When a handsome young Australian businessman named Marc Braddon finds himself at the mercy of two tricksters out to steal his ideas, he wastes no time hatching a plan to beat them at their own game. The outcome of this showdown touches off a potentially hazardous obsession: In his quest to succeed as his own master, Marc throws caution to the winds, taking bigger financial risks for bigger payoffs. Each level of achievement holds its perks and its pitfalls, and each one only whets his appetite for more.

As Marc navigates the corporate obstacle course, he must pick out the dangerous rivals lurking amongst his allies, gambling everything over and over to come out on top.

Meanwhile, on his off hours, his steamy love life contains enough deception and intrigue to be a novel in itself! To win the mating game, he must choose between a sensual, unscrupulous sex kitten and the soulmate he’s been searching for all his life. As the stakes in both games get higher and higher, Marc begins to see two roads stretching before him—but only one will lead to true happiness. That’s when he takes the biggest risk of his life.

Set against the striking, varied backdrop of Sydney and other parts of Australia, Ambition thoroughly engrosses and entertains—on a deeper level, it weighs the needs of the heart against the spirit’s restless drive to achieve on its own terms.

Ambition is a novel that takes us from the depths of self-doubt to the height of self-confidence, allowing us to discover the true meaning of success along the way.

Written by an Australian entrepreneur, Ambition is a hard-hitting novel depicting the ups and downs of an economy, an industry, and one ambitious man.

Discover the high cost of ambition and the true meaning of success along with Ambition’s Marc Braddon.

* * *

Elisa was already waiting for Maddie at a smart York Street café in the center of the city. She had selected a table on the sidewalk and positioned herself so that she could spot Maddie as she approached. It was a warm night at the end of a very hot day, and Elisa was thankful for the breeze that flushed the city streets of the day’s stifling heat.
Turning in her seat, Elisa caught a glimpse of herself in the side window of a car parked next to the curb. The reflection revealed a classically beautiful lady with finely chiseled features, long dark tresses, and shining, crystal blue eyes. In short, she appeared to be the same confident, happy young woman whom Maddie had known from her university days.
Elisa had been a positive force in Maddie’s life for a long time, and vice versa. They had helped each other through some long nights when things were not going well at university or in their personal lives. In the years since, they had maintained a strong friendship and often sought each other’s opinion on important matters.
Turning her gaze back to the street, Elisa could see Maddie approaching. Her friend’s gait was slower than usual, and her face looked a little haggard, as if she were trying to work something out in her mind. Elisa knew not to ask if anything was wrong; if Maddie wanted help, she would ask for it.
“Sorry; I’m always late, aren’t I?” Maddie remarked apologetically as she hugged Elisa.
“You’re only a few minutes late. Anyway, I’ve been enjoying the breeze. I hope you don’t mind if we dine al fresco tonight; it’s too nice to be indoors.”
“No, this is lovely,” Maddie said, putting her bag down on an empty chair before ordering a glass of Perrier from the hovering waiter. “Now, tell me all about your dig. Did you have a good time in Egypt?”
“It was hot and dry; murder on my skin, my fingernails, and my love life!” Elisa joked. “But seriously, it was darn hard work. Going overseas for one or two years at a time plays havoc with every aspect of your life; it takes me six months to get things back to normal when I return. This time, I’ve only got a couple of weeks before I’m off again to set up our new dig in Crete.”
“Sounds like you’re getting tired of it all, Elisa.”
“No, not really; you just caught me at the end of a bad week. All I’ve been doing this week is unpacking, cataloguing, and attending debriefing meetings. I dread that part of coming home, but once I’m all unpacked, I soon get itchy feet again.” Elisa sensed her friend’s misplaced concern, and her face lit up with a smile. “Don’t worry about me, Maddie. I love archaeology. It’s what I do!”
“I believe you, but thousands wouldn’t!” Maddie replied, smiling back. “How are things at the university? Are you getting any closer to that elusive professorship of yours?”
“You mean the Holy Grail, don’t you?” Elisa said with a smirk and a roll of the eyes. “Oh, I don’t know; I must be getting closer, I suppose, because I’m forever writing papers on my findings and heading off to present them at an international conference somewhere. Maybe I need to unearth the Dead Sea Scrolls again, or something equally earth-shattering.”
“It must be hard for you in such a male-dominated bastion like the university,” Maddie said. “Remember how we used to lament the lack of women in our faculties?”
“Yeah, but if you’re good enough, you eventually make it.”
“That’s the spirit, m’girl; just keep on chipping away,” Maddie said, lifting her glass of mineral water and clinking it against Elisa’s.
“Anyway, how’s that brother of yours? I hope he’s not working you too hard.”
“No, he’s OK,” Maddie replied, her face darkening. “I think I may have upset him tonight when I told him about this fabulous guy I just met. I think it sort of knocked him off balance.”
“Fabulous new guy! I need to hear all about him. Tell me everything, Maddie, and don’t leave out a single detail,” Elisa said, her interest piqued.
After Maddie had finished telling her friend about Robert LaPont, her eyes clouded over. Here it comes, Elisa thought, leaning forward to listen.
“I’m worried about Marc,” Maddie confided. “He doesn’t seem too keen about Robert. Marc and I have always been close—always there for each other through all the hard times. Even though I have no idea what will happen yet with Robert, I suddenly feel torn between being there for Marc and creating a life for myself.”
Elisa’s face glowed with compassion. “Maddie, if your brother is anything like you, he will only care about your happiness,” she said firmly. “You should talk it through with him. I’m sure that he would only want what’s best for you. He’d be crazy not to.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right, Elisa,” Maddie told her friend, although her brow furrowed.
“Come on, Maddie. It’s not going to be that tough,” Elisa said with a warm grin. “Time will sort everything out; you’ll see. If it’s meant to happen, it will.”
Maddie pulled out a tissue from her handbag to dry the tears that had suddenly welled in her eyes. Elisa leaned across and took her friend’s free hand.
“Now you know I’ll always be there for you, Maddie, any time you need someone to talk to. Even when I’m in Crete, I’m still only a phone call away. Remember that.”
“Thanks, sweetie,” Maddie said with a brave smile. “Why am I getting so upset? It’s not as if I’m contemplating eloping with the man—I’ve only just met him.”
“I know how strongly you identify with your brother. But you owe it to yourself to make the right decisions for you. If you’re not there for yourself, how can you be there for Marc?”
“That’s true,” Maddie replied, her face brightening.
“Now come on—we’re out here to have good time. What do you want to order for dinner?”

* * *

Alone at his desk, Marc couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feelings that Maddie’s news had given him. Every time his mind wandered away from his work, he found himself wondering what he would do if his sister married and moved away. He finally decided to call Billy.
“How are you?” Marc asked when Billy answered the phone.
“Great, Marcy. I’m just getting the grandkids ready to go to the zoo. And after that, I suppose I’ll have to sit through another McDonald’s meal. Thank God, they have free coffee for senior citizens. I don’t think I can face another cheeseburger.”
“At least I didn’t drag you off to McDonald’s when you were babysitting me,” Marc smirked.
“Yeah, but you were still a handful,” his old friend and mentor returned with a laugh.
Billy was philosophical when Marc told him about Maddie’s news and his fears about the future.
“Look—it might never happen, Marcy.”
“Yeah, but it might.” Marc’s fingers drummed on the desk.
“You’re going to have cross that bridge when you get to it—no sense in worrying yourself to death about it now. Just get on with your life and let time take care of everything else.”
“It’s easy for you, Billy; you’re on the other side of the world. Here, where I am, it feels like someone’s undermined a part of my foundation.”
“Life has a way of quickly getting things back into perspective, Marcy—just allow things to take their course. I know how important your sister is to you, and you should consider her feelings in all of this as well.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m thinking only of myself, but it’s hard to let go. It was hard enough when you moved away.”
“Ah-ha, so you do consider me part of your family,” Billy crowed.
“Of course I do. Why did you say that?”
“Oh, nothing,” Billy chortled. “Just don’t let a misunderstanding grow between you and your sister—tell her how you really feel. Don’t let a festering silence create a divide between you two.”
“I hear you, Billy. But it’s hard not to be selfish and want to keep her all to myself. Oh, it’s all too hard, Billy, and it’s getting late. Maybe I’ll feel better in the morning.”
“Sure you will, and remember, I’m always here if you need a sympathetic ear.”
“Thanks, ‘Dad.’ I’ll talk to you soon,” Marc laughed.

* * *

Based largely on what Maddie told him, Marc supposed that Robert LaPont could be considered “old money,” if such a thing existed in Australia. The LaPonts had held massive landholdings for several generations and had been one of the leading families on the central coast of New South Wales for all of that time. Maddie telling Marc that Robert had had a fairly privileged upbringing and had attended the best private schools in Sydney only cemented Marc’s preconception of Robert as a stuck-up private-school type who was not able to get past his eternal loyalty to the old school tie and the fellows who attended the third grade with him.
All this made Marc very suspicious of Robert. He couldn’t understand why someone from a wealthy family would get serious with someone who didn’t have the same financial standing or social pedigree. He only hoped that Robert wasn’t a cad who was about to shatter his sister’s heart.
The next week, when Robert dropped in to see Maddie at the office on the spur of the moment, Maddie couldn’t resist the urge to show him off.
“Marc, this is Robert,” Maddie said proudly.
Although Marc was taken aback at this unexpected visit, he couldn’t help being impressed by Robert’s presence. He was about six feet tall, with a strong athletic build. He had a crop of black wavy hair and a tanned and unlined face, and his voice had a low, soothing quality.
“Pleased to meet you, Marc,” Robert said as he offered a firm handshake and a friendly smile. “I feel I know you already, from all that Maddie has told me.”
“Likewise, Robert,” Marc said, still recovering from the shock.
“Maddie tells me that you’re very busy down here.”
“Yeah, we are,” Marc replied as he got his bearings. “So, how is your business going? You’re up on the central coast, aren’t you?”
“I’m pretty busy, too. I spend most of my time doing land subdivision and dealing with bankers. It has its moments, but it’s nothing like the hurly-burly of running a building company. Sometimes I envy you that, but only sometimes,” Robert finished with a laugh.
“Can I make you two a cup of coffee?” Maddie asked, her brown eyes darting eagerly from one face to the other.
“Yeah, why not?” Marc said as he motioned Robert to sit down on the lounge in the corner of his office.
Marc found himself easily engaged by Robert’s conversation and his laid-back approach. They quickly found that they shared common interests in sports as well as business. Robert was a big fan of cricket, and he and Marc began sizing up the relative merits of the upcoming test series between Australia and England.
“You know, we’ve been playing five-game test series against the ‘Poms’ for over a hundred years, and even if we beat them, it still feels like we’re in the middle of a never-ending battle. They just keep coming back again! You’d think it would get boring, but I’m just gripped by the contest—I find it hard to concentrate on work for those few weeks every couple of years,” Robert confessed.
“I like the cricket, too,” Marc said. “I’m always willing Australia on to win, even though my heritage is English, but I’m an armchair fan—I watch the highlights package on TV at night rather than go out to the ground.”
Robert shot him a look of surprise. “You don’t know what you’re missing, Marc. The atmosphere at the ground, when two teams are playing any sport at the highest level, is unbelievable.”
“Well, maybe one day I’ll get out to a game.”
“Maybe we can go out together. I’ve carried on my father’s membership of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, and watching cricket from the members’ pavilion is enjoyment in its purest form.”
“You guys aren’t talking sport, are you?” asked Maddie, returning with their coffee. “It’s like the great Aussie barbeque, with the men in one corner talking sport, and the women in the other talking about their kids.” She giggled.
“You didn’t tell me you had any kids, Maddie,” Robert joked.
“Only Marc,” Maddie joked back.
“What can I say?” Marc said, offering his open palms up to the heavens as they all shared a chuckle.

* * *

A few weeks later, Marc received an invitation from Robert to attend the opening day of the Sydney cricket test as his guest. Robert had obviously gone to a lot of trouble to get another seat in the members’ pavilion for one of the city’s most eagerly awaited sporting events, so Marc couldn’t resist taking him up on it.
They sat next to each other from the opening over at 11 A.M. until the last ball was bowled at six. During that span of time, they talked about many things.
“I went to boarding school, and we played a lot of cricket to kill the time,” Robert explained to Marc during the course of the afternoon. “I suppose that’s how I became hooked on the game.”
“Which schools did you go to? Marc asked, turning to look into Robert’s face.
“I went to the Lords School and Knights College,” Robert replied without a hint of a brag. “I was school captain of both and captain of the cricket team.” He shook his head and smiled. “Thank God for this glorious game—it’s the only thing that kept me sane. Boarding schools can be terrible places for young boys.” His smile disappeared, and he shifted uncomfortably.
So he’s human, after all, Marc thought smugly. “Really?” he offered, affecting concern. “We public school boys always heard that the private schools were crawling with bullies. Was that true?”
“Yeah,” Robert remarked with a laugh. “I suppose bullying was the worst aspect of my time at those schools, if you discount chronic loneliness. Most people left me alone, but some of my friends took a terrible shellacking. I used to have to step in and try to protect them with negotiation, fists, or anything else available to me.”
“Is that why they made you school captain—because you fought for the underdog?” Marc asked, warming to the idea of Robert’s selfless exploits.
After a moment of thought, Robert shook his head. “I don’t really know. I’ve never thought too much about it. I think I was too busy trying to make sure we all got through the day. Don’t believe what they say about soft private-school types, Marc—some of them are absolute horrors!”
“Yeah, the future captains of industry,” Marc smirked.
Another disarming grin spread across Robert’s face, but his eyes were earnest. “Seriously, I think that’s why I hold Maddie in such high regard. She has such unaffected beauty, elegance, and charm, but I can picture her going in to bat for her friends in a heartbeat.”
“She did it for her brother often enough,” Marc remarked quietly.
By the end of the day, Marc decided that Robert certainly had the style and class that came with good breeding, but none of the off-putting pomposity that so often accompanied wealth. In fact, Robert consistently came across as one of the most down-to-earth people Marc had ever met. Marc found Robert to be a man easily judged on his own merits rather than on his inheritance, and was soon convinced of the genuineness of Robert’s feelings for his sister.
After the day’s play, Maddie had arranged to have them both over for dinner. She had worked feverishly to prepare a baked lamb dinner for the two hungry men.
“You really are a great cook,” Robert told her reverently.
“Yeah, she’s a special lady, this sister of mine,” Marc said with a big smile, but nevertheless sending Robert an important message.
“My mother always said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach—cook you a baked dinner, and you’ll follow me anywhere,” Maddie said with a teasing smirk.
“I think I’d follow you anywhere on a empty stomach!” Robert replied spontaneously, causing Maddie to blush.
In spite of how well things were going, Maddie still seemed to be seeking a nod of approval from her big brother. Marc gave her a hand to clear the table before she served dessert in order to get a few minutes alone with her in the kitchen.
“Look. I really do like him, and if he makes you happy, then I like him all the more,” Marc reassured her. “Anyway, you don’t need my approval, Maddie!”
But they both knew she did.
Maddie and Robert soon became inseparable, and even Marc had to conclude they were made for each other. After his sister had given him so much of herself over the years, he couldn’t allow her now to sacrifice her chance at happiness because of his selfishness. Marc knew that if Maddie married Robert, she would move up to the central coast and help her husband with his business, leaving him and Highmark Homes behind.
In the months that followed, Marc tried to convince Maddie that her work with him was coming to a close. He was slowly being cured of his nightmares, and she had played an integral part in helping him straighten out that aspect of his life. He knew that whether his sister left or not, he would never be able to repay her for the huge part she’d played in helping him establish his own business.
“I’ll be fine,” he told his sister every time she raised the subject. “I have to stand on my own two feet sooner or later. Anyway, there’ll always be so much of you here that the place will run as if you were still around.”
He didn’t believe a word of it, but he had to say it.

* * *

Even before the prospect of losing Maddie arose, Marc had a sense of impending doom. Everything had been going exceptionally well till then, but experience had taught him that just when he started patting himself on the back, fate had a way of suddenly turning around and biting where it hurt.
His problem was that he had chosen the building industry, which was very cyclical. With every new upturn in the economy came a virtual armada of new building companies. Ninety percent of them would be wiped out by the time the next recession came around because of poor management, undercapitalization, or both. A builder could almost set his watch by these recession waves, which occurred every three to five years, and knew he had to make enough money in the good years to cover himself during the bad ones.
Marc became aware of a slight downward trend in the economy as he watched the business reports every day on the morning news. After operating for almost three years, Highmark Homes was only now really establishing itself and could do without the specter of a recession.
He realized that first-time homebuyers would soon be under pressure, with unemployment figures on the rise. This meant he would have to focus his company’s sales on second- and third-time homebuyers by redesigning many of the homes and adding more options and features.
He increased his advertising budget in an effort to reach a wider audience and slashed overhead and unnecessary costs, wringing out every last drop of efficiency from the building process in a determined effort to weather the economic storm that loomed on the horizon.
There was now a noticeable drop in the number of people visiting his display village, which was a more immediate concern. Marc knew the shelf life of these centers was only a couple of years before the model homes became stale. His village was now in its third year of operation, and if he were going to stay in the project home market he would have to build a new center.
Now, more than ever, the survival of his operation depended upon achieving mainstream general public exposure. Marc recognized that this would happen only if he could get into something like a larger, better-publicized display village that showcased a group of similar builders. That in itself would be difficult because he also faced the added challenge of a dwindling real estate market, making it extremely hard to sell any of the five homes in his own village and severely restricting access to his own capital.
Marc felt his luck was changing when he heard about a huge display village that was planned for an adjacent suburb. The organizers were looking for new participants to fill out the village, which would feature as many builders as possible in a showcase environment. Sounds promising, Marc thought.