Restless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series, #4)

by Mallory Crowe

  “It’s about Tate Gallagher.”

  Ashley frowned. “I thought he was dead.”

  “He is. Very dead. The problem is—I don’t think he needs to be dead.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I—” Alex rubbed a hand over his eyes and through his hair. “I think I could’ve saved him. We were fighting and he ended up going over, but I was still holding onto him and—”

  Ashley moved her hand from his neck to gently brush over the dark bruise on his forehead that hadn’t been there before he left that morning. “Did he do this to you?”

  “Yes but—”

  “No judge, jury, or police officer’s ever going to think this is anything other than self-defense.”

  “This isn’t about any of them. But I know I didn’t do my best, and I also know I’m okay with that. I’ve never been a nice man, and I don’t think I’m ever going to be. But if you’re going to stay with me, you should know the truth. Who I really am.”

  “I’m already married to you, Alex. I already know—”

  “You don’t have to be, you know? You don’t have to stay married to me. Geoff is gone, and you’ll have your money sooner rather than later. So if you wanted to leave...”

  Ashley stood on her tiptoes and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. “Alex, I love you. I never want to leave. The circumstances that brought us together might not have been ideal, but our ending is going to be fairy-tale. Understand?”

  Alex finally seemed to relax under her touch, and a soft smile curled his lips. “That makes me happy.”

  “Good.”

  “Marry me, Ashley.”

  Maybe he was hit on his head harder than she thought. “I have to remind you that we’re already married.”

  “So we have a piece of paper signed by a judge. I’m talking the real thing. We invite so many people we don’t even know who they all are. Get everyone stinking drunk. Get you in some amazing custom-made dress that no one else will ever have. Celebrate with family...”

  Family. Of course Alex wanted to be married in front of family. In front of the brothers he’d been responsible for most of his life. “Do you think it will make your family happy?”

  “I think it will make me happy. To be able to marry the woman I love. I can’t think of a better way to spend my time. What do you say? Want to make this official again?”

  There’s something surreal about going to a wedding you knew didn’t matter.

  Ashley sat alone in the bridal rooms and counted the seconds until it was time to go out. Jean had insisted on staying, but Ashley wanted these few moments alone. She always assumed she’d never have a big wedding like this, and now that it was here, it was almost overwhelming.

  Alex had managed to throw it all together somehow. Unlike most couples who have the bride take over wedding planning duties, Alex had been involved every step of the way. He’d probably been to his fair share of high society weddings over the years and knew better than most what he wanted.

  He knew the church, he knew the reception hall, he knew the caterer, and he even knew which wedding planner he wanted to use. Ashley fingered the delicate orchids in her bouquet. She picked out all the flowers. Bouquets, centerpieces, decorations. It was nice to see the joint effort between the two of them turn into reality. A sign of good things to come.

  There was a soft knock on the door, and Ashley looked up, meeting her own eyes in the mirror. “I’ll be out in one minute,” she called. She did a quick once-over of her hair and makeup, but she already knew that everything would look good. The stylist and makeup artist had done exactly what they’d planned during the trial run a few days earlier.

  This felt wrong. There should be some sort of crisis. Like every other wedding she’d attended or seen on TV, where the bride was running around like a chicken with her head cut off the entire day. She shouldn’t be calm. She should have a big zit, or stain on her dress. That’s it; she was calling Tracy. Ashley reached for her phone, but the door to the bridal room opened before she ever hit any numbers. Ashley turned to see who was walking inside, and her jaw dropped as Alex approached. “You’re kidding, right? You can’t be here.”

  Alex raised an eyebrow. “Worried about bad luck?”

  Ashley really didn’t believe that, but she was fishing for a reason. “I thought you wanted to have a normal wedding. Normal grooms do not see the bride for the wedding.”

  “Jean said she was worried about you.” Alex pulled a chair over and sat next to Ashley. “Come on. You can tell me anything. What’s wrong?”

  Ashley bit her lip and rotated the bouquet in her hands. No. She was not going to say a single thing to bring Alex down on the day he was so excited for.

  “It’s Diana, isn’t it? Have you called Tracy yet?”

  Ashley’s eyes drifted shut. “I was just about to. I’ve been trying not to. It’s just the longest I’ve gone without seeing her and—”

  “I just talked to Tracy. Diana is fine. She’s actually sleeping right now.”

  A smile curved Ashley’s lips. “You called Tracy before I did?”

  “Well, it’s not as though I didn’t send her a text message every half an hour like I have been. I needed some contact before the ceremony.”

  Ashley laughed softly. “I can’t believe you caved for me. You’re such a wimp,” she said playfully.

  “Hey. You said you were about to call her.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t. You caved first. That makes me the winner.”

  “I think that makes Diana the winner.”

  “I bet that we can ask Tracy to bring her down here if you want.”

  She smiled at the idea of having their six-month-old daughter there to see the ceremony, but she shook her head. “No. I’m sure she’s much happier sleeping in her crib right now than being forced to stay still and quiet in a room full of people. There are good reasons that we didn’t have her here.” She sighed as she remembered the little coos and smiles that Diana would give them. “We’ll see her later tonight, though.” Alex and Ashley had both decided to go ahead with the big wedding, but they were going to hold off on doing a honeymoon until Diana was older. They instead opted to do a staycation in the Connecticut house. The three of them having a week of relaxation.

  Relaxation was exactly what they both needed. Alex had officially transitioned to the head of Farrell Enterprises, and Ashley had taken up all the duties that came along with being the wife of one of the richest men in the world. Her days were filled with coordinating events, philanthropy, and sometimes she worked as Alex’s moral compass and reminded him what his priorities were.

  What their priorities were. Alex reached over and held her ringless hand. It was the first time she’d taken off the beautiful blue diamond wedding ring he’d bought for her. It was smaller and not as flashy as the jewelry that adorned so many of the women who now ran in her current social circle, but nothing gave her more joy than to tell her new friends the story behind it. About the happy days it called back to. The happy days they had ahead of them still.

  She couldn’t wait until he put it back on her finger. “We’re doing everything backward. We’re married, then engaged, then have a daughter and now we’re getting married again.”

  “And if our life becomes any more normal, I’ll become sorely disappointed in you.”

  Ashley smiled. “You do like the chaos, don’t you?”

  “I love it.”

  “As much as you love me?”

  “It’s why I love you.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a shiny silver flask. “One before the altar?”

  “You sneak.” She took the flask from his hand and examined it. “Where did you get this from?”

  “Gift from Colin.”

  “Does he think you’re going to need alcohol to handle me?”

  “No. This is so I can handle having a daughter. Apparently kids are hard.”

  Ashley snorted as she unscrewed the top. She took a quick sniff and wrinkled her
nose. “Scotch. Of course.”

  “Hey, if you don’t want it—”

  She tilted her head back and poured the strong liquor into her mouth, careful not to mess up her lipstick. She winced as it burned down her throat but then smiled and handed the flask to Alex. “Your turn.”

  “What did you drink to?”

  “It’s our wedding day. I drank for love. What are you going to drink for?”

  “For you. From this day on, everything I do is for you and Diana.”

  And then he drank.

  “What the hell is this?” Scott Hart threw down the file of useless information onto the ground.

  “Wait—” said Alex Farrell.

  No. Scott was done waiting. Alex was supposed to give him answers and all he’d gotten was more bullshit. “I asked you to tell me what Catherine was working on. Everything in this folder is fluff shit.”

  “I know—”

  “You know but you’re giving me this bullshit anyway?”

  “I asked her boss what she was working on when she died. This was what he gave me,” said Alex. “Obviously he’s lying, and I will help you figure out the truth.”

  “You’d damn well better help me. I’m not sure if you remember, but I’m the one who found your wife. I saved her and now you owe me.”

  Alex gritted his teeth. “I got that. And I am going to pay you back.”

  Hart ran his fingers through his hair and winced. Alex could tell this was one more roadblock in the long line of roadblocks and he was getting desperate. Through the course of his questioning, he’d found out that Catherine and Hart had only been married a year and a half. He couldn’t imagine only having eighteen months with Ashley.

  He promised Hart he’d help, and he intended to keep that promise. If Catherine Hart was murdered because of a story she was working on, Alex would figure out what that story was.

  At least that way, Scott Hart could get his revenge.

  ~~~THE END~~~

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  RELENTLESS

  Coming in January 3rd, 2017

  Nathan Farrell and Katy Carey were the couple that never was. He broke things off before he could ever taint her innocent mind with his train wreck of a life. Things have changed.

  Nathan is back and he's going to do anything and everything it takes to get Katy to agree to be his. But when everything but the attraction between them has changed, can the good girl and the bad boy billionaire ever have their happy ending?

  To be notified when RELENTLESS is released, sign up for Mallory's Mailing list at: mallorycrowe.com/free/

  See an excerpt on the next page.

  (A sneak peek at book 5 in the Fractured Farrells Series)

  Copyright 2016 Mallory Crowe

  Katy might be in over her head. Because when she'd made the teasing comment about being with any man she wanted to be with, there was more than annoyance.

  "What are you doing out here? I'm trying to get work done."

  "By work, do you mean having lunch with Mr. I Don't Know When To Shut Up?"

  Katy raised a brow. It was just so weird, one for Nathan to pop up out of the blue like this and then for him to be interacting with people in her life. Her life that was so very different from the time when she knew him."Levi can be a little brash sometimes, but he's been a friend of the Inn for years now."

  Nathan didn't say anything. Just stood there staring where Levi had gone with that same look of disapproval on his face.

  "And who are you to give me crap about who I have lunch with? I read papers, Nathan. It's hardly as if you're the expert in picking dining mates."

  Instead of looking defeated, he got a cocky grin on his face. "So you've been following me?"

  "You're impossible to avoid," she said as she started for the front of the Inn.

  Nathan followed and she tried not to let her annoyance show. Since she was in heels and a good six inches shorter than Nathan, it was easy for him to keep up with her fast pace. "Let me take you out to dinner."

  "I'm really busy, Nathan."

  He sped up until he could move to stand in front of her, blocking her path. "I'm not going anywhere any time soon, so why don't you just do this?"

  "I love that you're threatening me to get me to go to dinner with you. You haven't changed at all."

  He didn't look abashed. "I'm threatening to be annoying. Come on. It will be a nice dinner. I'll pay. Then you can kick me out and be done with me."

  "Nathan, I told you, I'm busy."

  "I haven't said which day. Or time."

  "I'm busy all the time."

  "No. You just don't want to be around me. Now, I know we don't have the best history, but it's not that bad. We never did anything. I don't get why you aren't even going to give me the time of day."

  Katy clutched the papers in her arms closer to her chest. Of course he wouldn't understand. She barely understood this knee jerk reaction she had just to being in his proximity.

  But Katy knew that she had a long track record of making good decisions. She had been a great kid and, once she'd moved in with her older brother after her parents died, she'd been pretty much a model teen. From there she'd been a stellar college student and managed to graduate a full year and a half early leading her to be a hotel manager at the insanely young age of twenty-six.

  However there was one very large blemish on her history of making stellar decisions. That blemish was Nathan Farrell. The one time she'd ever done anything remotely morally questionable. The one time she'd ever lost control of herself.

  So, yeah, to a guy like him who left a trail of broken hearts and promises wherever he went, what they had might seem muted. But to her it was a big deal. And now when her life was in such a good place, she didn't need a variable like him to come in and shake things up.

  She planned her next words carefully. "I don't know how to make this more clear. I'm busy. Very, extremely, overwhelmingly busy. I'm not saying this to trick you or to insult you. It's a fact. I don't have time for distractions and, as you've already overwhelmingly proved, you're a distraction. So if you don't mind, I need to get back to-"

  "I mind."

  Katy rubbed the corner of her eyes, careful not to mess up her makeup. When she opened her eyes again, Nathan had moved closer. Really close. Too close for a stranger. Too close for a friend.

  She was just about to tell him to back off, but then she inhaled his scent and she swore nothing had changed. They said smell was the scent tied in with memory more than any other, and at the moment she totally believed it. He smelled like soap, fresh clothes, and something uniquely him that she couldn't quite place. "I need to..."

  She wasn't sure if he was psychic or if her voice had wavered, but he must have sensed that she was weakening, and he brought a hand up to rest at the nap of her neck, his thumb softly brushing back and forth against her jaw. The soft touch seemed to radiate through her, simultaneously proving why she needed to be far away from him and making it impossible to move.

  "If I thought you didn't want me," he said as he shifted his weight, bringing his face just inches from hers, "I would leave in a heartbeat."

  That would be pretty damn quick considering how fast hers was beating at the moment. So for the first time she was completely honest with him. "I don't want the things that come along with you, Nathan. You're a package deal."

  "What's in that package?" He seemed to move closer and through the cool spring air she could feel the heat from his body.

  "Trouble," she breathed. He was so close that she could whisper and he could hear clearly.

  "Come to dinner with me."

  No. She knew she needed to say no. There were so many reasons to say no and so few to sa
y yes. She managed to get the words into her throat. "I can-"

  Nathan kissed her. Even though he'd been standing in what could only be called an embrace, she still managed to be surprised. The kiss was Nathan exemplified. Confident, carefree and unapologetic.

  Just like no time had passed, Katy kissed him back.

  ~~End of Sneak Peek~~

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