Billionaire to One (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Kris Royce

  Tegan was trembling still as they walked into Tina’s apartment. Only then did Tegan tell her about Ash being angry about her going with Samuel on the motorcycle and warning her about Marsh’s men. Then she told her about the naked woman who was in the apartment and the two men following her.

  Now, Tina was pissed at Ash and turned off her phone and Tegan’s, too.

  “Damn, Teg,” Tina told her as she got up and poured her a drink.

  Tegan drank it down, and Tina poured her another one, which she drank.

  Tina turned and locked the door. Tegan said nothing and went to her old room. She dug out some clean clothes and went to take a shower. She was shaken to her core and tired. Her eyes burned from crying. She stood under the hot water and cried some more.

  Tina stood outside her door and could hear her. She waited until Tegan came out. Then she helped her to the bed and covered her up. She had warned Ash not to break Tegan’s heart, and from the looks of things he had done just that.

  She was tempted to call him and give him a piece of her mind. A pounding on the door pulled her from her thoughts. Tina looked through the peephole and could see a very aggravated Ash.

  “Go away, Ash.”

  “Tina, open this fucking door.”

  “Tegan is hurt, and she is scared. There were two men following her when she left your place.”

  “Open the damned door.”

  “No. You need to leave. She is safe here. Just give her some time, Ash.”

  “Damn it, Tina. You can’t keep her from me. The men following her were mine. They were there for her protection. They would not have hurt her. Open the fucking door, or I will kick it in.”

  “Fine,” Tina said knowing he would.

  He pushed past her. A muscle ticking in his jaw as his gaze raked over her and he slammed the door.

  Tina glared back at him with her arms crossed. She was not scared of Ash Stone.

  “Who was the fucking woman, Ash? How did she get in your apartment? You assured me you would not hurt Tegan and look what you have done. You have broken her heart.”

  “The woman was Tiffany Barnes, and she stole a key card from the front desk to get in my room. Fuck, I haven’t even touched that bitch in over a year. I know what it looked like, but there was nothing I could do, and before I could explain Tegan took off. She scared the shit out of me when my men lost her on the street. They rounded the corner just as she was getting in the taxi with you. I have to talk to her, Tina.”

  “God, this is such a cluster. Yeah, you need to talk to her. Jesus, Ash. Can you imagine what it was like seeing all that shit from her eyes? I mean she returns with Samuel and you go off on her when she did nothing wrong, and then the two of you walk in on Tiffany fawning all over you butt naked. Then she kissed you.

  “Can you imagine how hurt she was seeing that? Then she runs because that is what Tegan does when she is hurt by the man she loves—she runs, Ash. Not ten minutes before you tell her you are worried because Marsh may still have people searching for her. Then she runs into your security guys, who are chasing her. What the hell else was she supposed to think? Did you bother to tell her that you were having her watched? She went through all that after all the other shit she went through, and you are the one pissed?

  “Then there is the fact you haven’t told her all the truth yet and made me and Marc swear not to. If I allow you to talk to her that is something you will come clean on. She has a right to know, and if you don’t tell her I will. You are lucky I am not a violent person because right now I want nothing more than to kick your ass, Ash Stone.”

  Yeah, Tina was pissed. She had used his whole name. The way she had explained it showed him how it appeared from Tegan’s point of view. He knew her self-esteem was shot all to hell thanks to her shit family. Could he have been more of an ass? Nope, not even if he had tried.

  “God, Tina. Listen. For what it’s worth I apologize to you for all this, and I will admit this one time anyway that you are right. Now where is she?”

  “Stay right here, Ash, and let me go ask her if she wants to talk to you. If she doesn’t you have to promise to give her some time to calm down.”

  Tina glared at him for a second, and then she went down the hall and into Tegan’s room. Seconds later she came back alone. What the fuck?

  Tina knew she shouldn’t let Ash go in there with Tegan after everything that has happened, but once Tegan learned the truth, she would forgive her.

  “She’s asleep. Go on in. She needs you, but let her rest for a little while.”

  Ash ran a hand through his hair and pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Max as he walked to Tegan’s room.

  He locked the door, stripped to his underwear, crawled into bed, and gathered Tegan into his arms. In her sleep she curled around him. He was content just to hold her for now. An hour later he was still awake when she suddenly stiffened in his arms.

  He let her move away and watched her go to the bathroom. She surprised him when she came back and crawled back in bed with him. Neither of them said anything. They just held on to one another. They fell back asleep like that.

  Ash woke up at five in the morning with Tegan still asleep in his arms. He decided to let her spend the day with Tina because he had some things to do. He carefully got up and dressed. He gave her a kiss before he left to go to his apartment to shower and change. He was getting dressed when he realized he had forgotten all about Tegan’s mother. He needed to talk to Tegan about that, among other things, but he would wait until later.

  Chapter 21

  Tegan was disappointed that Ash was gone when she woke. She still kind of numb inside after everything that had happened yesterday. She really did not want to think about it just yet, so she forced herself to get up and get in the shower. She took her time washing and tried not to think of Ash, but it was impossible.

  She looked down at the ring on her finger, and a dozen emotions swamped her at the same time. She wanted to marry Ash more than anything. She loved him so much that it hurt, but could she stand all of those other women in his life? She wasn’t sure if she could. She knew Thomas had cheated on her mother over the years, and she didn’t not want a marriage like that. Maybe she and Ash needed to spend some time apart for a little while so she could sort this all out in her mind.

  The thought of not being with Ash hurt but after yesterday being with him seemed to hurt just as damned bad. He had saved face a little by showing up here and holding her all night. That made her feel better. The shower made her feel a little better, too, but she was still thinking of Ash as she got out and dried off.

  She was grateful she still had clothes here and quickly dressed in her favorite old, faded jeans and a T-shirt. She remembered her phone and pulled it out of her coat pocket. She took it with her when she went to the kitchen and put on the coffee. Tina’s door was open when she walked out, and the bed was empty. She found a note from Tina on the table telling her to call if she needed her. So she was all alone for the day it seemed.

  Tegan spotted the bagels, and tears came to her eyes as she remembered Ash fixing her breakfast. Oh God, what was wrong with her? She couldn’t seem to stop crying. Maybe she was close to her period? Yeah, that had to be it. She always got a little emotional before her period.

  She heated up a bagel and put cream cheese on it. Then she grabbed a cup of coffee and took it to the bar. She was almost done eating when she grabbed her phone. She thought about calling Ash but changed her mind. Maybe she should call her mother. She turned the phone on and dialed her number.

  Damn, she thought when it was Thomas who answered. She almost didn’t say anything but she did.

  “Hi, this is Tegan. Can I speak to my mother?”

  “About damn time you called. Your mother is on her deathbed, and you are taking a damned vacation. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, girl. Here she is, needing her daughter to help take care of her, and you don’t even bother to call until now,” he told her.

  “
What? What’s wrong with her?”

  “Well now, I see that son of a bitch Stone didn’t tell you, did he? Figures.”

  “What are you talking about? What is wrong with my mother?” she said, getting upset.

  “I had to take her to the hospital. She fell down the stairs. She is in really bad shape. She has been asking for you. I told Stone to tell you how bad she was and your uppity cousin, too. I…I don’t know if she is gonna make it. You really need to come home. I just hope you get here in time,” he said in a low voice like he was all broken up.

  “Oh God. You told Ash this?”

  “Yeah, I told him, and he told me he wasn’t going to tell you,” Thomas said, raising his voice again.

  “Tina knew also?” Tegan asked, not wanting to believe it.

  “Oh yeah, I called her first. She knew all about it, but the little bitch just didn’t care.”

  Tegan was stunned, first, that her mother was dying and, then, that Ash—and Tina, too—had known how bad she was and keeping it from her. The cutting knife of betrayal sliced through her again.

  “Tell Mom I’m coming. I will get the next flight out. I will need a ride once I get there. No, never mind. I will just rent a car,” she told him.

  “You better hurry, girl. Your mother needs you,” he told her and hung up.

  Tegan wasted no time in running to her room and finding her bags. The only one that wasn’t there was her carry-on, which was at Ash’s. She called the airport and a cab. Then she called Tina, but it went to voice mail. Tegan was in a hurry, so she decided to call her later. She decided to leave her a note instead, telling her where she was going and why.

  Once she reached the airport she was lucky to get a flight out straight to Dallas that was leaving in the next thirty minutes. As soon as she sat down on the plane she turned off her phone. She made a mental note to call Samuel once she landed.

  Tegan was so hurt and confused by Ash’s and Tina’s betrayal. She didn’t understand why they would keep information about her mother from her. Her heart ached at the thought of losing her mother. She couldn’t stop the tears not matter how hard she tried.

  Less than thirty minutes later, Tina walked through the door to an empty apartment. She called out to Tegan, but she didn’t answer. Ash had been blowing up her phone. She told him that she was sure Tegan was fine, that she had turned off her phone yesterday, and that she was sure Tegan just hadn’t turned it back on yet.

  Tina spotted the note Tegan had left her and about had a heart attack. Her fingers shook as she dialed. Marc came through the door as she was telling Ash that Tegan had gone home to take care of her very ill mother that no one bothered to tell her about.

  Ash hung up on her to call Max, but his phone rang, and it was Max calling him.

  “Boss, we just followed your girl to the airport. They, of course, wouldn’t let us through security, but I just wanted you to know she just boarded the plane. She is taking a flight to Dallas it appears.”

  “Fuck,” Ash yelled.

  Tina’s words came back to haunt him. “Tegan runs, that’s what she does when the man she loves hurts her—she runs.” She had called home and Thomas had spoken to her. He had made it sound like Anne was on her deathbed, which was a fucking lie. The sorry bastard had told her he had talked to Ash, and now he looked like the bad guy by keeping shit from her.

  Less than an hour later he, Samuel, Tina, and Marc along with six of Ash’s security guys boarded his plane for Dallas.

  Chapter 22

  Hours later, Tegan pulled up to her childhood home physically and emotionally exhausted. Now she had to face Thomas and his shit, but she was determined to see her mother.

  She frowned at the brand-new king-cab four-wheel-drive pickup she had parked next to as she got out of the rental car and wondered when Thomas had bought a new truck.

  She left everything in the car and got out. She was thinking of only her mother when she walked in the house but came to an abrupt stop just inside the door.

  Tegan was shocked to see that her mother was bruised a little but otherwise fine. Anne Ryann was still a beautiful woman, but she appeared tired. She sure as hell wasn’t at death’s door. She was sitting on the love seat next to Pastor Larkin. Her mother seemed just as shocked to see her.

  Thomas was there, and so was Roland Carson. Thomas stood with a smirk. Tegan knew then and there why Thomas had lied to get her to come home, and there was no way in hell she was going to let him get away with that.

  “’Bout damned time you brought your fat ass home, girl.” Thomas snarled.

  Tegan ignored him as she walked farther into the room. “Momma, are you all right?” Tegan asked as she moved to her side and farther away from Thomas and Roland.

  Anne looked scared to death, and it made Tegan wonder if her fall down the stairs was an accident or if Thomas was to blame. She wouldn’t put it past the bastard.

  Anne avoided eye contact with her and nodded as she bit her lip and worried the napkin in her hands.

  Tegan nodded, and then she glanced over at Pastor Larkin and nodded to him, too, only to have him look away before turning to face the two men she hated most in the world.

  “Where’s your manners, girl? Ain’t you gonna say hi to your father,” Thomas sneered at her.

  Before she could speak, Roland asked how she doing.

  “I am fine. Thank you,” she said much more polite that she wanted to before she turned back to her mother.

  “Momma, why don’t you let me take you upstairs to your room so you can rest?”

  “Your momma is just fine where she’s at. You need to sit down so we can have a little chat,” Thomas told her.

  She could no longer contain the rage that had been building inside her. Tegan whirled around to face Thomas.

  He was taken back by her anger because he had never seen it firsthand before.

  “I have nothing to say to you. I am going to take my mother upstairs and take care of her. That is why you told me you wanted me to come home, isn’t it? Because she was on her deathbed and you didn’t know if she was going to make it? Now get out of my way.”

  Anne jumped up and was trying to pull Tegan away. Roland grabbed Thomas’s arm to keep him from going after Tegan and her mother, but it didn’t stop his mouth. The pastor said nothing as Thomas yelled that she was an ungrateful little bitch who had no respect for her elders and that she needed to be taught a lesson.

  Tegan was shaking as she helped her mother up the stairs. No sooner than they entered her mother’s bedroom that Thomas appeared. He laughed at her as he grabbed the door and pulled it shut. Then she heard the lock. That son of a bitch had locked them in. What the hell was he up to?

  “Momma, you need to tell me the truth. Did Thomas push you down the stairs?”

  Anna sat on the bed and wouldn’t look at her. Tegan had never seen her mother so thin and frail before. She sat down beside her and took her hand.

  “Momma, I met Samuel. I know the truth. Why didn’t you ever tell me about him?”

  Anna looked shocked for a second before she hugged her. She pulled away nodding her head with a sad smile. She took Tegan’s hand and squeezed it tight.

  “I wanted to, but Thomas wouldn’t let me. He didn’t want anyone to know that you were not his. You must never tell Thomas you know. You should not have come back, Tegan. I was hoping you would never come back here.”

  Her words hurt Tegan until Anne explained.

  “You did what I could not do. You escaped this hellhole. You are stronger than I was. For me there was no escape. I tried. I tried to escape him. Truly I did. I took you and I ran, but he found us and brought us back. Thomas threatened to hurt you if I even thought about leaving him again. That was when he beat you in front of me the first time.

  “I am so sorry, Tegan, because, you see, every time he hit you it was to punish me. I stayed because he threatened to take you away. He said he would lock you up somewhere. Then when you left to go to New York he had noth
ing to hold over my head, nothing to use against me. He knew I would leave him now that you were safe. I waited until he left and grabbed my bags, but he was waiting downstairs. He was so angry with me. I ran back up, but he caught me, and he pushed me down the stairs,” Anne told her with tears streaming down her face.

  Then Anne looked at Tegan and grabbed her hand in a tight grip.

  “We have to get you out of here, Tegan. All Thomas cares about is the money. That’s why he wanted you to come home. Jesus, he will kill me if he finds out I told you.”

  “Momma. What money? What are you talking about?” Tegan asked her with a frown.

  “My daddy left you everything. He was mad at me for defying him by dating Samuel. He never forgave me for doing that. He didn’t trust Thomas, but you were his only grandchild, so everything is yours. Thomas has been allowed to get a healthy monthly income from a trust in your name only because he was named your guardian over your estate when Daddy died.”

  “What? No, Momma, you must be mistaken.”

  “No, Tegan. You must listen to me. My daddy left everything to you, and I am talking everything. Thomas was named your guardian, but he can’t touch the mother lode that is waiting for you when you turn twenty-two. When you turn twenty-two, all that money, land, and assets will be yours and yours alone. If anything happens to you all of it goes to charity. Thomas knows this. He wants that money, and he will do anything to get it. He has made some deal with Roland about you. If you marry before your birthday your husband takes control of the inheritance. Thomas wants to marry you off to Roland. Then Roland will take you and your money. He made a deal to give Thomas half. That is why we have got to get you out of here. You need to stay away and hidden until you turn twenty-two at least. Then you go see Sawyer and Watts law firm in Dallas. They are the lawyers over your inheritance.”

  “Oh God,” Tegan said as she sat there in complete shock.

  That was why Thomas had tried to get her to marry Roland when she was in the hospital. It was too much for her. Tegan’s stomach churned, and she felt lightheaded. She stood, ran to the bathroom, and threw up. How could she have doubted Tina? How could she have ever doubted Ash? She knew now that it was too late, that he had just been protecting her by not telling her about her mother. She had no doubt that Ash knew her mother was all right.