LaCasse Family Series

by Ju Ephraime

  “Madam, your liege awaits,” he said, grinning.

  Picking up the phone, she called the front desk and told them to book two seats on the first flight leaving for Martinique. She placed the phone back on the receiver and was out of her clothes before he could blink.

  Raymond found he loved having her wash him. She did a very thorough job. When they finally left the shower, there was not a spot on his body that had not been washed and rinsed and then washed again. It was the most incredible experience. He could not wait to get himself all dirty and sweaty again just to experience the pleasure of being washed so thoroughly.

  They were able to get seats on the 1:30 A.M. flight. They had to rush to make it. This meant he would be in Martinique much sooner than he expected.

  Seeing the ungodly hour they would be getting to Martinique, he didn’t want to trouble Wolfe, but he should have known better. It turned out he was still at the restaurant when he called to tell him he was on his way.

  “I’ll be there to meet you,” he told him, and no matter what he said, he couldn’t talk Wolfe out of meeting his plane.

  *****

  Their plane arrived in Martinique at 1:55 A.M., and because of the lateness of the hour, they went through customs in five minutes.

  Walking out to the waiting area, he was not surprised to see not only Wolfe, but the entire family, including his parents. The only ones not there were Brian and his wife, and his sister, Franchesca. Wolfe and Foxx had even brought their wives.

  He felt Gabrielle stiffen beside him.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I was until your brothers showed up. They’re all staring at me and grinning like idiots.”

  “They are idiots.”

  “How come your parents are here?”

  “You have Wolfe to thank for that. He must have broadcast our arrival. If it weren’t so early in the morning, I can guarantee you there would be a whole lot more family members here.”

  “It’s so intimidating,” she told him.

  “Don’t let them intimidate you, chéri. You have to be firm from the beginning. I know you can be. Just let your natural personality come through.”

  “Easy for you to say.”

  “Come, let’s go meet my parents. They’re the only ones you need to worry about.”

  *****

  Gabrielle was impressed by Raymond’s mom. She was a beautiful, petite, voluptuous woman of indeterminate age. Her hair was dyed black with a profusion of curls, which she wore in a loose style. Her beautiful face was unlined, so Gabrielle could only guess at her true age. There were, however, laugh lines around her very light gray eyes, a testament to the fact that she laughed often, which she was doing now. Her voice, with the French accent, had a singsong quality to it, typical of the natives.

  She gave Gabrielle the customary kiss on both cheeks and turned to Raymond and did the same, although she gave him a tight hug also.

  Stepping back, Raymond reached for her hand and introduced her as his fiancée, Gabrielle Descotte, from Paris. Upon hearing those words, his mother returned to Gabrielle, and this time she gave her a tight hug like she’d given Raymond. Now she knew why Wolfe wanted them all to be present. Although he didn’t have to say anything, just knowing Raymond was flying in from St. Barth his mother had had a suspicion something was up.

  Taking her hand, he brought Gabrielle over to his father. She quickly saw that Raymond favored his father. His complexion, height, and the color of his eyes were all Raymond. Whereas his mother’s eyes were gray, his father’s eyes were more like his and Wolfe’s, as black as obsidian. His hair was light brown, as was his skin tone. He also had Wolfe’s personality—very succinct. He spoke very briefly to her. Whatever he said must have not been that important because she couldn’t for the life of her remember. But, then again, she had so much she was trying to take in.

  He did make her feel welcome with the kiss on the cheeks. He was friendly, but not overly so. She got the distinct impression he would respond that way to any stranger whom he met. And she accepted she was a stranger to him.

  Raymond’s mom made up for what was lacking in his father. She was very friendly and outgoing. She immediately put Gabrielle at ease by making a joke that now all her sons were taken, even her baby. Apparently, she was the first girlfriend of Raymond’s that his mother had met. She thought it was funny that he had chosen not to play the field like his brothers.

  “Wait until you meet Franchesca, you’ll like her. She’ll be here for Raymond’s wedding. You are planning to have a decent period of engagement, aren’t you?”

  “Whatever Raymond wants.”

  “This is not up to Raymond. Raymond will do what you want. And I believe it’s only appropriate that you and Raymond should have a period of engagement to get to know each other.”

  “Okay, we’ll see.”

  “How did you meet Raymond?”

  “There was a coat mix-up,” she said, with a soft laugh, as she gave Raymond a wink.

  *****

  Epilogue

  Two months later, Raymond’s mom insisted on throwing an engagement party for the happy couple. It was a big fête with all their relatives and close friends present. The couple seemed happy with the way their wedding plans were progressing. They had set the date to allow sufficient time for Franchesca to make it because Raymond wanted her there.

  “I can’t believe they are waiting for Franchesca to be present before they get married,” Foxx told Wolfe.

  Raymond’s grin held a tinge of mischief as he regarded his brother. “Gabrielle and I want only to be married, so we’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen. We both agreed that it was a good idea to wait for Franchesca to attend our wedding, which she promised to do.”

  “You’re correct in that, Wolfe. I also believe Raymond really had no say in this. He would go along with whatever Gabrielle wants. Whatever Gabrielle wants, Raymond wants too.”

  “Ah, true, true,” Wolfe agreed.

  From across the room, their mother watched them with something very close to a smirk on her face. She was having her wedding, not as big as she wanted, but big enough. His father seemed happy too. But, then again, he was happy with whatever his wife wanted.

  “Ah, true, true,” Foxx said. “They are indeed well matched.”

  “Foxx, will you please stop with the true, true. If you have nothing to contribute to this conversation, please hold your peace.”

  “I wonder what Maman said to Gabrielle to get her to wait?”

  “I heard that when Maman went shopping with Gabrielle she used the entire time to talk her into a big wedding, which meant a decent period of engagement. That would give her enough time to plan and arrange the wedding.”

  *****

  The engagement party was supposed to be small and simple, a family affair. Gabrielle realized Martiniquais just didn’t work that way, not for the Créoles on the island, who had large, noisy families and used any excuse to throw a party and have a fête.

  Raymond swept her into his arms, and they floated around the dance floor, surrounded by laughter and the sound of ice cubes tinkling in glasses. She stared up at his face. Raymond. There never had been anyone else, and there never could be. She loved this man to death.

  Giving her deep hungry kisses, Raymond paused long enough to whisper into her ear, “Get ready. The next song is one we’ll have to tap and grind to. I know how you love to tap and grind. I didn’t want to deny you.”

  She kissed him back just as fiercely, uncaring that they were surrounded by his brothers, and that she would be teased terribly.

  “Don’t blame me for your lascivious desires. We both know you’re the one who’s addicted to this tap and grind. I’m perfectly content to twirl around the dance floor with you in the sedate, respectful manner.”

  Pulling her into his body as the beat of the music changed, he gave her a nip on the lip and ran his tongue over it. “Liar. You know you love the feel of me tapping you, and I, for one,
take great pleasure in watching you come apart after a session of my skilled tapping.” And he proceeded to do just that, bringing her to her familiar paradise.

  They retired to their new bedroom in the home he’d bought for them, close to Wolfe’s on the northern end of the island. Stripping her of every piece of clothing, he proceeded to show her just how much she loved his tapping as the ragged whimper of pleasure, the only sound she could make, filled their bedroom.

  Rhapsody in Paris

  Ju Ephraime

  Envision School Publishing.com

  Connecticut, 2014

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ENVISION Business & Computer School Publishing, an Imprint of ENVISION Business & Computer School, LLC 23 Kimberly Avenue West Haven, CT 06516

  Copyright © 2014 Julia E. Antoine

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-10: 0989561577/13: 9780989561570

  LCCN: 2013954316

  www.juliaeantoine.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address inquiries to, ENVISION, 23 Kimberly Avenue, West Haven, CT 06516.

  If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publishers, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  Printed in the U.S.A.

  FROM THE AUTHOR

  This is the final installment in the LaCasse series, and the hot passionate French men. I hope you enjoyed their stories as I enjoyed writing them. I traveled to France to write Franchesca’s story. I hope you enjoy it, as much as you enjoyed the brothers’ stories. If you enjoyed this story, please stop by my blog or website and drop me a line. I love hearing from you and look forward to it:

  http://juephraime.blogspot.com, or http://www.juliaeantoine.com.

  Enjoy!

  xx

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Excerpt–One Dance With A Stranger

  CHAPTER ONE

  Something wonderful will happen today—I feel it in my gut, Dr. Franchesca LaCasse thought as her gaze traveled the entire length of the conference table to settle on her coworker and only close friend, Marcella DeCabbe. She and Marcella had struck a friendship from her first day on the job. As the newest and youngest member of the team of biochemists with Orange Europe, the research branch of the Cecordati group of companies, Franchesca found herself having to prove she was qualified for the position several times a day. Over the years, it had gotten better, but in the beginning, it was pure hell. She had to fight for every inch they gave her, but she was not a LaCasse for nothing. She came from a family who did not know the meaning of the word no, or the phrase, “I can’t.” Although she wasn’t the youngest, they treated her as if she was. The only other girl in her family, her sister Cecilia, was older than her three brothers, so they did not mess around with her. But Franchesca had been the brunt of many childhood pranks. She’d learned early on that she had to stand up for herself, or they would trounce her every time. Raymond, her youngest brother would try to come to her rescue, but he was no match for Wolfe and Foxx, her twin brothers.

  Oftentimes, it was Franchesca against the two of them. As a result, standing her ground and proving her worth were not new to her, but several times she was so tempted to tell her colleagues where to put their job and walk out with her head held high. Franchesca loved her work, and she’d never been a quitter. She had to keep reminding herself of that every day, and when she and Marcella became friends, she had her support. Not that Marcella had any better standing within the company, but she was a woman, and she could sympathize with Franchesca.

  Franchesca loved working for Orange Europe, a company that made great strides in the area of medical research. The company’s focus was in finding and developing drugs to treat rare medical conditions. She found that helping to develop and distribute orphan drugs brought her a deep sense of satisfaction; it gave her life purpose. Also, being part of Orange Europe’s parent company, Cecordati, had a certain prestige, as well as great perks. Her future looked bright.

  Cecordati was one of the richest companies in Europe, and just to have been hired there was a privilege and an honor. She got the job right after she’d graduated out of college on the recommendation of her college advisor, whose wife was the head of personnel at this particular company. This was a very progressive company, always at the forefront of new discovery and innovative products. She had completed her internship there during her last semester in school among the leaders of the industry. She had never dreamed of landing a job there, but, like everything else, it wasn’t what you knew but who you knew, and knowing the husband of the director of human resources proved to be very beneficial for her. Not that she was given any concession. On the contrary, she had to earn every crumb that was thrown her way. She had been under a great deal of pressure to prove she was worthy of Professor Datuk’s confidence in her. She had never taken his help for granted and hoped she had proven herself worthy.

  She remembered it as if it was yesterday and not almost five years ago. She was the youngest pharmacist with the company and the only female pharmacist. Had it not been for Marcella, she doubted she would have made it past the first month, let alone five years. She and Marcella had become extremely close, recognizing that they were kindred spirits with strong, decisive personalities. They needed every ounce of it to gain and maintain a strong foothold in this male-dominated industry. Given the number of times she had been almost reduced to tears because of having to fight for every inch she got, she would’ve quit the first year, but Marcella kept reminding her that she’d be doing just what they wanted if she were to quit. She was challenged every step of the way. There was nothing blatantly obvious, but every suggestion she made to speed up the process was rejected. However, that same suggestion, when made by one of her male colleagues, would be accepted without question. This had happened so many times she was beginning to become frustrated until Marcella came up with a solution to her problem.

  She suggested, going forward, that Franchesca present any ideas she had as a suggestion while downplaying it to be too frivolous to have any merit. She then stood back and watched them stumble over themselves to implement it. It was hilarious. Like the time she suggested putting in an automated system for prescription refills, thereby freeing up the pharmacy techs from dealing with the long queue that was always almost out the door. Her idea was very quickly downplayed, but within six months, it had been fully implemented at the suggestion of Jameson, one of her male colleagues. She had gotten smart and had learned to phrase her suggestions in the form of a question, putting on a front that she was doubtful the idea was a good one. She was always thrilled to see how quickly they fell for it and implemented it without any question. This did not mean she didn’t want the recognition and the credit that was due her, but she had found she had to pick her battles. The work was getting done, her ideas were being implemented, and she had it al
l documented. So far, life had been getting better. She enjoyed working for the company, and between her and Marcella, things were going very smoothly at work. She was heavily indebted to Marcella.

  But today was not a day to dwell on the negative. She was feeling vibrantly alive. Maybe that was what Marcella had been trying to tell her when she kept encouraging her to take an interest in the opposite sex. She had buried herself in her work and had not paid much attention to the opposite sex, but lately she had been getting a bit restless. She was no longer satisfied with going home to her empty flat. She realized she had been feeling that way ever since she had received the call from Raymond telling her he had met someone and was soon to be married. She’d not felt much pressure before when Ray had been single. She and Ray had always been very close. They were closer in age—only four years separated them—and of all the LaCasse men, Ray was the least domineering. They all had strong personalities, but Ray’s was a bit more tolerable.

  Before she’d made the decision to leave her home in the French Caribbean island of Martinique and move to Paris to attend university, she had felt smothered by her brothers. They were determined to protect her from herself, but instead, their actions just ended up isolating her, and as a result, she had spent her early adulthood lonely without experiencing the normal teenage dating experiences. She had never been in love. She’d had a couple brief relationships since moving to Paris, but even those had not been allowed to develop into anything worthwhile because until he graduated, and returned home, Ray had been around to vet everyone she had met to date. So she had thrown herself into her work and had time for little else.

  With his impending wedding, she was feeling free for the first time in a long while. She also needed someone to take with her to the wedding. There was no way in hell she was showing up unescorted to this wedding. It was high time she showed her brothers that she was all grown up and no longer a child. Finding the right man who would not be intimated by her family, especially her brother Wolfe, was going to be difficult. The wedding was to be in a month, so time was of the essence. That could explain the feeling of excited anticipation she’d been feeling ever since she got out of bed this morning.