Billionaire Protector

by Kyanna Skye

  “Uh… this is Rachel,” Kelly said, “my babysitter.”

  “Oh?” Chad said, not relinquishing his grip on her until just that moment. A thought stuck him as he did so. “Uh… I hate to do this to you,” he said, reaching for his wallet and pulling out every last bill that he had in it. He counted three hundred dollars and passed it to the teen. “But, I don’t think we’ll need your services today, but here’s something for your trouble.”

  The young girl, Rachel, took the offered money and stared at it like she had never seen so much cash in her life.

  “But can I ask one last favor from you?”

  Rachel looked up at him eagerly. “Uh… sure.”

  He indicated Ellie who was excited to see the goofy and playful stranger from the day before once again in her home. “Can you put Ellie in her favorite princess dress? The three of us,” he said, indicating Kelly, Ellie, and himself, “have someplace to go.”

  He heard a barely audible gasp from Kelly behind him.

  Rachel nodded. “Sure… whatever you say.” She stood up and hefted Ellie in her arms. “Come on, sweetie… we have to get you in your favorite princess dress. Which one should we put you in?”

  Ellie squealed with delight as she and Rachel disappeared down the short hall to where Ellie’s room was.

  Alone for the moment, he turned to Kelly who stood with a look that he imagined was just as dumbfounded as he had been when Susie had hit him with the truth. He stepped slowly to her and took her gloved hands in his.

  When he spoke, he spoke softly, these words meant only for her. “I took a hard look at myself in the mirror this morning. I wasn’t that crazy about what I saw… and on the way over here I thought about what I – what we – could be.” He licked his lips with determination. “I liked that thought better than anything else.”

  Kelly’s eyes seemed to brighten, but now she held her silence, listening to him with rapt attention.

  He thought about telling her what Susie had told him… about knowing the truth. But he decided against it. Some things did have to remain personal and private. All he knew that he wanted to say was what concerned their future together.

  “I have a future… and I see it with you and Ellie as part of it. You… Ellie… it took all of a second for me to realize that you two mean more to me than anything. And I want you both in my life from here on out. I’m not letting another minute go by without the both of you with me.”

  Kelly remained silent and still, her gloved fingers closing tightly around his. “But… your career?”

  He shook his head dismissively. “Other players have families, too. I’ll just be joining the club.” He smirked a little. “And to be honest, it’ll be a welcome relief.” He looked at her intently. “You sacrificed your own future to give our daughter a life… you let her play princess while disgusting men grab at your ass all day.” He put a hand on her soft cheek. “That stops now. You’re going to quit that shit job… we’ll stop at the diner on our way to the wedding, and if I have to tell your boss that I’m taking you away then I will.” He smiled. “I’m going to let our daughter become a real princess… and you’re going to study music. You want to go to school for it, I can help make it happen. You want a tutor to come to you so you don’t have to leave Ellie alone… I can arrange that too. But you’re getting back what you sacrificed for our daughter… and I’ll sacrifice anything I have to, to keep you with me.”

  Kelly looked as if she were about to break down crying, but he took her hands once again in her own, lending her his strength.

  “This is a wedding we’re going to… it’s a family affair.” He stiffed his back. “And we’re going as a family.”

  Kelly looked on at him, an excited gasp leaving her mouth. She swept into his arms again and their mouths joined.

  The End

  Exclusive Preview of Rascal: A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance

  Chapter One

  Alec would usually be in a suit and tie to meet a new client, but this day was an exception. He headed up the coast on his motorcycle in his rider’s gear: leather pants, white t-shirt, boots. He liked the wind in his hair but wore a helmet because he knew the dangers of wiping out, especially on this stretch of road. The Pacific lay to the right, bright blue and sparkling in the sunshine. It was a perfect Southern California day in springtime.

  Rick’s house was in Palisades, a two story home built back in the 1950’s when people didn’t realize they’d be in the company of millionaires if they just waited around a couple more decades. Alec and Rick had been friends for five years, back when they met during a motorcycle ride for charity. Over the years they had gone on many fishing and camping trips together, along with a few friends they had in common.

  The thing about Rick was, outside of their shared love of riding and the outdoors, Alec didn’t really know much about him.

  Alec kept his own past and parts of his life guarded, and he found that he gravitated to other people who did the same. After several years of working in Black Ops, it was a way of life to keep quiet, be private with both his professional and personal life. At thirty-five, Alec considered himself blessed to have retired from the business. These days he worked with three men he called his brothers, former black ops soldiers who’d worked the same unit he did. They had fought, schemed, and in several cases, nearly died together. He knew that they would always have each other’s backs. Not everyone had those kinds of bonds with friends, much less colleagues.

  Rick had called him a few days before, asking him to come up, but making it clear that while he should be casual about it, he had a business proposition for him to consider.

  “Hey, you’re right on time,” Rick greeted him with a smile. “How was the ride up?”

  “It was great,” Alec told him. “It’s been too long since I rode up this way.”

  The men settled onto the back deck. The house was on an acre or so of land, and the yard backed up to some woods. They shared a few beers and talked about riding, and some of the trips their mutual friends had been on lately. There was a lull in the conversation before things turned more serious.

  “I know you must be wondering what I wanted to see you about,” Rick said. “I do want to contract your firm. I heard your people are very discreet.”

  “Absolutely,” Alec replied. “What is it you need done?”

  Rick turned to him. He was a big man, tall muscular and built like a quarterback, with dark curly hair and green eyes. Alec knew his friend didn’t ask for help often, and it was probably difficult for him to do it now.

  “You’ve probably noticed I don’t talk about family much,” Rick began.

  Alec shrugged. “I have but it’s not my favorite topic either.”

  “Well here goes. I’m looking for someone.”

  Rick put his beer down. He looked out into the woods as if he were imagining the past out there. Or maybe it was a way to keep from looking Alec in the eye.

  “So my parents had a complicated relationship. I guess you could say they were on and off with each other. When I was about six, the two of them were trying to figure out whether or not they wanted to get a divorce. They broke up for a while. My mother was pregnant at the time, which only made things worse. I only remember bits and parts of things that happened between them back then, I was just a kid. Anyway. She left me with my Dad and went to stay someplace else. My guess is she was with my grandparents, trying to figure things out, I can’t say for sure. But when she came back she wasn’t pregnant anymore. When my father asked her what happened, she said she lost the baby.”

  “Okay,” Alec said quietly.

  “She was with us for maybe another year. And then she left again, this time for good. I stayed with my Dad. I would hear from her every so often—birthday cards, gifts here and there, you know the drill. I got postcards from her all over the world. She never mailed me anything from the same place twice. I had the feeling she was running from my Dad. When I was a kid I used to blame everything on my mo
ther. I hated her for not being with me or wanting to take me with her. It wasn’t until I got older I started to see how truly obsessive my Dad could be in a relationship. I started to realize maybe she had a reason for not wanting to be with him. I think she left me with him because he wouldn’t agree to share---and if she had taken me with her, he’d have scoured the earth until he found me. He’s a rich man. Trust me, he’s got the resources and he’s the kind who would do it. He wasn’t ashamed to tell me that was true when I finally got up the nerve to ask him.”

  Alec nodded, urging him to go on. Rick crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Well, I had an unexpected surprise a couple of weeks ago. I was notified by an attorney that my mother died last month.”

  “I’m sorry, man.”

  Rick nodded. “Yeah. Apparently, I own a bunch of property from her in all kinds of places: a flat in London, a house stateside in Virginia, a home in Argentina. And those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head,” he sighed. “The interesting thing is all her estate is divided evenly between me and one other person—my sister.”

  “Wait. So the child survived?”

  “Yes,” Rick said. “The lawyer told me that he doesn’t know where she is, and he was actually hoping that I could tell him where she is so he can inform her about her inheritance. It was a shock but I’ve had a little time to sit with it. She’s twenty-nine and I know nothing about her. And it just haunts me that until now I haven’t known she even existed, much less what happened to her. Maybe she had a difficult relationship with our mother too and hasn’t been in contact with her for a few years, but I don’t know.”

  “You’ve already tried all the regular routes for finding her?”

  “I have,” Rick said. “It’s looking more and more like she was never given up for adoption, or if she was, it was under a different name than the one in the legal documents. She’s listed as Erika Hill. I haven’t found anything. You’d think with all the websites out there to help find missing relatives, and social media, I would have come up with something. Nada.”

  “It has to be frustrating. My team has certain resources,” Alec said. “Finding people can take a little time but we haven’t ever come up against someone we couldn’t locate. It sounds like wherever she is, she’d not trying to be found. Not to dwell on the negative but I want you to consider the possibility that she won’t want to speak with you.”

  “Well she might not but money is usually a pretty good motivator,” Rick replied. “Really, I have thought about it. At this point, I’d be happy to see her, know who she is for sure and that she’s okay. I’m not getting my hopes up, after all, it’s possible our mom never told her about me and Dad. Which, by the way, I would like to keep him out of this if at all possible. If she wants to meet him herself, it should be her decision. To be frank, I don’t get along with the old man myself much these days, I wouldn’t push him off on somebody else.”

  “Other than a name, do you have anything else?” Alec asked.

  “Oh, yes. I have this.” Rick reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph. It had been folded and was frayed around the edges, but it wasn’t old, just well worn. There was a digital time stamp on the bottom, which showed the date as January of the previous year.

  “I was given some boxes of my mother’s personal effects, and this was wedged inside one of her favorite books. She always had a thing for Bronte, so I knew this was special to her when I found it. See that girl to the left? She’s a spitting image of my mother. I believe that’s Erika.”

  He handed me the photograph and took a good look. The girl looked like she was Rick’s kin. There was a resemblance in the dark hair and shape of her brown eyes. She wore a black leather jacket and a dark dress beneath it and high heels. She seemed unaware of the camera and stood with her head tilted towards the speaker, a man standing a few feet away from a statue. There were other people crowding about her in the photo, also listening, but none seemed as intent as Erika. From the looks of things, this was the start of a standard museum tour. Alec’s training clued him in on the fact that the photo was taken with an expensive lens and at a distance. Whoever was behind the camera, Erika was the subject of their attention.

  “Would you mind if I took this? I would like to have it analyzed,” Alec said.

  “Sure. I guess we should discuss fees…”

  “Let’s not,” Alec cut him off. “I know you can afford it but you’re a friend. Let me see what we can come up with first. If you like our results, then we can discuss how much you’re going to pay me. We are expensive, but we’re also the best.”

  “I appreciate this, Alec. You don’t know, I have been losing sleep over wondering what happened to her.”

  “We’ll find out,” he promised.

  ***

  Alec lived and worked within a compound, behind high white walls and ten-foot gates. And this was by choice.

  When Alec and his friends: Kiefer, David, and Jesse arrived back home to the States, the first order of business was figuring out where they should live. Returning to civilian life after years of being in black ops had its own challenges, none of which they could reveal to other people outside of a therapist or a clergy member. Instead of splitting up and not seeing each other again, they decided to buy four adjoining properties. The fifth was a house in the center of their enclave, which they turned into their office space. There was high tech security around the perimeter of their homes and workspace; they didn’t have to worry about enemies turning up or curious onlookers coming through. Everything they owned was for their own design and comfort.

  Alec opened the door to his office. Metallica was pumping through the air. He went up to the second floor and found David alone at his desk.

  David was the technical genius of their group. He could hack into almost anything given the time to do it in. He’d been recruited into black ops for his skills, but Kiefer trained him and he became as much a soldier as the rest of the group. A natural redhead with a thin beard, David kept his head shaved. Because he worked out a couple hours a day, he allowed himself whatever junk he wanted to eat. It wasn’t unusual for him to live off of chips and soda when he was busy working on a complex problem. Both his arms were covered in full sleeves of tattoos, and he’d recently gotten a stud through his left eyebrow.

  “Hey, Man,” Alec said, dropping into the chair across from his friend’s desk. “Where’s everybody else?”

  David nodded. He slurped ramen from a foam container with a pair of chopsticks. “Well, let’s see. Jesse is on his way to Los Feliz to close with that client from last week. And Kiefer is out with Shari. It’s her birthday, so those the lovebirds probably won’t be around until tomorrow.”

  Alec chuckled. “I’m surprised she took a day off, workaholic that she is. Kiefer was complaining last week about having to pull her away from her laptop, even when she’s at his place. She has three different cellphones.”

  “Well, you know how it is, I’m sure he worked out some way to convince her. Watch, he’ll be bragging about where he took her and what they did. I heard something about wine country and a bed and breakfast.”

  Alec smiled. He was happy to see his friend with a woman he really cared about, but he would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit it made him feel odd.

  Alec hadn’t really tried to be in a relationship for a few years. He had friendships with women that turned physical. The last woman he was seeing hadn’t even been free to be in a relationship, and things ended after a few hot and heavy weeks of hookups. He wasn’t lonely. He was used to not having people in his life who were permanent. Every now and again, when he saw how happy Kiefer was with Shari, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was missing out on something. His rationalization was that he wasn’t cut out to be with anyone for the long term, especially with all the emotional baggage he brought to the table. Kiefer bore the same battle scars he did. And if that man could have a fairly normal relationship with a woman like Shari, who was a c
atch in every aspect… it made his justification for not even giving it a shot with a woman of his own seems pretty thin.

  “I’ve got, maybe a new case for us,” Alec said. He needed to shake off this train of thought so he could concentrate. He got up, poured himself a cup of steaming coffee, and gave David a recap of everything Rick told him.

  “Well, that gives us a lot to go on. Not,” David said cheerfully. He sat up and typed a code into his computer. “Never freaking stopped us before, though. What do you think about this whole story? I know he’s your friend, but isn’t there something fishy?”

  “Could be,” Alec admitted. “Really makes me want to know more about what was going on with his parents and exactly why he’s not talking to his Dad. Might not have anything to do with his sister, but maybe it does. I find it odd her mother didn’t seem to know where her daughter was when she died, or if she did, she didn’t tell her lawyer.”

  “Details,” David said. “I gotcha. Couldn’t hurt to look into it. This girl,” David paused. “Kinda hot, don’t you think?”

  ***

  Alec wondered how Rick had dealt with the news about his family; his mother’s death and the existence of a sister he never knew about. Here he was, basically a stranger investigating the case, and Alec found himself haunted by it. The night after his meeting with Rick, Alec found himself haunted by uneasy dreams. Early the next morning, he went back into the office.

  “Hey,” Jesse called from the kitchen. “What are you doing here so early?”

  Alec smiled. Jesse had been doing client calls all week, and he was again dressed up in a black suit and steel blue tie. The tie brought out the blue of his eyes, his light gold skin contrasting with both. Jesse was definitely a lady’s man, and though he’d be hard pressed to admit it Alec could see why. For all the kidding the guys gave him about being the pretty boy of their group, he more than held his own with the rest. Alec had seen Jesse take a bullet to save a child, ran through a swamp pulling an injured comrade over his shoulder. And with the ease of twisting a bottle cap, he’d watched Jesse snap someone’s neck.