“What are you doing? We should go talk to your aunt,” she whispered. “Charles has been kissing her butt all night long.”
“We’re dancing,” he whispered back. “And my aunt doesn’t matter.”
“I know Charles said he could hurt me, but I promise you he can’t. Whatever he said was a lie,” Sylvie replied.
“Would you stay with me if I didn’t have a job and I didn’t have the Darois money and I didn’t have the house?” He knew the answer because he knew this woman. He’d always trusted her, but he was starting to trust the idea of “them.”
Sylvie laid her head on his shoulder. “I would stay with you if you had nothing at all. I will never leave you.”
“Then let me do what I need to do.”
She went on her toes and pressed her lips to his. “All right.”
He stayed as they were, swaying to the music and holding the whole world in his arms. Maybe this would have gone differently if he hadn’t seen that picture of himself, that little boy whose true joy had been off camera but never forgotten. Maybe he could have held on to his sense of self-sacrifice if he hadn’t seen Gabriel and realized he wasn’t the only one in this cycle.
But he had, and now he realized he owed his wife more than what he’d been willing to give her before.
When the song was over, he kissed her one more time and took her hand. He turned to face the crowd that was watching. Aunt Roberta was sitting in the place of honor, holding court like the queen she thought she was. Charles was sitting right next to her, but he stood as Rene turned their way.
Rene held a hand up to forestall whatever Charles was going to say. “Don’t bother, cousin. I intend to honor our deal. Aunt Roberta, I married Sylvie Martine under false pretenses, and our marriage was meant to trick you.”
Roberta gazed at them over her glasses. “You seem very comfortable for a man with a fake marriage.”
“Oh, I fully intend to stay married to this woman for the rest of my life, but I did tell her I needed a wife to trick you.” Rene felt Sylvie’s hand in his and it gave him strength. “Also, maybe to trick her a little. I think she would have put me off for at least another month.”
Sylvie snorted, an oddly delicate sound. “I was going to put you off forever. You made me feel sorry for you.”
He glanced down and her lips were curved up in a secretive smile. “I intend to use your soft heart to keep you chained to me.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” She didn’t bother to whisper the question. “We can fight.”
“Serving this family shouldn’t be a fight.” It was what he’d decided in that moment when he’d seen her standing there.
Roberta stood, showing off her well-tailored but fussy suit that would better fit into a Sunday morning service than a poolside party, but then the Darois family didn’t do casual. “Rene, what is this about? First, you’re late to my party.”
“And I’m going to be early to leave.” He was done with all of this. “You all have a choice to make. I firmly intend to keep the company on a steady course. I cannot guarantee you wild revenues, but neither can Charles. He hates this family. He hates this company and he hates me. I’m not going to argue with him or fight to prove myself to you. Vote for me or vote for him. I don’t care anymore.”
“This is not a becoming speech from the head of the family,” Roberta said. “This is not the way we do things.”
“Then maybe it’s time to change the way we do things. This family has used the company and money to control everyone. I’m done with that. If you keep me on as CEO, things will change, and you might not like those changes. I’m going to do what’s best for the company, and that means I’m not going to hire every family member who needs a job. I’ll help them find one, but Darois Industries isn’t a place to put your kids who don’t even like business.”
“That sounds like what I would expect from you.” Charles had his hands on his hips and a sneer on his face. “I told you he didn’t care about the family.”
“I care about it far more than you do, but I’m not going to bleed to prove my loyalty. I’m done playing the way I have. If my record as the CEO doesn’t earn me the job in your eyes, then so be it.” It felt good to lay it out. “You all decide what you want to risk, what’s important to you, and let me know. I’ve figured out what’s important to me. Roberta, I hope you have a lovely birthday. Ashley declines to drive you back to Houston, so you’re going to have to find your own way.”
“Damn straight,” a feminine voice yelled from the back. “I’m going to college!”
It was good to know Gabriel had already talked to his sister.
Roberta’s eyes flared. “Rene, we will have a proper meeting. Someone find the blond girl and tell her we need a conference room.”
Oh, that was not happening. He wasn’t going to work tonight. He had other things to do. “Can’t. I have a more important meeting.” He swept his wife up against his chest.
Sylvie wound her arms around his neck. “You know I love it when you carry me.”
He did. He nodded his aunt’s way. “Good-bye. I think I’ll take the rest of the week off. Y’all let me know if I should show up next Monday. Until then, I’m on my honeymoon.”
He heard Charles shouting after him, but it didn’t matter.
He had everything he needed in his arms.
* * *
* * *
Sylvie had no idea what had gotten into her husband, but she liked it. He started to carry her around the back of the house and toward the parking lot. “My car’s here.”
“Sera won’t mind.” He strode right past her car.
Oh, she thought Sera might mind leaving her there with Rene’s whole family, but this one time her bestie would have to take one for the team, because Rene had had a breakthrough and she wasn’t going to stop him now. “Are we going home?”
He stopped at his Land Rover and she suddenly found herself sitting on the hood of his car, her husband moving between her legs and hauling her close to him. “If I go home, I have to deal with my mom. I will text her and tell her we’ll both be home tomorrow. I’ll let her know if Louis decides to stay the night so she has some company, I won’t have a problem with that at all. Do you think that will be enough for now?”
She let her hands find his chest. “Your mom has a lot to say to you, too, but I think that will put her mind at ease. Are we going to your hotel?”
“We’re going to where I slept last night, or rather didn’t sleep because I can’t sleep when we’re not together. And we should be ready to stay there for a while because I think we need to get used to not living at Darois House. I’m sorry about that, and I’ll apologize to Mom, too, but I can’t go on like this.” One of his big strong hands cupped the nape of her neck. “I want to be your husband, Sylvie. I want to concentrate on you and on our family. I’m sorry I walked away. I should never have done that, and I promise you tonight was the last time I will ever make a decision without your input.”