The Billionaire’s Salvation
The Billionaire’s Obsession ~ Max
By J.S. Scott
Copyright© by J.S. Scott, 2013
All Rights Reserved
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher or author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. The story contained within is the work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual person’s living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-1-939962-34-8 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-939962-38-6 (Trade Paperback)
Edited by Faith Williams—The Atwater Group
Cover Design by Cali MacKay – Covers by Cali
This one is for all of my incredible friends who have supported my writing and who bring me so much joy every single day: Melissa, Clara, Judy, Chrissy and Rita. I’m grateful to have such strong, supportive and awesome women as friends. You girls rock!
-Jan
Prologue
February, 2011 Max Hamilton stood on the sandy stretch of beach at the back of his home, shivering as he stared blankly at the ocean, and scowling at the water crashing to the shore as though it were the enemy. The night was nearly pitch-black, but there was enough illumination from the moon and stars to see the churning ocean in front of him. In a very elemental way, it was his nemesis, the body of water that had taken Mia away from him. And at the moment, he resented every drop of water in the Atlantic Ocean. Somewhere, his wife was lifelessly floating in this body of water, buried in a watery grave, and he could feel her moving farther and farther away from him. It was as though she had torn his heart from his chest and carried it with her, and he was standing here helplessly, bleeding out from the gaping wound.
He put a hand to his chest and rubbed, but it didn’t stop the excruciating pain.
No…dammit. She can’t be gone. I thought I had plenty of time to figure out my irrational emotions. I thought I could work everything out of my system and love her the way she deserved to be loved. His legs weak, he dropped to the sand on his ass, the moisture sinking into the denim of his jeans, but he ignored it, his gaze fixated on the water. He was too numb to feel the external elements, too devastated to care, his whole being focused on Mia, as though he could bring her back by sheer force of will. He ignored not only the chill of the wind buffeting his body, which was clad only in a t-shirt and jeans, but the mosquitoes making a meal of his exposed flesh, and the excruciating sense of loss that was so painful he had to block it or go insane.
Every muscle in his body was tense, his fists clenched, his brain trying to keep his emotions in check. To mourn would mean that he was accepting the fact that Mia was gone forever, and he didn’t want to believe it. Screw it. He’d stay in denial. If he accepted that she had drowned off the shore of this very beach, he’d never live through the agony of it.
Max Hamilton didn’t cry. Never had. Even when his parents had been killed in a tragic accident, he’d buried the urge, knowing they’d be ashamed of him. No Hamilton wallowed in emotion or let it overrule logic and control. He knew his parents had loved him, but they had been born into wealth, and they’d always taught him how to behave with decorum and moderation. His mom and dad always said he was a perfect child, and they were proud of him. Having been adopted, Max had always wanted to stay perfect, and he’d tried, even after they’d died. The habit of trying to stay aloof and detached was something he associated with love and approval. Now, he wasn’t so sure, his gut telling him that Mia may have died never knowing exactly how he felt about her.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t feeling very level or solid at the moment, and his usual Hamilton demeanor was deserting him completely.
Mia had disappeared from this spot exactly one week ago—her bag, clothing, and phone left on this stretch of sand. She’d always loved to take a quick swim here, calling it her own little piece of paradise.
Closing his eyes, Max pictured her face, her mischievous expression and teasing smile. Christ, how he hated it when she went swimming alone, did things that he considered dangerous. He’d lectured her like a teacher might do with a student, but she’d always laughed at him, cajoling him out of his anger, telling him he was too serious and worried too much. Problem was, he never could stay angry with her. Damn woman had had him wrapped around her little finger almost from the moment they had met, and he had happily let her do it. He’d cautioned her when she’d done things that worried the shit out of him. And then, he’d let her go on her merry way, let her think he was only mildly concerned, when in reality, he was fucking terrified of losing her.
He was the serious one, the man who did everything cautiously and logically. And Mia…ah Mia: she made him happy, she made him laugh, she made him whole, and she made him want to lose control completely. But he never had. Not once. He’d managed to leash the bestial instincts she brought out in him. Just barely.
“It was our deal,” he whispered hoarsely, although the actual agreement had never been official or talked about. “I handled the serious stuff and you helped me lighten up.” She made him laugh when he got too stuffy, and he grounded her. Together, they were perfection. Or maybe Mia was perfection, and she just made him a happier man. It didn’t matter that he had to fight the urge to turn into a caveman and conquer her constantly, wanting to drag her back to his lair. But she had never known about that, the secret part of him that really wanted to be free.
Because I didn’t want to scare her away.
He laid back and covered his face with one arm, releasing a strangled, tortured groan. Emotions warred inside him, each fighting for dominance in a mind filled with chaotic thoughts: anger, despair, denial, and pain. Unfortunately, the agony filling his heart and soul were winning, held back somewhat by denial.
She’s not dead. She’s not dead. I needed more time.
Squeezing his eyes tightly shut to decrease the burning sensation beneath his eyelids from tears he refused to shed, he swallowed a sob that was rising in his chest. He and Mia were a pair, and he didn’t work without her. They’d been married for two years, clicking together like puzzle pieces that were only complete when they were interlinked, almost from the moment they’d met. He’d never believed in love at first sight or an instant connection…until he’d met his wife. They were complete opposites in so many ways, yet they belonged together. That feeling had been there for him from the very beginning of his relationship with his wife, but he’d stayed in denial, thinking that the way he’d felt about her would eventually subside to a manageable level.
It never did. And honestly, Max knew it never would have. He had just been too big of an idiot to admit it.
Sitting up, he wrapped his arms around his knees and rocked, fighting against every rational thought that entered his head about his wife’s disappearance. If he started thinking logically, he’d have to admit she was probably dead. Mia wouldn’t disappear and not contact him. She might be a little careless with her own safety at times, ditching his security whenever she could, but she was never thoughtless. There was no way she wouldn’t contact him unless she physically couldn’t.
“Where are you, Mia?” he whispered huskily, his voice desperate. “Don’t do this to me. Please. I need you.”
I should have told her I loved her more often, spent more time with her instead of jetting from place to place in search of world domination and trying to hide the primitive instincts she brought out in me. I shouldn’t have run away. She might have been able to deal with that part of me, just like she dealt with everything else. In reality, he hadn’t given her the chance. He’d never let himself completely open up to her, had never told her exactly how he felt. Now, when it was too late, he regretted it.
Rocking harder, he opened his eyes, and the tears finally flowed. He swiped an arm across his eyes, cursing angrily as he roughly removed the droplets from his ravaged face, but they kept returning, and that only pissed him off more.
Stumbling to his feet, he moved to the edge of the water and waded in, so damn tempted to lose himself in the ocean if it was the only way he and Mia could be together again.
She’s not dead. She’s missing. I’m not giving up on her!“Mia!” His hoarse shout was carried away across the water by the brutal wind, his body shivering as he called desperately, “Come back.”
No one answered, and he fell to his knees in the frigid water, letting it lap over his chest. His tears mingled with the water, and his hopelessness and anguish burst from his throat in a painful sob. And then another. And another.
The waves pushed his body toward the shore, and he let the momentum carry him. When he reached the sand, he crawled on his hands and knees for a short distance before collapsing on the beach.
Stop fucking crying. She’s not dead. She’s out there somewhere. You need to find her. Coughing hard, he tried to stem the harsh sounds erupting from his mouth, angry that he was already mourning a wife who hadn’t yet been proved dead. So what if the police and everyone else thought she was deceased? He wasn’t giving up. He’d never give up.
There was no activity on her bank accounts, no sign she was still alive. But he wasn’t going to stop until he found her. Barely sleeping since she had disappeared, he’d spent the last week tearing through Tampa looking for her, hiring private resources when the police were basically shaking their heads in resignation.
“I won’t give up on you, sweetheart. I promise,” he muttered, his lips gritty from the sand that was beginning to coat the inside of his mouth as he inhaled. “I’ll wait forever.”
His vision blurring, he stared determinedly at the crashing waves, exhaustion overwhelming him. He could see lights in the distance, boats passing through his line of vision in the dark night. Blinking, he tried to stay conscious, but blackness covered him and he succumbed to it, knowing he wasn’t leaving this beach tonight. Maybe he never would. Maybe he’d stay here until he died or Mia came back to him.
The wet, shivering, bedraggled figure lay unmoving until daylight, opening his eyes in the morning and hoping that everything that had happened in the last week had only been a dream.
It wasn’t…and when Max looked in the mirror the next day…he had to admit to himself that sometimes there were no second chances. Every so often, something or someone extraordinary came along in life and there was only a small window of opportunity to snatch it and make it your own. Unfortunately, he’d been a coward, afraid of change, and his “someone extraordinary” had been taken away before he could entirely claim her.
For the first time in his life, Maxwell Hamilton was left with regrets. And it was excruciatingly painful. Later, he might examine his life and figure out whether or not he really needed to be a robot that functioned with meticulous control and logic, doing only what was acceptable in his mind. But that would come later, after the pain subsided. Unfortunately, that day never came.
Chapter One
The Present“I don’t want a woman, Maddie. I’m already married.” Max fingered his platinum wedding band, a ring that had rarely left his finger since the day he’d gotten married, and would remain on the same damn finger even after he was dead. Technically, he
was still married. Mia’s body had never been recovered, nor had she been declared legally dead.
He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, savoring the smell of barbeque and the outdoors. They were having an “end of summer” picnic, a rare time when friends and family were able to get together in one of the local parks and act like kids again, and forget that they were a bunch of the wealthiest people in the world with more responsibility hanging over their head than the average person. Today, they could just be ordinary, and Max didn’t want to have this conversation with his newfound sister. He just wanted to savor the fact that he actually
had family, a sibling he had never known existed until earlier this year. Just for a few hours, he wanted to enjoy the company of the people he cared about and try not to think about the woman he’d lost. Finding Maddie had been a miracle, a gift that he didn’t want to squander.
Maddie chewed on her lower lip, looking at him with a concerned expression across a picnic table to which they had been banished by Maddie’s husband, Sam Hudson. Sam was barbequing and wanted his pregnant wife away from the fire. Max smiled, wondering how his friend and brother-in-law was going to survive this pregnancy with Maddie. She was only a few months along and Sam already treated her like she was as fragile as blown glass. He could only imagine how insanely protective Sam would become as her pregnancy progressed. It wouldn’t matter that Maddie was a physician and perfectly capable of knowing what she could and couldn’t handle; Sam would hover. Honestly, Max couldn’t blame him. He was feeling more than a little brotherly protectiveness himself. His sister was thirty-five, two years his senior, and she wanted this baby so desperately. He’d definitely breathe a sigh of relief when the baby was safely delivered. Any other result would break Maddie’s heart, and his sister had already had enough adversity to fight through in her life.
“I just want you to be happy,” she answered softly, tugging nervously on a strand of her curly red hair.
Oh hell, he hated that sad look on her face, but somehow he needed to make her understand that he wasn’t interested in a female companion. Sometimes there was no ecstatic happiness like she had with Sam. It definitely wasn’t in
his future. He’d had the love of his life…and had managed to fuck things up completely. His sister had been trying to hook him up with various women all summer, and it needed to stop. “I feel the same way about Mia as you feel about Sam. I loved her. I still do. Her death didn’t change that. There isn’t anyone else for me, Maddie. She was my one and only.” Max knew Maddie would understand. After all, she had waited over a decade for Sam. “I can’t be with anyone else. Not now. Not ever.”
“You feel that way now, Max, but someday—”
“I’ll feel exactly the same way next year, ten years from now, and every day after that.” He wasn’t going to bullshit her. Not anymore. In the past, he’d changed the subject every time she mentioned that maybe he should find some female company, but he wasn’t backing down. Maddie’s quest for his happiness was endearing, but misguided, and it only reminded him of what he’d lost. “If something happened to Sam, when would you be ready to be with someone else?”
Her face fell and Max felt like a complete asshole. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Maddie. He knew she meant well and wanted him to be as happy as she was now with Sam, but he couldn’t take it anymore and he desperately needed her to back off. He’d spent the last two and a half years trying to just stay sane, the pain in his chest never going away, trying to function every day and push through the agony of living without Mia. It was better not to think about romantic relationships at all. There was no happily ever after for him. There was only survival. And he was much better off working, exhausting himself into sleep, and being grateful for the family and friends he had. He didn’t want another woman. There was no substitute. He just wasn’t built that way. Apparently, he and his sister shared that same trait: fall in love once and it lasts forever.
“Never,” Maddie admitted sadly, her hazel eyes meeting his, finally comprehending what he was trying to convey. “I’d never be ready because Sam was the only man for me. I understand. And I’m sorry. I just feel so damn helpless. I want to help, but I don’t know what to do.”
Max got up and moved around the table, seating himself beside his pregnant sister and taking her gently into his arms. He closed his eyes, savoring the feminine embrace of his compassionate sibling as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and squeezed. His voice was husky as he told her quietly, “You already help me. Just by being my sister. I don’t need anything else.” He was lying, and he knew it. But what he needed wasn’t possible. Mia wasn’t coming back, and he needed to accept it. He just…never really had.
“Hey. You two better break it up before Sam comes over here and breaks both your arms and kicks your ass.” The casual, masculine voice sounded behind them; his brother-in-law, Kade, was moving toward them with Tucker, Max’s sad-looking hound dog—or rather, Mia’s dog. Tucker was a stray that Mia had adopted, and Max had never really figured out his actual breed. He looked like a pathetic cross between a bloodhound and basset hound, a canine that did very little except eat and give Max disapproving looks with eyes that peered through a wrinkled face. He wasn’t sure how Kade had even managed to get Tucker to move. The lazy, spoiled dog generally just gave anybody who wanted to go walking his doggie look of disdain and went back to sleep. The canine could be a pain in his ass, but Max had never been able to get rid of Tucker, no matter how many accusing looks the dog gave him, as if Max had been responsible for Mia going away. She had adored Tucker, and the ugly hound dog had been completely enamored of its mistress. Man and dog had called a truce for just that reason, had learned to tolerate each other. Max knew Tucker still pined for Mia, as if still waiting for her to come home. In that respect, man and hound were similarly pathetic. In some strange, screwed-up way, it made Max feel better knowing that there was another soul still mourning Mia’s loss, even if it was a sixty-five pound, incredibly ugly dog.
Kade limped toward them, Tucker lumbering behind him. The dog was panting, its pink tongue hanging from its mouth as it plopped at Max’s feet and gave him an irritated stare.
“It’s not my fault. You went with him,” Max answered Tucker’s silent castigation, glaring back at the hound. Like Tucker didn’t know Kade? His brother-in-law, Mia’s brother, pushed himself on his mangled leg as though he had something to prove. When he’d had the motorcycle accident that had ended his stellar professional football career, his doctors hadn’t even thought he’d keep his leg. But he did, and Kade was still in better physical shape than any man Max knew.
Max released Maddie, who smiled at Kade as he plopped his ass onto the bench beside her, leaving her sandwiched between them. “Did you two have a good romp?” she asked, reaching down to pet Max’s pathetic hound. Tucker was already snoring, but released a satisfied doggie whimper as Maddie stroked his head.
“Yeah. Tucker completely wiped me out and worked me out. The dog sets a brutal pace,” Kade answered facetiously and smiled at Maddie as she leaned up again, looking like he could hike at least another several miles without breaking a sweat. Max was positive that Tucker had waddled along at a snail’s pace, which had no doubt irritated the hell out of Kade.
God, he reminds me so much of Mia. Kade and Mia had the same deep blue eyes, blinding smile, and blond hair. At the moment, Kade’s hair was disheveled and longer than usual, touching the collar of his incredibly ugly, garish floral shirt. For some reason, Kade had always been a prime candidate for the
Worst-Dressed list. It certainly wasn’t because he had no money. His brother-in-law was beyond wealthy, his net worth probably greater than Max’s. He’d taken over the Harrison Corporation along with his twin brother, Travis, when their parents had passed away over four years ago, and he’d been a star quarterback for a Florida pro team for years before his accident, commanding a huge salary and lucrative endorsements. Max was willing to bet that even though the shirt looked like it needed to be tossed in the nearest trash can, it had a designer label. Honestly, Max was pretty certain that Kade dressed the way he did just to annoy his twin brother. Travis was completely anal and meticulous—traits that Max also had—which should have made him closer to Travis than Kade. But after losing Mia, Max and Kade had gotten closer, spent more time together. Kade had been willing to talk about Mia; Travis remained stoic and secluded.
“Well, it was very sweet of you to take Tucker for some exercise,” Maddie told Kade, leaning over to peck him on the cheek.
“Hey, knock that off. Sam puts up with Max getting a little affection, but if you aren’t related, you better keep your distance.” Simon Hudson, Sam’s younger brother, approached the table with his very pregnant wife, Kara, his voice holding a serious note of warning.
“We are related by marriage…sort of,” Kade replied, grinning as Simon helped Kara step over the bench on the opposite side of the table and sit. “She’s the sister of my brother-in-law. That should count.”
Simon was frowning, his concern for his ready-to-pop-any-moment pregnant wife evident by the stressed look on his face. Kara was glowing, her face rosy from her walk with her husband. Simon finally glared at Kade as he sat beside his wife and commented gruffly, “Doesn’t count. If you aren’t related by blood, forget it.”
Kara smacked her husband in the arm. “Kade’s like family. Leave him alone, caveman. We happen to like it that he treats Maddie and I like sisters. I’ve made Kade and Max my honorary brothers.”
Max barked out a laugh. “So can we come on over there and give you a brotherly little hug, Kara?” he asked, watching Simon carefully. Honestly, he really shouldn’t bait the poor guy. Simon was obsessively jealous and his wife was nine months pregnant, but Max just couldn’t help himself. Shooting Kade a conspiratorial glance, both men began to rise.
Simon growled—actually snarled—as Kade and Max stood.
Kara beamed, delighted, looking pleased with the idea of giving both men a brotherly hug.
“Come one step closer and you’ll both end up in the hospital,” Simon warned dangerously.
Max smiled, while Kade laughed uproariously. Yeah, it was definitely not nice to tease Sam and Simon about their women, but since neither Kade nor Max actually
had a woman, it was just so entertaining to watch Simon’s reaction. Both of them sat back down, knowing better than to push the jesting any further. Max had no doubt that Simon would make good on his promise.
“Just wait,” Simon warned. “Payback sucks.”
Max’s smile faded. While Kade had recently been dumped by his longtime girlfriend, his brother-in-law
would probably find a good woman someday and get paid back for teasing Simon. But Max knew
he never would. And he’d never treated Mia the same way Sam and Simon treated their wives. His parents had loved him, given him everything an adopted child could ever want, and in return, he’d always tried to make them proud by behaving with control. Not that he hadn’t wanted to go completely cave dweller on Mia at times—actually pretty much all the time—but he hadn’t allowed those emotions to claw to the surface. He’d ruthlessly crushed those feelings, burying them deep inside him, and he had loved Mia with the same tepid, felicitous affection his dad had shown his mom. But, Holy Christ, it hadn’t been easy. Max knew his possessive, animal instincts had been there with Mia, snarling to get out, but he’d always hid them, constantly struggling to keep them leashed. Now, he wished he would have set them loose and loved her wholeheartedly. He’d been afraid of scaring her off, freaking her out with his irrational behavior. But watching the other men with their women, he wasn’t entirely certain that she wouldn’t have wanted him that way. Kara and Maddie seemed happy, entirely certain that they were loved. Had Mia felt that way? Max wasn’t sure she had.
Sam brought over a huge platter of freshly cooked burgers and hotdogs. Picnic tables were hastily pushed together to seat everyone, the wood nearly groaning with the weight of all the people and enough food to feed a small army. Kade slid in next to him on his left, and Maddie slipped into the seat to his right.
Max’s eyes scanned the crowd sitting at the table and then around the perimeters of the park, wanting to laugh at the amount of undercover security that surrounded them. Already knowing Sam and Simon would have the park surrounded, he hadn’t bothered to include his small security team in this event. Now, he was really happy that he hadn’t. It would have definitely been overkill. The Hudson siblings practically had an entire SWAT team around the park to guard their wives. Not that Max really blamed them. Maybe if he had been firmer with Mia about her security, maybe if he hadn’t let her convince him that she didn’t need to be followed every minute of the day, maybe…
He was reaching for a hamburger bun when he saw
her, his hand stopping abruptly before it reached the platter, his entire body frozen in place as he met the stare of a woman about fifteen feet from him, her body still and half hidden by a palm tree. His heart surged and then plummeted to his feet as his eyes locked with hers, eyes so very much like Mia’s. He might have been able to blow off the fact that her eyes were the same azure blue as his deceased wife’s, but he couldn’t ignore the sense of recognition he felt and saw reflected back at him from her gaze.
Sweet Jesus. “Mia,” he whispered huskily, his hand lowering to the table as he openly gaped at her.
Hearing Max’s quiet declaration, Kade looked at Max, following the direction of his stare, looking at the woman for a moment and then back at Max. “Don’t do this to yourself, man. It isn’t her,” Kade told him harshly.
Yeah. Sure. For the first year after Mia’s disappearance, Max had seen her everywhere he went, in every crowd. But this wasn’t the same thing. “I feel her,” Max answered, his eyes never leaving the woman, his body tensing as he rose to his feet.
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