Billionaire unclaimed.., p.1
Billionaire Unclaimed - Chase, page 1
Billionaire Unclaimed
Copyright © 2022 by J. S. Scott
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission.
Cover Photo by Wander Aguiar Photography
Proof Editing by Virginia Tesi Carey
ISBN: 9798364824028 (Print)
ISBN: 9781951102746 (E-Book)
Prologue
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
Epilogue
Savannah
Several Months Earlier…
“I don’t think I ever really thanked you for everything you did for Torie after she was kidnapped,” Chase Durand said to me as we sat in the kitchen of a very extravagant Las Vegas suite.
It was the venue where his sister Torie’s wedding reception had been held earlier.
I wasn’t sure exactly how Chase and I had ended up alone, sharing a much-too- cozy espresso moment at the kitchen table after all of the other wedding guests were gone.
Maybe…it was because I loved a really good latte, and Chase was fond of espresso?
Okay…maybe not.
Yeah, that explanation would work for why Chase was still here after every single guest had left.
Me?
If I was being completely honest, I knew I’d finally been unable to resist spending a little more time with Chase Durand, even though I absolutely knew that giving in to that impulse was dangerous.
And incredibly stupid.
Chase had always treated me like a second little sister, no different than he treated my best friend, Torie.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite look at him as an honorary big brother anymore, and that scared the shit out of me.
This encounter was a little too intimate now that we were adults.
I knew I should be leaving this place like I was evacuating for some sort of dire emergency. I’d avoided spending time alone in Chase’s company for the last decade because I was attracted to him. I was always afraid someone would notice that my thoughts about him were far from brotherly.
I’d be totally mortified if Torie found out that I secretly drooled over her older brother. I’d be even more horrified if Chase discovered how I really felt about him.
Of course, he’d never know. It’s not like I wore my heart on my sleeve. I hid that information like it was a matter of national security.
I was an investigative journalist. I knew exactly how to bury my emotions so deeply that no one could ever see them. If I didn’t, I’d completely lose my mind in my line of work.
I have to compartmentalize and just pretend that this is no more than a conversation between old family friends.
Which was exactly what was happening. Well, for Chase, anyway.
Irritated with myself for being so flustered over being alone with him, I answered, “Torie is my best friend. I’d do anything for her. I always wished I could have done more. I think Cooper Montgomery is the best thing that ever happened to her. They seemed so happy to be getting married today. He’s helped her through a few of her lingering issues from her kidnapping that I never even knew about.”
I chose my words carefully. There were things that Chase didn’t know, and possibly never would, about Torie’s kidnapping. There were incidents that Torie hadn’t wanted to reveal to her two older brothers because they already foolishly blamed themselves for what had happened to her.
Chase shot me a doubtful expression as he replied, “Don’t belittle the importance of you being there for her when she really needed you, Vanna,” he insisted. “You put your own career on hold to help her through her recovery.”
“Maybe I needed some time off, too,” I suggested, uncomfortable with being thanked for something that had been necessary and not at all an inconvenience at the time.
I loved Torie like a sister. There was nowhere else I’d wanted to be when she was hurting that badly.
Frankly, that time off I’d spent with Torie had benefited me as well. I’d never realized how emotionally exhausted I was from chasing story after story for so many years. Every one of those assignments had been soul sucking because I didn’t exactly report on uplifting international events.
He lifted an eyebrow as he asked gruffly, “Did you need time off?”
I squirmed in my seat as he waited patiently for my answer.
His beautiful gray eyes studied me like he was interested in nothing else except my answer.
Shit! I’d always felt like Chase could see right through me and into the dark pit of emotions I didn’t want to acknowledge. That was one of the things that made him so dangerous, yet so damn alluring. He had the ability to make a person feel like they were the most important person in the world to him simply because he really…listened.
Most likely, it was a trait that he’d learned to use to his advantage as a billionaire business mogul, but for me, it was incredibly unnerving and captivating at the same time.
He made me want to spill my guts to him, but I knew I wouldn’t.
Being vulnerable to anyone was a lot more scary than my need to discuss my feelings.
Besides, once I opened that floodgate, it would probably never close again. I hadn’t worked this hard for over a decade to stifle those emotions only to lose control of them now.
Especially not with…him.
Because he thought of himself as my honorary big brother, he’d probably wring me dry until I told him everything. Chase would try to “fix” anything that was wrong in my life, just like he’d done when Torie and I were kids. Unfortunately, I was all grown up and so was Chase. A Band-Aid or a piece of my favorite candy wasn’t going to fix what was wrong with me anymore.
I nodded slowly, knowing I had to be intentionally vague. “I was tired. It was good for both of us to spend time together.”
He sat back in his chair and continued to study me as he answered, “I very much doubt you mean that since you spent a hell of a lot of that time in the hospital with her. That’s not exactly some kind of relaxing vacay, Vanna.”
I nearly sighed as I ogled the gorgeous man across from me, convinced no man could make a tuxedo look as good as Chase Durand could.
He was gorgeous, from his mesmerizing gray eyes to the attractive mixed shades of brown hair on his head.
This man was familiar, but also an enigma to me. How he managed to be both down-to-earth and incredibly sophisticated had never quite jived in my mind.
It was probably much better if I didn’t think about how damn fit and muscular his body was, or how far he towered over me with his almost intimidating height. I was a little taller than average for a female, but Chase actually made me feel diminutive when we were standing side by side.
I couldn’t say that he hadn’t become harder and slightly more cynical from his years spent in special forces, but strangely, it made him all the more fascinating. How many guys who were born wealthy like Chase ended up in special forces?
He and his older brother, Wyatt, never talked much about their years in the military, nor did either of them brag like some guys would about being special forces. According to Torie, they were pretty close-lipped and blew off most of the questions she’d asked about those years.
The way they avoided that subject always made me wonder if they kept quiet because of the secrecy of their missions, or because they were so traumatic they didn’t want to think about them anymore.
“I didn’t mind,” I said softly, really meaning those words.
My best friend had been shattered physically and emotionally after she’d been kidnapped and left for dead in the Amazon. All I’d really wanted was to be there for her. Truthfully, I’d been pretty damn grateful she hadn’t died. I’d been thankful that it was still possible to spend time with her, wherever that might be.
“Now that I definitely believe since you and Torie have always been so close,” Chase replied. “And you’re right about Cooper. He is good for her, and vice versa. The two of them are almost ridiculously…in love.”
I smiled at him, amused by the way he’d spat out those last two words. It seemed almost normal for the two of us to have this kind of conversation, even though we never did.
During our infrequent meetings after we’d become adults, we usually antagonized the crap out of each other and debated just about everything.
For me, it had always been safer to stay friendly adversaries.
“You don’t believe in love?” I asked, the words slipping out of my mouth before I could check them.
I’d always dreaded the day when I’d discover that Chase was seriously involved with someone, even though I knew I shouldn’t feel that way.
He’d ha
I knew from Torie that he’d had a few fleeting relationships while he was in the military as well.
Chase had his dad’s natural ability to be completely charming when he wanted to be. Torie’s father had been a charismatic, extremely lovable Frenchman. It was easy to see that his youngest son had some of the same characteristics.
Strangely, I didn’t think there had been anyone special since Chase had gotten out of the military to join his older brother, Wyatt, as a co-CEO of Durand Industries.
If there was, Torie had never told me about the woman in Chase’s life, which was entirely possible since I definitely didn’t ask. The only thing my best friend had made very clear was her displeasure about not having any nieces and nephews to adore. Well, and her two brothers’ lack of interest in getting married someday.
But that didn’t mean that there wasn’t a female in Chase’s life. How could there not be? I’d actually been surprised when he’d shown up solo for his sister’s wedding.
Come to think of it, there hadn’t been a woman beside him throughout the period when Torie was recovering, either, which was…odd.
For a bachelor as eligible as Chase, it did seem bizarre that I’d never seen him with a woman since the end of his military career.
Then again, we could go a year or more without running into each other sometimes.
It had been well over a year since I’d seen him prior to today.
It wasn’t like I didn’t want Chase to be happy. I just hadn’t wanted to watch that happen…up close and personal.
Dammit! Why couldn’t I just get over this ridiculous infatuation with my best friend’s brother? It’s not like it would ever go anywhere. It hadn’t in the last decade, and I was quickly approaching my mid-thirties. Having a mad, decade-long crush on a guy that was completely unrequited at my age was nonsensical.
And I was a realist, through and through. An investigative journalist who saw raw truth and the worst of humanitarian crises around the world on a regular basis.
There was no such thing as fairy tales for me.
Yes, I’d had relationships over the last decade. Several of them. I’d even managed to forget about how ridiculously attracted I was to Chase while I was involved with someone else.
Then, I’d run into him again, and those silly emotions would rush back like they’d never left.
I couldn’t even say precisely why I felt this way.
It wasn’t just the fact that Chase was attractive. I worked in the entertainment and news field. I saw drop-dead gorgeous men every single day, but none of them made me feel like I was a moony teenager experiencing my first major crush.
There was so much more than just his gorgeous face and body that drew me to Chase Durand. Maybe that’s why I’d never quite figured out exactly how to shake those feelings off.
He grinned at me, and my damn heart actually skittered in reaction. I had to remind myself once again that Chase and I would never have anything other than a sibling like relationship.
“I definitely believe in love for Torie,” he explained. “No one deserves a happily ever after more than she does. What about you? I heard you were dating some A- list celebrity a while ago. Why isn’t he here today?”
I swallowed hard, trying not to remember how hurt and humiliated I’d been after that particular relationship had ended so publicly. Obviously, Chase paid no attention to the gossip rags or he would know exactly why Bradley wasn’t here.
“We broke up a while ago,” I said hastily, not really wanting to discuss my short-lived love affair with the famous actor. “We both had to travel a lot. It didn’t work out.”
He frowned. “I have a hard time believing that you gave up that easily if you really cared about him, Vanna.”
Damn! Chase obviously wasn’t going to let things drop until he got some kind of explanation. “He had no idea how to have a monogamous relationship, especially when I was away so much,” I confessed. “He couldn’t keep his dick in his pants when I wasn’t around.”
“That’s too bad,” Chase said empathetically. “Although I have no idea why he’d want anyone else when he had you.”
I assessed his sympathetic gaze as I answered drily, “Apparently, women were interchangeable for him. I guess he didn’t mind when I was out of the country because there was always another woman nearby. Lots of them actually.”
Honestly, I’d probably never been Bradley Warner’s type. But I’d thought that I’d finally found a guy who didn’t mind if I preferred spending more time traipsing around the world in mud boots and dirty jeans than attending swanky parties.
Obviously, I’d been completely wrong.
Whatever brief interest he’d had in a woman like me had faded just as quickly as it had manifested.
“Then he definitely didn’t deserve you,” Chase grumbled.
I tried to keep my tone light as I replied, “No worries. I don’t think my career is really conducive to a serious relationship anyway. My job takes over my life most of the time.”
“You need somebody who treats you a hell of a lot better,” Chase replied. “Don’t settle for anything less, Savannah.”
Disconcerted that I was actually discussing my love life with Chase Durand, I stood and took my mug to the sink. “I suppose I should get going back to my own room,” I said uncomfortably.
“Hey,” Chase said as he stood and moved toward me. “I didn’t mean to make you run off. Did that bastard really hurt you, Vanna?”
He stopped much too close to me as I answered, “Not really. We were only exclusive for less than a year. He was a big movie star. I do special reports on a small cable news channel.”
“Bullshit!” Chase said in a graveled voice. “Deadline America isn’t some small, insignificant television program. You’re famous because your work is incredible.”
I was surprised as I turned to him and saw the genuine expression on his face. “You’ve actually seen my specials?” I asked.
I was far from famous. I was simply a recognizable face for people who were into global current events and watched cable news. My show had amassed a decent following over the years, but I wasn’t that familiar to the general population. Being the dumped girlfriend of Bradley Warner had probably given me more notoriety than Deadline America.
He let out an exasperated breath as he pierced me with those beautiful gray eyes. “Of course I’ve seen them. What you do is riveting, even though it’s a little unnerving to see you in some of those locations. If that bastard didn’t love you for the intelligent, compassionate woman you are, he didn’t fucking deserve you.”
“He wasn’t the right guy,” I confessed softly. “I doubt any man will ever adore me the way Cooper loves Torie. Or the way any of the Montgomery brothers worship the women they love.”
I’d met Cooper Montgomery’s two older brothers, Hudson and Jax, at the reception. Maybe I didn’t know them well, but it was obvious that they were both wholeheartedly committed to the women in their lives.
Chase grinned. “The Montgomerys are definitely intense, but I can’t say that I’m not happy that Cooper Montgomery ended up falling in love with my little sister. He’d die before he’d let anything or anyone hurt her.”
I smiled back at him. “I doubt he’ll ever be a cheater. I don’t think he sees any other woman but Torie.”
Maybe I should be cynical after my own experience with a cheater, but I wasn’t. Not when I looked at Torie and Cooper together. It was obvious they had something special that I’d certainly never experienced in my own love life. But just because I’d never encountered it, that didn’t mean a love like that didn’t exist.
“Good thing for him that he doesn’t see any woman but my little sister,” Chase answered gruffly. “I doubt Wyatt and I could have stomached giving her away to a guy who wasn’t completely devoted to her. Torie has suffered enough.”
I immediately wanted to remind him that it was Torie’s choice who she married. I also wanted to point out the fact that he and Wyatt hadn’t literally given her away. However, for once in my life, I didn’t want to argue with Chase.
I knew what he meant when he said that Torie had suffered enough. I’d personally watched what she’d gone through, and seeing her with Cooper now made me want to weep with happiness.
And I very rarely cried over anything, especially not over something that made me…happy.
