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Which, naturally, he wasn’t going to do because talking about his past wasn’t an indulgence he ever gave into.

But then suddenly he heard himself start to speak in a low, husky voice.

* * *

‘Everything changed when my parents died.’ He sighed and nursed the plastic cup between his hands. ‘Carlos will have barely any memories of how things used to be, but for me Christmas was special. Everything was over the top. We had parties and a Christmas tree in the hallway of the family house in Madrid that was big as an oak tree with a million lights. Every year my father would insist on having it professionally decorated and every year my mother would agree. But then they’d wait for me to return from boarding school and we would do it together. Damn thing would take hours and involve dangerous forays up stepladders.’

Hope didn’t say anything but she lightly rested her hand on his arm and was heartened when he didn’t shrug it off.

‘I tried my damnedest to maintain the tradition for the sake of Carlos. Hell, he was only five. For a while, things stabilised. I made sure presents were bought and a tree was put up although I never again touched a Christmas decoration. It was all professionally done.’

Hope listened.

Inside, her heart twisted.

‘And then things changed?’

‘Gradually. That’s the funny thing about change, isn’t it? It either jumps out at you from nowhere or else it creeps up so gradually that you’re barely aware of it until you’re staring it in the face. The atmosphere began to shift. Carlos began spending the holidays with friends. He became surly and withdrawn. In hindsight it was all leading towards that final catastrophe with the drugs. But even before then I’d learned to back off. I was hellishly busy with the business of finding my feet in the company. I didn’t have time to devote to trying to get into his mind.’

‘I can understand that. In a way, it was easier for me. Even though I felt like a parent to my mother a lot of the time, I always appreciated her efforts when she wasn’t, you know, having meltdowns because some guy was playing her for an idiot. And Christmas was always, always special for us. I think it was the one time of year when her conscience caught up with her.’

‘She was a lucky woman to have had you.’

‘Oh, my mum was pretty good when it came to letting me know that we were in it together, whatever men came and went. She always had my unswerving loyalty and to this day, I have to stop her from telling me how much she appreciated that. And, like I said, Christmas was always special.’

‘I, on the other hand…’ Javier murmured, ‘…eventually gave up on Christmas. There was no point. Carlos had better things to do and I decided that I did too. The dynamic changed. Several years ago, I sold the family house and bought the place I have there now. That chapter was lost for ever. What do you think of the punch?’

‘Amazing.’

Their gaze met and held. A shimmer of fierce tenderness rippled through her. She balled her hands into fists to control the urge to touch him.

The attraction was overwhelming. Frighteningly so, because it suddenly felt so much bigger than just a physical pull. She’d learnt so many lessons from her past and yet they seemed to be evaporating faster than early morning dew on a hot summer’s day.

‘When I do finally unearth my brother…’ Javier said wryly, ‘…you can congratulate yourself on doing a good job of encouraging me down an alternate path.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’ll make sure I keep my instinct to instruct well and truly leashed. I already have a suspicion what this is all about.’

‘You do?’

‘He’s scared at the responsibilities waiting for him at the company. It’s understandable.’ He held up one finger as though she might have interrupted him. ‘Scared and maybe, more crucially, not interested in the business side of things, despite the fact that he’s damned bright and more than qualified to do the role positioned for him. I made a point of steering him in a direction that would be useful for his future career. In hindsight, I perhaps didn’t do our relationship any favours by doing that.’

‘Mmmm…’

Javier laughed. ‘You have a way of saying nothing while still saying a lot. I won’t push him into doing something he doesn’t want to do. I’ve already started hunting down possibilities for him in a more creative area of the company.’

‘Really?’

‘Really. We have an extensive marketing department, so who knows?’

Hope smiled. This was a big, positive step for Javier. She wondered how he would handle the further revelations that would soon confront him.

Would Carlos be interested in working for the family empire at all? Maybe if he could be accommodated on his own terms… But that was just a maybe. She knew it was very doubtful that his partner would abandon his own successful career in London to follow Carlos to another country.

Still, this represented a huge concession from Javier. This was exactly why she had come. To achieve a change, however slight, in Javier’s approach to his and Carlos’s relationship. And yet, as she stared at him, all she could think of was a teenager with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Of the man sitting next to her with the joy of Christmas lost to him for ever.

She didn’t want to get any more involved with this disturbing, charismatic guy than she already was.