His eyes narrowed as he stared her down. A small shiver passed through her. The man really knew how to intimidate with nothing but his eyes. She firmed her resolve, though, desperate to hold onto her newfound will-power.
"What do you want to know?" he finally asked as he sat next to her and grabbed a cracker and a slice of cheese.
"Everything."
"That's a little vague, Sierra."
"You're avoiding the subject, Damien. You expect me to turn on my best friend, the only person who's always been good to me, and you're not willing to give me any details. I hate to tell you this, but you must not have any friends if you think I'd do that," she said, refusing to break their eye contact.
Instead of anger, he gave a sheepish smile. The almost unguarded expression on his face sent her heart into overdrive. Wow, he was stunning when he didn't look so angry.
"Actually, Trinity is my best friend and she'd have my hide if she knew anything about this. She's amazing."
Sierra felt the tiniest twinge of jealousy, but then she remembered that Trinity was a happily married woman. Her husband was incredibly gorgeous, too, and seemed like a nice guy. Sierra had been far too nervous on their short visit to really pay much attention, but the little she'd seen of the couple, had made it seem they were in love.
"Trinity seems like a smart woman," she said after a long pause.
"She is."
"Are you done stalling? Why do you hate the Anderson's?"
"It goes back to before I was born. My father was twenty-five years older than my mom. I know, it's a lot of years, and I wouldn't even think about dating a woman half my age, but they fell in love, according to my mom. He pursued her, and she fell hard for him. He was charming, wealthy, and promised her the moon. About the time they met, my grandfather passed away and there was a huge race for the company. It should've gone to my dad. His brother, Milton had zero interest in the corporation, and my dad had been working there for years," Damien started.
Sierra was fascinated by the intense look on his face. She still didn't understand what any of this had to do with the Anderson's, though.
"Joseph and George are twins, the only sons of Milton, my father's nephews. When my grandfather died, they both rushed home to get their greedy hands on what my father had worked so hard for. The board of directors chose Joseph to run the corporation and my father was left with nothing. His own dad didn't leave him a dime in the will. The corporation was all he had. The old man left what he had to charity's, saying the boys needed to build their own wealth, that they'd appreciate it better in the long run. Well, Milton didn't have to build his own wealth. He had a nice little ranch that his father bankrolled for him, while my father had nothing, because he'd been sure he'd take over the Anderson Corporation."
Damien's eyes narrowed as he told a story Sierra was sure he'd heard a thousand times. Sierra knew there was no way it could be true. Even a young Joseph couldn't be monster. There had to be more to the story and she was determined to find out what it was.
"Were you able to verify if all of this is true?" she asked, afraid of his reaction, but still having to ask it.
"Of course I verified. I found the old newspaper articles. There was a fight for the CEO position. In the earlier papers, apparently Joseph was playing it cool, because they said he didn't seem interested in taking over his grandfather's reign. Apparently, he'd already amassed a huge fortune. However, greedy people always want more, and Joseph was no exception."
"How do you know it was about greed? What if he wanted to run the business his grandfather put so many years into?"
"If that was the case, why did he leave in the first place? Why wouldn't he have stayed and learned how to run the business like my father had?" Damien asked with bitterness.
"Don't you think the best way to get answers to those questions is to ask Joseph?"
"Why? So he can tell me lies? The story doesn't end there. My father was so upset about his losses that he quickly went downhill, started drinking himself to death. One night he drank too much and lost control of his car. He was dead before the paramedics arrived."
"Oh, Damien, I'm so sorry," she said, sincere sadness draping her words.
"I was only a few months old at the time, and later my mother found out she was pregnant with my sister. She went to the Anderson's for help. Even though begging from anyone was against everything she believed in, she did it for my sake – mine and my sister's. She showed up at their door, and they laughed at her, told her they didn't believe her story, that they were glad my father was dead, and then they shut it in her face. She had to leave my sister in the hospital's care, and my mother lived a rough life from that moment on," he said, pain evident for the mother he'd lost at too young of an age.