Diablo Blanco Club: Unfair Advantage (2 page)

“This is blackmail.”

Jacob laughed for the first time, the humor in his voice dark. “No, son, this is business.” Standing up, he concluded the discussion. “Think about it, Bryce. Think about someone whom you’ve built a relationship with. Who understands the business and its priority in your life and who can withstand the scrutiny of the board members without losing her cool.”

“How long do I have?”

“No more than five weeks. Be engaged or married by the time I’m supposed to retire, or I’ll have to demand your resignation.”

* * *

Leaning back in his desk chair, Victor Prommer pressed a button on his cell phone and waited.

“Yes?” The southern drawl was pronounced and aggressive, just like the woman herself.

“It looks like he’s on his way out.”

“Looks like or is?”

“His father delivered the news not forty minutes ago. I doubt even Bryce Halsey could dig up a suitable bride in five weeks,” Victor assured her.

“I don’t pay you for your opinions, Mr. Prommer. I pay you for results.”

Stifling the urge to hang up on her, Victor tempered his tone. “And I’ve provided them, Mrs. Makepeace.”

“Not enough. When Bryce Halsey hands me his resignation and we install our man in the CEO’s chair, then you will have delivered on your promises.”

“You’ll have it.”

“I had better, Mr. Prommer.” The abrupt disconnection of the call was as familiar as her condescending attitude.

“Cold fucking bitch,” Victor muttered, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. He’d paid good money to have specific, critical meetings disrupted by women “desperate” to gain Halsey’s attention. She’d get the damned results she wanted, but he’d get his as well.

Double-clicking to open the file on his computer desktop, he skimmed the document for the key terms he’d included. Frieda and Lionel Makepeace may have hired him to destroy Halsey Unlimited, but he wasn’t going to put his neck on the line without providing himself a little compensation.

* * *

“What the hell is she doing here with him?”

Richard’s question had Bryce glancing over his shoulder toward the front of the restaurant. It had taken most of the afternoon, six pain relievers, and two glasses of single malt to reduce the throb behind his left eye to a dull pain. The sight of Mattie Lawrence, his administrative assistant, and Victor Prommer making their way across the floor toward a table nearby had the pounding increasing all over again.

“They just came from work.” Bryce sipped his drink. He followed the sway of Lawrence’s hips as she crossed the room and debated the decision he’d come to following the meeting with his father.

“I don’t care where they came from; I want to know why she’s here with him.” Annoyance increased the soft drawl in Richard’s voice. Gray eyes narrowed on the couple as the maître d’ seated them.

If Bryce hadn’t know Richard as well as he did, he would suspect there was more to his friend’s interest in Lawrence’s dating habits. He assessed the couple seated four tables away before looking at his friend. “Is there something wrong with Lawrence going out with Victor?” Until he came to a definite decision, Bryce couldn’t stake his claim on Lawrence. Bryce took a deep breath and attempted to relax when he realized his own ire was rising at the thought of Victor making advances toward her.

“She should know better,” Richard growled before stabbing a chunk of steak and carefully chewing on it.

A master controls no one if he cannot control himself
. The saying floated through Bryce’s mind in the interval following Richard’s comment. He split his attention between Richard’s grumblings and the couple across the room while he consumed the delicious prime rib dinner before him. He was working on an after-dinner coffee the waiter had poured when he spotted the first touch.

It had been subtle, just the slide of Victor’s hand over hers, but Lawrence’s body stiffened, and she eased away from the man the tiniest bit. Hackles rising, Bryce leaned back in the booth, his focus on the pair across the room. “Well, what have you heard wrong about him?”

“He’s the perfect gentleman until he feels it’s time he doesn’t have to be anymore.” Richard cursed beneath his breath as Victor tried to stroke his hand down his date’s arm.

Again she stiffened and moved away, her chair lurching slightly as she nudged it farther right.

“You’re not going to do anything about this?” Richard met his gaze. His gray eyes were disbelieving, almost accusatory.

“Why should I?”

“You’ve spent the last eight years waiting, Bryce. Are you going to let another man take what you’ve been preparing?” He shook his head, the tight brown curls barely moving. “Hell, I haven’t been able to figure out why you just didn’t claim her when she first showed up.”

“She wasn’t ready.” The tension in his neck eased as Bryce recalled the anger and defiance dancing in Lawrence’s brown gaze. In many ways, she’d been wise beyond her twenty-two years, but in the most important ones, she’d been far too young for what he wanted.

“How? She was interested. I watched her trying to get your attention.”

Bryce watched her rebuff another of Victor’s touches. From the stiffening of the other man’s body, the grip he had on his fork, and the short, quick stabs he used to spear his food, Bryce suspected he’d become more aggressive in his next attempt. “She didn’t trust.”

“Excuse me?”

His attention stayed on Lawrence and Victor, although he could see Richard shift his attention between him and the other pair from the corner of his eye. “When she came to me, Lawrence was incapable of trusting any man.”

“How do you know?”

“Didn’t you ever notice she never allowed any one, especially a man, to get behind her or between her and an exit?” Bryce glanced at his friend, surprised he’d missed such an obvious clue. It had frustrated the hell out of him eight years ago when he’d occasionally look up to see the heat of attraction in her eyes. The moment he smiled or started to approach, the fires were banked, and the shield snapped back into place.

Richard cursed beneath his breath. “You think she was raped?”

Bryce gave a quick nod. “It was my original conclusion. I had Henderson run a background check for me.”

“And?”

“No rape. There were allegations of abuse, physical not sexual, when she was eleven, just before her parents died.” He didn’t reveal the details, but he did have to concentrate to keep from crushing the cup in his hand. “She and her sister were taken in by Gino Laguardi and his wife and brought here to San Diablo.” Bryce sipped his coffee, remembering the lecture he’d received from Gino about treating Lawrence like the lady she was. If the man had detected even a hint of what Bryce had imagined sharing with his precious foster daughter, Gino would have never signed the contract to merge his ship-building business with Halsey’s. “Getting her to this point has been a battle.”

“A fruitless one if you’re going to allow that snake charmer to poach on your grounds,” Richard warned.

“It took nine months to get her to the point where she would stay in my office to discuss the shipping schedules and the delivery contracts without double-checking to make sure her path to the door was free.” Bryce’s fingers ticked off each of the points as he mentioned them. “Another two years to get her to come out to my home in order to help organize a dinner party and hostess it for me. And another six months after that to get her to voice her opinion without being afraid I’d retaliate in some way. I just about came the first time she argued with me over a comment I’d made about Mike and his career and didn’t run when I yelled back.”

Richard’s chuckle and nod reminded Bryce his friend had been present at the heated discussion over Mike’s career path. “She did have a point, though. Mike is a hell of a photojournalist.”

“That goes without argument.” Bryce nodded when the waiter approached offering to refill his cup and cleared the finished meals from the table. Waiting until the server had left, he kept his gaze on Victor and his assistant. The set of her shoulders and the way she watched Victor were familiar to Bryce. She could trust a few people only so far before she froze up. Pushing her beyond those boundaries would prove a challenge, but one he looked forward to meeting.

“Have you thought about what Jacob discussed?”

Since that had been the original purpose of their dinner meeting, Bryce asked, “Did he tell you what my alternative to resigning is?”

“No, but I have an idea”—he paused to sip his coffee—“and a suggestion if I’m right.”

Turning away from the couple across the room, Bryce waited. Having grown up with Richard, Bryce didn’t doubt that the plans he’d been carefully devising since his father’s ultimatum had also been weighed and measured by his friend. “A solution to my problem?”

“Mattie.”

“Lawrence?” His attention turned back to the table in time to see Victor slide his hand over her thigh. The flare of anger and possessive indignation surprised Bryce, but the urge to stride over and grab Victor by the throat was eased when Lawrence slapped Victor’s hand away and stood up. Her words were quiet, but the expression on her face left little doubt she was furious, before she turned and strode out of the restaurant. The other man remained in his seat, finishing the last of his meal and ignoring the pointed stares of the diners around him.

Richard chuckled as he watched the exchange across the room. Leaning back in the booth, he nodded. “Yes, her. If Jacob is pushing you to get married in order to placate some of the board members, then she’s the perfect candidate for your wife.”

“How?” He’d rationalized his own arguments, but wondered if his eight-year-long attraction to the woman was clouding his judgment.

“She’s familiar to the board, knows the way the company works, and is a loyal employee.”

“You sound like you’re creating an argument for giving her a raise.” Bryce shook his head.

“She’s cool under pressure. Makes decisions based on a balance of gut instinct and logical research. And can plan a dinner party for six to six hundred guests with little to nothing going wrong. You need her, Bryce. Her reputation alone will gain you points with the board.”

“Reputation?” He acknowledged all the assets Richard listed with a nod.

“Mattie isn’t a party animal, Bryce. You and I both know the primary concern Frieda and Lionel are using to turn the board against you is the playboy persona
Upscale’s
article hyped.” Richard shrugged. “Considering the tidbit your last playdate helped circulate in
The National Recorder
last year about the things you and she did at the Club, someone with a wholesome reputation is just what you need to get back in their good graces.”

“And what if I don’t want to be blackmailed into marriage?”

Richard watched him carefully. “If memory serves me correctly, you never intended to marry. At least that was your decision just after Miss Helen died.”

“I said a lot of things when I was sixteen, Richard.” Bryce shrugged.

“True.”

“And it isn’t like I haven’t tried to get married. Am I the only one who remembers I’ve been engaged? Twice.”

“No, most of the country has been reminded of those facts. That may be part of the problem with that blasted article, my friend. Third time’s a charm, and every woman with her eye on the easy life is hoping she’ll make you change your tune.” Richard smiled. “But you never would have married Sybelle or Carolyn, even if they hadn’t broken the engagements. You’ve spent the last twenty-four years of your life working to make Halsey Unlimited the first name off anyone’s lips when it comes to the construction of ships, from tugs to cruise ships to aircraft carriers. Neither of those women understood what was necessary to keep the company growing.”

“I could do other things.”

“What are you going to do with the rest of your life, Bryce, if you don’t have Halsey Unlimited to run?” Ticking off each item on his fingers, Richard continued. “You’re not needed for the day-to-day stuff at DBC. You haven’t assisted in the training of any new Doms or Dommes—let alone submissives—in nearly three years. And you have a talented manager and staff handling the stables, orchard, and gardens of your home.”

Pushing his empty coffee cup away, Bryce held Richard’s gaze. “There’s always travel.”

“You haven’t taken a vacation from the company in five years, my friend.” Richard signaled the waiter for the bill before turning back to face him. “You’ll never convince me you’d be happy as some jet-setting playboy. You were never meant to be some high-society, feckless celebrity.”

“And what if I don’t want a ‘wholesome’ bride?” Bryce offered, his mind conjuring images of his assistant that were the complete opposite of “wholesome.” Hell, if she’d even suspected some of the things he’d contemplated introducing her to, Mattie Lawrence would have never lasted eight years in his office.

“I never said the reputation had to remain that way, my friend.” Richard finished his coffee. “In fact, I’ve been just as anxious for you to stake your claim, so I can assist you in tarnishing her reputation just the slightest bit.”

A flash of irritation ignited at his friend’s words but was quickly stifled. In the years they’d known each other, it hadn’t been unusual for them to share a lover, so it disturbed Bryce that he’d react poorly to Richard’s anticipation of a similar act. Keeping his expression calm, he shrugged. “I’ll think about it.”

Chapter Two

“We have a problem.”

Mattie Lawrence clenched her thighs and fought the shiver that zipped down her spine. The sound of Bryce’s voice was always a turn-on for her. Add to it six feet four inches of lean muscle, broad shoulders, and smooth Southern charm, and it was no wonder she found it nearly impossible to keep from creaming her panties at least once a day around the man. Since he’d decided to lean over the back of her chair and make his statement close to her left ear, Mattie was treated to not only the sound of his Southern drawl, but the crisp citrus smell of his aftershave, the brush of his hair against her ear, and the heat of his breath over her cheek.
Yup, there goes another pair
.