Prologue
Ryan Titan looked around at his empty home with satisfaction. He’d watched his two cousins settle down over the last couple of years, going from Seattle’s most eligible bachelors to happily married men and now he was left feeling like he was missing something.
His cousins, Derek and Drew were far more like brothers to him than cousins. They’d been raised next to each other and gone from poverty level to billionaire status together. They’d each done separate things in the business world but were by each another’s sides as they climbed to the top of the world’s richest ranks.
Ryan felt a bit excluded; as he watched his cousins find their true loves, leaving him behind for once. He was always welcome in their homes but now it was different. He was actually filled with envy as he watched them with their families.
There he stood in a new house without furniture. He shook his head as he wandered around the rooms, his steps echoing off the bare walls. He heard a knock at the door and heard it opening.
“Ryan, where are you?”
“I’m coming,” he called back, as he heard the voice of his nephew. Jacob rounded the corner and the breath was pushed out of Ryan’s body, as his thirteen year old nephew hurled himself into his arms.
“This place is great, Uncle Ryan,” Jacob said with enthusiasm. He raced off to check out the home. Ryan was glad he’d bought a place so close to his cousins because Jacob and the rest of his nieces and nephews could come over anytime.
“Nice place Ryan,” Derek said as he joined them.
“I’m lucky to have found a place so close to you and Drew. I already mapped out the backyard and we can make a trail between the properties. Then the kids can ride four-wheelers back and forth. We can make a killer trail for all of us,” Ryan said. He was excited to get started on the project. There would be no need for fences between the properties.
“Great thinking, cousin. You map it all out and I’ll get the people in to forge the trail,” Derek replied.
“Hey, maybe I don’t want to tear up my yard. What if I want to keep you hooligans out,” Drew jumped into the conversation. Both cousins ignored him, knowing he didn’t mean a word of it.
“Where are the ladies?” Ryan asked. He’d expected them to be right behind their husbands.
“They’re taking a spa day today. The young ones are at my house,” Derek answered.
“They’re already spectacular and in no way need to go to the spa,” Ryan told them. Both cousins nodded, as they worshiped their wives. However, they would go to the ends of the earth for them and give them absolutely anything they wanted.
“When are you going to finally settle down?” Derek asked him.
“You know me, I don’t want a lady coming into my life and messing with a good thing,” Ryan said. He had his typical cocky smile on his face but there was no real meaning behind his words. He was thinking being single wasn’t as great as it had once been. As he looked around at his empty home he thought it would be pretty great to share it with someone.
He shook off his melancholy mood and showed his cousins around. Unbelievably the home was even larger than his two cousins’ homes. He hadn’t planned on the huge place but the location is what sold him. He wanted to be near his cousins. The older he was getting, the more he wanted to slow down a bit.
Ryan was a phenomenal architect and remodeled historic homes, which was a hobby for him and not his main career. He’d made his first million in the stock market and his first billion through his many business investments. He had more money than he could ever spend in a lifetime and although he spent a lot of time in the office still, he took off when he wanted too, so he could pursue his love of historic properties.
Ryan called his secretary and gave her free reign on getting his house furnished, then headed towards the back yard with his cousins so they could plan the quad trail. The rest of the day flew by and Ryan forgot all about his troubles.
Chapter One
Nicole Lander parked her car, saying a prayer of thanks it had once again made it home. She was grateful each time she turned the key and the engine decided to turn over and work for another day.
She climbed the broken staircase, careful to not lean against the rusted out railing. She’d made that mistake once and had almost fallen through. The only thing that saved her had been her great reflexes.
She reached her door and inserted the key and spent the next couple of minutes wiggling it around until it finally grasped the mechanisms inside the knob and turned. She rushed inside, quickly relocking the door. She breathed a sigh of relief as she entered the safety of her apartment. She’d seriously be in trouble if someone was ever chasing her because she certainly wouldn’t be able to get inside quickly enough to save herself.
Nicole looked around the worn out studio apartment in disgust. It was scarcely furnished with second hand furniture, which had seen much better days. She tried to make her place as homey as possible but with her very limited budget there wasn’t very much she could do. She opened her refrigerator, only to spot the empty shelves and shut it back up. She was exhausted and only had a few hours to sleep before she had to report to her temporary job.
She was so exhausted she could barely stand on her feet. She was working about twenty hours a day, six days a week, plus a few hours on her seventh day. She couldn’t wait until she found a permanent, full-time job so she could actually have some decent hours. Between her jobs and visiting with her sister in the hospital she knew she looked like a complete wreck.
She fell face first on her bed and wasn’t happy when her telephone woke her up a short hour later. She crawled from the bed to pick it up because she knew it had to be important. “Hello,” she croaked into the phone.
“We’re looking for Nicole Lander,” said the voice on the other end of the line.
“This is Nicole, how can I help you?” she replied, a bit more awake.
“We have prescreened you for a full-time job and think you’d be perfect for the position,” the woman said. Nicole was on instant alert.
“I’d love to hear about it,” she told the woman.
“The position is for a live in housecleaner. You’d be provided room and board, plus a generous salary if you’re interested in coming in for an interview.”
“I’ll be there whenever you need me to be,” Nicole said, without needing to ask any questions. She didn’t care if she was scrubbing toilets all day, as long as she could get out of her current flat. “When do you want me?”
“You need to come into the office and fill out some paperwork. Confidentiality is a must while working for this client. You’ll have to sign papers you understand and won’t speak about what happens in the household. You’ll also be required to submit to a drug test. Your background check is already complete. If you come into the office this afternoon we can interview you. I want to let you know there are a few other people interested.”
“I’ll be down there in a half hour. I have no problem signing whatever you need,” Nicole told her. She hoped she wasn’t sounding too desperate.
“That sounds great, Nicole. I’ll be waiting for you,” she said before disconnecting the call. Nicole thought the client must be one of those wealthy hermits who didn’t like the world to see them. She really didn’t care. Her temp company wouldn’t send her to an unsafe place. Even if her room was tiny it would be better than the studio she currently resided in. She was on the verge of losing the place anyway because her sister’s hospital bills were depleting her bank account.
Even though she hadn’t gotten enough sleep, she was wired with excitement running through her veins. She jumped into the shower and made it to the offices in just under thirty minutes. She walked from the interview confident she’d be selected. By the time she got back home and crawled into bed, sleep overtook her and she felt some peace, which she hadn’t felt in too long.
When she got the call the next day, she hung her head and barely managed to hold the tears back. Someone else had gotten the position. She was running out of options. She didn’t know how she was going to take care of Patsy’s hospital bills and still keep a roof over their heads. She got dressed and headed towards her waitressing job, where she would be lucky to take home thirty dollars in tips for a ten hour shift. It wasn’t much motivation but it was better than nothing.
Three months later, Nicole sat by her phone trying to work up her courage. She had to call him, there was no other choice. Nicole was cringing at the thought of groveling at Ryan Titan’s feet but she really didn’t see any other options. Her sister needed the operation and as hard as Nicole worked she still couldn’t pay for it. The hospital didn’t care if it was a life or death matter. They only cared about the bottom line. She couldn’t believe they said it was an elective surgery. It was something slowly killing her though and not an emergency. They wouldn’t perform it without payment in full.
Nicole took a deep breath, with her hand resting on the phone. She’d been in the same position for the last hour, trying to force herself to pick it up. Her palms were sweaty and her heart was beating irregularly, out of control. The tear tracks down her cheeks had long dried but the terror was still there.
She hadn’t talked to Ryan in twelve years and the last conversation hadn’t gone well. He still believed she’d cheated on him. It had been so much easier to let him believe that but oh how it had broken her heart.
She told herself repeatedly it wasn’t about her. It was about her little sister and no matter how much he may hate her he’d always loved Patsy. There was no way he’d sit back and let her die when he could help her.
She wiped her hands on her jeans and picked up the handle of the phone, trying to control her trembling hands. She had to redial the number three times. She was shaking so hard she kept misdialing.
As the phone started to ring her nerves were at the breaking point. She was hoping it would go to voicemail. Then she could just leave a message and not have to face hearing his voice.
“Who is this?” a voice demanded, startling her.
“Th…this is Nicole,” she stuttered. There was an uncomfortably long pause on the other end of the line.
“Nicole who?” came the same voice, as cool as ice.
“Nicole Lander,” she said, barely above a whisper.
“How did you get my person number?” his voice demanded. She was thinking she’d made a really bad mistake. It sounded as if he didn’t even remember who she was. Maybe their time together had been far more significant to her than to him.
“I got it from your uncle,” she finally managed to say. There was another really long silence at her words.
“What do you want?” he demanded to know.
“I um, wanted to see if I could, um, talk to you about something important,” she forced through her trembling lips. “We used to know each other, a really long time ago, I don’t know if you still remember me,” she finished.
“I don’t have time to beat around the bush. Spit out what it is you want,” he demanded of her. She didn’t want to ask him for money over the phone but what choice did she have.
