Caleb Anderson: Berkley’s Bastards – Billionaire Romance (Berkley's Bastards Book 1)

by Kathi S. Barton

  “You’re fine. And yes, they need more than a one-time shot. But as I said, I’ve given enough money to the right people that will have food brought to them once a day. For those that are willing, jobs will be provided as well. Nothing too difficult, but something that can get them a start.”

  He was getting into a limo when he realized he had no idea where they were going. Before he could begin to worry that he might well have made a mistake, the car was pulling up in front of a hotel.

  Usually, he was stopped before entering such an establishment. Today he was not only asked if he needed anything extra in his room but also told that a man would be up directly to measure him for some clothing. The room he was led to was a suite. It had a nice kitchen, a huge bathroom, as well as a nice set of brand new luggage sitting empty on the extra bed.

  Caleb knocked on the door as Joey was looking in the full-sized refrigerator. Letting him in as he drank a bottle of water, Caleb handed him a file. Joey nearly told him he had figured this would happen, that there was a catch when the other man spoke.

  “I know you lost your mother, and I wanted to tell you how very sorry that I am. My mom passed away recently too. The paperwork there is telling you that your mom’s hospital bills are paid, as well as her funeral costs. Also, I have an attorney looking into why you and the others were denied unemployment. That should have been yours from the start since they closed up and didn’t fire you guys first.” Joey sat down. The knock at the door had Caleb telling him that he’d get it. “This is Shawn. He’s going to take your measurements to get you some clothing to wear. I’m assuming you don’t have any stashed anywhere?”

  “Nothing.” Shawn didn’t say a word as he took his measurements and wrote them down. Caleb was still talking when the man asked him for his shoe size. “Eleven wide.”

  “I’m to understand that you were in security in the service. I have an opening at the plant my wife is running. Well, she’s not my wife yet. In the morning, we’re headed to the courthouse to get that taken care of. Anyway, I want her watched over, and I’d like you to make sure we’re not missing something that will get her hurt.”

  “This is a real job you’re giving me?” Caleb said he’d not become a wealthy man by given fake jobs to people. “You’re wealthy. I guess I could have guessed that on my own, but I’m assuming for some reason that wealthy is a gross understatement for you and your soon-to-be wife.”

  “You’d be correct. I have someone looking for the other men that were found to be sired by Berkley. I want you to know that if he weren’t dead, he would have been soon. However, it’s all water under the bridge now, and I’m going to do my damnest to make sure his sons aren’t suffering because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.” Joey laughed, asking Caleb if he was normally so outspoken. “No. I think Tabby is rubbing off on me a little.”

  “She is a pistol. Speaking of which, I didn’t get mine back from her.” Caleb stood up and pulled the weapon out of the back of his pants. “You’re assuming I will no longer use it on myself.”

  “We made a deal, which we’ve yet to shake on. However, I can wait. I also can understand why you’re unbelieving of me not wanting anything in return for how we’re helping you. That’s fine too. We’ll get there.” Joey had a feeling they would too. Even if he went into it kicking and screaming all the way. “There is a house for you to live in. Before you tell me that you don’t need a home, you will. I want you to be able to stretch out and have an office at your home, as well as one where Tabby is working. Also, there are a couple of other properties I might need you to have a look at. My grandparents’, as well as my uncle’s home. Wealthy men come with crazy ideas from people trying to make a buck off them.”

  “What are you getting out of this, Caleb? I mean, it seems to me that you’re putting a great deal on the line for a man you know very little about.” He told him. Joey had to sit down. “Brother. You’re my half-brother.”

  “I don’t believe in doing a job halfway, Joey, so as far as I’m concerned, we’re brothers. As will be the other four when I find them.” Caleb stood up and smiled at him. “My wife is resting right now, or she’d be here making sure you’re eating well, having a nice long shower to warm you up, as well as a good night’s sleep. If I were you, I’d at least tell her that you’re doing all right in the morning, or she’ll be all over you for it. I love her very much, but you’ll see that she’s extremely outspoken and a mother hen all at the same time.”

  “You really do love her that much.” Caleb said he loved her with all his heart. “That’s a wonderful thing to have. I hope you know that.”

  “Yes, I do.” He went to the door. “Oh, there is a cell phone on the table for you. It’s programmed with mine and my wife’s number already. It’s yours to use however you wish. Also, there are several cards next to it with the numbers of my attorney should you like to talk to him, as well as my grandparents. They know you might call them. Goodnight, Joey. Sleep well.”

  Going to get the phone, just to see what sort it was, he laughed when he realized he should have guessed it would be state of the art. Along with the numbers that were there, a large, wrapped gift was there as well. He opened it up when he saw that someone had put his name on the little tag.

  A laptop, brand new, that was also very high tech. Putting it back in the box so he’d not get wrapped up in playing with it, Joey took the long shower that was suggested to him. Using the products there that also had his name on them, he wrapped a large fluffy towel around his waist and went to the bedroom. All of a sudden, he was bone-tired and laid on the bed. Joey thought he was asleep long before his eyes had the chance to catch up with his body.

  ~*~

  “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.” Caleb was rushing into the office when Sheppard stood up. “I stayed up late last night working on a project, and I overslept. I know that Tabby set the alarm for me, and it’s unlike me to—”

  “It’s all right, Caleb. Your lovely cook gave me some tea and a few biscuits, and I’m just fine. Melissa is on her way. She’s running behind as well. I’m to understand that you found one of the men that were fathered by the same man you were.” He said they’d gone to get him the day before yesterday. They both sat down. “Good for you. I have to tell you that Tabby is doing a fine job with the business. I got a phone call just yesterday from the plant security manager telling me that she’s hired someone to look after her and us. I don’t know that we’ll need all that. We’ve not had any trouble like that before.”

  “That’s one of the many reasons I wanted to talk to the two of you.” Melissa joined them a few minutes after tea and some biscuits were brought in for him too. “I feel horrible about all this. Why don’t we head to the living room, and we’ll be a good deal more comfortable there.”

  As soon as they were seated, thankfully, Tabby showed up. He told her what had happened, and she kissed him anyway. They’d been having a blast since they were married, and he was happy every second that they’d not made a big deal about it.

  “As you know, Mom and I worked very hard to get ourselves a place in this life. Mom had a great head on her shoulders for a great many things, as I’m sure you know, and she could invest in people on sight. It’s what made us so wealthy.” Sheppard said he knew about hard work and saving money. “I know you do. However, what you don’t know, and it’s a very well-kept secret, is just how wealthy we are. As I said, Mom was good at investments, and between the two of us working hard, we’re billionaires. Tabby and I are worth well over two hundred billion dollars.”

  He watched the two of them as they absorbed that. Caleb knew the precise moment when it hit them that he’d not said million, but billion. Sheppard stood up and sat down twice before he asked him if he was serious.

  “I am. The reason I’m telling you that is not to brag but to make you understand why there is a need for bodyguards on us at all times. I don’t want anythin
g to happen to my family, in the event someone gets it in their head that taking any of you from me will get him money.” Melissa asked him if he considered them family now. “That’s another thing I’ve wanted to talk to you about. I’ve been a selfish prick in not acknowledging you as being my grandparents. Tabby pointed out the error of my ways several times over the last few days. She’s very painful when she has something to get across.”

  “We don’t need you to agree to be our grandson because you were bullied into it, Caleb.” Caleb told him it didn’t matter, really, as he was their grandson. “You are willing to call us that? You don’t have to. Just knowing that you think it is enough for me.”

  “It’s no longer enough for me. Grandda.” His grandfather started sobbing, holding onto his grandma while she cried as well. “I hope you can understand where I was coming from when I first arrived. But since then, I should have taken steps to make sure you knew that I no longer felt that way. That for as much as I’m sure you missed my mom, you missed out on me as well. I’d very much like to get to know you and for you to know me. And any children that Tabby and I have.”

  “We were married a couple of days ago. Neither of us wanted to have a big deal made out of it, so there wasn’t any backlash in the papers for any of us.” Grandda stood up and jerked him up from the couch while Tabby laughed. The hug he received would stay with him forever, he thought. It was, Caleb thought, the first time he’d ever been hugged by a man. He was happy that it was his grandfather that had done it. “I guess you’re okay with this.”

  Tabby was hugged as well. The four of them cried a little and hugged several more times before they were seated again. Even then, Grandma got up and sat on his other side and took his hand into hers as he continued to talk.

  “Tabby has decided to keep her maiden name for now at the plant. Mostly because she didn’t want people thinking what people normally do when a woman takes over the running of a huge company. I’d like to if you would work with me, make Anderson’s a much larger and more diverse company than it is now. Do more of the things you’ve started with helping the public.” Grandda thought it was a wonderful idea. “We’ll work together, the four of us. And when Shep is settled more—I think he’ll be getting married soon too—we’ll have him brought in to be a part of it. We can do so much by working together.”

  It was nearly lunch when they were finished talking about the business aspect of the meeting. Caleb had told them of some of the investments he’d been able to make and invited his grandparents to enjoy the benefits of the homes he owned abroad.

  “Your mom would be so proud of you, Caleb.” He told his grandma that all he thought about was doing himself proud for her. “I miss her, you know. But having you here, it’s made things seem so wonderful. To see her through you. My goodness, I miss her so much at times that I want to go find her.”

  “She’s in a good place. Mom suffered terribly when she was in the end stages of her cancer.” He changed the subject then when he saw how much it had hurt Grandma. “Tabby is wearing the ring that Mom got from…I think your mother when she turned sixteen. She said she loved it but was afraid of losing it.”

  “Yes, I remember that ring. It looks so lovely on you, Tabby.” They talked about everything and really nothing at all as they had lunch. Just as they were finishing up, Shep joined them with Kylie, and he was brought up to speed on the things that were going on. “They’re married, Shep. Isn’t that wonderful?”

  “Yes, it is. Kylie has agreed to marry me. I knew you’d be here, and I wanted to come by and tell you the good news. I don’t mean to rain on your parade, Caleb. I should have waited.” Caleb told him he was happy that they told him. “Thanks. Without you and Tabby doing what you did, I don’t think I would ever have been as happy as I am right now.”

  Cain called him just as he was sitting down with his family. “You have time to come over here? I told you about Dick being on the porch the other morning, right?”

  “Yes. You said you had the police roust him out. Has he returned?” Cain said he had and that he’d taken Elly. “I’ll be right there, Cain. Stay at the house, and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “I don’t know what to do, Caleb. She’s all I have in the world.” Caleb assured him that he’d find him, or the police would. “Please hurry. I need someone to keep me upright.”

  They were headed to the house and pulling into the drive just as the police showed up. Cain was a mess, and he was also beaten up quite a bit. After calling an ambulance, the police sat down with Cain as Kylie and Arthur sat on either side of him. He was going to need an attorney before this was over, simply so he’d not be blamed for anything happening to Dick. And something would happen if Caleb had anything to say about it.

  “We were having breakfast when the back door just exploded open. He didn’t hesitate at all but fired at Melody, our new cook and killed her. When his gun jammed up, he started picking up things around the kitchen and hitting me with them. I had shoved Elly out of the room at some point, but when I was hit over the head with something and was out, he must have found her. What am I going to do?” The police assured him they’d find them. Caleb noticed that no one was saying she’d be alive. That scared him more than anything. “What is it you’re not telling me? There’s more than him just taking my wife, isn’t there? Tell me. Please?”

  “He killed Mr. Shimer last night. The FBI was looking for Douglas when they came across Mr. Shimer’s body. He’d been beaten badly before being shot in the head.” Grandma hugged Cain as Sher, the officer, continued. “I’m not saying for sure that Douglas did it, but we have reason to believe he might well be involved in two other murders as well.”

  “Why? I mean, can you tell us that?” Caleb nodded when Sher told him that he couldn’t. “I see. All right. What is it that is being done? I mean, to find him. Anything I or any of us can do to help?”

  “Not at the moment, no. Now we have to find him before anyone else gets hurt.” Tabby asked Sher if he’d checked the house that Cain and his wife had been living in. “I didn’t know there was anywhere else. Can you tell me where that is?”

  After giving him the information, Sher called it into the Feds. They were better equipped to handle this situation, and he was out of his league, he told them. Almost as soon as he hung up the phone, it rang again. It was Douglas, and he was asking for the ingrate son-in-law.

  Cain put the phone on speaker as he was directed. Douglas was ranting about commission checks and how much Cain owed him before he finally got to the point. He wanted money and a great deal of it. Or he’d never see his wife again. Not alive, anyway.

  “I want to speak to Elly.” Douglas laughed, and Caleb heard the woman screaming. “You fucking prick, she’s your daughter. Not to mention she’s carrying your grandchild. What the hell is wrong with you? Let her go.”

  “You’ll give me all the money you got from that last sale, or it won’t matter one hill of beans what she’s doing or how she’s related to me. I mean to get out of the country, and you’re going to help me. And don’t fucking call the cops. I’m having enough trouble with them as it is.” Cain was instructed to ask about Slam Shimer. “Well, of course, I killed him, you fucking moron. He told the police about our little deal. Damn it all to fuck and back. I hated doing that too. Slam was the only friend I had, and now he’s dead. On account of you. You shouldn’t have married my daughter. Nothing would be going to shit if you’d just left us alone.”

  The line went dead, and no one moved. Grabbing Caleb’s grandma, Cain sobbed on her shoulder until he had to be physically taken to the couch before he fell over. It wasn’t until Grandma called a doctor that Caleb realized how much he didn’t want the same thing to ever happen again. He would keep his family safe at all costs. And take care that Cain’s was as well.

  Chapter 8

  “You’ve no idea how much I appreciate this, Joey. I know it’s terrib
le of us to only just meet, and now we’re asking you to kill a man. You telling us that you were a sniper in the service was about the best news any of us had heard.” Joey told Caleb that he’d saved his life. “No. We gave you a help-up. The only life-saving was this. I promise you, you’ll not be in any sort of trouble for helping out the police with this.” He really hoped not.

  Joey didn’t mind doing this for the Andersons. It was the Federal officer, Agent Windermere, that was pissing him off. He wanted Douglas alive, at all costs. Windermere said that Douglas had to answer for his crimes, and in order for him to do that, he needed to be alive. Joey wasn’t happy with that answer, nor did he care for the man telling him at all costs.

  “What about the woman? Shouldn’t she be able to live too? Not to mention her baby. I mean, she is going to have a child that could very well be the next president or someone nice.” Windermere glared at him and repeated that he was to live at all costs. “Are you telling me that if the woman has to die, you’re all right with that?”

  “Now you’re with the program. See that he lives, or I’m not kidding you, young man. I’ll make military prison look like a sunny walk in the park.” Joey looked at Sher, who only pointed to his vest. He’d completely forgotten there was a camera there. “Now that you see reason, you get your ass up there on that building and make sure you wait for my word before you take the shot. Shoot him in the arm or something, but do not kill him.”

  When he walked away, Joey decided he’d be better off not doing this. There was just too much at stake here—his life and that of the woman. Before he could do as he wanted, just go back to the Anderson home, Kimble found him. After a quick handshake, he smiled.

  Officer Kimble had been polite, even going so far as to make sure he had the paperwork that would keep him from going to prison for killing a man if it came to that. The fed had told him it wouldn’t mean a hell of a lot if he were to fuck this up. There was no doubt in his mind that he’d do what was required of him for this officer, but this was just too messed up, even for non-army orders.