One in a Billion

One in a Billion
Beth Kery

From prodigal daughter to billionaire heiress? The discovery that corporate mogul Lincoln DuBois had left her half his company rocked Deidre Kavanaugh’s world. After all, she’d only just learned that the billionaire could be her real father. And with his right-hand man Nick Malone up in arms, claiming her share of the inheritance wouldn’t be easy.Charismatic tycoon Nick Malone had his doubts about Deidre’s paternity claim, but it was hard to remain aloof when all he wanted to do was kiss her! Nick couldn’t seem to stop wanting to protect the rebellious beauty – or silence the desire to make her his own.And if her claim was true, Nick could lose half his inheritance. So why was he focusing on what he could gain…a lifetime of love with the woman of his dreams?

“I can’t, Nick,” she whispered. “It’s not right. You don’t trust me.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to deny it, to tell her his trust in her grew the more time he spent with her. He stopped himself when he realized how it would sound if he uttered those words.

She’d think he was saying it just to get her into bed.

He cursed under his breath and sat up. It felt like ripping off his own skin to separate himself from her warm, soft, supple body. He clamped his eyes shut and raked his fingers through his hair.

“You don’t trust me, either,” he muttered.

He glanced back at her, sorely tempted to touch her again … to draw her close. Her eyes looked huge in her delicate face. She wrapped her arms beneath her breasts, hugging herself. He was reminded of her vulnerability.

“Will you let me spend time with you now?” he asked. “For more than just tonight?”

Dear Reader,

I’ve often reflected upon how one action in time can have a ripple effect, how one choice can end up having huge consequences for generations to come. Deidre Kavanaugh, the heroine of One in a Billion, is at the mercy of choices that her mother made even before she was born. She’s the “secret baby” all grown up. She discovers her biological father, only to lose him, and in a matter of months, her life is forever altered when she falls hard for the wrong man—her biological father’s surrogate son and the coheir to his company and vast fortune. Nick Malone reigns in a world where rational decision making rules, but beautiful, feisty, independent Deidre has the tendency to drive logic straight out of his brain.

It’s not easy to forgive when wounds run so deep, to trust when one has known betrayal, to see faults in another, and yet still love. This is Deidre’s challenge, and her story is the perfect culmination of the Kavanaugh family’s struggles and triumphs. I hope you enjoy this love story about two very unique and memorable individuals and the power of forgiveness and acceptance.

Beth Kery

About the Author

BETH KERY holds a doctorate in the behavioral sciences and enjoys incorporating what she’s learned about human nature into her stories. To date, she has published more than a dozen novels and short stories, and she writes in multiple genres, always with the overarching theme of passionate, emotional romance. To find out about the Harbor Town series, visit Beth at her website, www.BethKery.com, or join her for a chat at her reader group, www.groups.yahoo.com/group/BethKery.

One in a Billion

Beth Kery

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

This story brings me full circle

in the Home to Harbor Town series,

so I’d like to thank all the readers who have

supported the books thus far in addition to everyone

who contributed to its evolution: my agent, Laura

Bradford, my editor, Susan Litman, beta readers Lea,

Mary and Sandy and of course, my husband,

who is forever patient with my never-ending questions

about business transactions or the specifics

of how this or that piece of machinery actually works.

My deepest appreciation to you all.

Chapter One

Clutching one of the delicate centerpieces from her brother’s wedding reception, Deidre Kavanaugh walked out of the near-empty ballroom alone. She was beyond grateful to have witnessed Liam’s happiness at marrying the love of his life—Natalie Reyes—tonight. Now that family and friends were gone, however, and the romance and gaiety of the wedding was over, she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed to be flying solo.

Again.

She didn’t have to be alone, of course. Staying at Cedar Cottage instead of at her sister Colleen’s had been Deidre’s choice. She was used to her solitary ways at this point in her life, and old habits died hard.

Of course, her mother, Brigit, had invited Deidre to stay at the family home on Sycamore Avenue. Deidre had politely refused and then tried to harden her heart when she saw her mother’s hurt, sad expression. Her refusal couldn’t have been too surprising, considering that Deidre held such anger toward her mother for keeping the identity of her biological father a secret for so many years. Deidre had only learned Lincoln DuBois was her natural father late last summer. If it hadn’t been for Liam and his Natalie’s investigation into their past, Brigit would have taken the secret to the grave with her.

A million stars sparkled against the backdrop of an ebony night sky when she walked out of the Starling Hotel. Liam and Natalie had chosen a windless, frigid night to celebrate their marriage. She took a deep breath when she walked out onto the steps, but it didn’t help much to revive her. The last three months of her life had been stressful … life-altering. She’d learned the identity of her biological father and then lost him to cancer within months of gaining that knowledge.

Deidre was exhausted, body and soul.

She paused on the steps, inspecting the little town by starlight. It seemed surreal to be back in Harbor Town. The quaint little community had once been the site of so much childhood innocence and bliss. It’d also been the place where she’d made the horrific discovery she wasn’t really Derry Kavanaugh’s daughter. Derry had had that truth confirmed on the same night. His consequent ragged emotional state was what had led to a traumatic car crash in which Derry had been killed along with three others. Deidre had left Harbor Town the summer before college and never returned—until last night.

She was in the process of searching for her rental car keys in her evening bag, clutching at the floral centerpiece the whole time, when a man called out to her. She came to an abrupt halt in the parking lot, her breath sticking in her lungs. She recognized that clipped, authoritative voice.

Nick Malone. Hearing it so unexpectedly here in Harbor Town set her immediately on edge. For some reason, one of the first things Nick had ever said to her when she told him about her discovery that she was Lincoln DuBois’s biological daughter popped into her brain at that moment.

You must have thought you woke up one day and won the lottery.

She spun around. His shadow looked large and imposing against the backdrop of the night sky.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Nick breathlessly.

“We have important things to discuss. I would think that’s obvious, following Lincoln’s death.”

His face was difficult to make out in the dim light, but what Deidre couldn’t see, she filled in from memory—the rugged, bold features, the cool, suspicious gaze that always seemed to be detailing her flaws.

“I can’t believe you came here.”

“I can’t believe you thought for a second I wouldn’t find you, wherever you went,” he replied dryly. “You knew the reading of Lincoln’s will took place yesterday at The Pines,” he continued, referring to Lincoln’s palatial lodge on the edge of Lake Tahoe.

Deidre shifted in her high heels anxiously. “My brother’s wedding was tonight. But you must already know or you wouldn’t have shown up here. I guess you’ve been giving more work to that private investigator you hired to snoop into my personal life.”

Her gaze dropped to his coat-draped, broad shoulders when he shrugged. “Nothing so melodramatic. Your sister Colleen told me about the wedding after Linc’s funeral. It didn’t take a detective to figure out you were probably here. As to your personal life, that pretty much became my business the day you told me about your claim to be Lincoln DuBois’s daughter.”

She tamped down her flare of temper at his arrogant presumption. “Lincoln was my father. I just wanted to know him. I’ve told you from day one I don’t care about Lincoln’s money or your precious company,” she said, referring to her biological father’s multibillion-dollar conglomerate, DuBois Enterprises, where Nick acted as chief executive officer. Nick not only ran Lincoln’s company: he was Lincoln’s protégé and like a surrogate son to her newfound father. As such, he seemed to think it was his business to question her every move and treat her like a conniving gold digger. It seemed an utter impossibility to convince him that she had no designs whatsoever on Lincoln’s wealth. She gave an exasperated sigh when he stubbornly remained silent. “Why should you care where I go? What difference does it make what I do, now that Lincoln has passed away?”

“It makes a difference. Look, why don’t we go and find a place to have a cup of coffee and talk?”