BOOK ONE ~4~

MADRID, SPAIN: 3RD PERSON POV

After his son left, Mr. Rodríguez rushed to the airport to meet Mr. Taylor. They had been working together behind the scenes to arrange a marriage between their children.

This marriage would be very beneficial to both parties. It would lead to the merging of both the Spanish and English Mafias. To Mr. Rodríguez, it meant Charlie would get the perfect woman to deflate his ego and hopefully get him to change his fuckboy ways.

The Spanish Mafia had the best weapon suppliers in the mafia, so the marriage would also be beneficial to Mr. Taylor. Although, he had an entirely different reason for arranging the marriage for his daughter.

They had planned it all. Mr. Taylor took money from Mr. Rodríguez so he could get Renée to go to Madrid. Mr Rodríguez arranged for a car to pick her up and bring her to the C&R hotel, so she could see what type of person Charlie was first-hand. Now it was time to plan their next move.

"I've decided to threaten my son. How would you convince Renée?" Mr. Rodríguez asked once they were seated in one of Madrid's finest restaurants.

"I don't know yet. She's my baby girl, I want her to be happy. She's gonna be pretty mad if she finds out that I lied about her brother taking money." Mr. Taylor replied and run a hand through his hair in frustration.

The merge was really important to Mr. Taylor, but he wasn't going to agree to the marriage if his daughter would be against it. He needed to have an honest heart to heart, father to daughter chat with her. Maybe she would agree if she got to know his motive for planning the arranged marriage.

"I understand, mi amigo. Let me know your decision in three months' time. I'm sure Charlie won't be able to choose a wife by then." Mr. Rodríguez stated gesturing for a waiter to come over.

"We'll each have a glass of white wine and a plate of arroz a la cubana." Mr. Taylor ordered for them both.

Meanwhile, their conversation had been overheard by no other than Renée. She and her bodyguard had gone to the restaurant for a quick dinner before leaving for England when they noticed that the duo were in a serious conversation.

"I thought he couldn't make it to Madrid." She mumbled to no one in particular as she drew closer to their table to eavesdrop on their conversation.

To say she was shocked was an understatement. But from his expression she could tell that this was very important to her father. Surprisingly, she wasn't angry. The only thing unsettling was that she had to marry that fuckboy. Well, what did she have to lose? Her love life was almost non-existent, and she would love to brighten her dad's life a little by fulfilling his wishes.

She quietly left their table as they begun to eat and headed over to the table her bodyguard had chosen for them. They each scanned through their respective menus. Well, Ren scanned through hers, while her bodyguard stole glances at her. When they were ready to order, her bodyguard called over a waitress who acted like she'd rather serve the hot specimen all night than pay any attention to his companion. Ren let it slide and just ordered for both of them.

"How are you liking the pasta?" Ren asked, surprising Liam a little.

"You were right. It is good." He briefly replied.

Ren frowned. She had expected him to reply with something that could have at least started a conversation. She knew nothing about him if you counted out his mafia details, and she would have liked to pass the time by getting to know him. She shrugged it off, deciding to finish her meal in silence.

When they were done with their meal, they finally agreed to split the bill, before leaving the restaurant.

The bodyguard hailed a cab back to their hotel, where they packed their stuff then checked out before heading back to England.