Devereaux Billionaires Complete Series: Books 1-4

by Mallory Crowe

  “I wouldn’t bet on that,” warned Luke.

  “Well, you know I get what I want. Give me time and you’ll get your brother back. I just have to wait until he sees reason. Which would be much easier if you told me what really happened between you two.”

  “That’s personal, Cali.”

  “This whole thing is personal, Luke. If you really want your brother back, don’t make me do this with my hands tied behind my back.”

  There was a pause on the other end and Cali held her breath as she waited for what Luke would say. And then he finally gave her what she wanted. “It was a girl.”

  That was the most anti-climactic revelation ever. “A girl? All this over relationship troubles?”

  “It’s complicated, but the whole thing got dirty and it was right before our parents died. Things got fucked up real fast.”

  So she probably got some bonus points for saying that she’d never thought of Luke as anything more than a friend. But that might also explain why Rourke was so skeptical to hear it. The clanging of dishes being washed in the kitchen behind the porch Cali was sitting on broke through the silence. It would be best if Mary didn’t hear this conversation. “I have to go. Keep me updated on what you find out about Easson,” she added before she hung up.

  She set the phone back on the arm of the Adirondack chair and let her head fall back, taking in the scents and sounds around her. Someone rang the doorbell and she opened her eyes. Was it another guest or had Rourke finally found out about what she did?

  She got her answer a few moments later as she heard pounding footsteps come closer and closer. Yep, that was Rourke. She let her eyes drift closed and tried to use the calmness around her to steel herself for the confrontation coming at her. A loud plop came from next to her and she looked down to see that Rourke had thrown her overnight bag beside her feet. Next to the bag was a huge pair of work boots that had seen better days. Her gaze trailed upwards, along the lines of Rourke’s body. Over his worn jeans and an open black and gray flannel shirt and an undershirt that looked too small to fit over the broad muscles of his chest.

  But despite his much too impressive body, all sexual thoughts flew from her mind as she looked up into his smoldering gaze. She had to fight the urge to slink down farther into her chair. “Rourke,” she said with a calmness she didn’t feel at all. “What an unexpected surprise.”

  He glared down at her in silence for a few long moments before motioning for the rocky shoreline in front of the house. “Take a walk with me.”

  It wasn’t a question. She debated saying no just for the fun of it, but she wanted to get a chance to talk with him again. “Lead the way.” She pushed herself out of the chair.

  Except he didn’t lead the way. Instead, he wrapped his strong fingers around her upper arm and pulled her along with him. She had to practically jog to keep up with his long strides until they were so far away that there was no chance Mary would hear them.

  “Get your hands off me, you Neanderthal,” bit out Cali as she yanked at her arm.

  He pulled his hand away as though he’d been touching lava before he turned to face her and crowded her space until she was forced to take a step back. “You want to tell me exactly what your plan is?”

  She took a deep breath and tried to find her cool, calm center again. “My plan was to get you to talk to me again. So it worked.”

  “You told everyone I know that I’m a cold bastard.”

  “No,” she corrected. “I told Mary you were a cold bastard. And don’t even act like it isn’t true, especially not after the way you treated me yesterday. You can’t play the good guy card here.”

  “Why is it so hard for you to believe that I want privacy?”

  “Oh, I believe it.” Cali could understand the need for privacy better than most. That wasn’t going to stop her from getting Rourke to meet with his brothers. “But I have the payday of a lifetime waiting for me if I get you to go back to New York with me, so I’m not giving up that easily.”

  He nodded as though she’d confirmed something he’d long suspected. “Money. You’re making my life hell for money.”

  She snorted. Just the tone she expected from someone who’d never wanted for anything in his life. “I’m not doing this just for money. I’m doing this for lots and lots of money. Two million, to be precise.”

  At least he had the grace to seem surprised. “Two million?”

  “Your brothers love you and miss you. Please don’t torture them any longer, and just sit down and talk with them. They can be assholes, but so can you. You’ll get along great.”

  “And you expect me to do you any favors after the shit you’ve been spewing about me?”

  “All I have to do is tell Mary it was an honest misunderstanding and you’re a perfect gentleman. Then if all the people whose opinion matters to you so much see us around town a few times, I’m sure your reputation will be right back to perfect.”

  “You have this all planned out, don’t you?”

  No. She was really making everything up as she went along, but he didn’t need to know that. “Here are your choices. You can go meet with your brothers, you can pay me the two million out of your own trust fund, or you can sit back and watch as I make your life a living hell. So pick your poison.”

  “You little—” He cut off before he finished, closing his eyes and clenching his fists.

  “If you hit me, that won’t help your standing as West Bath’s most upstanding secret billionaire.”

  “Hitting you wasn’t exactly on my mind,” he warned as his dark eyes raked over her and he inched closer.

  She forced herself to hold her ground as she looked up at him. “Thinking of other ways to humiliate me then? Going to throw me over your shoulder and bring me back to Mary?”

  “Actually, I was thinking of this.” With that, he caged her head in his hands as he leaned in and kissed her. She gasped in surprise, and he took full advantage as his tongue teased the edge of her lips before slipping inside.

  Before she could even begin to get her bearings, he moved, pushing her backward, and wrapped one arm around her back as he guided her against a tree.

  Cali reflexively grabbed onto his shoulders as he deepened the kiss. His hands roamed along her sides, roughly palming her ass and pulling her up against his hard erection. It was so similar to their first kiss and so different. There was a history between them now that hadn’t been there when they were two strangers at a party...

  She tentatively kissed him back. She knew she should be pushing him away, but for the briefest moment she allowed herself to indulge. Though she wasn’t completely sure why he was kissing her, at least she was sure it wasn’t because of Luke. He wasn’t using her for some dark, ulterior motive like Easson. There was something Rourke liked about her, and at the moment, that was the sexiest thing she could imagine.

  Cali kissed him full force, setting an arm around his shoulders and standing on her tiptoes for better access. This beautiful, strong man wanted her. For as long as this moment lasted, she was going to savor it. She pushed at his flannel shirt until his broad shoulders were revealed and she broke the kiss to run her hands over his shoulders.

  Rourke wanted her. He wanted her for no other reason than being attracted to her.

  Cali pushed him away as she tried to regain control of her traitorous body. Oh God, what had happened to her? She used to be strong and confident Not fawning over some guy just because he found her attractive. Just because he wasn’t her ex...

  “I’m sorry,” she mumbled as she scooted away from the tree. “I, um, I need to go.”

  She turned away from him and started back to the house as her breath came in deep, heavy gulps. She’d been so stupid. Thinking she could just shrug off what had happened.

  “Cali,” said Rourke from behind her.

  She ignored him. She couldn’t deal with him right now. How could she explain herself? Though judging from how upset he’d been with her just a few moments ago, ch
ances were he wouldn’t even care about her inner struggles with the fact that the last man she’d slept with had been a psycho.

  “Cali, hold on one damn second.”

  She forced herself to stop. Despite what Easson had done to her and apparently to her self-esteem, she needed to finish this with Rourke. To get what she wanted. She was stronger than this. She buried the emotion down as far as she could before she turned to face Rourke. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m sorry,” she said stiffly.

  He frowned at her and she really hoped he didn’t think she was as crazy as she felt. “I hate to break it to you, but I kissed you first.”

  “And I’m sorry I didn’t slap you immediately. I know our relationship might be...confusing after what happened Friday, but I assure you that I’m here on a purely professional capacity.”

  “Except for the blackmail thing.”

  “That’s a professional blackmail.” He narrowed his eyes and she stared up at him, not allowing herself to back down again.

  “Either way, that’s not all I wanted to talk to you about. Do you have any idea who shot out your tires last night?”

  Cali felt as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her. “What?”

  Rourke stepped forward cautiously, as though waiting for her to bolt again. “The guy I know at the shop found evidence that someone shot out your tires. Care to explain that?”

  Taking a deep breath, she forced her nerves to calm down. Might as well tell him what happened. “I suspected that’s what happened. But it all came so fast and was over in a heartbeat and once I was stopped, there were no other shots. I was half convinced I made it up, but then you showed up and you already thought I was crazy, so I kind of figured you wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

  “And you didn’t think it was at least worth a police report?”

  She’d already second-guessed herself up and down. She really didn’t need Rourke talking down to her. Literally. “It was dark out, in the middle of the woods. What would you or any police officer have done?”

  Rourke was quiet and she knew she had him there. Even the best trackers had trouble in the middle of the night.

  “So who was it?” he asked.

  Cali stared at him, wide-eyed. “I don’t know! It’s not like people shoot at me every day.”

  “What about that guy texting you? He didn’t seem like your biggest fan.”

  Cali felt the blood drain from her face. Of course he wouldn’t have forgotten that. “If he wanted me dead, I’d be dead,” she said with her now dry throat.

  “But this guy didn’t want you dead. He’d have to be an expert marksman to make those shots while you were moving.”

  “Only one was while I was moving,” she said weakly. “The second tire was shot while I was stopped.”

  “Mother—” Rourke broke off and turned away from her as he looked out over the water. Once he appeared to have collected himself, he twisted back around. “And you really didn’t think that was worth mentioning?”

  “For all I knew, you were the one who shot at me. You’re not exactly my biggest fan.”

  He tightened his lips as he glared down at her. “So now you’re accusing me, is that it?”

  She shrugged and tried to keep her cool. She didn’t think Rourke was the type to hide in the shadows while he did his dirty work, but she was just mad enough to make him sweat a bit. “Is it really such a strange thing to think? One minute you’re kissing me, then you’re hauling me off your property, then you’re warning me away from you and then you’re kissing me again! You’re hardly the measure of sanity here.”

  “You’re a piece of work, you know that?”

  “I’m aware,” she said, unapologetically.

  “But you’re not nearly as strong as you pretend to be, are you?”

  She squared her jaw and refused to back down. “What can I say? You have an uncanny ability to find my vulnerable spots. But don’t think I can’t find yours.”

  He nodded. His dark eyes raked over her as though sizing her up. “So I’m worth two million dollars to you?”

  “You’re worth two million to your brothers.”

  “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m not going back to New York with you. Ever. I’m also not giving you any money. But you and I are going to have dinner at the one Italian restaurant in town in front of everyone tonight so they stop giving me shit, and, if it makes you feel better, you can tell yourself you can use the time to convince me to talk to Luke.”

  “Meeting with me in public is rather risky. It would be much too easy for me to cause a scene.”

  “I swear to God, Cali, if you keep pushing me, you’re not going to like the consequences.”

  Considering she was already dealing with the consequences of pissing off a military-trained murderer, she was willing to take whatever Rourke had to dish out. She stepped closer until she was just an inch away from Rourke, almost touching him front to front. “Why, Rourke,” she said sweetly. “I’d love to go out to dinner with you. What time would you like to pick me up?”

  He leaned in just the tiniest bit to show he wasn’t intimidated. “I’ll be here at seven sharp. I expect you to look your best.”

  “I’ll wear my cutest skirt for you.” She smiled.

  He crooked his head as he looked down her body. “I can take you, Cali Carson.”

  For a second, she didn’t know whether he was talking about in a fight or in bed. Hell, at this point he was probably talking about both, the lines were so muddled between them. “Keep telling yourself that, Devereaux.”

  Rourke bent down as he studied the impression in the dirt around him. He didn’t think he’d be able to find anything considering how fast the leaves had been falling from the trees the past few weeks, but he’d hit the jackpot.

  The sun had shone just right to illuminate the ammunition shells that were left on the forest floor. He bent down and pulled his shirt over his hand so he could pick up the shells without getting fingerprints on them and put them in the front pocket of his shirt. He was willing to bet he could get Sheriff Steve to run prints on them. It was a hell of a favor to ask, but Steve was one of the few people who knew about the large donations Rourke had made to the police department. He owed Rourke and this was an easy enough way to pay him back.

  Rourke leaned back on his feet and studied where the gunman had been. It looked as if he’d been lying on his stomach in the prone position when he did the firing. There were some cigarette ashes that hadn’t been blown away by the wind yet. Chances were, whoever this guy was, he’d been there for a while. Rourke tried to think of any chain-smoking military-trained people he knew of, but this far away from the city there were plenty.

  He stood and looked around. He didn’t see any type of foot tracks around him. Maybe if he’d been here right after the shooting happened and in the daylight he could’ve seen something, but at this point the forest had destroyed any other evidence he might find.

  For now, all he could do was hope that Steve could get a read on the prints and that this guy didn’t wear gloves while he loaded his gun. Rourke glanced down at his watch. It was already three p.m. Thanks to Cali, he’d lost most of his day, and considering he had to pick her up in a few hours, he probably wouldn’t get any work done.

  He wasn’t really sure what he was going to do about Cali. She had him in a tight spot, and he wasn’t sure how dirty she was willing to play. She talked a good game, but every once in a while, he’d see a flash of something in her eyes. A bit of fear, or a bit of vulnerability, that he knew she didn’t want him to see.

  And he really wished he knew what the hell happened earlier in the day. He knew kissing her was a bad idea, but he was just so angry and overwhelmed he lost control. It was so hard to be around her, knowing how hot she was in his arms. How quickly she went up in flames the last time he touched her. He figured she thought he was trying to punish her, but that wasn’t the case at all. If he had his way, her climbing into bed with him would
n’t be a punishment at all. He wanted to make her come so many times that she forgot he even had brothers. So many times that she forgot Luke’s name.

  But when she pushed him away, she gave him a look that made him feel like the lowest of low. As if he was scum of the earth for even thinking about touching her.

  It was a shock to both of them; it was the first time Rourke realized that someone had hurt her. Someone had done something to put that fear in her eyes, though she was trying to hide it with everything she was worth.

  And that fear drove him crazy. Because he shouldn’t care about her. About what happened in her past or what was happening in her present or future. But the fact was that someone had taken a shot at her, literally, while she was in his town, which meant she was under his protection. Even if they were in their own private war, he was the only one allowed to give her blows.

  A quiet anger snaked through him at the idea of someone coming into his territory and threatening Cali. Sure, she was strong and much too smart for her own good, but physically she wasn’t that imposing. Her heels she wore the first two times he met her made her taller, but in her tennis shoes, she was only five foot seven. And her frame was athletic enough to show that she worked out, but it was slim. He was probably double her weight, if he had to guess.

  His hands turned into tight fists as he thought of someone taking shots at the defenseless Cali in the dark, deserted road. What Rourke would give to have five minutes alone with the son of a bitch.

  But his revenge would have to be shelved temporarily. He’d have just enough time to make it into town and drop the shells off with Steve before getting cleaned up for his “date.”

  Even though Cali thought she was getting the drop on him tonight, he had his own ulterior motives. As much as he wanted her out of his hair, he couldn’t have her running around when she was in danger. As long as she was here, she needed to be close to him. And that meant that after today, she’d be staying with him at his house. She just didn’t know it yet.

  Cali looked in the mirror. She really wished she had access to her vast collection of clothes back at her apartment, but this would have to do. He’d dropped off her bag, thankfully, so at least she didn’t have to worry about borrowing something from Mary.