Billionaire Boss, M.D.
Page 1
Will this doctor’s passion trump vengeance? Find out in this billionaire boss novel from USA TODAY bestselling author Olivia Gates!
Rumors swirl around the world-famous surgeon who just added Dr. Liliana Accardi’s research lab to his vast empire. And from their first mesmerizing encounter, Antonio Balducci breaches all her defenses as he lures Lili into a passionate affair fueled by his own dark motives.
The gorgeous scientist is Antonio’s entry into the family he’s sworn to destroy. But his manipulations ensnare him. With his soul on fire for the woman he desires above all else, will Antonio’s love prove stronger than his hunger for retribution?
Antonio’s new plan had revolved around courting Liliana, breaking down her resistance in stages.
And with a single “okay,” she’d thrown everything out of whack. He felt like he’d been pushing with all his strength against an immovable object when suddenly all resistance was removed.
Then she’d thrown him for a loop again by whisking off his tie. As the silk had hissed as if relieved to part with his shirt, her eyes had been turbid with so many emotions. He thought he’d seen shyness, uncertainty, resignation, recklessness...and hunger.
Then, she touched him.
She slipped that small, delicate hand beneath the shirt that suddenly felt on fire and slid her burning palm over his flesh. Dipping low, as if she was searching out his heart.
* * *
Billionaire Boss, M.D. is part of The Billionaires of Black Castle series: Only their dark pasts could lead these men to the light of true love.
Dear Reader,
Since I started writing The Billionaires of Black Castle series, one of the brotherhood’s members has always been indispensable to his brothers, as the only one they’d trust their lives to, or the lives of their loved ones. Antonio Balducci was that surgical god who was the most sangfroid of the lot, and he was the only one who cared nothing about finding out his origins, or exacting vengeance on those who’d consigned him to the hell of The Organization.
But it turned out the cool, calm surface hid a volcano, and the secrets of his past had always eaten at him. He’d finally caved in and sought them out, and discovered a most horrible truth. He hadn’t been lost or kidnapped like his brothers—he’d been thrown away!
To punish those responsible for this unspeakable crime, he hatched an elaborate plan to infiltrate the family of Italian aristocrats that was closed off to all strangers and exact punishment from within. Liliana Accardi was to be his pass to his life’s most anticipated revenge and resolution... That was, until he shockingly fell in love with her...and it all went out of control with almost catastrophic results!
I really hope you enjoy Antonio and Liliana’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it!
I love to hear from readers, so please visit my website at www.oliviagates.com, email me at oliviagates@gmail.com and connect with me on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/oliviagatesauthor, on Goodreads www.Goodreads.com/author/show/405461.Olivia_Gates and on Twitter, @OliviaGates.
Thanks for reading!
Olivia Gates
OLIVIA GATES
Billionaire Boss, M.D.
USA TODAY bestselling author Olivia Gates has written over forty books in action/adventure, thriller, medical, paranormal and contemporary romance. Her signature is her über-alpha male heroes. Whether they’re gods, black-ops agents, virtuoso surgeons or ruthless billionaires, they all fall in love once and for life with the only women who can match them and bring them to their knees. She loves to hear from readers always, so don’t hesitate to email her at oliviagates@gmail.com.
Books by Olivia Gates
Harlequin Desire
The Sarantos Secret Baby
Twin Heirs to His Throne
The Billionaires of Black Castle
From Enemy’s Daughter to Expectant Bride
Scandalously Expecting His Child
Pregnant by the Sheikh
Claiming His Secret Son
Billionaire Boss, M.D.
Desert Knights
The Sheikh’s Redemption
The Sheikh’s Claim
The Sheikh’s Destiny
Married by Royal Decree
Temporarily His Princess
Conveniently His Princess
Seducing His Princess
Visit her Author Profile page at Harlequin.com, or oliviagates.com, for more titles.
Get rewarded every time you buy a Harlequin ebook!
Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards
http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010002
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Excerpt from Second Chance with the CEO by Anna DePalo
One
“Lili...look alive! The boss man himself is about to arrive.”
Liliana Accardi swung away from the microscope to impale her coworker with a glare, his rhyming—whether he meant it or not—annoying her.
But it was just as well he’d interrupted her. Instead of the gray-scaled cells she was supposed to be studying, she’d been seeing only red. Ever since she’d heard the news that would end all her professional and scientific dreams. No way was she rushing off to go stand in line while said new “boss man” inspected them like a shepherd inspected his newly acquired flock.
Brian Saunders raised his hands in a “don’t kill the messenger” gesture. “I just think you should come, if only to get firsthand word on the direction of his management. Maybe he’ll allow you to carry on with your work, after all.”
“Yeah, sure. From what I’ve read about him since I started my morning with the delightful news of his takeover, Antonio Balducci rules his empire with a steel fist. He’ll never allow me independence.”
Brian spread his arms. “You know me, I never say never.” At her hardening glare, he grinned. “I’m in the same hijacked boat as you. I just decided to deal with my captivity and go on the journey with a different attitude.”
She huffed, deflating in her chair.
Brian was right. He was just another victim of the tsunami takeover. She should save her wrath for their new boss.
But Balducci wouldn’t be her boss for long. Not if he insisted on sweeping years’ worth of work and results under the rug and forcing them to dance to his profit-hungry tune.
Despite a medical degree, two master’s degrees and lucrative offers, she’d spent years at Biomedical Innovation Lab with a salary that barely paid the bills. All to do marginalized but necessary research.
Until Balducci Research and Development opened its bottomless maw and swallowed them whole. They now sloshed deep in its belly among other chomped-off acquisitions.
What most galled her was the humiliating speed with which everything had been initiated and finalized. The commercialized global whale, a major tentacle of the Black Castle Enterprises leviathan, had assimilated them in mere hours.
Antonio Balducci, the billionaire celebrity surgeon, had tossed a hundred million dollars their way—chump change for him—and once again proved that money was the most powerful incentive on earth.
“Uh-oh.” Brian took a step back as he spoke. “You’ve got that look on your face.”
She frowned. “What look?”
“The one you get when you’ve decided to go to war.”
She huffed a chuckle, half amused, half embarrassed. “I didn’t realize I was that easy to read. After all the years I spent battling my verbal incontinence, thanks for letting me know I’ve only developed the mental and emotional variety.”
An indulgent smile lit up Brian’s genial face. “You’re just straightforward and spontaneous.”
She rolled her eyes. “Which are the PC words for unrestrained and blunt.”
“And it’s something everyone is thankful for.”
She groaned. “You mean it’s not only you as my best friend who can see through me? Everyone else can read me like a ten-foot neon sign?”
Brian’s grin was appeasement itself. “And they love you for it. In a world full of pretense and games, you’re a rarity and an incredible relief. Not to mention extremely cute.”
“An outspoken five-year-old is cute. A transparent thirty-one-year-old is not.”
Brian wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “You’ll be cute when you’re a hundred and thirty-one.” He pulled her up. “Now let’s go meet our new boss. I have a feeling this won’t be as bad as you think.”
Taking off her lab coat, she tossed him a challenging glance. “I bet you it’s worse.”
“You’re on.” He never could resist a challenge. “If I’m right, you go on a date with one of the restless bachelors that plague my serenely married existence.”
Unable to resist Brian’s infectious good cheer any longer, a smile spread Lili’s lips. All nine of Brian’s brothers and brothers-in-law were either single or divorced. He and his wife, Darla, were always trying to set them up.
“But if I’m right,” Lili said, “you strike me off your list of possible bachelordom cures. I’m the last woman on earth you should consider for such a task, anyway.”
“I know, because you’ll never get married. You’ve told me a hundred times.” He grinned knowingly. “All the women who turn out to be the best wives say that. Including Darla.”
Lili stifled a scoff. “You’re comparing me to Darla, the paragon of domesticity and motherhood, and a savvy businesswoman to boot, when I can barely manage a single life that consists of work, exercise, sleep, study, rinse and repeat?”
“Details, details.” Brian winked as he held the door open for her. “You could well be twins where it counts.”
She shook her head, but let him have the last word. She was nothing like Darla or any other woman born with the ability to conduct intimate relationships or nurture families. Like her mother. And she’d long been at peace with that.
So she was confident she’d win their bet, and at least one good thing would come out of their current mess. Brian would finally stop trying to shove her into his version of a fulfilling existence.
As she passed him on her way out of the lab, she swept it in one last regretful look.
If things went according to her projections, as she was certain they would, this would be the last time she saw it.
* * *
Their new boss was late.
As she sat in her usual seat halfway down the conference table, Lili fumed.
Either Balducci had met his demise—and they couldn’t possibly be that lucky—or he didn’t consider them worthy of his legendary punctuality. And that boded even worse for them than she’d expected.
Her bleary gaze scanned the room. All thirty of the BIL employees were there and unlike her, they’d all clearly run back home to dress for the occasion, leaving only her in an appropriately drab-as-her-mood outfit. Also unlike her, they seemed relieved, even excited at the takeover. Even hating this as much as she did, Lili realized why. She had been feeling the toll of the obstacles they’d had to tackle continuously to do what other better-funded labs did in a fraction of the time. But to her, setbacks, false starts and near misses were an expected part of scientific endeavor. It seemed her attitude hadn’t been shared by the others as she’d thought, and she was the only one with a purely negative stance on the takeover. And a hostile one toward the man behind it.
Everyone else was awed by the very mention of the legendary Dr. Antonio Balducci. The buzz she was sensing wasn’t only over any favorable expectations with him at the helm, but also over the opportunity of meeting him in the flesh. The ladies especially looked aflutter at the prospect. From her online research of him, she grudgingly conceded their reaction was the normal one, not hers.
Since she reserved her curiosity for scientific matters, she’d barely known a thing about him before she’d heard the news. After she had, she’d gone through the stages of shock, denial and fury, and through everything she could find on him on the net.
To her surprise, she found three parallels with him from the first thing she read. Like her, he was a doctor, and he’d been born to an Italian father and was an only child. But that was where their similarities ended.
He was an American now, naturalized three years ago, while she was an American through her mother. Both his parents were long dead, while her own mother had died only a year ago, and her father who had never existed in her life, had recently—and to her continuing surprise, very enthusiastically—reentered it.
Pulling her thoughts away from that development, she turned them to the man at hand.
Not much was known about Antonio Balducci’s early life. He was raised in Austria, his mother’s homeland, where he became fluent in six languages and where he lived until he graduated from medical school. It was only about eight years ago that information about him, staggering in quantity and quality, had started pouring in.
That was when he’d shot onto the world scene, an awe-inspiring figure whose success in every field he entered was phenomenal. Being a founding member of the global juggernaut Black Castle Enterprises was meticulously documented, as well as his founding of the conglomerate’s medical R & D business—the arm of his empire that had taken over her beloved lab.
Adding to his lure for the media was his effect on the females of the species. Women went nuts over him like they did over music and soccer legends like Presley and Beckham. If she’d thought his effect a media exaggeration, she was seeing empirical evidence of his irresistibility to women right before her eyes. And that was before he actually arrived.
But all that wasn’t what he was best known for. Most of his fame stemmed from being sought after by the world’s elite to perform or even consult on their rejuvenations. But his biggest achievement was being hailed as a trauma and reconstructive surgical god whose work bordered on magic.
She ground her teeth together. The only magic she thought Balducci practiced was the black kind. To her, he was the capricious force who was pulverizing everything she’d worked for, just because he could.
And the damned man dared be late for her destruction!
Suddenly conversation was cut off as if someone had hit Stop. She looked up and saw all eyes glued to the doorway behind her. That meant...
She swung around to catch the moment when the man who’d quashed her ambitions bulldozed into her territory. And it was her turn to feel she’d been caught in a stasis field.
As everything decelerated to a standstill, a mental protest went off inside her mind.
No one should be all that, and look like that, too. Is there no fairness in this world?
Gaping and unable to do anything about it, she stared at the figure in the doorway. In a slate-gray suit that molded to a body that belonged to a world-class athlete, not a surgeon and entrepreneur, Antonio Balducci dwarfed the room with his physical and personal presence.
While viewing his photos online, she’d dismissed the possibility that he looked that good in real life, believing he’d had his photos touched up or he’d achieved his perfection surgically.
But even across a packed room, she knew neither of that was true. If anything, the photos had downplayed his looks. And she could discern surgical interventions from a mile away and she had no doubt whatsoever that every one of Antonio Balducci’s jaw-dropping assets was authentic.
At forty, the man had skin that looked like an alloy of polished copper and bronze. The tensile medium was pulled tight over a masterpiece of bone structure. Her fingers itched to indulge in a much-neglected pastime and sketch its every detail: the leonine forehead, the patrician nose, the slashing cheekbones, the powerful jaw and cleft chin.
After transferring the framework of his unique face to paper, she’d linger over every hair framing his majestic head, the most robust mass of raven silk she’d ever seen. But among all those wonders, two things transfixed her. The wide, sculpted lips bowed in a mysterious quirk. And his eyes.
Apart from their amazing shape and startling blueness, it was what they conveyed that sent her heartbeat into disarray. Contrary to the opacity of his smile, his gaze radiated an amalgam of expressions. Amusement and austerity. Curiosity and superiority. Astuteness and calculation. And a dozen other things she couldn’t decide on.
Those were the eyes of a scientist. But equally they were the eyes of a conqueror.
Which probably summed him up just right.
As he walked into room, déjà vu struck her.
Among his photos, one in particular had arrested her. A rare shot of him and his partners in Black Castle Enterprises.
They’d been captured as they’d exited their opulent New York headquarters en masse. It was an unrehearsed shot that was far more hard-hitting than any posed shot could have been, and it had earned its photographer instant fame.
The photo had captured their essence in such starkness that when it was published, Black Castle stock prices spiked to unheard-of levels. The men looked like a pantheon of warrior gods who’d descended to earth in the guise of ultramodern businessmen. The array of sheer male power and beauty in that photo was breathtaking. It had clearly robbed the whole world of breath.