The Delacourt Scandal

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

To his surprise her eyes were bright with amusement as she sipped her coffee and watched him over the rim of the cup. He deliberately turned his attention to his food.

“So, what are your plans for the day?” she asked.

“As soon as I’ve eaten, I’m going to drop by the office.”

“Really?” She did her own slow survey of his jeans and dark-blue T-shirt. “A little underdressed for the executive suite, aren’t you?”

Tyler scowled. “Okay, touché. But unlike you, I already have a job, and I’m definitely well acquainted with the boss. I doubt he’ll fire me.”

Of course, as he’d told Daniel the day before, his father might very well grumble about his lack of attention to corporate image. Maybe that was why he’d deliberately chosen these particular clothes this morning, just to goad his father into remembering who he was: Tyler, not his clotheshorse brother Michael, who had standing appointments to have his suits custom tailored.

Maddie studied him, her expression thoughtful. “But you’d like him to, wouldn’t you?”

Tyler was startled by the observation. “Like him to do what? Fire me?”

“Yes.”

“Of course not.”

“Are you sure about that?” she probed. “You never really got into what it was that had you so down, but I’m guessing from a couple of offhand remarks you made that it has something to do with work. You apparently love working on the rig, yet you’re here. What’s that all about?”

“Command performance,” he said succinctly. “I’ll be back in the Gulf of Mexico in no time.”

“Really?”

One way or another, he would be, he decided right then. This constant push-pull for power between him and his father had to stop. Now was as good a time as any to make it happen.

“Really,” he said very firmly.

“Why do I have the feeling that you just came to a decision about something?” she asked.

“Because I did,” Tyler said, shoving his plate away and tossing down his napkin. He took one last swallow of coffee, then stood. “Thanks, Maddie Kent. Order something. Breakfast’s on me.”

“Why?”

He grinned. “Just because.”

“You’re a very enigmatic man, Tyler Delacourt.”

“I certainly hope so.” In fact, he’d always been the most tight-lipped of the Delacourts, the one who displayed a lot of flash and dazzle for the world but kept his innermost thoughts to himself.

Why, then, had Maddie Kent—a woman who’d known him for only a few days—been able to read him like a book? He had a feeling he’d better figure that out soon, before she zeroed in on things he’d never shared with anyone.

In the meantime he had his father to deal with. He arrived at Delacourt Oil twenty minutes later and went straight to his father’s office.

“You sure you want to go in there?” his father’s secretary asked. “You’ve been avoiding his calls. He is not amused.”

“All the more reason to get this over with,” Tyler said. “You might want to go to the coffee shop in case there’s fallout from the explosion.”

She winked at him. “I can take it. I’ve known the man since before you were born. He doesn’t scare me.”

“Then you’re the only one.”

Tyler drew in a deep breath and opened the door. His father was on the phone. He scowled at the interruption, but when he spotted Tyler, he muttered a curt goodbye to whoever was on the other end of the line.

“Where the devil have you been?” Bryce demanded.

“Home.”

“Then why haven’t you been answering your phone or returning my calls?”

“I think that should be obvious.”

“Not to me. Explain it.”

“I didn’t want to have this conversation,” Tyler said honestly. “I didn’t want you to bulldoze right over me, the way you usually do.”

“Since when have I ever been able to get you to do a blasted thing you didn’t want to do?” his father said with a hint of exasperation. “There’s not a one of my kids who pays a bit of attention to what I want. And you’re the worst of all.”

“Aren’t you forgetting about Michael? He would walk through fire for you. He loves this company every bit as much as you do.”

His father waved off the reminder. “Where is he now? We’re in the middle of a critical negotiation.”

“He’s on his honeymoon. For once in his life, he put himself first. Surely you’re not going to fault him for that?”

His father flushed guiltily. “No, of course not. He married a fine woman.” His expression brightened ever so slightly. “And those two boys they’ve adopted, they’re something. Could have been born Delacourts. They’ll be a part of this company someday. Michael will see to that.”

“He probably will,” Tyler agreed.

“A man works his whole life to create something to leave to his children and what happens? Mine turn right around and throw the opportunity out the door.”

Tyler bit back a sigh. How many times had he heard this? A hundred? More? “That’s not how it is,” he said mildly.

“You see Dylan anywhere around here? Or Trish?”

“No, but—”

“Jeb might as well not be here,” his father complained. “He’s taking on more and more private cases, instead of learning the ropes here at Delacourt. And that corporate spy case he pursued for us turned into a fiasco.”

Tyler chuckled at his father’s interpretation of that particular event. “Whose fault was that, Dad? There was no selling of Delacourt secrets. You set Jeb up because you wanted him to fall for Brianna.”

“That’s not the point.”

“What is, then?”

“That not a one of you show any gratitude at all for what I’ve built for you.”