Prologue
James Diamond opened his apartment's door and stepped inside. A wave of blessedly hot air hit him. It was freezing cold outside today, and the contrast between the shivering Minnesota winter cold and his house made goose bumps rise on his skin. Okay, he had to admit. All he's done was stepping in and out of his Limousine at the right places and walking five meters, through the cold from it to the lobby of the luxury apartment complex.
He set his suitcase down on the antique coffee table his mother sworn to have spent a fortune on, his mind on a tall glass of hot chocolate. He turned toward the refrigerator, and froze.
James recognized Monique's handwriting on first glance. That was not because she had worked under him for a long time or anything. The letter S in YOU SON OF A BITCH, I RUE THE DAY WE MET was written in a gothic way which was unique to Monique Vanderbilt. There goes his forth PA since last August. Monique was the first of his employees who'd ever been invited to his apartment, much less his bed. Because James followed his mother, the legendary Brook Diamond's 'never mix business with pleasure' rule to the last letter.
Something wrong was about to happen. Call it a gut feeling. The goose bumps on his arms weren't going away. In fact, they prickled, screaming an alarm at his brain. He listened carefully. Only the hum of the heater and the quieter sound of the refrigerator broke the silence. He opened his cell phone and dialed Matt's number. Since all his last Personal Assistant Monique did was warming his bed, he had asked Matt, his mentor in all things corporate, to help him with running Diamond cosmetics. Matt has always had a huge crush on his mother, but Brooke Diamond being Brooke Diamond, never had time for romance. However, they are taking a fresh start now as James has taken the whole company from her hands.
"Hey Matt, is my mom with you? Are you guys having fun?" Like the rest of the rational people in this part of the world, his mom and his soon-to-be stepdad had traded the Minnesota white winter to a tropical one in the Fiji.
"Jamie, what's wrong?" Matt's voice was alarmed.
He loved Matt's ability to sense distress in his tone no matter how he tried to mask it. Darn it, it worked miracles during board meetings and when he was dealing with stubborn corporate tycoons.
"Monique turned up with her resignation."
"Really, that's the forth PA since I resigned, right. What happened? You didn't cross the privacy zone with her, did you?" Matt had a way of making him feel like a ten year old again.
"Asks the PA who's going to marry his former employer in three months."
"Yeah, I know. It's like the pot calling the kettle black, but darn it, I thought I taught you not to cross the personal space with your close employees, especially your secretaries. That kind of flings tends to end badly." Hah, she was the one who practically threw herself into me.
"Did you give her any delusions of grandeur?" He knew exactly where Matt was going with this. A few years back, he had dated a French supermodel whose name he could no longer remember. After their two months affair ended, (with him breaking up with her of course) the girl had gone in to a murderous rage. In her fury, she'd tried to accuse him for sexual assault. She couldn't prove anything. But it had caused a huge international scandal with the paparazzi trying to turn his life in to a bloody mess.
"I'm not dumb enough to do something like that, Matt. I had warned her that our relationship was reaching the end of its course."
"I was just checking."
James grinned at the relief in the man's voice. Then he grew sober.
"But we do have a major problem. Someone's onto our work, and they want to know what we're doing. They're clearly not friendly."
Matt perfectly knew what he was talking about. He's been Brooke Diamond's most trusted adviser for over twenty years for nothing. The little troubles here and there in his business empire which they first believed as stupid pranks done by some jobless person, are turning in to full out disasters since last month. His mother or Matt had no idea of half of the headaches he had to bear, dealing with both the police and the press.
"Do you think the Painted Sky is behind it?"
The Painted Sky and The Diamond cosmetics have always been rivals in the cosmetic industry. But since he took the decision to broaden the horizons of his company towards Hotel and Spa, he's getting too much trouble from Bronwyn Grey, the exclusive owner of The Painted sky.
James frowned. "I've had an intruder at my office. Some guys broke into my safe and stole some of my papers. I'm sure they were after the papers of Hollywood project. But they didn't get what they came for." He added grimly, "But I wouldn't put it past the Painted Sky to be meddling again. Wouldn't surprise me in the least to find out they're pulling some ecologist's strings on destroying our project."
Matt replied, "First the fire at the lab, and now this. I'm beefing up security for both the project and you immediately."
"Yeah, that's the problem. You resigned, remember. Don't let these problems mess your vacation Matt, both Mom and you deserve a care free retire life after working your butts off for twenty years."
That meant he'd have to do something which he swore he'd never do ever again. Going back to Hollywood, the city of fame and glory was nothing compared to the possible chances seeing his former friends again. He had done a great job at avoiding any encounter with his friends since his mother dragged him away from the Palmwoods and back to Minnesota seven years ago. Proving everybody wrong, The Big Time Rush thrived with just three members in it. Over the last seven years, they've almost replaced all the British Boy Bands plus the legendary Backstreet Boys in the minds of people worldwide.
"Just be careful okay?"
"Fine. Just don't ask me to suspend the work. We're too close now to stop."
"Not if you die," the former PA retorted sharply. "I know you hate having a body guard anywhere near you, but this is serious, Jamie. Brook will never forgive me if I let something happen to you."
"Matt, I'm twenty four years old."
James sighed. He'd known it would come to this. Just not this soon. Hopefully no one will remember him as the former Big Time Rush member, James Diamond. For some reason, it was a little known fact among the fans that there were four original BTR members. Griffin's work, he supposed. He didn't want to open that can of worms, so liked to keep the little information a well masked secret. People knew him worldwide as the CEO and the owner of Diamond, Cosmetics and Hotels and Spa chain. He was a famous face in the CEO Tiger magazine, which he thought was popular only among corporate Tycoons. And he has been a back to back member in the List of richest hundred men under twenty five, for five years now.
At nine next day morning, he grabbed his coat; he was running late for a meeting with six investment bankers. He remembered to take off the Rugby shirt change into something a little more presentable from the concealed, fully stocked wardrobe in the suite opposite his office. Times like this, he wondered how fast he had changed in to the complete workaholic Lady's man he was today from the care free boy band member Lady's man he'd been, seven years ago. And to think he'd once been in love with his comb.
James raked his fingers through his short chestnut hair. All those memories he had locked in a distant corner of his mind was coming back to him, and it was beginning to grate on him. At five-thirty in the evening, he'll leave his safe haven in Minnesota, back to Hollywood. But this time he had no dreams of a naive teenager of becoming a singer and an Actor to fuel his excitement.
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"Stop pacing Kendall, you're making me nervous."Kendall muttered something under his breath and continued pacing the waiting room next to the ICU.
"Kendall sweetie, Jo's a strong woman she'll go through this without a problem." Their mother patted Kendall's shoulder soothingly but he just yanked her hand off.
"It's been five hours, Mom. What if there's something wrong with Jo or the baby?" He asked for the nineteenth time. Katie was getting bored of this repeated performance. Since Jo went in to labour six hours ago her usually confident brother had turned to a complete different person. She was running late for her very important job interview, but she wanted to stay be her brother's side till her niece or nephew was born.
"It's nothing unusual Kendall; sometimes a labour can take more than ten hours. Calm down." It was funny seeing Logan giving Kendall prep talks. But she had to agree, her brother was acting like a child whose favorite toy was taken away from him, at the moment.
They were all gathered here to help Kendall through this especial moment. All, except him.
No, now is not the right time to think about James. He left them. Yes, he hadn't wanted to go, or so he'd said. But he never bothered to make any contact with them over the last seven years. To say she was shocked to see James' face in the CEO Tiger and Times magazine over and over again would be a sever understatement. But she wondered if she was the only one who saw the intelligent seeking mind behind that pretty face and hundred-wattage smile before he went back to Minnesota and turned the corporate world upside down.
"Okay, I really need to eat a corn dog right now. Katie, Mrs. Knight, do you want anything to eat, and you Kendall. You haven't eaten anything since morning." Carlos said with a warning glance towards his best friend.
"Carlos, my wife's in labour, I'm not in any mood to eat anything."
"You'll change your mind. There's a very good Italian restaurant few blocks away from the hospital."
"You'll be lucky if you could avoid the paparazzi, Carlos. They are camping outside the hospital, even in the lobby."
"Thanks for the warning, man."
With that, Carlos disappeared into the elevator. She wished she could go somewhere else as well. The tension in the waiting room was almost tangible. Katie hoped her impending interview as the Marketing Manager of Saffron Beach Hotel will not be hard. Thanks to Carlos problems with his Blond Jennifer, Buddha Bob's unemployment problem, her own temp jobs and now this, she had zero free time to do a background check on the newly built Hotel giant in the city, The Saffron Beach. She'd heard that it was built by the same person who owned the most successful new casino and hotel in Vegas, the Cinnamon Grand. But it was just a rumor. She hoped that this corporate Tycoon had the slightest idea of what he was doing. It will be hard convincing a board of interviewers to recruit a nineteen year old for such an important job. But it was worth trying.
The door of the ICU cracked open and a doctor emerged through it. Before he closed the door behind him, Katie thought she heard a wailing of a baby.
"Mr. Knight, my congratulations! You have a daughter."
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