in the background, her every sense was filled with him. She took a step back, fighting the insane sensations that warred inside her. He tracked her move, crowding her with his smell, his overwhelming body, that ferocious look in his eyes.
Much too much. Despite the pathetic weakening in her limbs, she met his gaze. ‘It’s late.’
‘I’m aware of the time of night,’ he murmured, moving closer, brushing her legs with his.
The weakness intensified. ‘I need to... I should go.’
He took another step forward, bracing both hands either side of her head and trapping her against the pub wall. ‘Sí, perhaps you should. But you don’t want to.’
She shook her head, frantically calling on her common sense. ‘Yes, I do.’
He leaned closer, until she could see the tiny gold flecks in his eyes, feel the warm, faintly champagne-tinged breath on her face. ‘You can’t. I’ve yet to give you my apology.’
‘So you admit to owing me one?’
His gaze dropped to her mouth, spiky hunger that fused with hers flaring in his eyes. ‘Yes, but I’m not giving it to you here.’
She managed the almost impossible feat of laughing. ‘You know what birthday I’m celebrating so you know I wasn’t born yesterday.’
One hand left the wall, his fingers drifting down her cheek. ‘I can tell you what you want to hear right here and you can walk away. Or you can let me take you home as I promised Luis I would while giving you that apology. Surely you want to give your friend that peace of mind?’
She shook her head against the magic he was weaving with his low, husky voice and sizzling touch. ‘I’m a big girl. Luis will understand. All I want is that apology,’ she insisted.
‘You want more than that. You want to give in, reach
