His Secret Desire (14 page)

"We all get it Jason, we all miss dad--"

"You? Miss dad?" Jason said accusingly.
Harrison hesitated, looking briefly away from his older brother
before continuing.

"We all respect the tradition of giving, but
this is just crazy. Give it all away and then what happens? We're
just as poor as the people we're trying to help. That's no good to
anybody."

"Every donation is tax deductible. Charity is
good for business." Jason said, refusing to give an inch.

"Don't patronize us Jay." Zach said. "We all
know that, but 10% of Demovic in just six months? It's financial
suicide. Speculation in the media that something is wrong at the
heart of Demovic Inc is rife and sooner or later it's going to
affect business."

Jason held up his hands and the group went
silent, waiting for him to speak as he looked each of them in the
eye, slowly, one by one.

"I'm acting CEO of Demovic Corporation." He
said. "Now unless there's something else to discuss, I have
somewhere I need to be."

He stood up to go.

"Sit down Jay." Zach said. The tension in the
air was near unbearable. The Demovic family was not accustomed to
internal strife in business matters since the passing of Mr.
Demovic senior. Normally they spoke as one voice, guided by Jason's
acknowledged razor sharp business sense.

That guidance had been accepted without
resentment or question until his seemingly endless spree of
philanthropy threatened to bankrupt the corporation.

Jason gave Zach a long, cold look before he
sat down. Like all of them, he was used to giving orders, not
taking them.

"This better be good." he with quiet
intensity.

Their mother spoke quickly, hoping to defuse
the situation.

"It is good Jason. Good for everyone. We have
come together today simply to discuss how much money Demovic Inc.
should give away in philanthropic contributions in any given
financial quarter, that's all."

"I've already decided how much that should
be." Jason said.

"Jason Demovic does not equal Demovic Inc,"
Harrison said with evident irritation, "no matter what you
think."

Jason looked at him, his expression giving
nothing away.

"Of course I don't think that, but this
specific decision is mine and mine alone, just as our father said
it should be and as the board, including everyone here agreed upon.
Now if you'll excuse me--"

"If you won't discuss this with us then we
will have no choice but to ask you to stand down as CEO." Zach
said. Jason was motionless for a moment. The two brothers had
fought many times as children but never as grown men. They had
always been equally matched and neither feared the other.

The room held its breath as Jason looked to
Ernst Pitchford, the family lawyer. He didn't need to say a word to
the tough old legal shark.

"It can be done." Ernst assured him.

Jason looked around the room again. If Ernst
said it was true then it was true. No one in the world knew the
Demovic family legal affairs like Ernst Pitchford. He had been
defending the family's interests since the brothers were in
diapers.

Jason took a long deep breath and then looked
at Zach.

"Give me a proposal and I'll think it over.
Now
if you all will please excuse me--"

"There's one more thing." Zach said.

Jason waited, his face still betraying no
emotion but his family knew him well; he was surely enraged at this
challenge to his authority.

"Well?" he said.

As confident and strong willed as Zach was,
the words stuck in his throat. It fell to their mother and her 49%
interest in the Demovic Corporation as a whole, to save the moment.
Her voice was frail but her power in the corporation was
formidable.

"We'd like you to consider getting some help
son." She said softly.

"I already have all the help I need. My team
is excellent, the best in the world."

"That's not the kind of help we mean."

Even the human barracuda Ernst held his
breath in anticipation.

"Exactly what kind of help are you talking
about mother?"

She reached into a small pocket in her
pleated skirt and put a card on the table.

"This person comes highly recommended."

Jason Demovic read the details from where he
sat. He didn't deign to pick the card up. It was the name and
contact details of a psychological counselor in Manhattan.

He looked back into the eyes of his family
and then to Ernst who returned his gaze with all the steel he could
muster. The lawyer was capable of staring down a high court judge
without flinching an eyebrow but his heart skipped a beat as he
nodded his head to assure Jason Demovic Jnr. of the binding nature
of what his family was 'suggesting' to him.

Jason stared defiantly around the room again.
The board of directors held its breath…

One Month Later

"Mr. Demovic will be about ten minutes late." The
smooth, feminine voice informed Dr. Melissa Price. "Please wait for
him." She started to thank the caller but the line went dead.

She sat back in her leather bound chair,
realizing that she now had twenty minutes of free time to kill. She
decided to call her little sister. She liked to check in with her
frequently, even if only for the briefest of exchanges.

"Hey Suzy, how are you feeling today?"

"I'm doing great." Her sister tried to sound
enthusiastic, but her voice was listless. "Just a little tired. You
know how it is. Sometimes the dialysis is like that. I'll be better
in a few hours."

Melissa knew that the treatments had been
taking more out of her sister each time. She needed to get that
kidney donation fast but they had been waiting for years. Melissa
would have donated herself but her blood type was incompatible.

"If you need anything at all, just call
me."

"I'm fine, now come on, leave me alone,
you've got work to do."

"Actually I'm free for--" The call ended
without even a goodbye. "--the next twenty minutes." Her voice
trailed off. The shortness bothered her but she knew that even a
phone call could be exhausting to Suzy on some days so she held her
peace and put the phone down. Her eyes wandered to the degrees and
certificates on her office wall. Her graduate degree was from
Harvard and her doctorate from Stanford. She had attended both
colleges on scholarships and graduated in the 97th percentile.
Although an outstanding student she had not been in practice long
and was still trying to build up her business. From struggling to
study and pay bills with evening work, now she finally had the
letters after her name but less money than ever since you can't be
a psychotherapist and a waitress at the same time.

This made her current situation with the
ethics committee even more galling. One tiny mistake, one human
error after years of study.

It didn’t seem fair. It was a beginners
mistake and she prayed they would see it like that too.

Just hang in there.
She kept telling
herself.
We've been through worse times than this, the light is
there at the end of the tunnel. Just a little longer now. We can
beat this.

If her little sister was stoical about her
illness, Melissa herself always put on a brave face about the
medical bills, but in reality she was almost to the point of paying
interest only on their accumulated medical debts. She never said a
word of this to Suzy and never would as long as she could keep on
paying the bills.

The ethics committee would have to clear her
and the business would have to be a runaway success because there
was no other option.

Just hang in there.

She took a small mirror out of her bag to
check her appearance. Her auburn hair was pulled back tightly into
a neat, if not particularly attractive bun, but it made her look
older and more professional which was the desired effect. Her
spectacles were serious rather than fashionable and tended to make
her look older; something else she needed with her youthful face.
The glasses also made her face look thinner. Although petite she
often thought she was a little too rounded. With college, work,
looking after her sister and now setting up a psychotherapy
practice as well, she had never had the time to worry about getting
into better shape.

Needless to say dating had been out of the
question since forever.

She heard the door in the reception area open
and sat up straight. Her receptionist Sandy was behind schedule
today so she would have to meet and greet by herself unless that
was him arriving already. She had left the door open to allow her
first client to come into the waiting area.

She stood up and went to her office door but
it opened abruptly after a short, heavy knock before she could get
to it. The man who entered the room was unbelievably good-looking,
even to Melissa; with all her worries and pre-occupations it took a
lot for her to notice attractiveness in the opposite sex.

"Where's Dr. Price?" The well dressed man
said gruffly.

Someone needs manners.
She
thought.

"I'm here to see Dr. Price." He added.

"Mr. Demovic?" She asked.

"Jason." He said, softening slightly. "Look,
I'm already late. Are you Dr. Price?"

Melissa held out her hand.

"Dr. Melissa Price. It's a pleasure to meet
you Mr. Demovic. Won't you take a seat?"

"Pleasure." He said, and took her hand,
sending a sharp jolt of electricity crackling through Melissa's
body. She jerked her hand away and a hint of a smile came to his
face.

"You need to get that carpet changed. Too
much static." He said. To her complete surprise a vivid image of
herself making love on the carpet to the mouth watering man in
front of her flashed through Melissa's mind.

Come on Melissa.
She berated herself.
You’re a trained psychotherapist, not a schoolgirl
.

She smiled and indicated her analysis area to
him to one side of her office, where there was a coffee table an
armchair and a couch.

"Mr. Demovic, would you like to take a
seat?"

He nodded and began to cross the room.
Melissa followed behind him, watching his tall, muscular frame move
in front of her. She couldn't help but notice that he was superbly
healthy, radiating strength and athleticism. The suit he wore
looked like a thin veneer of civilization on a man who was
obviously a primal and instinctual being. Most of her few clients
were older, or had the appearance of age. They were fatigued,
anxious, worn down by their troubles, but not this tall, straight
and self-assured man. He was downright hot and Melissa was feeling
the heat.

He sat down on the couch and she took a seat
next to him in the armchair.

"Make yourself comfortable." She said. "This
is your hour, so I suggest we get started before anymore time is
wasted."

"I'm all for that." He said. "I don’t want to
waste any time at all with you Dr. Price."

What did that mean?

Before we fuck.
The words crossed
Melissa's mind like a voice from a stranger in her head. She sat up
straight in the armchair, taken off guard by her own reactions. She
had been attracted to clients before but never quite like this. If
she had felt things before it was after a period of getting to know
the person, gaining insight into who they were and building a
relationship of sympathy and trust. No one had ever walked into her
office before and made her just want to...

A feeling of foreboding crossed over her.
This client was bad news. Somehow she could feel it.

End of Sample

To continue reading, download
Scandalous
right now!

Resisting the Billionaire -
Volume I

Somewhere In The South Pacific

Blue skies, lapping waves. For what seemed like a
long time, Melanie lay in the warm sand. She didn't want to think
about where she was and she certainly didn't want to move. The
heaviness across her waist made her look down. A tanned and
muscular arm was draped across her, the strong fingers of a male
hand resting lightly against her lower abdomen.

Was she on vacation? She had no earthly idea
where she was or who she was with.

The arm didn't look like her boyfriend’s --
no, wait -- her
ex
-boyfriend Mitch’s arm. It was too strong,
too tanned, too well defined.

She moved her head and it began to
pound.

Panic set in.

She looked around her and all she could see
was sandy beach, brilliant aquamarine sea, and azure blue
skies.

"Oh my God... Where am I? What the hell have
I done?" She whispered.

She turned her head to look at the rest of
the man attached to the arm around her waist.

"Jesus Christ!" She had no recollection, no
recognition of the beautiful stranger. He looked as exhausted as
she felt. His clothes were ragged, and so were hers. She pulled his
arm from her, scrambling to get up, but her head was too woozy and
she landed back on her ass. She was wearing only her bra and her
skirt was torn away, leaving most of her thighs exposed.

The ridiculously handsome stranger opened
his eyes, looked at her intently for a moment, and then sprang to
life.

"Melanie!", he shouted. His voice was full
of concern.

"How do you know my name?" She said.

"What do you mean? We were on the flight
together--"

"What flight? Who are you?"

"It's me, Alex your..." His voice trailed
off.

"My what?" A feeling of dread came over her,
that name… it meant something…

Three Days Earlier