get it back.
But the board meeting was exactly as she’d predicted. What Alejandro wanted, the board would do. If he decided to dissect her company limb from limb, he was within his rights to do so.
Rebecca shoved papers into her briefcase as the board filed out. She was on dangerous ground here. She was technically still CEO until Alejandro decided otherwise.
A wave of apprehension rolled through her. He would decide otherwise. She had no doubt. He was simply dragging this out to torture her.
How could she be the one who lost the company her father had built? No matter that her father had taken out astronomical loans and pledged every last share of stock as collateral, she was still the one in control when the axe fell. She should have stopped it.
How?
It didn’t matter how. She should have simply known what to do. Her father would have.
Rebecca pinched the bridge of her nose, breathed deeply. No. No one could have gotten them out of this mess. She simply had to deal with the situation as it was. She had to protect Layton International and the people who depended on her for their jobs.
“Why did you make me go through with that?” Rebecca demanded, frustration and anger churning together.
Alejandro shrugged, his lazy stare infuriating. “If you do not like your new position, you can always quit.”
Rebecca snapped her briefcase closed, then stood and stared down at him as coolly as she could muster given the erratic beating of her heart. “I’m returning to New York to do my job.”
“You forget who is in charge here, Señorita Layton.” Alejandro leaned back in his chair, legs sprawled out in front of him as he toyed with a pen on the table. He looked nothing like a billionaire and everything like a mischievous Greek god who’d deigned to dabble with the mortals again. “You work at my pleasure and you leave when I say so.”
“You don’t own me.” Her voice was little more than a whisper.
“Oh, but I do.”
He meant it. She could see that. And he intended to make her suffer for it.
“What did I ever see in you?” she forced out past the knot in her throat.
For some reason that got his attention. He climbed slowly to his feet, his eyes glittering. The look on his face was pure danger. For reasons she preferred not to explore, a tiny thrill shot through her.
She straightened her spine, refused to back down as he moved closer. “What are you going to do, kiss me again?” Her voice was huskier than she would have liked. The thought of him kissing her, pressing his body against her, wasn’t nearly as repugnant as she wanted it to be.
Was she crazy? She didn’t want to remember what it was like between them, how much she’d once loved him. To feel anything at all for him, besides hate, was to betray everything her family had ever done for her.
“Would you like that, querida?” he asked, moving toward her with lethal grace. “My mouth against yours?”
“No!” She resisted the urge to slink away. Where would she go? Against a wall? No, she’d stand here, take whatever he dished out. Give as good as she got. He might own her company—own her in fact—but he would not control her. If he kissed her, she would remain cold and unresponsive.
She would.
“Your body says otherwise.” He practically purred as his finger grazed her cheek. She was proud when she didn’t betray herself with even the hint of a shiver. She stood stone still and endured his touch. His fingers left fire in their wake as they ghosted over her skin.
“You are flushed, Rebecca.” His fingers fell away, his hot gaze dropping to caress her body inch by inch. He no longer touched her, but she felt like his hands were everywhere at once.
His eyes caught and held hers. He took a step closer, still not touching her, but invading her space with his overwhelming physicality. “Your nipples bud for me. Feel how they want my touch. Should I kiss them?”
“You’re mistaken,” she choked out, forcing herself not to glance down, not to see the proof of his words.
A sensual grin creased his handsome features. “I am never mistaken about such things. Your heart pounds for me. I can see it. It is like a frightened rabbit.”
“You’re standing too close. I don’t like it.”
He stepped in again, until the hard length of his body hemmed her against the conference table. He placed his arms