Billionaire Undaunted: The Billionaire's Obsession ~ Zane

by J. S. Scott

  “People change, Tate. Maybe he’s just been waiting for the right woman. I was married to my career, too. Until some hotshot asshole challenged me, made me realize there was so much more to life than just my job.”

  Tate wasn’t about to admit he was an asshole, even though he probably was, so he answered, “Was that before or after you met me?”

  She hit him playfully on the bicep. “Smartass!” Lara wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder. “You know you make me crazy sometimes. But that’s exactly what I need. You’re exactly what I need.”

  His arms tightened around her, grateful for the fateful day that Lara had come into his life. He’d never known how lonely he was until he’d found her, and he planned on making sure she never had a reason to stop loving him. “You were what I needed, too, sweetheart. You always will be.”

  They stayed cuddled together for moment before Lara asked, “What time are we picking up your mom?”

  He stepped back and glanced at the clock. “Now,” he said with a grin.

  “We better move. I’m surprised she hasn’t called yet. She has to be excited.”

  Tate opened the door to let Lara exit, and the cell phone in the pocket of his jeans began to ring.

  His wife looked at him and they both smiled before he quickly locked the door and they both sprinted to his vehicle.

  “They’re late. Do you think they’re okay?” Ellie asked nervously as she looked out the window for the fifth time in the last two minutes, waiting for Chloe and Gabe to come down the driveway.

  “Ellie, stop!” Zane insisted from his seat on the living room couch. “Come sit with me. Watching for them won’t make them get here any faster.”

  “I’m fine,” she reassured him, knowing she couldn’t sit down. Every nerve in her body was jittery with excitement. “I just hope she’s not mad about me keeping my rescue a secret. Now I’m not sure if I did the right thing.”

  Zane rose and grabbed Ellie by the shoulders. “You had the right to do whatever the hell you wanted to do. You were the one who was recovering from an acute traumatic incident. It was your call, and none of anybody else’s business, Ell. You had a right to do whatever made you comfortable then.”

  “But she’s my best friend,” she answered woefully. “Maybe it was selfish, but I didn’t want anyone to see me that way. I needed some time. And I didn’t want her to come rushing back because of me.”

  “So you had the right to recover in peace,” Zane answered reasonably. “You needed to just worry about yourself. For God’s sake, you almost died.”

  “You didn’t let me recover in peace,” she reminded him with a small smile. “You were stubborn, manipulating, and bossy.”

  “Only about you staying safe,” he grumbled. “I wanted you to be happy again. Just because you had the right to be alone doesn’t mean that you should have been.”

  “I needed you,” Ellie relented as she put her arms around him. “I just didn’t want to admit it. You saved me in more ways than one, you know. I really had nobody with Chloe gone. Yeah, I’ve lived in Rocky Springs all my life, but I guess I never realized how few real friends I really had. Not that it matters, because Chloe makes up for that. She’s as real as they get.”

  “You. Have. Me.” Zane wrapped his arms around her waist. “And really good friends are hard to find, especially when somebody works as much as you do. When you aren’t doing things for me, you’re working to build your online business. I spent so much time in the lab that I never developed a ton of great friends either. I have work associates, but when it comes right down to people who would stand beside me if I needed them, there’s pretty much just my family.”

  “You have me now.” Ellie repeated his words back to him.

  “Believe me, I know how damn lucky I am to have you,” Zane answered sincerely, his eyes heated.

  Ellie blinked back tears, something she did often when one of Zane’s honest confessions about her touched her soul. Really, was he that lucky to have a woman like her, a female who had caused him more work than joy?

  She thought for a moment, stopping herself and her negative thoughts. Despite her remembered pain, there was so much joy in her life with Zane, and both of them were happy. The hard times were still difficult to deal with, but the good things outweighed the bad now. In fact, sometimes Ellie thought her life couldn’t be more perfect. Yes, sometimes an occasional nightmare or old habits still plagued her, but for the most part, Zane had helped set her free.

  Her life was different. She was different, all because Zane Colter had come into her life. Even before her kidnapping, her world had been very small. He’d helped her widen her universe, and no matter what happened between them in the future, she’d always be grateful to him.

  I love you!

  Although Ellie desperately wanted to say those words as she looked into his tempestuous gray gaze, she hesitated. They were a couple for now, but Zane had never talked about being in love. Did he even believe in love, or just monogamy? Frankly, Ellie believed Zane was her soulmate, the man she was always meant to be with. But she accepted a man of science was probably not going to agree with a theory like hers.

  The doorbell chimed suddenly, dragging Ellie from her thoughts.

  “Chloe,” she whispered reverently, like her best friend was a superstar.

  “I’ll get it,” Zane offered.

  “No. I’m fine. We’ll go together.”

  Zane twined his fingers around hers, offering his silent support as they strolled to the front door. He flipped the deadbolt open, and the heavy wooden door swung open.

  There in front of her was a smiling, happy Chloe, looking more amazing than she ever had before. Not that Chloe had ever looked bad, but she seemed to have a glow to her that had always been missing.

  Ellie stared at her incredulously, and then…she lost it.

  Reaching out, she wrapped an arm around Chloe’s neck and pulled her inside the door with a sob. “Oh, God. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

  Ellie’s tears flowed freely as the women became locked in a hug so exuberant that they both dropped to their knees.

  “I’m so sorry, Ellie. I’m so damn sorry,” Chloe choked out through her tears.

  She hugged her best friend harder. “It’s over now. I’m here. It doesn’t matter.”

  Now, Ellie was glad she hadn’t told Chloe she was alive. She could only imagine her reaction if she’d seen her during her walking-skeleton days when she couldn’t even walk by herself. With her huge heart, the images would have haunted Chloe forever.

  “I was so afraid I’d never see you again,” Chloe muttered in between her heavy sobs of relief.

  “I love you so much!” Chloe exclaimed.

  “I love you, too,” Ellie responded immediately.

  Neither woman really noticed as the men in the room lifted them back to their feet, both guys looking concerned, their eyes suspiciously damp. Neither man could look away from the reunion. All they could do was share the joy of two women who were so damn happy to be together again.

  Finally, Chloe pulled back and took Ellie by the shoulders. “Let me look at you. Oh, my God. You look fantastic. You lost weight, and I love your hair shorter.”

  Ellie smiled at Chloe, determined to never mention exactly why she was at a normal weight. She wasn’t going to say a thing about her shorter hair, either. Her hair had grown, but it would take years to get the length she’d had before. Then again, she wasn’t sure she even wanted that anymore. She liked the shorter style and the ease of taking care of it.

  Clasping her friend’s arms, Ellie did her own inspection of Chloe, noticing how worry-free she looked right now except for the stream of tears flowing down her face. “You look happy,” she said simply. It summed up exactly what she saw.

  “I am. Oh, let me introduce you to Gabe, my husband
.”

  Untangling herself from Chloe, Ellie looked at the tall, dark, and handsome man beside her friend. “We’ve crossed paths a few times. Congratulations, Gabe. You got the most wonderful wife you could ever want,” Ellie told him with a wink as she held out her hand.

  Gabe nodded and smiled at her as he shook her hand. “Don’t I know it,” he replied with a slight drawl. “If I forget, she reminds me.”

  Chloe tapped him on the arm. “I certainly do not,” she countered, mocking indignantly.

  Drawing back her arm, Ellie noticed that Gabe’s smile went all the way to his eyes, making them twinkle with mischief. God, her best friend had found the perfect man. Ellie had a feeling that Gabe and Chloe laughed a lot.

  She watched as Gabe and Zane shook hands and slapped each other on the back.

  Chloe turned to her brother and gave him a gigantic hug.

  “How was the extended honeymoon?” Zane asked, apparently asking the question to lighten the mood. “Come on into the living room.” He led the way.

  Ellie and Chloe followed, their arms locked together like they were afraid to let go.

  “It was amazing,” Chloe gushed. “But none of the trip was better than coming home. It still seems surreal to me that Ellie is here. I guess it will take a while for me to get used to having her back.”

  The two women took a seat on the couch and turned to face each other.

  “Are you really okay?” Chloe asked hesitantly.

  Ellie nodded. “I won’t bullshit you and tell you I don’t have some lingering problems, but I’m working through them. Zane saved my life.”

  “Were you cold? Did that bastard feed you? Did he hurt you?” There was a desperate note in Chloe’s voice.

  “I was cold, and he left me very little food and water, but enough to last until Zane found me.” Ellie wasn’t going to lie to Chloe. But she hoped her friend didn’t ask any more questions.

  Both men had taken a seat in one of the chairs across from the couch, and Chloe’s eyes searched out Zane. “Thank you. But I still want to kill you for not telling me she was alive.”

  “Don’t,” Ellie interrupted. “Please don’t blame anyone but me. I wanted some time to get my head together. Zane and Gabe respected that. If you’re angry, it’s all on me. I asked them not to tell. I think we both needed our time to heal.”

  “I’m not mad at you, Ellie, and I’m really not angry with Zane. How could I be? He saved you.”

  The intercom at the gate chimed, and Ellie looked at Zane, perplexed. “Is somebody else coming over?”

  Zane rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding? They’ll all be here. Maybe I should leave the front gate open.”

  “Who?”

  “My family. Did you really think my brothers and Mom would miss this?”

  Chloe squealed with delight as she jumped up to answer the intercom. “I don’t know how to let them in, but I’m glad they’re here. I just wished they’d given us more time to talk.”

  Honestly, Ellie was relieved. Although she wanted to have some quiet time with Chloe, she wasn’t sure she was ready for some of the things her friend might ask.

  Zane rose, not bothering to answer the intercom. He just buzzed the vehicle in.

  Before the car reached the end of the driveway, he had to let another vehicle pass through the gate. “Hell, I hope some of them rode together,” he grumbled as he went to answer the door.

  Ellie knew Zane got his wish as she saw Marcus and Blake enter together, and then Tate, Lara, and Chloe’s mother a few minutes later.

  Aileen had brought dinner for everyone from the resort, so the guys unloaded the stuff from Lara’s car.

  As the party moved away from the living room, Zane caught her arm on the way into the kitchen. “Baby, I hate to do this right now, but Sean just called. He’s having some emergency at the lab.”

  “Today? It’s the weekend.” Ellie knew that some of the research staff worked weekends, but rarely the guys at the top. Sean was usually off with Elena, and he wasn’t required to do any weekends.

  “He said Elena left him, and he wanted to take his mind off her. So he went to work because he was starting to have some luck on one of our projects. But some of the equipment isn’t working. I have to have it up and running by Monday morning.”

  “Then, go,” Ellie urged. “I’ll stay here and visit with Chloe.”

  Zane nodded reluctantly. “I always want you with me, but I’m not about to drag you away from here right now. I’ll be back by tomorrow.”

  Ellie wrapped her arms around Zane’s neck and kissed him, right there in front of his family. He deepened the embrace, running his hands through her hair and devouring her mouth until she was breathless.

  “I’ll miss you,” Ellie told him earnestly.

  “I’ll miss you, too. Have fun with Chloe.”

  He was gone as quickly as he’d approached her, leaving a whole lot of questioning expressions behind. Ellie looked around, and everybody was staring.

  The only one who didn’t look surprised was Marcus.

  “We’re seeing each other,” Ellie mumbled nervously.

  Marcus crossed his arms in front of him with an evil grin. “I sure as hell hope so. If not, I’m going to have to talk to him about friendship etiquette.”

  Chloe threw herself at Ellie with enthusiasm and gave Ellie a big hug. “I’m so happy for both of you. Thank you.”

  Ellie hugged her back. “For what?”

  “For making my brother happy. I could tell he cared about you from his expression. I’m so glad the feeling is mutual.”

  “Way mutual,” Ellie said laughingly.

  “I know you had a crush on him when you were younger, and I always wondered if there wasn’t still something there. You asked about him a lot.”

  Ellie’s cheeks reddened. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t fishing for information. I just…”

  Okay. Maybe she had been wanting to know what Zane was doing, who he was seeing, and any other information she could get. But it hadn’t been intentional.

  “It’s fine. He grilled me for information about you, too,” Chloe reassured her. “I’m just happy you’re together now. Do you love him?”

  Her best friend’s question took her off-guard. Finally, she nodded. “With all of my heart. I’ve wanted to tell him so many times, but I didn’t want to ruin what we have.”

  “You won’t. He loves you, too,” Chloe responded nonchalantly.

  Ellie wanted to ask how she knew that, and if she really thought it was true, but her friend got distracted by her mother dragging her to the kitchen with her to talk and catch up.

  Chloe mouthed, “Talk later.”

  Ellie nodded, and then turned to Blake, who was trying to ask where Zane had gone. Her heart clenched as she explained that he’d had to go to the lab.

  Pathetically, she missed him already.

  The impromptu family gathering went on for hours, with plenty of laughing, eating, and drinking while the whole clan was together catching up. Aileen was happy, saying that it was rare for them all to be in Rocky Springs at the same time. She’d also implied that she was happy that Zane had somebody to pull himself out of the lab from time to time.

  It was late by the time Ellie got the phone call that was about to make her entire world come crashing down on her.

  Most of the family had settled into the family room because it was bigger, when Ellie heard the telltale sound of Zane’s ringtone sounding on her cell. Springing to her feet, she scrambled out to the kitchen and quickly rummaged in her purse for the phone.

  “Hello,” she finally answered breathlessly.

  “Ellie?” The voice wasn’t Zane’s. Ellie was confused for a moment before she recognized it.

  “Sean? What’s going on? Where is Zane?” Her heart started to beat rapidly, knowing that if
Zane let Sean use his phone, something was wrong.

  “He’s here, but he’s tied up. Literally. I couldn’t say whether he appreciates me holding a gun to his head, but I don’t give a shit.”

  Ellie’s heart fell as she sensed Sean’s mood, the sound of mania in his voice. She’d experienced this before, and it hadn’t turned out well. “Why? Sean, why would you do that when he was the one who chose you to be in charge of the research lab? He hired you, he was your mentor after he put you in a position of power at the lab.”

  “You think I’m a boss? Hell, no. I don’t have the money Zane has, and I never will unless I make my own luck. Your boyfriend was born with a platinum spoon in his mouth. I wasn’t. The only thing I ever wanted was Elena, and she left me for a wealthier man. I want her back. In order to do that, I need money and a way to become wealthy enough to get Elena back. And you’re going to get it for me.”

  Ellie walked into the family room, every member of the Colter family going quiet as they looked at her pale complexion. She put a finger to her lips as a sign to stay silent.

  “I’ll bring it to you if you just promise me you won’t hurt Zane. Please.”

  Tate got up and came over to where she was standing on the phone, turning it so he could listen in with her.

  Sean grunted. “That’s not all I want. Zane’s been doing some private research, an independent project that doesn’t belong to the lab. I want the research.”

  “I-I don’t even know where it is. What is it?”

  “He has an underground lab there. I need the laptop he keeps down there.”

  “I don’t—”

  Tate quickly put a finger over his mouth and shook his head. Was he telling her not to let Sean know that she didn’t have access to the lab? Evidently, that was exactly what he seemed to be saying.

  “I don’t know exactly where it is, but I’ll find it,” she told Sean adamantly, realizing Tate was right. If she admitted she couldn’t get what Sean wanted, he might kill Zane.

  “Make it fast. I want you here by ten o’clock tomorrow morning or I’ll waste your boyfriend. Then you can see how it feels to lose somebody you love. Maybe then you’ll understand,” Sean rambled.