“At the expense of my mother.”
Charles’s eyes rolled. “Cricket will be fine. She’ll have to find some other expensive house to live in. My father was born in that house. She’s not a Darois, and you’re not the king of this family. You were handed the crown and never made to work for it.”
“Never worked for it? Are you kidding me? I’ve had to put up with dealing with this ungrateful lot for years. You think they’re going to respect you if you’re sitting in this office? I have news for you—they will not. You’ll simply take my place as the bad guy who doesn’t give them the yacht they want, the job they deserve, the money that’s due to them.”
“They’ll respect me and I’ll finally have my rightful place,” Charles snarled back. “I’ll finally get what should have been mine all along. I won’t let you deny me my birthright a day longer.”
Rene was confused. “Birthright? I know we treat this like a kingdom, but you don’t have a right to this job.”
“I have every bit as much right as you do, you hypocrite.” Charles’s jaw was tight with anger. “And I’m not the only one who believes it. You think this family is hard to deal with? Then hit the road and get out of it. I’ll handle everything from here. Don’t play with me, Rene, or you’ll find yourself left with nothing.”
Charles turned and walked out and Rene was left reeling. What the hell was going on? He’d always known Charles hated him. He’d thought it was about their fathers’ rivalry, but it clearly went so much deeper. It went so deep, Charles was willing to utterly destroy a woman who’d done him no harm.
He was willing to take everything Rene loved.
This was war and he needed to figure out how to win. If Charles was willing to rip his world apart, it might be time to return the favor. Anger burned through him, and he could feel his fists clench. The impulse to run after Charles and get rid of the problem permanently was almost overwhelming. He could see his fist smashing through his cousin’s face.
“Mr. Darois?” Jane was suddenly standing in his doorway.
“Where the hell have you been?” He’d been interrupted twice, and there had been no gatekeeper. That was half of her damn job. Why couldn’t anyone do their job?
Jane went a hard shade of pink. “I was having lunch. I was in the break room. I’m sorry. Uhm, I just got a call. Apparently they tried your cell phone. It’s the clinic.”
Fear suddenly took over anger. “What happened?”
“It’s your mother. There’s been an accident.”
Now he didn’t control his impulse. He took off running.
It looked like Charles might not be the one who took everything from him.
chapter eleven
Sylvie raced into the Papillon Parish Clinic, the door sliding open with a swoosh. Her heart was racing and she still couldn’t get Rene on the line.
“Cricket is fine.” Mabel Jenkins moved from around the reception desk, dressed in a pair of pink scrubs. She’d been the old doctor’s nurse and stayed on when Lila LaVigne had taken over the town’s health care. “She was shaken up, and Lila wants to take a look at her wrist to make sure it’s only sprained. There was a minor car accident.”
Sylvie gasped.
“She wasn’t speeding,” a familiar voice said. “We were at that light on Turner Street. You know the one that changes way too fast, and everyone is certain it’s Armie’s way of ensuring there’s always expensive coffee at the station house. Because he writes so many tickets from that one light.”
Hallie stood in the lobby, her baby in her arms.
“Cricket hit you?” Oh, god. This was worse than she’d thought.
“She tapped my bumper,” Hallie corrected. “I was driving Johnny’s truck because my car is having maintenance done and he’s on the rig for the month. I swear that truck is a tank. I can’t tell where she hit it. If I hadn’t felt it, I wouldn’t have known anything had happened at all. Gracie didn’t even wake up until we decided to bring Mrs. Darois to the clinic.”
Sylvie crossed the space between her and her friend. “Gracie’s okay? You’re okay?”
Hallie held her free arm open, welcoming Sylvie into her circle. “We’re fine. Like I said, it wasn’t a big deal. Cricket got out of the car and slipped on the grass. She fell pretty hard and her wrist was hurting. I thought we should bring her in. Louis drove her car here but I wanted to make sure she was okay.” Hallie’s hand patted her back. “Doesn’t it feel soothing to have a baby hug you? You could have your own and she would soothe you all the time.”
That got Sylvie to smile as she pulled back. It seemed like everything was fine and her worry was overblown. Especially if Hallie was still trying to tempt her into motherhood. “I’m glad you’re okay, and thank you for taking care of Cricket. But girl, if you want to trick me into mommyhood, you should change that child’s pants first.”
Hallie’s pretty face wrinkled up into an expression of consternation. “Have I gone that nose blind?”
“She stinks to high heaven,” Mabel agreed. “There’s a changing station in the bathroom.”
“My life is so weird now.” Hallie sighed and grabbed her diaper bag. “Also, Sylvie, that dress is heavenly but you still have a tag hanging out and damn . . . I should have married Rene.”
She’d totally forgotten she was wearing one of the dresses she’d been trying on, an emerald green Versace sheath that fit her every curve. Yep, she was wearing a two-thousand-dollar dress and the ten-dollar flip-flops she’d shoved on her feet as she’d run out the door yelling at the housekeeper to please watch Lady.
“Can I see her?” Sylvie asked Mabel, her heart rate starting to tick down. At least she didn’t have to tell Rene his mother was being transported to a hospital. If she could get Cricket back to the house before Rene found out, she might be able to manage his anxiety.
Car accidents were a big trigger for Rene. He was walking a tightrope and would be until all of this was over. He didn’t need this worry to shake him.
“Of course,” Mabel said. “I tried to call Rene since he’s the emergency contact in her file. I hope it was okay to call you.”
“Absolutely. I tried him, too. Please keep my cell phone number on her chart because I’m usually close.” This time she’d had to come from Darois House, but she was usually at city hall, which was one block away. She followed Mabel down the hallway and toward one of the neat examination rooms. “Are you sure she’s all right?”