Ruthless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series Book 1)

by Mallory Crowe

  “Mark? What are you doing here?” She couldn’t hide the surprise from her voice as she looked past her ex-boyfriend to see whether he was alone. Not that he would ever bring Annabelle here. She’d probably burst into flames if she ever set foot in a trailer park.

  “Your mother called me. She said she was worried about you and this new guy you’re running around with.”

  Jean’s mouth dropped in shock. Katherine called Mark? Mark, the son of a bitch who broke her heart? She’d known Katherine wasn’t quite right in the head, but this was too far. “I don’t think it’s really any of your business who I’m running around with.”

  Mark held up his hands. The move crinkled his pristine suit, which was probably much too hot in the warm Arkansas spring. But he wasn’t exactly the type to go easy on air conditioning to keep the bills down. “I know. I know. But, no matter what you’re into, I want you to know that Annabelle and I have a spare room and you’re more than welcome to stay with me anytime you need to.”

  Jean’s hand holding the door open tightened until her knuckles turned white. “Is that so?”

  “I want you to know we’re here for you any time you need us. Annabelle is going to be home more often now that she’s pregnant, so you ring our doorbell whenever you need to.”

  “Annabelle’s what?” She felt as if she’d just been punched in the face.

  “Well, you know we’ve been trying for a while. About two weeks ago, we finally got the good news. We haven’t told many people yet, trying to keep the whole thing hush-hush until the second trimester, you know?”

  Mark was beaming, his grin practically reaching ear to ear. Jean’s mouth still hung open as she tried to reach for the nice, congratulatory things she was supposed to say. No...this wasn’t supposed to happen. Her life was falling to shit and he was bragging about his upcoming baby right to her face? Didn’t he realize how much that hurt her?

  That was supposed to be her child. He’d promised her he’d be proposing as soon as the time was right and they’d get a perfect little house to raise the perfect little family. And now he was doing everything they’d talked about with Annabelle...

  The crunching of tires on the gravel road was a welcome distraction from the anger swirling within her. She never thought she’d be happy to see Colin, but at the moment, her stomach practically did summersaults in relief. “Well, I’m happy for you, but Colin and I have a plane to catch, so we’re going to have to get together another time.”

  Colin brought the truck to a stop, and she met his piercing gaze through the glass of the windshield.

  Mark glanced between the truck and Jean. “Your mother doesn’t seem to think you actually like this guy. If there’s anything you want to tell me, I’m here to listen.”

  Colin stepped out of the truck. The sun glinted off his biceps, suitably intimidating as he eyed Mark. “Is everything all right here?”

  Jean half wanted to see Mark try to stop Colin. That would be one hell of an amusing fight. She started to tell Colin that Mark was just leaving, but Mark answered for her. “Everything’s fine. I was just telling Jean here that she’s more than welcome to stay with me if, for any reason, she was uncomfortable with you.”

  Oh, for the love of— “I was just telling Mark that I’m fine here,” she said, trying to convey her annoyance to Colin.

  He took a few steps closer. “I promise you, Jean and I have a very...electric connection. We’re just going on a little trip to see where that takes us. That is, unless you had some claim on Jean I didn’t know about?”

  Cavemen. They were all cavemen.

  “I know Jean, and she isn’t the type to just—”

  Jean pushed past Mark before she had a chance to hear what “type” he thought she was. She was putting a stop to Colin’s stupid posturing and Mark’s stupid gloating right now. She determinedly made her way over to Colin and took a steadying breath. “I thought you’d never get back,” she said with a fake smile as she took Colin’s head between her hands and pulled him down for a kiss.

  Except she should’ve known Colin would never do things the way he was supposed to. She just wanted one quick peck on the lips to shut Mark the hell up and show him that she wasn’t sitting around, being sad and waiting for him to rescue her.

  But Colin took full advantage. His hands slid around her waist and settled into the small of her back, pressing her fully against him as he tilted his head and used his lips to push hers open.

  She should’ve pulled back. Hell, she should’ve slapped him. But for the moment, all logical thought fled as she sank deeper into the kiss. She opened her mouth for his as her hands fell to his shoulders, finally getting to feel the muscles she’d admired from afar for so long...

  Colin pulled away gently, and Jean squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to magically appear somewhere else. Anywhere else would be less embarrassing than this.

  “I’d love to talk longer, Mark, but we do have a plane to catch. Unless you had any other questions?” asked Colin cockily.

  Jean opened her eyes and stared at the black fabric over Colin’s chest. Mark would really think something was off if she refused to look at him as he left. She turned around in Colin’s arms, and he kept her close by resting his hands on her hips.

  She forced a smile on her face, desperate to hide her panic. “Thanks for stopping by, Mark, but I have everything under control. Promise.”

  Colin’s fingers tightened the tiniest bit on her, as if to say, “Liar, liar, pants on fire.” She adjusted her weight and made sure to step on his foot.

  Mark studied them as though he didn’t know what to make of the strange scene in front of him. “Okay... Well, if you’re fine, I’m sorry for interrupting.”

  “You have a nice day there,” said Colin in an exceptionally insincere voice.

  Mark looked skeptically between them as he got into his BMW and drove off. As his car disappeared through the park’s exit, Colin leaned forward. “Any more ex-boyfriends we need to tell off?”

  Jean jerked away from him. “What the hell was that? We just wanted to throw him off the trail, not—”

  “I didn’t hear you complaining.”

  “This! This is me complaining! You’re hearing it right now!”

  “Fine. The next time you jump me unexpectedly, I’ll try to control myself. Does that make you happy?”

  She opened her mouth, but for a few seconds, only sputtering noises came out. “I didn’t jump you! It was very obvious that I just wanted Mark to leave us alone, which was what you wanted too, so it was mutually beneficial.”

  “That guy is a tool. You shouldn’t care what he thinks about you anyway.”

  “I don’t care...” she lied. Not like she needed Colin to tell her that. She knew Mark was a tool and that he didn’t deserve the time of day from her. It didn’t make it any easier to think he was feeling any sort of pity toward her.

  “Well, we don’t have to stand around and talk about how much you liked kissing me all day. Are you all packed?”

  “I didn’t like it!” They were never going to get on a plane. She was going to kill him before they left the trailer park...

  Colin leaned forward, obviously not expecting any threat from her. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have kissed me back.”

  Colin gripped the steering wheel tighter as he passed another slow-moving car on the freeway. It took everything in him to keep from going twenty miles over the limit...or more.

  Damn it, she wasn’t supposed to touch him. This was a simple job: Get her to the city. Oversee the DNA test and get the hell out as soon as he got the cash. And, hell, if he wanted to appreciate the view of her tight shorts and the way she filled out her work t-shirt, that was all well and good.

  But no fucking touching. So why was she the one who broke that rule? She hated him. He’d done everything in his power to make sure she knew which side he was playing.

  Now she seemed content to stare out the window and stay quiet, which was the best he cou
ld hope for. He was still trying to get a grip on himself. Namely certain parts of himself that had been excited ever since she’d pulled him down to her. She thought she had crossed boundaries? Hell, if she only knew everything he’d wanted to do. If he’d had his way, she would’ve been between him and his truck faster than she even knew what was happening.

  Colin clenched his jaw and took the exit to the airport. He was going to have to clear his mind before he got on the plane, and because he was going to be sitting next to Jean the entire time, he needed to do it fast.

  The sooner he got laid, the better. Maybe once they got back to the city, he could get away from Jean for a few hours to visit Shannon. Last he knew, she was still single, and she was always up for a few hours of fun. Maybe that would be all he needed to take the edge off.

  “Do you want to get your stuff ready? I need to turn this car in.”

  Jean startled as though he’d shaken her out of her thoughts. “This is a rental?”

  “Well, I didn’t just have a car waiting for me in Arkansas.”

  “I didn’t realize you could rent a truck. I thought they only gave out random cars.”

  “That’s why I paid way too much extra to get this thing. But let’s be honest, anyone who doesn’t drive a truck stands out like a sore thumb.”

  Jean smiled and shook her head.

  “What?” he asked.

  “You still stood out. You have this new, pristine-looking thing? People notice. Just sayin’.”

  He shrugged. “Well, I drew the line at banging up the rental.” He brought the truck to a stop in the return lane and hopped out to pull his bag and Jean’s out of the bed of the truck before he led her into the airport. It was obvious she’d never been to one before, and he kept looking at her awed expression out of the corner of his eye.

  After the long process of checking his bag, with extra paperwork because his guns were inside, they made it through security pretty quick when there wasn’t much of a line. Once they finally got to the gate, Colin decided the silent treatment was getting to him. “Hanging in there?” he asked.

  Jean crossed to a seat next to a window, probably so she could watch the planes take off. “Just taking in the sights. I didn’t realize you could check...um, you know.”

  She’d been quiet while he’d filled out the paperwork for the guns in his checked bag, but her wide eyes had told him she was surprised. “Yep. They have to be checked and in a hard case that only I have the combination to. But they have to be registered, of course. And I’m a rule follower.”

  She snorted as she settled deeper into her seat. “So does my family know I’m coming?”

  “I told them I found you a week ago and was coming out to collect you. So they won’t be that surprised.”

  “A week ago? Feeling rather cocky that I’d agree to this, weren’t you?”

  Considering she was the real deal, he hadn’t seen any harm in letting the Farrells know she’d be showing up soon. They hadn’t been thrilled when they found out about their fifth sibling, and any surprises probably weren’t a good thing. “Most sane people don’t say no to this kind of money.”

  She narrowed her eyes but didn’t dignify his barb with a response. “So tell me about the brothers. Who are these guys? I read that one is in prison for something?”

  “Yeah...they’re an interesting bunch. Not sure if you’ll be doing family dinners any time soon, though. Robert is the oldest. He’s heading up the Farrell real estate empire now that Walter is out of the picture. He’s probably the one you’ll deal with most.”

  “So he’s the nicest?”

  Colin let out a laugh. That would imply any of the brothers were nice. “He’s the most socialized of all of them. Spends the most time at press conferences, fundraisers, and all that fun stuff rich people do. Alex is the second oldest. He is mainly in charge of overseas investments, so he travels a lot. But if you’re ever looking for a nice place to stay, ask him. He’s better than any travel agent. Nathan is the youngest, so he’s just learning the business, but he’s probably the best negotiator in the company.” A trait he undoubtedly picked up from Walter.

  “And the one in prison?”

  “Logan. He was sent to a minimum security place for insider trading, but he’s set to get out in a few months.”

  “Minimum security? Those are like the country clubs of prison, right?”

  Colin tightened his jaw as he considered how much to tell her. What happened to Logan was one of the worse chapters in her family’s history. More shit that she shouldn’t have to deal with. “He should be getting out soon. I haven’t seen him in years, but he’ll probably be a different person when he gets out.”

  “So one messed-up family for another, right?”

  Colin didn’t answer. As much as he couldn’t stand Katherine, Jean might be better off with her gambling addict of a mother. The fact that the Farrells had money could make them much more dangerous to Jean. Add to the fact that Jean was about to wander into their world...

  He’d keep her close for the time being. Make sure she had her footing before he took his payday and went off on his retirement. Jean was smart, though. She’d be able to figure it out sooner rather than later.

  “So you don’t know these guys well, do you?”

  Colin was surprised at the question. “What do you mean? I’ve known them for almost ten years.” Hell, he’d started working for Walter when Nathan was still in high school.

  “Yeah, but you just told me their occupations. Nothing really about them. About who is the funny one, or the intellectual one. You just said where they belong as cogs in the machine that is the Farrell estate.”

  Colin stared down at Jean for a minute before he looked away. Damn. He thought he was a better judge of character than that, but he’d been more affected by Walter’s influence than he’d thought. Because it wasn’t his opinion of the Farrell sons he’d given Jean. It was Walter’s. All of his sons had a purpose and that was the roles he thought of them as. Colin had just spent too much time with the old man.

  “It wasn’t my job to follow around Farrell’s kids.” He sat back.

  She shook her head at him, but she sat back too, and they spent the next hour waiting for the flight mostly in silence. Except one trip Jean made to pick up some reading material for the flight, she spent the entire time glued to the windows and watched the planes move.

  Colin had been on enough planes to last him for several lifetimes, but it was nice to see someone still enjoyed the experience.

  Their zone was called first to board, and Colin kept quiet as he waited until Jean realized what that meant. It was only when they stood in front of the large seats in the third row that she stopped and looked back at him. “Are you sure these are the right seats?”

  “I’m sure.” He set a hand on the small of her back to guide her to the window seat.

  She still seemed unsure of herself as she bent down and sat in the plush seats of first class. “We’re flying first class?” she whispered excitedly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  He grinned and held a finger to his mouth. “Shhh. The trick to flying first class is that you’re supposed to pretend that you don’t care.”

  “Fat chance of that happening.” Jean twisted around to press her forehead to the glass. It was strange to see her smile like this. For the first time, she wasn’t guarded or hesitant around him...just truly excited.

  And damn if that didn’t make him want to kiss her again. Great. If his thoughts kept going in this direction during the whole flight, he was going to need to keep that first-class blanket on his lap the entire time.

  Except her joy at the seats took an abrupt exit once the plane started to taxi away from the gate. Her smile was gone as she double-checked the tightness of the seat belt and then held tightly to the armrests.

  “You’ll be fine,” said Colin. “Takeoff can be stressful, but once we’re in the air, it will be smooth sailing.” Except for landing, but she’d find out about
that later.

  She leaned in closer. “Don’t most plane crashes happen during takeoff?”

  “You mean the very few crashes that actually happen? Yes. Then you have a point. But that’s not going to happen today.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  “In the time you’ve known me, have I ever not gotten something my way?”

  “You’re such a cocky ass,” she said even as her breathing became a bit more even.

  Hell, if all he had to do was get her pissed off at him, this would be easy. “But I’m right. As always.”

  She shook her head at him. “Takeoff is just a few minutes, though, right? And then it’s all over and smooth sailing?”

  “Just need to get through these few minutes.” As though the pilot could hear their conversation, the plane accelerated and Jean went pale, closing her eyes tightly.

  At a loss for what to do, Colin acted on instinct and reached out, taking her hand in his. Her eyes snapped open as though she was as surprised by his action as he was. But she didn’t pull away. She gripped his hand tighter, her fingers intertwined with his.

  “I’m not afraid of flying, you know,” she said tightly as the wheels left the ground and her hand squeezed tighter.

  “No?”

  She shook her head in short, abrupt motions. “Once I get through this first time, I’ll be fine.”

  From the tightness in her neck, he had his doubts. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  “I didn’t realize we’d be going on a lot of flights together.”

  Colin snuck a glance at Jean. As the plane climbed higher and higher, she seemed to relax more and his hold on her hand was less out of necessity and now just comforting.

  No, they wouldn’t be going on any more flights together. Not unless something went horribly wrong.

  Jean set her shoulder bag down in the hotel room and had to keep herself from climbing into the king-sized bed. She hadn’t had a coffee since her shift at work and was ready to either crash or insert a caffeine IV straight into her arm at this point.