Chapter 1 Damon Reid vs. Tristan Thomas: An explosive encounter…first clash!

***

Damon stood in the foyer of the Thomas Mansion and stared at the spectacle before him. Tristan Thomas, Caleb Thomas' son, not only had his tongue down the throat of a curvy young lady but had his hand under her blouse as well, obviously feeling up her tits. At that time of the day? Seriously?

The girl moaned loudly and then suddenly tried to push Tristan away when she caught sight of Damon.

"There's someone here T.T." She managed to get out breathlessly.

Tristan cursed and turned around to see who it was, pulling his hand from under Amber's blouse.

"Damon Reid," Tristan said with a sneer in his voice. "What do you want?" he looked irritated at the interruption. His dislike for Damon was obvious from his body language.

And why the hell not, Tristan asked himself. Damon thought he was a god. Handsome, rich, intelligent...you name it. The reason Tristan disliked him so much was that his own father never failed to throw Damon's accomplishments in his face.

'Why can't you be more like Damon? He's responsible, reliable, he's got a head for business, any father will be proud of him...'

Yeah, yeah, yeah...too bad Damon’s own father was dead so couldn't be proud of him. Tristan knew he was being mean but there was so much he could take. Heck, he was only twenty-one. And how old was Damon? Twenty-fucking-six. He didn’t think Damon wasn't that responsible five years earlier. He had to grow up when his father died as he had to take over the running of their empire. Who else was there to do that but him? He was an only child after all so had no choice but to grow up…right? Triston, therefore, didn’t think it was fair for his father to not only keep throwing Damon’s accomplishments in his face but also expect him to act like Damon-fucking-Reid. He just finished college for fuck's sake. It was time to have some fun.

"We need to talk, Tristan," Damon said in that sexy baritone of his, making Tristan even angrier.

Did the guy have any flaws, Tristan fumed. And why did he always call him Tristan instead of T.T. like everyone did? "So talk." Tristan all but growled.

Damon turned to look pointedly at the lady standing beside Tristan staring at him as though she was going to eat him up any second.

"Amber, go wait in the car will you?" Tristan told the flustered-looking girl.

He knew she was all gaga over the hunk standing in front of them. She was gaping like an utter idiot. Girls! But then Damon was known to have that effect on ladies. He was very tall, about six ‘two, broad, and bursting with muscles. His dark blond hair had been cut very short, exposing the strong column of his sun-kissed neck. One of Tristan's own sisters had once said Damon's deep, powerful voice alone was orgasm-inducing. And that face, even he would admit, was good on the eye.

"So... What does my father want?" Tristan asked, knowing very well that Damon was there on the instructions of his father.

His father and Damon wanted to enter into some sort of business partnership and his Dad had told him the day before that he wanted him to handle it. He had promptly told him he wasn't interested but his dad had cut him off saying Damon was going to get in touch with him. Now there he was. Just great!

"I presume he told you about Albatros," Damon stated, looking intently at Tristan with eyes so blue Tristan couldn't help but admire.

"Is that what you guys are calling your business venture? Well, he did mention something...not Albatros. And I remember telling him I wasn't interested. So this meeting is not necessary is it?" Tristan retorted.

"Look here, Tristan..."

"No, you look here. If you think you can just walk in here and expect me to leave whatever I'm doing and concentrate on some business with you, you have another thing coming," Tristan said heatedly.

"Oh, so that's what this is all about huh?" Damon chuckled.

"What is what about?" Tristan asked with a frown.

"You are pissed off because I interrupted your little..." Damon waved his hands in the direction of the car in which Amber had gone to wait.

"You've got no ri..."

"Oh, but I do Tristan. When are you going to grow up huh? Do you think the world is always going to be at your feet? Because Daddy will always be around to see to your needs? Let me tell you something boy, that's not how it works. So you..."

Had Damon just called him 'boy', Tristan’s eyebrow raised with incredulity. It was on!

"Oh, and how did you know this? When Daddy dearest died on you? Is the mighty Damon wanting his daddy back? To tell him bedtime stories?"

The muscles in Damon's jaw tightened and contracted. Tristan could tell he was struggling to control his emotions and immediately knew he had gone too far.

"Look, I'm sorry dude. I didn't mean it like that." He tried to apologize.

"Yes, you did," Damon said in a deceptively calm voice. Abruptly, he turned to go. "Seven p.m. In your father's office this evening. Don't be late." Damon threw over his shoulder and was gone.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Tristan muttered to himself. Why couldn't he shut his big mouth? What he had said was downright cruel. In a way, because of that, he knew he had to meet Damon as he had requested. He was feeling downright guilty.

Dammit!

***

As Damon got into his sleek black Jaguar XF and sped off, he was fuming. He literally had to hold himself back or he would have sucker-punched that brat in his own home. What the fuck was wrong with Tristan? Now he understood what Caleb, the boy’s dad had been talking about. He had told him he didn't know how to get his son to take up that responsibility for Albatros. But he was trusting Damon to get him to do it. He had assured Caleb he was going to get Tristan to do it but it looked like he had bitten more than he could chew.

Tristan was one spoilt brat. His parents had spoilt him so much so that they didn't know what to do to get him to be a responsible boy. Born after three girls and an only boy, the whole family doted on him...treated him like an egg. The annoying part was that Tristan was a brilliant boy. He had actually graduated at the top of his class. It looked like naturally, the kid had a high IQ because he didn't strike Damon as the type of person who would go out of his way to study. He just had the brains but probably thought all he had to do was study and spend daddy's money.

Oh, and did he know how to spend the money. With his good looks, he could have any girl he wanted. Tristan was about 5'8' tall with his dreamy green eyes, blond hair which was always tapered on the back with side-swept bangs which seem to fall in his eyes all the time. Tristan Thomas was a handsome, intelligent spoilt brat Damon sighed. Yes, to him, Tristan was devastatingly handsome. He had always thought so. Not that he fancied him or anything. He had never looked at him in that light before. The boy was just a kid. At least that was what he’d thought until he’d seen him that day. He was all grown up and boy was he hot.

Damon's penchant for dating both men and women was known by those close to him. Tristan was way out of his league though. In fact, he couldn't stand the boy. But he had promised his dad who was a good friend of his late father so he planned on getting the boy to take up some responsibility. Damon really hoped Tristan drugged his stubborn arse to Caleb's office as he had told him to because he didn't want to see the hope die in the older man's eyes.