"Only two? Son, I'm envisioning a lot of good things."
"One is that I get Intrinsic." Luc gripped the pen and signed his name in an illegible scrawl to his copy of the contract.
"Yep, you sure do. I'm mighty proud of you for findin' this gem of a company. You're gonna make lots and lots of money."
Luc took a deep breath and penned his name on his grandfather's copy. "And the other is… when my mother and sisters hear of this contract, they will make your life hell. For the rest of your numbered days, my mother and my three sisters will—"
"Think again, son." His grandfather tapped his forefinger on the only paragraph in the middle of the second page. "That there is a privacy statement. If any party not directly mentioned in this contract hears of it before the execution of the legal marriage between the borrower and a suitable female, then… you don't get the loan."
"Son of a…
dammit
."
His grandfather grinned. "Which reminds me." He opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small blue velvet bag, then tossed it to Luc. "Inside there is your great-grandmother's ring. None of your sisters wanted it and your mother already had one, so maybe your bride will like it. Don't let the door hit you on the way out."
Luc ignored his grandfather's blatant dismissal and extracted a simple, white-gold diamond engagement ring from the velvet bag. He had less than two weeks to find a suitable female, finish the hellish job at Andersen Corporation, get married, and… get down to Texas to buy Intrinsic Inc..
Two weeks.
Damn.
Luc dropped the ring into the bag and pocketed it. He snatched up his copy of the contract, folded it up, and then stuffed it inside his suit jacket.
Where the hell am I going to find a wife?
Luc turned and strode from the office. He didn't have a girlfriend. He spent more time in the office tending to his ambition than he did on the dating scene. He stopped in front of the elevator and banged his fist into the down button. Hell, he hadn't been out on a date in… a
painfully
long time. Something that he was reminded of every workday when Elise would—
Elise.
Luc froze. Elise was the perfect solution to his problem. Hell, just the thought of her had his body tensing in anticipation. She could easily fulfill
his
requirements as a suitable female. She had all the qualifications. Elise was smart, sweet, sexy as hell, and… so pure that one part of him begged to corrupt her while the other part screamed to protect her. Until now, he'd allowed his protective instincts to dictate his actions.
But that could change. And more easily than he'd like to admit.
The elevator opened and Luc stepped inside, then pressed the button for the lobby
The longer he thought about it, the more he realized that what had stopped him from pursuing her on a more personal level had to do with his mantra of
not
mixing business with pleasure. Well, there was that and a healthy dose of bachelor-survival instincts kicking in to warn him that an affair with Elise would end in marriage.
But not just any marriage
, Luc thought to himself as the elevator doors slid open and he started for the lobby doors. Elise was one of
those
women. The type who'd never say
I do
to any man unless he first offered her his mind, heart, soul,
then
body up on a silver platter. Which meant that Luc was doomed to spend the rest of his time at Andersen Corporation vacillating between Heaven and Hell and continuing to deny his attraction to Elise while enduring more than his fair share of sleepless nights, erotic dreams, cold showers, and empty releases.
Luc muttered a curse aimed directly at himself and shoved the front doors opened, then walked outside. The weather outside matched his mood as storm clouds rumbled overhead and the wind whipped through the trees.
Because as much as he'd like to ignore the truth and spend the rest of his afternoon entertaining visions of Elise splayed across his bed for his enjoyment, he couldn't.
Dammit.
Because he knew that the only way he'd ever be able to convince Elise to marry him for anything less that her idea of perfect harmony and bliss… would take more than Luc had to offer.
The sad truth was it'd require a miracle. Complete with a whopping dose of divine intervention. And considering that there'd been no divine interference available to save him from his grandfather's nefarious plans, then he seriously doubted he had enough brownie points upstairs to purchase a boon and get his idea of a happily ever after with Elise.
The first fat drop of rain splattered on the sidewalk and lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a loud crack of thunder. He'd better walk faster if he intended to beat the storm that was brewing. But then again, maybe a cold shower would do him good. At this point, it couldn't hurt.
With the way his luck was running today, he wouldn't be surprised if Mother Nature wanted a piece of him, too.
Elise Hamilton cringed as thunder boomed outside Andersen Corporation. The phone line hissed and popped. "Um, Raven, could you repeat that?"
"Thirty thousand dollars."
Her eyes bulged and the pen slipped from her grip, then bounced from the desk to the floor. "Oh my goodness," she breathed in horror. Elise swallowed hard and reached for a spare pen cap to gnaw on, and forced herself to ask her brother, "Where in the world are we going to get thirty thousand dollars?"
"I don't know, Elise." Her half-brother cursed under his breath. "I called Dad and… well, you know how Apollo is about money."
"Yeah, I know." Elise's shoulders fell. Apollo, Raven's father, was as confused with money matters as their mother, Moonbeam. "I'll call my dad. He'll help." I hope, she added silently.
"Elise," Raven said in his wiser older brother tone. "If it were you who needed the money, I'd say ask. But Wyndemere won't stroke a check for more than a couple of hundred without asking why. And if your father finds out that his money is being used to save Moonbeam, then he will re-enact page three hundred and twenty-six of
The Seven Blades of Death
."
"I don't even want to know what happened on that page," she muttered. Skimming the blurbs on the back of her father's books was enough to make Elise sleep with all the lights on for a month. She'd rather curl up with her worn copy of
Pride and Prejudice
or watch
The Princess Diaries
for the six-hundredth time than experience the bone chilling fear her father's graphic novels detailed.
Raven sighed. "I just left Mom and she's—as usual—in another world. Moonbeam swears that The Guiding Light of Gaia will bail her out of this one."
"The church said they'd help her," Elise asked, surprised.
"Not in a way that'll help. Moonbeam and the head priestess are discussing the proper herbs and chants to use for their super-duper, whammy of a money spell. Her words, not mine."
Elise fell back in her chair and groaned. "Thirty thousand dollars. I don't have thirty thousand dollars. My car isn't even worth a fourth of that." She closed her eyes, racking her brain for possible sources of fast cash, and came up with a meager solution. "I'll sell my car and get a second job."
"Elise, if you sell your car how do you plan on getting to your first job, let alone your second one?"
"Raven, it's either sell my car or my body."
"Sell the car," her older brother said quickly. "I'll find you a moped."
Elise managed to chuckle. "Thanks. Nice to know I won't have to thumb for a ride every day. What are you planning on selling? Your body?"
"No." He hesitated. "I… my babies."
Elise bolted upright in her chair. "Your babies? Are you out of your mind? Insane? You can't sell your babies! How will you work? I'd rather sell my body than let you sell your cameras," she snapped.
He growled loud enough for her to hear it from his studio across town. "Elise, if we're gonna keep Moonbeam out of trouble, then we'll have to come up with a helluvalot more than thirty thousand. That—my sweet, little sister—is just the beginning." Sarcasm dripped from his voice along with a heavy dose of anger, which Elise suspected Raven directed at himself. He probably blamed himself for letting their free spirited mother get into a predicament as serious as this.
"Explain," she ordered. "How bad is Mom's situation?"
"Bad. According to the paper the tax cops served her, Moonbeam is facing charges of tax evasion and possibly tax fraud. I took the books over to an attorney and, Elise, the way she set up the accounts for the Guiding Light of Gaia makes it look like she's been using it as a money laundering operation. On top of that, Moonbeam flat out refused to pay her taxes in the 80s, which puts her in the hole about a hundred thousand, plus penalties, and—"
"A hundred thousand?"
"Don't shout, Elise. My head is killing me."
"Oh, sorry," she murmured. "Continue."
"Thank you. Moonbeam didn't pay her personal income taxes during the Reagan Administration. She said she was making a statement about something Reagan said in one of his movies. I didn't understand it then and I don't understand it now. And—don't," he ordered when Elise drew in a sharp breath, "shout—a hundred grand is an estimation of what we'd need to cover her personal taxes. The thirty thousand is to retain the lawyer or Moonbeam is headed to court, then straight to jail."
"Ohmiword," she breathed. "Mom's going to the slammer."
"No. She is not. I'm selling my babies. All of them. Including my… bike," Raven finished in a pained tone.
Elise was stunned and it took her a moment to speak around the emotion building in her throat. "Raven, you can't sell your Harley. She's your baby. You built her yourself. You spent years finding all of the parts and…." Raven's Harley was his pride and joy. His first love. He never went anywhere without Aphrodite—the name he'd given his bike when she'd been a tarnished skeleton of a motorcycle.
"I don't have a choice, Elise. Mom doesn't have the cash. She can't sell the house without losing money. You don't have the money." He swore violently. "Hell, Moonbeam is depending on moon magic to save her. I'd rather sell my cameras and my… bike than let her lose everything."
Elise felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She knew Raven didn't put a lot of credence in their mother's beliefs, but she also knew when push came to shove he would give his life to spare Moonbeam a moment of pain. If only she knew how she could help, then maybe she wouldn't feel so guilty and… helpless. Elise swallowed back her emotions and managed to ask, "But how will you work? You can't be a photographer without cameras."
"Ken—the guy I did the last shoot for—said he'd buy them from me. He'll let me borrow the cameras, as long as I do the Sandy Springs layout and a couple others."
"Oh, Raven. I wish there was more I could do. Selling your cameras is one thing, but Aphrodite…? Once you sell her, you won't ever get her back."
"I know. Believe me, I know. But, Elise, if you've got a better idea, I'm listening."
Elise closed her eyes and braced herself as she asked, "When do we have to have the thirty thousand by?"
"We've got two weeks. And Elise?"
"Yes?"
"Don't even think about selling your body."
"Ha, ha. Very funny. Like anyone would pay thirty grand for an overworked, undernourished administrative assistant like me," she muttered.
"They'd pay, but not for your typing skills. I say we both skip town. We'll run away when they come for Moonbeam. Can't feel guilty over something you don't see." She heard the smile in his voice as he added, "I heard of a good convent who's recruiting down in South America. You meet all of their requirements."
Elise knew exactly what Raven was doing and she almost smiled. Raven took his brotherly responsibilities too seriously sometimes. Trying to lighten her mood and keep her chastity belt in place were but two of the many ways that he'd assumed in his role of over protective brother. But considering everything that Raven was handling, the least she could do was play along and ease his mind so he wouldn't worry about her. "All but one, Brother Raven."
"Oh yeah? Which one," he demanded. "I haven't seen you out with anyone since the dork from—"