Shattered: A Billionaire Romance Series (Contemporary Romance Novels)

by Love, Michelle

  Now, as they lay together in their bed, Lila and Noah finally believed they would be okay. Noah was still recovering and Lila’s broken ankle was in a cast, but they were healing. Noah stroked her face, drinking her in.

  ‘You are the love of my life, Lila Tierney.’

  ‘And you the love of mine, you wonderful, wonderful man.’

  Noah smiled as she chuckled. ‘What?’

  ‘I’m thinking that before, I was always wondering what’s next, and it was in fear of the worst happening. Now I’m thinking, what’s next knowing it can only be good.’

  Noah laughed too. ‘In that case,’ He rolled on top of her, his cock already hard against her thigh, ‘I only have one question, Miss Tierney.’

  She gasped as he entered her slowly and smiled. ‘What’s that, Dr. Applebaum?’

  Noah kissed her tenderly and grinned as they moved together. ‘Well, Miss Tierney…what’s next?...

  The End.

  Billionaire Romance

  Montgomery Billionaire Series

  Complete Series

  Books 1-3

  By Michelle Love

  Billionaire Romance

  Montgomery Billionaire Series

  When He Desires

  Book One

  By Michelle Love

  Description

  Desire, Danger, Lust.

  Sloan Whitlock is a busy woman. Entering her final semester of grad school, she’s completely focused on her work, but when a misunderstanding threatens her life, everything changes.

  Lucas Montgomery was one of the wealthiest and most successful men in the city, and he’s not used to hearing the word no. When he catches sight of Sloan at Club 9, he knows he has to have her. She was a vision of innocence, and he’s desperate to have a taste.

  She meant nothing to him until someone decided that Lucas would pay dearly for her safety. Now she has to rely on him to protect her, and attraction between them heats up. Common sense tells her to keep him at arm’s length, but her body burns for him.

  Can he keep her safe and convince her to change her mind?

  Chapter One

  Sloan

  The music pumped through the speakers, and I swayed lightly on the balls of my feet. I wasn’t much of a dancer, but it didn’t look like anyone else in the club could dance either. The floor was so packed that bodies rubbed up against each other as they jumped and gyrated. Shoved into a corner, I gripped a bottle of beer in one hand and kept a tight grip on my phone in the other.

  Sweaty and more than a little drunk, my roommate Randi danced her way to me and snagged my beer. Taking a long sip, she frowned at me. “Sloan, that phone better be out because you’re collecting phone numbers from hot guys,” she yelled at me.

  “I’m just checking it,” I shouted back over the base of the music. “The dress is too damn short, and I’m afraid it’s going to fall out!” Because the dress she forced me to wear didn’t have any pockets, I had my card, car key, and phone strapped in a small pouch against my thigh. It was a little uncomfortable, but I knew that I’d lose a purse if I tried to bring it.

  “Girl, that dress looks sexy as hell!” She handed me back my beer and turned to smile at the man standing next to me. Randi was an exotic beauty. In a city of fake tans, her own Latin blessed skin was always dark and smooth. Her streaked dark hair fell to the middle of the back, and she had those perfectly pouty lips. Everywhere we went, she drew the attention of most of the male population.

  And, if I were being honest, quite a few females as well.

  I, on the other hand, was easily overlooked. No matter how hard I tried, my Irish skin refused to tan. My long auburn hair curled on a good day but usually stayed in a tangled frizzy mess. To tame it, I usually kept it pulled back either in a bun or tied at the nape of my neck. I tried to cut it once, but it was a year-long disaster. I wasn’t the kind of woman to spend any significant amount of time in front of the mirror primping and preening, so my hair was a mess that could not be tamed.

  I wasn’t a complete disaster. I do have nice green eyes, but I was already forced to wear reading glasses. As a student, my nose was usually stuck in a book, and the glasses felt like a permanent fixture on my face.

  These days, looks were not all that important to me. I was one semester short of graduating with my Master’s in Childhood Education. I was a busy girl.

  Tonight was Randi’s birthday, and she literally threatened me with hell and high water if I didn’t go out with her. Disgusted with most of my own clothes, she squeezed my curves into a short and slinky green halter dress. I felt completely exposed.

  “You haven’t danced with a single guy since we got here,” she accused me. “We’re supposed to be having fun!”

  “You’re supposed to be having fun,” I corrected her. “And from what I can tell, you’re having a ton of fun. Let me get you a drink, and you can find your next victim.”

  “You’re impossible,” she growled, but she didn’t stop me as I leaned over the bar and waved down the bartender. One good thing about my outfit was that I didn’t have to wait for my drinks. My tits were practically spilling out of my top, and the bartender couldn’t stop looking at them.

  “A tequila shot for my friend. No training wheel,” I ordered. He stared at my cleavage the whole time he poured.

  “You should give him your number,” Randi muttered in my ear.

  I just shook my head. While I was pretending to enjoy myself, the truth was that I was scrolling through the latest email from Professor Elliot. My advisor had pretty much torn my thesis idea to shreds. Of course, at the end he had written excellent start.

  What the hell did that even mean? I couldn’t help but obsess.

  Randi downed her tequila shot and scanned the crowd. I knew she was looking for her next dance partner, but suddenly, she reached over and grabbed my arm. “Sloan,” she shouted in my ear. “That guy is staring at you.”

  “He’s probably staring at you,” I said absently as I held my empty beer bottle up. The bartender popped the cap off another one and handed it to me.

  Her nails dug almost painfully into my skin. “Believe me, I wish he was staring at me. He’s got to be the sexiest guy in here.”

  Curious, I turned around to follow her line of sight. Above us, on the second floor balcony, the man leaned over the bannister. Randi wasn’t lying. He looked like sin personified. Dark hair swept low over piercing blue eyes and curled at the nape of his neck. His stubble didn’t do anything to hide his strong square jaw, and it was clear that he was tall and built.

  Chills raced down my spine. He did seem to be staring at me. I’d indulged in some loaded fries earlier. Maybe I had parsley stuck in my teeth. Self-consciously, I turned and ran my tongue over them before I tilted back my beer.

  “Go talk to him,” Randi urged me.

  “Hell, no,” I muttered. It was too quiet for her to hear, but I’m sure she knew exactly what I had said. Randi had been my best friend and roommate for two years. She knew my weaknesses and limitations. I didn’t talk to men. Lately, I’d been hiding behind the fact that I was so busy with school, but she knew that I was still hurt from my last relationship.

  My one and only boyfriend, Victor Willis, had spent two years keeping me down before I realized he was cheating on me. That was six months ago, and I hadn’t even tried to hook up with anyone since.

  “Suit yourself. I’m going to go dance.” Randi gave me a disgusted look before heading back to the dance floor. Two of her friends had made it to the edge, and she sandwiched herself between them and gave everyone quite a show.

  I envied Randi’s confidence. She could use her body like a weapon, but she was also brilliant. As a student of childhood psychology, she was often the driving force behind my teaching theories, but while I had to spend almost every minute working, she could go on a weekend bender and still ace her Monday test.

  Once again left to my own device, I returned my attention back to my phone. I typed a quick reminder to mys
elf when someone rammed into me.

  Gasping, I stumbled back and dumped my beer all over myself.

  “Damn it,” I swore. Looking up, I tried to pinpoint the culprit, but there were too many people near me, and no one was paying any attention.

  “At least it’s not my dress,” I grumbled as I leaned over the bar to grab some cocktail napkins. “Can I get some club soda?” I asked loudly.

  To the dismay of some of the other patrons waiting, the bartender moved quickly to fulfill my request. Holding my phone between my teeth, I tried to maneuver through the crowd until I burst onto the patio. “I had a little accident,” I explained to the bouncer who stared at me like I’d lost my mind. Deeply breathing in the fresh air, I dipped the napkin in the club soda and tried to dab at my dress. I didn’t know what I expected it to do. It wasn’t just a little spot. The beer had spread from the straps all the way to my midriff and was slowly soaking through my skin.

  My cleavage was sticky, and I reeked. Disgusted, I tossed the napkins and left the glass on the table. I kept several changes of clothes in the trunk of my car, and there was a tank-top and jeans in there that would get me through the rest of the night. Snagging my keys from the small pouch, I opened the gate of the patio and slipped out.

  I’d just made it to the car when a dark van came to a squealing halt in front of me. My heart stopped when the door slid open.

  Son of a bitch. I was about to be kidnapped not more than twenty feet from a crowded club.

  The first masked man jumped out, and I could feel his eyes raking over me. “Damn. Lucas Montgomery is going to pay handsomely for your safe return.”

  Who the hell was Lucas Montgomery?

  “I don’t have any cash,” I said as I tried to keep my voice calm. “And I don’t know any Lucas Montgomery.”

  The masked man snickered. “From the way he was looking at you, I bet he knows you quite intimately. No one looks at a woman like that unless he’s already licked every inch of her skin.”

  I shuddered and fisted the key in my palm so the metal edge stuck out between my fingers. If he thought I was going to meekly get in the van, he had another thing coming.

  The two of them tried to grab me, and I moved. I wasn’t a Kung-Fu master, but I’d learned a few things from the kick-boxing classes Randi had dragged me to, and I’d taken more than a few defense classes. I swung my key around to dig it into one guy’s eye and lashed out with my foot. It connected solidly with the guy’s nuts, and he screamed and hit his knees.

  Dodging my key, the man wrenched me around and slammed me against the car. Fear coursed through me, and I kicked out wildly again. I didn’t hit anything, but it was enough to make him move. He pulled me roughly to the ground and wildly looked up. “Come on,” he yelled as he grabbed the abductor still moaning on the pavement.

  I guess I had caused too much of a scene. By the time I’d pushed myself off the loose gravel, they’d jumped back in the van and were gone.

  Chapter Two

  Lucas

  She was captivating. I couldn’t help but stare as I caught sight of her. After a two long and boring hours of an investment meeting, I was ready for a drink, but watching her was better than a shot of whiskey.

  It was obvious that she was completely out of place. When she wasn’t staring at her phone, she was constantly tugging on her green dress. First she’d pull it up in an effort to hide her ample cleavage, and then she’d tug it down to cover more of her creamy thighs. I was already lost in a fantasy of what I would do to her if we were alone.

  What would I touch first? Her tits were just begging to be held, but I also desperately needed to fill my palms with her ass. I wanted to pull out the clip that held her curls and yank her hair back until I could press my lips to the column of her neck. I wanted to yank her dress up and discover what kind of treasures she was hiding underneath. Would she be hiding a black lacy thong? Pearly white panties with bows? Maybe she was naked underneath, and I could sink my fingers inside her.

  I was the kind of man who didn’t have to look far for a beautiful body to warm my bed, but there was a distinctive downfall to having so many women to choose from. It took more work to excite me, but one look at her, and my cock was already rising to the occasion.

  Fuck. The blonde that I’d tied to my bed last night didn’t even have this effect on me, and she’d been very talented with her mouth.

  The mystery woman’s friend said something in her ear, and she looked right at me. When her gaze met mine, I saw her eyes widen as she took me in. Her lips parted in surprise, and she suddenly whirled around. Amused, I straightened and started walking to the stairwell. I craved her. I’d pull her on the dance floor and hold her against me. It was so crowded tonight that I could easily flick my fingers over her clit until she came in the middle of all the other horny dancers.

  Then I’d take her home and fuck her until she screamed.

  Just as I reached the top of the stairwell, the bouncer grabbed my arm. “Mr. Montgomery? There’s a phone call for you.”

  Of course there was. With a sigh, I headed back to the VIP room where the young waitress handed me the phone. She was a cute little brunette with a smile that said she knew she was attractive. If there was one good thing I could say about the club, it was that the owner knew how to staff it.

  The glass separated me from the rest of the clubbers, but the floor still vibrated with the base, and I could still faintly hear the music. At the back, a private bar was fully stocked with only the finest liquors.

  “Montgomery,” I growled into the receiver.

  “You’re not picking up your cell,” Steinburg growled. Howard Steinburg was my Vice President of operations, and he’d been stressing over the investment meeting. While it was my money to do as I pleased, investing in Club 9 would have been a public move. He was concerned about how it would reflect on my character and my company.

  Steinburg worried too much, but that’s why I kept him on.

  “It’s a club,” I growled. “I can barely hear my own thoughts, let alone my damn phone. What is so important that it couldn’t wait until morning?”

  “How did the meeting go?” Steinburg was a good twenty years older than my own thirty-two. He always liked to say that he was too old for pleasantries.

  I turned around to watch the dancers below. “The numbers are good. The club has done well for the past six months, but I have a feeling it’s just a trend. In a few more months, it’ll be old news, and it’ll die just like the other ninety percent of the clubs in the city. I told the owner that I would think about it, but I don’t think it’s going to make me any money.”

  Steinburg sighed in relief, and I couldn’t help but smile. I wasn’t exactly the golden child of the media, but the press wasn’t knocking down my door in search of scandal. The city had come to know me as a perpetual bachelor and playboy, but I didn’t break hearts or cause drama. Still, Steinburg made sure that my PR agents stayed on top of things. He’d been pissed when I told him that the manager of Club 9 had invited me to an investment meeting.

  I was careful with where I invested my money, and I fielded offers on a weekly basis. It was rare for me to actually attend these meetings, but Club 9 was all the rage these days, and while I wouldn’t be investing, I was happy that I took the meeting.

  As Steinburg blabbered on about how I had made the right decision, my mind wandered to the delicious treat downstairs. “Steinburg,” I said abruptly. “This is all stuff that you can tell me on Monday during normal business hours. Go to bed. Men your age went to sleep hours ago.”

  “One day, if you’re lucky, you’ll get to my age and you won’t think those jokes are so funny,” he snapped. Without bothering to say goodbye, he hung up the phone. I chuckled as I put the phone back on the receiver and headed out of the room. The small second floor lounge served as overflow, but because it didn’t have a bar or dance floor, it was mostly for people trying to take phone calls or hide from club creepers. The glass windows sep
arated it from the VIP room, but heavy curtains obstructed the view.

  Leaning over the bannister again, I scanned the main floor for the woman, but she was nowhere to be found. Irritated that I had lost her, I headed back to the VIP lounge to exit out the back private entrance of the club.

  My faithful driver, Danny O’Brien, had been with me for almost five years now. Although he’d moved from Ireland more than a decade ago, he still held fast to his Irish accent. He told me it was because it drove women crazy, but I had a feeling that Danny felt a little lost sometimes. Like everybody else, he needed something to remind him of home. A man in his late forties, he’d been married to the same woman since he was eighteen years old.

  His wife was terrifying.

  “Going home alone, Mr. Montgomery?” Danny was one of the few members of the staff who spoke freely to me. Although he was always polite, he rarely filtered his words.

  I was not a fan of the backseat, so unless I was making a public appearance somewhere or riding with another passenger, I almost always sat up in the front with Danny. I was much more comfortable in the driver’s seat, but I always had Danny drive me when I knew that I would be drinking.

  “It wasn’t a successful night,” I muttered before ducking into the car. The dark steel colored Bentley Continental GTC was my favorite car in my collection.

  “Unsuccessful because you’re going home alone or because the investment didn’t work out like you wanted?” Danny teased as he started the car. The engine purred rather than roared, and I settled back in the leather seat.

  “Both,” I said wryly. “I had my eyes on a beautiful wallflower, but Steinburg had to call and pull me away. I lost her.”