The Twin
A
Smokey Moment
Novel
This book is fiction based on the imagination of the writer. Names, characters, places and incidents are creations of the writer for entertainment purposes and any resemblance to actual people, living or deceased, is purely coincidental.
©US Copyright 2019 by Smokey Moment. All rights reserved. Any duplication, in parts or a whole, is strictly forbidden. For use please contact [email protected]
Acknowledgments
I write about love because I believe in it. And I believe in all the parts of it that make one love story different from the next. Some unique. Some tragic. Others wonderful, sweet, the stuff dreams are made of. And it’s in those differences, that we find ourselves. Between the pages of our own story, that we find the heart and soul of another human being.
To romance book lovers around the globe. A special thank you. Your cheers, commitment and support have shaped a generation of some of the best romance writers that ever existed. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Smokey Moment
A Message from the Author
I started writing professionally in 2018 even though my creativity and penchant for story telling began many years prior. Story boards and notes scribbled in notebooks, were only the beginning. In March of 2018, I wrote my first novel and the love bug bit. I was hooked on story telling. The creativity in me knew no end. I would have the concept for another novel right on the heels of a novel I was ending. So completely absorbed, it felt as though I was one with my characters.
I discovered that I enjoy writing in several genres. My available work includes books written in; Romantic Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Paranormal Romance and Urban Fiction/Romance. Readers are particular about the types of books they enjoy. There are certain expectations and a great book should hit all the right notes. I hope you find my stories engaging, delightful, dramatic and fulfilling. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them. Thank you for your support!
Smokey Moment
Sign up to our mailing list and get your free copy of Impulse. This book is not available for sale and available only to subscribers. Thank you!
Click Here to join!
Join and enjoy the perks! Get information on new releases, alerts, exclusive giveaways, promotional offers, sneak peeks & more. We will NOT share, sell or spam your email. You will only hear from us when there is a new book release or during promotional offers, sneak peeks and giveaways!
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter two
Chapter three
Chapter four
Chapter five
Chapter six
Chapter seven
Chapter eight
Chapter nine
Chapter ten
Chapter One
Not So Ordinary Lives
W
all Street was busy. Noah Langston hated the financial district. The corporate men and women with their plastered-on smiles and questionable business ethics were at minimal, disheartening. He had many sleepless nights trying to figure out another way to make his mark. Following in his father’s footsteps was not something he saw himself doing. Not exactly. He wanted to work with money. Just not at his father’s firm.
His mind raced. He rehearsed how he wanted to address the man who had been in the driver’s seat of his life. A man who had to control everything around him. Noah was done. His thirtieth birthday was approaching. The control had ended years prior. Yet his father was still making efforts. Noah wanted to make his own contribution to the world. Not stand on the shoulders of his father’s success.
He was brilliant in his own right. He didn’t see himself living under his father’s strict rules. Life was meant to be explored. Enjoyed. Knowing oneself and then living in your truth, were the ingredients to a successful life. It was all so simple for Noah. Money could be made. If you lost it, you could make it ten times over. But not your soul. What does one do when they’ve lost their essence? When their character is out of alignment with their moral compass. One might as well live like animals.
And if you lived that way for too long, how would you get back to being human again? Noah had the answer. He had already defined his character. His principles were intact. He was at his father’s firm to set the record straight once and for all. A battle he was sure wouldn’t be over. But he was in it for the long haul. There was at least one trait he inherited from his father. Stubbornness.
“Hi Noah,” the secretary greeted, as he walked through the doors of his father’s investment firm. She was all smiles with the son of her wealthy, Forbes listed boss. His smooth skin, chiseled features and perfectly groomed facial hair caused plenty of women to take notice. But Noah was business as usual. And unlike his twin brother Niles, he kept flirting down to a minimum, especially when at the office. Not that the secretary didn’t look ripe for a pounding or two. It just wasn’t his forte. He liked to be in committed, one on one, relationships.
Noah walked towards his father’s office. The door was slightly ajar. He could hear him on the phone. The tone and pitch of his voice resonated through the hall. George Langston always made his presence known. Noah felt sorry for the person on the receiving end of the conversation. His father could be brutal. He looked around. He nodded at a woman. She looked startled. Obviously new. This was George, most of the time. He shouted his way through half a billion dollars. She would need to get used to it. It wasn’t such a bad deal.
The saving grace for most employees was his generosity. The bonuses were huge and they were consistent. Sent out twice a year, one in June and the other at Christmas. Many of the seasoned employees had already figured him out. His bark was worse than his bite. And he rarely fired anyone. Most employees were long time Langston Financial team members. Happy to be there, and their feet were planted firmly.
Noah kept a slow steadied pace to the corner office large enough to be a studio apartment. He felt stressed. He was in no hurry for a conversation he predicted would not go well. George was unwavering when he wanted something. He was a man who built an empire on negotiations and persistence. It was no surprise he was rich. People with his traits usually found their way to the top. He was the owner of a highly successful investment firm. Langston Financial was at the top of the food chain. George Langston, started from nothing when he opened his first office. And now twenty years later, his company was one of the top firms, with satellite offices in several major cities. He had just returned from the grand opening of his newest firm in downtown Detroit. Which was opening on the heels of two other new locations. One in Atlanta and the other in Dallas. George Langston was unstoppable.
His company had assets that were worth millions of dollars. But extreme financial success did nothing to ease the trials of a broken family. He had a wife that adored him. Their life was stable. But his three adult children were another story. His daughter Nicole was on her third marriage at thirty four years of age. Her beauty and wealth made her a highly sought-after socialite. But Nicole suffered from low self-esteem which resulted in poor dating choices. She had been nipped, tucked, opened and sewn back up more times than anyone cared to mention. All in efforts to make herself more appealing. No one understood. She was beautiful without all the surgery. But Nicole wanted boobs. She wanted an ass. And she got what she paid for. The new body helped boost her self esteem and she was now a more confident woman.
She married her current husband Austin, after six months of dating. A man she’d met while at a private party. Nicole hid the fact that they were dating for fear of her father’s interference. The couple quietly eloped, to the disappointment of her father. A move that did not sit well with her family. No one spoke highly of her new h
usband other than to say he was a decent fellow. Words that caused George nothing but stress. He wondered about the man who had convinced his daughter to marry so quickly. A man he believed was after his daughter’s fortune. His fortune.
After much digging George was able to get more information on Austin Douglas Hershey. He found out that Austin was living off the family name, always starting a project but never finishing it. Immediate family was reluctant to say much more about the college drop out. He seemed intelligent. But it was obvious that Austin was a spoiled brat, turned lazy adult with potential. And nothing to show for it. George’s was skeptical. And after it was revealed that Austin’s father had essentially disowned him, George became alarmed. Austin had made grandiose claims, using his father’s name to get people to invest in him. His plans fell apart and people lost money. Important businessmen and women, who were also friends of his father. Austin laid low after that, living off the money his father gave him to quietly go away.
Nicole believed him when he said he was a successful business owner. And because he was the son of a prominent family, she assumed he was financially sound. When she discovered he was living off the family name, and had no access to their businesses, she scrambled to clean up the scandal.
George tried to soften the blow by hiring him to work at the firm. His daughter was in love, and so he tried to create an income and an image for his new son-in-law. Austin wasn’t known for much of anything. And whispers from George’s inner circle had him pegged as a lazy, worthless freeloader.
George took him under his wing and taught him everything about finance. He caught on quickly and was soon entrusted with helping manage several medium sized accounts. George showed him how to manage money and invest. He paid for seminars and classes, so Austin could get up to speed on how to handle the accounts. And soon, he was turning profits.
But money was the least of his new son-in-law’s problems. He abused everything he could get his hands on. Liquor, drugs and sometimes women. George was unaware of some of his son-in-law’s difficulties. He had faith in him. He believed a weak man could be made strong. That given enough time, one’s character could be remade. George was thinking of himself with regard to that philosophy. It was possible. But Austin was missing one key ingredient. Belief in oneself.
Then there were the Langston twins. George’s other two children, who were equally difficult to deal with. Niles and Noah were strong, independent young men who despised any intrusion into their lives. And he tried. He was attempting to groom them to take over his massive fortune and lucrative firms. But the brothers wanted to make their own decisions about how they would move forward into the future. And things had gotten so heated with his youngest son Noah, that it caused him to become estranged. He seemed to be in a lifelong tug of war with his father. And his remedy for maintaining some sense of self was to limit his interactions, keeping his distance and only indulging his father occasionally.
Niles, the more outgoing of the two, indulged his father to a point. He was appreciative of his father’s hard work but like his brother, he wanted to pursue other options. Niles understood that the firm paid the bills. But his dream was law. He pictured himself helping others. A dream that was possible. He had gone to law school. And had acquired the degree. But he continued working at Langston. George wondered if it all weren’t just to prove he could do it. He never questioned him. He didn’t want to push Niles’ buttons. He was just glad hi son continued on with the firm.
Niles was good at trading and investments but he wasn’t as skilled as Noah. Noah was a genius. But his father’s controlling ways had kept him from joining the firm. Niles tried to get him to reconsider, but had lost the battle. And when he pushed too hard, Noah became distant from him as well. Niles even tried mending the relationship between his father and twin. But neither would concede. It meant giving up control. And that was an unconceivable thought for the both of them. And the one area of Noah’s life that was not up for discussion or interference was his love life.
He had been in two serious, long term relationships and several short love affairs. And none of his past relationships had him ready to commit on a more serious level. The most recent was a relationship with a woman named Gemma. Their strained and volatile union, had him questioning what he wanted in his dating life. Gemma was a rebound love affair that he jumped into after ending a six year relationship with Melanie Strauss, the daughter of a restauranteur.
But it was short lived and had ended a few months earlier. He kept it under wraps for fear of his father’s meddling ways. George was always trying to set him up. And Noah was always fighting for his independence. But true to form, after discovering that Noah was single again, George began pressuring him to date a young woman he knew. The daughter of a wealthy family. And Noah, under the pressure of both his mother and his father, reluctantly obliged. A decision of catastrophic proportions.
“Hey Noah. What’s up,” an employee greeted as he shook his hand, stopping to engage in small talk. He was surprised to see him there. Noah wasn’t one to visit. The employee originally thought he was Niles. But his attire was too casual. Something that distinguished him from his twin.
“Nothing. Here to speak with my father. How’s business?” he asked. The man told Noah he had just turned a huge profit investing in some bonds and mutual funds for a large client. Noah smiled. He understood the man’s excitement. It was a powerful feeling understanding money and markets. Something not everyone could comprehend or be able to do with any long-term success. Trading took skill. And only the best made a great living from it. Noah congratulated the man and the two promised to catch up later. He needed to keep conversations brief. He didn’t want to be there any longer than he had to.
Noah neared the door. He watched as a man with a camera, passed him by. The man smiled and nodded. Noah had been his mischievous self. The family had just sat down for an interview and photos with Forbes. A shoot he was supposed to partake in. The magazine wanted to take a picture, to include with the exclusive interview of New York’s powerhouse family. Absent from the photo was Noah.
“Come in son,” George said, as he stood over his desk looking down at a spreadsheet. “Hey,” Noah greeted, his hands in his pockets. He approached slowly. It seemed the patriarch was on a new mission to bust his balls every chance he got. He was growing tired of his father’s incessant need to interfere with his life. He hoped this talk would set things right. Their arguments were getting more heated and the fallout was lasting much longer.
“What happened to you earlier? You just missed the photo shoot. Your mother, sister and brother just left. Did you forget the magazine would be here today? We took a family photo and you aren’t in it. That was my second rescheduled appointment with them since you didn’t show up for the first one. They’re moving forward with the story and the picture they have,” he complained, as he shook his head in frustration. “Why must you embarrass me every chance you get? I know you did not forget. Anyway, too late now. What’s done is done,” he complained.
Noah paused before speaking. He wanted to avoid what looked like the opening to an argument. “I didn’t forget pop. I was busy. And besides, you know I hate the public eye. I don’t want to be in any magazine,” he replied. George glanced at him. “You know son. It wouldn’t hurt you to take one photo. Especially when you benefit from my hard work,” he said. Noah scoffed. His father was now treading on shaky ground. Noah didn’t ask his father for much. He had a trust fund and whatever it didn’t cover, did not get purchased.
He never came to him for more than was sent monthly into his account. But George was resentful. He was generous with his children. Noah was receiving a huge sum ever month. And he would continue to receive it. All the Langston heirs would, so long as they played by his rules. But Noah had built his own fortune, using his trust fund to invest in the stock market. He was his own financial backing. An important feat since he was no longer willing to play.
George was pushing his luc
k. Noah could be unforgiving. He expected his family to stay out of his personal and professional life. And he expected them to respect his decisions. He wasn’t a child. He wasn’t confused or torn. He was uninterested in money for power. He only cared that he had a home, a car and enough not to go hungry. George had pushed him so hard growing up, that he had turned his back on the family business. But it was in him naturally. He was more like his father than he cared to admit. And he was smart like him, mastering things like math and science with little effort.
He was finishing up a second degree. His life was going just as he planned. The reason he took time out of his busy schedule to talk with his father. A message on his voice mail left him incensed. His father was at it again. Pushing for him to help Niles run Langston Financial and pushing for him to marry Jody Elizabeth Hawthorne. The daughter of Senator Morris Hawthorne. A family heavy in steel and oil. He was aggressive in his demands. And Noah pushed back with vengeance.
His father was asking the unthinkable. Marry the daughter of a business partner. A woman he wanted nothing to do with. Noah was stunned. He had taken the woman out a few times to appease his father even though the request was implausible. He didn’t love her. He wasn’t even sure he liked her. Jody was a twenty nine year old spoiled and unbelievably rude young woman. She was arrogant enough to believe her beauty and family wealth afforded her the luxury of mistreating people.
And the timing was bad for such a commitment. Noah was in the process of breaking off a hot and heavy romance with Gemma, whom he had been dating over the last year. He didn’t see himself married to a woman who behaved so badly. If that were the case, he would stay with Gemma. She was a handful to say the least.
The Twin Page 1
