by Anne, Melody
The Tycoon’s Secret
Baby for the Billionaire – Book Four
By Melody Anne
Copyright © 2012 Melody Anne
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Printed and published in the United States of America.
Cover art by www.exclusivepublishing.com
Editing done by Nicole with exclusive publishing
Powerful, Loyal, Unforgettable
Follow the Titans
As they find true love
The Tycoon’s Secret
Baby for the Billionaire Series
Book Four
Table of Contents
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Epilogue
Excerpt from Ruth Cardello’s Maid for the Billionaire
Excerpt from Kathleen Brooks’ Bluegrass State of Mind
Dedication
This is a very long overdue dedication to my best friend, Nikki. I love her so incredibly much that I just assumed I’d already dedicated a book to her!
Nikki, you are honestly the reason I am the person I am today. Had you not come into my life when I was 12, I would’ve chosen a much different path to go down.
Thank you for being there for me for over 20 years. May we have another 60 or more! I love you.
Books by Melody Anne
*The Billionaire Wins the Game
*The Billionaire’s Dance
*The Billionaire Falls
*The Billionaire’s Marriage Proposal
*Blackmailing the Billionaire
*Runaway Heiress
*The Billionaire’s Final Stand
+The Tycoon’s Revenge
+The Tycoon’s Vacation
+The Tycoon’s Proposal
+The Tycoon’s Secret
-Midnight Fire – Rise of the Dark Angel – Book One
-Midnight Moon – Rise of the Dark Angel – Book Two
-Midnight Storm – Rise of the Dark Angel – Book Three (February 2013)
www.facebook.com/authormelodyanne
www.melodyanne.com
Twitter: @authmelodyanne
Coming Soon:
New Series:
+The Darkness Within: Book One
=Because of Honor: Book One: April 2013
Prologue
“Damien, you must always remember who you are!” his mother wheezed before she fell back against her pillows, the words interrupted by her severe cough filling the room.
“I will, Mom. I promise. You have to take your medicine now,” Damien begged the frail woman.
“I’m dying, Damien. Those little pills can’t help me any longer,” she whispered, causing fear to cut through the heart of the thirteen year old boy.
“We gotta go to the hospital, Mom. Please,” Damien begged.
“Not this time, son. Not this time. I’m tired, Damien. I just need rest. You have to promise me that you’ll never forget who you are. They took everything from us. Everything! They killed your father, just as surely as if they would’ve walked up and stabbed him in the heart. If they wouldn’t have stolen all he’d worked so hard for his entire life, he wouldn’t have died the way he did. He wouldn’t have left us all alone and broken, without a penny to our name.”
“I know, Mom. I’ll make them pay. I promise you, I will…” Damien trailed off, reaching deep inside for the courage to keep him from crying.
“Don’t you shed tears, boy! You better not disgrace me in my dyin’ moments. Do you hear me?” his mother scolded.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry, Mom,” Damien said, willing to say anything to make that censure leave her eyes.
He hated to see her in so much pain, knowing there was nothing he could do. She was mean, always verbally and physically abusive…, but she was his mom. She had the right to be mean because she’d had to endure a hard life, especially because of having him. He knew he was nothing but a burden to her, which was why he had to fulfill his promise.
“I’m going to sleep now, Damien. If I don’t wake up this time, you never forget why I’m dyin’ like this. You never forget it’s those people, those rotten bastards who left us like this. If they wouldn’t have taken everything, I’d be all better. I coulda afforded the medicine I needed to stay alive. You coulda went to a good school. You get them, Damien. You get them real good.”
His mother’s voice faded as she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep. Fifteen minutes later her breathing stopped.
Damien sat by her bed for another hour before finally standing up and walking from the room. One lone tear slipped from his dark green eyes. He didn’t turn back around and look at her lifeless body - there was no reason to. He didn’t even stop to gather any possessions from their meager apartment.
There was nothing worth taking. He’d slept on the floor from the time he was a baby. His clothes were tattered and the cupboards desolate. He’d never received a gift for any reason. There was literally nothing in the home to take.
It was their fault – all of it. His mom could’ve been a good mother, if only they hadn’t ruined her. Some people were just greedy, out to get their hands on everything. Well, they’d pay. They’d pay if it was the last thing he did.
He walked from the house – vowing never to go back to such conditions again, though he’d never forget how much he’d suffered. He’d seek revenge on those who’d killed his mother, those who were supposed to be his family. He didn’t care how long it took…
Four Years later
Damien strutted through the school yard, looking for a fight. None of the boys would look him in the face. They were used to the set of his shoulders, the gleam in his eyes, almost begging for a challenge. He was just waiting for one of them to look at him wrong, or say the simplest remark to set him off – giving him an excuse to thoroughly waste them.
They’d lose – they were well aware of the speed with which Damien threw a punch, after witnessing plenty of his brawls in the past. His childhood had made him rage internally, and it was always at a low simmer, ready to ignite. The only reason he stayed in school was because he promised his mother. He had to finish school, had to succeed so he could seek revenge on those who
’d killed both his parents.
“Shut–up, Skank!”
Damien turned to find a petite girl being pushed to the ground by a group of girls. Normally, he wouldn’t get involved. He didn’t hit girls, no matter how much fury reigned inside him. He turned to walk away as one of the gang grabbed the girl on the ground by her hair and yanked her head back, spitting in her face.
The small girl in clothing as tattered as his own was sobbing as another one of the older girls slapped her. Where in the hell were the teachers? He looked around, not seeing anyone doing anything to stop the bullying.
A third teenager in the group stepped forward and kicked the girl in her ribs and he’d seen enough. He strode over to them.
“You want to try that crap on me?” he asked, his voice thundering across the yard.
“Go away, white trash,” one of the snobby girls snapped as she loosened her grasp to glare at him.
He smiled at her, a smile full of evil delight. Let her think he was crazy. She could go running home to mommy, sobbing about the guy who nearly took her life.
“Let’s get out of her Stacy,” one of the other girls said, nervously looking back and forth between him and her friend.
“I’d listen to your friend, Stacy,” he paused, “before something really bad happens,” he threatened. There was no mistaking the menace in his voice as he stepped closer to the main tormentor.
She stumbled backward, finally realizing her danger. Her glare disappeared, anger transforming into an expression of fear.
“I’m telling Mr. Sorenson,” she threatened as she took another step back.
“Go ahead. As a matter-of-fact, I think I’ll take this girl to his office now,” Damien told her.
The pack of intimidators scampered off, he was sure to beat him to the principle. He didn’t care what they had to say. It was obvious the girl on the ground had been the victim.
“Thank you,” she wheezed as he bent down to see how badly she was hurt.
“I’m going to lift you up. You need to see the nurse,” he said as he gently stretched his hand out and wiped the other girls disgusting spittle from her face. Her entire body was shaking.
“I’m fine,” she told him on a trembling voice as she tried to sit up.
“Yeah, real fine,” he said with sarcasm, but there was no heat behind his words. He felt nothing but sympathy for the young girl.
He carefully slid his hands beneath her legs and back and lifted her into his arms, barely able to detect her undernourished body against his own.
“What’s your name?” she asked as she rested her head against his chest. He felt his cold heart heat up at the sound of her trusting voice.
“Damien.”
“I’m Trinity. Thanks for saving me,” she said before she passed out in his arms. He picked up his speed and rushed to the nurse’s station, and she quickly called the ambulance.
From that day on, he and Trinity became inseparable. She was his best friend, his confidant, his family – his sister. She was the only person in the entire world keeping the demons at bay – making him remember to love instead of only hate.
She was also the only woman he trusted, even as the years passed. He used women, used them to satisfy his needs, but felt no guilt, as the type of women he dated were those who used him just as much, used his name, his power, and whatever it was they thought they could get from him.
Damien still never forgot where he came from – never forgot the promise he made to his mother. There were weeks, months, years even when it was pushed to the back of his mind. Only because of Trinity, because of his love for his friend. Revenge would happen, though – at any cost.
Chapter One
Fifteen Years Later
Sierra was exhausted.
Deeply, utterly, fall-on-her-face exhausted.
She also had a feeling of unmitigated accomplishment. The wedding was over. With zero regret, she tossed the slightly wilted Calla Lilies into the nearest garbage can, and then found a chair to rest in for a few minutes.
It had been a circus, but it was over. Her incredibly babied, and very spoiled little sister was married to the man of her dreams. She loved her sister, though she didn’t know why, really. For the past twenty-three years, her father had dotted on Sandy, spoiled her, given her everything.
He hadn’t been so kind to Sierra. She’d never forget when she was six years old, her sister only four. Their mother had died in an automobile crash. From that moment on, her life had been hell.
Her father told her almost daily that her mother was a cheating whore and that Sierra most likely wasn’t even his kid. He’d also told her, he owned her and would make her pay for her mother’s transgressions. The beatings had begun, only escalating through the years.
He was a smart man, respected in the business community. She feared him, knowing he could make her life so much worse than it was. She’d learned at a young age if she just suffered silently through the pain, he’d stop much faster. If she shouted out, he seemed to get an evil glee from it, and would go on and on.
She ran away once. A shiver passed through her body remembering the pain she’d gone through when he’d found her. She’d been bruised from head to toe, unable to leave her bed for two weeks. Her father had kept her at a cottage on the outskirts of town so the servants wouldn’t get suspicious.
Though a couple had been brave enough not only to suspect, but ask her if she was okay, she learned quickly never to say anything. The sympathetic employees quickly disappeared. Soon, no one would help her, or look out for her. She learned silent suffering was the key to survival.
Sierra looked around the reception as she pulled herself out of her depressing memories. The event was still going strong, causing her to sigh. Her sister had departed a while ago, amid a sea of birdseed, and the crowd calling out advice. The moment the Limo pulled away, Sierra’s fake smile had vanished.
Friends, from near and far, were taking advantage of the open bar, free food, and euphoria at being at the exclusive country club. It was all a joke. None of them cared one iota about Sandy. Sierra figured it didn’t matter as her little sister didn’t care about anyone but herself, anyway.
The one positive note to the entire charade was that at least Sierra wouldn’t have to watch as Sandy acted like a brat, threw a fit, and then got her way. She’d learned quickly that if Sierra didn’t do what she wanted, all she had to do was complain to her father, and he’d make Sierra into Sandy’s servant.
Sandy was Mason’s problem now, and Sierra hoped her father would let her leave now that Sandy had moved out. There was no reason to keep her locked up in his enormous mansion.
Sierra felt the slightest pang to her heart as Mason’s name popped into her head. She slowly got to her feet, making her way up to her room. Thank goodness she was staying there that night. She didn’t have the energy to drive home.
As she climbed in the elevator, her heart pounded while thinking about Mason. She thought she’d been in love with him, deeply, over-the-moon in love. She may have been, but it had obviously been one sided because the moment Sandy decided she wanted him, he’d followed her sister like the willing puppy he’d turned out to be.
His pathetic apology and explanation of not being able to control his heart hadn’t helped Sierra’s pride – not one little bit.
The wedding had taken place in only four months, and their father had seemed to think there was nothing amiss with Sandy suddenly marrying Sierra’s boyfriend. When Sierra had made the slightest comment about it being wrong, her father had begun his lecture of how Sierra needed to keep her jealousy of her perfect sister to herself.
Sierra hadn’t dared argue any further. If she honestly thought about it, she’d only wanted to be with Mason to get away from her father, anyway. Surprisingly, her dad had approved of her relationship with his faithful employee.
Sandy had demanded a perfect wedding with her flawless groom, and that’s what she’d gotten – a glamorous event, attended by
Hollywood actors, musicians, and the elite of the elite. People wanted to attend the wedding of one of the wealthiest men in the United States. They may be able to get something from him.
“It doesn’t matter,” Sierra said out loud, trying to convince herself. She needed to let the entire thing go. She was lucky to have found out what a creep Mason was so early in their relationship. It could’ve been worse. She could’ve married him, and then been humiliated when he left her for her sister.
Standing as her sister’s maid of honor and holding her ridiculously gaudy bouquet of flowers while Mason swept Sandy into his arms, kissing her in front of everyone couldn’t be humiliation enough for Sierra. Sandy also had to toss her bouquet straight into Sierra’s hands during the reception.
Sierra had smiled as if she was thrilled, but she hadn’t missed the snickers as people behind her made comments about her never using the flowers since she couldn’t keep a man long enough to get him to walk her down the aisle. When she heard the woman add that at least she didn’t have any other sister’s to steal her man, Sierra was done.
Mason worked for her father, and marrying either Sierra or Sandy pretty much sealed the deal of him becoming the corporation’s next CEO. He’d moved his way toward the top, and when he’d hit the mother-load by marrying the owner’s daughter, he got it all. He would’ve settled for Sierra, but why settle when he could have Sandy, everyone’s choice of the better of the two siblings.
Sierra finally made it to her room and swiped the key card across the reader, grateful when it registered on the first try. She stepped inside and tightly closed the door behind her. All she wanted was freedom, and maybe, just maybe, that’s what she’d finally get. Besides, she didn’t want to get married. Why place herself in a position where a man had control of her again. If she ever escaped her nightmare, she vowed to stay single the rest of her life.