Billionaire Games Boxed Set 1-3 (44 page)

“And I love all you guys, too,” Tasha said in an almost pleading tone.

“Is there no hope for you and Andre?” Claudette asked. “There is the baby to think about. No one should grow up without a father.”

“My baby has a father.” Tasha voice turned stern.

“I meant no offense.” Claudette cleared her throat. “I just want you to find a way to bridge this gap between you and Andre.”

“So do I.” Tasha nodded and shrugged.

“I know you feel betrayed. But quite frankly, your marriage is far stronger than mine was in the beginning.” Claudette’s declaration drew a measure of curiosity from Tasha. “Maurice was shopping for a wife. Oh, I know he loves me…now. But in the beginning he was looking for a mother for his boys.” Claudette looked off in an unfocused gaze. But soon, a smile tipped the corners of her mouth and she looked at Tasha. “I love that job, you know.” Her eyes teared up.

“Of course, you do.” Tasha sat down beside Claudette and wrapped her arms around her. “You’ve been a wonderful mother to both Julian and Andre. They’re very lucky.”

“So you’ll understand why I’m trying to keep you from breaking my son’s heart?”

Tasha plucked a Kleenex from the box on the nightstand and offered it to Claudette. She took it and dabbed her tears.

“Believe me,” Tasha said. “I don’t want to hurt Andre. I just wish I could get to that place where I believe he loves me as much as he wanted that money.”

Claudette let out a long, lonely sigh. “Well, you just leave it to Andre. He’s a resourceful man.” She got up and went to the door, turned and looked over her shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll find a way.”

“I hope so,” Tasha said as Claudette moved out into the hallway.

T
asha swiped at the tears and went back to packing. She knew the de Laurents meant well, but she wasn’t sure any of them—including Camille—understood that resolving this mess with Andre was going to take time. Realistically it might never happen. Either way, she had no control over what or how she felt.

A quiet rap on the door brought Tasha out of her personal reflections. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Camille standing in the doorway.

“You’ve been crying.” Camille entered the room and went straight to her side. “Is everything okay?”

“Well, I guess that’s a matter of opinion.” Tasha tried to laugh. Sucking in a breath did little to tamp down the overwrought feeling overwhelming her. She slumped down onto the clear spot on the bed where Claudette had recently vacated. “I just feel like everybody’s trying to push me into doing something my heart’s not ready to do.”

Camille sat down with her. “Tash, I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel that way.” She fingered Tasha’s blonde tresses out of her face. “I never meant to.” Camille shook her head. “I guess my motives were a bit selfish. I wanted you here so I didn’t feel so alone.”

“Alone? You?” Tasha blurted out. “With a man like Julian at your side?”

“You have a man like Andre at your side,” Camille reminded her. “It’s not stopping you.” Camille, Tasha was sure, hadn’t meant that to bite as much as it did.

“It’s different with me and Andre than it was for you and Julian.”

“Not really.” Camille wrinkled her nose and shrugged. “None of the de Laurent men have entered into marriage in the traditional way. Every one of them had to have a logical reason. Maurice, when he married Julian and Andre’s mother…he did that because he needed her money. And again when he married Claudette…he needed a mother for his children.” Her face held a solemn expression. “And Julian, well, you know his story. My point is that whatever induced the de Laurent men to marry, it doesn’t mean they love us any less.”

“Camille, I pray every day that I can get over it. Maybe someday I will.” She lowered her head.

“But right now you just need a little time to heal.” Camille patted Tasha’s hand.

“Avignon isn’t that far away.” Tasha looked up, seeing Camille’s smile. She needed her friend in her life. “You’ll come see me, won’t you?”

“I’m going to come see you so often that you’re going to get tired of me.”

“I doubt that.” Tasha laughed and then Camille laughed, too.

Laughing felt good. Tasha hadn’t done much of that lately. Maybe one day she’d feel the urge naturally, and not have to have it coaxed out of her. Until that day she was going to need the support of her best friend—who was also Andre’s family.

C
laudette was on a mission, she was going to find Andre. Finally, an idea had come to her. One she thought just might work. As far as she could see, there was only one way to convince Tasha that Andre loved her more than he wanted the Renault fortune.

She caught up with him in the hidden alcove in the east garden. He was sitting with his arms stretched out along the back of the bench in front of his unborn child’s memorial statue.

Quietly, Claudette claimed the empty spot on the bench beside him. “Tough times. How are you holding up?”

Andre hesitated a moment and then turned to Claudette. “My misery is of my own making.” He looked at her for a brief time and then guided his attention back to the memorial stone.

“We’ll that’s not entirely true.” As soon as she said it, she regretted it. The family was in enough turmoil without adding a fight between Andre and Maurice into the mix. “It’s nobody’s fault, really. You had a lot of responsibilities piled on you when faced with your grand uncle’s will. It would’ve been hard to please everyone.”

“Yes—” He looked at Claudette again. “But the one person I should’ve been concerned with pleasing, I didn’t.”

“That’s hardly fair, Andre,” she said in an unwavering voice, then waited a bit before adding in a more casual tone, “You know what I think?”

He chuckled. “What’s that?”

“I think you need to forget about what you should’ve done, and concentrate on what you should be doing now.”

“There aren’t many options…that I can find, anyway.”

“Oh, sure there is. You just need to put your mind to it.”

“Any suggestions?”

“Well, for starters you need to take this memorial…” She pointed to the stone. “And move it into the gardens at Belle Vallee. It needs to be close to Tasha so she’ll have somewhere to
talk
to her one child who’ll never be born.”

Andre’s face brightened. “That’s a great idea.” After a moment, his smile quickly faded. “I don’t think it’s going to get me far with Tasha, though. I’ll do it. But I think I need something more drastic than that to prove myself to her.”

“What exactly do you need to
prove
to her?” Claudette posed the leading question. This was a decision Andre would have to conclude all on his own—or at least he needed to
think
it was all his idea.

“That I love her more than I care about that money,” he said in a lackluster voice.

“And how are you going to make her see that?” Claudette looked at Andre. His eyes were vacant. He’d need a bigger push than she’d given Julian when he was about to lose Camille. “Put your mind to it, Andre. How
will
you convince her that you love
her
more than the money?” She paused to let the idea take root in his mind. “There is a way. Think about it.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

TASHA WAS AMAZED AT HOW QUICKLY the two weeks had flown by since she’d moved into Belle Vallee. In that brief time, she’d completely settled in and couldn’t imagine herself ever having lived anywhere else.

Andre had moved the memorial stone for the baby they would never have to the south garden just off the back of the house. She appreciated that. It made it easy for her to feel like she was spending time with her unborn baby’s spirit. It calmed her.

Andre was now the head of a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate, and moving to Avignon—the locale of Mont Claire’s headquarters—made sense, plus it’d allow him to be close to the new baby once it came.

They were both in agreement that he move his things into the east wing at Belle Vallee. The house was big enough that they wouldn’t have to run into each other unless they wanted to. Yet, they were both under the same roof and once the baby came, it’d be easy for him to see the child whenever he wanted.

This was a fine arrangement, at least until Andre moved on and then, sooner or later, fell in love with someone else. Tasha would never move on. She’d already loved with her whole heart. No one would ever be able to block out the shadow of Andre de Laurent. And she had no idea if Andre would ever be able to block out the shadow of the way he’d come to inherit Mont Claire and all his uncle’s holdings. She’d resigned herself to devoting her life to raising their child.

Of course, there was always the stigma of the first miscarriage looming over her. Losing this baby was Tasha’s greatest fear. To help, Andre had a doctor come around once a week to check the baby’s heartbeat.

Dr. Chapel had been around yesterday. Tasha was in her fourth month now, and the doctor had assured her the baby was doing fine. The sound of the baby’s heartbeat—loud and strong—confirmed it.

Today, Harvey Martel was scheduled to drop by with the divorce papers. All Tasha had to do was sign them.

The chime of an old-world doorbell brought Tasha back to reality. Jordan, Belle Vallee’s butler would answer it, and announce her guest in the main library off the entrance.

The staff was something she’d have to get used to. It wasn’t a totally foreign concept, she’d spent a year at Pacifique de Lumière, but having them at her disposal was, well, weird. Although she couldn’t imagine trying to clean this five-story castle by herself. She was a bit relieved when Andre explained that it was his responsibility to provide employment for all these people, so they could support themselves. After that, she got that it was also her duty to employ a personal maid. But Tasha had gotten so used to Rose at Pacifique de Lumière that she’d decided to bring her along as her personal maid.

The double doors to the library opened. Jordon entered with Harvey following close behind. “Madam…” Jordan addressed Tasha. “Mr. Martel.”

“Jordan…” She sucked in a deep breath, hoping to hide her exasperation of this so-called compromise. She was more than willing to let these people keep their jobs, but they had to stop being so formal. It was hard to relax with all this formal etiquette that kept happening around her. “Seriously. You don’t need to keep announcing people that I’m expecting. Just tell them to come on in.”

“Very well, madam.” Jordan bowed and backed out of the room.

“Might as well go with it.” Harvey shrugged and closed the door. “It’s what he’s used to.”

“Yes, and it’s the very opposite of what I’m used to.” She looked at the manila envelope in his hand. “Is that them?”

“The papers…” Harvey nodded.

Tasha sucked in a breath and caressed her tummy. She’d known it was coming, but that didn’t stop her heart from pounding its disapproval.
Just breathe
. She looked at Harvey and forced a smile. “Has Andre signed?”

“Not yet.”

“So I’m first.” She pulled in a breath, then slowly released it.

“If you’d like. Or you can wait for Andre.” He laid the packet on the coffee table. “I’ll leave them here. You both can go over them. Once they’re signed, have Andre courier them over to me.” Harvey stood. “It’ll all be legal.”

Just like that?
Tasha was beginning to feel like she was attending a reading of a will. That’s what it felt like. Someone had died. Something
had
died. Her marriage. She just hadn’t got that until this moment. Up until now, it’d been hard to consider the death of her marriage when she was carrying Andre’s child. “Okay…” Tasha scraped her hand through her hair. “I appreciate that you delivered the documents in person.”

Harvey headed to the door and opened it. He paused long enough to say, “Well, that’s what Andre pays me for.” He chuckled and disappeared into the entryway.

Tasha looked at the manila envelope lying on the table. Having the papers practically staring her in the face filled her with dread. She’d known it was coming, but now that that day had arrived she wondered if she was doing the right thing. Was she truly ready to make a legal break from Andre?

She reached for the envelope, but yanked her hand back before she actually touched it. If she opened the envelope then she’d be faced with the task of signing the papers, effectively ending her marriage.

She let out a sigh, pumped her fist and reached for the envelope once more. Picking it up by the slightest tip of one corner, she slid it off the table toward her. Holding it up in the air, she inspected the exterior. There was nothing on the outside except Andre’s handwritten name.

Tasha sucked in a breath and for the first time seriously considered opening it.
Well, you did ask for this
, she reminded herself. “Since when have I ever gotten anything I’ve asked for?” she muttered.

Well, it’s now or never
. From somewhere deep inside, Tasha found the courage, or maybe it was stupidity, to open the envelope. She ripped the top off and peered inside. Nothing but papers. Gently, she pulled the document out and started reading.

It was mostly mumbo-jumbo about the
party of the first part
and
the party of the second part
and other nonsense like that. It wasn’t until she’d perused through about half of the document that the clouds began to clear. She wanted to read it carefully to make sure the agreement she and Andre had come to hadn’t been changed. She doubted Andre would change it, but she wouldn’t put it past Maurice. He wasn’t exactly happy that Tasha wanted to divorce his son.

There was no decree of divorce, no bequeathment of one hundred million dollars to Tasha. There was no declaration that their unborn child would be Andre’s heir apparent to Mont Claire Enterprises. But…if Tasha was reading this thing right, Andre had given up any claim to Mont Claire Enterprises. Instead of divorce papers, this looked like a document to relinquish the company and all its holdings to Tasha.

That couldn’t be right. Tasha tossed the papers onto the coffee table and grabbed her cell phone. Now she regretted not opening the envelope while Harvey was still at the house. She punched his number into the phone and waited.