The Wicked Billionaire--A Billionaire SEAL Romance

by Jackie Ashenden

  He frowned at the screen. Annoyingly, Van had been inside that mansion already, distracting de Santis while Lucas grabbed Chloe, and he could probably give Lucas a few pointers on what to expect inside. That would mean contacting Van, though, and that’s exactly what he didn’t want to do.

  Bad enough the prick had crossed the line and kissed Chloe, but marrying her as well? Christ.

  You’re just pissed because you can’t have what he has yourself.

  Yes, he was. And maybe he needed to get a handle on that, because it wasn’t as if that shit was going to change anytime soon. The past was the past and nothing was going to change it.

  His mother had died a horrible death and he’d been the cause.

  It’s not like you deserve anything good anyway.

  “What are you doing?” A pair of slim arms wound around his neck, a soft mouth brushing against his ear.

  Grace had clearly woken up.

  He turned and grabbed her, pulling her onto his lap in an instinctive movement that should have worried him but didn’t. She sighed, settling back against his chest, her hair drifting over his shoulder and forearm, light and soft as thistledown.

  She squinted at the screen. “Are you doing SEALy things?”

  “Well, I am a SEAL. So, yes.”

  Her mouth curved. “Ah, so the rumors are true.”

  “What rumors?”

  “That you actually do have a sense of humor.”

  He leaned down and nipped her bottom lip, not wanting to let on how easily she could make him smile. It had only happened in the last couple of hours too. Christ. What was she going to do to him next? “Rude,” he murmured. “I may need to teach you some manners.”

  She went pink, amber eyes glowing. “I’m up for that. But first tell me whose place that is. You’re casing it, aren’t you?”

  He settled his arms around her. She was wearing one of his T-shirts, a dark blue one that came down to the tops of her thighs, the fabric also revealing the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra. He approved. Perhaps she wouldn’t be wearing underwear either, and if so, he approved of that as well.

  “That’s Cesare de Santis’s mansion. And what I’m doing is technically called reconnaissance.”

  “Oh, I love it when you get all military on me.” The soft teasing note in her voice made him want to slide his hands under the hem of that T-shirt, stroke her silky skin, tease her in return. “Can I ask why you’re doing some reconnaissance?”

  There wasn’t any reason not to tell her, and considering it was part of getting that asshole Oliveira off her back, then she should probably know.

  “I’m going to talk to him directly. See if I can get him to call those bastards off you himself.”

  Grace twisted in his arms, her eyes wide. “But what about the money they wanted? That guy you were talking to about needing two days to get the cash together?”

  “A distraction to give me some time to plan a little personal visit to de Santis.”

  “Oh, right.”A glint of worry flickered in her eyes. “What are you going to do?”

  He studied her face. “I’m not going to kill him, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”

  She let out a little breath. “Well, okay then. Can’t deny that did cross my mind.”

  “He’s a civilian.” Lucas brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. He didn’t blame her for thinking de Santis’s life was what he was after. Taking out the problem was what he did after all. “I don’t hurt civilians. Well, not very much anyway.”

  She gave a shaky laugh. “So what are you going do to?”

  “I’m going to have a discussion with him about pulling those arms dealers off your tail once and for all. It’s his problem. I’m going to make sure he deals with it.”

  “Oh, okay.” Her forehead creased. “I guess he’s not just going to agree to a meeting, is he?”

  “No, he won’t. I’m the son of his enemy and he’s already had issues with Van. I rescued Chloe from him and that’s not exactly going to endear me to him.”

  “So how are you going to get to talk to him then?” Then she blinked and looked back at the laptop screen. “Oh. You’re not even going to ask for a meeting, are you? You’re going to break in.”

  “Yes.”

  She turned back to him, and this time the glint of worry was even more pronounced. “That sounds dangerous.”

  He lifted a shoulder. “Not really. De Santis can’t do anything to me.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  Shit. She was worried for him.

  His heart twisted in a way it really shouldn’t and he couldn’t stop himself from lifting his hands and cupping her face between his palms. “It’s okay, Gracie. I know what I’m doing.”

  “But do you have any backup? Anyone else helping you if things go wrong?”

  “No. I prefer to handle this alone and I will. I can’t have anyone else getting involved and potentially screwing things up.”

  The worried crease between her brows didn’t shift. “Lucas, this isn’t a sniper mission. You don’t have to do this by yourself. What about your brothers? You should call them and let them know what you’re doing.”

  Sure, he could. But de Santis’s attention was already on Van, any move Van made to help would be observed, and Lucas’s plan was all about the element of surprise. He didn’t want to alert de Santis in case the asshole manipulated things to protect himself. And as for Wolf. Well … bull, meet china shop.

  Bending, Lucas brushed a kiss over her mouth. “I can handle it. I’ve done plenty of shit like this before and in worse situations.”

  Her throat moved as she swallowed. “Can’t … can’t we just, I don’t know, leave? Walk away? If we stay here long enough perhaps they’ll get sick of waiting and leave me alone?”

  Yet he could see that even she didn’t believe any of what she was saying. “We can’t,” he said softly, reminding her. “They’re not going to stop until they get that money. And I’m not going to give it to them. Which means we have to have some other way of getting them off your back and for good. De Santis is our only option.”

  Her hands rose, her fingers wrapping around his wrists and holding on as if she needed to touch him as badly as he needed to touch her. “Why would he do anything you said, though? He’s really going to say, ‘Sure, I’ll call those guys off immediately, Mr. Tate, sir’?”

  He couldn’t help smiling at her imitation of de Santis’s voice. “Keep painting, Gracie. I don’t think your acting skills are up for much.”

  Letting go of one wrist, she smacked him on the shoulder. “Yeah, and I wouldn’t give up sniping for stand-up anytime soon.” Her mouth became soft and suddenly achingly vulnerable. “Seriously, Lucas.”

  He relented, stroking her cheekbones gently with his thumbs, a soothing movement that had become instinctive to him over the past day with her. “I have evidence that links de Santis with Griffin’s arms dealing. All I need to do is inform the military top brass and de Santis can kiss good-bye to all the government contracts his company relies on.”

  “But is that enough to threaten him with?”

  “He doesn’t run the company these days, it’s true. But he built it with his own hands and he won’t want to see it lose some lucrative contracts. Plus I’m pretty sure he won’t like the idea of jail either.”

  “So, what? You’re going to threaten him with that if he doesn’t call off the people after me?”

  “Exactly. He created the fucking problem. He can clean it up.”

  Concern still flickered in her eyes. “I don’t like the idea of you confronting him alone.” She took a little breath. “He might try to hurt you.”

  Lucas felt his mouth curve in yet another smile. Jesus, what was this woman doing to him? “He can try.”

  She hit him again. “Arrogant son of a bitch. This isn’t a joke.”

  “I know.” He let his hands fall from her cheeks and slid his arms around her, gathering her warmth in close. “Those
rumors you heard about my sense of humor? They’re all lies. I don’t have one. Which means I never joke.”

  Grace sighed, melting against him. “You’re a stubborn bastard, Lucas Tate.”

  “Yes,” he agreed. And kissed her.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Grace paused outside the door to the gym Lucas disappeared into every morning. He was having another session with his punching bag from the sounds of his fists thumping heavily and repetitively into the canvas. Good. He’d be in there another hour or so at least.

  She continued on past the gym, going quickly down the stairs and into the kitchen. He wouldn’t hear her in here, would he? If he was punching and she was downstairs and in the kitchen, which was about as far away from the gym as she could get, then he couldn’t possibly.

  Then again, he was a SEAL. He might have super hearing or something.

  Going down into his shooting range might have been better, but she didn’t have the codes for the doors and hadn’t thought to ask for them. Surreptitiously grabbing Wolf’s number from his phone had been about the limits of her spy skills and she’d even felt guilty doing that.

  She just hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Lucas confronting de Santis by himself. It was stupid to worry about him, especially when he was probably right; de Santis wasn’t going to do anything to him. It wasn’t as if nobody would notice if one of the Tate brothers suddenly disappeared one day. Then again, de Santis was a powerful man. She didn’t know much about him, but he and his four sons had been standard gossip fodder for years. And apart from anything else, he’d been CEO of a major weapons design and manufacturing company; it wasn’t like he was going to be totally squeaky clean. If he wanted Lucas to disappear badly enough then he might have the resources to make it happen and make it look like he had nothing to do with it.

  The thought made her go cold with fear. She didn’t question the emotion, didn’t think too hard about the depth of it, because she was sure there were reasons for it that she didn’t want to go into just yet. But she couldn’t let it sit there either. She had to do something.

  No, she couldn’t be Lucas’s backup. One shooting lesson didn’t mean she had the skills to be able to cover him if he needed it. But she did know of a couple of people who did: his brothers.

  Since his older brother, Van, had clearly enough on his plate already, Grace had decided not to contact him. But Lucas’s younger brother, Wolf, might be able to help. So the night before, while Lucas had been showering, she’d quickly looked up Wolf’s contact details on his phone and written them down on a piece of paper.

  She pulled that paper out of her jeans pocket now, looking down at it as she quickly punched the number into the landline. It rang for a long while and she thought she might not get an answer until suddenly a deep, harsh, and very male voice said, “What?”

  Grace clutched on to the phone. “Is this Wolf Tate?”

  “Who the fuck is this?” If this was indeed Wolf Tate then he did not sound friendly.

  “I need to speak with him. It’s urgent.”

  “You’d better tell me how the fuck you got this number, honey.”

  She took a breath. “My name is Grace Riley. I’m a f-friend”—she stumbled over the word helplessly—“of Lucas’s.”

  There was a silence down the other end of the phone.

  “He’s protecting me,” Grace went on, because she had no other choice. “My husband did a stupid thing and some bad people are after me, and Lucas is helping, and … I’m afraid he’s going to get himself hurt. And I need to speak to Wolf, because I have to get some help—”

  “Okay.” The word was hard and rough as a stone. “You’re speaking to him. Now, tell me exactly what’s happening.”

  Grace sagged against the kitchen counter, a wave of relief going through her. “Oh, thank God. Okay, so here’s the situation.” She told him about Griffin and the arms dealers, about how Griffin had owed them money and now they wanted it back. About Cesare de Santis and about Lucas’s plan to confront the guy.

  Guilt twisted inside her as she did, because she knew Lucas was going to hate that she’d gone behind his back. But she also knew how determined he was when he’d decided on something, and she’d seen it over and over again in the course of the past week. If he wanted to do this alone he would, and nothing would stop him.

  Anyway, it wasn’t like she was going to the police or any other authorities and perhaps putting his plan at risk. She was only going to his brother. That was different, surely?

  “Fucking Lucas,” Wolf growled after Grace had finished explaining. “Thinks he can save the whole fucking world on his own.”

  Her heart missed a beat at that, because although Lucas had told her what it was about being a sniper he liked, he hadn’t spoken about what had made him join the military. He’d said that taking out targets was all about protecting his buddies, protecting civilians, and even though he was extremely cold and detached, every action he took was about protecting people.

  But … saving the world. Was that really what he was doing?

  Maybe it’s not the world he’s trying to save. Maybe all he’s trying to do is save his family.

  Her throat tightened painfully, because she could see it. He’d been badly traumatized by the truth his father had told him and the only way he’d been able to deal with it was to cut himself off from his emotions entirely. But that didn’t mean they’d ceased to exist. Underneath, the pain and the guilt especially were still raw. He would need to do something with that, since he wasn’t a man to sit idly by, so yeah, perhaps joining the Navy, fighting a war, was his way of making amends for what he’d done as a boy.

  “I don’t want him to do this by himself,” she said. “He needs some backup.” There was a double meaning to the words there that Wolf wouldn’t understand, but she did. Lucas didn’t have to deal with any of it by himself. Not while she was here.

  “Yeah, he does. Going up against de Santis without it is a dick move.…” Wolf paused. “I guess he doesn’t know you’re contacting me?”

  “No. I told him he needed to get some help, but he insisted he was fine without it.”

  “Christ, he’s a dick.” Wolf sounded less than thrilled. “Put him on the phone. I’d better speak to him.”

  “Um, he’s in the gym right now and—”

  “No, I’m not.”

  Grace’s head snapped up to find Lucas standing in the kitchen doorway, his perfect body gleaming with sweat, the cotton from his T-shirt sticking to his sculpted torso. The look in his silver-blue eyes was distinctly silver and definitely not happy. “Who the fuck are you talking to, Grace?”

  “Oh shit,” she murmured. “I’m busted.”

  Wolf, irritatingly, laughed. “Bummer. Tell him if he doesn’t want to speak to me I’ll call him every five minutes until he picks up his fucking phone.”

  She swallowed, then lifted her chin and met Lucas’s cold blue eyes. “I called Wolf. He wants a word.”

  Lucas didn’t move for a long moment, simply staring at her. Then he came toward her, grabbing the phone out of her hand. “I’ll call you back,” he said icily to his brother, then disconnected the call, his gaze never leaving hers. “I told you I was handling this. That I didn’t want anyone else involved.”

  “And I told you that I was worried about you,” she shot back, feeling guilty and then pissed that she was feeling guilty. “You don’t have to do this by yourself, Lucas.”

  “There’s a reason I don’t want my brothers involved,” he snapped. “Wolf especially is too much of a loose cannon and I can’t have him doing something stupid that will draw attention.”

  Her guilt coiled tighter and she felt like she’d done something stupid. Which only made her madder. “You need some backup with this and I can’t help you.”

  Lucas chucked the phone onto the kitchen counter. “You don’t need to help me.”

  “But I want to.” She took a couple of steps right up to him, putting her hands on the
damp cotton of his T-shirt, unable to resist the urge to touch him. “What if de Santis manages to make you disappear? What if he hurts you? What if something happens and I never see you again?” Her heart was pounding hard, fear wrapping itself around her, and she knew she was revealing way too much about her own feelings, both to him and to herself, but she couldn’t help it. “He’s dangerous, Lucas. And I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  The hard expression on Lucas’s features softened a little and he lifted his hands and put his palms over hers where they clutched at his chest. “I won’t get hurt.”

  But it wasn’t simply about him being hurt. “You can’t do this alone. You don’t have to. You don’t have to do any of this alone.”

  Perhaps he knew what she meant, because something shifted in his gaze, those dark shadows moving. “Grace—”

  “Please, Lucas. Maybe you don’t need backup. Maybe you’re just badass enough that you really can handle it all by yourself. But please, at least talk to Wolf. At least let him know what’s going on.” She could feel her eyes prickle with unexpected and stupid tears. “Please don’t let yourself get hurt because of me.”

  Lucas’s blond brows drew down, his laser-sharp gaze searching her face. His palms were warm over hers, his body blazing like a furnace beneath the fabric of his T-shirt. “Don’t care about me, Grace. You know that I’m not—”

  “Yeah, you told me,” she cut him off, her voice getting thick. He didn’t need to spell it out to her. She knew what this was between them. She knew what she’d gotten herself into. “I know you can only give me what we have now. But it’s too late. I care about you already.” She kept her gaze on his, staring straight into his eyes, letting him see the truth. “And you might be a deadly sniper with a frankly scary confirmed kill count, but you’re still just one man. Also, this isn’t your fight. This was a mistake Griffin made and I don’t want you to have to pay for it.”