Filthy Rich Revenge: A Filthy Rich Billionaires Book Read online

  Filthy Rich Revenge

  A Filthy Rich Billionaires Book

  Lynn Raye Harris

  H.O.T. Publishing, LLC

  Contents

  About This Book

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Epilogue

  Books by Lynn Raye Harris

  About the Author

  About This Book

  He’s rich and ruthless - and he wants to destroy her. But first he will possess her.

  Hotel heiress Rebecca Layton loved Alejandro de Ramirez once. He betrayed her and broke her heart when he married another. Now he’s back, in control of her hotels - and her destiny.

  Alejandro claims that Rebecca nearly ruined him, that he’s the one wronged. He wants his revenge. And this time he will settle for nothing less than her soul…

  *This book originally published in paperback by Harlequin as Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge. It has been revised and expanded with new scenes and characters. If you read the original and enjoyed it, you don’t need to purchase this one. But if you want an expanded story, then this is the book for you. And if you’ve never read it, then you definitely don’t want to miss it! Bossy billionaire, revenge, reunion, surprise baby romance!

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  Lynn’s Website

  Prologue

  Alejandro de Ramirez was the kind of man who always got what he wanted. And right now he wanted the beautiful hotel heiress sashaying across the mezzanine. Her deep chocolate hair, kissed in gold, fell in silky waves to her ass. She wore a turquoise wrap dress that had him itching to untie the knot at her waist and test her curves with his palms.

  Perhaps later, once they’d been introduced.

  Her legs were long and slender, her feet adorned with peep-toe heels that accentuated her elegant gait. She moved toward him, not yet seeing him among the crowd, and he enjoyed the sight of a gorgeous woman who could turn heads. More than one set of male eyes followed her progress. Strangely, it made him want to snarl. An odd reaction for a man who didn’t believe in limiting himself to one woman’s charms.

  He told himself it was the fact she already possessed what he wanted that attracted him so strongly. She had a hotel empire, and he wanted one. He intended to build one, too. He was on his way, though the grand old hotel they currently stood in was the only one he owned at the moment. That would change. He was determined it would change.

  He didn’t know why she was in Madrid, or why she was in his hotel, but when he’d seen her name in the registry he’d sent an invitation to her room expressing a wish to meet her. She’d accepted immediately, and he’d briefly wondered if perhaps she was the one orchestrating events and he’d simply fallen into her trap and done what she wanted.

  Too late now.

  Rebecca Layton made her way to the entrance of the hotel bar and stopped to wait. He could have taken her to his private suite and talked somewhere more quiet, but he’d wanted to take her measure. Was she here on a mission from her father? Was Layton International seeking to acquire the Villa de Música? Or was it simply coincidence that she’d chosen his hotel to stay in?

  She let her gaze slide over the mezzanine and then looked at the slim gold Cartier watch on her wrist. He wasn’t late but he wondered what she would do if he delayed much longer. After another moment, he separated himself from the crowd and strode toward her. At first she looked through him, but when he kept walking she blinked and dropped her gaze over him—sizing him up. Then she met his eyes again, and he couldn’t help but feel like he’d walked into a maze of tangled emotions. It stunned him, but he recovered himself long enough to hold out a hand and tip his head politely.

  “Miss Layton? I am Alejandro.”

  “Oh. Hello.” She slipped her hand in his, and her lashes dropped again. He couldn’t help but feel the surge of electricity that flowed between them. “Please. Call me Rebecca.”

  He lifted her hand and kissed it. “Rebecca, then. Welcome to Madrid, and to my hotel.”

  “Th-thank you,” she replied, her voice barely more than a whisper. “It’s lovely.”

  He let go of her hand and held his out, indicating the bar. “Allow me to buy you a drink.”

  “That would be lovely. Thank you.”

  He couldn’t help but notice that she’d used the same words again. Was she nervous? Or shy maybe? He didn’t think she was shy, but he could be wrong.

  The waiter who greeted them ushered them to a table that was far enough from the others to enable a little privacy. He returned with wine and tapas and set them down before disappearing again. Alejandro poured and Rebecca accepted gracefully. Her fingers trembled, just a tiny bit, but she soon seemed more at ease as he asked her questions about her trip and whether or not she intended to stay long.

  “I’d heard that someone renovated this place,” she said as she gazed up at a ceiling adorned with frescoes. “I wanted to see it for myself. I tried to talk my father into buying it when it was first for sale, but he wasn’t interested.”

  Alejandro lifted his glass. “Then that is good for me. I imagine Layton International doesn’t often fail to get what they want.”

  She took a sip of her wine. “It happens sometimes.”

  He wondered what she meant, but decided she meant nothing other than an attempt to make small talk. “So you are here to see what has become of it then?”

  She nodded quickly. “I have business in Barcelona, but I wanted to fly into Madrid and see what you’ve done before taking the train to the coast.”

  He felt a twinge of something. Disappointment, maybe?

  “And are you satisfied, Rebecca?”

  She gave a little shiver—or maybe he imagined it. “I think it’s beautiful. Yes, very satisfied.”

  He arched a brow as he shot her a look that had worked on more women than he could count. Strangely, while he wanted it to work on her as well, he also wanted something more. But what?

  He was happily single. He had wealth, fame, and his pick of lovers. So why was one pretty American suddenly so intriguing?

  “It’s very good to be satisfied, querida,” he said. “I make it my business to provide complete satisfaction to my guests.”

  Her gaze dipped again. Was that a hint of a blush staining her cheeks?

  “Then you will do well in the hotel business,” she said. “It’s all about the guest experience, after all.”

  “Sí, I believe this is so.”

  Her blue eyes met his. So striking. “Why did you choose hotels?”

  It was not an unusual question, or unexpected. “Why not?” He shrugged. “I am finished with bullfighting, I don’t want to breed bulls, I have no desire to appear in films, and I’m not prepared to retire to the coas
t and grow lemons. Building a hotel empire is a challenge, is it not?”

  She nodded. “It is.”

  He smiled then. “I like challenges. I thrive on them.”

  She sipped her wine but he didn’t miss the way her pulse thrummed in her neck. There was more to the lovely Rebecca than met the eye. She was beautiful, and she surely knew it, but she had an innocence about her that was completely at odds with her seeming worldliness. He was intrigued.

  “Will you dine with me, Rebecca?”

  She looked startled. And then she smiled softly. “I would be delighted, Alejandro. Thank you.”

  He stood and she gaped up at him, confusion written on her features. He held out an arm. “I have a private dining room in my suite. We can talk uninterrupted, and I will ply you with the best food and wine in Madrid. There will be servers present,” he added.

  She unfolded herself from her chair and slipped her arm into his. “Thank you for saying that,” she said as he led her toward the elevator. “I feel as if I should apologize for insulting you, however.”

  He ushered her inside and slid his key into the card reader. “I’m not insulted, querida. It’s wise of you to consider who you spend time alone with, especially when it’s a man you’ve only just met.”

  “I’m glad you understand.”

  “I do.” He wasn’t going to say what he was thinking, but then he decided why not? “You should know that I intend to get you into my bed, querida. Willingly, of course.”

  Her laugh was surprised. “You waste no time, do you, señor? Another man would at least get me a little drunk first.”

  He liked the sound of her laugh. “I’m not like other men, Rebecca. And I believe in saying what I want.”

  She leaned against the elevator wall opposite, her hands behind her as she gripped the rail. He had a brief vision of stopping the elevator and making love to her against that wall, but he wanted her in his bed the first time.

  “And if I don’t want to sleep with you?”

  He arched an eyebrow and grinned. “You will.”

  “You are very certain of yourself,” she said with a touch of frost in her voice. But the pulse in her neck betrayed her, as did the widening of her pupils. She was as attracted to him as he was to her.

  “I know my quarry. And I never fail.”

  Her eyes sparkled. “Well, I suppose we’ll have to see, won’t we?”

  The elevator rocked to a stop and the doors opened. “Sí,” he told her. “We will….”

  1

  Five years later…

  “This can’t be happening,” Rebecca Layton murmured.

  She lifted her stunned gaze to the floor-to-ceiling picture window fronting her Waikiki suite. Of all the times to be away from New York. Palms swayed in the tropical trade winds, danced rhythmically against white-capped turquoise waves. So beautiful and peaceful. A stark contrast to the turmoil raging inside her.

  She’d just gotten off the phone with Layton International’s chief financial officer. The news wasn’t good. If she didn’t get back to New York and take control of the situation she could lose everything. Her cell phone rang again and she automatically picked it up. Very few people had her private number, and even fewer would dare disturb her when she was on a business trip.

  Unless it was important. And right now, Layton International’s vulnerability was nothing short of cataclysmic.

  “Yes?” she said as she reached for her planner. She could at least make a few calls while her executive assistant booked their return flight. She would not lose this company her family had built, in spite of the problems her father left her with when he had died unexpectedly. He’d trusted her to take care of things. She would not fail him.

  “Hello, Rebecca.”

  Rebecca’s breath sliced into her lungs as her head whipped up. The planner slid from her lap. “Alejandro?”

  “You did not expect to hear from me again, no?”

  Rebecca closed her eyes, her gut clenching with a mixture of need and sorrow. Five long years since she’d heard that voice speak her name. Once he’d meant everything to her. Now?

  Now she couldn’t even begin to sort out how speaking to him made her feel. Sweat moistened her palms. “This is a bad time, Alejandro. I really can’t talk.”

  His laugh, so cool and controlled, brought an image back to her. Alejandro Arroyo Rivera de Ramirez, the sexiest man she’d ever seen, naked to the waist, water streaming from his muscular chest in rivulets as he lifted himself from the pool. His sexy laugh as he’d scooped her up and hauled her into the bedroom. He hadn’t even dried off. The second she’d said yes he’d come for her. And then he’d spent the night showing her how amazing he truly was.

  “You need only listen, querida.”

  Something in his tone silenced her automatic protest.

  Her heart kicked into double time. She reached for her forgotten wine glass, took a steadying sip.

  “I expect you in Madrid in twenty-four hours. Spend the flight thinking how you will convince me to keep you on Layton International’s board of directors.”

  Shock rocketed her to her feet. Her heart threatened to pound right out of her chest. “You’re the one trying to steal my company?”

  “Steal? Such harsh words” He made a tsking sound. “You have made poor decisions, Rebecca. Do not continue to do so.”

  Cold sweat spread over her skin. Oh, God. She wasn’t the one who’d made poor decisions—but what did it matter now? Her father had thought he’d been doing the right thing.

  They’d tumbled far in the five years since she’d last seen Alejandro. Then, she’d been the one with the knowledge about the hotel business, the one with the might of a multi-million dollar company behind her. He’d been the new kid on the block with everything to learn.

  How had everything changed so drastically?

  There was still time to fix it. Not much, but a little. She could turn everything around and stop him. She would stop him or she wasn’t a Layton through and through. She’d picked herself up once before when he’d devastated her. She could do it again.

  Alejandro could sense weakness like a shark sensing blood in the water. She would not give it to him. She forced herself to sound calm, controlled. “It’s not over yet. You’re counting chickens.”

  “Counting chickens?” His laugh jarred her. “Ah, one of your Americanisms. Never count the chickens before they hatch, right?” She heard him speaking to someone in Spanish. “It is a done deal, Rebecca. Layton International belongs to Ramirez Enterprises.”

  She felt the chill of his words as if someone had picked her up and thrust her into the arctic. It was an odd sensation, totally at odds with her memory of the heat he’d once incited. She swallowed the knot in her throat. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Then stay in Hawaii while I hire a new CEO. Or come advise the board on how to handle my new acquisition. Your choice.”

  He knew she was in Hawaii? Did he also know about the deal she’d just closed to acquire a chain of resorts in the islands?

  This deal would have saved everything in just a few short months. Rebecca sank onto a rattan chair as her legs refused to hold her up any longer. The certainty in his voice was undeniable.

  She knew from personal experience how determined Alejandro could be when he wanted something. He didn’t rest until he’d won, until he’d imposed his will and gotten exactly what he wanted. If he was calling her now, he was very certain he had control of Layton International.

  Lock, stock, and barrel as her dad would have said. Jackson Layton was probably spinning in his grave right this instant. He’d never liked Alejandro. He would be shattered to know the company he’d built had fallen into his enemy’s hands. And all because his daughter hadn’t seen it coming. Because she’d been too weak and too blind to sense a threat from her former lover.

  “I think I hate you,” she said softly.

  “Then we are even.” The line went dead.

  2

&nbs
p; Rebecca leaned numbly against the soft leather seat of the Mercedes limo that had picked her up at the Madrid Barajas International Airport. She stared bleary-eyed at the scenery as the car carried her down the Gran Via.

  He’d said he hated her. It shouldn’t surprise her, but somehow it did.

  Five long years. She hadn’t seen him, other than glimpses on television or in the pages of a magazine, in all that time. For one month, he’d been everything to her. After her meeting in Barcelona had concluded, she’d returned to Madrid and spent a heady month as Alejandro’s lover. He’d been there when she woke, when she fell asleep, when she swam or shopped or ate. He’d laughed and made love to her and made her think she was the most special woman in the world.

  Now? She pinched the bridge of her nose. God only knew what happened now. He was ruthless, and he’d gained control of Layton International. He owned every last share. She’d confirmed it during the endless hours of travel.

  She had nothing left. If he fired her, she could only limp away in shame. Without her company, she was stone cold broke. She could pay her mortgage for the next three months and she could eat. If she hadn’t found a job by then, she’d lose her apartment and all her belongings.

  Somehow, the loss didn’t compare to the loss of self-respect, the knowledge that she’d failed to protect her family legacy. She didn’t know how to do anything except run a chain of hotels. It’s what she’d been brought up to do—however reluctantly on her father’s behalf—and what she’d spent her life training for and trying to excel at. What would her father say if he could see her now? He’d wanted a son to leave the business to, but she was all he had. Would he now believe his concern about leaving a woman in charge was justified? She couldn’t bear to think of his disappointment.

 
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