at the altar of the Darois family legacy. His one goal in the world is to keep as much of the family fortune in his control as he can, and if he needed to marry someone to do it, he would. After all, he did precisely that this morning. But I don’t think he realizes how poorly you’ll take it when you get it through that pretty head of yours how he’s used you. Also, where’s your brother? Shouldn’t he be kicking Rene’s ass by now? I wouldn’t hate to see Dre again. He gets better looking every time I lay eyes on him.”
“You keep right on looking, Ashley, because I assure you my brother won’t let you touch. He’s got a thing about dating women and not man-eating tigers,” Sylvie shot back.
Ashley’s lips curved up. “Oh, you don’t know your brother any better than you know Rene.”
“Hey. I thought you weren’t drinking tonight.” A dark-haired young man strode up. It took Sylvie a moment to recognize Gabriel Layton. He was several years younger than Ashley, having recently graduated from college.
Ashley’s expression went blank. “It was only one, and you can drive us home. You’re good at that. You know what? I think I’ll have another. Good luck with Rene, Sylvie. You’re going to need it.”
She stomped off in her designer shoes.
“Your sister needs to watch her mouth or I’ll have her barred from this restaurant,” Sera promised.
Her best friend could be a momma bear when she wanted to. “It’s okay. I can handle a mean girl.”
Gabriel frowned, his eyes on his sister’s path. “She’s going through some things. I’m afraid she didn’t do well in LA, and life back here in Louisiana isn’t what she’d hoped for. She’s having to get a real job for the first time in her life. She blames Rene.”
“Why would she blame Rene?” Sylvie asked.
“Because he holds the purse strings,” Gabriel replied. “I’m afraid when you’re the king who rules the world, everything really is your fault.”
The whole Darois family seemed to like to make Rene out to be some sort of tyrant. “From what I understand, your family gets their share of the company profits.”
“As determined by the CEO of the company and the amount of shares we own,” Gabriel explained. “It’s not an insignificant amount, but my father didn’t exactly leave us in a good position. When he decided to divorce my mother, he left her half his debt. It was a lot of debt. We didn’t realize how much he’d spent over the years and how much he’d leveraged everything we thought we owned. My mother doesn’t know how to live on a budget. Ashley was actually here to do something she wasn’t happy about doing. She asked Rene for a job and got turned down flat, so she’s feeling mean. I should take her home. I hope she didn’t offend you too much. You have to understand we were raised to think the money would never run out. It’s hard to deal with the fact that everything you thought you knew is gone.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” She felt an unwelcome sympathy for Ashley. “I have a friend who works in recruiting. She’s in New Orleans.”
Gabriel smiled faintly. “I can talk to my sister, but I won’t hold out hope. She doesn’t exactly have a lot of what I would call marketable skills. She’s really more used to looking nice and judging people. As you can see, she’s quite good at drinking. That’s about the sum of her qualifications. But I thank you for trying. And Sylvie, if my sister warned you about Charles, that’s the one thing you should listen to her about. Charles will do anything to get what he wants. And I fear that includes hurting you.”
“He can try,” Sera said under her breath.
“I have no doubt he will,” Gabriel replied before nodding to someone behind her. “Congratulations, Rene. I was just telling Sylvie here that your marriage is going to shake things up.”
Rene’s hand found her waist and he moved in close to her. “In a good way, I hope. I know it’s going to be good for me.”
Gabriel nodded. “I’m sure it is. Good night, Sylvie. It’s nice to see you again. I think I’ll take my sister home.”
He walked off, his keys in his hand.
“Rene . . .” Sera began and there was a righteous look in her eyes.
But they didn’t need more drama. Sylvie turned to her new husband. “Are you done with