1 CHAPTER 1

"This looks like an intervention," Aiden Hermanes said drily. He wasn't smiling and neither was anybody else. His mother had asked him to come by the family home for a private talk but instead, he found himself confronted by Ashford, the Hermanes Corporation CFO or the chief financial officer, the family lawyer, and his two brothers, Ace and Axel.

Aiden wasn't the type of person to back down something all these people knew very well.

The atmosphere was tense. In looks, he was very alike his two brothers. All three were dominant in skin tone, hair, and eye color, but tall, angular, and Greek god in their build. All three were strikingly impossibly good looking by any standards and a picture of the three brothers together at a function or a nightspot was pure gold to the local celebrity media.

At just twenty-nine years of age, Aiden was the eldest of the three.

"As nobody here seems to want to speak, let me begin," he said. "What exactly is this all about?"

An uncomfortable silence reigned for five long seconds.

"Aiden," his mother said in a frail voice. "We all appreciate that what you are doing is good. Good for the world, good for the individual charities involved and in many ways good for the Hermanes Corporation as well."

"I agree. So why are we here?" CFO Ashford interjected. "You've given away nearly 10% of Hermanes in the last six months alone Aiden. This can't go on."

"The current net worth of the Hermanes family remains at over 75 billion dollars," he replied with a cold economy of expression. "There's plenty more we can give away before anyone has to cut back on the champagne."

Ace, the middle brother of the Hermanes family and its technical genius, weighed in.

"I think we're all aware of the numbers here Aiden, so that's not the issue and neither is the champagne, but if you continue to donate like this then there won't be anything left to give. If we want to maintain the philanthropic tradition of our family then it needs to be done at a sustainable rate."

"I understand that Ace, and you don't need to worry. I know exactly what I'm doing," his face betrayed no emotion but his steely gaze spoke volumes. It was a gaze that inspired loyalty in some, fear in others, but obedience in everyone.

Nearly everyone.

Today he was speaking to his inner circle his fierce independence of spirit and natural leadership was matched by almost everyone he could see. It was the reason his mother had invited them; not only was he looking at the entire board of directors of the Hermanes corporation but if anyone in his world was able to stand up to him, then they were sitting right in front of him.

Axel, the youngest of the three brothers, spoke up. If the impulsiveness of youth had long ago left the two older brothers, Axel still held an edge of fieriness that his mother and older brothers hoped would soon soften with age.

"We all get it Aiden, we all miss dad--"

"You? Miss dad?" Aiden said accusingly. Axel hesitated, looking briefly away from his older brother before continuing.

"We all respect the tradition of giving, but this is just crazy. Give it all away and then what happens? We're just as poor as the people we're trying to help. That's no good for anybody."

"Every donation is tax-deductible. Charity is good for business," Aiden said, refusing to give an inch.

"Don't patronize us Aid," Ace said. "We all know that, but 10% of Hermanes in just six months? It's financial suicide. Speculation in the media that something is wrong at the heart of Hermanes Inc. is rife and sooner or later it's going to affect business."

Aiden held up his hands and the group went silent, waiting for him to speak as he looked at each of them in the eye, slowly, one by one.

"I'm acting CEO of Hermanes Corporation," he said."Now unless there's something else to discuss, I have somewhere I need to be."

He stood up to go.

"Sit down Aid," Ace said. The tension in the air was near unbearable. The Hermanes family was not accustomed to internal strife in business matters since the passing of Mr. Hermanes senior. Normally they spoke as one voice, guided by Aiden's acknowledged razor-sharp business sense.

That guidance had been accepted without resentment or question until his seemingly endless spree of philanthropy threatened to bankrupt the corporation.

Aiden gave Ace a long cold look before he sat down. Like all of them, he was used to giving orders, not taking them.

"This better be good." he with quiet intensity.

Their mother spoke quickly, hoping to defuse the situation.

"It is good Aiden. Good for everyone. We have come together today simply to discuss how much money Hermanes Inc. should give away in philanthropic contributions in any given financial quarter, that's all."

"I've already decided how much that should be," Aiden said.

"Aiden Hermanes does not equal Hermanes Inc," Axel said with evident irritation, "no matter what you think."

Aiden looked at him, his expression giving nothing away.

"Of course I don't think that, but this specific decision is mine and mine alone, just as our father said it should be and as the board, including everyone here, agreed upon. Now if you'll excuse me--"

"If you won't discuss this with us then we will have no choice but to ask you to stand down as CEO." Ace said. Aiden was motionless for a moment. The two brothers had fought many times as children but never as grown men. They had always been equally matched and neither feared the other.

The room held its breath as Aiden looked to Emerson, the family lawyer. He didn't need to say a word to the tough old legal shark.

"It can be done." Aiden looked around the room again. If Emerson said it was true then it was true. No one in the world knew the Hermanes family legal affairs like Emerson. He had been defending the family's interests since the brothers were in diapers.

Aiden took a long deep breath and then looked at Ace.

"Give me a proposal and I'll think it over. Now if you all will please excuse me--"

"There's one more thing." Ace said.

Aiden waited, his face still betraying no emotion but his family knew him well he was surely enraged at this challenge to his authority.

"Well?" he said.

As confident and strong-willed as Ace was, the words stuck in his throat. It fell to their mother and her 49% interest in the Hermanes Corporation as a whole, to save the moment. Her voice was frail but her power in the corporation was formidable.

"We'd like you to consider getting some help son." She said softly.

"I already have all the help I need. My team is excellent, the best in the world."

"That's not the kind of help we mean."

Even the human barracuda Emerson held his breath in anticipation.

"Exactly what kind of help are you talking about mother?"

She reached into a small pocket in her pleated skirt and put a card on the table.

"This person comes highly recommended."

Aiden Hermanes read the details from where he sat. He didn't deign to pick the card up. It was the name and contact details of a psychological counselor in the States.

He looked back into the eyes of his family and then to Emerson who returned his gaze with all the steel he could muster. The lawyer was capable of staring down a high court judge without flinching an eyebrow but his heart skipped a beat as he nodded his head to assure Aiden Hermanes of the binding nature of what his family was 'suggesting' to him.

Aiden stared defiantly around the room again. The board of directors held its breath.