Always Mine (The Barrington Billionaires, Book 1)
Read Always Mine (The Barrington Billionaires, Book 1) Online
Authors: Ruth Cardello
The Barrington Billionaires
Book One
Ruth Cardello
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When it comes to getting what he wants, Asher Barrington is a hammer who is known for crushing his opponents. From the moment Emily walks into his office and challenges him, winning takes on a whole new meaning.
The only thing standing between Emily Harris and her goal to open a museum for the blind is an arrogant, sexy as hell billionaire, who thinks sleeping with her will not complicate the situation.
He won’t change. She won’t back down.
But together they sizzle.
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An original work of Ruth Cardello, 2015.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, events, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book is dedicated to Jan, aka JS Scott. My writing journey has brought many wonderful people into my life; I love that you are one of them. You are one of the most giving people I have ever met, especially when people accidentally dine and dash. I hope just as much love comes back to you as you send out into the world. Your next drink is on me. Unless I have somewhere to go and forget to pay. . .then I’ll catch the next one after that.
Hate to say goodbye to your favorite characters? So do I, that’s why the gang from the Legacy Collection and the Andrade series are back in the Barrington Billionaires. You’ll love watching Dominic Corisi step in with his usual flair to save the day.
In this book, you will be introduced to Brice Henderson, Asher’s business partner. Pick up the first book in Jeannette Winters’ new series, ONE WHITE LIE. Not only do I love her writing, I love her. She is my sister, after all.
You’ll also meet, James West, the son a business competitor. My billionaire world extends into a yet another series, this one by Danielle Stewart. Book one: FIERCE LOVE.
Three authors, three series, all able to be read independently, but intertwined as only a family could weave them. I write about large families and the love that brings them back together. Who better to partner with for a new billionaire world than my sister and my niece? While we may not be billionaires, we certainly understand the challenges of a large family and, more importantly, the real blessing that being part of one is.
Excerpt from Maid for the Billionaire
Excerpt from Come Away with Me: Book 1 of the Andrades
Excerpt from The Billionaire’s Secret, by Jeannette Winters
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A
sher Barrington pushed
a small package off to one side of his Boston office desk and stood. Distant relatives had recently become persistently, tediously interested in opening a dialogue. The package was their latest attempt and would hit the trash unopened. Asher had little time and even less patience for “family” who had done nothing when his parents had needed their support.
His mother’s side, the Stanfields, and the Andrade family his Aunt Patrice had married into, were both extremely wealthy. Either of them could have come to the aid of his father and stopped him from losing his career, but they hadn’t. Why? Because no one respects a weak man.
Asher had been old enough to be shamed by his father’s scandal. When his classmates had heartlessly taunted him, Asher had discovered how very different he was from his father. He hadn’t retreated from confrontation. He’d gone after those who’d found enjoyment in his pain and had taken them down with whatever means was at his disposal. He’d been smart enough to keep the evidence of his retaliation off the radar of the school and his parents. Except for the time he’d taken on a bully. He’d made sure that fight was both public and final. No one had laughed at him after that day, and that win helped shape the man he’d become.
He’d taken his trust fund from his grandfather and built a financial empire with it. Regardless of how successful he became, he had yet to hear his father say he was proud of him. When they did speak of his business his father would only caution him to soften his approach, tread more carefully, risk less. That wasn’t how Asher operated nor was it how he wanted to. He had goals for himself and his company, and if that meant crushing his opposition, it was nothing more than the way of the world. Eat or be eaten. Expand or perish. Asher’s father had been a great man, but he should have fought harder for what he had. Asher was determined to not make the same mistake.
Nothing and no one stood between him and a goal. When Asher had first started his biochemical company and then expanded it by undercutting the prices of the competition, his father had said, “Be careful. When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Asher had given up trying to explain how the world worked to his father. His parents were perfectly happy in their middle-class home, driving their ten-year-old cars. They certainly weren’t poor, but they considered themselves better off for not having fought his mother’s family for anything other than their children’s trust funds. How a man who had once been one of the most influential US senators and a woman who’d been born into the top of the privileged one percent could be satisfied with obscurity was a constant mystery Asher had given up trying to solve. One of Asher’s brothers, Lance, believed their mother had been afraid of her father as well as her sister. Both were dead now so that was another topic that held little interest for Asher. Had his mother ever appealed to him for help, Asher would have dealt with both of them for her. He feared no one.
There was a light knock on the door and Ryan Corson, Asher’s personal assistant, entered. He was a reliable, unflappable, problem solver and that had made him an indispensible member of Asher’s team. He was paid well above his job description because he had proven himself in a variety of ethically complex situations. Asher didn’t need a conscience; he needed a team that would follow his orders without hesitation, so those were the people he’d surrounded himself with.
“Mr. Corisi is quickly becoming impatient,” Ryan said. “Shall I send him in?”
Asher sat on the edge of his desk and checked his watch. “Tell him I’m on a conference call for five more minutes.”
Ryan grimaced. “He may not wait.”
“He will. He’s curious.”
“I’ll tell him, but I’m guessing not too many people make Mr. Corisi wait for anything.”
“Exactly,” Asher said with a flash of teeth. Dominic was known for losing his temper easily. “Always play to your opponent’s weaknesses.”
Ryan gave Asher a curious look. “Is he our competition? He’s in an entirely different industry.”
Asher pushed off the desk. “Every person who is not on my team is against it. Remember that. Dominic is getting impatient. Good. Keep your opponent off balance and it’s easier to get information from them.”
Ryan neither agreed nor disagreed. He retreated to his office and to the likely unpleasant task of informing one of the most powerful people in the country that he needed to cool his heels for a few more minutes.
Asher slowly checked the messages on his phone, straightened the already straight papers on his desk, and finally opened the door of his office. “Dominic, thank you for coming.”
Dominic turned and gave him a dark look Asher pretended not to see. Dominic growled, “When you said it was a matter that couldn’t be spoken about on the phone, you piqued my interest.” Although Dominic didn’t mention it, his irritation at being kept waiting was obvious. “This had better be important.”
Asher smiled smoothly, deliberately ignoring that as well. “Come in. Ryan, hold my calls.” He waited until he knew Dominic was paying attention and added, “Unless it’s Freethy. Then put him through.” He heard Dominic’s impatient huff and hid his satisfaction at how easy it was to use a man’s pride against him. After closing his office door, he said, “Have a seat, Dominic.”
Dominic folded his arms across his chest and kept standing. “I don’t have time for whatever game you’re playing, Asher. What do you want to discuss?”
Asher rocked back on his heels and pocketed his hands in his trousers. “I need the name of your contact in Trundaie.”
Dominic studied him for a long moment, then said, “I don’t deal with unstable governments anymore.”
Asher smiled knowingly. “I understand. You have a family to think about now.”
“I do.”
“How is your wife? And your daughter—Judy, isn’t it?”
Dominic relaxed his stance. “Both are well. Judy just started kindergarten.”
“Wow, that happened fast.”
“It did. It feels like only yesterday I was learning to change a diaper. In a blink of an eye, she’s reading to me at bedtime instead of the other way around.”
Asher leaned back against his desk. “Tell me, how long do I have to pretend to give a shit about your family before you cough up your old contact in Trundaie?”
Dominic’s eyes narrowed, then he barked out a laugh. “You remind me of myself, Asher, and that’s not a compliment.”
Asher picked up a folder, took out a photo of an outbuilding that had been destroyed, and threw it on the table near Dominic. “I’m having issues with the rebels in Trundaie. We both know they don’t care why I’m there. This is extortion, plain and simple. I know they went against you when you were there, and you paid someone in the military to get them to back off. All I need is a name, and I’ll handle the rest.”
Dominic shook his head. “I told you, I’ve distanced myself from those contacts. Trundaie’s instability has increased since I was last there. I understand the temptation of fast money that can be made in places no one else will go, but don’t underestimate the price you pay for making those kinds of enemies.”
With a sarcastic chuckle, Asher straightened. “How does it feel to be a lion on a leash? We’ve worked the same international circuit for too long for me to believe you don’t still have your hand in it. The contract we have with Trundaie will open up the whole Asia continent to using our product. They pride themselves on their low prices, and using our synthetic material instead of oil will cut their production prices in half. We don’t have to stay in Trundaie. The government will purchase our facility once we’ve proven to them that it can be lucrative. Once we have them, the Western markets will cave because they’ll have no other choice. They’ll need either a facility or product from us. Maybe you can’t play in the big sandbox anymore, Dominic, but don’t begrudge me the pleasure. All I need is a name.”