Dallas nodded. “Instead, I’m wallowing in the joys of marriage and fatherhood. Sound familiar? Plus, I get the occasional thrill by helping out the Feds or WORR,” he added, referring to the World Organization for Rescue and Rehabilitation, an above-board non-governmental agency with a close relationship with worldwide law enforcement. “Sometimes, I even help out a few less visible organizations. But my role is very behind the scenes,” Dallas added. “And I’m okay with that.”
Once again, he focused on Damien. “Like I said. I’m a lot like you.” His eyes narrowed. “Or maybe I’m wrong about that…?”
Damien frowned. Over the years he’d become skilled at keeping his feelings hidden, but he’d lost some of that ability recently. The fallout of opening up his world the way he had when he found Nikki. He’d let people get closer—not simply as colleagues, but as friends.
And that gave them power.
A few years ago, that would have bothered him. Now he studied it out of intellectual curiosity, not fear.
Slowly, he nodded. “You’re not wrong. I spent my life chasing the dream of making myself into more than what my father would have made of me. Of not letting anyone harness me the way he and my coach had tried to.”
“Chased the dream and caught it, I’d say.” Dallas shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I inherited my seed capital. You earned every penny you ever had.”
“Earned? Yes. But I also paid. In blood. In pain. The life I built was an escape pod, jettisoning me out of a past I hated and into a future that I’d created.” He waved a dismissive hand, as if signaling that it had all been easy. Maybe in some ways it had. But mostly he’d worked his ass off to get to the top of the mountain. Which begged the question of where one went after reaching the pinnacle.
He looked at his friend, somewhat amazed that he was having this conversation with anyone other than Nikki or Ryan Hunter, his closest friend and chief operative for all Stark International and Stark Security ventures. Or Jackson Steele, for that matter, the half-brother he hadn’t even known existed until a few years ago but now trusted completely.
He trusted Dallas just as much. And with that realization came the knowledge that Damien had loosened the once-tight grip he’d always kept on himself. He had Nikki to thank for that.
Hell, he had Nikki to thank for everything.
“What?” Dallas asked as the silence between them lingered.
“Just thinking about my path,” Damien admitted. “I’ve made the kind of empire from which I could step back from if I wanted. I have good people running things on a day-to-day basis. Brilliant scientists, skilled managers. A stellar team on all fronts.”
“You’re still pretty hands-on at Stark International,” Dallas said, referring to the umbrella of all Damien’s companies, which were massive and covered the globe. “Unlike my role in Deliverance.”
“I’ve stepped back a bit. But Stark Security is still in the building stage.” He’d founded the agency in the wake of Anne’s kidnapping. He’d needed to act, to do. And so he did what he did best—he started a new company filled with people whose job was to stand against the monsters in the world. So far, the organization was living up to its mission. Damien wanted it to be even better.
“I’ve been focusing attention there,” he admitted. “Recruiting. Training.”
Dallas smirked. “I noticed. Liam. Quincy. Tony. Hell, you even got Noah.”
“Not at Stark Security,” Damien said, “but he’s doing a damn good job at Stark Applied Technology’s Austin office.”
“Apparently you have a knack for bringing on good people.”
“I do,” Damien said, holding his friend’s gaze. “I see talent, and I go after it.”
“And now we get to the heart of the matter. You came to Southampton with ulterior motives.”
“If you mean that I came with the intent of leaving my precious children in your care so that I could run off to Manhattan for a wicked night with my wife, then you are absolutely correct.”
“A task Jane and I happily accepted. And yet…”
“And yet,” Damien agreed. There wasn’t any point playing games. “We can use you. In the field, sure. But if that’s further than you want to go, then we want your knowledge. Your resources. Equipment.”
“Stark Security is a young company but doing well.”
“It is,” Damien said. “The business is strong, and our work is exceptional.”
“And you were thinking that it would be interesting to have an office on the East Coast.”
Damien stepped back, then spread his arms to encompass the basement. “If we can make a deal, I’d say we have all the makings for that office right here.”
For a moment, Dallas said nothing. Then he nodded. “All right. I’ll think about it. But tell me this—would I have the honor of working hand-in-hand with the exceptionally talented Damien Stark?”
“You know that’s not what I do.”
“Isn’t it?” He shrugged. “You’ve put on so many hats in your life, I get confused.” He chuckled. “Like you said, Stark International is a well-oiled machine now. And I can’t help but wonder if you’re not looking for that next great adventure.”
Chapter Three
Damien put a hand on the mattress to steady himself as he bent over to kiss both of his little girls on the forehead. They’d been given the guest room across the hall from his and Nikki’s room, and they were currently snuggled together in the middle of the king size bed, their sweet little faces lost in sleep.
“Sleep well, my sweet girls,” he whispered. He gently stroked the soft hair on their heads before returning to the doorway. He paused for one more look at his children, warm and safe in the glow of the nightlight. Safe, yes. But they hadn’t always been, and that unshakeable reality ate at him. A constant prick in his life since the day Anne had been taken. He’d learned to live with it. To accept the reality that the world could be a dangerous place, and in many ways, his own choices had made it even more dangerous for the people he loved. Sometimes money could move mountains, solve problems, provide a new and better life.
And sometimes it put a target on your back.
With a sigh he shut the door, then moved quietly across the hall, his thoughts spinning. He’d never feared the loss of what he’d built. He’d started with nothing, and though he’d worked his ass off and sacrificed so much to build Stark International, if it was all ripped from him, he knew he would be fine. He could rebuild. Again and again if necessary. The Stark conglomerate wasn’t what defined him. It was his confidence. The knowledge that he could do what needed to be done, and that he would not only survive but thrive.
Not arrogance, just reality.
But there was another reality, too. One he’d had to face the hard way. The cold, hard truth that although he’d built himself into a man the world thought of as a force to be reckoned with, someone had still taken Anne.
It had been the hardest lesson of his life, that realization that even though he’d scraped and clawed and fought his way to the top, at the end of the day that didn’t mean shit. No matter how hard he worked and how much money he spent, he would always be vulnerable.