She barely made it up the stairs and to the bedroom before falling face first into the comfortable bed.
Chapter Seventeen
When Damien was in Seattle, he normally had a driver for his travels. He preferred to maximize as much time as possible to work and found driving a waste of his time. However, with his confrontation looming with Sierra, he found he preferred to have as few witnesses as possible.
His gut was churning in anticipation. He was on his way to Bree Anderson’s home. Sierra didn’t know yet that he was about to arrive. He hadn’t bothered with speaking to her on her email as she’d suggested.
No. He wanted to see her face, know what thoughts were going on inside her head. He hadn’t spoken to her in almost two weeks, unable to leave Australia before now.
He’d been back for two days, forcing himself to wait before going to her. He didn’t want jet lag to be a hindrance when they had their confrontation.
Two weeks had done nothing to cure his desire for her. He wanted her now more than ever before, knowing he’d take the first possible moment to ravage her lips. Just the thought of tasting her again had him hardening uncomfortably in his pants. Fury and passion intensified inside him, each feeling trying to topple the other.
He’d made the deal with her father, giving the man large sums of money in exchange for her being his employee. It had obviously turned into more than an employer – employee relationship, which made him even angrier. He’d never had a woman walk out on him before. He didn’t like it one little bit. When he finally got her alone – well, he wasn’t sure he could be responsible for his actions.
The longer he drove, the more he warred with himself, but he came to the conclusion that his seemingly insatiable lust for her was just getting started. What began as nothing more than a business arrangement had quickly fallen off course.
He didn’t know how to deal with it. But Damien Whitfield always knew how to deal with things. This wasn’t a welcomed confusion.
He approached the gate guarding Bree’s home, a smile forming on his lips. It seemed his cousin was a cautious woman. If only she knew who she was about to invite inside her protected space.
Old anger and hurt buzzed inside him like a swarm of angry bees, fighting for a stronghold on his tightly reined-in emotions. The Anderson’s had caused his father’s death, thrown his mother out in the middle of the night, and wanted nothing to do with him. His mother was dead because of them, because she couldn’t afford decent medical care.
It was unacceptable.
He pressed the button, watching as the camera focused on him. He did his best to keep his mask of emotions in place.
“How may I help you?” a voice asked over the speaker.
“Damien Whitfield. I’m here to see Sierra.” He didn’t elaborate.
“One moment, Sir.”
Less than a minute passed before the gates started opening. To Damien’s surprise, he found his hand slightly shaking as he placed the vehicle into drive. He glared at the offending fingers, clenching them once – inserting his will over his body. When he opened his fist, the fingers were steady.
With a satisfied look in his eye he began his journey down the long winding driveway. Nerves tried to eat away at him as reality set in that he’d be standing next to one of his blood relative, and have to act polite, as if he didn’t give a hoot who she was.
His pre-occupation with seeing Sierra helped control his emotions toward his so called family.
He pulled up to the house and stepped from the car when several large men filed through the doorway. Damien had to smile as they lined themselves up on the enormous porch. He was sure to most people the sight would be intimidating. Damien only looked on in anticipation. He could use a good brawl to work out some of his aggression.
He cursed himself for continuing with his vendetta against the Anderson’s. Becoming a multi-billionaire on his own, without their help, should’ve been good enough to satisfy his mother’s wishes… but it wasn’t.
She’d made him promise to make them pay. He just had to remember they’d killed both his parents. They may not have done it with their own two hands, but they’d done it by their greed and selfishness.
“Afternoon,” one of the men said as Damien walked with confidence up the stone stairs.
“Hello. What’s with the welcoming committee?” Damien asked, noting the surprised look on the man’s face before he managed to mask his expression. It looked like the muscle-bound gorillas hadn’t expected him to be so forward.
“Just coming out to say, hi,” the man said as he took another step in Damien’s direction, making sure to show him he wasn’t intimidated in the least. Of course, he’s not intimidated, he’s surrounded by his body-builder friends, Damien thought snidely.
“I’m looking for Sierra,” he said as he sized up each man.
“Why don’t we chat first? I’m Chad Redington and this is my place. These are my brothers-in-law and various family members,” Chad said, not moving an inch. Damien tensed. He didn’t like being blocked.
“I’m Damien Whitfield, as you already know. Now that introductions are over with, maybe I can see my employee.” Damien didn’t need to know who the men were. He recognized them from the research he’d done for years on the Anderson men, but he was silent as Chad continued.
“Introductions have just begun, Mr. Whitfield. You haven’t been formally introduced to the rest of the guys. This is Lucas Anderson, my wife’s cousin, and next to him is Trenton Anderson, her brother. The two in the middle are Max and Austin, also my wife’s brothers. We’re all a bit protective of who comes around,” Chad said, not once breaking his even, smooth tone. To an outsider, it may sound like he was having a pleasant chat, but Damien had zero doubt he was warning Damien that if he was there to cause trouble, he may as well turn around. Damien wondered how much Sierra had said.
After that thought hit, he finally realized he was standing there with half the Anderson family. This was what his end goal was, to get in a room with them without being seemingly eager to do so, learn what made them tick, find out their weaknesses.
He was so far gone on his obsession with Sierra, he’d thought of nothing but getting through them and to her. What was wrong with him?
“Chatting sounds like a good idea,” Damien finally said, ignoring the small voice inside him that just wanted to find Sierra.