The situation brewing now between him and Dane threatened his strategy.
“We care about the business,” Dane said, as he stepped up behind Damien's right shoulder.
“And you think that I don’t.” Damien's temper flared and stayed lit.
“I want to make sure that what dad built from the ground up stays afloat. Hell, more than afloat. We are set to do big things. Take the business to the next level.”
Damien drew in a ragged breath and slowly turned to face Dane. He tried to exhale his anger through clenched teeth but remained furious. “You know you can be a real prick.”
Why do you have to be so ... coarse? You had everything. We all did. You took more than you've ever earned, much less deserved. And yet, you act as if you are dad. Instead, you're just a—”
“Oh, Danny Boy, are you about to say a bad word?" Damien really didn't want to hear any more labels. There weren't too many that he hadn't heard before hitting his recent 32nd birthday.
“At times, you make it hard to like you.” His youngest brother peered at him as if truly trying to figure out the solution to a bothersome puzzle.
“I think that's what your mother said to me once. Only she left out the ‘at times.’” Damien turned his back again to hide his anger, but also his pain. His knuckles whitened as he gripped the balcony rail. Conversation over. Now he only waited for Dane's retreat out of his home.
He didn't mean to go there, to highlight the fact that his father had married three women, had three sons, and, in the last month, had separated from the third wife—Dane's mother. They were all used and manipulated by their father's whims and his appetite to court and marry the next candidate for Mrs. Laurent.
The Laurent brothers not only shared DNA. They shared the family experience of being ripped apart and sewn together within a patchwork of mixed loyalties and buried hurt feelings. On the other side of this misshapen family unit, their father, Philippe, always emerged out of each breakup as if renewed and reinvigorated like a human version of a vampire after a good bloody feasting. His father had the annoying giddy expectation that everyone in his family unit would get along or, at the very least, show good breeding and pretend to get along.
Surprising to outsiders, the wife and ex-wives did get along, showing up at every official family dinner. The brothers, with a four-year age span from eldest to middle to youngest, also co-existed in their own way. Damien figured that not punching Dane just now served as his version of brotherly love.
Dane cleared his throat. "I'm not going to battle with you. Only came to deliver the decision face-to-face that you've been put on sabbatical. Actually, the timing of your doctor's orders for a bit of R&R works with the PR spin about this new development. No one has to know ... the truth."
"The truth?" Damien turned to scrutinize Dane's expression to see if he was attempting to be funny.
"That you don't have what it takes to run this company or even be at the management level." Dane's quick temper never could stay deep undercover.
"Whoa! A little cutthroat, don't you think?" Damien's ego stung under the insults.
"You're viewing this in the harshest terms. You're a Laurent, for heaven's sake. Our name carries clout. It'll open doors for you. That is if you choose not to return." His brother paused for added sickening effect. "Anyway, Dallon agrees this is best. He says that you should find your passion." Heavy sarcasm underscored the advice.
Damien fisted his hands and stepped forward.
Dane blanched and stepped back.
"Don't say another word," Damien warned, poking his finger at Dane's chest. "I'm trying my best not to toss you off this balcony." His heart pumped harder as his anger mounted. "We're in this business together."
"That's what I thought, too. But you haven't been in the office in the last month. Then you are off on vacations and day trips with your female companions. Do you even know what happened with the Kontos account? No? Let me fill you in—it's gone." The vein stood out on Dane’s forehead like lightning strike from his hairline to the center point between his eyebrows.
Damn, the client bailed. “The Kontos account had potential. Simon Kontos was serious about leasing apartments for his executive staff, but the Greek economy had his hands tied,” Damien explained to defend against his brother’s obvious disbelief.
But Dane snorted.
"What's that for?"
“You’re going to pretend that you don't have a clue?”
Damien wracked his brain for the answer. “He was looking for alternative financing when we last spoke.”
“Maybe, just maybe, you shouldn’t have slept with his daughter.”
“She’s an adult. For the record, forty looks damned good on her.” Damien's mouth quirked up with an appreciative grin over the memories.
“Until you decided not to continue relations, then she turned into a crying daddy's little girl.”
“I apologized.” Damien still didn't understand why the rules of engagement always seemed to go topsy-turvy despite his honest approach that he wasn't in it for the long haul.
“They want your head.”
“A bit extreme.” Damien rubbed his neck thinking of the literal handing over of his head on a platter and for what? Cause he didn't go back for seconds?
“Then there was the Saudi prince that you were supposed to close the deal in a quick resolution. Instead, you started partying in a German nightclub and moved it offshore until you got escorted back home. A competitor took advantage and swooped him up with better terms.”
“Now, that wasn't my fault. I did the prince's bidding until he acted like a dog in heat with a couple women who didn't want the attention. That's why we went on his yacht. Figured that I had his undivided attention and not have to kick him in the balls. But, I didn't know he came equipped with drugs and women on the yacht. That little prick is spoiled and dangerous." Damien looked at his brother who had no idea what contortions he endured to go after the lucrative deals and get them neatly tied up.
Dane said nothing. But his inflexible attitude reflected how unimpressed he was with Damien's explanation.
Damien continued, "Look I know that the party on the yacht wasn't a good idea. I stayed away from the drugs and the women. Drugs don't interest me and I prefer to choose my women. Unfortunately, a journalist who was keen to show the western vices of the royal family took my damn picture and plastered my face on the front page as an example of the country’s Haves while the Have Nots suffer."
Damien never told his brothers about the final drama of the frustrating night. He'd awakened to someone banging at the door of his hotel suite. The unexpected visitor was a uniformed soldier who led a handful of armed soldiers with the message to pack his stuff and get out. With his surly escorts, he was driven to the airport where the prince's private jet scooped him up and delivered him back to Nice where he had his car waiting for him. Not only didn’t he receive an apology from the prince, but worse for his current situation, he didn’t retain the promised lucrative business.
"It never is your fault." Dane looked at his watch, again. "Anyway, I have a full schedule, so I'm going to get on my way. But please, rest up. Get better. Clear your head. This isn't a punishment. Look at it as an opportunity."
Damien couldn't stop fighting. "This isn't legal."
"It's in the bylaws about job performance if you'd bothered to read the corporate documents. And it's still dad's company and dad's decision. Let's move on from this." Dane now offered his hand for the no hard feelings moment.
"I truly want to kick your ass."
"That's expected. But before you work yourself into another heart attack ... by the way, leave the alcohol, cigar smoking, and high-fat cuisine alone. Use the time to re-evaluate your life."
Damien bristled and knew he was never going to be as uptight as Dane who obsessed about the company and about his exercise regimen with equal measure. The man could be on track as an athletic sports model and with the ego to match.
A f
ew magazines featuring the Laurent brothers had labeled Damien as the bachelor to catch or the face of the next generation's rich playboys. Silly stuff. He never took any of the stupid labels seriously. Unfortunately, his family did pay attention to the press that called him a pretty face with sketchy potential, while Dane was the ideal heir to the throne of the Laurent Holdings—ambitious and savvy. Dallon was the likable and well-respected brother for his charitable endeavors and who could charm an angry hornet into submission.
His brother rocked onto his toes. "I'll be on my way. Oh, and your mother pulled up when I arrived. Looks like she brought a guest." Dane shot him one last exasperated look, shrugged, and exited the room without another word.
Damien grabbed a nearby vase to hurl at the door. He wanted to rage. Instead, he looked down at the pineapple-patterned glass of the ready weapon and muttered, "Did I just get fired? From my father's business? By my baby brother?"
He set down the vase.
Could the hole that he fell in get any deeper and darker?
<< >>
To Seduce A Billionaire (Book 3): Meet Dallon Laurent. Some promises must be broken for hearts to heal and for love to grow. June 2017
AUTHOR BIO
Thanks for reading To Tempt A Billionaire. I hope you enjoyed it!
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About The Author
MICHELLE MONKOU is a multi-published USA TODAY Best Selling author with over 20 books in print and digital. She began her writing career in 2002 and writes contemporary romances, paranormal/urban fantasy, new adult and young adult. She also writes as Michelle Rhys for explicit/erotic stories. Her stories speak to the heart and offer that happy ever after ending for the romance fiction reader. Michelle is also an active participant with romance writers' advocacy efforts. She resides in Maryland writing many more stories to fill the hands and e-readers of romantic bookaholics.
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AUTHOR BOOKLIST
Independently Published
To Charm A Billionaire
Carnival Temptress
Finders Keepers
Scandal, Secrets and Seduction
Evernight Publishing
Executive Assistant Anthology w/a Michelle Rhys: Operation Conquer and Seduction
Bound To Her
Into The Pride
Harlequin's Kimani Romance
Meadows series
One To Win
One To Love
One of A Kind
Passionate Game
Racing Hearts
If I Had You
The Millionaire's Ultimate Catch
Trail of Kisses
Only in Paradise
Gamble on Love
No One But You
Straight to the Heart
Here And Now
Sweet Surrender
BET Books Arabesque Imprint
Island Rendezvous: to be independently reissued in 2017
Making Promises: to be independently reissued in 2017
Give Love anthology--Someone To Love novella; independently reissued
Finders Keepers: independently reissued
Open Your Heart: independently reissued as Scandal, Secrets & Seduction
To Tempt A Billionaire (Men of Monaco Book 2) Page 14
