To Charm A Billionaire (Men of Monaco Book 1) (10 page)

As soon as his tongue touched the beaded sensitive tip, she pulled out of reach. Teasing got him hungrier and harder for her. Finally, he latched on, tightening the suction on her nipple. His tongue punished her for the tease. And he didn't let up until she climaxed. Until she accepted his apology. But even then, he continued laying claim to the woman he'd always loved.

D
amien
stood in the driveway wondering why he'd agreed to this meeting. Since his forced sabbatical, he had done a damn good job avoiding his brothers and father. Only his mother who barged into his house managed to see him. But her scolding didn't do a thing to motivate him to rectify anything with the immediate Laurent clan.

Maybe he had gotten soft, or maybe he was feeling wimpy as he listened to Anna's message that she was on her way to Monaco. They had managed to work around their schedules and jumped on any free time to be together. So when he got a text from Dane inviting him to come and talk through their disagreement, he'd agreed.

"Didn't think you'd come?" Dane stood in the doorway of their parents' home.

Damien didn't answer. Safer to keep his words at a minimum than risk another verbal battle.

"Come in." Dane stepped aside for his entrance. "You were ... are always welcome here."

He walked up the brick path and into the house. Although the home was part of his teens, he never called this place home. Too much hurt and anger. This was now Bridgette's and Dane's.

"Let's go in the living room." Dane had lost the customary black suit in favor of blue shirt and khaki shorts. Guess the attire did take the impending conversation down a few notches from the critical stage.

"Good to see you." Bridgette stepped into the living room next to her son. She offered a smile that lasted a few short seconds before disappearing behind awkward silence. Her favorite choice of all-white was on full display with a fashionable pants suit.

Surprise at seeing her locked up Damien's voice.

"I'll leave you to talk. Then we should talk." She left the room without waiting for his response.

If I'm still here.
Damien swallowed the bitter that flavored the roiling emotions whenever he dealt with Dane and his mother.

"A drink?" Dane was already at the mini-bar pouring himself a seltzer water before dropping in a slice of lime.

"No." Damien didn't want any to pretend that any part of this visit had a social bend.

"I'll get to the point." Dane indicated for him to take a seat. He hesitated when Damien didn't move. "I don't want us to have bad feelings between us."

"I've got a busy day."

"Look, I screwed up. With us. Things got out of hand."

Damien heard the words. Heard the regret. And his brother's admission shocked him. More to the point, the admission sent rapid-fire arrows at his ball of anger that he had prepared to unload at Dane. In his fantasy, the smell of blood lingered after he was done.

"Dallon said I had to fix this."

"Your reason for this meeting?" Damien snorted his disgust.

"No! I know that I was an ass. Dalton was just agreeing."

"So what now? You apologize and things are happy-go-lucky. I'm done with you. And I'm done with Laurent Holdings."

"I wasn't asking you to come back."

"Be careful. I don't have a problem kicking your ass in your home." No other color but red filled Damien's vision. Hot, angry, blood-thirsty red.

"Nothing I said the other day was wrong. How I said it was harsh, but when have I ever been coy with my feelings. I still think that you need time to decide what's best for you."

"Fuck you!" Damien pointed at his brother and repeated his edict.

Dane's hands were raised in surrender. "Something is wrong. We are not enemies. As your brother, I know there is something that you're not telling me ... or us."

"Always digging for any reason to take me down."

"I guess my actions make it seem that way. I'll work on that to prove that's not the case." Dane finally lowered his hands.

"What is it that you want from me?"

"Just your time to talk and air our grievances. And I was hoping you'd stay for lunch."

Only then did Damien realize that the dining area on the patio was set with dishes and cutlery.

"A meal doesn't repair the damage, but have always played an important part in healing."

"I do have a meeting." Though he thought about canceling, Damien also knew that his new business was just as important to him as if he had been working at Laurent Holdings. "I'd better be on my way."

"Raincheck, then."

"Sure."

"And my mother?"

"Tell her that I'll catch up with her at a later time." Damien couldn't deal with the momma bear protecting her cub routine. Dealing with Dane often left him feeling as if he was scrambling to prove his worth either to his father or to himself. He'd rather not have another heavy-loaded emotional scene with his stepmother.

"I think we've made an important first step," Dane said over his shoulder as he escorted Damien to the door.

Damien nodded and kept walking down the path. No victory lap would occur, but he was pleased that he managed to get through the hour. He supposed that a construction sign of
men at work
could be propped against whatever Dane and he unofficially agreed to build.

He reached his car and grasped the door handle.

"Wait!" Bridgette called out. In an unsteady, but determined chase, she closed the gap between them on high heels.

"We'll have to chat at another time." Damien pointed to his watch.

She stopped his attempt to open the car. "This won't take long. I want to apologize."

For the second time today, shock knocked him silent.

"Please, give me a chance to say what's been weighing on my heart."

She had a heart. 

Her twenty-plus year difference in age with his father had earned a lot of jokes. But she'd never let on whether the insults hurt or not. In his view, she'd egged them on with her cutting tongue, frequent makeovers that were charted by the fashion trolls, and never allowed his father to use her like an empty-headed arm candy. Yet he apparently didn't find his soul mate in her, either.

"I'm sorry that it's taken this long to apologize. And the sad part is that I don't know if I wasn't going through a divorce whether I would have been able to see what I'd done." Her voice trembled, but the iron lady persona didn't waver. "The third wife. I wanted to be the one that Philippe would grow old with and have a cluster of children around us."

"But only for your children." Damien didn't bother hiding the anger that even in her dream, they didn't count.

"I'm no angel. But I'm not the devil, either. I want to make amends and repair what I've broken."

"Why now?" Stepping on to the fast track repairing damage between him and Bridgette would take time.

"At first, I was full of self-pity when your father said he wanted a divorce. Couldn't make sense of it. But your mom and Vonna have been there for me. They always were from the beginning. God, I was stupid for falling in love." Now she dabbed at her eyes. "And I still love him. But I'm not stupid or weak. And like I said, I am a part of this family. So, I'm asking you to forgive me."

"I ... I wasn't expecting that." An understatement for the rollercoaster ride he seemed trapped into taking. Regardless of how hard he tried to keep the feelings locked away, in the deepest, darkest part of his memories, he couldn't contain the hurt and anger of his teenage soul.

"To be honest, I hadn't planned on this." She spread her hands out toward him.

"And now you want me to make you feel better for treating me like shit."

She blanched. Her hand covered her mouth as if to hold back a scream, a cry, or an utterance in between.

Guilt immediately rose up to push against his pride. Damn his conscience with its untimely advice:
Time to move on and grow up
.

"It's stupid of me to think that it would be easy." She offered a weak snap of her fingers. "Or that it should be easy."

No mapped out solution presented itself to Damien. Yet, he knew that he needed to say something. But nothing pure and positive surfaced as the proper response. Her actions fueled his anger. This swift about-face didn't give him time to reshuffle the necessary parts in his feeling.

A quiet energy surrounded Bridgette turning her features into a picture of stoic calm. Maybe her yoga training kicked in. Damien envied the ability to harness that inner strength. Her shoulders straightened and set back as if an invisible hand helped establish an erect posture. "Marrying your father was like marrying a king. Larger than life. Full of big dreams, big plans, and big ego. And I was young and silly enough to hand over my life to him while thinking that nothing else mattered." She paused with her head bowed. "Not only did nothing else matter, but no one else did. I didn't see you or Dallon as part of my family. I was a foolish woman."

"You were in love," Damien offered.

She shrugged, as she faced him. "Doesn't excuse how I treated you. For seeing you as a threat to Dane. I don't know how Vonna and Lydia could be kind to me. I wouldn't have been so gracious."

"My mother is remarkable that way." He meant every word.

"Maybe our mutual respect for your mother and her kindness will help us along the way."

Damien nodded. "I accept your apology. But I have to be honest that I'll need time to wade through my feelings. Friendship should be the starting point. One day."

"Thank you." Tears leaked out as she blinked through the heavy emotions. "I sincerely hope that you and Dane can see and respect each other's worth. You, three brothers, are the Laurents of the present and future."

Damien looked toward the door where Dane waited for his mother. With nothing more to say, he got into his car and headed to his next appointment. Concentrating on electric car racing issues proved difficult when his personal life took a few harrowing turns in the last hour. He couldn't say for certain if it was what he needed or wanted. Consequences multiplied with a ripple effect. The thaw continued with its cracks along the frozen landscape of his relationship with his brother and stepmother.

One thing he could acknowledge was the physical lightening of the load on his chest. He breathed easier. He instructed his car to dial the familiar telephone number.

"Hey babe," he responded as soon as Anna answered. "I've cleared my schedule for the rest of the day. I need to blow off some steam."

"I can't. I'm heading off to a meeting. Catch you later?"

"Okay." Damien pushed the END button, but Anna had already disconnected.

Busy
. The word volleyed between them and he sorely missed not having her readily available. Well, he wasn't going to waste the hours of an afternoon doing nothing. Although he might run into his father or brothers, he knew the Yacht Club de Monaco always provided the biggest boon for networking. And he still had more to learn about his new business endeavor. And still had to carve his place, his name, in the industry.

After a brief stop at his house, Damien set off for Quais Louis II dressed in his navy blue jacket with the Club court of arms and crisp white trousers.

The marina was relatively quiet since no major celebrations or yacht or car races were scheduled. Actually, he preferred the smaller crowd for the quieter atmosphere.

Damien strolled through the clubhouse with its prominent terraces and unimpeded views of the Mediterranean. Even at ground level, the atrium offered a great view of the harbor and palace. He greeted the top-notch staff and headed for the second deck reserved for members only.

"I feel lucky." Katarina Klava pressed herself against his chest and kissed him on either cheek. "Perfect timing. Won't you agree?" She stepped in again. This time, her red puckered lips aimed dead center for his mouth.

"That's enough." He side-stepped her plan of attack.

"Why play these silly games?" She didn't follow his dance away from her. "Why pretend that we've never been together?"

"Once." He held up his finger for emphasis.

She grinned baring of ultra-white teeth and he wanted to shiver. "And what's stopping you from having a second, third or to infinity time together. I want you. You're a beautiful man and sexy hungry lover without all the small talk. Brooding I like that." Her accent punctuated her desire that was on overflow.

Damien regretted the step he'd taken toward temptation. At the time, sex was sex. A hook up was a radical break from commitments and habits. And Katarina had claimed the same need. And they had proven to be both liars.

"Don't run from me." She sported a fake pout.

"Running, no. Irritable, yes."

"Ah ... so now that your wounded soul is back in bed with the woman who dumped you and treated you as her bitch, you want to act like a jackass." Her denouncement might as well have been said through a megaphone. The quiet stately backdrop of the clubhouse shattered with gasps, whispers, and a few smirks.

"Do you really want to trade insults with me?" Damien wished his eyes could flash red like a demon on the tear. "Don't go for the underbelly if yours is also exposed. Now leave me alone and don't make the mistake of thinking that we are friends."

"Jackass," she tossed at his back as he left her on the balcony.