Seduced by Passion

Seduced by Passion - Chapter 3

Duped

Akilina...

Xiomara's heart was overflowing with pride as she walked through the lobby of Jewel Beach Resort, waving at guests reclining on the sofas and chairs intimately arranged around pots of towering palms and beige Corinthian columns. She greeted guests coming out of the boutique swinging little gift bags in their hands, and those on their way to the restaurant, tempted by the delicious smell of JBR's famous breakfast buffet wafting through the air. Her stomach growled, reminding her that all she'd had today was a cup of coffee and a coconut tart she'd swiped from the kitchen on her way to the daily meeting with her department heads.

As she neared the concierge desks where guests waited to be checked-in and attendants toted luggage in and out of the lobby, Xio thought it hard to believe that this hotel that had been in her family for generations had almost come to ruins under the negligent management of her half-brother, Fitzroy.

For five consecutive years before their father died, global travel magazine Sand and Sun had named Jewel Beach the number-one destination resort, not only in the Caribbean, but in the world. It had been an achievement that her grandfather and father, Malik Davenport, had been working toward their entire lives.

But nine years ago, Malik suffered a heart attack, and within the hour before he died, he named his eldest son, Fitzroy, as CEO of Jewel Beach. Fitzroy's only job was to keep JBR running smoothly until Xio finished her MBA at Princeton, after which point Fitzroy had promised their father to hand the company over to Xiomara. But instead, he'd turned their father's legacy into a playground for himself and his free-loading friends.

Between Fitzroy's negligent management and the destruction caused by Hurricane Julie six years ago, by the time Xio took it over, JBR was crumbling under the weights of low to no reservations, struggling restaurants with unqualified chefs who'd replaced those who had resigned, badly damaged swimming pools, termite-infested roofs on the great house and some of the villas, and a host of other problems.

When she'd seen the condition of the resort, Xio had wondered if her father had given Fitzroy a chance to prove himself because he'd felt guilty for divorcing his first wife when Fitzroy was still a kid, and for the deterioration in their relationship after he remarried.

Like all little sisters, Xio had looked up to her big brother, hoping to have a relationship with him, but over the years his behavior had destroyed that possibility. For years Fitzroy had manipulated her into asking their father for money to buy something she wanted, and then he would take the cash from her. Twenty dollars here, fifty there, a hundred... Her father was so trusting that he never seemed to notice that she didn't have the items she was supposed to buy. Fitzroy would even talk her out of her allowance.

When she was eight, her parents had gone on a European vacation, and had given Xio the green light to have a slumber party with the staff's supervision. She had games and movies picked out, and had even been allowed to order whatever food she wanted from JBR. But while she and her friends were at the pool, Fitzroy had shown up with friends of his own. By the time Xio and her guests got back to the house, all of the snacks and food had been eaten, and there were empty beer bottles littering the house.

Xio had called her dad in tears, but Fitzroy had refused to leave, and the staff, who were afraid of him, couldn't be of any help to her. Her friends had all called their parents to pick them up early, and Xio was left alone in the house with Fitzroy. She'd started hating him that day. But she was still a little girl who wanted the love of her big brother, and after so long, she had forgiven him.

Their relationship took a major dive after he walked into her sweet sixteen birthday party, high and drunk, and started a shouting match with their father that escalated into an exchange of physical blows in front of the most respected and powerful people in Akilina. Xio had never been more embarrassed in her life. Even after that scene, she'd still hoped her brother would change, but he had only grown into a lying bastard who thought he was entitled to everything just because his last name was Davenport.