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

by Mallory Crowe

  “Colin,” she said as she rested her hands over his shoulder blades.

  “Yeah, babe?”

  “I think you’re kind of failing at being the bad guy. Because I’m starting to really like you.”

  He smiled against her neck. The words made him happier than they had any right to. “Really?”

  “Do you think that maybe, you know, after we split the Farrell money, we could do something like...um...go on a date?”

  His smile disappeared just as fast as it had appeared. After he took half of the money she didn’t realize was hers. Fuck, he never should’ve slept with her. Twice now.

  He kept his face in the crook of her neck so she wouldn’t see his expression. “I doubt that inheritance will come any time soon. We’ll make plans for after later.”

  He could feel her tense beneath him and he cursed himself. Maybe he should’ve lied. Told her he’d love to run off with her once the money was theirs. Well, hers.

  Even if he wasn’t stealing from her, he was too much of a piece of shit for her to ever consider being with. Yet there she was, asking him what his plans for the rest of his life were.

  But there was one thing he could do. He fisted his hand in her hair and tilted her head back, kissing her for all he was worth. Maybe after he gave her five or ten orgasms, he’d stop feeling like a piece of dirt who didn’t even deserve to be on the bottom of her shoe.

  Jean stared at her phone in awe. “I can’t believe it.”

  “Can’t believe that banks have apps or that you have money?”

  She playfully hit Colin on the arm even as she leaned in closer to him on his couch. “I knew there were apps for banks,” she said. “It was just too depressing to have access to my accounts on my phone before.”

  “But not anymore.”

  “Not anymore,” she agreed, smiling in awe at the balance in her account now that Nathan’s gift had gone through. The “Welcome to the family” gift. The crazy gift that no other family would think about offering. The gift she didn’t even ask for. They were just like, “Welcome! Here’s more money than you could make in years!” She counted the digits in her balance for the tenth time, still trying to believe this was her real life.

  Colin set his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. “You said you wanted to do some shopping, right?”

  Jean nodded as she relaxed into his arm, setting her phone in her lap. It was so hard to keep her head straight around Colin. She’d asked him pretty plainly, at least in a way she thought was plain, if he wanted something more than...well, more than whatever they were doing.

  It had been stupid, and, looking back, she wished like hell she could undo it. At the time, she’d just been so high from the sex and he was so overwhelming that the words had just slipped out.

  And as fast as she’d said them, she’d been rebuffed. Of course she had. She’d known Colin wasn’t looking for anything more than a good time. But if that were the case, why was he sitting on the couch with her and, for all intents and purposes, cuddling with her? Didn’t he know this was something couples did?

  “Do you think it’s safe to go out?” It had been a day since the fiasco the night before, and according to Smith, the suspicious account hadn’t been used to transfer out any other funds. Didn’t mean it was safe, but it also didn’t make it any easier to stay cooped up in Colin’s apartment for days on end. No matter how pleasurable he’d made the experience.

  “I think we can be careful enough. No point being cooped up for the weeks we’re going to be here. Smith said he’s only a day or so away from figuring out who opened up the account, so I don’t think we’ll be worried for that much longer.”

  Jean nodded. “That will be a relief.” She didn’t want to spend one more night than necessary thinking that someone wanted her dead. Wanted her dead enough to pay thirty grand so far. “I just need a few minutes to get ready and then we can head out.”

  Colin let her go and stood as he started to clear off their Chinese food lunch. “Sounds good. So that means you’ll be ready in an hour, right?” he cracked.

  She gave him a fake smile. “You’re not funny, Carter.”

  “You know I am.” He winked.

  She wanted to continue the banter, but he looked so damn cute when he winked that she couldn’t think straight. Ugh, she was such a pushover when it came to him. She shook her head at the both of them as she headed to the bathroom and pushed the door shut behind her. She dumped out the makeup bag and set everything in the order of application. A strange habit she’d had since she was a teen.

  Maybe now that she had some money, she could get some better stuff than her drugstore brands... She’d always wanted to try one of those foundations that cost more than an entire paycheck. Nah. That would have to be something after she got her really big check.

  She reached for the cheap foundation right as her phone buzzed. The one time it had rung since she had gotten here. Though she wasn’t really close to anyone at the restaurant and she never even told Danielle and Chrissy she was leaving.

  Except it wasn’t anyone from home messaging her. It was Nathan. She opened her phone and looked at the message. It looked like a picture of a picture. She zoomed in a bit farther on the phone until she realized what she was looking at. It was Colin and...Katherine? Meeting somewhere.

  The phone vibrated and Jean answered it immediately. “Hey,” she said softly, suddenly ultra-aware of Colin in the other room.

  “Hey, this is Nathan. Did you get the picture I sent you?”

  So billionaires talked on the phone like normal people. Who knew? “I got the picture, but I have no idea what it is.”

  “That’s Colin meeting with your mother in the city around the time you were fifteen.”

  Jean suddenly felt an intense headache coming on. She leaned against the sink and she rubbed at her temples. “What? Where did you even get this?”

  “After Walter croaked, Robert and I got access to all his emails. All I had to do was look up your name and I found this. It looks like your mother asked for child support a few years back.”

  “She asked for child support and Colin showed up?” The room seemed as though it spun around her as she tried to figure out what was happening.

  “She asked for money and Walter sent his muscle to make sure she knew she wasn’t getting a dime from him. I just want you to know who you’re dealing with here. Just imagine what you could’ve done with that money if you’d gotten it. How scared would your mother have to be to never try to go after Walter again?”

  Jean’s breaths came faster and faster. “Colin knew my mother years ago?” As in years before he supposedly saw her picture in some article and tracked her down. Years before he should’ve known anything about her family.

  “It makes sense. I couldn’t figure out who would have a kid with one of the richest men in the world and not try to get a payday out of it. But when you have someone like Colin to do your dirty work, getting problems to go away is easier.”

  “And this picture? Where the hell did this picture come from?”

  “It’s not just a picture. It’s a still from a video. Walter had Colin send him the surveillance from the restaurant the day they met. There’s no audio, but it’s not the easiest thing to watch. I figured the picture would be easier to digest. Listen, I’m not trying to hurt you here, but I need you to know what kind of person you’re dealing with. He’s a dangerous, manipulative—”

  “Liar,” finished Jean. Everything started to click into place. Why she was the one and only person he could use to do this scheme. Why she looked so much like the other Farrells. Why, even though he supposedly had some lab geek in his pocket, he never talked about that part of the scam. She wasn’t pretending to be the lost Farrell heiress...she was the real deal.

  And Colin was keeping it from her so he could rip her off. Son of a—

  “Are you talking to someone in there?” asked Colin from the other side of the door.

  Jean jumped at t
he interruption. Wait, no, she didn’t need to jump. She wasn’t the one doing anything wrong. “Um, Nathan called. Give me a second.” She walked as far away from the bathroom door as possible. “I need to let you go but I—” She winced as she tried to think of the right words. This was her brother. Her real brother and Colin was never going to tell her. Tears welled up behind her eyes and she tried to push them back. Not now. She couldn’t lose it now. “Thanks for letting me know,” she managed to get out in a reasonable tone before she hung up. For the brief moment she was alone with no one on the phone, she almost let the dam within her break, but managed to hold it in.

  As soon as she stopped herself from hyperventilating, she collected all her cosmetics, shoving them in the small makeup bag, and opened the door.

  Colin was in his closet and pulling out his shoes when he turned to look at her. “Is everything okay?”

  Jean opened her mouth to say...well, she had no idea what she wanted to say, which was probably why no noise came out. She needed her stuff. Her bag was still mostly packed because she would just pull her clothes out as needed. So she picked up the bag and threw in her items as she walked by. A shirt here, her phone charger on the counter.

  By now, Colin realized something was up. “You planning on going somewhere?”

  She glanced around the room. She didn’t see anything she was missing, but at this point, she’d just buy anything she forgot. She needed to get out of here. Without answering Colin, she pulled on her boots over her leggings, a process that would’ve been easier if her hands weren’t shaking.

  “Jean, stop it and tell me what’s going on.”

  “Well, gee, do you want me to tell you the truth or do you want me to tell you whatever story that will get me what I want?”

  Colin’s face hardened, but she couldn’t tell whether he really knew what was happening yet. “What did Nathan say on the phone?”

  “It wasn’t what he said. It was what he showed me. A surveillance video of you and my mother meeting, shockingly enough, in New York City. Years ago.”

  Every muscle in Colin’s body tensed, and she knew with sudden certainty that all of her worst fears were coming true.

  “Jean—”

  “No!” she screamed. “Please don’t tell me any more of your lies, Colin. I mean, I—” She broke off. What was she going to say? That she trusted him? That she really believed he was on her side? How stupid she’d been. The first day they’d met, he’d told her plain and clear that his intentions were to get money and that was it. It was her own damn fault for ever thinking they could be anything more. “You must’ve been so happy,” she said softly as the fight started to leave her.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Screwing over the daughter of the guy who screwed you. Must’ve felt fucking fantastic,” she bit out.

  “Jean, that’s not what was happening.”

  “Whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night, Carter. But from now on, I’m not going to be in that bed with you.”

  “So you’re going to a hotel? Let me call Smith and find one that’s secure.”

  She let out a bitter laugh. “Hotel? No. I’m going back home. Where I belong.”

  He started for her and she couldn’t help her body jerking in fear as he got closer. Colin stopped in place as he saw her reaction, and she almost thought she saw regret pass over his features. But just as fast, his expression was back to being stone cold and controlled. He looked every bit the mercenary that he was. “You’re a Farrell, Jean. You belong here.”

  “Maybe. But I don’t belong with you.” She managed to get out the door and down two flights of stairs before her knees gave in and all she could do was hold onto the railing as the sobs took over.

  Colin let out a guttural scream as he slammed his fist into the wall. He stared at the hole as the rage snaked through him. The same kind of hole he used to make as a teen, before he’d had outlets for his anger. Before he’d learned to control it.

  But there was no control now. No one he could blame or take the rage out on. The only one at fault was him. And now he and Jean had to suffer. But he wouldn’t let her die because of this. Even as he still shook with the need to do some sort of damage, he forced his holster on and loaded his Glock and backup ammunition. He made it down the stairs and to the street right as Jean got into a cab. He snagged a cab of his own and made sure to follow her. The cabbie, who had probably seen it all at this point, didn’t hesitate to become a tail. Just like she said, Jean got off at the airport. She probably didn’t have a ticket, so he could assume she was going to get on the first flight back to Arkansas, connecting or not.

  He couldn’t follow her as long as he was packing, though. If he wanted to hop a plane to Arkansas, he’d need to load up his gun and check it. As long as she was in the air, she should be safe enough.

  He gave the cab driver another address and drove away from the airport...from Jean. His foot tapped out an unrelenting rhythm on the plastic floor of the cab as he looked outside. Except he wasn’t seeing the city. A blur of memories passed by. Meeting with Katherine for the first time to tell her that Walter wasn’t giving her a single penny. Warning her that if she ever approached him again or threatened to file a suit, he’d make sure she’d regret it.

  The memory of Jean smiling up at him in bed. Pressing herself firmly against him even in her deepest moments of sleep.

  Colin ran his hands over his face and through his hair. Half of him wanted to run after Jean and make her listen. Not that he had anything to say. There was no reason for the lies he’d told except to get what he thought was owed to him by the Farrell family, and she knew that. So what was he supposed to say? That she wasn’t just a quick lay to him? That she’d meant more? She’d laugh right in his face and he couldn’t blame her.

  Or worse. She could cry. He didn’t think he could ever forgive himself for making her cry. But there was one person he could pin this on.

  He handed the driver a pile of bills and got out of the car at Farrell Tower. Security was used to seeing him, so they didn’t question him as he walked past to the elevator. Of course, the Colin Carter badge had been taken down just hours after Walter’d been murdered. But the backup he’d swiped years ago was still good.

  Colin knew exactly where the offices were. He strode straight to where Nathan’s office was and found Robert there too. Great. The more the fucking merrier.

  Robert stood in front of his younger brother as Nathan stood up behind his desk. “Call security,” ordered Robert.

  Colin smirked at them. “Oh, you’re afraid of me now? You sure as hell weren’t afraid of me when you warned your sister away from me, were you?”

  Nathan narrowed his eyes. “She deserved to know that you were the reason she’s been living like shit her entire life.”

  “What the fuck makes you think I had any control over what your old man did? If it wasn’t me, he would’ve had someone else! I was just the one who found your sister when no one else could!” Even as he spoke the lie burned through him.

  “And we appreciate what you’ve done,” said Robert, his words careful and controlled. Nathan looked as though he was half ready to launch across the desk, but Robert was a whole different type of animal. The kind who wouldn’t bat an eyelash as he signed an order to have you killed. “Nathan mentioned that you’d discussed a finder’s fee. Why don’t you tell us what that fee was and we’ll cut you a check.”

  Colin took a step back. The offer surprised him. “You’re trying to pay me off?”

  “We want you out of our life and out of our sister’s. You’ve done too much damage already.”

  “I’ve done too much damage?” That was it. “I’m not the one who’s been trying to kill your sister!”

  A flash of surprise went over the brothers. “What?” asked Robert.

  Did they really not know? “Don’t play dumb. I know one of you is the one behind this. Or Alex. Jean has been attacked two times since she came to the c
ity.”

  “Are you saying that someone is trying to kill Jean?” asked Nathan. “Why would you think it was us?”

  “Some stranger comes up out of nowhere and wants to take a huge chunk of your money. If that’s not motive, I don’t know what is.”

  Robert looked at Colin as if he were from another planet. “It doesn’t matter if she’s dead or alive. The money isn’t going to us.”

  “Well, someone wants her dead. The only people who even know she’s here is me, you two, Alex, and her mother, who can’t even afford to keep her motel mini bar stocked, let alone lay down deposits on two different thugs.”

  Robert held up a steadying hand. “Hold on. First of all, if I had hired someone to take care of this, you can be damn sure it would’ve been taken care of on the first try. Secondly, we wouldn’t ever hurt family!”

  Colin glared at Robert. “Tell that to Logan...oh, wait. He hasn’t taken any of your visits in years, has he?”

  Nathan lunged across his desk and Colin tensed, more than ready to take on the younger Farrell.

  The only thing that stopped them was Robert stepping between the two of them and physically holding Nathan back. “Calm down!” he ordered before he looked at Colin. “So you have no idea who is after Jean and your best bet, us, have no actual reason to kill her?”

  “I had a guy working on it. Besides, I was with her at all times, so I knew she was going to be safe. That is, until someone decided to tell her to stay the hell away from me and messed everything up,” he said with an angry glance at Nathan.

  “I was doing my best to keep her safe from people like you!”

  Colin wanted to tell him that he’d only been looking out for Jean, but he didn’t say anything. He knew that was a lie, and he didn’t think he could lie anymore.

  “Well, good job. Now she’s flying halfway across the country from all of us.” Colin turned to leave, making a point of slamming the door as he left. The entire wall shook with the force. Fuck, he needed to get on a plane. After a ten-minute cab ride to his apartment, it would only take minutes for him to get everything he’d need. Then he’d be back in the airport and on his way to Arkansas.