The Billionaire’s Breakup (Lucky River Billionaires #1)

Chapter 1

Theo

My grandmother sits on the leather sofa in my office with her back straight, her face a mask of decisiveness. Her body language states don’t try me. When she makes a decision, she gives no fucks whether anyone likes it.

I lean against my desk, the one passed down from generations of Montclairs. The one my father once ruled from until he was ousted by his own mother. The woman seated before me.

She arches one brow, her dark eyes never leaving mine as she sips black coffee from a dainty cup while she waits for me to respond to the demand she dropped on me seconds ago.

“Your concern for my single status is duly noted. But I must decline your offer of a blind date. I don’t have time to date at the moment.”

Calmly leaning forward, she sets the cup on the coffee table, then stands. “The blind date is merely a formality. She’s your future marriage partner.”

I don’t have to ask to know who she’s referring to. Poppy Perry. The daughter and only heiress to a company that would be mutually beneficial if old money weds old money.

No doubt she’d be the perfect wife. Dutiful missionary sex. Produce children to carry on the lineage. She’d never make waves. Wouldn’t say or do anything to embarrass the Montclairs or sully our reputation. She would bore the ever-loving fuck out of me.

“I can’t marry because I’m not over my ex.” I lie my ass off as I affect a man-in-the-aftermath-of-a-breakup expression. I lower my head and press my closed fist to my chest like my heart is physically aching.

“It’s too painful,” I add.

Grandmother studies me and if she takes a deep breath, she’ll surely smell the bullshit I’m peddling. “What’s her name?”

“I can’t even speak it.” I heave a sigh.

“You must have loved her deeply,” Grandmother says.

“Deeply,” I agree.

“Introduce her to the family.”

My head snaps up. Shit. “I don’t think that’s possible. I’ve tried everything to win her back, but it hasn’t worked. It’s my fault that we parted on bad terms. Who knows where she’s at now.” Another sigh for good measure.

“I’m sure you’re more than capable of having her located.” She picks up her purse.

“I can’t put myself out there with her only to be rejected again.”

Ignoring that, my grandmother says, “You will show up in Lucky River with her by the weekend as proof of your sad love story.”

“You’re doubting me?”

“Completely. You will produce this woman and introduce her to me. If you love her as you say, you will marry her. And if not…” Grandmother pauses to open the office door and look at me. Steely-eyed. The woman who built an empire. “I will replace you as CEO.”

She sweeps from the room.

Well, fuck. Didn’t see that ultimatum coming.

“Didn’t see what coming?” My brother Locke strides into my office, redoing his tie as he speaks. I don’t want to know why he looks disheveled.

“I spoke out loud?”

“You did and you’re wearing a granny-kicked-me-in-the-nads expression.”

He is correct. She knows how to hit where it hurts. Though I didn’t build this company, I’ve poured my heart and soul into it. The thought of losing it drives me fucking insane.

“You could have stepped in and helped deflect her attention.” I pick up the coffee I was mid-way through and take a sip. It’s cold and bitter.

“As soon as I saw Grandmother, I knew she was on a mission. So I did what any man would do.”

“Stayed in your office.”

“Guilty, but here I am, nads unscathed,” Locke says.

I sink into a chair across from the sofa. There’s no use returning to the project I was working on. I wouldn’t be able to concentrate. All my fucking hard work is circling the drain.

I’m busted and I know it. Where the hell am I going to find someone on such short notice? But what is my alternative? Get pushed out of the company? Fuck, no.

“I need a woman,” I announce.

“That’s my daily motto.”

I scoff. “Careful. Once Grandmother is done trying to arrange my life, she’ll move on to yours.”

Locke waves his hand like it’s no problem. “I know how to deal with her manipulations.”

“I thought I did, too. I thought if I came up with being heartbroken over an ex, she’d back off.”

My brother shakes his head and walks across the office to look out the windows. “Rookie move. I’ll bet she said she wants to meet this woman.”

I frown at his astuteness. “By the weekend. Or she’ll replace me as CEO.”

“Man, that’s a tough one.” Locke swings to face me, then looks around the room.

“Quit trying to decide where your shit will go. I’m not out yet.”

Locke runs his fingers along the front of my desk. “Your office is prime real estate.”

True. I have the biggest office with the best view overlooking a private park. The park has a golf course, infinity pools and a billionaire’s only club that focuses on maximizing pleasure for the rich. It’s where backroom deals are made and pussy is offered by bored, often married, rich women.

“If you need a woman, I would tell you to call one of your exes and ask, but they collectively hate your guts.”

“What they hate,” I correct, “is failing to leverage a fuck into opening my bank account.”

“Maybe one of them really loved you,” Locke says.

I know that’s not true, but my brother tries to find the good in every situation. He has the type of charming personality where he can be an asshole if necessary and people still want to be around him.

He has high society mothers hoping he’ll marry their daughters and fathers hoping he’ll become a son-in-law they can turn into a useful business connection.

Who the hell knows? It could happen. I could see my brother marrying. Locke doesn’t believe love is the worst word in the world. He doesn’t believe love is a fungus. Unlike me. He’s the hero. Unlike me. I’m the villain. The mistake who ruins everything or so my father screamed the last time we met.

“Want me to call one of my exes?”

“No.” I shoot him a look and get to my feet. “I can handle finding a woman.”

“Look, I know that what happened…” He takes a breath.

Don’t say it. Don’t say it. Don’t—

“But not every woman is like Eleanor.”

He said it. The name of the woman I once dated thinking it was solely to appease my grandmother at first. The one my father introduced me to oh so innocently. I never suspected a thing.

I became convinced Eleanor was the real deal and started to genuinely care for her.

But there’s too much Montclair money at stake not to have a contract whenever a relationship turns serious.

That was the beginning of our end. When she couldn’t get her hands on my money, she tried to ruin me. And I was blindsided by the dark, twisted truth.

My brothers helped fix the situation so that the ugliness never became public knowledge or reached my grandmother’s ears. I was afraid if it did, the scandal would give her a heart attack.

Love? Not for me. There’s not a fucking chance in hell I’ll ever be a fool again.

“I have a lunch reservation at The Royal Crown and Garden,” I say shaking off the past.

Locke links his arm with mine and bats his eyelashes. “I’ll be your date.”

He’s being deliberately silly. My younger brother can sense when the memories of those dark days try to drag me back into their grip.

“Let’s eat and then I’ll help you find a woman to—” He stops in the doorway as his new secretary passes by.

“Down, boy.” I push his shoulder to steer him in the opposite direction from the voluptuous woman. “She’s the fifth secretary you’ve had to replace in the last two months.”

“I didn’t replace any of them. Granny did after she found out I fucked them.”

“She’ll replace you if she hears you call her granny.”

Locke grins as we step into the elevator to head down to the lobby. “You haven’t lived until you’re on a video call closing a deal while a beautiful woman kneels under your desk and sucks you off. Not because you initiated, but because she did.”

I grunt, used to him talking about his escapades and hearing rumors about them. I’m not sure which ones are true and which ones are those he wished were true.

Outside the building, my personal driver spots us and opens the rear door of the company car, but I wave him off. The restaurant isn’t far and I feel like walking. Maybe it’ll help me formulate a plan.

“Walking? Like commoners? What if I’m mobbed by a group of women who want this body?” Locke jokes, clutching his jacket closer.

“If that happens, then you’ll tell me to continue on to lunch and you’ll catch up if you survive the orgy.”

“True, but what a way to go.”

“You do more fucking at the company than anything else. I’m surprised you manage to get any work done at all.”

“That’s why you’re the CEO and I’m not. Heavy is the crown.” He claps a hand on my shoulder.

A middle-aged man in an off-the-rack suit tips his head slightly as we reach the restaurant, but his mouth is unsmiling and his gaze venomous as he glares at Locke.

“What’s with that look?” Locke stops. “Did I fuck your daughter or something?”

The man’s hands ball into fists.

“Oh, shit. No.” Lockes brows raise. “Your wife?”

I know my brother isn’t serious. He does draw the line somewhere. He would never touch a married woman.

“I busted my ass to get hired by your company, trying to turn my fucking life around and this is the thanks I get?” The man takes a step forward, his eyes narrowing.

“What are you talking about?” I ask. Something about him feels off.

Locke snaps his fingers. “Bob Atterton Jackson, right?”

The man nods.

I’m not surprised my brother knows who the man is. He knows most of the employees by name.

Locke’s genial expression suddenly darkens as he takes a step forward. “You got fired for stealing from the company.”

Bob’s face pales.

“Maybe you thought we wouldn’t miss it. What’s a few thousand dollars from a company that’s worth billions, right?” Locke takes a second until he’s almost nose to nose with the man. “Your health battle is the only reason I showed you any mercy. Get the fuck out of here.”

“He was embezzling?” I turn to watch the man hurry off.

“No, it was fraud. He said he didn’t have a bank account and asked to be paid by check rather than direct deposit. When he got the check, he changed the amount. I don’t know how he did it, but it was good enough to fool the bank.”

“Why didn’t I know?” I’m careful to watch every damn dime that flows into and out of the company. If there’s a discrepancy, I’m the first to catch it. And I don’t show mercy. Mercy is something heroes offer.

“I put the money back, so it never showed as missing.”

“Why the hell would you do that?” We step into the restaurant and are immediately surrounded by opulence and the perfect room temperature. A trio of tuxedo wearing violinists play softly from an elevated platform in the center of the room.

“He’s had some health problems and needed the money to pay for care.”

Or he’s lying his ass off peddling a sob story. “Hell, Locke. Next, you’ll be giving him tissues and a hug. Lots of people go through hard times and don’t steal shit that’s not theirs.”

Locke shrugs like it’s a done deal, but I make a mental note to look further into Bob.

The restaurant owner hurries over and bows slightly. “Mr. Montclair. Allow me to show you to your usual spot.”

We walk close to a table where two women are seated and one of them catches my eye. Her ruby red hair is thick and curvy spilling over her shoulders to fall mid-chest.

She’s barely wearing any makeup. She has a girl-next-door beauty that’s natural and appealing but that’s not what makes me pause.

She’s wearing a dress from the company’s new fashion line. The one that hasn’t been released yet. Which means like good old Bob, she took something from the company.

I’m surprised by the theft but more surprised by the wave of lust washing over me as she lifts a wine glass to her lips. Those soft, pink lips press against the glass, and I think about them opening then pressing down over the head of my cock as she takes me into her mouth.

The woman she’s dining with says something and Thief gets up to hug her. The stolen dress is snug as it moves with her body, showcasing her shapely ass and lush tits. She’s got legs for miles. I think about being between them and nearly groan out loud.

“I’ve thought of dozens of ways, but nothing has worked out. I’m so desperate now I’d be willing to do something crazy,” Thief says.

“Like what?” the other woman asks as Thief returns to her chair.

“You know those guys who always have a story about a psycho ex-girlfriend? I’d even be willing to provide that service. If the money is good.”

They both laugh and as I pass the women, Thief looks up. Our eyes meet.

She’s the one. The woman I’m going to use to deal with my grandmother and keep my position as CEO. Prepare yourself, little thief. I’m coming for you.