Taming the French Tycoon

by Rebecca Winters

  “It won’t. To be honest, you’ve convinced me the man’s life is at stake, along with a company that should have been his. If there’s risk involved, I find myself wanting to take it for the sake of an ideal.”

  There couldn’t be another man in the world like Luc, but she couldn’t possibly let him do it. “Don’t think I don’t appreciate what you’re trying to do here, but we’re going to leave. On the way out, I’ll tell the Realtor I’ve changed my mind.”

  Luc barred her path. “What were Carton’s last words in A Tale of Two Cities? ‘It’s a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done.’” His eyes burned like coals. “You’ve taught me that, Jasmine. Monsieur Boileau is ready to do business, so do it!”

  There were dimensions to this man she couldn’t have known were there when they’d first met. Was it only several months ago?

  “But, Luc—what if Remy won’t be able to accept what his cousin wanted to do for him?”

  He eyed her with singular intent. “Then you’ll lose the money on the earnest agreement, that’s all. However, I believe in you to get the job done.”

  “But what if I’m wrong and Remy can’t save the company? Then everything you’ve done will have been in vain.”

  He shook his dark head. “You do have a backup plan, n’est-ce pas?”

  She took a shuddering breath. “Of course. I’ll find a buyer for the property and pay you back with triple interest. If I can’t accomplish that in a reasonable period of time, I’ll deed La Tourette over to you.”

  Her papa had already willed the house and property to her. She in turn planned to will everything back to Remy as planned. But if he refused what was rightfully his, and she couldn’t find a buyer, then she would make certain it went to Luc.

  “You see?” he inserted. “None of this will have been in vain. One step at a time, Jasmine. Shall I tell him to come back in?”

  She lifted her eyes to him. “Are you sure about this?”

  He moved closer and squeezed her arm. She felt its warmth seep in. “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”

  His belief in her ability to carry this off rated even higher than her papa’s belief in her, if that was possible. Luc wasn’t family. Less than two weeks ago they had been strangers except for the incident on Yeronisos island. She couldn’t pretend to understand his true motive for getting involved like this. But she wasn’t so naïve that she didn’t know he would demand something of her in return.

  However one fact was clear. He did trust her. What greater gift had anyone ever given her? While she was still trying to comprehend it, the Realtor tapped on the door and poked his head in. “Do you need more time?”

  His voice jerked her back to the present. She turned to him. “No. I’m ready to put down earnest money with a time frame of one week.” Jasmine had to track down Remy and that might prove difficult.

  The older man rubbed his hands together. She’d anticipated that reaction. Within twenty minutes the transaction was complete with funds out of the account her papa had set up for her. More handshakes ensued before Luc walked her out to her car.

  “What are you going to do with the rest of this day, as if I didn’t know?” he asked after she’d climbed in.

  She put the file of papers aside and glanced up at him. “You mean this red-letter day that wouldn’t have been possible without you? While I’m still full of endorphins from your selfless gift, I’m going to figure out the best way to meet Remy. I have to approach him at the right time.”

  “It was anything but selfless.”

  Jasmine had to take another quick breath. His real reasons for deciding to help her were still unexplained, but she’d find them out later. “Whatever motivated you, I’m in your debt.”

  “I only ask one favor.” Here it comes. She braced herself. “Whatever the result of your meeting with Remy, call me when you’ve had your talk with him.”

  That favor was far too easy to grant. The blood pounded in her ears. “You’ll be the first person to know everything, but I have no idea how soon I’ll be getting in touch with you. I don’t know how soon Remy will be available.”

  “True, but a flower farmer isn’t long parted from his crop.”

  He understood a lot. “You’re right.”

  Luc backed away from the door. “You know where to find me.”

  In the next breath, she glimpsed an unexpected look of triumph in the recesses of his eyes. For an inexplicable reason, her body underwent a curious shiver. Reaction was already settling in over the enormity of what she’d just allowed to happen.

  “À bientôt,” he called over his shoulder before heading for his Jaguar, leaving her with an ache as she drove home to La Tourette.

  * * *

  On Thursday morning, Jasmine headed for the old, small Fleury farmhouse on the outskirts of Grasse. She owed Luc for helping her get this far, even if she didn’t know at what cost yet. Because of him, she was able to put her plan into action much sooner than she’d thought.

  Now it was up to her to make it all bear fruit for this seminal moment in two lives. But so much was against her, she trembled with fear.

  When Jasmine looked at herself in the mirror, she had a hard time seeing anyone but herself. Those around her who knew her father saw his dark blue eyes and nose in her. Those who knew her grandfather saw his rich dark hair and the shape of his brows in her. Those who knew her mother saw the pure oval of her face.

  But the majority of her world saw the overlay of her grandmother Megan in Jasmine’s countenance, from the outline of her smile, to the rare frown on her forehead, to the occasional wistful expression, to the shape of her figure.

  That’s what frightened Jasmine. Two cousins had loved her grandmother with a wild passion that would go on through eternity. Megan had loved them both. But though Remy had found her first, it was to Jasmine’s grandfather she’d given her heart.

  When Remy looked at Jasmine, would he be able to get past the reminder of her grandmother long enough to listen to what she had to say? Did the pain still pierce so deeply, he wouldn’t be able to bear it?

  Her entire body trembled as she drove along the modest piece of ground laid out in rows of violets on her way to reach the house. She slowed down when she saw a man hunkered down tending one of the plants under the morning sun. He wore denims and a white shirt with the sleeves shoved up to the elbows. His back was to her.

  Even from the distance she recognized the burnished red hair and was reminded of Luc’s comment about a farmer and his crop. Being sixty-six hadn’t faded the color or changed the strong physique that could have belonged to a much younger man. Jasmine had thought him very handsome in all the pictures.

  He hadn’t seen her yet. She pulled the car to a stop.

  This was it.

  Putting the file in her straw bag, she got out of the front seat and stepped over the ridge of ground to reach the terroir. The heavenly scent was close to overpowering. She got to within a couple of yards of him.

  “Eh bien.” She cleared her throat. “I’m looking for Remy Fleury Ferrier.”

  He jumped to his feet and turned around. For a timeless moment he looked at her until his green eyes began to burn and he staggered backwards. She knew the woman he was seeing. No doubt he had watched Jasmine’s broadcast. Even deeply tanned, she could tell he’d paled.

  “Mon Dieu,” he whispered as if he’d seen a ghost.

  “You and I don’t share the same blood, but I share a love of this land you love to the marrow of your bones. You’re the son who should have been put in as the head of the Ferrier empire the second your father died.”

  Emotion darkened the green of his eyes.

  “I’m Jasmine, a nose of little consequence. My grandfather used me so I could get you installed to your rightful place as CEO of a company
that you built years ago. It needs you desperately.”

  Taking advantage of his speechless state, Jasmine reached in her bag and handed him the file. “Read this and you’ll see that the Banque Internationale du Midi is loaning us the money to buy the old abbey property. The CEO, Lucien Charriere, wants to meet you. Here’s the record of the earnest money agreement. If you’re willing to take over the company, then this land will be ours and we’re going to plant thousands more of your fabulous Parma violets.

  “I’ve already made up the perfume from the ones I bought at the flower market on Saturday.

  “Here’s a sample.” She pressed the little bottle into his other hand. “I think we should call it Parfum Reine Fleury, after your mother.

  “With you at the helm, the company will come back so much greater than it’s been. Unfortunately life dealt the family a monstrous blow under the rule of your despotic father. Forgive me for being so brutal, but not all men who can make a baby are fit for husbandom or fatherdom.”

  She took a step closer. “I’ve heard about you all my life. Except for the ability to get inside your skin, I know the long, twisted, painful history that drove you away. Papa loved you so much and told me everything.”

  A strange sound, suspiciously like a sob, escaped his throat.

  She pulled out the picture. “This is my favorite photo of you that your mother put up on the stairway. The stairway of your house, Remy. Here’s the deed made out to you. You’re the legal owner of the house and the property. No one else.” She handed it to him. He took it. By now, his arms and hands were loaded. He moved as if he were in a dream.

  “I feel a bit like King Richard who knighted Robin Hood and said, ‘All former residences and manors are restored to you.’ What do you say to that, Sir Robin of Loxley?”

  His throat was working. She could feel the emotions erupting inside him.

  “Will you let me hug you, dear Remy? I’ve loved you for so long and have been waiting for this moment for what seems like an eternity. Please,” she begged in an aching voice.

  After a stillness that almost destroyed her, he put the things down, then extended his arms. She ran into them and they hugged while unspoken messages passed between them. His body quietly heaved.

  Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Papa cried to me over you more times than you can possibly imagine. His plan was to put me in charge until I could convince you to come back home where you always belonged.” She eased away, but still held on to his arms, which she shook.

  “You have to believe that. Papa went to the other side early, but I know he’ll never rest in peace until you accept his love and forgive him. Don’t you know in your soul he loved you? He said your name on his dying breath.”

  Remy expelled a great, shuddering sigh. “I loved Max too. He didn’t do anything wrong. My father was the one responsible for hurting my mother and me. But in my anger I blamed Max for everything. It took me years to come to grips with the truth about my life, about Megan. She and Max had always been honest with me, but I chose to believe they betrayed me.

  “When I married Louise and we had a baby, my feelings started to undergo a change. But my wife was too upset about never having enough money and left me and Jean-Louis. The truth is he became my salvation.

  “After he got older and married, I talked to him frankly about my life. That’s when I decided to go to Max and beg his forgiveness for the way I treated him.” Tears filled his eyes. “But he died unexpectedly.”

  “It was a shock to all of us.”

  “I wrote a letter to Megan telling her what was in my heart. She wrote me back, telling me that my letter had released her from pain. I suffered another shock when I heard about her death so soon after.”

  “Oh, Remy.” She hugged him again. “Don’t suffer anymore. I’m sure they both now know how you feel and are content. The only thing left is for you to take over the company.”

  He smiled. “Except for one thing. I don’t believe the family is going to throw their arms around an ancient, formerly bitter, recovered alcoholic as you have done.”

  “You’re not ancient, and they aren’t your blood. You’re the true Ferrier, and they will thrill to the knowledge that you’re going to save everyone’s skins because there isn’t anyone else! Give them a chance. There are years of life ahead! You are going to accept!”

  A chuckle escaped his throat. “Do I have a choice?”

  “None!”

  “Come to the house and meet the family.”

  “I’m dying to.” He picked up the things. She linked her arm through his and they started walking. “Any noses born yet?”

  He actually laughed through the tears. Except for Luc’s, it was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard.

  * * *

  Friday morning, Luc’s cell phone rang. After two hellish nights with no sleep, he sprang out of bed and grabbed the phone off the nightstand. At last! The one name he’d wanted to see on the caller ID had finally appeared.

  He clicked on. “Jasmine?”

  “Forgive me for calling you this early, Luc, but I wanted to catch you before you left for work. I need your advice. Would you have time for a quick breakfast first? I’ll meet you at Chez Arnaud near your bank. It’ll be my treat.”

  Since they’d parted company the day before yesterday, the torturous wait to hear from her had driven him up a wall. Luc’s pulse raced. “How soon can you get here?” He would have told her he’d meet her anywhere, but since she already had a plan in mind, so much the better.

  “Half an hour.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “My debt to you keeps growing.” On that note, she clicked off.

  Those endorphins she’d talked about filled his system. Today wasn’t going to be the day without her in it he’d been dreading. He showered and shaved in record time. Reaching for one of his suits, he dressed for work. Already he had plans for the end of the day that would include Jasmine. She just didn’t know it yet.

  His breathing altered when he arrived and saw her seated at one of the small round tables outside, dressed in another blouse and skirt like she’d worn yesterday. She was ready for work. If there was any difference in her, it was the full smile she bestowed on him. It illuminated his insides. Jasmine had good news or her eyes wouldn’t be shining a bluer blue than the sea beyond them.

  “Thanks for meeting me on such short notice, Luc. I took the liberty of ordering breakfast for both of us so you wouldn’t be held up.”

  “I appreciate that.” He sat down opposite her. “Right now I want to hear about Remy. You caught up with him obviously.”

  After the waiter served their breakfast and poured coffee, she said, “Yesterday morning, I found him on his farm tending the violets. It proved, among other things, that you’re clairvoyant.”

  “This is the land of flowers. You can’t drive by a field without someone in it. Now tell me what it was like to meet him.”

  Her eyes filled, but the tears stayed on her dark lashes. “Oh, Luc—he’s so wonderful!”

  Jasmine’s compassion for another human being’s pain had stirred Luc’s deepest emotions. “How long are you going to keep me in suspense?”

  She laughed gently. “For the first five minutes, I did all the talking. I thought he’d never respond. At the height of my agony, he held out his arms.” Her shoulders started to shake. She was trying to hold back her emotions in front of him.

  “It’s strange, but he feels so familiar to me, like he’s my long lost great uncle. Our talk was cathartic. I love him, and I know he’s more than up to the job of running the company. You’ll think so too after talking to him.”

  That was the moment when Luc recognized something earthshaking had happened to him and there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

  “We spent the rest of the day
and last night discussing everything,” she went on talking. “He’s willing to take on the company, but he knows it will be an uphill battle to win a majority vote. I told him you want to meet him since you’re the person he’ll be doing bank business with in the future. How soon do you want him to come to your office?”

  Luc had to think fast. Thomas could clear part of today’s schedule. “This afternoon? Two o’clock?”

  “That’s perfect! He’ll be there.” Her eyes glistened. “One more thing I’d like to ask of you if you don’t mind. I need your advice about something else only you can help me with.”

  He didn’t know how much more of this he could take. “What would that be?”

  “When your grandfather put your name up to be considered to take his place, how did he do it when there were other men older than you with experience who wanted the position? Did he meet privately with each member of the board?”

  Luc was so blindsided by the realization that he was madly, painfully in love with Jasmine Ferrier, he hardly heard her questions. He’d known love’s power in his late teens, but tragedy had struck, turning him into a different man, who’d been closed up ever since.

  No longer a teenager, he was a grown man of thirty-four who’d possibly lived half his life already. But a big portion of that life had been half lived to avoid future pain of loss. In scientific terms, it meant he’d lived to a point when life had fallen to half its value and the other half would grow unstable. That was the path he’d been on.

  “Luc?” The sound of Jasmine’s concerned voice jerked him back to the present. “Are you all right?”

  He fought to recover. Her request for his advice had humbled him, but he worried. Once she didn’t need him anymore, would she want him as much as he wanted her? He needed to get back to the office and think.

  “Forgive me, Jasmine. I want to answer your questions, but not here while we’re both still facing a full work day ahead of us. On my way over here, my assistant alerted me to a problem I need to take care of before my first appointment. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

  He finished his roll and drank some coffee. “Why don’t I call you after my meeting with Remy and we’ll talk then.” He got up from the table.