Chapter 1

February 1986

"Yes, yes, yes," was Darcy's reply to my marriage proposal. She knocked me on my ass as she jumped into my arms and smothered my face with kisses.

I pulled her to me for a real kiss as we sat on the path in Central Park. As we broke our kiss I said, "Darcy, you've answered one question, but it just created so many more. When will we get married, and where will we get married? How long after we marry do you want to move? When and how will we tell everyone? Should we call each person or fly to them to see their responses? Any answer to any of those questions is fine with me. I'm simply tired of being alone. I just want to become a 'we', and not just a 'me'."

"We can be together, and to prove it, I'll kick Karen out of my bed for you. It's weird that I love to dominate women, but feel so much better being submissive to you. I love to have young pretty girls to boss around, but with you, the only thing I want is to continue being your little fuck toy. Since neither of us wants other men, I think that this will work out well. Just imagine. We can travel the world sharing the women we find."

"So you want an open relationship? What if Marshal and Peggy want to swap?"

"Marshal and Peggy might be an exception, but I don't want to go to parties and hook up with strangers. If you wanted me to do that, then we could talk about it, but since I'm not a slave but a wife, I'd hope that we could talk about it first."

"Of course we can. I want you to feel happy, more than anything else."

"We'll be happy. I feel like I won the lottery in both men and money. Just to place your mind at ease, I'll be happy to sign a pre-nup. I know how hard you worked for what you have."

"I don't have anything. It's all owned by trusts that I'm a beneficiary in. If anyone ever sues me, we have designed the trust so that it will stop making payments to me. You're marrying me, not the trust. In any case, I'll give you more money than you can spend anyways. Is there something you want? I'll probably have made more in interest while talking about it than it will cost. My plan is to give a lot of it away, but right now I make around $1,500 a second twenty-four hours a day."

Darcy looked like she was thinking about something hard and finally spoke. "That was twenty seconds or thirty thousand dollars. Can, I ask you to please make a very large donation to the New York Symphony?"

"I don't have time for that. I can't write checks fast enough. It would take me more time to write the checks than spend the money. I'll set up a foundation so that I can donate to it. I have charities that I'll want to support and so will you and your girls. What we'll do, is set it up so the foundation makes the contributions for us. If you want to create a new symphony in Las Vegas, with the money that you'll have, you can do that. If you want to buy new uniforms for the Pride of the Sunshine Marching Gator Band, you can do that too."

"Wow that will be fun for a couple of minutes."

"It can be mind-boggling. That's why we hire people like Karen to take care of it. If you really want to, you could buy a new house and car, every day of the year. The worst part is that sometimes the money gives you a false sense that you don't need anyone or anything else. I could hire as many hookers that I wanted, but what I need now is love. I could buy my way into or out of most situations, but I need some morality and guidance to tell me when I've gone too far. I believe in God, but I don't need to pray for enough money to pay my bills at the end of the month. In many ways, having more money than you can spend does change your perspective."

"How do you plan on keeping yourself from falling into the traps you just talked about?"

"My plan is to set up trusts that will limit how and what, I can spend money on. I'll set up guidelines that will remind me of why I worked so hard to earn the money. It will also remind the people who do benefit from my charity that they have responsibilities as well. If I give a billion dollars to the Shiner's Children's Hospital and too much of that goes to the management and not to the kids, then the next year, the guidelines will state that the foundation can't make that same gift again. It all boils down to accountability."

"So, it will be very important on the front end to set up rules for spending based on principles."

"Yes. In addition, I've set up a revocable trust for friends and family although I'll probably expand it or redo portions of it now that we've become engaged, because you're part of that trust. The way I've structured the trust is that if my sister decides to sit on her ass and do nothing, she can get $12,000 a year in income from the trust. If she gets a DUI or another legal issue comes up because of drugs or alcohol, she'll get nothing without her passing a clean drug test. If she's working and making fifty grand a year then she'll get a check for fifty from the trust. I could afford to give everyone a million dollars a year, but it would just ruin their lives. After a certain age, the rules will change. Mom and Dad can retire at fifty-five without worrying along with everyone else in the trust. The trust will take care of college, room and board but not in an apartment like mine."

"I think the way you've set up the trust will be a good thing. Look how you turned out you big jackass."

"Darcy, just remember that I can spank my wife too. She doesn't have to have slave status for me to do that."

"Yes, Dear."

"We should go back and tell Karen and Lilly about our plans and see if they want to come with us and be a part of our lives."

Darcy said, "I hope they do, I love them both very much."

"I hope they want to come with us as well. I know you care for them both."

We walked the few blocks to Darcy's place. We found Lilly at home, but Karen was still at work. Lilly couldn't miss the big diamond on Darcy's finger and was hugging her before she could say anything. She knew that this event would change things for her, but she'd been around long enough to know that Darcy wanted to live with me. When the questions started from Lilly, Darcy told her to wait for Karen, and that at the moment, she didn't have all the answers yet. She said, "The first thing that came up was that we need to move out of the state, since New York will take almost nine percent of his income if he lives here. That would be billions of dollars that he couldn't use for charity because the government had a better way to spend his money."

Lilly said, "I know that Karen loves her job here, but she loves you too. I'm not sure what she'll do if you move."

I said. "I know that Darcy loves Karen and she wants you both to come with us. If Karen decides to stay, she can keep the car and the condominium. Darcy will pay it off for her."

Lilly started to ask questions and got mostly "I don't know yet," as an answer.

Karen came home and noticed the ring as well. I don't know how they do it. You could see the joy and confusion on her face. Darcy sat her down and hugged her. Karen was already crying. Darcy told her that everything would be all right.

Karen said, "I know that this is what you wanted and hoped for even if you never said anything."

"Karen, I love Britt and I love you and Lilly. I'll be marrying Britt, but I want you and your mom to come with us, to live with us. I know you love your job and the responsibilities you've but we think that we can find something for you wherever we end up?"

"Can't we stay in New York?"

"No, New York is a high tax state and Britt pays more than enough taxes already."

"Can we go back to San Francisco?"

"California is just as bad if not worse. There are several states that don't have an income tax and those are the places we'll be looking at to live."

"What'll I do, work in a branch office after working my way up in the company?"

I said, "Karen, when I was talking to Darcy about marriage, you were one of her main concerns. She wants you to feel happy. I told her that you'd be a good person to oversee an investment company that's being set up. You'll oversee trading, research, taxes, charitable foundations, trusts and maybe even a mutual fund if it's the right choice of investment."

"What's it called?"

"You haven't named it yet. I have over five hundred billion in assets and over fifty billion in income annually. I also have trusts that are set up for friends and family. I want to set up a charitable foundation and a think tank for entrepreneurs. We need to set up all these functions. Some of the things that we need to address are the need to hire people, and establish trading relationships. We need to do all of this from scratch with the best people you can find. You may have an office in New York, Washington DC, San Francisco or other places if they make sense for the business but that will be up to you and your management staff."

"I'll have a staff?"

"Karen, this isn't a play company to give you something to do. This is a real company. You'll hire CPA's, attorneys, financial analysts, economists, technology people, human resources, and all the support staff. You can also make solicitations to other investors to manage their money for them."

"I'm not sure that I can handle all that."

"You can decide how much or how little you feel comfortable with. I'll be pointing you in the directions, that I want you to focus my investments and I'll listen to your advice. When I started my companies I found and brought in the smartest people to help me."

"Wow that's a big promotion. Will I get paid?"

"More than you make now. We can start at ten times your current pay and then adjust it as we go."

"Holy shit. I don't know what to say. I don't know where to start."

"I'll need a few weeks to get the ball rolling. You should put in your notice and let Chuck know that we'll use them for some of our trading."

Karen gave me a hug and a kiss before saying, "I love Darcy with all of my heart. Please make her happy."

"That's my plan."

Karen started to ask Darcy the same questions that Lilly did, but it didn't go very far. She didn't have the answers. Darcy told Karen that she'd know more in a week as she and I discussed our future.

Darcy and I decided to fly to Orlando instead of calling everyone. I called Art the head of the travel agency and he said that he'd have a jet waiting for us in an hour. We took a cab over to the heliport and then from the executive airfield we took a charter flight direct to Orlando Executive Airport. I was going to call a cab but instead just had Darcy sit in the lounge while I jogged over to the warehouse and stole one of Doug's cars. She liked the old Camaro when I pulled up. I drove over to Park Avenue and checked into the Park Plaza. We dropped off our bags and then had dinner in the restaurant below before heading over to her parents around 8:30.

Her mom opened the door and looked surprised to see her daughter and then me, but when she inadvertently looked at her finger, she started to scream. This sound immediately brought her dad into the entryway, where Darcy gave him a hug then told him that we were getting married.

Her dad said, "I'm glad you're finally going to get together."

I don't think he really liked me, but he worked for Marshal, and I'm sure he knew about what we'd done. We still didn't know when or where we'd be married, but as of the moment, there was no question in anyone's mind, about our engagement. We stopped by my Dad's first to let him know, and then moved on to my Mom's place. They were both happy and said that they'd be there. It was almost ten when we knocked on John and Beth's door.

John came to the door and opened it cautiously. When he saw who it was, he looked concerned, but when he saw Darcy, he smiled. He invited us in, and when he said that he'd go get Beth out of the bedroom, I told him that I'd get her. Initially he looked skeptical, but then smiled and said, "Sure."

I walked down the hall and heard Beth ask, "Who was it?"

I said, "Some sexy guy, and his almost new bride."

She jumped out of bed and dropped her book on the floor. She had on a nice see-through nightie, and she looked good. I took her in my arms and gave her a hug, kiss, and a squeeze on her ass. She grabbed her robe as she trotted away from me down the hall.

When I made it to the living room, she had Darcy in a bear hug and John was sitting in a wing back chair, smiling at them.

Beth asked, "When did this happen, and why did it take you so long to let me know?"

"Beth I asked her today, and we had to fly here before we could tell you. We told our parents first, but you're the first non-blood relative we visited."

"Congratulations. When is the wedding and where?"

I looked at Darcy, and she looked at me. I said, "I'll have to ask my personal assistant. It seems that since she came into some money that she's been dropping her duties and hasn't planned it for me yet."

"Fuck you Britt. I just found out about this. I'll plan the best wedding this side of my daughters."

"She can be in the wedding," I said.

"I'm sure she'll want to take part in it."

"Should we get married here so we can have half of the world in attendance, or maybe we should pick someplace private and invite our closest friends? We could keep it to a couple of hundred people. We can rent out a hotel and a couple of jets to take everyone to Hawaii."

Darcy said, "That sounds like fun."

"Maybe we can straddle the international date line, so we can have different anniversaries."

Beth said, "That would be novel, but a pain in the ass for celebrating. Not to mention the marriage license."

"Britt, let's try to keep it simple, but a private beach in Hawaii sounds so romantic."

"Figure it out with Beth and your mom. Let me know what you decide. Make sure that your dad knows that I'll be paying for everything so he doesn't have a heart attack. I'll have veto powers but as long as I don't have to wear a pink tux with ruffles, I won't fuss too much. I'll ask Doug to act as my best man, and when you figure out the number of bridesmaids, I'll pick the rest of my groomsmen. We can stop by and see him in the morning, but I should give him a call and let him know that we're in town and I borrowed a car."

I went into the kitchen, called Doug, told him about the car, and asked him to meet us for breakfast in the morning at Brandywines. He said that he and Jill would be by around nine after they got everything up and running downtown.

Beth told Darcy that she'd see her after breakfast and Darcy and I went back to the hotel and made love. It just seemed different. It may have just been that we were both smiling so much. Eventually we both fell asleep. In the morning I found her cuddled into my shoulder, and we continued to talk about our lives in the future some more. She asked about the wedding.

"Do you think that a hundred people will be too many?"

"For my side of the family, I think that I can maybe get by with that many. However, I'll first need to think of friends, family and business people. I'm sure I'll have to invite some people I don't know or care too much about just to keep relations with people. When I think about it, I barely know any of the kids in my dad's new family except for some holiday meals where we sat at the same table. I absolutely want to invite Cindy and Cathy, so I will probably need to invite the kids on Dad's side as well."

"How many from business will you invite?"

"At least thirty but Beth will have a better idea. We both have friends from college and our lives after college. Just make a list of everyone and if it's too many we'll see how many we need to cut. If we don't want someone there that we feel we need to invite, we don't have to pay for the flight or hotel. If we need a lot of rooms, we'll need to push back the wedding until we can get the rooms and so people can plan around us."

"Let's shoot for around your birthday at the end of August."

"I imagine that six months will be enough time to let everyone know, so that's fine with me. Pick a place and a date then check with the hotel. I'm certain that we can make everything else happen. Do you know any musicians that may want to play at a wedding in Hawaii at the end of August?"

"How many do you want? I could get a double orchestra if you're paying the tab."

"I'm stepping back and letting you figure it out. Now let me up so I can shower before we meet Doug and Jill."

Doug and Jill were waiting for us when we arrived. After saying hello to all, Jill said, "Nice ring."

Doug followed up quickly with, "Congratulations, I knew that you couldn't remain single your whole life."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, or failure depending on how you meant it."

"What I meant, is that I'm happy for you."

"Darcy and I thank you."

Jill asked, "When's the wedding?"

"We don't have a date yet, but we're looking toward the end of August in Hawaii. We'll let you know the date as soon as it's final," Darcy said.

I saw Jill's look at Doug. It was a little sad.

When I saw Jill's face, I said, "We're going to rent out a hotel if we can find one and then charter a Jet for everyone. I hope you don't have other plans. If so let us know and we can always change the date."

Jill's frown turned into a bright smile and said that anytime in August would be fine. We had a nice breakfast and the girls walked out talking while I settled the bill. I looked at Doug and asked, "Are you still having trouble with your bills?"

"We'll be fine. There's a bright light at the end of the tunnel. As soon as we finish the last apartment complex and sell off the commercial property in front, we'll be completely out of debt. We just keep running into things that hold up payments and then we have to use our own saving to cover it. We keep paying off houses but it takes our free cash."

"Doug, it pains me to see you guys living like this. When are you closing on the complex?"

"It's scheduled for September but I told Jill that we weren't paying off any more houses until after then so we'll be fine."

"Why don't you hold off on making any house payments on the mortgage I hold, until then as well? You have a great house, but it owns you."

"I'll be happy when this is all behind us. You set us up for success, but we started living the life before we paid the dues."

"I'll be happy for you when we complete this. If you need anything, let me know. We can structure it however you want."

"We should be fine but I'll let you know before we miss a payment on anything."

"Good." We then found the girls across the street in the park sitting on a bench. We crossed over to meet them. After a few more hugs, Doug and Jill left to get back to work, and I dropped Darcy at Beth's office. I drove downtown and went in to see if John was free. He was reading a file but stopped to make time for me.

Chapter 2 »