Falling for the Billionaire's Daughter (Sutton Billionaires Book 6) Read online

  Falling for the Billionaire’s Daughter

  The Sutton Billionaires Series, Book 6

  Lori Ryan

  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.

  Other Books by Lori Ryan

  The Sutton Billionaires Series:

  The Billionaire Deal

  Reuniting with the Billionaire

  The Billionaire Op

  The Billionaire’s Rock Star

  The Billionaire’s Navy SEAL

  Falling for the Billionaire’s Daughter

  The Sutton Capital 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

  Coming Soon – The Halo Security Series:

  Dulce’s Defender

  Hannah’s Hero

  Shay’s Shelter

  Callie’s Cover

  Grace’s Guardian

  Sophie’s Sentry

  Sienna’s Sentinal

  For the most current list of Lori’s books, visit her website: loriryanromance.com.

  Contents

  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

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  It wasn’t a particularly threatening sentence, but it still set Kaeden O’Shea on edge.

  “Stick around for a minute, Kaeden.”

  Kaeden O’Shea sank back into his chair at his boss’s words. He liked and respected Jack Sutton but at the moment, he didn’t want to talk to his boss.

  His gut told him Jack was about to remind him his attendance at the upcoming Sutton retreat was mandatory. Two weeks in Colorado with his team, the executive team, and their families probably sounded like fun to a lot of people.

  An all-expenses paid trip. Fun and free time in the mountains. Two weeks of vacation he didn’t have to use vacation time for. What’s not to love?

  For him, the list was long. To start, he didn’t really do well sitting around with nothing to do. Relaxation just wasn’t his thing. He’d much rather keep working on the analysis he’d started for an upcoming acquisition Sutton was considering.

  For another, he had zero interest in bonding with people and that’s what this trip was about. He liked his coworkers well enough and respected them all. He was on a team of people who all had backgrounds in tech who specialized in various aspects of engineering, science, and information technology. His team was all former military, including him.

  He knew Sutton Capital had sought out veterans largely because of the fact their security head and one of the main shareholders in the company was a former Army Ranger, but also because of the knowledge base they could bring to their work.

  Kaeden appreciated the fact they were all veterans who’d seen action and understood each other on a level civilians often didn’t, but he still preferred to cut that relationship off at the business end of things.

  He didn’t want or need to be friends with them. Singing campfire songs and whatnot while they all talked about how much they were bonding and how much better they’d work together when they came home from the trip? Yeah, no thanks.

  He didn’t need to meet his boss’s family or get to know the kids of his coworkers. Plenty of the people he worked with were married with kids and dogs and all the things you were supposed to want in life. That was great for them, but he saw no reason to be a part of that area of their lives.

  So he’d pretty much planned on begging off at the last minute. He still wasn’t sure if he was going to say he’d had a family emergency or maybe he’d pretend to be sick then get well enough to come to the office and work while they all played in the woods. Either way, he was getting out of the trip. So today he just had to convince Jack he wanted to go so he’d buy it when Kaeden had to back out at the last minute.

  The rest of the group filed out of the room, most of them talking about where to get lunch, while he closed down his computer and waited for Jack to start the lecture.

  Jack leaned on the conference table next to Kaeden. “I want to bring a new team on board over the next quarter. Another tech team a lot like this one but with a heavier focus on AI. I know you’re interested in artificial intelligence…”

  Kaeden sat up. He was more than interested in it. He was fascinated with recent developments in machine learning and AI in the medical field. People thought AI was all about computers and androids taking over jobs that people could do, but there was so much more to it than that. It could revolutionize brain treatment by stimulating brain cell regrowth or be used to create intelligent computers that could cut years off research into new drugs and cures for diseases.

  Two of the members of his team, Jax Cutter and Dave Alexander, took on most of the projects that dealt with tech in medical fields, but Kaeden had shown Jack a few companies he thought had potential to make huge strides in medicine with the AI they were developing. If Jack was planning to expand their work in that area, he sure as hell wanted to be in on it. And leading a team focused on that was his dream job.

  But Jack wasn’t finished and the conversation wasn’t headed the way Kaeden wanted it to go.

  “I need to see more from you before I can tap you for this. I need to know you can lead a team. You’ve shown me so far that you’re smart enough to do it, but I have to see you working as a team and delegating. You like to keep control over everything that comes your way.”

  Kaeden frowned. “That’s a bad thing?”

  Jack shot him a look. “It can be when it’s taken to the extreme. This would be a management position and managers have to be willing to let their teams do the work. They have to lead the way and guide but turn over
what can be done by others. I haven’t seen enough of that from you.”

  Annoyance flushed through Kaeden. He’d heard that before in his reviews and it was the same bullshit now that it was then. Who didn’t want someone working for them who could handle the work load? He handled it and then some and he always, always, got the job done.

  “I get my work done, Jack. You know that. I’m the first person here in the morning most days and often the last person to leave. If you need someone to do something, I’m there, getting it done.”

  Jack nodded but his expression said he didn’t think Kaeden was getting the point. He was right. Kaeden wasn’t. He worked with the team every damned day.

  “You’re right. You’re a crucial part of what we do here. But working next to people isn’t the same thing as working with them. I need to know you can trust the people under you to do the job right. I need to see you making decisions about who can take on what work and then trusting in them to do that work without you micromanaging them every step of the way.”

  Kaeden crossed his arms and nodded. “Alright. I can do that.” He had no idea how he was supposed to show Jack he could do that, but he’d figure something out.

  “Good,” Jack said, a grin crossing his face. “I’m going to give you a shot at proving that to me during the retreat.”

  “Come again?”

  “I’ve only got a dinner planned for the night we arrive at the lodge. After that, the whole event is up to you to plan.” Jack pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Kaeden. “There’s a hospitality program at a nearby university. I’ve asked them for two interns to work with you during the retreat. The lodge we’re staying at is kind of low key. They don’t have an event coordinator or anything like some of the bigger places, but they told me they’ll assign one of their employees to work with you. That’s your team. You need to lead them but make sure the interns get plenty of hands-on experience. You guys will be coordinating events and activities for the weeks we’re there. If it goes well, we’ll talk about you heading this new AI team.”

  Kaeden looked down at the paper in Jack’s hand but didn’t move to take it. It was ridiculous. What did he know about planning events for a big group like this? Not to mention the fact that this blew his plans of skipping out on the retreat out of the water.

  Jack moved the paper closer to Kaeden.

  Kaeden stepped back. “I don’t know anything about planning activities like this, Jack.”

  “All the more reason for you to rely on your team. The interns are nearing the end of their program so they should have a good idea of what to do and how to make things run smoothly, and the employee from the lodge will know the area and what’s available. All you need to do is oversee them and trust they can get the job done.”

  He shoved the paper at Kaeden one more time.

  Well, fuck.

  Kaeden took the paper.

  He looked down at the names and contact info for the interns. Below it was a budget for the activities that made him wonder again why Jack Sutton thought it was a good idea to treat them all to this trip. The man had to be off his rocker to spend this much on his employees. And frankly, that made Kaeden more than wonder why the man seemed to feel the need to pay the people who worked for him to like him.

  In Kaeden’s experience, when your boss tried to be your best friend, it meant they were hiding who they truly were, and usually for good reason. He wondered what Jack was trying to compensate for.

  Whatever it was, he didn’t want to know. He was a keep-your-head-down and do-your-own-work kind of guy.

  Kaeden had two days to pack for the trip and research activities they could do in Breckenridge during the summer months. And figure out how he was going to pretend to be having fun and bonding with his coworkers without losing his ever-loving mind.

  Joy Wilson gave a final wipe to the large oak table and went back to the kitchen with the cleaning spray and dishtowel.

  “All set,” she said as she tucked the cleaning supplies under the counter. “Anything else you need me to do?”

  She looked over at Carl Pederson, her boss at the Trembling Tree Lodge in Breckenridge. She liked the man a lot. In fact, too much. He and his wife made it all too tempting to stick around much longer than she knew she should.

  Especially lately since Evelyn had taken a bad fall and was recuperating. Joy could see the strain weighing on Carl. He wasn’t at all used to handling the lodge without Evelyn by his side. Joy had been trying to pick up the slack as much as possible, but she didn’t have the skill to make the homemade breakfasts that Evelyn did. She and Carl were running into town each morning for baked goods from one of the local bakeries and putting out coffee.

  Truth was, she should be moving on. She had already stayed in Breckenridge too long. The thought of trying to find another place to work and get paid under the table, and a place to crash that she could afford, made her want to curl up in bed and stay awhile.

  Another week. She could stay another week.

  She hated that she couldn’t give Carl notice. She never gave notice when she left a job or town. She took off in the middle of the night, leaving a note that she had to leave for a family emergency. It was sort of true. And it was best for her if she just left without anyone knowing, without questions about where she was going.

  Carl was scratching at the back of his head when he spoke. “Actually, there is something you could do for me.”

  Why did she have the feeling she wasn’t going to like this?

  If she was signaling her reluctance in any way, Carl didn’t pick up on it.

  “We’ve got a large group coming in Sunday. They’ll be taking over the whole lodge. A company retreat, I guess. Anyway, they asked for an employee to be on hand to work with the person who’s organizing their events and things. Just someone to answer questions and get them local information, things like that. Normally Evelyn does that…”

  He didn’t really need to say more. Carl wasn’t a people person. He mostly handled maintenance and groundskeeping and all that around the lodge. It was Evelyn who chatted with the guests and made sure they felt welcome.

  In a past life, Joy would have been closer to Evelyn in personality. Nowadays, not so much. “I don’t know, Carl. Um, maybe Eric could do that?”

  To his credit, Carl only offered raised brows at the suggestion.

  Eric was a high school kid who helped out around the property. He was a good kid, eager and he knew the area well since he’d lived here all his life. But the seventeen-year-old was also awkward as hell and couldn’t really bring himself to talk to people he didn’t know. It had taken him a month to say hello to Joy when she arrived on the property six months back.

  She sighed. “How long will they be here?”

  “Two weeks. By the time they leave, Evelyn should be back on her feet so it’s really just this one time you’d need to do it.”

  Joy nodded, even though she knew she couldn’t stay the entire time. Knowing she was going to let this man down was a physical blow to her chest. He’d been better to her than all the other people she’d worked for in the last two years.

  The others hadn’t offered a place for her to stay. They hadn’t treated her like it was no big deal that she needed to work under the table. They hadn’t paid her a fair wage in spite of that.

  Joy shoved down the emotions clawing at her and nodded again. She didn’t have the luxury of staying. “I can do that.”

  The lie slipped out so easily. Too easily.

  Carl’s answering smile damn near gutted her as she turned with a wave, not able to face him just then. “I’ll get started turning the rooms over.”

  Chapter 2

  Joy watched and waited, wondering why she or the two interns were even in the room. This guy—Kaeden O’Shea, she’d been told during the introductions—clearly didn’t need any of them there. He was the kind of man who had to control everything around him to the last detail. It was a characteristic she couldn’t s
tand in a man.

  No, it was more than just can’t stand. It was something she would run from under normal circumstances. Run far. Run fast. Don’t look back.

  But she couldn’t do that this time. She would be letting Carl and Evelyn down if she did that. It was bad enough she planned to leave them without giving any notice—or even saying goodbye—next week, cutting a week off the time they really needed her. She would do all she could to help them while she was here. And if that meant dealing with Kaeden O’Shea, she’d do it.

  It would help if he wasn’t so insanely hot. He had that scruffy chin look going for him and hair that was a little spiky and messy in just the right way. He had almost black hair and dark brown eyes. Luckily, those eyes looked as hard as chips of garnet, reminding her this wasn’t a man she should get involved with.

  So she’d just keep looking into those cold eyes and keep her distance while she smiled and did whatever needed doing. But she couldn’t help but think the coming weeks would suck for the two other women in the room.

  Kaeden’s boss introduced them as interns from the hospitality program at a local college and explained that Kaeden was only going to oversee them while they planned the company’s events. They were probably hoping to do more than check off items on this idiot’s to-do list.

  Of course, since he had assigned them babysitting duty for the kids in the group a few times during the week, Joy guessed it wasn’t fair to say he expected them to sit around and be in charge of check marks. But still, babysitting wasn’t exactly going to get them experience in hospitality. She would bet anything that wasn’t what they’d signed up for.