by Wood, Lauren
The Billionaire’s Lawyer
Halstead Billionaire Brothers Series (Book 3)
Lauren Wood
Copyright © 2020 by Lauren Wood
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Prologue
1. Eric
2. Liz
3. Eric
4. Liz
5. Eric
6. Liz
7. Eric
8. Liz
9. Eric
10. Liz
11. Eric
12. Liz
13. Eric
14. Liz
15. Eric
16. Liz
17. Eric
18. Liz
19. Eric
20. Liz
21. Eric
22. Liz
23. Eric
24. Liz
25. Eric
26. Liz
27. Eric
28. Liz
29. Eric
30. Liz
Epilogue
The Billionaire’s Nanny
Chapter 1
Also by Lauren Wood
About the Author
Exclusive Offer
Blurb
If temptation had a name, it would be Eric Halstead.
Powerful, sexy-as-hell billionaire and my romantic nemesis.
He’s the one man responsible for the worst date of my life,
And the only person that stands between me and my dream job.
* * *
I never imagined I’d be standing face to face with the bane of my existence again,
Let alone dedicating every second of my life to making sure his perfectly shaped ass stays out of prison.
Which means for the foreseeable future I must eat, sleep, and breathe…
all things Eric Halstead.
I hate him, and yet – he is still the main character in all of my juiciest fantasies.
* * *
He’s the devil in a three-piece suit.
With a teasing smile, perfectly chiseled abs and an ice-cold heart made of pure stone,
He’s the kind of man that could completely and utterly destroy me,
And now he’s set his sights on charming his way into my bed.
* * *
I know he’s dangerous,
I know I should hate him,
But the temptation is threatening to shatter my resolve,
And drag my career down with it.
* * *
Playing his game means one of us will lose.
And if there’s one thing I know about Eric Halstead,
He always gets what he wants.
* * *
If I give into my desires – will he rip my heart to shreds?
Or can guys like that really change - transforming into all you want and need…even outside the bedroom.
Prologue
I sat in my favorite restaurant, teeming with nerves. Just a few days before, I had bumped into the potential man of my dreams. I was in a crowded coffee shop, grabbing my order from the bar, when I spun around and nearly ran straight into a man. An expensive suit and tie with obviously big muscles behind it. My eyes moved up slowly only to meet the gaze of the dreamiest guy I have ever seen in my life.
He was tall and tan with dark charming eyes staring down at me with a blank but smooth expression, at first. But the moment he took me in, a big smile eased across his lips, revealing the most perfect big white teeth. He literally took my breath away. But being the professional, grown woman that I am, I of course tried not to let my immediate crush show.
We got to talking, and I learned he was a very successful businessman, mostly working in finances. Through the conversation I picked up that he was smart, clever, rich, and powerful. So, when he asked for my number, I was elated. This is how it happens, I thought. This is how women meet ‘the one.’
Things were less than perfect when he called on the evening of our planned date to inform me he would be late…but busy, powerful men often have plenty of good reasons to be late. And if things did develop into a relationship, as I was hoping, he would also have to get used to me being late from time to time. I could forgive the man for running five or ten minutes behind. In fact, my understanding of that might very well be one of the signs that it was meant to be between us.
But then thirty minutes went by, and I was beginning to wonder if I had been stood up. Did people usually call to say they’d be late if they planned on blowing the woman off altogether? Five minutes more and I was waving over the waiter to ask for the check. Waiting any longer would just get embarrassing.
Then he came strolling in, looking smooth and debonair as ever. His face lit up with a smile at the sight of me, making me forget I was mad just moments ago.
“Linda,” he grinned, bringing my hand to his lips. “Good to see you again.”
“Uh…good to see you too, but…It’s Liz. Not Linda.”
“Oh, of course,” he shrugged as he took his seat.
I was immediately thrown. That was it? He was late and then forgot my name and doesn’t even offer an apology? I took a sharp breath and tried to look past it all. I had settled for less than I deserved plenty of times before with men who were unemployed, immature jerks. I could overlook a few things for someone who was actually on my level, socially and professionally.
“So…long day at work?” I asked as we looked over our menus.
“I didn’t work today. I just got back in from Boka.”
“Boka? Oh,” I was puzzled, since we had just met three days ago. “That was a quick trip. Business or pleasure?”
He prattled off some response about having an irresistible urge to jet-set off to the beautiful Bay of Kotor in Montenegro, even if he could only stay for a day. It seemed like a ridiculously frivolous waste of money to me, but I still would have listened to his explanation intently had he not been staring at the ass of a woman that just walked by. He apparently enjoyed the view so much he forgot what he was saying.
“Well, it is amazing that you manage to travel at all,” I said through tight lips, wondering why I was even still sitting there at all, “…working such a demanding job as you do.”
His eyes darted in my direction briefly before he grumbled off some vague response.
“Are you okay?”
“Huh? Yeah, of course,” he flashed his devilish grin again, sliding his hand across the table to hold mine. “Just jet-lagged. I could whisk you away somewhere you know…tonight, if you want. Anywhere you want to go.”
“But you just got back,” I jerked my hand back from his. “And I have work. Remember? We talked about this when we met…how busy our jobs keep us?”
“What is it that you do again?”
I shot him a look of death, knowing very well that our entire first conversation revolved around me telling him I was a lawyer. I thought it was why he asked me out – because he respected a career woman with big goals.
“I’m a lawyer,” I barked.
Eric’s phone rang and he didn’t hesitate to excuse himself to answer. As he was walking off, I swore I heard him call the person on the line ‘baby.’ I didn’t bother paying for my drinks before promptly getting up to leave. A guy like that could foot the bill for wasting my time.
As I was storming off down the sidewalk, I heard Eric’s annoyi
ngly sexy voice calling out after me. At least he was getting my name right this time, but I wasn’t falling for his charms again. He was obviously an arrogant, inconsiderate ass.
“Liz, please,” he pulled my hand, whirling me around to look into those gorgeous eyes. “I’m sorry. I have been so rude this evening. Let me take you back to my place to make up for it.”
On paper, the evening was a disaster. And I was an idiot for sticking around as long as I had. It was hands down the worst date of my life. But the look on his face, the sound of his voice, and the suggestion in his tone was enough to make any woman melt. He could be an ass because he could get away with it. Girls would still crumble at his feet no matter how he treated them.
But I was not about to let myself be one of those girls. No matter how badly I wanted to be the type who could just settle for a one-night stand, getting a little fun out of an otherwise humiliating situation, I couldn’t degrade myself that low.
“Goodnight, Eric.” I yanked my hand back and called a cab.
I spent the rest of the evening curled up on the couch with a tub of ice cream, reminding myself why dating is such a waste of time. I vowed to myself once and for all to never give in to a man like Eric Halstead.
1
Eric
I sat at a table with my brothers, Dominic and Jesse, as we watched our other brother, Jason, twirl his new bride around on the dance floor. Weddings used to be my favorite kind of party – free booze and food and tons of single girls dreaming of their own wedding day, making them particularly easy to charm away into bed. What’s not to love?
But as happy as I was for Jason and Tara, there was an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach – one that had been growing for a while.
“What’s gotten into you?” Dominic nudged me. “Didn’t get enough sun on this last trip to the Bahamas?”
I smiled but didn’t answer. I had talked to Jason about how I’ve been feeling, but I had yet to break the news to Dominic. His girlfriend, Vanna, leaned against his shoulder and looked up at him with starry eyes. I knew I had to pull him aside to talk now before the two love birds went dancing off in the crowd.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” I whispered discreetly in his ear, but of course it still piqued the interest of Jesse.
Being the youngest, Jesse was always a little nosy and immature with this constant fear of being left out of things. We were definitely in the same boat as far as being resented by Dominic and Jason. They were the mature, responsible ones – always taking the lead with our family’s multi-billion-dollar corporation. Jesse and I were much more aloof, me even more so than him. The fact that the responsibility and lifestyle of running this huge company just got plopped onto our shoulders from birth, whether we liked it or not, didn’t bother our older brothers because they were naturally suited for it.
Their work made them genuinely happy. I couldn’t speak for Jesse, but I knew since I was a teen that it was not the life I wanted. After thus far spending my entire adult life taking advantage of the billionaire life, jet setting around the country with hot models and actresses galore, it was finally time to stop running from things.
Dominic followed me out into the corridor of the reception hall, already looking disinterested in whatever I had to say. I couldn’t blame him for feeling the way he did about me. I’ve never carried my fair share of the weight in the family, and, up until now, I’ve been pretty unapologetic about it.
“They look happy, huh?” I offered, wanting to break the ice.
“It’s crazy how fast it all happened,” he nodded. “First me and Vanna…now Jason and Tara. I can tell Vanna is already on edge about when I’ll pop the question to her.”
“Will you?”
“Of course. When the time is right. I love her,” he shrugged as if choosing one woman to sign your life away to was the easiest thing in the world. “And what about you? I keep thinking one day you’ll come back from one of these ridiculous trips telling us you eloped with one of your girlfriends.”
I laughed, choking a little from the tightness in my throat. I was definitely ready for something different in my life - the next chapter, sure - but marriage was not on my radar. But I didn’t bring him out here to talk about that.
“Hey, just because you two rushed off into settling down doesn’t mean I have to.”
Dominic used to be more like me and Jesse as far as women went. We didn’t think he’d ever get saddled down with one woman. But he met this hot caterer named Vanna and the rest is history. He hasn’t been the same since. Now he suddenly has this air of arrogance to him, like he’s better than us for having found someone. And Jason’s marriage has only reinforced his ego as well.
Vanna’s best friend, Tara, got herself into some trouble, which Dominic got roped into helping them out of. Jason’s wife had been tragically murdered the year before, leaving him on the hunt for a new nanny so he could return to work. They convinced him to hire Tara and the whole thing happened again – he was a goner, just like Dominic.
It was starting to feel like it was something in the water around us Halstead brothers, and I was not about to get poisoned with the same thing. At least Jason had already taken the wife and kids plunge. It made sense for him to remarry, but for Dominic to be a lost cause too – it was hard to look at him the same.
“So, what’s on your mind?” he crossed his arms and glared at me in a fatherly way.
“I talked to Jason a little about this while you were in Paris,” I explained slowly. “But I need to come clean about something. I…well, I guess it’s probably no surprise…but I’m not really interested in sticking with the company.”
He blinked in shock, as if it had never occurred to him that this was an option. “No shit, you’re not interested,” he huffed. “You’ve made that clear. You barely do any work as it is. What are you getting at?”
“What I’m getting at is…I’m tired of letting you guys down. I don’t want to keep skirting by doing nothing. You’re disappointed in me and I’m not happy.”
“Alright, well what do you propose?”
“You could easily hire somebody else who is qualified for my role in the company – someone who actually wants the job and will show up and do the work. It’d be good for Halstead Corp. to have some new leadership, and I think you, Jason, and Jesse will be happier working with someone who actually gives a shit.”
For as caught off guard as he was, I watched his face soften into understanding. It was arguably the most confident speech I had ever given in my life, and I wished I had done it years ago.
“What will you do?” A tinge of anger returned to his voice as he asked sarcastically, “Retire with your millions and keep roaming the world?”
I couldn’t help but laugh a little. Dominic and Jason abhorred the idea of any one of us sitting back to relax and enjoy our financial freedom. Just because we were born into all that money, they still firmly believed we had to work for it as if we could be destitute at any moment. They got that from our father, and I had to admit it was admirable.
Up until recently, my life plan was to show up at the office enough to keep them off my ass, but really doing no substantial work, while continuing to do whatever I wanted the rest of the time. And what I wanted were as many experiences traveling the world as I could get with beautiful women on my arm the whole way. But that had changed.
“Actually, as much as I know you’d love for me to say I plan on fucking off and doing nothing, I’ve decided I do want to have some purpose in life. Beyond partying, that is.” He glared at me, waiting for the big reveal. But I didn’t quite have it all figured out yet. “I’d like to start a small business of my own. Nothing huge. Just something simple that feels rewarding. But whatever I decide on doesn’t change the fact that I want out of the company. I want to resign and sell off my shares.”
I could see him grasping for arguments in his head, but really, we both knew it was for the best. All he could do was sigh and stare out the window, mu
mbling, “What would Dad say…”
“He’d say I was dead weight anyway and you’d be better off without me,” I chuckled, smacking him on the shoulder.
With the music blaring from the reception, we both stood there for a moment staring off in silence. One thing was certain – everything was changing for all of us, one by one.
2
Liz
I was drowning in a mountain of work, as always, when my boss buzzed in and demanded that I drop everything to join them in the conference room to be briefed on a new case. Great – just what I need, I thought as I stared down at my already massive running to do list for the day. But with a deep breath, I prepared myself to march in there seeming as relaxed and confident as ever.
After pouring another cup of coffee, I gathered my things and started down the hall. This was everything I had been preparing myself for since I started law school. Everyone knows you have to work your ass off around the clock with an impossible caseload for years, but the shining rainbow at the end of it all is being made partner. And I was certain it was coming up on the horizon for me.
“Ah, Liz, have a seat,” George greeted me as if I was already late, even though it had been less than five minutes since he sprung this one on me.