He’d made the deal with her father, giving the man large sums of money in exchange for her being his employee. It had obviously turned into more than an employer – employee relationship, which made him even angrier. He’d never had a woman walk out on him before. He didn’t like it one little bit. When he finally got her alone – well, he wasn’t sure he could be responsible for his actions.
The longer he drove, the more he warred with himself, but he came to the conclusion that his seemingly insatiable lust for her was just getting started. What began as nothing more than a business arrangement had quickly fallen off course.
He didn’t know how to deal with it. But Damien Whitfield always knew how to deal with things. This wasn’t a welcomed confusion.
He approached the gate guarding Bree’s home, a smile forming on his lips. It seemed his cousin was a cautious woman. If only she knew who she was about to invite inside her protected space.
Old anger and hurt buzzed inside him like a swarm of angry bees, fighting for a stronghold on his tightly reined-in emotions. The Anderson’s had caused his father’s death, thrown his mother out in the middle of the night, and wanted nothing to do with him. His mother was dead because of them, because she couldn’t afford decent medical care.
It was unacceptable.
He pressed the button, watching as the camera focused on him. He did his best to keep his mask of emotions in place.
“How may I help you?” a voice asked over the speaker.
“Damien Whitfield. I’m here to see Sierra.” He didn’t elaborate.
“One moment, Sir.”
Less than a minute passed before the gates started opening. To Damien’s surprise, he found his hand slightly shaking as he placed the vehicle into drive. He glared at the offending fingers, clenching them once – inserting his will over his body. When he opened his fist, the fingers were steady.
With a satisfied look in his eye he began his journey down the long winding driveway. Nerves tried to eat away at him as reality set in that he’d be standing next to one of his blood relative, and have to act polite, as if he didn’t give a hoot who she was.
His pre-occupation with seeing Sierra helped control his emotions toward his so called family.
He pulled up to the house and stepped from the car when several large men filed through the doorway. Damien had to smile as they lined themselves up on the enormous porch. He was sure to most people the sight would be intimidating. Damien only looked on in anticipation. He could use a good brawl to work out some of his aggression.
He cursed himself for continuing with his vendetta against the Anderson’s. Becoming a multi-billionaire on his own, without their help, should’ve been good enough to satisfy his mother’s wishes… but it wasn’t.
She’d made him promise to make them pay. He just had to remember they’d killed both his parents. They may not have done it with their own two hands, but they’d done it by their greed and selfishness.
“Afternoon,” one of the men said as Damien walked with confidence up the stone stairs.
“Hello. What’s with the welcoming committee?” Damien asked, noting the surprised look on the man’s face before he managed to mask his expression. It looked like the muscle-bound gorillas hadn’t expected him to be so forward.
“Just coming out to say, hi,” the man said as he took another step in Damien’s direction, making sure to show him he wasn’t intimidated in the least. Of course, he’s not intimidated, he’s surrounded by his body-builder friends, Damien thought snidely.
“I’m looking for Sierra,” he said as he sized up each man.
“Why don’t we chat first? I’m Chad Redington and this is my place. These are my brothers-in-law and various family members,” Chad said, not moving an inch. Damien tensed. He didn’t like being blocked.
“I’m Damien Whitfield, as you already know. Now that introductions are over with, maybe I can see my employee.” Damien didn’t need to know who the men were. He recognized them from the research he’d done for years on the Anderson men, but he was silent as Chad continued.
“Introductions have just begun, Mr. Whitfield. You haven’t been formally introduced to the rest of the guys. This is Lucas Anderson, my wife’s cousin, and next to him is Trenton Anderson, her brother. The two in the middle are Max and Austin, also my wife’s brothers. We’re all a bit protective of who comes around,” Chad said, not once breaking his even, smooth tone. To an outsider, it may sound like he was having a pleasant chat, but Damien had zero doubt he was warning Damien that if he was there to cause trouble, he may as well turn around. Damien wondered how much Sierra had said.
After that thought hit, he finally realized he was standing there with half the Anderson family. This was what his end goal was, to get in a room with them without being seemingly eager to do so, learn what made them tick, find out their weaknesses.
He was so far gone on his obsession with Sierra, he’d thought of nothing but getting through them and to her. What was wrong with him?
“Chatting sounds like a good idea,” Damien finally said, ignoring the small voice inside him that just wanted to find Sierra.
“Good. Let’s go to my den,” Chad said, looking pleased it wasn’t going to turn into a brawl on his front steps. Damien would bet money that Chad’s wife would ream him out if that ended up happening. If she was like Trinity, in the least, and most women were the same in the sense that they didn’t want their men fighting. It was almost worth it to start the battle.
Damien was confident in his strength, but he wasn’t stupid. He was too outnumbered to have a chance of winning a physical battle with all the men surrounding him.
Chad walked in the door while the other men parted to let him through. He walked ahead, his eyes connecting with each man, showing he wasn’t about to cower. The group was silent as they went down a wide hallway, then through a set of double doors into a warm den.
Damien looked around the room, surprised by the number of framed photographs on the walls. Most men liked trophies in their private man-caves, but it seemed pictures were Chad’s trophies.
He strolled over to a wall filled with images. Damien realized he recognized most of the people in them, those who were currently in the room with him, and those not present. There were only a few he couldn’t recall ever seeing.
Damien had done a lot of research through the years on the Anderson’s and could spot them from a mile away. To avoid making a fool of himself, he stopped just before reaching for one of the framed pictures.
It was of his Uncles, George and Joseph, surrounded by what seemed their entire family. Smiles abounded in the group filled with adults and hordes of children of all different ages and sizes.
It looked to the outside world like a beautiful family, but Damien knew what truly ran through their veins. He wouldn’t be surprised if they bled black tar. Greed changed a person.
No one said a word as he silently gazed at his family, at a picture he rightfully should’ve been in, had they not cast his mother aside so coldly. When he realized he’d taken longer than he should have, and also that he shouldn’t have any interest in family pictures of strangers, he turned around, making sure to compose his features.
“What would you like to drink?”
Chad knew it was a test, but he wasn’t there to please them or worry about what they thought. He knew his liquor but he didn’t like whiskey or rum. He was a wine man, and only when the occasion struck him. But he didn’t want them to know anything about him, so he decided to request a beer.
“I’ll take a bud if you have one,” he answered. Chad looked surprised for a minute, but recovered quickly before going to a fridge that blended into the wall, looking like just another panel.
Damien had something similar in his own place. As he looked around the room, he noticed that he and Chad had a lot of the same tastes.
“Here you go. Have a seat.”
“I’m fine standing,” Damien told him, not wanting to give that advantage to the men.
“Suit yourself. How did you meet Sierra?”
Damien could appreciate a guy who didn’t beat around the bush, coming straight to the point. It was how he did business, as well. He did have to be careful with his answers, though. He didn’t need the Anderson men to know who he really was. He’d been careful through the years not to run into them while he did business. He wanted to meet them when he was ready for it, and not a moment before. He had to be in complete control.
“I’m doing business with her father. I wanted her to work for me.” Damien’s best option was to keep his answers as short and to the point as possible. He also needed to sneak in a few of his own questions.
“Why?” Lucas asked.
“Why, what?” Damien responded.
“You’re a smart guy, Damien. You don’t mind if I call you by your first name, do you? I get real tired of formality, especially in my cousin’s house.” When Damien nodded his assent begrudgingly, Lucas continued. “Why would you be doing business with Monroe? It’s well-known he’s losing his shirt right now for some incredibly poor choices. There may even be criminal charges filed on him soon, ranging from tax fraud, to downright bad business practices. The guy has more sexual harassment complaints on him than anyone I know.”
“I have my reasons and they’re my own business,” Damien said, his tone clearly making it known the topic wasn’t up for discussion.
“You having Sierra work for you, especially when she doesn’t even understand why, makes it our business,” Chad said, stepping closer to Damien with his eyes narrowing.
“Look Chad, I don’t mind having a little chat with you and the in-laws in which you felt the need to bring out in force today, but I won’t discuss my business practices,” Damien said, not backing down a single inch.
He thought he saw a small flash of respect in Chad’s eyes, but the man quickly masked the emotion.
“Look Damien, first of all, we were having a family gathering. I had no idea you were showing up on my front porch, so I didn’t know I needed reinforcement, unless there’s something else to this situation. Secondly, if you hurt Sierra, then my wife is going to be furious and demand your balls on a silver platter. I’m trying to avoid all that by finding out exactly what your intentions are. Sierra… well, she’s not like the rest of her family. She’s a great gal, who’s had some hard knocks in life. I don’t want to see her get any more of them.”
“Duly noted,” Damien snapped. Then, with a sigh, he decided to give them something, though he said it through gritted teeth. “I like her, okay?”
The men stared at him for several moments, as if they were assessing him, seeing if he were speaking the truth. The reality was that he liked her more than he should. He had no business feeling anything for her. She should be nothing more than a tool, another pawn in his game of revenge. That was long out the window, though. He wanted to see her. He was still angry she’d managed to get away from him so easily. He’d make sure it didn’t happen again. He’d make sure she knew better than to run from him.
