Perfectly Ruined by:jdollar *a D'Amore story*

Chapter 1

▪□■▪□■▪□■life is short, time is fast, no replay, no rewind, so enjoy every moment as it comes▪□■▪□■▪□■
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Pauly
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I'll the French people one thing, they know how to party. I'm leaving the event early tonight. Two women have been so kind to join me. Their hopes being that I will satisfy their needs for a night. Both women begin to kiss and suck at either side of my neck in the back of my limo. When that does little to stir my desire, the women start making out with each other. Leaving me to my thoughts. Which is perfectly fine by me.
Who would have thought that the day would come when two blonde slutty women kissing wouldn't hold my interest. I'm at all sure what the fuck is wrong with me. It's been like this for nearly a week. Perhaps it's the uncontrollable sense of being needed by my family.
Not the corrupt people I call my parents but my family from down south.
This homesick feeling is foreign to me. It started in Greece. I woke in a bed that wasn't mine. I had just been yanking on my pants when a wild eyed granny came bursting in, not too pleased that her granddaughter brought me home. As the crazy old woman waved around her broom, hitting me in the head a time or two, she reminded me of Mawmaw, and the homesickness set in.
I tried to ride myself of the uncomfortable feeling in Spain. Then again in Russia. And then when neither of those worked I ended up here in Paris. Which should have done the trick. I've always liked the French people, especially the women. But it seems not even the land of beautiful French ladies can ease the achy pain in my heart. I've never done well with feelings. In my experience they only lead to disappoints and heart aches.
It isn't as if I ever experienced much love as a child. Samuel, my father is a heartless man, the only thing he has ever cared about is making money, lots of it too. Genevieve, the very woman that gave birth to me, has only one love of her life and that's my eldest brother, Henry. He is the light of her life, the golden boy of our family, the perfect one. Despite only being two years older than me, Henry and I have very little in common. Marco however, the youngest of the trio, could pass as my twin if he were a little older, but with seven years between us, he doesn't exactly see things in the same light that I do yet. As for myself, I'm the middle child. The one who has always been overlooked. The one who was left to be raised by nannies and staff members. I was never good enough for any approval and never bad enough for any attention.
By the time I turned thirteen I was sent off to live with my great Aunties. Two women that loved me more in six months than I ever had been in my life. It wasn't long until I had the bickering old ladies wrapped around my little finger. I could do no wrong. That was until the hormones started to take over. The two women, no matter how much they adored me, didn't much appreciate their liquor cabinets being broken into. Or the drugs being brought into their home. Or the wild parties I threw when they would leave town for a small trip.
The last party on their shared estate turned into a rager that ended up in the papers and on the news. The whole thing had gotten out of control. Samuel had been none to pleased by my actions and since I was turning seventeen, he decided that I needed a firmer hand to watch over me. That's when he sent me to live with Lex D'Amore for a while.
My father's nephew and my older cousin. At thirty three, Lex is hardly old enough to have a son my age but he does. An adopted son, Oscar D'Amore. Our ages aren't the only thing we share, we also have the same birthdays, and enjoy a lot of the same things. Since Lex had been doing such  a fine job with Oscar, my father had thought it was the perfect opportunity to send me down. I had arrived with a chip on my shoulder. Not planning on liking the family as much as I did. I had just known things would end badly. That Lex had it out for me when he began waking me before dawn to head for his gym. Thinking he had plans on breaking down my carefully made up walls I had, I hadn't been too pleased with his taking me out every morning to bang my fists into a punching bag. Lex had been sneaky in his efforts, as he helped me work out my anger, I grew to trust him. In trusting him, I began talking with him. Telling him things that upset me. Explaining why I feel the way I do. And in that time, we grew close to each other. To the point where I had been ready to take a bullet for him, literally. Lex helped train me. Teaching me how to do things the way a father would his son. How to win in a fight. How hold a weapon. To shoot a gun.
I also came to realize that stealing Oscar's girlfriend from behind his back wasn't exactly what I wanted to do either. Of course, Arabella is beautiful and I couldn't help being attracted to her but as I grew closer to Oscar the less I wanted to hurt him. Old habits of ruining everything around me was a hard one to beat. Oscar D'Amore turned out to be the best friend I could have ever hoped for and betraying him lost it's appeal. Though I'm not so sure Arabella would have even gone for it anyways, she's loved Oscar from the moment she met my cousin. In truth, the only reason the idea had come to me in the first place was because I had been jealous of Oscar. Wishing that I had people that loved me as much as he did.
As time went on with the family in Georgia, I realized that these people were nothing like the parents that raised me. In fact, they're so different that it's hard to believe they share any DNA at all.
Even my father's older brother, John D'Amore, Lex's father, could not be any more polar opposite to my father. It truly was shocking to me then and it still is now. My father is a business man through and through. His investment firm has made him a very, very wealthy man. Then add in the stocks, dividends, and some very well planned out investing, Samuel D'Amore has made a name for himself in New York city. The 'King of the Big Apple' one of the magazines had called him just last month.
With my gold digging, sneaky, social light, mother, Genevieve, by his side, they've become almost untouchable. Which is why I gave up trying to prove myself to them two years ago. After graduating with Oscar's class, I had taken it upon myself to prove that I could make smart business decisions too. The south had plenty of bars but what they lacked in that town was a classy establishment that men could gather at to enjoy an evening without having to call it a 'strip club'. I had kept my eye open for the perfect opportunity to open my very own Burlesque club. A place a little more classy than your average strip joint. A club for gentlemen, not pimps and dealers.
Then when an old block was getting a makeover with the perfect building for sale, I jumped on the chance. Though not being eighteen at the time had stopped the deed from going into my name, I had somehow talked my father into purchasing it for me. But old doubts crept their way back into my mind and no sooner did I begin to question myself did my father jump on the opportunity to crush my plans. Hearing things like 'you'll never be anymore than a disappointment' and 'that's all you ever do, make plans', for years on end, it can seriously fuck your head.
At Lex's son's baptism, my father had come down only to say these words again. Then at a family gathering, I could take no more, exploding with anger, embarrassing me and him in the process.
That's when I split. Leaving behind the people I had grown to care about the most, to run as far away as I could. And as long as I don't do anything to cause shame to the family name or end up in jail somewhere, I am allowed to keep the allowance from my father. With a little added in for just staying gone.
Money has never been an issue for me. Or anyone with the last name D'Amore. Even Oscar, despite being adopted in, has somehow gotten the family trait of making money. Though it seems that's not the only trait that runs in this line. Jealousy does too. Maybe it depends on how the person is raised but I know I had been horrible jealous of Oscar when I first started spending time with him. And I know for a fact that Samuel is jealous of Lex. Lex is only just getting into his mid thirties and has already transformed his business into a multi million dollar empire. Samuel hadn't even come close to achieving that at Lex's age and it won't be long before Lex begins to outshine Samuel, especially with Lex moving into Samuel D'Amore's kingdom of Manhattan.
Perhaps that's why I have an unsettling sense of being needed. Samuel will go after Lex financially and Genevieve will attempt to take them down socially. Lex has always been very good at keeping an eye on his family but he's never had to do so while establishing himself among the ruthless business leaders of New York. And I know down in my gut, it won't just be Lex and Mia they will come after. My parents will attack all of them from both sides. Oscar and Arabella. Chris and Jessy. John and Mawmaw. Not one of them will be safe once they cross the state line.
The claws will come out, just not publicly. I know how my parents work, it will be sneaky. Like a shark coming up from down below. They won't see them coming until it's too late.
I know all this is coming and what have I done about it? Not a fucking thing. I've stayed hidden away, leaving them all to fend for themselves. Lex doesn't deserve that and neither does Oscar. It's because of Oscar that I'm still currently half owner of the Burlesque club that he took over in my place. The only thing I've contributed to it at all is some half ass ideas scribbled down in an old notebook that he found. With my being M.I.A, Samuel had wanted to toss the idea all together, it was Oscar who had seen the brilliance behind my idea. And it's been Oscar who has taken my plans and brought them to life, all the while insisting that I be listed as half the owner! He's sent me pictures of things every so often, asking my advice even though we both know it wasn't needed. I have to say that Oscar has a talent for what he's done. Impressing everyone with how well he's done everything and the profit he has made from it. He has insisted on sending me my half, not taking no for an answer either.
Between my pension from Samuel every month, the additional money I receive from keeping my ass out of trouble, and the money Oscar insists on sending every month, my accounts are looking a bit abnormally large. The numbers hitting eight figures six months ago.
The driver stops the limo outside my hotel, the two women now so sexually frustrated they have become short tempered, I follow them out of the car. I reach for my wallet, sighing. The two slutty blondes huff as I hand them money for a cab.

"Sorry, ladies," I speak their language perfectly. "I'll be heading up alone tonight after all. Go back and enjoy the party."

They each take turns giving me a slap across the cheek, both having been offended by my offer of money, but then both taking it anyways. My eyes meet the drivers as he tries to hold back his laugh. When I give him a side ways grin and shrug, he finally let's out his chuckle. I head inside to the lobby. Waiting on the elevator to open, I dig out my phone. I'll just check to see when the next flight to New York is, in case I decide to go back. But I find several missed calls from Oscar, the only one with my new number.

'Call me back, Pauly. I didn't want to tell you this over the phone or through a voicemail but you won't answer. You're brother, Henry, he's been in an accident.'