 by Mia Brody.jpg)
Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Brooke
The only good thing my cheating ex-boyfriend ever did for me was introduce me to his dad. Ryker Sullivan is a former Army Ranger turned scowling cowboy. He’s tough, unyielding, and so very hot.
When I run into trouble that only he can help me with, I decide to thank this grumpy cowboy…with my body. Seducing my ex-boyfriend’s dad feels like a foolproof plan until I realize I’m in love with him. Will Ryker finally claim me when this is all over or will I leave the ranch with a broken heart?
Ryker
I’ve never been able to say no to a woman in distress and Brooke is no exception. She’s a curvy, innocent little temptress that I long to corrupt. But that doesn’t make this dirty cowboy’s desires right.
The smart thing for me to do would be to get her out of trouble and send her away. Too bad I’ve never been much for doing the smart thing. Because once I finally claim this raven-haired beauty, she’ll learn the truth: this cowboy plays for keeps.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
BROOKE
I am the vault, the secret keeper. The one that knows all of my father’s dirty little dealings. For years, my knowledge has been the one thing that’s kept me alive.
After all, I was indispensable to my father the moment he realized I loved computers. He saw potential in me and carefully nurtured it. I was too young to realize he was preparing me to be the record keeper behind his criminal enterprise.
Now I know everything about his businesses—the legitimate ones and the not so legitimate ones. I know who owes him money, how much, and exactly what will happen to them if they don’t pay up.
“If the three of us are to live, you must run,” Bruce, my uncle who’s not really my uncle, interrupts my thoughts. He’s staring out the hospital window into the city lights below. It’s dusk, and Atlanta is just coming to life. My father owns this city. Hell, he owns almost all of Georgia at this point. Maybe not directly and not in the way most people think. But in every way that counts, he does.
All of the knowledge I have has protected me from my greedy stepbrothers who wanted to take over my father’s business. Oh, they’d never come out and challenge Lionel Lancaster directly.
But tonight, he’s lying in a hospital bed and unresponsive. He had a heart attack a few hours ago and was rushed into emergency surgery. Right now, Bruce and I are hiding him. The three of us—our lives are intertwined. If my father dies, so will I. So will Bruce.
There will be a power struggle now within our family. My brothers will with the support of my conniving stepmother attempt to take everything my father has built. The only stumbling block is me and the things I know. That’s why Bruce is telling me to run.
If my brothers get me to decrypt my father’s information, they’ll have the keys to the kingdom. After that, both my father, Bruce, and I will be of no use to them.
I’ve survived in my father’s world long enough to know what happens to people who are no longer of use. They end up in a barrel floating out to sea or in the swampy marshlands where the gators quickly hide any evidence. Neither end appeals to me.
“You’ll watch over him?” I ask quietly, staring at the ashen face of my father as he sleeps in the bed. It’s strange to see the mighty business mogul looking so frail in a white hospital gown. Part of me wants to lean over and shake his shoulder. I want to shout into his ear that he needs to wake up.
Medically induced coma means that won’t work. I think something went very wrong with the surgery, but the surgeon won’t talk to me. He only talked to Bruce. That’s why Bruce had him brought here after I found him this morning. My father was doubled over on the garage floor clutching at his chest. I knew better than to call my stepmother or anyone else who supposedly loves him. No one loves Lionel Lancaster. They just fear him. It’s a sad legacy and if my father has his way, it’ll become my legacy too.
“I’ll buy you as much time as I can,” Bruce says.
I’d ask who we can call in favors with, whose couch I can crash on for a few days. But we both know that’s a silly idea. In a moment like this—when so much is at stake—the families in Georgia will be shifting alliances. Knowing who to trust is tricky in a situation like this. Trusting the wrong family will get me killed.
“Should I go to—” I ask, thinking of an old family friend.
He turns from the window then, silencing me with an upheld hand. I know the rules better than anyone. Bruce should be told nothing. Nothing that they could squeeze out of him. Not that I think he would betray me. Bruce has been my father’s oldest friend. I can rely on him.
“Where is Cruella?” It’s what I call my stepmother, both for her love of expensive furs and her cruelty toward anyone that’s not my father or her sons.
He checks his watch. It’s Bruce’s job to know where every member of the family is at all times. My father might put on a good show of loving family man in front of the world. But we’re more like his pets. Pets he keeps on tight leashes. “She’ll be at the gala in an hour. If you go now, you’ll be able to slip inside.”
I cross the room and give Bruce a quick hug. He’s the closest thing to a friend I have and I’m not sure if we’ll ever see each other again. He presses a quick kiss to my head before murmuring, “Run far, Cookie.”