Chaperoning Paris (Collins Brothers) Read online

  Table of Contents

  CHAPERONING PARIS

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  CHAPERONING PARIS

  COLLINS BROTHERS BOOK 1

  VICTORIA PINDER

  SOUL MATE PUBLISHING

  New York

  CHAPERONING PARIS

  Copyright©2014

  VICTORIA PINDER

  Cover Design by Niina Cord

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, business establishments, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

  Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Published in the United States of America by

  Soul Mate Publishing

  P.O. Box 24

  Macedon, New York, 14502

  ISBN: 978-1-61935-472-2

  www.SoulMatePublishing.com

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  To my Mom.

  She might never read anything I write,

  but if I need her for anything, she’s there.

  I have the best mom in the world.

  She loves me and will do anything I ever need.

  I was a bratty teenager, but, Mom, I love you.

  And you’re amazing,

  good-natured about everything in my life,

  and you need to believe in yourself, too.

  You’re better than you think.

  Acknowledgements

  I started this story when I still lived in my parents’ house, in my pink room, studying for college. It was badly written then, but the idea was there. When I needed inspiration for something to write, I reread my own stuff, reconnected to the story and my awesome vacation to Paris I took with my best friend at the time, Christine. She hated Paris. I secretly loved it. I’d go back there anytime, but that was back when I had no living expenses other than my car.

  Chapter 1

  Payback time. Standing in his mother’s kitchen, Sean Collins smiled as he hung up the phone.

  He hovered at the phone for a moment, then charged along the carpeted hallway to his bedroom. In a flash, he changed from his T-shirt and jeans into his black pin stripe king-of-the-business-world suit complete with black tie and shiny black shoes.

  Finished dressing, Sean jittered at the door and listened to his son talking nonstop to his mother upstairs. His skin tingled and he closed his eyes. At least moving to his parents’ country estate where he had grown up on Cape Cod had been good for everyone.

  Breakfast could wait. He grabbed the keys on the counter downstairs, and he called upstairs, “I’m leaving. I won’t be gone long.”

  Last year, the school principal had fired him with bogus charges. Sean had sworn on every holy book that he’d been fired because his doctors had discovered cancer in a routine physical exam.

  The sickness sucked. But he’d survived. And now he used his vast wealth to get what he wanted. No teacher should be treated so callously. He had taken the job at the time to prove to himself he had more choices than being the chief financial officer of his father’s corporation.

  He set his jaw and walked outside to his car, where the smell of freshly cut grass hit his senses.

  The moment he stepped outside and headed toward the garage, Sean stared at the vast forested area on the property for a moment and pressed his lips together. Trees made sense. Women never had. His luck with women had been bad from the start. His first girlfriend, Gigi Dumont, had left him for parts unknown, and then later his wife, now his ex, Jennifer, had also left. She’d played with a whole set of loose scruples. But Jennifer hadn’t hurt him, not like Gigi had. Sean rolled his shoulders. Why did everything in his life always seem to go back to Gigi leaving?

  He fished out his keys from his pocket. And now Gigi had moved back into the house next door.

  Sean opened the garage door. A quick click of a button and the gate lifted.

  Last night he hadn’t slept. Today his shoulders were straight. This moment had nothing to do with women and everything to do with justice. His fingers traced the shiny finish of his brother Gerard’s Aston Martin. Without blinking, he opted to borrow the car. He’d be early and outshine everyone else. Gerard had offered to loan it to him specifically for today. Sean licked his lips and turned the key, igniting the engine, and took off.

  A daydream flashed in his eyes. Principal Murray’s jaw dropped to the ground in shock the second Sean stepped inside the office with the papers.

  Sean clutched the wheel. He intended to twist the knife even further. People like Mr. Murray gave businessmen around the world the reputation of cold, heartless automatons, especially when he claimed the firing had been over “job performance.” Every one of Sean’s students had passed the state assessments.

  Now, Sean ran the finances for his parents, his father’s company, and his brothers. The support of his family to get him through cancer treatments had been phenomenal, but what if he hadn’t had that support? What if he’d had no money to pay for treatments? He’d be dead because the principal had fired him due to the insurance increases. Well, now Sean had a better solution.

  He sped down the country road for the half-hour trip. During his horrible marriage to Jennifer, he’d worked as a teacher, and his students had achieved both academic and social successes. Jennifer had been the nightmare that drove Sean away from Collins Industries, Collins Enterprises, Collins Investments, and Collins Mutual, to list a few of his father’s multiple companies. Post divorce and cancer, Sean had made the decision to offer employees packages in cases of sickness. Anyone who worked for him would now receive a payoff equal to the job performance done over the years as part of a settlement. Money
paid hospital bills.

  Sean’s stomach clenched as he gazed at the sign for the Barnstable Charter High School parking lot. Sean parked Gerard’s fancy lawyer wheels that screamed “out to impress” right next to the about-to-be-sacked principal’s BMW sedan. The Aston Martin made the perfect goodbye gesture. Murray had been outclassed.

  Sean leaned forward in his seat, refusing to feel guilty. He waited for the school bell to ring and watched students bounding outside.

  Unlike most people, his family had money, and normally he wouldn’t like flaunting wealth. His Jeep Wrangler suited him just fine, but today he needed to look like the elite businessman he was. He stepped out a minute later, and in a fast walk, he strode down the halls. Sean winked the second he saw the school guard’s shocked face.

  “You had cancer?” asked the older African American lady who coached the wrestling team.

  “Yes, I did. I’m better now,” Sean said, smiling.

  He inclined his head and passed the security desk then Sean turned right toward the principal’s office.

  In his briefcase he carried the school board’s ruling and the proof of sale of the school to Collins Enterprises. Barnstable was a private school that followed school board law. The sale to his company had been finalized, but Sean had insisted on telling Murray in person. The minutes of the meeting would be posted at one that day. Victory waited for him, and justice tasted better than homemade chocolate chip cookies.

  In the office, the overqualified secretary, Mattie, dropped her pencil on the floor. Sean made eye contact with her and the older woman smiled back. Then he picked up the pencil in stride, and handed it back to her. She opened her mouth to speak, and he shook his head, placing his finger over his lips to silently request her silence.

  She smiled her response and swiveled her chair back to her computer.

  He had seen Mattie in action and understood the older woman had known how to treat people more than anyone else in the office.

  Outside the principal’s door, Sean straightened his tie into perfect alignment. His heart rate sped up and his entire body became alert then he heard her voice.

  Gigi, or should he say, Giovanna Dumont. Her quiet, sweet voice unmanned him, making his palms sweat. Why would she be here? And how could she still steal his breath away?

  “Please, Murray, my students won the chance of a lifetime. We earned the school trip.” Gigi argued her case with the principal in her sweet, honey voice. “If they win this competition, they are worldwide French Congressional winners. Two noble laureates named this year won this competition years ago, and we’re one of three North American schools in the finals.”

  Murray never raised his face from his desk. He shrugged. “French is a dying language, Ms. Dumont. No one cares about the language, and my funding was reduced to the bone.”

  A wave of disbelief swept through Sean. Gigi taught here? Why? She didn’t need a job, and she hated children. Wasn’t that what she’d said years ago?

  Gigi pleaded again, “Murray, this is so unfair.”

  Murray answered, “Life isn’t fair.”

  Sean kept his head up and walked inside. Guess I don’t have a choice now.

  “Time to leave, Gigi,” Sean said quietly.

  Murray’s black, beady eyes reminded Sean of a squirrel’s. Gigi’s mouth fell open. He’d deal with her after he dealt with the principal.

  Sean leaned into the chair closer to her.

  “Sean?” Gigi’s eyes widened in shock. “What are you doing here?”

  Lust rushed through his body. No. He would not be attracted to her again.

  He stared at Murray, who didn’t stand up. Sean refused to gaze at Gigi. Ignoring her had worked the past few months, and he saw no need to change strategies, even if her big blue eyes set him off.

  “Please come back in a few minutes, Ms. Dumont,” he said. “I need to speak to Murray alone.”

  “What did you call me? Ms. Dumont? First him, now you. Apparently, it’s the meeting of the self-centered jerks.”

  Her words sparked with fire though the sharpness of each question hit him with her cutting accusations.

  Gigi rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m leaving.”

  She huffed and sashayed her long skirt out the door.

  Sean remembered staring at her sexy butt sway. But that was many, many years ago and he had always acted childish near her. Damn. Even now, her hips demanded his attention. He stopped staring the moment he could no longer see her.

  Sean tugged his ear. Gigi Dumont was far too attractive to be a teacher.

  At least he could forget Gigi for the moment. His eyes narrowed on his prey. Murray. Sean needed to see his face the split second he learned that the school board had revoked his license for illegal accounting at the school.

  “Do you know why I’m back?” Sean asked Murray.

  Murray shook his head, and then pushed his glasses up his nose. “Mr. Collins, there are no open faculty positions available at this school.”

  “I never needed a job from you.” Sean dropped the papers on his desk. Murray could read either of them first. What mattered was standing up for others who might someday have to deal with cancer or another horrible life-threatening disease.

  He stared as Murray read one then the other. A smile formed on Sean’s face and he leaned on the desk. “Start packing your bags and go back to Boston where you belong.”

  “You can’t do this!” Murray yelled.

  “I can, and I will.” Sean saw the surprise in the man’s eyes, and the sharpened proverbial knife dropped hard. His righteous anger disappeared now as he witnessed Murray’s forehead crumple. Sean had never been a bully, never liked kicking anyone when they were down, not even this despicable man. Damn.

  “I bought the school. You’re out.”

  “My hearing at the school board according to this paper is in two weeks . . .”

  “Ten business days.” Did the man intend to fight this? “It’s a done deal.”

  Murray tugged at his collar for air. “While you signed the deeds of trust on my school, your ownership doesn’t begin for another month.”

  Murray’s argument had one valid point. But he refused to back down and wait for a month.

  “Collins, why did you come after me?” Murray asked. “Why would a teaching position you never needed bother you enough to come back here?”

  “I don’t get to stare cancer in the eyes. It’s silent and I had to depend on my strength. But I can stop someone like you from ever doing that to anyone else.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Murray, you fired me when I told the office about my lung cancer caused from too much exposure to toxins while serving in the Marines.” Sean plowed ahead, memories fueling his anger. “Not everyone has my options. You do not and can no longer fire people for being sick.”

  “Insurance—”

  “Pack up this office, and I will decide what happens to this school.” An image of Gigi floated back into Sean’s mind eye. Damn. Blocking her from his thoughts was not working. “And to Ms. Dumont and her trip.”

  “I have two weeks?” The man’s voice rose.

  “To pack your bags, but you’re done here. I make the decisions now.”

  “I’ll start packing, but you’ll see. The hearing will go my way,” Murray argued. Had he not read the paper? “Since I’m in charge, Ms. Dumont’s trip is cancelled for tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow? Sean’s hands clutched together. “Prestige for academics is on my agenda.” Not only that but Gigi’s leaving the country would keep her away during the hearing. “Read who controls what. I’ll be back. What room number is Ms. Dumont’s classroom?”

  “Fifty-seven.”

  Sean gazed back to see Murray slump in his chair to read the documents. Turning to leave the room, he asked one more question. “How long has Ms. Dumont been working here?”

  “Since school began in September.”

  One month since she’d moved back into her mo
m’s old home. The winter snow of February hadn’t forced her to quit. She hadn’t run off to Cabo San Lucas or wherever else her people took off to this time of year. From everything he’d heard about her, Gigi had lived a party after she ran away from her life in high school. Now she’d been working at the high school, teaching French for almost no money? Why?

  Sean’s steps echoed down the empty hallways. Today had been a half a day. He crossed his arms and stood outside Gigi’s room. Sean needed a minute to catch his breath. He hadn’t intended to ever knock at her door ever again.

  His body tightened and he fixed his stare through the glass slit. He saw her sitting there grading papers. Years ago, Gigi had practically forced him to do his homework. For his entire childhood they’d cared about each other. They had shared their first kiss, their first everything.

  He blinked but the memory of her lips lingered. Sean shook his head to block out the flashback. He stepped back and reminded himself to remember how she’d destroyed that version of herself by cruelly ripping his heart out at his birthday party.