Alpha Billionaire

by Deborah Garland

  Crap. “I’m sorry. Let me pick this up.”

  “I’m done with you.” His hand stretched out toward the door. “Get out. And I don’t mean—”

  Brock stood in the doorway, stopping Jonathan from probably firing her ass. “Oh, thank God, you’re both here.” The man’s jaw muscles were jumping.

  “What’s the matter?” Laney had never seen him so frazzled.

  “We have an emergency last-minute preso.”

  Jonathan quickly picked up what had spilled on the floor and shoved it back on his desk. “When?”

  “I just put them in the conference room,” Brock told them.

  “What?” Laney joined Brock’s panic party. “I can’t pull a presentation together in a few minutes.”

  “They just want to see some samples. We can use your design boards hanging in the conference room. They want to meet my A-Team.” Brock pointed. “That’s you two.”

  Laney exchanged a painful stare with Jonathan. Some team. They were both raw with emotion and fury. She wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt Brock’s company. Nodding, she said, “Fine.”

  Jonathan pulled his gaze from her. “Sure.” He sailed out of the office, the door almost hitting her in the face.

  Brock caught it and held it open for her. “Thank you, Laney.”

  “Who is the client, anyway?” she asked, curious who could show up without an appointment and get Brock moving like a dog with rabies was chasing him.

  “Clients,” Brock corrected, adding the plural. “Hotel owners. It’s The Sterling, if you can believe it.”

  Laney froze. Tristan? There? In. Her. Office. Why? She’d told him she planned to quit. A large sale now would only end up in Jonathan’s pockets. Was this Tristan’s revenge for her walking away from him?

  Or had he come to collect her. Claim her?

  She caught up to Jonathan, realizing she needed to warn him. By the sudden halt of his otherwise heavy steps outside the glass conference room, she knew he figured it out.

  He turned to her and bitterly spit out, “What the fuck is he doing here?” The veins in his neck throbbed as he breathed heavily. “Did you set this up?”

  “Jonathan, what’s wrong with you?” Brock got between them. “Don’t talk to Laney that way. This is the workplace. I can be sued.”

  She willed herself not to look in the room, and only caught the outline of two tall, broad men in suits. Tristan had brought Luke to see her fabrics.

  “You heard Brock,” Laney said, swallowing hard. “This was last minute.”

  Jonathan bit his lip and pushed roughly on the door. Her heart raced a mile a minute and sweat pooled in the curve of her lower back.

  She stepped in slowly, her gaze drifting across the polished table, skidding uncontrollably until it reached Tristan Hart. When he stood, Holy God, her breath stuck in her lungs. The suit made him look taller. Dark charcoal, double-breasted, impeccably fitted. It took an extra moment to look him in the eyes. The gold sparklers that matched his tie were behind those dark-rimmed glasses she’d seen him in a few days ago.

  His lips parted and the fleshy surface called out to her. She’d licked those lips and they’d kissed every single inch of her body.

  Slowly, she came abreast of Jonathan who seethed at Tristan as Brock shook hands with the Hart brothers.

  “Now this...this is my genius,” Brock boasted before he sat. “Laney Hathaway.”

  Tristan remained still looking like being in the same room trounced the crap out of him. So much that he couldn’t even touch her.

  The other man leaned across the table. “Luke Hart.”

  Shaking Luke’s hand, she drank in Tristan’s older brother. Up close she saw they had the same shaped eyes, although his were dark blue. Luke’s suit was pure black. He was the dangerous one.

  “Pleasure,” Laney said quietly.

  “This is my brother, Tristan. The Sterling’s COO.” Luke put his hand on Tristan’s shoulder, she could see the love there, and it made her heart squeeze.

  Instantly, she wanted to go home with these men. They’d...protect her. Be there for her. She wanted that. Now. Her insides twisted. The wall she’d put up, protecting herself, crumbled. The aloneness she’d stuffed away came shooting out of her. Trembling, she put her hand out to Tristan, fearing the minute her skin touched his, she’d break down. She shook it, trembling, but kept it together.

  His face told her he knew every thought she’d just had and his stern nod suggested he shared every unspoken thought. “My pleasure.”

  Good God, yes. Pleasure. That’s what he gave her. Pleasure-rama. He’d shown her more in one week than her entire life combined. She’d been stupid enough to walk away, and it looked like he wouldn’t take no for an answer this time, would he? After taking in his hungry eyes and determined mouth, she knew he was here for her.

  “Thank you for seeing us on short notice.” Luke’s deep voice took over.

  Laney folded herself slowly into the seat, but kept her weary eyes on the man with the glasses. He stared back looking like he was in pain. It killed her to sit there and not touch him.

  Damn, she did love him!

  “When we heard The Sterling,” Brock cajoled with more sap than a tree, “of course, we’d accommodate you.”

  Luke stood and straightened his suit jacket. Damn. If she’d not known them before that day, she’d have passed out. How did the female population of Manhattan control themselves around these two? Not to mention, Grayson. Where was he?

  “These are beautiful.” Luke fingered the fabrics on her design boards. “Yours?” He pointed to Laney.

  She cleared her throat. “Yes.”

  “And these?” Along the entire wall, presentation boards she and Nikki had made up for all their projects lined the length of the conference room.

  “Yes,” she answered again.

  “Do they sell well?” Luke asked.

  “You would have to ask Jonathan,” she responded because her boss got the commissions and knew the sales figures.

  “Jonathan, do her designs sell well?” Luke’s subtle inflection sparked her heart rate.

  Uh-oh.

  Jonathan shifted uncomfortably. “We’re the top-selling design team.”

  “But you don’t do the design work.” Luke folded his arms. “She does.”

  “Yeah, we’re a team,” Jonathan snapped.

  “Do you own the rights to any of these designs, Laney?” Luke’s blue eyes bore down on her and a slight narrowing signaled his intentions.

  Loud and clear. Holy. Shit. “No,” she answered firmly.

  “What is this?” Brock stood up and glared at Laney. “What’s going on?”

  She gave an innocent shrug.

  “I just want to know whose designs I’ll be buying for my hotel.” Luke stepped back to the table.

  “Everything you see is under the Westmore Designs label,” Jonathan affirmed.

  “Your last name isn’t Westmore, is it?” Luke asked her with his hands flat on the conference table.

  “No.” Her eyes flew to Tristan, who quirked a smile in the corner of his mouth.

  He could have stormed into that office guns blazing. No, he was the quiet one like he’d said. The mild-mannered COO once again let his brother have all the attention. Now she saw how that suited Tristan so well.

  Watch out for the quiet ones.

  Tristan didn’t want anyone in Manhattan to know how lethal he was in bed. But Laney knew.

  Brock, who was no slouch and a sharp businessman, had enough of Luke’s caginess. “Jonathan and Laney, you can go. I’ll finish with these...gentlemen.”

  “Hold on there, Brockster.” Luke took out his phone. “My father left me and my brothers a billion-dollar hotel enterprise, but I’m a lawyer. International law and intellectual property.”

  Here we go.

  “Luke, you don’t have to...” She addressed him casually like she’d known him her entire life. A solid bond spread through her as if they�
��d inducted her into the Hart family with a secret candlelit ceremony.

  “Oh yeah, Laney. I do.” Luke sat. “I’d like to start negotiations for Laney to have ownership of her designs.”

  Brock slammed his fist on the table. “That’s not how it works, Mr. Hart.”

  “Why not?” Luke shrugged his shoulders. “Everything’s negotiable, right?”

  “You have no leverage to negotiate the ownership of Laney’s designs.” Jonathan’s brows dipped so far down in a scowl, it was a wonder he could see.

  He should be scowling. If all her fabrics were no longer his to sell the man’s income would evaporate. This game just got personal.

  Luke grinned and gave a small cackle. “Leverage.” He turned to Tristan. “Do we have leverage?”

  “Yes, we do.” Tristan finally joined the conversation. Simple words from the quiet smoldering man. Something told Laney he had more power and Luke probably respected it.

  “Were you just on a cruise?” Luke addressed Jonathan.

  He whipped his head to Laney and then Tristan, who arched one dark eyebrow.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Jonathan asked, his voice shaky.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” Luke was good. “Do you often assault women on cruises?”

  Laney grasped the edge of the table as Luke swiped through his phone. Oh. Dear. God. That was his leverage. Her horrible mistake.

  “What the fuck is this?” Jonathan lunged across the table to grab the phone.

  “Leverage,” Luke said, turning the screen around.

  A man was holding a woman down, grunting and pulling at his pants while she yelled and kicked.

  The man was Jonathan.

  Laney dove forward and grabbed the phone. Her stomach turned to ice as she dropped it on the table “That...that’s not me.”

  “Thank fucking God, that’s not you,” Tristan growled. “Or Luke and I would be tearing him apart right now.”

  “Jonathan, what’s this about?” Brock asked him nervously.

  “There’s more.” Luke held his phone. “Want to see more?”

  Everyone in the room let out a collective: No.

  “This seems to be a personal matter between Jonathan and whoever that woman was.” Brock smoothed his tie. “I need to ask you gentlemen to leave now. This has nothing to do with me or my company.”

  “Oh, but it does.” Luke folded his arms. “You paid for the cruise, didn’t you?”

  “Um...” Brock stammered.

  “That technically makes it work-related,” Tristan jumped in and pointed to Laney. “Especially since she was there and an assistant, too.”

  “Well...” Laney’s thoughts spiraled, not knowing who or what to defend. She didn’t want Nikki pulled into this.

  “Was there any work done on the cruise?” Luke asked, drifting his gaze between her and Jonathan.

  “Yes,” Laney said, nodding. “He had some strike-offs emailed to me and we had a lunch meeting.”

  Tristan must have given his brother a freaking play-by-play. Including the ugly scene where she’d gone off with Jonathan, a sleazy moron who attacked another woman. That low point of hers made her feel small and stupid.

  “There you go.” Luke snapped his fingers. “It could be construed as a violence in the workplace violation. That makes you responsible, Brockster.”

  “What do you want?” He sat realizing Luke and Tristan outmaneuvered him.

  “I want you to sign over all her designs.” Luke pointed to Laney.

  “And the manufacturing software modules I built,” she added.

  She’d taken those software design classes on her own dime. But once Westmore’s IT department used her code to re-build a more efficient system, Westmore took ownership of it. They owned everything. Including her.

  Or maybe not. Everything was negotiable.

  Jonathan pushed away from the table and almost broke the door to get out of the conference room. Her heart seized up in her chest seeing him rush toward the data center.

  “The servers,” she cried out to Brock. “He’s gonna try to erase the servers.” She looked at Tristan, her heart pounding. “All my designs.”

  Gone. She dragged in a heavy sobering breath. She couldn’t just recreate the intricate design patterns full of different colors and textures from samples.

  Luke smirked. “I’m sure Brockster here has your precious designs and the software backed up somewhere safe. Off-site?”

  Brock grumbled.

  Laney swallowed and dumped her head in her shaking hands.

  “I’ll have the papers drawn up and sent to you,” Luke said to Brock and stood up. Just like she saw him at The Sterling, he straightened his navy blue tie, but now close up she saw how it matched his eyes.

  “Where did you get that video?” Brock asked, seething.

  “The woman he assaulted emailed it to me,” Tristan answered sharply and stood, too. “She was shaken up. She didn’t want to hand it over. If you’re nice to people, you’d be surprised what they will do for you. You should try it sometime.”

  “I think we’re done here.” Luke turned to his brother.

  “Not yet.” Tristan reached his hand out for Laney. “She’s coming with us. Right now.”

  “She’s working right now,” Brock answered with a stifled roar.

  So much for leaving in one untainted piece. Everything’s negotiable. Hmmm.

  “I’m not leaving her anywhere near a sexual predator.” Tristan’s beast came out, his throat muscles corded, his control strained to the hilt. For her. Luke had to hold him back.

  Laney had fantasized about leaving that office, victorious after finally getting Jonathan into bed and having the upper hand to walk away.

  Leaving with all her designs and the most gorgeous man in Manhattan? Way better.

  She kicked away her chair and stood. “I need to get my coat.”

  Tristan

  TRISTAN PUSHED OFF Luke’s stretch limo parked in front of Laney’s building when he saw her. She was bundled up in that adorable green coat juggling bankers’ boxes.

  He met her halfway and grabbed everything out of her arms. “I got this.” At the limo’s trunk, Luke pounded it until it sprang open.

  While Tristan loaded her work, the precious items she wouldn’t leave that place without, he glanced at her, loving how she smiled at him. The fire in her eyes had said it all. She was his. He felt it.

  Rolling those ocean blue eyes and waving her hand at their shiny ride, she said, “You know I don’t care about this, right? That’s not why I’m out here.”

  “I know that. You didn’t know how I got here.” He chose Luke’s limo over his Town Car because he knew he’d be leaving with Laney and didn’t want her sitting on his brother’s lap.

  “And I don’t care if you’re a billionaire.”

  “I know you don’t care about my money.” Tristan gazed at his brother who ambled off and looked at his phone. “Do you still care about my hotel?”

  Her eyes lit up. “All this drama means you really talked Luke into keeping it?”

  His brother grumbling answered her.

  “Yes, and I’m giving Luke more to do now, too. He’s staying CEO, it just won’t be a showboat position anymore.”

  “Hey,” his brother snapped. “Can we go?”

  “I’m still the COO.” He squared his shoulders. “I’ll be in charge of the renovation.”

  “Two handsome brothers in the tower.” She whistled. “How will all the girls in New York City stay away?”

  “Three brothers,” Tristan corrected.

  “Oh right, I forgot about the baby.”

  Luke gave a throaty laugh. “She hasn’t even met Grayson, but it sounds like she knows him pretty well.”

  “When Gray’s current live-in girlfriend throws him out, he’ll come crawling back to his penthouse,” Tristan said to the both of them.

  Laney exhaled and bit her lip. “I’m glad you two have your jobs all butto
ned up. I’m now out of work. What does that make me?”

  “Mine,” Tristan said with a possessive snarl. “And I’m yours. If you’ll have me.”

  Laney’s face fell. The moment hit her, all coalescing. She leaned into him and pushed away a strand of hair falling softly in front of his glasses. “You mean that, don’t you?”

  “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a liar. Or a con artist.”

  “I’d like to leave,” Luke announced in a singsong voice.

  “I have a job for you if you’ll take it,” he said, ignoring his brother. “Something we can work on together. I told you I want your fabrics everywhere in my hotel.”

  And her clothes in a ball in the corner of his bedroom. As soon as damn possible.

  “Is he good enough to get my designs?” she asked, pointing to Luke.

  “I sure am,” he answered.

  “Then you can get them into production right away, correct?” Tristan asked, proving he’d paid attention to how her world worked.

  “We have to find a mill. A good mill.” She twisted her wrists around his neck, licking her lips.

  “I’m officially putting you in charge of that.” He also had a work-around for the apparent conflict of interest that would come flying at them. No one would say shit if she were his wife.

  His wife. Damn, he liked that.

  “I think she’s already in charge.” Luke uncrossed his legs and checked his phone. “I’m gonna catch a cab and go somewhere I don’t have to look at you two.”

  “Don’t leave, Luke,” Laney said as her nails dug into Tristan’s new winter coat.

  It would only ever smell like her.

  “Yeah, don’t be a dick. We’re ready to leave. It’s New Year’s Eve!” He slipped his hand in Laney’s. “Look, I have a date this year.”

  New Year’s was the perfect time to start over. Tristan wanted to wake up next to Laney. Start the year off right.

  Luke huffed and opened the opposite door to his limo. “Why do I have a feeling you two are going to get a little loud?”

  Tristan waited for his brother to get in the stretch then leaned Laney up against the car for a kiss that would make his brother’s toes curl. “I certainly hope things get loud,” he said, laying a wolfish grin at her. “And hot. Red, red, hot.”