Shattered: A Billionaire Romance Series (Contemporary Romance Novels)

by Love, Michelle

  Kate works at a daycare, taking care of snot-nosed brats every day. That too sounds like something out of a nightmare to me. Pop’s used to help them out with their bills when they came up short, a thing I told him wasn’t really helping them at all.

  But now I guess it’s up to me to step into Pop’s shoes and the role of the head of the family. A role I never even wanted but he’s left it wide open, empty, and with the way my little sister is holding onto me, I can see it’s needed.

  Chapter 2

  BLAINE

  Walking into our father’s home, without him greeting us at the door like he’d always done, is more than odd. The home which is small and cozy feels empty. Even though there're the same things in it as there’s always been, it feels empty without Pops.

  “I hate this,” Kate whines as she flops onto his old, threadbare couch.

  I asked my father on several occasions to let me buy him a house but he was full of stubborn pride and would never let me. I gave him a Cadillac last year. It was the first thing he ever accepted from me. He had always wanted one and I suppose when I gave it to him for Christmas, he let a bit of that foolish pride slip away so he could drive the car he’d always dreamt of owning.

  I recall feeling a spark in my heart that Christmas day when he finally accepted something from me. It felt good. Most times I feel a whole lot of nothing. It’s better that way.

  “So now what do we do, Blaine?” Kent asks as he opens Pop’s little fridge next to his easy chair. “Beer?”

  I nod and he tosses me a cold Natural Light beer then Kate holds up her hand for one too. The three of us sit and all of us pop the beers open and take long drinks. The resounding, ahh, fills the room, making us all smile as we all decided to make the sound our father would make after his first drink of beer after a long day at work.

  “I wonder what in the world the Bar-B-Que Shack will do without Pops to cook all of their meat for them. He was the absolute best at it,” Kate says.

  “I wonder if there're any leftovers in the kitchen icebox,” Kent says and gets up to go see.

  I’m anything but hungry. But I can see my younger siblings need the normalcy to help them get through this. “If there’s not any, I can call in an order and have it delivered.”

  Kent calls out from the kitchen, “No, I want Pop’s.” The sound of bottles being moved and things being shuffled around as he digs through the refrigerator tells me he’s digging deep to find any leftovers. “Ha! Yes, I found some.”

  “You have no idea how old that is, Kent. Don’t eat any of that,” Kate shouts at him then gets up to go inspect the food our little brother is about to put into his mouth, no doubt.

  I get up and follow her to make sure the idiot doesn’t eat something that might kill him. We’ve had enough tragedy already.

  Kent is smiling as he holds the box up with a date from three days ago written in black Sharpie across the top of the white Styrofoam lid. “Today is the last day to eat it. Come on, it’s brisket, Pop’s specialty.”

  “Are there any beans in there?” Kate asks as she takes over the search in Pop’s fridge for things that will remind us of him.

  So I give in and ask, “If there’s potato salad in there, pull it out too. I like the way the old man made that too.”

  While Kent puts the meat on a plate and pops it into the microwave, Kate finds beans and potato salad and pours the beans into a bowl and places it on the counter. “Zap these next, would you, baby bro?”

  “Sure, I can handle something this easy,” he says then takes another drink of his beer. “Do you guys remember the first time we got into Pop’s beer fridge?”

  “My ass still hurts,” I say with a laugh.

  Kate laughs as she puts the potato salad in a bowl and places it on the table. Since everyone else is doing something, I decide I need to help too and get up to get us some plates, silverware, and napkins.

  “He did get you, two boys, the worst. I was crying before he ever spanked me. When the actual spanking came, I hardly felt it but it didn’t stop me from wailing like a banshee,” Kate says as she takes a chair and I place a plate in front of her and put a spoon in the potato salad.

  “We never did that again, though. One spanking was enough,” Kent says as he puts the steaming plate full of brisket on the table then goes back for the beans as the microwave beeps.

  “It wasn’t the spanking of myself that stopped me. It was hearing you two cry like you were being beaten to death that stopped me. That was the last time any of us were spanked, I do believe,” I say then place the last two plates on the table and take my chair.

  “I never got another one,” Kate says as she starts making her plate.

  “Hey, wait!” Kent shouts at her. “We have to say grace, Kate.”

  She puts the spoonful of potato salad back in the bowl and nods. “You’re right. Especially today. Man, I can’t believe he’s gone. I just can’t believe it,” she says and picks up the napkin I gave her to wipe her eyes which are springing leaks.

  “Hey, no crying at the table, sis,” I tease her. “You know the rules in Pop’s house. Only good words are spoken at the table. Now tell me your best time with Pop’s.”

  She nods then takes a drink of her beer. “My best time with Pop’s huh? There are so many of them, I don’t know if I can pick a best one. But I think one of the top best times I had with Pop’s was when he took us fishing.”

  Kent puts the beans on the table and sits down. “Yeah, fishing rocked with him.” He reaches out for our hands and we each take one then he looks at me. “You get to do this now that he’s gone, Blaine.”

  “Say grace?” I ask as I shake my head. “I don’t know what the hell to say.”

  Kate makes a snorting sound I assume is some kind of a laugh. “Just say what Pop’s used to say. Wing it, Damien. I don’t think the meal will burst into flames, having one of Satan’s disciples praying over it.”

  I hate when she calls me that name and she knows it. It’s no secret that all of my family thinks I’m heartless and must be demonic to do the things I do in business and my personal life too. The name calling is a thing I usually don’t put up with, though.

  The occasion calls for me to laugh her off, so I do just that. “Okay, Kate. Let’s see what I can come up with. Bow your heads and close your eyes,” I tell them and watch to make sure they do. Then I bow too. “Lord, you’ve gained an angel in our father today. We know he’s safe and happy in your hands now. We’ve found this food he prepared before he left us. Now, we know it’s three days old, so if you could bless it to be sure it doesn’t make us sick, we’d all really appreciate that.”

  “Say something about us being thankful, Blaine,” Kent whispers.

  “And we are thankful, Lord. Not only for this food but also for having our father for the amount of time you let us have him. He will be missed. He was a great man, a kind man, a wise man.” A knot forms in my throat and I have to stop and clear it. “Amen.”

  This not crying at the table is a lot harder than I thought it’d be!

  Chapter 3

  BLAINE

  November 10th:

  Hurrying to turn the lamp on beside my bed, I sit up, trying to catch my breath. As the light comes on, illuminating my bedroom, I look around to be sure I’m really in my home on my estate rather than in my childhood bedroom with my father sitting on the edge of my twin bed, talking to me.

  Every damn night since we buried our father, I’ve had the same dream. Pops comes into my bedroom, the one I had as a kid, and sits down and starts talking to me about right and wrong.

  My head is aching with how much has been put into it, even though it’s not real at all. My heart is aching as well. I don’t recall ever feeling as much as I have in the last five days.

  It’s hard to believe my father is more with me than when he was alive but that’s how I feel. Yesterday I went to the corporate office and when I found one of the employees from the Houston store in the reception area, I s
topped to talk to him. An unusual thing for me.

  He told me he’d asked his manager for some time off with pay so he could go see his younger brother in the hospital. The manager told him it was against our policy to give employees leave with pay for anything.

  I had to take him into my office because he started crying and I found myself feeling terrible for him. He told me his ten-year-old brother had been diagnosed with the same disease which hit him at that exact age. He explained how the disease changed him, taking away his ability to walk, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down because it attacked his brain. It also took away some of his mental capabilities and he wanted to be with his brother to help him understand things.

  The young man told me things that made me see life in a new way. He told me he wanted to tell his little brother how he was still a viable human being and his brother would be one too. Walking and being able to use your brain as well as you used to, isn’t as hard as it seems to be. At least he gets to keep on living.

  I sat there and listened to him tell me things I’d never taken the time to listen to anyone of my employees say before. And I found myself writing out a policy to allow leave with pay for certain things. Family members facing challenges with their health, being one of them.

  And before he left my office, I had him give me his parents phone number so I could call them. Without even thinking, I told them I’d be paying for their son’s hospital bills and anything he needed to help him deal with this terrible thing he’d been afflicted with.

  Danny Peterson gave me something that day, he gave me an insight into what kinds of things he faces and others like him face. I felt as if I’d been given a gift. The gift to understand others and gain some empathy. A thing I’ve lacked my whole life.

  With Pops coming to me in my dreams every night, I’m feeling like I need to make a lot of changes. It’s as if I’m being given the opportunity to start on a new path. One I didn’t realize existed before.

  Looking at the clock on my nightstand, I see it’s six in the morning and make a snap decision to call my brother and sister to see if they’d like to come with me to breakfast. It’s early enough to catch them before their workdays begin.

  Kate answers on the third ring, “What’s up, Blaine?”

  “Me,” I say. “I want to take you and Kent out for breakfast. I’ll have my driver take us and afterward he can drop you both off at your jobs or you two can come with me to visit this kid in the hospital if you want to take the day off. I’d like to hang out with you both.”

  “I can’t afford to take the day off. But breakfast sounds nice. I’ll get up and get ready.”

  “I’ll pay you for the day you’ll be missing. Come on, go with me to the hospital. I don’t want to go alone,” I cajole her.

  “I’ll call and see if that’ll be okay then. See you soon.”

  Next, I call Kent. “Hey, what are you doing calling me this early?” he answers his phone.

  “I’m up and want to take you and Kate out for breakfast. You think you can take the day off, I’m paying your missed wages if you’ll take it off and come with me to visit this sick kid in the hospital.”

  “I’m in,” he says without hesitation. “Where do you want me to meet you?”

  “I’m getting my driver to take us. So just get ready and make yourself look decent too. I want us to look respectable when we go to the hospital,” I tell him then end the call.

  With a pretty great day ahead, I get out of bed and feel kind of lighthearted. I usually don’t feel a thing like this when I start my days. My plans usually consist of getting online and making sure I’m getting the cheapest products possible.

  It’s nice to have such a gratuitous plan for my day. And as I go to the bathroom, I think of another thing I should do. Take Danny’s little brother some kind of toy or something to make his hospital stay a little more pleasant.

  I don’t have a clue what a ten-year-old would like, though. Maybe Kate will know since she works with kids. All I know is, I have a pep in my step I don’t usually have. It’s oddly amazing and I think I like this feeling.

  Stepping into a warm shower, I have to fight to settle my brain down. So many thoughts are moving around inside my head. Thoughts I’ve never had before. I suppose it’s my father’s death that has me thinking about making changes in my life. A pressure is on me to get things moving in a new direction. A good direction.

  As I wash my hair, I think about how my brother and sister are living. The way they’re making a living is honest work and I should be more proud of them for how well they’ve turned out. I never tell them anything like that. I actually say opposite things to them about working so hard to earn a buck.

  I need to let them know not only am I proud of them but I’m here to help them do anything they want to with their lives. Anything at all. I wonder how they’ll react to that.

  My money has often been called the Devil’ dollars by them. They may want nothing to do with that money helping them to get where they want to be.

  But then again, with my changing attitude, they might start thinking of that money differently. All I know for sure, is I need their help to figure out how to make things right again. How to keep making money but stop hurting others while I do that.

  I hope they can figure out how to help me.

  Chapter 4

  DELANEY

  “I need you to have that PICC line in before I get there, Nurse Richards,” the doctor in charge of the neonatal unit for the day orders me.

  “I’ll have it done. Don’t worry. I’m about to start a double shift, going to the opposite side of the hospital for the next eight hours to help out over there with the older children. If you need me for anything then just call me and I’ll come back over here.”

  “Okay, thanks. I appreciate it,” he says then ends the call.

  I head to the small room where a tiny newborn is having a difficult time staying with us. The poor baby was born with a hole in her heart that’s going to have to be repaired if she’s going to have a chance at surviving.

  To add to her problems, she’s developed an infection and antibiotics will have to be pumped straight into her tiny heart. Her mother and father are with her in the little, dark room and I find them holding each other as I come inside. “Good morning.”

  They let each other go and turn away from the little incubator that holds their daughter. “Good morning,” her mother says. “What’s the plan? Do you know yet?”

  “I’m going to be putting in a PICC line. It’s not going to be easy to watch. If you two would like to go down and get some breakfast from the cafeteria, now would be a good time. I promise to have her calmed back down as soon as possible,” I tell them as I move about the room, getting together the things I will need.

  “I’m staying,” the young mother says. “If my baby’s in pain, then I need to be too.”

  Her husband wraps one arm around her and stays silent. I look over my shoulder and offer the same words I offer all the parents of the sick children I take care of. “There’s no reason to look at things in that way. Staying strong for her is much better than suffering along with her. That way you can come back in here and let her feel your calmness rather than you being upset after hearing her cries.”

  “She’s right, honey,” her husband says then takes her out of the room.

  As I look down at the sleeping baby, I feel terrible about her condition. I don’t understand why these things happen to anyone, much less children. I do know this medicine will help her and that gives me the strength to do the hard part. Make her cry.

  In the beginning, five years ago when I become a pediatric nurse, things were so hard for me. Even giving children shots that prevent them from getting horrible diseases was hard for me to do. Day by day, little by little, I came to terms with what I was doing for them.

  A bit of pain one day opposed to a terrible illness is worth it. And I have exceptional abilities to calm them back down. The baby moves a littl
e in agitation as I move her around to position her.

  The door opens and in comes the other nurse to hold her still for me. “Hi, Betty. You ready?” I ask as she washes her hands then comes to us.

  “I suppose so. Let’s get this over with. I totally hate this part of our jobs,” she says.

  I nod in agreement and take in a breath and hold it as I push the needle into the baby’s chest and her scream comes out as I do. Then my mind shuts off so I can help her without feeling terrible about it.

  Three hours later and a couple of coffees too, I’m on the other side of the hospital, checking on the third-floor patients. With a quick knock on the door. I grab Samuel Peterson’s file hanging next to it, I go inside as I look it over. “Good morning,” I say as I come into the room where a ten-year-old little boy is fighting pneumococcal meningitis.

  A very tired father sits at one side of the child’s bed and another young man sits in a wheelchair on the other side. “Good morning,” he says to me. “I’m Danny. Sammy’s brother. How is he?”

  “His numbers are going down which is a good thing,” I tell him as I look at his chart. “I’m here to get his vitals so we can see if he’s still improving. If you don’t mind my asking, Danny, what happened to have you in that chair?”

  “The same thing,” he says then blows a chunk of blonde hair out of his eyes. “Only thing different is my parents got him to the hospital three days earlier than they realized they needed to take me. We’re all hoping he doesn’t end up like me.”

  With a nod, I start taking Samuel’s temperature and hear the sound of someone clearing their throat. It’s a deep sound with a smooth edge to it. “Can we come in?”

  “Sure,” Danny tells the man. “Hello, Mr. Vanderbilt. It’s a pleasure to see you here today.”

  “I wish things were better,” the man says.

  I turn around to grab the blood pressure cuff and stop as I see one of the most handsome men I believe I have ever seen before. His light brown eyes land on mine without any words coming out of his mouth.