Code of Love
(Bachelor Billionaire Kids #2)
By Sharon Cummin
Copyright © 2018 Sharon Cummin
All Rights Reserved
Warning: This story contains explicit sexual content that is not intended for those under the age of 18. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious and the age of 18 and older. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
Bachelor Billionaire Family Tree
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Bachelor Billionaire Family Tree
Gavin and Becky
1. Jessie (twin)
2. Julie (twin)
3. Gavin Jr.
4. Nate
Ethan and Julie
1. Ethan John
2. Ben (twin)
3. Danny (twin)
4. Sophie
5. Emily (twin)
6. Elizabeth (twin)
Josh and Lisa
1. Jack
2. Gracie Rose
Heath and Tara
1. Jordan
2. Jason
3. Heath Jr.
4. Brianna
John and Sandy
1. Kelly and Eric – Eric, Sarah, John
2. Kyle and Jenny – Melissa, Kyle Jr.
Prologue
Julie
Julie had wanted to follow in her parents' footsteps ever since she could remember. It had always been her dream to one day take over the software development company her father owned. In high school, when the other girls were at dances or out with boys, she was home, at her computer, with a book in her hand. She'd sit at the table, during dinner, telling her parents what she'd learned each day. They were both thrilled for her. Her mom would go on and on about how proud she was of what Julie was doing, and her dad would tell her she was learning and to keep up the good work. Then he'd turn his head toward his son, whose eyes glazed over every single time, and start rattling off things about the family business.
Gavin was all their dad could talk about, and it drove Julie crazy. He was going to make something of himself. He was going to learn each day, after graduation, by being right by his dad's side. He was going to run the company better than his parents ever had.
Julie wasn't mad at her brother. She couldn't be. It wasn't his fault. He'd told his parents several times that he didn't like development. He'd not once picked up a book on the subject or opened a program. No matter what programming language their dad would mention, her brother would always make an excuse to get out of there as fast as he could, but that didn't stop their dad one bit. He'd be right back there again not long after. No, Julie wasn't mad at her brother. A bit envious maybe, but never mad, not at him anyway.
Her father on the other hand, he was really pissing her off. It wasn't that he was discouraging, not at all. He'd tell her he was proud, and he'd talk to her about what she was doing. Then he'd tell her how happy he was going to be when she graduated high school and came to work for him. Not with him, but for him. Her brother was going to take over the company and rule the world, and she was going to work for them.
By the time Julie had graduated high school, she'd written multiple programs to make her life easier, but she'd given up on the thought of convincing her father that she'd be the one taking over the world. Oh, she was still going to do it. She was just sure that it wouldn't be while she was at the head of the family business. That ship had sailed.
Instead of staying home and working for her father, she went to college. Did she need to go? Not at all. She already knew more than most of the classes were going to teach her, but she decided to go anyway. She'd get that piece of paper, and maybe then her father would notice her. That was what she'd hoped anyway.
Her twin sister Jessie was going away to school, and she was happy to go with her. They could have stayed home and gone to a school that was just as good, but Jessie didn't want to. She wanted distance, and Julie didn't mind the idea one bit, so they ended up going a few hours away. Not too far, but not too close either. Since there were two of them, it was cheaper for her parents to rent them an apartment, so that was what they did, and Julie was pretty sure that was exactly why Jessie had pushed for her to go with her.
Julie and Jessie had been close growing up, but they'd never experienced that super connected twin bonding you hear about. It was probably because they were like night and day, or at least that was what Julie had always told herself. Where Julie was more of a loner, Jessie was social. Where Julie was concerned with everyone's feelings, Jessie was more concerned with herself. Where Julie was an emotional person, Jessie was not. Even though they were opposites, they were the closest family the other had.
Julie had gone home to work with her dad the summer after her first year of college, and it had gone well, but he hadn't changed a bit. He'd give her tasks, and she'd do them, but that was it. It was still all about her brother and how in one year he'd be there too.
Just as she finished her second year of college, something had happened that she was sure was going to change everything. Her brother and his best friend Jack announced that they were going into the service. While it was breaking her heart thinking about her brother possibly having to go to war one day, she was also very proud of him. He'd be helping their country, and he'd be doing what he wanted to do. When her father got to his feet, letting her brother know that he was supposed to be there and that he was supposed to take over, she got to hers, and she took off toward the house.
There was only one person in their whole crew that Julie knew she could count on, and he was right behind her. It was her best friend Jason, and as soon as they got through the door and away from everyone, he wrapped his arms around her, she grabbed his shirt, leaned against his chest, and cried.
“He's never believed in me,” she whispered through her sobs.
“He's going to be team Julie,” Jason said. “You'll see. You're going to be working for him this summer and next, and by the time that's over, he'll wonder why he ever thought Gavin would be a better person for the job. That company is going to be yours, Julie. You've worked too damn hard for it not to be.”
“I hope you're right,” she said, as he pulled her back and dried her tears.
Since Julie always saw the good in everyone and in every situation, that hope she'd felt before was sparked again.
Those two summers had come and gone. She'd done everything she possibly could to prove her worth to her father, and when
she headed back to school for her final year, she knew she had some big decisions to make.
Jason had been wrong. Her father wasn't team Julie. He didn't see her as a better person for the job, and the company was never going to be hers. She had nine months to decide if she was willing to give in and spend the rest of her life working for her father or if she was going to cut her losses and take on the world alone.
Chapter 1
Julie
It was the end of May. Julie was almost there. In less than a week, she was going to be a college graduate, and she was no closer to making the biggest decision of her life.
As she walked into class for the very last time, she felt a nervous feeling fill her entire body. They were having a speaker. Her teacher had been talking about it for weeks. While he wouldn't give away exactly who was coming, he'd told them it was the owner of one of the most successful local software companies. She couldn't wait to finally find out who it was. Who did she want it to be? A huge part of her wanted it to be her father. Deep down, she wanted him to stand before her class to talk about his business. She wanted him to finally admit that she was the one he wanted to take over their family business, not in front of everyone of course, but after, when he took her out for a nice dinner. Could she deal with being his second choice? She laughed as she thought about it. Was it really that important for her father to see her as an equal? It was. She knew she could code circles around him, if he'd only give her that chance.
Julie could hear people filling the room, as she looked down at the notebook she had out and opened in front of her. What would he say? How would he be? As much as she'd been a part of what their family held important in the past, she'd never heard her dad speak, and she couldn't wait. It had to be him. His company was top in the state. Shit! A nervous feeling ran through her. What if it was her Uncle Ethan? Could it be him? She couldn't even begin to imagine the things that would come out of his mouth? That man had no filter, and she knew that carried over into his business too.
Ethan had offered Julie a job with him. He knew she was struggling with her father and his behavior, and he let her know that he'd love to have her on his team. Would she do that? Could she do that to her dad? The answer was no. As pissed and hurt as she was, she could never hurt her father, and working for her uncle would hurt him worse than anything else she could do.
Julie hadn't realized how much time had gone by when she heard a deep, unfamiliar voice come from the front of the room. It wasn't the teacher's, but it wasn't her father's or her uncle's either. When she looked up and saw the man standing at the front, leaning leisurely against the podium, she let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. It wasn't her father. It wasn't her uncle. It was Cody Williams. How did she know who he was just from seeing him? He was a man she'd heard both her father and her uncle go on and on about. He was their biggest competition, the one keeping them both up at night. He was young, arrogant, and on the rise, and neither of the men she knew could stand him. It wasn't just the fact that he was closing in on them, ready to take their spots at the top, but it was him as a person. They couldn't stand the man he was. She'd heard them both speak negatively more times than she could count, and she'd only been home in the summer since Cody's company had come onto the scene.
As Mr. Williams spoke, Julie thought about her dad. Why wasn't he the one standing there? Had he been offered? Had he turned it down? Had their teacher even thought of him? It didn't matter, It wasn't him. He wasn't coming to make some grand gesture to show that he thought his daughter could in fact run his company. Yet another tiny sparkle of hope she'd had left was blown out.
She held her pen in her hand and looked toward the front of the room, ready to get something useful out of what the man her father thought of as a villain had to say. Julie couldn't help the low laugh that came out as she thought the words, causing the man to falter for just a second. Her hand immediately moved to cover her mouth, as his eyes locked on hers. She mouthed the word sorry, sure that it wasn't going to take away the embarrassing moment she'd just had. Without a word, he pulled his eyes from hers and moved on with his talk.
As he spoke, she listened halfheartedly, but before long, she had been sucked into the words he was speaking. Her hand began scribbling down notes, and she couldn't wait to hear what he'd say next. By the time he was done speaking, she'd taken pages and pages of notes, but she wanted more. So much of what he said she had totally agreed with. Some were the very same things she'd told her father, but he hadn't agreed. He'd had reasons why those things weren't going to be done in his company. Hearing the words come out of Mr. William's mouth, the one moving quickly up the charts and only inches from flying right by her father and her uncle, verified that she'd been right, and that felt damn good.
While most of the people walked out of the class, she stayed, and as she sat, she thought back to what her dad and uncle had said about the man in front of her. They were wrong. He wasn't a joke at all. He was sure of himself, but from the sound of it, he deserved to feel that way. He wasn't a kid that knew nothing. He was knowledgeable, and the things he said were interesting and true. Julie knew enough from being around her parents and uncle her whole life. Not to mention the endless hours of studying she'd put in through high school and college. The man at the front of the room knew what he was talking about. He was the real deal.
At least five guys from the class were making their way forward to talk to Mr. Williams, and she knew she needed to be right there too. Anything he had to say, she wanted to hear.
Was he the man her father and uncle had said? Not when it came to business. Was he as a person? She wasn't sure. Oh, he was by far the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen, but she'd already known that from researching him online the second she first heard her family talking about him. He was tall, dark, and handsome.
As she walked closer to him and the men surrounding him, she realized that the pictures she'd seen had not done him justice. He stood there, wearing a suit that looked like it was created just for him, exuding nothing but confidence, but he'd earned that. He was successful, and there was nothing wrong with that, but was he the asshole they'd made him out to be? That was yet to be determined.
Chapter 2
Cody
Cody hadn't been talking long when he heard a laugh and his words stumbled. His eyes shot straight to the seat the noise had come from and instantly connected with the ones belonging to the woman that thought it was okay to laugh while he was speaking. He watched her hand move to cover her mouth. Then, as she moved her hand away, she mouthed the word sorry. What the fuck, he thought? Who did she think she was? Did she even know who he was? He pulled his eyes away from hers and continued with what he'd been trying to say before she so rudely interrupted him.
The more he talked, the more he looked her way. He couldn't help it. Where everyone else silently listened to him, she stared down at her paper with her pen moving like crazy. The same woman that laughed at him was actually taking notes. If he could have walked through the rows to get a glimpse of her paper, he would have, but there wasn't room for that, so he stood there, wondering if she was really taking notes or writing something different and ignoring him completely.
He kept his eyes on her as he continued to speak. She was beautiful. That would be obvious to anyone just looking at her, he thought, but watching her concentrate on what she was doing, while pulling her bottom lip between her teeth at the corner, that was so damn sexy. Her long brown hair hung down next to the sides of her face as she wrote, and he couldn't help but smile as she'd push it away with irritation in her movement. She'd turn her paper over and keep right on moving without ever looking up, and with each turn of her page, he found himself more intrigued with what exactly she was writing.
When his time was up, he realized that he hadn't left any time for questions, so he offered to stay after a few minutes for anyone that had any. The woman with the laugh didn't move. Instead, she kept writing. Most of the students left, but a handful
of them were walking toward him. He watched that same woman put her things in her bag, but she didn't get up. She had a sad look on her face for just a second before that look was gone and a curious one took over. The next thing Cody knew, she was out of her seat and headed his way.
There were five guys standing there with her, but not a single one of them asked a question. He thought about all of the students that had left, and he couldn't help but smile. They could have come forward. They could have asked anything they wanted, but they didn't. Instead, they left. That just made Cody's competition that much less, and that made him smile every single time he thought about it. He was standing there, willing to give them any answer they wanted, but they couldn't be bothered. If you didn't want it, you weren't competition, and you most likely never would be. That was how Cody saw it anyway.
It didn't take long for the laughing lady to push her way to the front of those men, and Cody couldn't help but smile again.
“Mr. Williams,” she began, but he cut her off right away.
“Cody,” he said.
“I just wanted to say how sorry I am for,” she began, but he cut her off again.
“And who would you be?” he asked.
“Julie,” she said, as she moved nervously from foot to foot, which he didn't miss. “My name is Julie Lucas, and like I was saying, I'm really sorry. It had nothing to do with you, and I feel terrible about it.”
“Julie Lucas,” Cody whispered, as he thought about who she was.
The second she'd said her name, everything made sense. He knew exactly who she was and who her father and uncle were too. Cody paid attention to everything, but the thing he paid attention to most was his competition, the ones he needed to take out to be number one, and her family was on the top of that list. Keeping track of her father meant keeping track of her too. Gavin's other kids, not so much, but her, definitely. He'd never seen her, but he'd heard her name many times. She was the one that was going to do big things at the Lucas company, there was no doubt in his mind about that. From what he'd heard, she had the drive to run that company, and from the crazy note taking he'd just observed, something told him what he'd heard was spot on.
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