Exclusively Mine

"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.