Alpha Male Billionaire

By Lucy Landish

Beth Anne is a tough and driven career woman, but for everything she has fought for in her life, there is one huge hole. She has always wanted a family and the unexpected death of her mentors leaves her feeling lost and abandoned yet again. In an unexpected and unplanned holiday from her real life she meets a tall dark and very handsome stranger. He awakens her heart and her passions, making her question everything she has ever worked towards.

Ricardo may have all the money in the world, but he finds himself alone, his parents killed in devastating car crash. Trying desperately to fulfill their dreams rather than his own he meets the woman of his dreams, but has no idea how to admit his real identity and open himself up enough to let her into his life.

Two lonely people, who so desperately want a real and loving family - will they ever see past their own foolish mistakes and be able to forgive each other and themselves so they can open their eyes and see that everything they want is right under their noses?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lucy Landish
• Release date: Jun 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386539766

Book preview

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Epilogue

Chapter One

Beth Anne was extremely frustrated and quite simply, she had enough of her life. She was quite literally at the end of her ropes. Her skin was breaking out, her stomach always burning from the peptic ulcer she had developed since taking on this job, and she had no time to see a doctor to get it treated. She was living off of caffeine, antacids and sheer adrenaline, and she was pretty sure that they weren’t enough anymore. Her body was literally screaming for attention.

With one crisis after another, she barely had time to sleep, eat well, get regular exercise or to have some fun with friends and family. Ever since the owners of the company were in a tragic car crash, the pressure of the job had become almost intolerable. As the CEO of the exclusive chain of hotels, she had been expected to step into the owner position temporarily while the family prayed for a miraculous recovery of their loved ones. She had received a single, short fax from the family’s lawyer telling her that their son, Antonio Vinci, would take care of business matters when he could. However, he would not be around much until he took care of critical family duties. They emphasized that they had complete faith in her abilities to maintain and develop the business in his place.

Her friends kept telling her about the pictures in the tabloids and the latest headlines in the gossip magazines. However, she had no time to even try and check stuff out like that. The constant requests for money from his trust fund told her everything she needed to know about Mr. Vinci. He was apparently very handsome, clearly arrogant and a womanizer who thought nothing of spending massive amounts of his parents’ hard-earned money. Initially, she had been fuming at the idea that some upstart playboy could turn up randomly and completely change everything about the hotel company. She loved it and had worked so hard to help build it into one of the most exclusive in the world.

But now, after three months of no sleep and constant battles that seemed to have no resolution, he could have it. She had finally realized just how much work the inseparable pair had done. There was the pressure of business meetings and social events all over the world, which was necessary to keep the profile of their hotels high. Also, someone had to keep an eye on everything in every hotel, and every office. She had to admire them now, and to think she had always just dismissed them as frivolous figureheads that just got dolled up and schmoozed for a living. It turned out that everything was so much harder than it looked!

Ms. Caverstoni? the voice of her secretary through the intercom shocked her from her daydream. Mr. Livingston is on the telephone. Mr. Livingston? It took Beth Anne a few moments to remember the name of the lawyer whose name had been at the bottom of the fax a few months before.

I’ll take it, Amy, thank you.

On line one for you Ms. Caverstoni.

Mr. Livingston, Michelle Caverstoni.

Ms. Caverstoni, I am so sorry not to have been in contact before, but I am sorry to say that Enzo and Maria Vinci have both passed away. Mr. Vinci suffered a massive coronary arrest on Saturday night, and Mrs. Vinci passed peacefully this morning. The funerals will be next week in Sicily at their ancestral home. If you wish to attend my office can arrange this for you.

Beth Anne was astounded by the cold formality of this man. It had been painful enough having received only one fax and no further information. But to be told of the death of such a beautiful couple in such a cold and unpleasant way was completely unbelievable. However, she probably shouldn’t have expected much more given the scarcity and minimalism of the previous contact with the highly efficient and well-respected law firm. She had never seen such concise and to the point use of language or detail before. However, her warm heart just couldn’t fathom how you could work with the Vinci’s and not have any feelings for them as he had been their lawyer for decades.

Mr. Livingston, that won’t be necessary. I would be most grateful though if you could please fax, or email the details so that I can pass the word to their closest friends and colleagues. Thank you. She hung up the phone as she realized that the lawyer had already hung up from the distinct click she heard at her end.

Beth Anne could hardly believe it. She had been praying that the old saying of ‘no news is good news’ had meant that the couple had been recovering and would soon be back at work. She was stunned at the situation, especially since the son rarely showed up to assist at the office. That had made her feel that surely they would be back at work within days. They had been such wonderful mentors and had given her a numerous amount of amazing opportunities that most people her age wouldn’t even have thought was possible. They had trusted her with their beloved company and she finally broke.

With tears pouring down her face, the pain in her stomach and the exhaustion in every cell seemed to overwhelm her. She sobbed for what felt like forever, until all cried out she tried to compose a memo to send to all the staff all over the world. The realization that they weren’t ever coming back, would never be there to encourage her and make her feel valuable left her feeling cold and empty. They treated her like family, and she felt as cold and empty as she had been when she had lost her own parents as a child.

Then there was the idea that their son would be the person who would be taking over the business. As far as she knew, he had no experience of running a major leisure brand or even so much as holding down a job. This worried her, and she couldn’t help but be fearful for her future and that of the company. She knew that whatever happened, she would have to hold his hand for months, if not years while he learned the ropes. She just wasn’t sure she could do that. She knew it was completely the wrong time to be doing so, and that she should wait until this overgrown delinquent son dragged his backside into the office before she set off.

Honestly, she simply couldn’t take any more of this, and if that cost her the job then so be it. She would be more than happy to go back to the regular chaos of just being a hotel manager, or even opening her own boutique in a quiet area. She certainly had the funds to do so now because she never had the time to spend the money she earned. She would attend the funeral, pay her respects, and then take a well-deserved break to enjoy the sun, sea and peace that Sicily was so famous for. She wanted to take some time away to start making plans for a future that didn’t involve high quantities of antacids and zero social life!

The funeral had been beautiful. The simple Catholic service was so comforting in its familiarity, even though it was in a foreign language. Ricardo just wished he had been able to hold in his grief better, to be able to hide behind a mask of nonchalance and arrogance. Ironically, these were the same traits he claimed to possess by the many tabloids who took such pleasure in hounding his every step. Family mattered immensely to the passionate Sicilians, so why should he be any different?

Ricardo had