Billionaire Games Boxed Set 1-3 (34 page)

What is he doing?
Andre fidgeted in his chair, wanting Julian to hurry up and sit back down.
He
had more important things to share.

“First…” Julian glanced past Camille, setting his sights on Tasha. “Let me officially welcome Camille’s best friend Tasha to the family.” He reached for his glass of wine. “From the moment I met you, I knew you’d steal my little brother’s heart.” He lifted the glass toward Andre and Tasha. “I couldn’t think of a better person for the task.” He nodded. “Because I know you’ll cherish it.” Julian’s gaze traveled around the table as he said, “To Andre and Tasha!”

A myriad of voices repeated the toast and then everyone began drinking from their glasses. Not everyone’s glass was filled with wine like Julian’s. Andre and Claudette were the only other people at the table with a glass of wine for dinner. Lecie was too young, Maurice didn’t dare—not in front of Claudette, and water had been requested for Tasha and Camille.

Andre set his glass down and took one last glance at Julian, eager for him to sit so Andre could share his and Tasha’s good news.

But Julian didn’t sit down. He remained standing over Camille, his wine glass still in hand. “Now…” Once again, Julian looked at his wife, and this time he smiled. “Not that I want to steal your thunder or anything…” He looked at Andre. “But Camille and I have an announcement of some importance.”

As do I
. Andre sucked in a deep breath to squelch his impatience.
So get to it.

“I’m pleased to announce—” Julian’s attention was back on Camille now. “—that my lovely wife is pregnant.”

A
ndre should’ve known Julian would find a way to eclipse him. But all was not lost. He’d wait until he found out when Camille was due before falling back into second position again.

His luck couldn’t be that bad, could it? Just once, he wanted to do something before Julian. Competition was in their nature, and until now Julian had held the grand prize—de Laurent Enterprises. Siring the first grandchild was all Andre had. And now Julian threatened to take that away from him too. Perhaps Tasha could find out from Camille when she was due.

After the revelry over Julian and Camille’s good fortune died down and the family dispersed from the dinner table, Tasha and Andre headed into the hallway. As they walked, she leaned against Andre and whispered, “Let’s have some tea out in the rose garden?”

“All right.” Andre nodded. “It sounds like a wonderful idea.”

“Are you disappointed?” she asked, but didn’t say about what.

“I’m the happiest man around. Why would you think I’d be disappointed over anything?”

“I know you wanted to tell everyone about our baby at dinner tonight,” she said. “But it seems Julian beat you to the punch.”

“I’ll tell them later.” He shrugged. “All that matters now is you, me and our baby.”

“I’m very excited.”

“About the wedding next week?” he guessed. “We will be going on a short honeymoon. I have—we have—a little villa in St. Tropez. It’s right on the ocean. You’ll love it. When we come back, after we’ve seen the doctor and he gives us permission we’ll take a cruise of the Greek Isles or wherever you wish to go.”

“St. Tropez sounds perfect.” Tasha smiled. “And I am excited about that, but it’s not what I was talking about.”

“Our baby?”

She nodded. “And Camille’s. It’s going to be such fun, both of us being pregnant at the same time. I wonder which one of us will give birth first?”

That inquiry had crossed Andre’s mind a time or two in the last fifteen minutes. And now, it was front and center, weighing heavily on Andre’s shoulders. If Camille had her baby first, Julian would never let Andre forget it.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ANDRE HEADED TO THE EAST ROSE GARDEN to wait for Tasha, who’d gone up to change into something more comfortable. Simon had gone to the kitchen to arrange for tea and Fig Newtons—Tasha’s favorite cookie—to be served to the newlyweds on the terrace.

The solitude of the garden and the ambiance of the moonlight promised to subdue Andre’s anxiety once Tasha joined him.

So what if Julian and Camille’s baby was born first? It didn’t take away from the fact that Tasha was having
his
baby. The idea filled Andre’s heart with joy.

As par for the course with Julian, he and Camille would probably have a boy. Maybe Andre and Tasha’s baby would be a girl? The first granddaughter. She would definitely be Claudette’s favorite. And seeing the way Papa had softened upon Lecie’s arrival, Andre thought it a fair bet that Papa’s first granddaughter would easily have him wrapped around her little finger.

He heard the door open behind him and looked over his shoulder, expecting to see his beautiful wife. Instead, the sight of his brother deflated the joy swelling Andre’s heart.

“Oh, it’s you,” Andre said, making no attempt to cover his disappointment. He turned back to the rose garden, dimly-lit by solar lamps. While the display was not as spectacular as the spring showing, the late summer and early fall blooms were still lovely to behold. And a far better choice than Julian—who’d probably come to gloat some more.

“Why are you so blue, little brother?” Julian sat in the chair kitty-cornered from Andre. “You should be happy. You have, somehow, managed to convince the one woman who could actually help you pull this off, into marrying you. Well done.”

“I didn’t marry Tasha for the sole purpose of the will. I married her because I love her. In case Claudette and Papa didn’t tell you…”

“Oh, they told me.” Julian chuckled, and Andre shot him warning glare. “Don’t worry…” He shook his head. “I won’t bring up the will or its stipulations in front of Tasha. That would be ill-mannered.” Julian shrugged. “Besides…I don’t want her to leave any more than you do.”

He had a point. Tasha’s staying was imperative if Julian hoped to inherit his share of Uncle Edouard’s estate—fifty million dollars.

“There’s far more at stake than money.” Above all else, Andre didn’t want Tasha or his child to leave. He’d gladly forfeit the money if it guaranteed she’d stay. But the fact remained that he was married now, and he and his wife had a child on the way. Andre needed to do what it took to provide for his family. His children deserved every possible advantage he could arrange for them. And making sure he inherited what his mother’s uncle left him was a good start.

“Yes, but you and I both know that money is power.”

“Money isn’t power. You want to know what
is
power?” Andre peered at his brother. Once he had his undivided attention, he continued, “You and I, we can control de Laurent Enterprises, and pretty soon Mont Claire…but that’s just
control
. It’s not power. Not really.” Andre shook his head and clasped his hands together between his knees and stared at them while he tried to wrangle his emotions into submission. Finally he looked back at his brother, stoic-faced, and said, “Love is power.”

Andre was afraid that if Tasha found out about the will’s stipulations, she’d leave him. She’d go back to America, taking his child with her. He wouldn’t know from one day to the next how the child was, if it was all right, or, if it missed him.

“Good Lord!” Julian exclaimed. “If this is what getting married does to you…just wait until you have children.”

Andre laughed at Julian. “You really need to catch up, brother.”

Julian raised his eyebrows.

“Tasha is pregnant.” Andre nodded. “And she’s due right around the same time as Camille.”

Julian threw his hands into the air. “Can’t you give me anything?” There was a pleading quality in Julian’s voice now, and it surprised the hell out of Andre. Julian had never begged anybody for anything in his whole life. “Do you have to surpass me in everything now?”

“What?” Andre’s mouth fell open. “I’ve lived every day of my life in your shadow.”

“But it was a safe place, wasn’t it?” Julian asked. “Didn’t I always take care of you?”

“Yes. You did.” Andre paused, trying to figure out why Julian had this newfound outlook that Andre was the one who was always on top. “But I don’t get how I’ve surpassed you in anything.”

Julian hesitated. “Well, I was always taught that
I
would be the provider for this family. You would help me, of course, but ultimately it was up to me to see that everyone was taken care of.”

“And how has that changed?”

“I’m not in charge anymore, Andre.”

“What are you talking about?” Andre showed his palms and shrugged. “You are, and always will be, the majority shareholder in de Laurent Enterprises.”

Julian snorted and rolled his eyes. “de Laurent Enterprises is child’s play compared to Mont Claire.” Julian cleared his throat. “There was a reason Papa married our mother, besides her beauty. She came from a family of enormous wealth.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Andre had always known this—well, at least about the degree of wealth in his mother’s family. The yacht she’d left Julian, and the villa in St. Tropez Andre had inherited from her all spoke to it. That’s not to say that Papa didn’t have his own money when they married, the de Laurent family had been thriving for generations. But coupling the de Laurent money with Renault wealth had helped to shoot de Laurent Enterprises into the Forbes 500—where it remained to this day.

“All that is nothing new,” Andre said. “But what does it have to do with the here and now?”

“You’ve bested me.” Julian’s choice of words were more likely to be heard in some Paris nightclub than inside the halls of Pacifique de Lumière. Andre crinkled his brow, trying to figure out when he’d managed to outdo his brother at anything, and Julian added, “Mont Claire could swallow up a little fish like de Laurent Enterprises and it would never be heard from again.”

Andre didn’t know why Julian was feeling sorry for himself, but Andre wasn’t about to play that game. “That’s absolutely ridiculous.”

“No, it’s not ridiculous. And you know it too.” Julian cleared his throat and shook his head. “In a year’s time, you will have taken my place as head of this family—well, second to Papa.” Julian rubbed his chin, then spread his palm open as he added, “The first grandchild in the family was all I had left.” He shrugged. “And now, you very well might steal that from me too.”

“You are overreacting.” Andre propped his elbow on the arm of his chair and laid his forehead against the inside of his fingers.

“No, I’m not. In a matter of days, Papa’s whole world has turned to revolving around you. He keeps saying to me,
did you ask Andre what he thinks?
” Julian said in a wavering voice. For the first time in his life Julian was showing fear, and it made Andre feel guilty.

“Look, I never wanted to unseat you,” Andre said in earnest. “I would simply like to carve out my own place in this world.”

“Well, you’ve done a great job of that, little brother.” Julian’s voice had lightened up.

Andre snorted. “Yeah. I made the wise choice of being born second.”

Julian laughed out loud.

“Promise me one thing?” Andre asked.

“What’s that?”

“Promise me that we won’t pit our children against each other. That we’ll teach them to look out for one another. Just as you’ve always done for me.”

“And you have done for Lecie,” Julian added. “Our children will be fine, baby brother…as long as we don’t let Papa influence them too much.”

Andre and Julian’s hearty laughter echoed across the garden as the door behind them opened.

Tasha
. Finally. Not that Andre didn’t like his brother’s company, but his wife’s was far superior.

Both men stood as she sauntered across the terrace.

“Tasha…” Julian took her hand. “May I say again, welcome to the family.”

“Thank you, Julian.” Tasha nodded. “And congratulations. I’m sure you and Camille will be wonderful parents.”

Julian chuckled. It was nice to see him smile. Especially since he thought Andre was about to usurp his throne.

J
im and Nola Gordon arrived at Pacifique de Lumière late Friday morning of the following week. They rested in one of the many guest rooms at the house, and then took Tasha and Camille out to dinner in Marseilles.

“So…” Nola picked at her salad and glanced at Camille from time to time. “Tasha tells me you are expecting too.”

With a mouth full of minestrone soup, Camille only nodded and smiled.

“And due about the same time.” Nola’s gaze lingered on Camille for another second or two before drifting over to her daughter. “You girls are going to have such fun.”

“We’re excited,” Tasha said.

“It’s going to be great fun having babies at the same time.” Camille sucked in a breath. “I hope this morning sickness thing passes quickly, though. That’s not too much fun.” She rolled her eyes and chuckled.

“You too?” Jim asked Camille, then pointed his fork at Tasha. “She was pretty sick with it before she and Andre left the States.”

“I’ve not been feeling too bad lately.” Tasha shrugged. “France must agree with me.”

“Lucky you,” Camille said. “I had to get medication for it.” She looked at Tasha. “Did you get set up with a doctor’s appointment yet?”

Tasha nodded. “A week from Monday.”

“Gives you time for a honeymoon.” Camille giggled.

“I think she’s already had a honeymoon,” Nola stated.

Tasha felt her face burning, but she ignored her mother’s jab. She cleared her throat and hoped the embarrassment quickly faded.

“So where are you and Andre going for your honeymoon?” Camille asked.

Tasha knew Camille was trying to change the subject, and she thanked her for it. We’re going for a little R & R at the house in St. Tropez that he inherited from his mother.”

“Oh…” An excited light flashed over Camille’s eyes. “Julian has taken me there. It’s a gorgeous house. And the view is to die for.” She laughed, and added, “I’m jealous.”

“If it’s half as beautiful as the house that Lecie’s inheriting in California, I’ll be thrilled.”

A feeling of peace befell Tasha. She’d hadn’t had any morning sickness since arriving in France. And now that she and Andre were married and about to go on their honeymoon, after the French ceremony tomorrow, she’d begun to feel like everything was finally going her way.