For Richer, For Poorer: The Titan Billionaire Brothers (Duet Book 2) Read online

  For Richer, For Poorer

  The Titan Billionaire Brothers

  Book 2

  A.J. Wynter

  Copyright

  Copyright 2019 by AJ Wynter - All rights reserved.

  Editor: Theresa Banschbach www.icanedit4u.com

  Cover Design: Cover Couture www.covercouture.com

  Photo (c) Shutterstock/kiuikson

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third party websites or their content.

  All sexual acts within the book are consensual and the characters are 18+.

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Disclaimer

  Also By A.J. Wynter

  About The Titan Billionaire Brothers, Book 2

  Chapter 1 – Chase

  Chapter 2 – Emma

  Chapter 3 – Chase

  Chapter 4 – Chase

  Chapter 5 – Emma

  Chapter 6– Chase

  Chapter 7 – Sadie

  Chapter 8 – Chase

  Chapter 9 – Emma

  Chapter 10 – Chase

  Chapter 11 – Emma

  Chapter 12 – Chase

  Chapter 13 – Emma

  Chapter 14 – Chase

  Chapter 15 – Emma

  Chapter 16 – Chase

  Chapter 17 – Emma

  Chapter 18 – Emma

  Chapter 19 – Emma

  Chapter 20 – Chase

  Chapter 21 – Emma

  Chapter 22 – Emma

  Chapter 23 – Chase

  Chapter 24 – Chase

  Sneak Peek - Second Chances

  Connect with A.J.

  Also By A.J. Wynter

  Chance Rapids Series

  Second Chances

  One More Chance

  Accidental Chances

  A Secret Chance (Coming January 2020)

  Her First Time Series

  The Biker’s Virgin

  The Mountain Man’s Virgin

  The Rancher’s Virgin

  Her First Time Boxed Set

  The Billionaires of Torver Corporation Series

  One Perfect CEO

  One Perfect Boss

  One Perfect Billionaire

  One Perfect Professor

  One Perfect Fake Boyfriend

  About The Titan Billionaire Brothers, Book 2

  THE MOUNTAIN MAN IS broken.

  Not only that, he's rude, gruff, and a bit of an a@#hole.

  And his name isn't Jack.

  I know because I've been hired by his billionaire brother to bring him out of hiding.

  But I messed up, big time, and now I don't know what to do.

  Getting stuck in his cabin wasn't part of the plan.

  Neither was falling in love with him.

  I'm in way too deep to tell him the truth now.

  That last night together was a mistake of epic proportions.

  And now, I'm keeping two secrets from him...

  Chapter 1 – Chase

  THE WEATHER HAD TURNED. When I went to bed, the rain had been battering the tin roof but now the cabin was silent. The good kind of silent that only comes with the first snowfall of the season. The gray light of dawn was diffused as it came through my plaid curtains.

  I had been putting off repairing the fence around my garden and now with the turn in the weather, I knew that I had to get moving before the ground froze solid beneath my feet. I threw back the covers and shivered as my feet touched the cold floorboards. I pulled back the curtain and peered through the frosty windowpanes. The snow had been falling heavily on the mountain peaks for weeks, but today was the first day that my yard was covered in a blanket of pure white.

  I always loved the first snow of the year. It felt like a clean slate over all the rainy muddiness of fall – a new beginning. But this year was different. My past had come back to haunt me. I knew without a doubt, the woman I saw in town that day was Sadie Conway.

  By the frigid temperature inside the house, I could tell that the fire had gone out overnight. I shivered again as I pulled on my thermal long underwear and shoved my feet into my wool socks.

  “Get out of bed you two,” I ruffled the quilt, which was heavily weighed down by my two roommates. Prickles stretched, yawned, and then rolled onto her back; her little paws folded on her white chest. Dumpster also yawned, stretched, and then hopped off the bed to follow me into the kitchen. That tabby cat wouldn’t show her face until I got the fire good and roaring. My mutt, however, was always game for anything, as long as it included food, hence his name. He followed me into the kitchen and sat in front of his bowl waiting patiently while I lit the propane stove and pulled out the tin of coffee.

  “Shit,” I muttered to myself. “Looks like we’re going into town, buddy,” I said to Dumpster as I poured him his kibble. He wagged his tail and proceeded to inhale the bowl of food.

  Once suited up in my heavy canvas work pants, plaid wood coat, and black hat, Dumpster and I trudged through the knee-deep snow to my pickup truck. It was an old rust bucket; full of holes and its muffler was about to fall off, but the 4x4 still worked great – and so did the heat. I navigated down the rutted trail while the heater blasted hot air into the cab. Dumpster sat upright, eyes trained in the woods for squirrels or other creatures he could chase.

  The plows had already been down the main road, piling the bank high across my access trail. I gunned the engine and burst onto the highway. In less than forty minutes, I went from the pure unadulterated wilderness to the bustling Metropolis of Windswan – population 3,500. I pulled up in front of the false front façade of the general store, built in the seventies when Windswan had been a bustling frontier town.

  “Stay here,” I said to my dog and hopped out. I end up talking to my animals more than actual people. It’s probably not the healthiest thing to do, but they never talk back.

  I stepped into the store, the old bell ringing over my head as I knocked the snow off my big boots. Clyde, the owner, was leaning on the counter reading the newspaper. He looked up and grunted a hello at me as I walked by. I grunted back. Clyde was my favorite person in the entire town of Windswan. He never asked any questions, and today was no exception.

  I headed down the cramped aisles to the coffee section, for a small-town general store, Clyde stocked some quality beans. I picked up a few other supplies and headed to the counter. Clyde rang up my items on his old cash register and I paid him in cash like I always did. I stopped using credit cards years ago.

  Clyde handed me my change and then looked at me over the top of his round Santa Claus style glasses. “You ever heard of a guy named Chase?” he asked.

  My heart jumped into my throat. For anyone who cared to ask, I went by the name Jack.

  “Nah,” I shrugged. “Never heard of him.”

  Clyde turned to the mail slots behind him, the general store also function
ed as the post office and pulled out a letter. “This came, general delivery.” He set the envelope down on top of the plastic cases that housed the scratch-off lottery tickets. The name Chase Titan was clearly printed on the front of the envelope. “Why don’t you take this, in case you run into him.” Clyde tapped it with his forefinger.

  “Maybe I will,” I cleared my throat and shoved the envelope into my inside pocket with shaking hands. Clyde was no slouch. “You never know,” I said quietly. I looked at Clyde, wondering how he knew who I was, but he was already back to his newspaper.

  I packed my grocery items into a reusable cotton bag and turned to leave. “Who you are ain’t none of my business,” he said without looking up from the paper. “Ain’t nobody else’s either.” He licked his finger and turned the page.

  When I first moved into the bush outside of Windswan, I was a bit of a talking point. Over the years, the townspeople had gone on with their business and I had simply turned into Jack, the bushman. I kept to myself and nobody bugged me. I liked it that way. I was closest with Clyde, Bob from the hardware store, Marion, the librarian, and Ruth from the greenhouse. That was it.

  I supposed Clyde recognized someone who was trying to disappear. I nodded at him and rushed out of the general store and back to the heat of the truck. Dumpster had done a good job of fogging up the windows while I was gone, and I cranked the heat. While I waited for the windshield to clear I gripped the steering wheel with both of my hands and tried to slow my breaths. First Sadie, now a letter. I pulled my sleeve down over the back of my hand and rubbed at the fog on the windshield. I felt exposed out on the street, like a sitting duck, and the urge to get back to my cabin was fierce.

  I spent the rest of the daylight hours, and well into the evening, digging the holes for my new fence posts. The labor felt good; moving my body helped to keep my mind from that letter.

  When the last hole was dug, I put the shovel back into my tool shed and headed inside to clean up. I eyed the generator, wondering if the beast would start up for me if I ran out of hot water. I peeled off my sweaty clothes and stepped into the shower, turning the heat down so that the water was lukewarm, better a lukewarm shower, than a hot/cold combo. I had learned that from experience. I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. The fire was raging in the hearth while the radio crackled occasionally as I pan-fried a venison steak and broiled up some parsnips from my garden.

  The letter was sitting on the coffee table, so close to the fire that I could easily chuck it in and pretend that I never received it. Why the hell would I want to know what’s going on in the outside world? The red forwarding stamp glowed in the light of the fire. I wasn’t dumb enough to set up a post office box in the town where I was trying to disappear. I had set one up a few states over and added a forwarding address. They were supposed to change the name on any correspondence to Jack Smith. I guess that memo had been lost over the past ten years. This was only the second piece of mail I had received through the service. The first got the fire treatment and this one was headed that way too.

  I settled down into the leather sofa and opened up one of my library books. I read just about anything, and I currently was in the middle of a great thriller that was recommended by Marion, but the pages couldn’t hold my attention with the envelope lying on the table, practically calling out – open me, Chase. Open me.

  I missed my family so badly, it still hurt even ten years later. I would give anything to have my parents back and to get back into the good graces of the rest of the family. They hated me for what I did – and I don’t blame them. Sadie too wasn’t immune. Her mom was in the car with my parents when they all died. I not only ruined my own family, but I ruined Sadie’s too.

  She still looked as good as I remembered, although it took me a minute to place her. You know when you see someone out of context, like the time I saw Marion at the hardware store – I was used to seeing her with books in her hand, shuffling around behind the counter, not buying mouse traps at Bob’s store. Of course, I recognized Marion, but it took a minute. It was the same with Sadie, but as soon as our eyes met, I knew exactly who she was, and she had literally stopped in her tracks. Thankfully, I was beside my truck and able to peel the fuck out of there as she walked across the street. I couldn’t believe that my cover had been blown by a chance encounter. Now that the letter had made its way into my calloused hands, and I realized that it probably wasn’t a coincidence. They knew where I was.

  I set down my book, took a deep breath and dug my finger into the corner of the envelope. Avoiding this wasn’t going to help me out. If I wanted to pull the chute and get the hell out of dodge before the wrath of the Titan family showed up at my front door, I would have to act fast.

  But it wasn’t what I expected at all. It wasn’t a threatening letter from my brother or an accusatory one from Sadie; it was a formal letter, printed on Titan letterhead. I didn’t cry when I read the letter. I hadn’t even cried when my parents died. I’m not actually sure if I’m capable of it. I think that I might be broken in the emotions department – well, that is if you don’t count rage. I’m practically a professional at that one.

  As I finished off the letter, I didn’t know what I was feeling. I mean, my grandmother was as old as the hills when I left. It shouldn’t have been a shock that she had finally passed away, but she was one of those feisty women who seemed like she was going to live forever. The purpose of the letter was to inform me of the date for her will reading, which I had missed by over two months. I crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the fire, watching the Triton, Titan’s logo, disappear into the flames. I still had the inheritance from when my parents died. I had been living off the interest and hadn’t touched the balance at all. I didn’t need any more of Titan’s dirty money.

  I picked up my book and tried to get back into the story, but my mind kept wandering to my grandmother, Camilla. She died hating me, her grandson, blaming me for her precious son’s death. I wished that I could’ve said goodbye to her, but if I had dared to show my face in the city, she probably would’ve had her bodyguards put the boots to me.

  Prickles crawled up onto my chest, bumped her head into my chin and settled down, her purrs vibrating through my body. I looked into the fireplace; the letter was gone. I took a deep breath; I wasn’t worried about the Titans. They would get tired of looking for me like they had last time. I just had to keep a low profile until this whole thing blew over.

  Chapter 2 – Emma

  I COULDN’T BELIEVE that she asked me to this, to lie to Mike. I mean, he would get something good out of it; the story of the year. Still, he was a good boss and I felt guilty lying to him. I pushed open the door to the editor’s office and took a seat across from him while he was on the phone. I pulled out my laptop and scanned the proposed story idea that Sadie and I had come up with last night.

  Mike tried hard, but the journalism business was getting tougher and tougher. I watched as many of my colleagues gave up the fight and took jobs in other industries. The stories I’d been assigned lately were soul-sucking and to make matters worse, I had to resort to click-bait titles, Seven clues your husband is cheating on you and other gems, just to get anyone to read them. I used to spring out of bed, excited for my day. Now it was all I could do to get to the office by nine and churn out some piece of garbage story.

  My boss hung up the phone. “Sorry about that, Emma. Head office...” his voice trailed off. He was under pressure too.

  “That’s okay,” I replied.

  “What’s this pitch you’ve got for me?” He leaned back and his wooden chair, a relic from the sixties, creaked with his weight.

  “Well,” I gushed. “You know how dystopian stories get clicks right now?”

  Mike sighed, “Yeah.” The wrinkles on his forehead told me that he was not impressed with my opening.

  “Well, there’s this mountain town called Windswan.”

  “Never heard of it,” Mike muttered and glanced over to his computer s
creen.

  “Well, there’s this guy out there, living off the land.”

  “Okay. What’s your spin on that?”

  This was where I was going to hook him. “He’s a prepper.”

  “A prepper?” Mike finally looked away from his monitor and looked at me. “Is he crazy?”

  “Probably,” I whispered. It was a lie. Chase Titan wasn’t a prepper. He was a rich kid who had taken the whole ‘run away from it all’ concept to an extreme.

  “How does he think the shit is going to hit the fan?” Mike folded his hands on his desk in front of him and leaned forward. I hadn’t been familiar with the ‘shit hit the fan’ or SHTF, concept until the latest round of zombie TV shows. Now I knew what it meant: everything had gone horribly wrong, like nuclear wrong.

  “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.”

  “That’s going to be important for your story.”

  “So, you’ll let me do it?”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Tiger.” Mike held up his hands. “Tell me more. How are you going to find this guy, and what makes you think he’s going to talk to you?”

  “He’s a bit of a recluse, but I’m sure I can get him to open up.”

  Mike laughed. “You’re not exactly a girl scout, Emma. Maybe I should send someone who has some actual outdoors experience.”

  “No!” I interrupted, then repeated quieter, “No. I have a contact in the town who will introduce me. Only me.”

  “I want details Em. What he’s got stashed, how he’s going to deal with the fallout.” Mike rubbed his chin, musing, “I wonder what kind of arsenal he’s got there.”

  Sadie and I both knew about Mike’s obsession with preppers – and we knew that he would totally be into this story. He was playing right into our hands. I felt a little bad. I wasn’t going to come back with a prepper story, but I was going to come back with something better. The exclusive on what happened to Chase Titan. It was going to be big. This story was going to rejuvenate my career, it was also going to help out my friend Sadie. She was married to Chase Titan’s brother, Liam, and they needed him to come out of hiding and sign off on his inheritance. It was a win-win for everyone. Well, except Chase, but nobody really cared about that, the man was an outcast. I mean, I guess if I was responsible for three deaths, I’d probably go into hiding too.