The Billionaire's Lawyer (Halstead Billionaire Brothers Book 3)

by Lauren Wood

  “I had a feeling I’d find you here,” Jesse’s voice appeared suddenly.

  It took me by surprise so much that I jumped and slammed my skull into the bulkhead above the bed. “Jeez, Jesse!” I shouted as I pressed my hand to the stinging, throbbing pain in my skull.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. But that’s what you get when you won’t return anyone’s phone calls.”

  “Why would I?” I grimaced, checking my hand for blood. Thankfully, there was none. “I don’t need any more judgment from Dominic and Jason. I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime.”

  He rummaged through the mini-fridge and pulled out a couple of beers. He handed one of them to me as he invited himself to the seat across from me.

  “They don’t mean to be such dicks. You know that. They’re just doing what they think Dad would want them to. The only way they know to be towards us is to be hard on us. They think it will make us act more like them.”

  “Well, their way isn’t the only way to be happy...or successful,” I argued, leaning back with a long slow sip of the cold beer. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. Liz hates me. Two of my three brothers are ready to disown me. And I’m probably about to have every penny of my money taken away by the courts and potentially get thrown into jail. Maybe I should have shaped up sooner, like they asked. But it’s too late now.”

  “Or maybe they should have never pressured us to follow in Dad’s footsteps,” he proposed. “Anyway, that’s what I came here to talk to you about. Liz called me.”

  It felt so weird to have my baby brother being the one advising me for a change, as he had taken to doing a lot lately. It was off-putting enough to nearly make me gloss over any mention of Liz. Then I wondered how that conversation could have possibly gone. I imagined her interrogating him about the case and then promptly hanging up. After Jason got to her, there was no way I stood a chance in hell with her.

  “She said she uncovered something for the case,” he continued. “But she wouldn’t tell me what it was. You need to call her.”

  The idea of talking to her, knowing for certain that it was over between us, sounded like a nightmare. I couldn’t hear her voice or see her face and withstand the reminder that she was someone I would never have again in my life.

  “Aren’t there channels for this sort of thing? Can’t she just tell you guys what’s up or...have the FBI send me a letter or something?”

  “Are you listening to me!? It sounds like she may have found a way to get you off the hook. Aren’t you glad to know this whole thing could be over with soon? You can finally sell your shares and get out of the company. It’s everything you’ve been wanting.”

  He was right. But somehow, without the prospect of Liz, and knowing how my brothers really felt about me, the rest of it didn’t seem as appealing as it once did.

  I told Jesse how the thing that always bothered me the most about Dominic and Jason was their materialism. It sounded funny coming from me, but really all I got out of all those trips around the world with hot models and actresses was...fun. I wanted to make the most of life and really enjoy it. After all that time, I realized what I was chasing after was just happiness.

  “I didn’t realize that none of that stuff was making me happy. But one thing I did learn is that you really can’t buy happiness. Whether you’re in a five star resort or camping out in a crappy little boat like this...all of that is irrelevant to true happiness. It’s the people in your life that matter most.”

  “Right. And you still have the people you love in your life. Dominic and Jesse may be stubborn assholes, especially right now. But they do love you. So do I. And I think Liz does too.”

  I perked up, thinking maybe there was more to their conversation than I thought. “Did she say that?”

  “Not in so many words, but I could tell. And she knows how you feel too.”

  I dreaded the thought of Jesse communicating anything like that on my behalf. And, really, if all of my brothers could have stopped talking to her for me, that would have been for the best. Maybe all of this extra bonding time we’d been having wasn’t so great after all - if it just made them feel more entitled to interfere with my life.

  Jesse stood up impatiently and started making his way towards the steps out of the cabin. “You can sit in here and sulk for as long as you want. But as soon as you decide to snap out of it and rejoin the real world, I’m pretty sure this investigation is going to get wrapped up soon...and you’ll be free. Also, I think you have a good woman out there waiting for you.”

  He climbed out, leaving me with a choice: to either lie back down and rot away in my boat or make one final attempt at going out there to sweep Lizz off of her feet once and for all.

  30

  Liz

  The investigation was officially over. The Halsteads were free and clear of any potential charges that could have been brought against them. With the official debriefing complete, they had invited me to a private VIP suite at a club to celebrate. But Eric was still MIA.

  I was on edge through the whole celebration, expecting Eric to come around the corner at any minute. But he never did. And truthfully, the only reason I agreed to join the Halsteads for their little after party was in hopes of seeing him. They were kind enough to pretend not to notice how I jumped any time the door opened as the wait staff entered and exited the room.

  The proceedings were finally over, and I knew Eric and I could make a real go of things. It had been weeks since that day on the boat when I told him I needed to think. I couldn’t have known everything that would trandspire after that, but now that it was all over...I had made my mind up. I wanted Eric Halstead. And just like I had always feared, the minute I decided that, he was gone.

  I tried to relax and enjoy getting to know a new side to Dominic, Jason, and Jesse. Jason especially seemed to be transformed by the end of the investigation. He was smiling and cutting up with the others. For him, this was about more than just escaping criminal charges. This meant that anything his wife’s murderer had tried to pin them for was resolved. He could finally put that awful chapter of his life to rest and move on.

  As the evening went on, Dominic called everyone to attention for him to make a speech. He praised my firm’s excellent work on the case.

  “And I believe we have another occasion to celebrate,” he added towards the end, holding his glass up to me.

  I froze for a minute, trying to shield my glass from all the heads turned towards me, hoping no one had noticed how I had been discreetly ordering ginger ale all evening.

  “I hear you’ve been made partner at the firm,” he clarified.

  Everyone started clapping, and I laughed with embarrassment over not realizing that’s what he meant. It was true. Right before the big debriefing, George made the official announcement. Everything I had been working for all these years had finally come true. But now that it had happened, all I could think about was Eric.

  They all toasted to me and to our success. Afterwards, I sank back into my chair feeling more convinced with each passing second that Eric was gone forever. He’d sell off his shares, get out of the company, and disappear to some remote island never to be heard from again.

  I was just about to give up and call it a night. More people were joining us in the private suite for the party, but as the crowd grew - the room seemed emptier. Among all the smiling, happy faces, Eric was nowhere to be seen.

  I reached down to grab my purse and looked up just as a cluster of people were splitting up in front of me. As they parted, there he was standing on the other side of the room, watching me. It’s like he just appeared out of thin air. For a moment, I thought it might be a hallucination, just as I thought those emails were when I first discovered them.

  But as he started walking towards me, I knew it was real. I sat up and waited for him to make his way through the room, until, finally, he was just inches away. I looked up at him with dreamy eyes, but now that he was right in front of me...a surge of
anger welled up inside.

  I hopped to my feet and scowled. “Where the hell have you been?”

  All he could do was laugh. “Before you start yelling at me, I was hoping we could go somewhere more private to talk.”

  I shot him a sideways glance and snatched my purse up. I caught Jesse shooting us a thumbs up as I followed Eric out of the suite. He led me to the car parked out front and held the door for me.

  “Your chariot awaits,” he waved me in.

  “My chariot was late. Not surprising.”

  I climbed inside and threw down my things. Eric followed in after me and my mouth was already open and ready to let him have it for disappearing like that in the middle of everything. It wasn’t something I had planned on, but as soon as I saw him, I just couldn’t help myself.

  But before I could say a word, Eric’s mouth crashed into mine. He moved over me with a deep, passionate kiss that made me forget everything I was mad at him for. I was more than happy to lose myself in the taste of his tongue and his scent washing over me. I had missed him so much.

  It took me a while to finally pull myself away, and, by that point, I was breathless and nearly at a loss for words.

  “You know, we can skip the lecture this one time,” he grinned. “I won’t tell anyone. And I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to make up for it later.”

  “No, it’s not that.” I straightened out my clothes, which had been all wrinkled up from our embrace. I had been waiting for this moment to make my announcement, but as I looked into his eyes, I was struck with the sudden fear that he might not be happy about this at all. The only thing I knew was to just blurt it out and get it over with. “I’m pregnant.”

  He let out a brief and nervous laugh that quickly faded as he realized I was dead serious. His face went through a wave of conflicting expressions as it sunk in, until a smile spread across his lips. “So, I guess you’re stuck with me now.”

  I smiled back as he leaned into me, picking back up right where we left off...losing ourselves in each other’s bodies.

  Epilogue

  Eric

  The group of women erupted in ooh’s and ahh’s as Liz held up each and every onesie that had been gifted to her in the big bag of baby stuff. Vanna sat on one side of her and Tara sat on the other. The two best friends insisted on taking her under their wing the minute they heard about the pregnancy. And it resulted in this ridiculous over the top baby shower that I never would have imagined either of us submitting to.

  But we smiled and played along, letting them all delight in the mountains of baby stuff that had been gifted to us. I didn’t even know what half of the stuff was, but they assured us they would teach us everything we needed to know.

  “I think I need a short break from presents,” Liz announced after a while, desperately needing to escape the wide eyed, captive audience of more experienced mothers.

  She started to try and push herself up from the couch, but I was quick to lunge through the crowd and offer my hand. Everyone watched with cheesy grins as I hoisted her up. It was a big surprise to all of them to see me transform into such a doting boyfriend and soon to be father.

  Once she was on her feet, she leaned in close, whispering, “Let's get out of here for a minute. I need some air.”

  “I never thought you’d ask,” I smiled, cordially escorting her into one of the rooms that weren’t littered with people and baby paraphernalia.

  “Baby showers are even more bizarre than I realized. I still can’t believe men were eating chocolate out of diapers.”

  “For all the cultures and traditions I’ve seen around the world, American women do still top the cake with some of their rituals.”

  Once we were alone, I pulled her into a deep kiss. Even though she was nearly eight months pregnant now, with the belly to prove it, I still thought she was the hottest, most desirable woman on the planet.

  “Can you believe that by this time tomorrow, we’ll be moving into our new home?” she smiled up at me.

  We were both feeling impatient to finally share a house together. Since the investigation ended, we had barely spent a night apart. But we knew we’d have to find the perfect home to raise our child in, so we took our time before making the official plunge to live together. We had settled on a big house outside the city. It was in a remote neighborhood and not far from the water that I loved so much. I was planning to finally start the boating business I had been talking about.

  As for Liz, I had been right about something. The minute she was finally made partner, she found it a lot harder to stay motivated to work all those long hours. Especially with me around to tempt her into more fun things, like staying in bed all day. Somewhere along the way, she had forgotten why it was she even wanted the partnership so badly in the first place. Besides, she would soon have a baby to raise, and she wasn’t too sold on the idea of a nanny doing it all for us.

  She declined the firm’s offer and opted to start her own small firm. We kept that in mind when buying the house, and there would be plenty of space for her to work from home. She wanted to focus on helping businessmen like us, who found themselves in trouble when they got a little too greedy with their dealmaking. She could offer them a discreet place to turn to with their legal troubles.

  “I couldn’t be happier,” I beamed, pulling her lips back to mine.

  She didn’t bother explaining that she felt the same way. She tried to let her body do the talking instead. Even after these months of pregnancy, not a single ounce of our desire had been curbed. If anything, it had only intensified. We couldn’t get enough of each other.

  But we were interrupted by the sound of the door flying open. Jesse was standing there with a huge smile on his face, seeming quite pleased that he caught us making out.

  “Cut it out, you lovebirds. Vanna says we’re ready to do the cake.”

  “A cake?” Liz chuckled. “Is it shaped like a baby? Or worse...baby poop?”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” he winked. I lingered for a moment, staring Jesse down with a strange grin. “What? What is it? Do I still have chocolate on my nose?”

  I was feeling quite smug as I slid my hands into my pockets, knowing I knew something he did not. “You realize what all of this means, right?”

  “What?”

  “You’re next.” I made a mock motion of a bow and arrow shooting straight at Jesse before walking away.

  I could see a look of terror on Jesse’s face as he thought about what I meant. As I caught up to Liz, she playfully punched me in the arm. “You don’t have to torment him like that. Not everyone has to get coupled off, you know.”

  We rejoined the party, submitting ourselves to all of Vanna’s whims. As trying as the whole shower may have been, I really was enjoying watching Liz get to know my family outside of the legal proceedings of her old firm.

  I pulled her close as we gathered around the cake and everyone clapped. I could see Dominic and Jason tipping their glasses to me from across the room. We had smoothed everything over, and they were doing their best to get to know me better now that we didn’t have the tension and resentment of the company coming between us anymore. I was done with all of that for good. The only thing I cared about now was the beautiful woman of my dreams being wrapped in my arms, and our child that was growing inside her womb.

  I hope you enjoyed The Billionaire’s Nanny! If you did, I would love if you could leave a review HERE to help other readers find it.

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  The Billionaire’s Nanny

  Halstead Billionaire Brothers Series (Book 2)

  1

  Jason

  I watched my brother Dominic lean back in his chair with a subtle smile. Maybe I was the only one who noticed it, but I knew th
at smile all too well. It certainly wasn’t because I’d ever seen it on him before. I knew that look because I wore it too once upon a time.

  He was the CEO of our family’s multi-billion-dollar business, the benefits of which could have been more than enough to make any man happy. But to top it off, he had recently decided to retire his womanizing ways and rest his sights on just one woman in particular. They were in love, and he was about to whisk her away to Paris.

  I could see the happiness and lust welling up inside of him. They were in those early stages of not being able to get enough of each other, and this meeting was the last thing he needed to get out of the way before having two blissful months away with her in the city of love.

  Dominic and I had been running this multi-billion-dollar corporation together since our parents were killed. Really, the company fell on all of our shoulders—me and my three brothers. But we had sheltered Jesse too much, turning him into this spoiled naïve man-child. He made more of an appearance than Eric, who was usually off jet-setting around the world on the company’s dime. But both of them were rather useless in day to day operations.

  My brothers thought I pried into everything too much, always trying to be everywhere at once, helping with everything. But I was the only one with kids, and really had felt like the father of the bunch for a long time.

  “Where are they?” He checked his watch for the tenth time.

  “I’ll be surprised if they show up at all,” I frowned. “Jesse still hates you and, well, you know Eric.”

  He nodded as his smile slipped away into concern. “Are you sure you’ll be okay without me? Those two certainly aren’t going to be of any help.”