LOGIN"Your twenty percent can delay his veto power with the board till his short-term loans expire," Marie corrected him, her voice dropping an octave, becoming intimate, razor-sharp, and compelling. "Henri’s legal team overlooked it because they assumed you would naturally line up behind your brother. They assumed the Gagnon boys would stick together to reclaim the kingdom from the outsider."Sebastian stared at her. Inside his mind, a storm raged. The memory of his father’s funeral seven years ago flashed unbidden before his eyes: Henri standing front and center, wearing the patriarch's mantle before the soil was even cold, while Sebastian was relegated to handling the logistics, greeting second-tier regional directors, and keeping his mouth shut. Henri had always treated him like a child not fit to handle the rigorous day-to-day running of a business empire. His brother had made him feel like an outsider who just happened to share his surname.And Marie... Marie had happily watched i
The rain had begun as a fine drizzle, slicking the cobblestones of the Place des Terreaux until they reflected the yellow glow of the streetlamps like polished obsidian. By the time Marie’s Mercedes pulled up along the quiet rear alley of the Rue de la République, the drizzle had deepened into a steady, methodical downpour that washed the dusk out of the Lyonnais sky.Inside the private salon of L’Olympe—an exclusive, unlabeled club housed in the vaulted stone basement of an eighteenth-century hotel particulier—the atmosphere had the scent of aged cedar and the medicinal bite of peat smoke.Sebastian Gagnon sat in a deep velvet armchair near the monumental marble fireplace, a tumbler of untamed Islay single malt resting between his fingers. He had not taken off his coat. The heavy charcoal wool draped over his shoulders like a mantle he had yet to earn, casting long shadows across his angular, sharp-featured face.He was four years younger than Henri, built leaner, with pale blue e
Marie Gagnon sat at her dark walnut desk, the high-rise view of Lyon stretching silently behind her. The room was warm, but her hands were ice.She didn't need spreadsheets to know where her vulnerabilities lay; she carried the balance sheets of Gagnon Autos in her head like a ledger burned into memory. Gagnon Autos was hers, and she wouldn't allow anyone to take it away from her. Whatever Henri's ploy may be, she had to be ready to counter and wrestle to keep what was hers. Gagnon Autos may have been given to her by her husband, Henri's father, but she was the one who had built it into its current capacity.And now, after all her efforts in increasing the market value of her company over the past few years, he had still placed an atrocious offer to acquire it—even when she had made her stance for no sale abundantly clear. He thought she was caught in his spiderweb. Her allure may have failed to win him over on his trip to Lyon a fortnight ago because of his companion—did he bring h
Henri absently scanned the busy sidewalks below. There were too many uncertainties in this merger, but one thing he was certain of was the plan known only to him. Everything he'd done had brought him to this point. He knew Marie would not be so easily swayed to sell her shares, not with more than half of the board members on her side."And what if your plan fails?" Matthew quizzed."It won't." A smirk formed on Henri's lips as he turned to face Matthew. "I always get what I want. Always."Matthew's usually fast retorts seemed to fail him this time. Henri's mind raced as he thought of Tom Stone and how he fit into his contrivance. The man had lost his way—not unusual after the heartache of losing a beloved wife and daughter to a tragic accident, Henri supposed. But Tom had been visiting AA meetings and seemed to be struggling to get his life back on track. He'd been a risk-taker on the job, and ruthless when it came to disciplining those beneath him. Years ago, he'd pushed his chai
With luck, the negotiations will advance, then my lawyers will fly down to—” Henri trailed off as Elizabeth strolled into his office the next morning, bringing those long legs with her, her curls bouncing with each tiny step her tapered, knee-length skirt allowed.She stopped to check discreetly on the coffeemaker—directly in Henri's line of vision. A bolt of lust arrowed to his groin. Henri, oh, please, more, more.Her gasps of last night echoed in his head.This morning they’d gone at each other like—hell, like two wild animals—before they’d separately headed for the office. He wanted to buy her something special, anything she wanted. He wanted to please her, to give her something, and yet the only thing Elizabeth Stone seemed to want was him.Damn, he was totally taken—in a way not even Marie had taken him before. Elizabeth's moans, her body writhing against his—it maddened him. Heated him. Excited him. Appalled him.Aware of the abrupt silence in the vast carpeted space, a qu
Was this what his father had felt for Marie? Was this why he’d given everything for her, everything to her? Let her slowly finish him off… so long as she kept on kissing him, looking at him, touching him like this?His heart rammed into his ribs, his blood a thick, terse boil in his veins. He was losing his head, and he didn't like it. He wanted her—God knew he did.Gritting his teeth against the flaring lust, he readied himself briskly, his erection springing free. He grabbed her hand and placed it on himself. If that didn't show her how far gone he was, then he didn't know anything anymore.Still, he recalled Lyon, all those nights with her, the days, and gruffly spoke. "You're staying the night here with me."She nodded and met his gaze, her eyes bright and fiery. She stroked his chest with soft, fluttering hands, dragging her lips across his jaw, his chin. "I want you in me, Henri."A primal hunger had overtaken his mind, his senses, until he felt as instinctive as an animal—







