The Secret Liaison

The Secret Liaison

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

© 2014 Jessie Marie Norfolk, VA

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the author. With exception to reviewers, magazine articles, newspaper, and radio host who have permission who may quote brief passages for public display.

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Dedication

To everyone who believes love conquers all.

The Secret Liaison

By Jessie Marie

The Brent’s

              Lavish parties were a custom in high society. They were a time for women to show off their new gowns and men of power to make deals all under the umbrella of Champaign flutes and crystal chandeliers.  Waiters in Tuxedos smoothly worked the room ensuring that all of the guests had drinks. The eighteen piece big band delighted the crowd with sounds from the Jazz Age.  It was a celebration; the occasion was a fundraiser for Justin Brent’s bid in the Senate race. People were falling over themselves to be a part of the Brent Political Dynasty.  Justin’s father was Congressman Joshua Brent and his grandfather, rest his soul, was the beloved Speaker of The House Jordan Brent.  You might say that patriotism ran deep in the Brent family.   The historic John Marshall Ballroom was filled to capacity with a who’s who in the political world and a roster of superstars clamoring to pay $50,000 a plate to be a part of history.  It was said when a Brent decides to run for office American flags everywhere fly a little higher; they were loved by all.

              Justin was not the only Brent making headlines.  His twin brother Austin decided that he would be better suited to run the family business; Brent Electrical.  The latest Brent Electrical patent is the technology behind the electrical Car.

The company has always been on the cutting edge and five steps above the competition.  With Austin running the company revenue was through the roof with $16.999 billion; earning Brent Electric a top spot on the Fortune 500.  Last year profits were over thirteen million and counting.  Between politics and business the Brent’s were golden. 

              Justin and Austin were 29 years old.  They looked more like models than a politician and a CEO, standing 6’3 with a strong solid 200lb frame.  Most women say their best features are their grey eyes and curly blond hair.  They clearly took their looks from their mother, Julia Brent.  She was the real back bone of the Brent Family.  A statuesque blond with Hollywood glamour, there wasn’t a camera alive that didn’t love Julia and when they were young Julia never missed an opportunity to have the Brent twins in the limelight.  She believed they single handedly captured the heart of America; and in turn votes for their father’s Congress run.  The twins excelled in academics attending all the finest prep schools.  They both were top of their class at Princeton, Austin graduating summa cum laude and Justin right behind him magna cum laude in business. 

The original plan was for the twins to take over the family business from their aging uncle Barnacle Brent.  He had been grooming them both since they were teenagers. 

Their father, Congressman Brent, was a CEO in name only; he left all business decisions to his brother.  Barnacle was unable to have any children of his own so his nephews were his legacy for the company that his father built.  He was initially hurt by Justin’s decision to leave the company and follow behind his father and enter politics, but the reality was that politics was also a Brent family legacy.  The day that Austin took over as CEO of Brent Electric was the proudest day of Barnacle’s life.

The fundraiser was in high gear and Justin and Austin were working the room like the seasoned pros that they were when a woman approached them from the rear.  Austin noticed her first “Hello Madeline, and how is your evening” he said loud enough to catch his brothers attention.  Madeline Rowe was a powerful woman who assumed everything belonged to her; including Justin Brent.  Raising her glass to the brothers with a twinkle in her eye Madeline looked at Justin as she answered Austin’s question “Why Austin I am splendid this evening and I just love the accommodations at The Jefferson, don’t you?”  She never caught the confused look on Austin’s face.  But Justin did and laughed slightly because he knew exactly what Madeline was doing.  She was making a halfhearted attempt to tell him where she would be staying in hopes that he would show up and rekindle a fire that had long ago extinguished.

Instead of embarrassing her further Justin said “Of course Maddy, The Jefferson is one of the finest places around. Um will you excuse us please.” He nudged Austin who was still behind the eight ball and told him that they needed to go check on that thing.  The twins left Madeline to contemplate if Justin using his play name for her was a sign of affection.

The night was turning out to be a success.  By the amount of people in the room a ton of money had been raised for the election cause.  Austin was standing on the podium looking noticeably awkward.  As he tapped the microphone the music slowly lowered causing everyone to give him their attention as he began to speak.  “I want to first thank all of you for coming out to support my twin brother in his bid for the senate.  I never had any doubt that he would do wonderful things.”  There was applause and Justin could be seen in the crowd waving and smiling like a Cheshire cat as Austin continued.  “I have an announcement of my own to make tonight.” He clears his throat. “It’s a surprise to everyone, but we wanted to share our news this way.”  Austin began looking around the stage and gave a nod in the direction of the left corner.  She sashayed towards Austin glowing like a sparkling star.  Cheers could be heard in the crowd as she made her way over to Austin and kissed him.  Camera flashes were flickering as if the young couple were movie stars. 

Austin peeled his eyes away long enough to say “I know most of you already know this beautiful woman standing here with me, but let me re-introduce you to her.  I want you all to say hello to Jessica Dublin-Brent, my wife.”  A collective gasp and claps were growing in the room. The sound of the applause sounded like the rhythm section of the finest jazz band.  Austin made eye contact with both his father and Justin, he couldn’t tell rather they were happy with his news or pissed but he continued to speak, going for broke.

“Jessica and I are not only a union in marriage but we would also like to announce the merger of Brent Electric and Dublin Engineering.”  With that the couple kissed again and then walked away from the podium as reporters clamored to speak to them and take their picture.  When they made it from the stage Justin and Joshua Brent were standing there.  The look on their faces was indifferent; they have been involved in the public long enough not to give away how they were feeling to a photographer.  Austin held Jessica’s hand as she stepped from the podium still smiling for photos.  The band began to play an upbeat tune that caught people’s attention and some began to move towards the dance floor while others went back to discussing what the recent Brent news meant.  Austin was in a starring match with his brother and father that was becoming more uncomfortable by the moment until Jessica stepped in and said “why don’t we go into the other room and talk.  There is no need to continue to stare at each other out here in public.” 

Joshua was trying to keep his cool when he said “And why not Missy? You and my son decided to do this out here in the public.”  He was waving his hands around at the crowd of spectators visibly pissed that Jessica would have the nerve to address him.  Justin stepped up and said “You know what, she is right.  Let’s go into the back offices and talk, but I don’t want to be gone too long.”  

The family retreated to the back offices of the ballroom.  If steam could be seen it surely would be seen coming from Joshua Brent.  He despised the Dublin family and everything they stood for and both boys damn well knew it.  He felt that Austin had deliberately spit in his face after everything that he did for him.  The slamming door alerted everyone just how pissed the elder Brent was but his words left no doubt “After all I have done for you, you pull this.  You marry this tart and parade her around at the biggest night of your brother’s life.” Joshua was yelling so loud that spittle was flying from his mouth but that didn’t stop him from continuing “And not only do you marry this tramp but you link her to my father’s business.  A business that my dad built with his blood sweat and tears. What the fuck is wrong with you boy?” Suddenly there was a loud bang on the table that caused everyone to turn around. 

What they saw might frighten the average man, but not a Brent, the words she spoke however reminded them all of the power of a woman “Now sir, and I say that trying to hold on to the last little bit of respect that I have left for you, You have called me a tart and a tramp and you don’t even know the first thing about me.  So I can only assume that you are a sexist pig.  And that’s fine, you can be that but let me assure you that as a wife I am more than Austin deserves and a business partner I am the best that he will ever have.  Now you put that in your pipe and smoke it.” Staring at three mystified looks Jessica walked out of the door to rejoin the party.

Jessica Dublin-Brent was the most powerful woman in the world of engineering.  She learned the business from the time she was a teenager working at Dublin Engineering every summer.  She was an only child, never having the brother that her father so desperately wanted.  But Jessica was very eager to learn and the result was her graduating at the top of her class with a degree in Engineering from Cornell University.  Jessica was smart, beautiful, and the sole heir to one of the largest engineering firms in the country.  The attraction to Austin had been there for as long as she could remember, but when she mentioned it to her father he was dead set against her getting involved with anyone with the last name Brent.  She could never get a straight answer from him and now she never would because he died three years ago. 

Shortly after that she ran into Austin at a conference and they began seeing each other quietly both agreeing that keeping their family out of their personal life would give them a chance to get to know each other without undue outside influence.  As she walked back to the party Jessica was secretly glad they made that decision.  It has had its positives and now here comes the negatives.

Austin was sitting on the corner of the desk ready to go to war with his brother and father over his wife.  The atmosphere was thick but they had been here before and made it through. 

“So is someone going to say something because I have to get back to my fundraiser?” said an impatient Justin.  In his mind what’s done is done.  At the end of the day Brent’s support Brent’s in what they do.  So he was ready to stand for his brother in his marriage and business decisions.  Neither he nor his father were ready to run the family business although they were both CEO’s on paper they didn’t have the voting power to stop Austin from running the company how he saw fit.  In essence they both just collected checks and did little to no work. The elder Brent was still visibly upset but just shook his head at his eldest by two minutes son and said “I hope you know what you are doing.”  The look of disgust on his face was evident as he walked out of the room slamming the door.  Austin stood and extended his hand to his brother saying “I sure hope I didn’t ruin your party Jus.” Justin started to laugh at his twin “You could never ruin anything. 

If your announcement of the merger is good for business then it’s good for the family.  And you can marry whoever the hell you want to forget what dad is talking about.”  That’s all that Austin needed to hear as the brothers embraced and headed back to the party in better spirits. 

Austin watched his wife from across the room, she was marvelous in her curve hugging black Versace gown.  He admired how she captured the room with her splendor standing 5’9 and packing a powerful 160 pounds of beauty into her dress; she was radiant. Jessica was three years older than him but you couldn’t tell it by her beauty, enthusiasm for life and her sexual appetite. He knew he made the right decision when it came to Jessica. Walking over and rescuing his wife from an investor from Nafta Pharmaceutical he could see the relief on her face “I must have had the ‘I need rescuing’ look on my face dear.”  The scent of her perfume was driving him absolutely wild, he tried to place it; it wasn’t too strong but there was a hint of peach and apple.  She was causing him to lose concentration without making any effort.  “You had the ‘I want to go home and make powerful love to my husband look’ on your face and who am I to disappoint?” Austin whispered in her ear which caused her to blush from ear to ear while she answered “That is exactly what I was thinking.  Let’s go.”