WEAK Part Three: A Thornhill Road Romance (9 page)

The job of fucking me senseless….

epilogue

Three days a week in Manhattan, the rest in
Ohio.

Long distance relationships can be hard.

Then again, when you do get to spend time
together, it makes it all the sweeter and in Vincent Medici's case,
all the hotter.

Monday through Wednesday trying to get work
done despite the smoldering atmosphere that Vincent managed to
conjure up between us whenever we were around. Thursday through
Sunday getting some actual work done and making sure that mom and
dad were getting the best care available through the various
services I had put in place to support them.

Vincent still wanted me to live and work full
time in New York but I had a duty to stay with my parents so the
mid-week split was my best compromise. My mom and dad had spent
their whole adult lives in Shillington and to ask them to uproot
and move to New York just to make life easier for me would have
been completely unfair. My mother was unlikely to get much better
and my father was no longer capable of looking after her anymore,
either physically or intellectually. It was clear that he was no
longer in a position to make important decision of any kind and
Will had taken advantage of that. At least now I would have the
money to look after them. With what Medici Investments had put into
my new company and the success of the Life Defender and the related
line of 'defensive wearables' as Vincent called them, money was no
longer a concern.

He was making a rare visit to his old
hometown this weekend in view of the news we had to share with mom
and dad. It looked like their only daughter was finally going to
make an honest man out of someone and take him up the aisle.
Vincent had popped the question earlier in the week at one of
Manhattan's finest rooftop eateries with a stunning view of the
skyline spread out behind us.

Of course I said yes.

Not only was he my childhood sweetheart but
he was also the hottest man I had ever laid eyes on and the first I
one I had truly fallen in love with. I had wanted to call mom and
dad right away but in totally uncharacteristic fashion, Vincent had
insisted on asking dad for my hand in marriage. This formal and
gentlemanly side to his nature was a far cry from his usual norm of
ripping off my underwear to make love to me in semi-public places
or talking me into giving him private strip shows that left me
aching to take drag him physically to my bed…

I looked at his gorgeous profile sitting next
to me in my new car. He was over-dressed as always, looking good
enough to eat, but with an edginess to his demeanor that was unlike
him.

"Are you nervous?" I asked him.

"Not at all. I think you've become an
excellent driver in the last few weeks."

"Not that wise-ass, I mean about my Dad and
asking him for, you know…my hand." It sounded so weird, so
old-fashioned, so not 'us'.

"I suppose I am a little. What if he says
no?"

"I don’t know. What
if
he actually
says no?"

He thought about it for a moment and then
slid his hand in between my legs making me jump at first but then
squeeze my thighs tight around his fingers.

"I guess we would just have to call it all
off in that case, right?" He pressed his fingers into me, making me
squeeze the accelerator hard.

"That's enough Vincent. I want to be able to
speak to my parents with my panties still on and my brain
uncluttered by a bucket load of sex-hormones."

He probably would have ignored me except that
we were already pulling into my parents place. We parked next to
the vehicle of one of the full-time carers I had hired to look
after them when I wasn't around.

Vincent got out of the car and walked around
to open the door for me.

"Don’t you think that's overdoing it a bit?"
I smiled.

"Not for you baby. This is a big night, I
need to be on my best behavior."

"If this depends on your good behavior then
we're screwed already."

I got out of the car and took his hand.

"Vincent, actually honey, would you mind
waiting out here for a couple of minutes? You know with my mom not
well and my dad the way he is…"

"No problem baby. Maybe this was a bad idea.
Maybe we should arrange to meet them somewhere else."

I leaned in and kissed him.

"You're not backing out of this now." I told
him. "Get in the car and wait." I patted his ass and watched him
return to the passenger seat. We had been together for six months
already but still I wanted to jump his bones every time I laid eyes
on him.

I straightened myself up and headed
inside.

Chad, the overnight carer, met me in the
hallway.

"Victoria, I'm glad you're here, I was just
about to call you."

"Is everything okay?"

"Your father is very upset about something
but he won't tell me what it is. He got a call from someone about a
half hour ago and he's very anxious about it."

"Where is he?"

Chad led me into the living room. My father
was sitting on the couch. He looked more frail every time I saw
him. His wife's illness and his own deteriorating ability to
remember fact and detail was taking a huge toll on him.

"Daddy, what is it what's wrong?"

"Where have you been honey? You normally
don't get in so late, I was worried about you."

I sat down and put my arm around him.

"Is that what this is about daddy?"

He looked at me with confusion in his eyes.
He had always been so strong when I was a little girl and his
sudden decline was something I was still struggling to accept.

"I'll try to make it home earlier in future
daddy, but tonight is special, I've got someone here to meet
you."

"Someone to meet me?" He looked scared.

"It's okay, it’s just Vincent, my boyfriend."
He looked relieved. "Actually, about him being my boyfriend--"

"I'm so sorry baby." He interrupted me.

"That's okay, Vincent and I are--"

"I should have told you before."

I stopped and looked into his eyes. They
looked so tired, so sorry. Something was wrong.

"What is this about daddy?"

"It's about your sister. I should have told
you. Mom and I should have told you."

I put my hand on his and shook my head. It
was painful to think that he was so confused he could imagine I had
another sibling. I had been an only child my entire life.

"You have a twin sister Vicky. We had to give
her up when you were both just a year old and we decided to cut off
all contact… to make things easier. When she didn’t contact us
after her eighteenth birthday we thought we might never hear from
her again…but now she's made contact with us."

I started to breathe heavily. I didn’t need
this right now.

"She never knew she had a twin sister.
Neither did you. Not until now. I'm so sorry honey."

I didn't need this at all.

THE END (for now)

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Sample Chapters:
Scandalous

Scandalous Billionaires
Volume One

Chapter One

"This looks like an intervention." Jason Demovic said
drily. He wasn't smiling and neither was anybody else. His mother
had asked him to come by the family home for a private talk but
instead he found himself confronted by Rodney Smyth, the Demovic
corporation CFO, Ernst Pitchford, the family lawyer and his two
brothers, Zach and Harrison.

Jason wasn't the type of person to back down;
something all these people knew very well.

The atmosphere was tense.

In looks he was very alike his two brothers.
All three were Mediterranean in skin tone, hair and eye color, but
tall, angular and Scandinavian in their build. All three were
strikingly, impossibly good looking by any standards and a picture
of the three brothers together at a function or a night spot was
pure gold to the local celebrity media.

At just twenty-nine years of age Jason was
the eldest of the three.

"As nobody here seems to want to speak, let
me
begin." He said. "What exactly is this all about?"

An uncomfortable silence reigned for five
long seconds.

"Jason," his mother said in a frail voice,
"we all appreciate that what you are doing is good. Good for the
world, good for the individual charities involved and in many ways
good for the Demovic Corporation as well."

"I agree. So why are we here?"

CFO Rodney Smyth interjected.

"You've given away nearly 10% of Demovic in
the last six months alone Jason. This can't go on."

"The current net worth of the Demovic family
remains at over 75 billion dollars." He replied with a cold economy
of expression. "There's plenty more we can give away before anyone
has to cut back on the champagne."

Zach, the middle brother of the Demovic
family and its technical genius, weighed in.

"I think we're all aware of the numbers here
Jason, so that's not the issue and neither is the champagne, but if
you continue to donate like this then there won't be anything left
to give. If we want to maintain the philanthropic tradition of our
family then it needs to be done at a sustainable rate."

"I understand that Zach, and you don't need
to worry. I know exactly what I'm doing." His face betrayed no
emotion but his steely gaze spoke volumes. It was a gaze that
inspired loyalty in some, fear in others, but obedience in
everyone.

Nearly everyone.

Today he was speaking to his inner circle;
his fierce independence of spirit and natural leadership was
matched by almost everyone he could see. It was the reason his
mother had invited them; not only was he looking at the entire
board of directors of the Demovic corporation, but if anyone in his
world was able to stand up to him, then they were sitting right in
front of him.

Harrison, the youngest of the three brothers,
spoke up. If the impulsiveness of youth had long ago left the two
older brothers, Harrison still held an edge of fieriness that his
mother and older brothers hoped would soon soften with age.

"We all get it Jason, we all miss dad--"

"You? Miss dad?" Jason said accusingly.
Harrison hesitated, looking briefly away from his older brother
before continuing.

"We all respect the tradition of giving, but
this is just crazy. Give it all away and then what happens? We're
just as poor as the people we're trying to help. That's no good to
anybody."

"Every donation is tax deductible. Charity is
good for business." Jason said, refusing to give an inch.

"Don't patronize us Jay." Zach said. "We all
know that, but 10% of Demovic in just six months? It's financial
suicide. Speculation in the media that something is wrong at the
heart of Demovic Inc is rife and sooner or later it's going to
affect business."

Jason held up his hands and the group went
silent, waiting for him to speak as he looked each of them in the
eye, slowly, one by one.

"I'm acting CEO of Demovic Corporation." He
said. "Now unless there's something else to discuss, I have
somewhere I need to be."

He stood up to go.

"Sit down Jay." Zach said. The tension in the
air was near unbearable. The Demovic family was not accustomed to
internal strife in business matters since the passing of Mr.
Demovic senior. Normally they spoke as one voice, guided by Jason's
acknowledged razor sharp business sense.

That guidance had been accepted without
resentment or question until his seemingly endless spree of
philanthropy threatened to bankrupt the corporation.

Jason gave Zach a long, cold look before he
sat down. Like all of them, he was used to giving orders, not
taking them.

"This better be good." he with quiet
intensity.

Their mother spoke quickly, hoping to defuse
the situation.

"It is good Jason. Good for everyone. We have
come together today simply to discuss how much money Demovic Inc.
should give away in philanthropic contributions in any given
financial quarter, that's all."

"I've already decided how much that should
be." Jason said.

"Jason Demovic does not equal Demovic Inc,"
Harrison said with evident irritation, "no matter what you
think."

Jason looked at him, his expression giving
nothing away.

"Of course I don't think that, but this
specific decision is mine and mine alone, just as our father said
it should be and as the board, including everyone here agreed upon.
Now if you'll excuse me--"

"If you won't discuss this with us then we
will have no choice but to ask you to stand down as CEO." Zach
said. Jason was motionless for a moment. The two brothers had
fought many times as children but never as grown men. They had
always been equally matched and neither feared the other.

The room held its breath as Jason looked to
Ernst Pitchford, the family lawyer. He didn't need to say a word to
the tough old legal shark.

"It can be done." Ernst assured him.

Jason looked around the room again. If Ernst
said it was true then it was true. No one in the world knew the
Demovic family legal affairs like Ernst Pitchford. He had been
defending the family's interests since the brothers were in
diapers.

Jason took a long deep breath and then looked
at Zach.

"Give me a proposal and I'll think it over.
Now
if you all will please excuse me--"