In The Arms of a Donovan: A Sexy BBW Billionaire Family Series Romance (The Donovans Book 13) (13 page)

Brandon’s jaw clenched as he closed his eyes and then re-opened them. “Because they’re thinking there’s about to be a hostile takeover.”

“Exactly,” Ty said. “You know anything about this? Has your dad or your uncles said anything to you and the rest of your family about the state of the company?”

His father, Uncle Everette and Uncle Henry hadn’t been saying much to any of them lately, and what they did say, nobody wanted to hear.

“My cousin did mention that someone was buying up stock in the company,” Brandon said. “Which means that for some reason the stockholders are jumping ship.”

“I’ll bet if you find out who’s buying up those stocks you’ll figure out why the stockholders are bailing,” Ty said. “I’m sorry about this, Brandon. That’s why I didn’t want to wait until Monday to tell you.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that,” Brandon said. “Listen, I’m going to make a few calls and then I’ll probably be in the office tomorrow if you want to stop by and talk more about Margaret.”

“Now you know Felicia and my mother would kill me if I wasn’t in church with them tomorrow,” Ty said with a chuckle.

“I thought Felicia was on bed rest,” Brandon stated.

“She stays in the bed all day, every day, but gets up on Sundays saying the Lord is not going to have her go into labor during the two and a half hour morning worship service,” Ty told him. “I don’t know how she got this message from the Lord himself, but she’s seems pretty confident in that fact. So I have to be right there next to her, just in case her communication is off and she does go into labor in the middle of the sanctuary.”

Brandon had managed a smile. He was truly happy for Ty and Felicia. They’d married young and then separated, Felicia being fed up with Ty’s workaholic lifestyle. Then they’d reconciled and had their first child. Now, they were about to have a second one. Yes, Brandon was elated for not only his boss, but his friend and his family.

“I hear that,” he said finally. “Okay, so I’ll see you on Monday. But I’m still going in tomorrow to see what else Margaret has advised her clients.”

After ending the call with Ty, Brandon reached into his suitcase, which he’d brought up here earlier tonight, and pulled out his tablet. He searched for the email from Trent with the details about Dane’s financials. If he was the one buying up stock, the guy’s end game was pretty clear, to take over Donovan Oilwell. Uncle Henry ran the company’s Las Vegas office, along with Uncle Everette. Albert had always maintained the home office in Houston. There was one more arm to the family company and Brandon figured he’d better find out if his cousin who ran the UK office was feeling the same type of heat the US companies apparently were.

He dialed the number that he had stored under the name, Roark Donovan.

Chapter 11

Chicago

Two years ago Elder had surprised Zelda with a remodeled kitchen, using all the ideas she’d bugged him about over the years. Now the area was bright with white, cabinets, subway tile backsplash and granite countertops. The floor was a lovely medium-sized slate gray tile that perfectly accented all of the stainless steel appliances. Amber’s favorite spot in the kitchen was the white pedestal table with its stone-washed wicker chairs. She’d missed sitting here and looking out to the back yard through the arched windows.

“So, did Amber tell you that she met a guy on the ship,” Fiona said casually as she leaned over the island to dip her spoon into the spaghetti sauce her mother had simmering on the stove.

Today, with the kitchen full of her parents and siblings, Amber wondered if she should have taken another day to herself before coming to visit with her family. Of course, Fiona wasn’t asking anyone in particular, just posing the question to everyone in the room, knowing full well that Amber hadn’t told anyone but her about what happened on the cruise. Clearly that had been a mistake.

“Oh that’s sexy,” Rita said. “Donnie and I loved walking along the deck and looking up at the moonlight when we went on our anniversary cruise last year.”

Donnie had been Rita’s boyfriend for the last six years. Zelda asked about them marrying so much in the first three years that finally, everyone accepted the couple was never going to get married. Their live-in relationship worked fine for them, so Rita said, which meant there was no need to change what wasn’t broken. Amber figured that was a good idea, especially since her sister and Donnie were a cute and loving couple. What difference did it make if they were legally married or not, they were as committed—maybe even moreso from the stories Amber had heard—as any other couple with a state license.

“Was that smart?” Delta asked. “Having a fling on a boat? Where’s this guy from? Are you planning to see him again?”

The queen of questions and suppositions, Amber thought with a sigh.

“We just had fun for the days we were on the ship,” Amber told them, not even bothering to send Fiona the evil eye. Her sister would only resist looking at her, or worse, ignore her irritation. Out of all of them, Fiona was also the best at ignoring someone or something.

“Fun in the sun,” Freddie quipped.

He was Fiona’s twin and polar opposite. Where Fiona had height and curves for days, Freddie was even taller at six feet two inches, and rail thin. Like JJ Evans thin, which only worked because he loved to play basketball and even coached a team at one of the public high schools in the city. Freddie also had a joking, non-judgmental and non-confrontational demeanor.

“What’s his name?” her mother asked.

Amber hadn’t missed the knowing glance that had been shared between her parents. Her father sat in one of the wicker chairs across from her, while her mother moved between the stove, the refrigerator and the island where she supervised Delta cutting vegetables for the salad and continually swatted a hand at Fiona, who was determined to taste everything that was being prepared.

“It really doesn’t matter because he lives in Houston and I live here,” she told them.

“But he has a private jet,” Fiona added. “Or at least his family does.”

Amber did send Fiona a searing look at that point. How the hell did she know what Brandon had?

“His family owns a jet?” Freddie asked. “Who’d you meet, one of the Jacksons?”

Rita shook her head. “Nobody wants
any
of the Jacksons,” she said with a frown.

Delta laughed. “Ain’t that the truth.”

“A long time ago that wouldn’t have been the case,” Elder said contemplatively.

He’d returned his attention to the Sunday newspaper, even though his ears were all in the conversation going on around him.

“I remember girls screaming and yelling over Marlon and Jackie,” Zelda added.

When nobody immediately replied to that statement, Rita reiterated her stance by saying, “Like I said, nobody wants one of the Jacksons, now.”

“So who is he and just how much money does he and his family have?” Jazz, the brother that separated Amber from Rita and Delta in age asked.

Jazz worked at a marketing firm, a job he’d only taken out of college to help repay his student loan bills. He really wanted to be a singer—and no, he swore his real name—which was Jazz Martin—had nothing to do with that. Jazz wrote music and sang in a band at a local club, but that was as close to his dream as he’d made it so far.

“His name is Brandon,” Amber said because she knew there was no getting out of this conversation now. She reminded herself to pinch Fiona later.

“Brandon Donovan,” Fiona added, this time with a wink in Amber’s direction.

Yeah, she was so regretting answering her sister’s early morning call and confessing everything that had happened over the last week. Luckily, she’d been too embarrassed by what had happened last night to divulge any of those details.

“Never heard of him,” Freddie said and continued to stack the cans in the pantry across the room. That was the assignment given to him for the duration of his life, since he was the only one tall enough to reach the top shelf without the help of a step stool. Freddie always joked about what Zelda would do once he moved too far away for her to simply call and ask him to come over and get something down for her.

“I hadn’t either,” Fiona admitted. “But I googled him this morning. They are loaded.”

“Yes, they are,” Jazz said. “The family started in oil and then the different children have branched out into their own wealth.”

“He’s just a guy I met on a boat,” Amber said and looked out the window.

She really did hope he was just a guy on a boat. To tell the truth, she’d googled Brandon and his family too, so she did know how much money they had and that they owned a private jet, and an island. None of that mattered to her because he was…just a guy on a boat.

“With a trust fund and a mansion,” Fiona quipped.

“He doesn’t live in the mansion in Houston. His father does. Brandon has his own apartment,” she said and then fell silent when she realized everyone was looking at her and no doubt hearing how defensive she sounded.

With a heavy sigh and a love/hate relationship with her nosey family, Amber decided there was only one thing to do now.

“Brandon and I met on day two of the cruise. We spent every day together after that. He’s a really nice guy who makes me laugh. He works in compliance and has no intention of ever leaving his home in Houston. So there, that’s all there is to know. Can we have dinner now?”

“Dinner’s not ready yet,” Zelda said matter-of-factly.

“You should stay away from him,” Jazz warned.

“Stay away from a handsome rich guy that makes her laugh? Why would that be?” Rita asked.

“Because his family’s bad news,” Jazz said.

Amber looked to Jazz then.

“How do you know that?” she asked.

“They’ve been in the news lately. Murder, escaped convicts, sex scandals. I’m surprised neither of you saw that in your Google search,” Jazz said with a frown.

Elder put his newspaper down and looked at Amber.

“I didn’t see any of that,” she said quietly.

The response was to her father who was looking at her as if he wanted to say “oh no, not again.” No, it wasn’t happening again was what she wanted to reply. She wasn’t walking blindly into a toxic relationship that she would have to struggle to dig her way out of. Not again.

“We talked like two people on vacation, about the present and nothing more. It doesn’t matter to me what his family does or did, he was just a guy on the ship,” Amber said and then got up from the table.

She went through the living room and to the powder room just off the hallway. There, she closed and locked the door behind her, wondering, for the first time, just who the hell Brandon Donovan really was, and why it even mattered? Why was her heart thumping in her chest as she’d heard the words “murder, escaped convicts, sex scandals”? It didn’t matter because he was just…no, she thought as she closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the door where she leaned. Brandon was not just a guy on the ship. She knew that, even before her phone vibrated in her back pocket and she pulled it out to read the message.

I’m sorry for last night. Never done that before.

Amber hadn’t heard from Brandon all day. Then again, after the early morning call from Fiona, she’d kept pretty busy, finishing her laundry and doing some basic housecleaning until almost noon. Her afternoon had consisted of going through all of her mail and running errands, until finally she’d ended up at her parents’ house for the dinner that her mother was not going to allow her to cancel or postpone this time. She’d known that each of her siblings would be there, they hadn’t seen her in almost a year and that was a long time for a family as close as theirs. So, to a great extent she’d been really excited about the visit. Now, not so much.

No need to be sorry. It was my first time too.

She replied to Brandon and put her phone back into her pocket. Moving to the sink she turned on the water and splashed some onto her face. Overreacting wasn’t usually her style. Running away, definitely wasn’t something she did often, even when she should have. Everyone in that kitchen would attest to the fact that Amber should have run away from Billy months after she’d begun dating him. With a shake of her head and after taking a deep breath, Amber vowed to regain her focus.

But when she stepped out of the bathroom it was to see her father standing in front of the door.

“Hey daddy,” she said, dropping her hands to her sides.

“Are you planning on seeing this Donovan guy again?” Elder asked without preamble.

Later, Amber would ask herself why this conversation was continuing when she’d told everyone—a couple of times—that there was nothing serious going on between her and Brandon. For the moment, however, she shook her head.

“He lives in Houston and I live in Chicago. We’re not exactly close enough to go out on another date,” she replied.

“That’s not what I asked you,” her father responded.

“No. I’m not planning to see him again,” she said, which wasn’t a lie. He hadn’t asked her if she were going to talk to Brandon again. That, Amber imagined, she would, regardless of whatever her brother was talking about.

“That’s probably for the best,” he continued. “There’s no need asking for trouble.”

Amber looked at her father quizzically then. “What type of trouble are you talking about? Oh, you think because of what Jazz said he “heard” about the Donovan family that I would be getting involved in something dangerous?”

“I think that it’s always best to leave troubled people alone.”

“Brandon’s cousin was accused of murder months ago. He was since cleared of the charges. I already know that because my friend, Jenise, is his attorney.”

“Rich people can pay to make anything go away,” Elder continued, his strong arms folded across his chest.

His feet were planted a slight space a part as he stood there with what, Amber was just realizing, was his I’m-the-father-don’t-question-me stance.

“Jenise isn’t rich and she married Brandon’s cousin. She’s one of my closest friends and I trust her judgment. Besides, people often get the wrong idea about others that they don’t really know,” she said.

Amber wasn’t sure when this exchange became uncomfortable, but it was. She rubbed her palms down her thighs.

“And people don’t always know when there’s bad blood that they should steer clear of,” her father said after a few quiet moments.

“He’s just a guy I met, dad. There’s no need for all this ominous warning stuff. Now, you know mom hates when we eat late and I think the meal should be done by now,” Amber said and then walked away before her father could say another word.

She had no idea why he’d gone so serious all of a sudden and wanted to dismiss the interaction entirely, but she knew she wouldn’t. What she was going to do the minute she returned home, was call Jenise.

#

One Week Later

Houston

Tomorrow at ten o’clock in the morning. That was the time that Henry, Bernard and Albert were scheduled to have their DNA samples taken. The certified nurse was coming to Albert’s house, because that’s what Brandon had arranged. As for Dane, since they knew he was already in Houston because Bailey had seen him at the hospital, Trent had scheduled a meet and greet with the infamous ‘secret son’ for noon tomorrow. Adam, Linc, Keysa, Ian and Brock would be at the meeting as well. Bailey was already back in Connecticut finishing up a case she’d been working on there. Brandon had not returned to his apartment yet, because his father had been released from the hospital two days ago.

The world continued to turn, no matter the turmoil it may cost a person.  That’s how Brandon had been thinking lately.

He’d talked to Amber a few times via text. They hadn’t had a phone conversation since the night of the…interlude. Brandon would like to think he wasn’t nervous about speaking to her especially since he’d apologized and she’d brushed off the entire incident. Their remaining contact had been friendly, not romantic, but not stressed in any way either. He’d liked the fact that there was one part of his life that didn’t give him a headache or make him want to yell with rage.