The Billionaire Deal (The Sutton Billionaires Book 1) Read online

  The Billionaire Deal

  The Sutton Billionaires Series, Book 1

  Lori Ryan

  Contents

  Other Books by Lori Ryan

  Acknowledgments

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Epilogue

  Stalker Notes (otherwise known as author notes)

  About the Author

  Other Books by Lori Ryan

  The Sutton Billionaires Series:

  The Billionaire Deal

  Reuniting with the Billionaire (Feb 2020)

  The Billionaire Op (March 2020)

  The Billionaire Rocks (March 2020)

  The Billionaire and the Navy SEAL (April 2020)

  The Billionaire’s Daughter (May 2020)

  The Sutton Intrigue Series:

  Cutthroat

  Cut and Run

  Cut to the Chase

  The Sutton Capital On the Line Series:

  Pure Vengeance

  Latent Danger

  The Triple Play Curse Novellas:

  Game Changer

  Game Maker

  Game Clincher

  The Heroes of Evers, TX Series:

  Love and Protect

  Promise and Protect

  Honor and Protect (An Evers, TX Novella)

  Serve and Protect

  Desire and Protect

  Cherish and Protect

  Treasure and Protect

  The Dark Falls, CO Series:

  Dark Falls

  Dark Burning

  Dark Prison

  Copyright 2020, Lori Ryan.

  All rights reserved.

  This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author/publisher.

  ISBN: 978-1-941149-96-6

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to my wonderful husband for his patience and support. Thank you to Susan Smith for her endless brainstorming and reading, and to Cathy Cobb, Amy Glasgow, and Liz Burton for reading early drafts. Thank you to Patricia Thomas whose editing proved invaluable, and to Bev Harrison who helped me release an updated version of this book in 2013. Thank you to Patricia Parent, my final set of eyes, for cleaning up after me. Thank you to all of the friends and friends-of-friends who read the pre-release version for me. I owe you all so much.

  Thank you to all of my amazing Lori’s Lilacs who proofread this new version for me! Your support humbles me.

  Author’s Note

  If you love The Billionaire Deal and want to read more about the lives of the people at Sutton Capital, send me your email and I’ll send you Reuniting with the Billionaire, book two in the Sutton Billionaires Series Free! Click here!

  Chapter 1

  Whish, swoosh, whish, swoosh, whish, swoosh.

  Jack Sutton lost himself in the rhythmic sound of the churning wheels of his bike as he rounded the final bend of an eight-mile morning ride.

  He was flanked by his cousin, Chad, who was more like a brother to him than a cousin, and their best friend, Andrew. The three met once or twice a month to ride next to the Long Island Sound where Jack’s home was located.

  Jack saw Chad soar past him out of the corner of his eye as he raced the last few yards ahead of him and Andrew, cutting into Jack’s driveway to easily take the lead. It never ceased to amaze Jack.

  Chad had a good three inches over Jack’s tall frame, and he was built like a military tank. The man shouldn’t be able to move the way he did, but he was still somehow faster and more agile than both Andrew and Jack.

  Jack and Andrew exchanged a look, grinning at Chad’s need to beat them every time they rode. Most days, Andrew and Jack would at least give Chad a fight over the winning slot, but beating Chad wasn’t on Jack’s mind today, and he had a feeling it wasn’t on Andrew’s either.

  The showdown he would have with Chad’s mother—Jack’s Aunt Mabry—later today was what had him tense and uneasy. He had hoped the morning ride would take the edge off, but it hadn’t helped.

  He shoved aside his mood long enough to put on a show for Chad while the three men rode slow laps through the circular drive to cool down, each one sipping water and talking trash as they rode. He’d be damned if he’d let Chad see anything was wrong. He wouldn’t make his cousin choose a side no matter what Mabry threw at him.

  It wasn’t until after Chad loaded up his bike and pulled out of the driveway that Jack raised the subject they’d been avoiding for the last couple of hours.

  “Spill it,” Jack said. Andrew had been grinding his jaw the whole ride, so he knew whatever he’d been avoiding saying in front of Chad wasn’t good.

  Andrew was one of a handful of people who knew Chad’s mother was finally making good on her threat to try to take over the company Jack’s father had built. The terms of Jack’s mother’s will were going to let her take control of a large portion of the shares of Sutton Capital, and vote Jack out of his position as Chief Executive Officer.

  She wanted Chad to take Jack’s place at the head of the board table and she was willing to do whatever it took to see that happen.

  Jack and Andrew had been quietly approaching the shareholders in the privately-owned company to be sure Jack had their support if Mabry got her hands on the stock his mother had once controlled.

  Andrew didn’t blink when he looked at Jack and broke the news. “John Barton died of a heart attack last night.”

  Jack swallowed a curse and swiped his face with his hand. “He wasn’t very old at all. When did it happen?” he asked, shock hitting him like a sledge hammer.

  “Sixty-seven and supposed to be retired, but he didn’t know the definition of the word. I don’t think the man has taken a vacation in twenty years, but Anne finally talked him into going to Italy. They were supposed to leave in three days
for a two-week vacation and then this happens.”

  The two men were silent for a few minutes before Jack realized what this meant for his battle with Mabry.

  Oh hell. He scrubbed a hand down his face. This could not be happening. “I know this isn’t a great time to bring this up, but— ” Jack began before Andrew cut in.

  “But nothing. You have to think about the rest of the shareholders, the company, its employees—there’s a lot at stake for a lot of people here, Jack. We need to figure out who will have control of Barton’s shares, and find out what that does to our chances against your Aunt Mabry.”

  This time Jack didn’t bother to swallow his curse. He let fly with a few words his mother would have been pissed to hear coming from his mouth.

  “Grab a shower and meet me at the office,” he said. “We’ll deal with this there.” He didn’t wait for an answer. He turned and took the front steps two at a time, hustling to get showered and dressed to deal with the latest catastrophe in his ongoing battle with his aunt.

  Chapter 2

  Kelly Bradley pulled into the parking lot of her condo complex and shut off her car. Grabbing three bags of groceries from the trunk, she headed for the stairs but went right at the top instead of toward her own condo on the left. She raised her fist and pounded. Hard.

  “Mr. Anders! Mr. Anders!” she called loudly through the door. “It’s Kelly. From next door.”

  Kelly stopped and waited. And waited. She knew it would take Mr. Anders a little while to work his way to the door. His car was in the parking lot and he wasn’t much of a walker, so chances were he was home.

  While she waited, Kelly propped her grocery bags against the wall next to her doorway and pulled out the cookies she’d bought for her neighbor. The door behind her opened. She turned to find the slender white-haired man smiling at her with a mouth that was now fairly devoid of teeth.

  “Hello, dear!” the old man bellowed, but it came out more like “hewwo deah” due to the lack of teeth.

  His hearing had gone long before his teeth had. They compensated by hollering at one another most of the time.

  Whenever it snowed, Mr. Anders always managed to beat her downstairs to the parking lot. He’d clean off his car and then do hers. He scraped the ice from the windows before she even made it out of bed. Since he wouldn’t stop doing it even though she insisted he didn’t need to, Kelly had taken to bringing him occasional treats as a way of saying thank you. It was summer now, but she saw no reason to stop just because the snow was gone.

  “Hi, Mr. Anders!” she shouted back as she handed him the box of cookies. “I got you cookies since I was at the store.”

  “You got me cookies from a whore?” he yelled back with a puzzled look on his face. Kelly felt her cheeks burn red and she sputtered, trying to figure out what to say.

  Within seconds, her neighbor cracked a grin. “Gotcha,” he said and slapped his leg as he laughed. “Can you come in for a cookie?”

  Kelly laughed, but the red spots stayed high on her cheeks as she shook her head at the incorrigible man. “Sorry, Mr. Anders. I’m meeting a friend for lunch so I’ve got to run. I’ll stop by soon though.”

  He was still laughing when he shut his door. Kelly whipped into her place, unpacked the refrigerated and frozen items in her grocery bags, shoving it haphazardly into any empty space she could find.

  She wanted to run to her mailbox before heading to lunch. With any luck, she’d get the final few envelopes she’d been waiting for today.

  She crossed the lawn to the large bank of mailboxes that served the entire complex. The letters arriving today would make or break Kelly’s dream.

  Chapter 3

  An hour later, Jack stalked through the lobby of his New Haven office building with his jaw clenched. His scowl wasn’t aimed at anyone or anything in particular on his way up to the 26th floor offices of Sutton Capital, but people moved out of his way.

  He stabbed “26” on the elevator control panel and thought about the unpleasant conversation he and Andrew were about to have. It wouldn’t be fun trying to figure out how a man’s death would affect this vote, but they didn’t have a choice right now. The clock was ticking thanks to the terms of his mother’s will.

  Ding. The elevator doors slid open to reveal the reception desk and waiting area of Jack’s company. A deep burgundy carpet with gray edging set the tone for the company as luxurious, professional, and successful. The plush leather chairs and polished petrified wood end tables told anyone entering the space that Sutton Capital was no small-time company. Just the way Jack liked.

  His nod to the receptionist was curt but polite as he moved past her toward his corner office.

  Jennie looked up when he stopped in front of her desk before entering his office. She was a temp who’d taken over when his own secretary had to leave suddenly for a family crisis, but she’d been more than competent so far.

  She always seemed to know when he needed something and she was a whiz at organizing large quantities of data and pulling together what he needed to see quickly.

  He might tell HR they could go ahead and hire her on permanently if there was room for her anywhere in the company.

  “Jennie, Andrew will be here in a few minutes. Show him right in when he arrives.” He started to turn away, but turned back. “Will you ask Roark to join us when he gets in?”

  “Yes, Mr. Sutton,” Jennie said with a nod.

  Roark Walker was head of Sutton’s legal department, but he had also been friends with Jack’s mother and father. Jack was still holding out hope the man would have some last-minute solution for this cluster of a situation that was threatening to derail the company he’d thought he would lead for, well forever if he was honest with himself.

  Jack strode to his office and shut the door, pacing as he waited for Andrew to arrive. Andrew wasn’t just his best friend; he was also the Chief Financial Officer of Sutton Capital and Jack’s right-hand man at the company.

  He hoped Andrew would have good news to help him out of this colossal mess. Andrew was one of the few people that knew Jack the man, beyond Jack the CEO of Sutton Capital. They went far enough back that neither saw the other the way their adversaries did.

  Jack’s business rivals feared him and his investors respected him, at least insofar as they knew he could make them a hell of a lot of money.

  He never felt weak or anxious when he stepped up to the negotiating table, and he normally thrived on stress and pressure. But, on this—possibly the biggest deal of his life—the unique circumstances had him feeling as if he had maneuvered and negotiated himself right into a corner.

  He moved to his mahogany desk and stared down at his reflection in its uncluttered surface. His plans had fallen apart. He had been so certain his strategy would work that he’d become overconfident. That wasn’t like him at all. Jack knew it was his late mother’s involvement in his current situation that had thrown him off his game. He had loved his mom so he hadn’t wanted to address the terms of her will head on and try to challenge her, even if she was no longer here to see him do it.

  Now he’d screwed himself over. He needed to come up with another plan and execute it quickly if he was going to save his position in the family company.

  When Jennie opened the door and ushered Andrew inside, the tight line of his friend’s lips told Jack things hadn’t gone as they’d hoped.

  Andrew had been in on his plan from the beginning. He was Jack’s closest confidant and supporter, but right now it didn’t look like his friend had the news they needed.

  “Thank you, Jennie. Hold my calls,” he directed.

  “Yes, sir.” Jennie closed the door behind her, leaving the two men in silence.

  Chapter 4

  Jennie rushed back to her desk to turn on her intercom. As a temp secretary, she took a lot of liberties she might not take if her job were more secure but she’d been told there was no chance for this position to become permanent. Jack Sutton’s secretary would be back in
a week.

  Early on at Sutton Capital, she discovered the indicator light on the intercom between Jack’s office and her desk didn’t light up when it should, leaving him with no way to know if she’d activated it from her end of the line. She’d been listening in on conversations ever since and she wasn’t about to pass up listening in on this one. She had no doubt this would be juicy.

  Yesterday, she’d heard Jack’s aunt threatening to take over the company and put her son in charge. From what she could gather, when Mr. Sutton’s mother passed away five years ago, she’d held the largest single chunk of shares in the company—at thirty-five percent. The remaining shares of the privately held company were owned in varying amounts by the six members of the board of directors, including Jack.

  But Mr. Sutton’s mother was apparently a romantic who cared more about her son’s marital status than the state of the family business. She placed her shares in a trust, with Jack holding the proxy voting rights.