Cruel Billionaire

by Luma Rose

  He steps forward and takes my hand in his.

  “It wasn’t until a while later that my dad demanded I marry you. Somehow, he knew about your dad’s illness and figured I could convince you and your mother that selling the property was in both your best interests if we were married. That being said, I proposed to you because I love you, Isla. That and because I wanted to keep you safe.”

  I suck back the tears that want to fall. “How am I supposed to believe that after what I heard?”

  “If my father knew what you mean to me, he’d have even more leverage over me. I was working on a way to get him to back off, but it took some time. What you overheard that day in the coatroom was me telling my father what I needed to in order to protect you.” He raises a hand to my cheek. “God, if you knew how much it tore me up inside when I saw the look in your eyes that night. I couldn’t stand that I hurt you so much.”

  His hand feels so good on my skin that denying the urge to lean into his hold is pure torture. I need to be strong.

  “Even if that is true, the fact is that you’ve lied to me more than once, Garrin. You’re only truthful with me once you’re caught in the lie.”

  He exhales roughly. “I did keep things from you, I know. I was only trying to protect you, but I realize now that I did more damage than good. I should’ve told you as soon as I started falling for you what my father was up to. I wish I had. But I was afraid you’d leave me.”

  I frown at him. “Didn’t you trust my feelings for you?”

  “A lot of the people I’ve cared for left me, Isla. My mom, Carter—I was scared you’d be added to that list. But I realize now that keeping things from you will always be worse than the truth.”

  I believe what he’s saying. He’s sincere, and yet I too am scared to be hurt again. I don’t know if my fragile heart can take another break.

  “I don’t know if I can trust you ever again. What if your dad holds something over your head again and you know I won’t like what he’s asking you to do? What will you do then?”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  I tilt my head. “Why not?”

  “Because I have my own leverage on him, and I told him to leave you and your mom alone. Otherwise I’d share what I knew with the world.”

  My forehead wrinkles. “But what if he tells the authorities what he knows as retribution?”

  Garrin shrugs. “I already told him that I don’t care. I’ll spend time in prison before I’d let him hurt you.”

  My hand flies to my chest. “You can’t do that! What if he calls your bluff?”

  He chuckles and shakes his head. “You don’t get it. I’m not bluffing.”

  The gravity of his words sinks in.

  Garrin is willing to risk going to jail, losing everything he has, to try and protect me.

  Without fully thinking, I run forward and wrap my arms around him. He returns my embrace, leaning down to rest his chin on the top of my head.

  “Please don’t do something like that again,” I say.

  “God, I missed you. It feels so good to have you in my arms,” he says, squeezing me tight.

  When I pull back his lips are on mine, his tongue probing and I welcome him openly. I missed his taste more than I realized. The saltwater of my tears mixes with our kiss and he pulls back, wiping them away with his thumbs.

  “I missed you,” I say.

  “Not more than I missed you. God, I was such a wreck, Isla. I’m nothing without you, you have to know that.”

  I shake my head because that’s exactly how I’ve felt all these weeks.

  “Does this mean you’ll give me another chance?” The fear mixed with hope in his dark eyes almost undoes me.

  I hesitate for a second, those old fears creeping in. But then I remember my mom’s words out in the hall and the promise I made to my dad.

  “Yes, I’ll give you another chance.”

  He kisses me again and I melt into it, allowing myself to fully enjoy it.

  “I will never hold anything back from you again. You have my word.”

  “I believe you.”

  He smiles and it’s one of those rare ones I hardly ever get to see from him so I return it.

  “Should I call the DJ in?”

  I glance around. “There’s a DJ?”

  “There’s a DJ and dinner and of course we’re going to win prom king and queen.”

  I chuckle.

  “I wanted to take you to prom a decade ago, Isla Flores. We didn’t get to experience it together, but will you be my date for prom?”

  “What were you going to do if I didn’t forgive you?”

  “Look like a fool, I guess.”

  Laughter bubbles up my throat while he hits a few buttons on his phone. The doors open and in come the Classholes, my mom, Everly and some of the people I worked with at the campaign office. Excitement fills me as the music starts up and Garrin takes me in his arms.

  That night Garrin carried me from the elevator to a bed covered in rose petals. He laid me down and made love to me like it was our first time together. The night was so beautiful, my seventeen-year-old self-mourned as my current self only had eyes toward the future with Garrin Stone.

  Epilogue

  Isla

  Two months later…

  I grip Garrin’s hand in mine when the elevator dings, announcing my arrival in the Titans’ Den. He’s been bothering me to start coming down here in the mornings with him ever since I moved in two weeks ago. I’ve been hesitant to do so. It’s hard not to feel like I’m imposing. Though I see the Classholes from time to time, somehow this feels different. It feels like I’m on their turf.

  “It’s fine. Relax.” He briefly kisses the top of my head and steps off first.

  I follow behind, a little hesitant, but then raise my chin as I catch up to Garrin.

  Ford, Ryker and Asher are already down here. Garrin and I got distracted when he came out of the shower, so we’re here later than he normally arrives.

  “Hey, guys,” I say with a small wave.

  They look a little shocked at first and glance over to Garrin, then back to me. “Hey,” they all say in unison.

  “I’m not crashing the party, am I?” I ask, heading over to the coffeemaker.

  “It’s not much of a party this early,” Ryker says, sounding like he’s still working on waking up.

  “You might not want to come down after ten p.m., though,” Asher says with a laugh.

  I finish pouring my coffee and then turn to look at him. “So I hear.”

  He sends an accusatory glance at Garrin, who just shrugs.

  “So, what’s everyone up to today?” I lean back against the counter and sip my coffee.

  They all look at me like deer in the headlights for a moment, and Garrin chuckles into his fist. I guess they don’t normally do this.

  “I’ve got back-to-back meetings,” Asher says. “I hate days like this.”

  “At least you’re not dealing with some pop princess who seems intent on ruining any and all success she’s had thus far. I swear I’m never having kids,” Ryker says.

  I laugh, then look at Ford. “What about you, Mr. Mayor?”

  “Council meeting tonight. Meetings today. You know how it is.” He shrugs and sips his own coffee.

  “What about you?”

  “I’m off to visit my mom today and then I’m going to do some studying for the bar. Then I have a WCC Club meeting.”

  When I agreed to move in, Garrin offered to finish one of the empty levels of the building for my mom so she could be close to me, but she declined. She wants to stay in the house she spent a lifetime with my dad in. The house makes her feel closer to him, even though he’s gone.

  “What the fuck is the WCC Club?” Asher asks.

  I wave him off with a smirk. “You wouldn’t get it.”

  “You’re going to take the bar exam? Good for you.” Ford pulls me into his side in a friendly gesture.

  “Hands off my fia
ncée.” Garrin practically growls.

  “Fiancée?” Ford lifts my left hand and does a double take. “So, this asshole asked you to be his wife again, and you agreed—again.” He shakes his head in mock disappointment while I laugh.

  “You must be a glutton for punishment,” Ryker says. “Congrats.”

  “Yes, he asked me again last night and I accepted.” I beam over at the man who will be my husband.

  It took some time, but we’re stronger than ever now. No secrets between us.

  “Let’s hope you don’t rub off on any of us, Stone,” Ford says and clamps Garrin on the shoulder.

  “Oh, I don’t know. I stopped by the new mayor’s office a couple days ago and saw the way he was looking at his new assistant. There’s something there.” I look over at Ford with a teasing grin.

  He rolls his eyes while the guys all laugh at him.

  “Do tell.” Asher rubs his hands together and looks to me for the scoop.

  I’m happy to divulge. “She’s really pretty. Honey-blonde hair and bluey-gray eyes. Seems very intelligent. And I saw her checking out Ford when his back was turned.”

  “Really?” Ford turns in my direction.

  “Haha.” I point a finger at him. “Gotcha. I knew you liked her.”

  “Stone, you need to keep your woman in check,” he says.

  Garrin laughs and walks over, pulling me into an embrace.

  “Are you kidding me? This is the best.” He leans in and places a lingering kiss on my lips.

  “Get a room,” Asher yells out.

  “You’re one to talk,” Garrin says against my lips.

  I can’t help but laugh, which spurs everyone else to laugh.

  No, I’m not a Classhole. But as I look around the group, I realize how tight these guys actually are and I know that in time they’ll probably come to feel like family to me too.

  Every day I wake up and count my blessings. It keeps me moving forward like I promised my father I would.

  I lean in and kiss Garrin again, my heart feeling like it might burst because I know for certain that this is forever.

  You're cordially invited to the wedding of Miss Isla Flores to Mr. Garrin Stone.*

  CLICK HERE

  * Please note that by downloading the bonus scene you are subscribing to be a member of my newsletter.

  GRAB YOUR COPY(CLICK HERE to PRE-ORDER) FOR THE NEXT CLASSHOLE NOW?

  Ford Masterson has finally escaped from his father’s political shadow—he’s mayor now. No, it might not be a Senator but it’s a start. Things are going well until Naomi Beneton shows up. At first, she’s his savior—the best assistant he’s ever had. But he quickly starts to fall for her. The problem is Naomi isn’t who she says she is and Ford realizes too late that she has the power to destroy everything he’s built, even the wall around his heart.

  Acknowledgments

  Let me start by saying a huge thank you to you for giving Cruel Billionaire a try! Whether you enjoyed it or not, I appreciate you taking the time to read it. That said, I do hope you enjoyed getting to know Garrin and Isla’s and the up and downs they had in their journey toward their HEA. Don’t worry, you’ll see lots more of them as the series unfolds.

  All the locations that appear in the book are fictional, as is the city itself but I based it loosely on the area in and around Denver, Colorado. I didn’t want to base the story on a real location because I wanted to have fun with where the guys lived—hence Titans Tower. Look when you have billions of dollars at your disposal you can do what you want no matter how fantastical.

  Isla, poor Isla. She’s really been through the ringer hasn’t she? I always saw her as the strong silent type. She may not be the firecracker her friend Everly is, but when it comes down to it she’ll stand up for herself. Thankfully she has a forgiving heart because that man of hers kept screwing up, didn’t he? I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that a lot of times people do the wrong thing for the right reason. Such is Garrin. In trying to protect her, he ended up hurting her. But I think he made up for it, right?

  We still don’t know who killed Nova Brookes nor do we know all the secrets everyone is protecting but don’t worry. More will be revealed as the series goes on. Promise.

  I want to thank everyone who made this book possible. Cleo from Devoted Pages Design for the awesome cover designer and Wander Aguier for the cover photo. Eliza from Clio Editing for making this story better than it was when I sent it to you. My proofreader Shayla James and Danielle from Wildfire Marketing Services for helping to get the word out there.

  Thanks again for carving time out of your busy life to spend some time in my story! I hope you’re looking forward to the next one as much as I am!

  About Me

  Luma Rose is a contemporary romance author who loves her heroes to be wounded and her heroines to be strong. She loves it even more when her heroines crack that hard exterior of her heroes and she gets to watch them fall. Whether it’s second chance or new beginnings. Whether it’s friends to lovers or enemies to lovers, she promises to deliver a journey toward finding love with a great big ribbon wrapped around their happily ever after.

  Join her Facebook group (CLICK HERE) for exclusive shares and to get the latest on the Classholes!

  You can find her here also.

  Goodreads

  Amazon

  Bookbub

  Also by Luma Rose

  Cruel Billionaire

  Dangerous Billionaire

  Book #3

  Book #4

  Book #5