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

  Of course, they hadn’t been happy to find out her mom had been living there under a fake name, but Jack’s lawyer had helped calm them down in the end.

  Kaeden seemed to track her thoughts. “Anything from Turner or is he still keeping his distance?”

  Jane swallowed. “We haven’t heard from him, but the lawyer is keeping us up-to-date. There’s an investigation into my mom’s car accident now. The police department is in a lot of trouble over the fact that there wasn’t much in the police report about the tire tracks and skid marks and things. My mom’s lawyer is using it as a basis for breaking the prenuptial agreement and getting my mom the money we need to keep paying for her care.”

  They were almost to the end of the money they’d gotten selling her mother’s jewelry.

  Evan Willows had told them Turner Carson claimed they took old watches that had been in his family for decades, but that wasn’t true. Her mom remembered the watches and Jane would bet anything they were still locked in the safe where her mother had last seen them.

  Kaeden took her hand. “Do you need help paying for it until the divorce is finalized?”

  Jane swallowed hard. He would do that for her, wouldn’t he? She’d been so alone for so long, it was almost too hard to believe she had someone in this with her now, a partner to help carry the burden of anything that came her way.

  Jane bit her lip. “I hope not. I mean, I’ve been working more now that I don’t need to worry about hiding and the lawyer said they’re also investigating Turner’s first wife’s death. She supposedly committed suicide, but they want to be sure. It turns out that a woman he dated in his early twenties also died under suspicious circumstances, but the police never had any leads they could follow in that case. I think Turner Carson’s world is crumbling around him.”

  Kaeden swore under his breath and she knew what he was thinking. That her mom had been damned lucky to get away from him. She hadn’t gotten away without lifelong damage, but her mother was strong. Each day, she went on smiling and laughing and living her life despite what that man had put her through.

  It amazed Jane and she knew Kaeden felt the same. He’d talked to Jane about how strong her mom was, about what an incredible woman she was.

  “The lawyer feels like he’s going to settle this out of court, just to get this to go away.”

  “And will your mom be okay with that?”

  Jane nodded. “If she can get enough to support her medical needs, I think so. She wants to move on. And even if she settles with him, it won’t make the investigation into his first wife’s death go away. Or the damage to his reputation. That was everything to him. He always cared more about what people thought than anything else.”

  Kaeden kissed her hand again. She loved when he did that.

  “Should we go have dinner with your mom tonight?” he asked. He waggled his brows. “After we stop at home for a bit, I mean?”

  She blushed again. The man had a way of doing that to her.

  She wet her lips and he groaned.

  “Why do you have to live so far from the airport?”

  Jane laughed, but he put a hand to his chest. “You’re killing me.”

  Two hours later, they lay tangled in the sheets, her favorite way to be with this man. She ran a hand over his chest, tracing small circles as she went.

  “I do have one thing planned for this weekend,” she said, her stomach doing little flips. She wasn’t sure how he would feel about this.

  “What’s that?” his hand was running up and down her back and she hoped he wouldn’t stop anytime soon. His hands felt so good on her skin.

  “I got some brochures for a couple of homes in Connecticut that can handle my mom’s needs. I thought maybe we might look through them together.” She licked her lips. “And, um, maybe you could go visit them for me? At least do a first pass and see what you think of them before I go for a visit. I haven’t wanted to leave her yet, but we would need someone to see what they’re like in person before we make any decisions.”

  He froze and Jane held her breath.

  And then he was pulling her closer and she dared to meet his eyes. She saw nothing but happy excitement in them.

  “You’d really move to Connecticut? For me?”

  She laughed. “Well, it would be a little bit for me, too.”

  He pulled her on top of him and wrapped his arms around her. “Really?”

  She nodded. “Really. My mom’s on board with it. Sorry, I know it’s kind of creepy to have my mom be so involved in any decisions you and I make, but—”

  “But nothing,” he said. “You and your mom were split up for a long time and I know you had to be terrified for her all that time, thinking Turner might find her. That still has to worry you. I get it. I wouldn’t want to take you away from your mom after all you went through to keep her safe.”

  She lowered her head to his chest and closed her eyes. She couldn’t ask for a better man than this. Couldn’t ask for someone who understood her better than this.

  She was so blessed to be with him, to no longer be on the run.

  Epilogue

  Kaeden would never in a million years be glad for what Jane and her mom had gone through, but part of him wondered if they would have found each other if they hadn’t. Were there people you were destined to find no matter which turns you made in life?

  What if his boss hadn’t insisted he go on the retreat? And if Jack hadn’t assigned him to run the retreat and her boss hadn’t asked her to be the lodge’s liaison? Would he and Jane have still somehow come together? He liked to think so.

  They were walking her mother back to her room after a dinner that included plenty of poring over the brochures from the Connecticut residential care facilities they were considering.

  Her mother seemed eager to move to Connecticut and he was glad for that. He had meant it when he said he didn’t want to do anything to keep the women apart.

  They’d also gotten all the news on Evan and his family from Debra. She kept in touch with the private investigator who tried to save her. Jack Sutton had ended up paying the bills Turner stiffed the guy for and giving Evan a bonus that was going toward his daughter’s care.

  Kaeden pushed Debra’s wheelchair down the hall as Jane held her mother’s hand. They were making plans to have her mother’s hair cut the following week and Kaeden had to admit, he liked listening to the idle chit chat of plans being made. He just liked being around Jane, period, no matter what she was doing.

  She’d been taking on some remote freelance work for several of the companies Sutton Capital invested in, but he knew she wanted to find something more permanent soon. If she could relocate to Connecticut where he could help out with her mom some, it might help.

  They were almost to her room when one of the staff came down the hall.

  “Debra. I didn’t want to let him in without checking with you first, but your lawyer is here.”

  Kaeden slowed her chair as the woman came up to them.

  “My lawyer?” Debra looked to Kaeden and Jane. “I don’t know why he’d be here. Especially in the evening.”

  “I’ve asked him to wait in the lobby but shall I bring him to your room?”

  Kaeden knew the home was trying to be a lot more careful about who they let in to see Jane’s mom.

  Jane’s mother nodded and Kaeden pushed her into her room.

  “Should I wait outside?” he asked when Jane and her mom had settled in.

  “Not at all,” her mother said, reaching a hand to him.

  He put his hand in hers and she squeezed it.

  “You should stay to hear whatever he has to say. Good or bad at this point, I figure we’re all in this together.”

  Kaeden sat next to Jane. The lawyer made the same offer to Debra of hearing his news in private when he arrived but she waved him off as well.

  “I won’t sugar coat this then, Debra. Turner Carson is dead.”

  The shock that swept through the room was palpable.
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  “What? How?” Debra asked.

  The lawyer shook his head. “I really didn’t think they had a case where his first wife was concerned, but I was wrong. Turned out, her family had long suspected him of something, but no one listened to them. They signed papers allowing her body to be exhumed. She was found in her bed with an empty bottle of pills next to her and a suicide note. There were enough people who had witnessed her depression leading up to her suicide that the coroner signed off on the death as a suicide very quickly.

  “But when they exhumed her body, tests showed she died from Thallium poisoning. No one would take that to kill themselves then leave an empty bottle of another type of medicine next to them.”

  “What is Thallium?” Jane asked.

  “It’s a metallic substance that used to be used in rat poison,” the lawyer said. “He would have had access to it through a number of the businesses that he owned. The police went to make an arrest but he locked himself in his office and shot himself.”

  Jane slumped against Kaeden and he pulled her close to him. It was over. They didn’t have to worry that he would come after her mom or her again. They didn’t have to wonder if someday they might have to hide from him again.

  That fear had still been there for all of them, hanging over them.

  Jane stood and went to her mom, hugging her as tears streamed down Debra’s face.

  “It’s over, mom,” she said. “It’s over.”

  Her mother closed her eyes and cried.

  Sometime later, the lawyer filled them all in on what that meant for them. Not only did they not have to worry about him coming after her mother again, Debra wouldn’t have to worry about whether she could get a large enough settlement to pay for her medical care for the rest of her life.

  Turner Carson had no children and no other heirs. She was still his wife since the divorce hadn’t gone through and Texas was a community property state. She now had all the money she could ever need since she had complete control over all of Turner’s property and funds.

  There would be no life insurance payout since he took his own life, but with the amount of money the man had, that didn’t matter.

  Kaeden watched as Jane said goodbye to her mom that night, knowing for the first time in a long time, she could go home and not be frightened that something might happen when she wasn’t with her.

  He held her hand as they walked to the car, but stopped to pull her into his arms before they reached it.

  “I love you, Jane. I’ve known that for a long time and this is probably the least romantic way to tell you, but I want you to know. I love you.”

  Jane’s eyes met his and he saw the happiness in her gaze that made him know they could tackle whatever came their way together. “I love you too, Kaeden. Completely and totally. Even if you are controlling and you have too many lists and schedules, and you—”

  He interrupted her with a kiss. A long one meant to show her deep in her heart that when he said “I love you,” he meant it with all of his.

  The End

  Thank you so much for reading! I hope you loved the last of the Sutton Billionaires Series. But, listen, it's not over yet! You can keep visiting your Sutton family and friends in two other series I've written. The first is a trilogy of books called Sutton Capital Intrigue. It starts with Cutthroat, then Cut and Run, and Cut to the Chase. The books each have their own hero and heroine (with all the sexy, steamy lusciousness you love) but there's a mystery that spans all three of the books. Grab Cutthroat here and binge now!

  After that, head to The Sutton Capital On the Line Series. Those books take the steamy romance and put them into police procedural mysteries that will have you turning pages well into the night. Sorry about that, by the way! Grab the first of those, Pure Vengeance, here and binge now!

  Read on for chapter one of Cutthroat:

  CHAPTER ONE

  It wasn't the name on the envelope that stopped Jaxon Cutter, even though the name Michaela Kent was enough to make him still for a split second. It was the fact the envelope existed at all.

  “Who’s Michaela Kent?” He called the question over his shoulder to his friend. The apartment was small. He knew damned well Leo heard the question, but the once-homeless veteran didn’t acknowledge it.

  Jax flipped the eggs in the frying pan, the scent of butter filling the kitchen. The sound of gruff laughter behind him joined the pop and sizzle coming from the pan.

  “Still makes me laugh every time I see it.” Leo Kent crossed the small space of the studio apartment and dropped into a chair.

  Jax shot him a grin over his shoulder. He knew what his friend was referring to. It was what had started the unlikely friendship in the first place. A tattoo he’d gotten soon after losing part of his leg below the knee.

  The black tattoo on his right calf was designed to look like somebody had written on his leg in magic marker. The word POSER hovered over an arrow that pointed to the prosthesis on his left leg. The tattoo was a prime example of Jax’s wry sense of humor.

  It wasn’t the only tattoo to grace his skin. He had tribal work from the top of his shoulder down most of one arm, and a few other pieces on his back. He’d celebrated his freedom after leaving the Navy with a few pieces that required multiple hours in the chair. Nowadays sailors could have more tattoos under looser restrictions, but when he’d been in, his tattoos would have landed him in hot water.

  “Always happy to be your entertainment,” Jax said, turning back to the stove. It wasn’t uncommon for Jax to stop by Leo’s apartment for breakfast after his morning run. He wasn’t sure if the older man would eat if Jax didn’t swing by to be sure.

  Their meeting had been a chance one, but they’d hit it off right away. When Jax had taken a break from his run two years back, Leo had spotted the tattoo and laughed so hard he almost choked. The Gulf War vet had his own prosthetic leg but didn't have the fancy tattoo to go with it.

  Leo’s amputation was above-the-knee, unlike Jax’s below-the-knee. From what he knew, Jax should be grateful for that. There was a lot more pain and discomfort involved with wearing a prosthesis on an above-the-knee residual limb, not to mention the loss of a natural knee.

  Jax slid fried eggs and buttered toast onto a plate and dropped the plate onto the table in front of Leo. He sat opposite and dug into his own meal before realizing Leo wasn’t eating.

  “Something wrong with your food?”

  "I, uh, wanted to give you this." What looked to be six or eight twenty dollar bills, folded in half, landed on the table. Leo turned to eat like it was nothing for him to have that amount of money.

  Jax knew full well it was a lot more than nothing to the man who'd been homeless only six months ago. If Leo hadn’t let Jax help him pay the security deposit and a little of the rent, he’d still be living on the streets.

  “What the hell is that?” Jax stared at the money. He'd known it would be hard to get Leo to take money from him, but he figured once he got him into the apartment, the man wouldn't worry so much about it. He’d never in a million years intended for Leo to pay him back.

  “A man pays his debts.” Leo didn't look up as he spoke. Just kept shoveling eggs in his mouth.

  “You don't have a debt. And even if you did, it's not one I would ever ask you to pay.”

  "I'm just saying a man pays his debts that's all. I fully intend to pay you back everything you've given me."

  "Not necessary,” Jax said. He was starting to get pissed. “Use the money for something you need. Clothes, medical care—there has to be something.”

  “Nah, I got what I need. I get medical care from the clinic and what the hell do I need with more clothes? More to wash, that’s all that does. What I do need is to make sure my friend is paid back.”

  “Where'd you get it?” Shit. Jax clenched his jaw, trying to bite down on the words, even though it was too late to call them back.

  He hadn’t meant for that to come out. He had no business—no right—to question where
Leo got anything.

  The older man pretended the question wasn’t out of line. “Turns out, when you got a place to sleep and shower, a little food in your belly, it's a lot easier to get work. I've just been picking up day work, that's all.” A shrug accompanied the words. Jax could see Leo was leaving something out of that story, but he wasn’t going to push it.

  There was no way he’d win this fight. He picked up the money, split the pile in half and pushed one half back toward his friend. They’d have to compromise.

  “You go to that happy hour last night?” Leo asked as he scowled at the money.

  Now it was Jax’s turn to grunt his response. He did so at the same time he cursed himself for ever mentioning the stupid Thursday after-work tradition at Sutton Capital. He liked the people he worked with, but he just wasn’t ready for hanging out in a bar where he had to talk to strangers. He’d tried. It had sucked.

  “You didn’t, did you?”

  Jax ignored the question, filling his mouth with enough toast that he couldn’t speak around it. He wasn’t going to talk about this. If anyone should accept the fact that he wasn’t cut out to hang out with civilians, it should be Leo.

  “You should make more of an effort.”

  Apparently not. “Why is that?”

  “So you don’t end up like my sorry ass, dick head.” Leo never bothered to pretty up his language for Jax. “You want to end up lucky as hell to have one friend in this jackoff world? Keep it up.”

  “Dick head? Really?”

  Leo just laughed and went back to his food, but Jax knew he would continue to pester him about it.

  He’d made the effort, though, just like he’d said. He tried going out for drinks with everyone after work. The only problem was, he ended up angry and annoyed more often than not. If he had to listen to one more person bitch about waiting three hours for the cable guy to come hook up their effing television, or the fact that they couldn’t find the right color shoes to match an outfit—this from a guy, for fuck’s sake—he’d lose his shit.