The Barrington Billionaires Collection
Books 1-5
Danielle Stewart
Contents
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Fierce Love
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Wild Eyes
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Crazy Nights
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Loyal Hearts
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Untamed Devotion
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
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Fierce Love
About This Book
Telling James West he can’t do something is like telling lightning it can’t strike. The only thing that crosses his mind is “Challenge accepted.” Finally sitting at the helm of his family’s oil company, James is ready to conquer the industry. The gorgeous, mysterious woman who keeps crossing his path looks like the perfect distraction from the stress of his new role. He’ll have to choose between having her in his corner at West Oil or taking her to his bed.
Libby Saint-Jane has been living a lie. One she intends to protect at any cost. When she finds herself in over her head and on the verge of failure, will her boss, James West, bail her out or kick her to the curb? He may not be the solution for all her troubles but might be the adventure she’s been waiting for.
Chapter 1
Irony was a bastard, and James West Jr. couldn’t find a thread of humor in it. Not that cliché shit like a police station getting robbed or a marriage counselor getting divorced. He was plagued by a darker version of irony. But he wasn’t going to bend to it. He’d grab the problem by the throat and squeeze until it submitted to his will.
Building a network of contacts and capital, James was on the verge of launching the company that would change everything. His father, JW, the CEO of West Oil Sourcing and Distribution, could no longer deny evolving was the only way to survive in this market. But less than a month before James and his business partner, Mathew Kalling, could launch their new endeavor, JW was derailed by something else. A massive stroke.
“I may have been too hasty when I told you I had your back no matter what,” Mathew announced as he sunk into the office chair across from James. The shadows under his eyes were a reminder just how quickly Mathew had shifted gears and hopped a plane from Boston to meet James down here in Texas. His normally shaven face had the first signs of a beard, and his coal black eyes were bloodshot. James wasn’t one to bear-hug his buddy and thank him for the deep loyalty, but he hoped Mathew could see it in his face. They’d started out as two smart guys who thought they’d be able to get farther in the business world by working together. Willing to tolerate each other, driven by a common purpose. Over the years, even though they didn’t talk about it, they’d take a bullet for each other. But James was asking a lot of Mathew this time, and he could see the concern folded into his face. “I didn’t mean we should sc
rap all we’d been doing and come work at your father’s company instead.”
“It’s not his company,” James corrected as he signed another document and slid it to the side of the large mahogany desk. He rubbed at his temple just below his sandy blond hair and rolled the ache out of his neck. He’d barely slept since he’d gotten the news about his father’s stroke, and he certainly hadn’t relaxed. His tensed muscles were constantly flexed in a ready-to-strike stance. Staying busy made it possible to push out the image of his father in that hospital bed. “West Oil is my company now.”
There was power in his words, but the emotion behind them made his chest feel like a hollow stump. James had been waiting a lifetime to sit in this chair and do things his way, and now it was tainted. This wasn’t how he’d always fantasized his strategic takeover of the family business. Not by default or at the expense of his father’s health. It felt like cheating.
If anyone could understand, it would be Mathew. The two men met years ago in Boston and had one thing in common. Ambition. They had the world at their feet, both coming from wealthy families with established companies. For most late-twenty-year-olds in their position, it was easy to be seduced into a world of women, parties, and indulgence. But early on James could see Mathew was no more interested in those things than he was. It was about building something, about standing out. They’d never spoken about what fueled their drive, but James had figured over time that Mathew had something to prove to his family. Perhaps a good friend would have asked more questions, but James liked how little they knew about each other’s personal lives and histories. It was simple. Clean cut.
James knew Mathew was a native New Englander with healthy skepticism. As a kid from Texas who had a chip on his shoulder, James understood their friendship was an unlikely one, but it worked because they built it on the sole belief that they were more likely to succeed together.
And they had. For the past five years they’d risen from a couple of unknown kids peddling ideas about the future of the oil industry to finally being labeled as innovators and differentiators. The launch of their company would have been something to be talked about for years to come. But now, it was all on hold. And James was hoping Mathew would give him the benefit of the doubt even though the situation sounded like a nightmare.
“JW left very few instructions in the business contingency plan, but making me the CEO was first on his list.” James kept his eyes on the stack of papers in front of him as though this conversation wasn’t open to a litany of questions. Mathew wasn’t willing to ignore the elephant in the room.
“You call your father JW?” Mathew asked with a coughed out laugh. “I swear, how have we known each other this long and barely talked about this stuff?”
“I don’t always call him JW. For the last ten years I’ve called him an asshole, but I didn’t want you to be confused. We know a lot of assholes.” James leaned back in his father’s chair and smirked. It was easier to laugh it off than to admit the years of arguing with his father amounted to nothing more than a mountain being built between them. They had called each other names; they’d gone long periods of time not speaking to one another, all to prove their point, and now what did either of them have to show for it? West Oil was struggling to secure its future, and James was alienated from his family. Neither of them had won. And what else was there in life besides winning?
“You’re joking at a time like this?” Mathew asked with a judgmental raise of his brow. He’d always been better with holding his emotions in check than James had been. He had a poker face even in the most frustrating situations.
“There’s a company to run, Mathew. That’s what we should be talking about.” James blew out a deep breath and slid his hands behind his head as though nothing at all was bothering him. It wouldn’t do any good right now to tell Mathew that the thought of his father dying made his throat close up and his head pound. James wasn’t even sure how to articulate that, even though he and his father disagreed on everything, he couldn’t imagine living in a world where he wasn’t there to fight with.
“Why would he have left you the company if you two weren’t on speaking terms?” Mathew sat back in the high leather chair and folded his arms across his chest.
“Who knows?” James shrugged. “I don’t try to understand the man. I quit that game. You can’t rationalize with unwavering stubbornness.”
“Well, at least we can answer the age old question now.” Mathew smirked. “Unwavering stubbornness is a dominant gene, inherited by each generation.” Mathew’s body language relaxed and his voice softened. From a business standpoint the argument James was making was muddy at best. “I’ve always had your back because I think your ideas about taking the oil industry into the future are legitimate. But now I’ve got to consider your judgment might be too clouded. I’m not looking for soap opera family drama shit here. Business is business. If you hate your father—”
James felt a slash across his chest as though the words were a dagger. “I don’t hate my father,” he corrected. “Let me worry about my motivation.” James pressed his lips together and eyed Mathew challengingly. “You just worry about doing your job.”
“Very healthy,” Mathew replied with a sarcastic sigh. “What exactly is my job?” His eyes rolled dramatically, and his face reddened with frustration, but he beat it back. A skill envied by James who would easily be labeled a hothead.
“I’m not looking for a shrink; I’m looking for a chief financial officer for West Oil. Are you in?” James leaned across the desk and shot his hand out for a confirming handshake. Mathew made him wait, just for a beat, but the hesitation was intentional. “This company will be unrecognizable. Stronger than ever before. My father and I could never agree on the right way to do that. He had decades to run this company, and there is no security here now. The future of West Oil is hanging in the balance. I’m going to make sure the scale tips the right way,” James asserted.
“Because you want to prove him wrong?” Mathew asked skeptically.
“No. The way you’re saying it makes me sound like some heartless asshole. I’m not trying to one-up my father, who’s fighting for his life. I’m not going to prove him wrong. I just want to prove I was right. There’s a subtle but important difference.”
“You need to be medicated.” Mathew sighed, squashing the tension in the room again.
“I agree.” James laughed loudly as he pulled a bottle of thirty-year-old Scotch from his father’s desk. “JW won’t miss this bottle. He was so stingy with this shit. Never let me have any.” There was a lot in this office that had always been off limits to James. Now here he was at the helm.
“Should we swig it right from the bottle?” Mathew joked. “It’s not even nine in the morning. You think it’s a bit early?”
“Never too early to toast something. I’ll go find some glasses.” James poked his head out of the office and looked in either direction. There had to be a kitchen or a break room around here somewhere. All the offices, besides his fathers, had been demoed and redone since his last time here. Everything had shifted around.
Suddenly a woman passed him so quickly it felt like a shadow blowing by him. Not the normal pace you’d find in a professional office unless something was wrong. She was dressed in jeans, high riding boots, and a soft pink sweater. Not casual enough to be the cleaning crew and not professional enough to be an employee. The thought crossed his mind that he should ask her to point him in the direction of the nearest kitchen, but he hesitated, taking in her features as she looked at a piece of paper in her hand like she was reading a map.