Reckless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series Book 2) Read online

  Every one of those words sunk into her and Malia tried to form speech. Why was she fighting this? She sure as hell believed that he would make it good for her. Hell, she was halfway to orgasm after just a kiss. What would happen if it was just the two of them and a bed?

  Somehow she found a spare bit of reason left and managed to say, “I just met you.”

  “But it was a really nice meeting.”

  Malia smiled and Robert kissed her again, a quick brush of his lips against hers. “Tell me what I have to do to talk you into coming back with me.”

  She finally forced herself to disengage from him, letting go of his shirt and stepping back so she could actually breathe. Practically, spending the night was a horrible idea. Her bike was locked up a block away, and she didn’t want to be going home in the middle of the night. It was bad enough that she’d waited until dark.

  And she certainly couldn’t stay with him until morning. “I have to leave. For real this time.”

  He sighed and she knew he was finally starting to believe her. “Can I walk you home?”

  She shook her head. “Biking home. Sorry.”

  “Well, damn then.”

  “We’ll always have the green flash, though!”

  Robert didn’t laugh at the half-assed attempt at a joke. “I don’t like to lose.”

  “I didn’t realize I was a prize.”

  “At least in my game we both win.” Robert reached behind him to pull something out of his pocket. It looked like a little piece of paper. A business card. “If you change your mind, give me a call.”

  That wasn’t going to happen. Either way, she took the card. “Have a nice night, Robert.”

  “I’ll be thinking about you, Malia.”

  It gave her much more of a thrill than it should’ve to hear her name on his lips. “Don’t think too hard. I’m not worth it.” Malia finally forced herself to turn away and start on her way home. She forced herself to keep her head forward and not look back to see what Robert was doing. Was he still watching her leave? Or had he turned away already, heading back to the crowds of the resorts along Waikiki Beach?

  It wasn’t until she reached her bike that she allowed herself to look at the card he’d given her. Not that she was going to call him. Now that she was away from him, she was certain his spell would wear away and she could go back to being her sane, rational self.

  Even so, it would be nice to know a last name. The second she turned the card over in her palm, the entire world started to spin. Robert Farrell? The Robert Farrell?

  Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no. Could it be a different Robert Farrell? Maybe a different Robert Farrell who happened to work at Farrell Enterprises? A different Robert Farrell whose father just died?

  Oh no. What had she done?

  So this is what time to myself feels like. Felt kind of like a punch in the gut. A punch in the gut combined with a now raging hard-on.

  Robert didn’t know what the hell he’d been thinking. The entire beach was filled with sexy women wearing bathing suits smaller than most lingerie, but he had to focus on the girl who’d looked as though she was about to bolt the second she’d noticed him watching her.

  Not that he could help it. She was just so damn watchable. Her wavy, light-brown hair was almost the same color as her tanned skin, and her dark, deep-brown eyes were impossibly big. He could stare into those eyes for hours, watch them fill with desire or narrow as she tried to figure out whether he was bullshitting her.

  He had a feeling that when he called her beautiful she was surprised, and someone that sexy should never be surprised by a compliment. Even though he’d given her his card, he had a feeling she wasn’t going to call. Just his luck. Maybe he should’ve pulled out the billionaire card. Not an actual card, of course, but maybe he could’ve worked it into conversation. Plenty of girls would’ve fawned all over that, but he had a feeling Malia wasn’t as easily impressed.

  If she were, she would’ve asked more questions about him. What his job was, what resort he was staying at... All things that could indicate how big his savings account was.

  He brought the empty beer bottle to his mouth, hoping to get a few more drops, but it was bone-dry at this point. Probably for the best. He couldn’t drink any more tonight. The time for relaxing was over. He’d probably hole up in his room with his computer and try to get some work in. There had already been two different deals that had fallen through this week and it was only Tuesday. Between picking up those pieces and having Jean and Colin fly in tomorrow, he wasn’t going to get much more done.

  The lights got brighter and the sounds grew louder as he got closer to the Farrell Hawaiian Luxury Resort. The building was thirty stories of lush suites and lavish amenities. First stop, the bar. But not to refill his beer.

  The bartender, who he’d gotten to know a little bit earlier, was a local named Moe who probably tipped the scales around three hundred pounds. He told jokes funny enough to get the whole bar laughing and made drinks fast enough to have an overflowing tip jar. Not the worst job for a local.

  Robert leaned against the bar and set down the empty bottle. Moe was immediately in front of him and Robert wasn’t sure whether it was because he knew he was the owner or whether it was a slow night.

  “Welcome back, Mr. Farrell. Can I get you another cold one?”

  Robert shook his head even as he pulled out his wallet and set a hundred on the bar. “No, but I could use help with something else.”

  Moe slid the money closer to him before he slipped it into his back pocket. “You name it.”

  “I just met a woman on the beach. She seemed really knowledgeable about the island and mentioned that she gives tours, but she left before I got her number. Since I have family coming in tomorrow, I wanted to book her to give a tour. Think you can get me a phone number?”

  Moe narrowed his eyes. “I don’t give out women’s numbers to men without talking to them first.”

  “It’s not like that, promise.” It was absolutely like that, but Robert knew his poker face was good enough to cover even the biggest lies. “Her name was Malia and it sounds like she’s kind of known for doing tours and stuff. Ring a bell?”

  The suspicion immediately disappeared off Moe’s face as he let out a deep laugh. “Malia? Oh, yeah, I’ll give you her number.”

  Robert wasn’t sure whether he was happier about how easy it had been or pissed that Moe was so willing to give her number out. “You’re not worried I’m trying to take advantage of her?”

  “Hell no.” Moe took out his phone and scrolled through until he found her number in his phone. “Malia is a stone-cold bitch but, like, in a good way.”

  Robert copied her contact information and tried to hide his disbelief. Nothing about Malia had been cold. Skeptical, maybe. But not cold.

  “Thanks for the help, Moe.” Robert pocketed his phone. He started to leave, but stopped and turned back to Moe. “One more thing.”

  “Whatever you need,” said Moe.

  “If you give Malia’s phone number to anyone else, you’re fired.”

  “Robert!” squealed Jean as she ran from the baggage claim to give him a hug.

  Robert braced himself as his half-sister ran into his arms and wrapped him in a tight embrace. Considering he didn’t even know he had a sister a few months ago, he still wasn’t used to all the hugging. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t remember Jean being this affectionate either.

  Colin Carter, Jean’s boyfriend, rolled both of their suitcases over to where Jean was still hugging Robert. “You’ll have to forgive her. It was a long flight and she’s just happy she can stand.”

  Jean let Robert go and glared at Colin. “I can barely handle the flights from Arkansas to New York. This was crazy. The connection from LAX to here was longer than the flight across the country. We flew over more water than land.”

  “They don’t call it the blue planet for nothing.”

  Jean smirked at Colin before she turned back to Robert.
“Luckily, his smartass side survived the trip.”

  “Well, the car is waiting outside, so we should get a move on. I know you’re both probably exhausted.”

  Jean’s red eyes told him she hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep on the plane, but she practically vibrated energy. “We can’t sleep! We’re on an island! We need to explore! Why didn’t you tell me that half the airport doesn’t have walls? I didn’t even know there were buildings without walls.”

  She must’ve been talking about the corridors in the airport that were open to let the ocean air blow in. “The lobby of the resort is open too. As long as the roof is big enough to keep out the rain, you can get rid of the walls.”

  “That is so cool!”

  “I think you’re too tired.” Robert didn’t think he’d ever been so enthusiastic traveling anywhere, even when he was a kid. He was raised to think that jet-setting and exotic locations every other month was a normal thing. Jean had never been anywhere. She didn’t know her father had been a billionaire until after he died and left her one fifth of his estate in his will.

  “I’m sure we’ll see everything,” said Colin. “But today we can hang out on the beach and plan out the rest of the week.”

  Jean turned to Robert. “Will you be able to get any beach time with us?”

  He wasn’t really the hang out on the beach type. “I have meetings scheduled all afternoon. You two can get to know the resort and we’ll meet up for dinner. Then I’m working on getting some private tours for you later in the week.”

  “Private tours?”

  “Someone who knows the island well will take you around to show you the things most tourists don’t get to see.” They got outside the baggage claim and Robert led them to the limo he had waiting. “I figured you’d want to arrive in style.”

  Jean shook her head even as she smiled. “You’re so crazy,” she said as the limo driver came around to help put the luggage in the trunk. During the drive to the resort, they talked about the flight and how her house hunt was going.

  Once they got to the resort, Jean asked Colin to take the bags to the room and promised to meet him back down by the lobby in a few minutes.

  Robert watched Colin disappear into the elevator before he turned to his sister. “Why do I have a feeling you’re trying to get me alone?”

  “Probably because I am trying to get you alone. You haven’t been returning my calls.”

  Robert winced as he took a seat in one of the sofas in the lobby. “I returned all your calls.”

  “Your assistant returned all my calls. I thought we were going to try to give this whole...brother-sister thing a try.”

  “You’re here. I’m here. I’d call that an effort.”

  She didn’t look even remotely convinced. “If you were anyone else, I’d say that an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii is a grand gesture.”

  “I don’t get any brownie points?”

  “No, you get plenty. I’m just worried that you’re going to be off working or whatever it is you do all week while I’m on vacation and we won’t actually be able to see each other.”

  Damn it. How did she know that? “I would like nothing more than to spend all week with you, but I am here working. Sometimes my schedule becomes unpredictable.”

  “How many vacation days have you actually taken in the past year?”

  “That’s not really fair. This year was a bit of an exception.” Sometimes it felt as if he’d been playing catch-up ever since Walter had been murdered. Everyone he dealt with either thought he was an asshole and too much like his old man or they figured he was nowhere near as smart as the dead bastard had been.

  “You need to take some time for yourself or you’re going to go just as crazy as Walter.”

  “You think my father was crazy?”

  “Our father. And I prefer to think that severe mental illness made him the man he became.”

  Robert couldn’t help the bitter smirk. Jean was pretty cool. He hadn’t known what to expect when he found out he had a sister out there somewhere. He’d imagined a fame-hungry girl who’d be eager to wiggle her way into the spotlight and get her hands on the fortune Walter had left to her. But Jean had been about as wary of the family as they had been of her, and, better yet, she hated the fascination the media had with her story. She seemed to genuinely want to be a part of the family, which was damn depressing considering how fucked up the family was.

  He was willing to work on it and tried to make an effort to include her and make her feel welcome, but if she thought she could make some distant diagnosis of what made Walter such an unbearable human being when she’d never actually met him, she was mistaken. “I will make an effort to spend time with you. I really will. But not today. And probably not tomorrow. But the rest of the week, I’ll try to keep my evenings free.”

  Just then, Colin emerged from the elevators and strode over to them. It was still hard to stomach the idea of Colin Carter doing anything at all with his new sister, but he was ninety-five percent convinced the man’s intentions were honest.

  Robert had known Colin for years. Colin was Walter’s go-to man for any job that was too dirty or illegal for the books. After Walter died, Colin was the one who had tracked down Jean and told her about the fortune she’d inherited.

  Robert and Nathan had both warned Jean away from Colin, but apparently they really did have feelings for each other. Considering it was the twenty-first century and he wasn’t actually legally allowed to lock his sister in a tower to protect her, he was determined to be nice and cordial to the man he’d always had to keep a distance from.

  Even so, he tensed as Colin set his hands on Jean’s shoulders, bending down to press a kiss to the top of her head. “Hey, babe.”

  “Hey, stranger.” She craned her neck to look back at him. “How’s the room?”

  “It’s amazing. I think your brother gave us the best place in the hotel.”

  “Resort,” said Robert. “Considering everyone here pays a thirty dollar ‘resort fee,’ that distinction is really important to us.”

  “I can’t wait to see the room!” Jean stood.

  “The room can wait. You two need to look at the beach. There’s a reason Waikiki Beach is world-renowned.”

  Her eyes lit up and he could tell she was torn between talking with him more and running to dip her feet into the warm ocean water. Colin made the decision for her as he bent down and whispered something in her ear. Jean’s smile got even bigger and Robert was extra thankful that he didn’t have to hear whatever Colin had said.

  “We’re going down to the beach, but you tell us when you’re free for dinner, okay?” she said.

  Robert nodded. “Of course. You two go have fun.”

  Colin gave him a quick nod before he took Jean’s hand and led her to the bright spring day outside.

  Robert checked his phone for the time. He needed to be at the conference room in fifteen minutes for a meeting with the resort’s finance department to go over the latest reports but he had time for a quick phone call. He dialed his assistant, Jonathan, who answered immediately.

  “Hello, sir. I hope your trip is going well?”

  Jonathan was an employee he’d inherited from Walter, and as much as he’d tried, he couldn’t get the ambitious young MBA to stop calling him sir. “Did you get a hold of that tour guide I mentioned?”

  “The first name and phone number? Yes, she called me back this afternoon. I booked a boat ride for your sister and her boyfriend.”

  “A boat ride?”

  “A sixteen-foot Boston Whaler. Apparently it goes from ten a.m. to three in the afternoon. They can go wherever they’d like. She said the views are great; there’s fishing, sunbathing, and sea turtles. It seemed like the best option. Will that be a problem, sir?”

  “No, that sounds great. How much was it?”

  “It’s a three-hundred-dollar minimum and an extra hundred for more than three people. But from what I understand, tips are accepted on excursions like
this, so I’d recommend your sister bring some extra cash.”

  “Why don’t you move any of my calls scheduled for tomorrow afternoon? Jean suggested I spend more time with her and I’d like to see this tour too.”

  “You’re, um, you’re sightseeing?” Jonathan sounded as surprised as Robert was at the prospect. But then again, Jonathan had never met Malia.

  “I think you’re right. The views will be gorgeous. I wouldn’t want to miss that.”

  Malia pulled the boat into the harbor and kept her eye out for the group she was supposed to meet. After the first phone call, she’d only been in contact via email, but she’d given the couple very specific instructions on how to reach the harbor and where she’d be docking the boat.

  The new Boston Whaler belonged to her buddy Chris, but he let her use it as long as she gave him a ten percent cut of the money she got from the tourists. Considering she was usually tipped generously, she still pocketed a few hundred extra bucks, less the cost of gas, and Chris was able to make money while he wasn’t even home.

  It was a cozy arrangement for everyone involved. Some days, if Chris wasn’t working, he’d even come out on the boat with her and the tourists, and they’d take turns giving the history of the island to the tourists.

  Nothing like being paid to spend the day out on your own boat.

  As much as tourists irked Malia, they weren’t so bad in small groups. If it was just two or three people, she could get a chance to know and relate to them. When she went to Waikiki and there were mobs and mobs of them, that was when all her alarms went off.

  Especially when people like Robert Farrell could be hiding among them and she’d have no idea until after she’d let him kiss her. Hell, after she kissed him. She couldn’t even pin all the blame on the billionaire bastard.

  She should’ve suspected. All the signs had been there! Even if his first name hadn’t tipped her off, he’d mentioned that his father had recently died. Malia remembered exactly where she’d been when the news article about Walter’s murder had popped up in front of her. She’d even gone out to the bar and celebrated. The only thing that would’ve made the party better was if her mom had been around to join in the festivities. Her mother was the only person she knew who hated the Farrells as much as Malia did.