Love Divested E-Book

Shyla Starr

• Herausgeber: Revelry Publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

Book 2 of the Persuasive Billionaire BWWM Romance Series

A BWWM Billionaire Romance Story

After Stacey lands a new job, she finds herself pulled closer and closer to the billionaire Tony.

***Due to sexually graphic content and language that some may find offensive, this book is intended for mature readers only***

Stacey discovers her world has turned upside down when she finds out that Charlie has a fiancée. Eager to set the record straight, she confronts him directly. When things get cleared up, Stacey cannot help but feel as if she is in over her head. Struggling with her job, her bills, her family and now a relationship with a billionaire proves to be too much for her. Stacey leaves Charlie to focus on getting her own life straightened out.

But life refuses to work out the way that Stacey wants. After she lands a new job, she finds herself pulled closer and closer to the billionaire Tony. As she struggles with her new feelings and her break-up with Charlie, Stacey must also deal with her grandmother's illness.

With Tina getting sicker, Stacey must make some tough choices. Her sister, Allison, refuses to grow up and get a job. Instead, Allison is convinced she can land a billionaire of her own.

Will Stacey be able to figure out how she wants her own life to go?

Download the book and find out what happens.

Leseprobe

WARNING

This book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language. It may be considered offensive to some readers. This book is for sale to adults ONLY.

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Please store your files wisely where they cannot be accessed by underage readers.

Copyright 2019 by Revelry Publishing

All Rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this book. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known, hereinafter invented, without express written permission of the publisher.

DISCLAIMER

This book is a work of FICTION. It is not to be confused with reality. Neither the author nor the publisher or its associates assume any responsibility for any loss, injury, death or legal consequences resulting from acting on the contents in this book. The characters, incidents and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. Every character in this book is over 18 years of age. The author’s opinions are not to be construed as the opinions of the publisher. The material in this book is for entertainment purposes ONLY. Enjoy.

Other books by Shyla Starr:

Tenacious Billionaire BWWM Romance Series

Adalia is too proud to accept help from the billionaire playboy, Trent Dawson. How long can she maintain her resolve? The bank is at her heels to repossess her business. To make matters worse, Adalia finds suspicious evidence of Trent's philandering ways. She must determine whether to trust Trent with the fate of her business and her heart.

Elusive Billionaire Romance Series

Billionaire Hendrick is trying to repair his company’s image by putting in some volunteer work, building a school and hospital for the impoverished children in Africa. There, he meets a beautiful African American volunteer, Jocelyn. They hit it off right away but does she belong in his world?

Lonely Billionaire Romance Series

Tricia was hired to care for billionaire John’s wife, who is dying. An unlikely romance emerges after his wife, Rebecca, gives John permission to pursue his happiness after she is gone.

Ardent Billionaire Romance Series

Deirdre doesn't know what to make of the gorgeous man that seems to be interested in her. His name is Parker Walters and he seems friendly enough. There is just something off about him. Why is he trying the hide the fact that he is the heir to his father's billion dollar software empire?

Fervent Billionaire BWWM Romance Series

Alexandra had never been with a white man before. She had seen William at the café before but she always kept her distance. It was unfortunate that their first chance meeting happened when she dropped her breakfast and spilled coffee all over his expensive business suit.

Audacious Billionaire BWWM Romance Series

Chante is torn between staying close to a man beyond her league, and fleeing from him to spare herself from a hopeless position. But she finds she is propelled into a place where she needs to confront her doubts and cast her fate aside to follow the dictates of her heart. Damned if she does and miserable is she doesn’t, how will Chante face the events that will lead her to a place of pure happiness or to the pits of a broken heart?

Get the latest update on new releases from the author at:

https://shylastarr.com/newsletter/

This book is Part Two of the “Persuasive Billionaire BWWM Romance Series”

1 - Love Invested

Stacey is trying to keep a handle on her life the best that she can. She is on the verge of losing her job and her apartment, while taking care of her sick grandmother. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she meets Charlie, who works for the construction company that is attempting to persuade her to move out of her home.

2 - Love Divested

After discovering that Charlie has a fiancée, Stacey’s world has turned upside down. She cannot help but feel as if she is in over her head. Struggling with her job, her bills and her family, will Stacey be able to figure out how she can get her life straightened out?

3 - Love Reinstated

Stacey decides that she has to put Charlie behind her and move on with her life. As Stacey dates Tony and is pulled into his world, she slowly realizes that although she likes him, it might not be enough to brush aside her feelings for Charlie. Leaving everything behind, she lets herself get lost in the money and privacy that Tony brings to her.

4 - Love Confirmed

Stacey can’t believe the turn of events in her life. After losing her grandmother and running away to Tony’s private island, she was content to stick her head in the sand and forget her past. But a proposal from Charlie changes everything.

5 - Love Divine

Stacey must ensure she relaxes in order to keep her baby safe. But life is never that easy. Her new husband’s father is bent on sabotaging their fledgling investment firm. To make things worse, her brother-in-law isn’t content with just being in the background. Stacey finds herself wishing she could have the brothers patch things up.

Persuasive Billionaire BWWM Romance Series

Love Divested

Book Two

By Shyla Starr

Copyright Revelry Publishing 2019

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

Other Books by Shyla Starr

About the Author - Shyla Starr

Connect with Shyla Starr

Chapter One

DOWNSTAIRS IN the lobby, Stacey saw a woman who was, clearly, not a tenant. The stranger looked like she belonged in a fashion magazine.

Trying to be helpful, Stacey asked, “Hi, are you lost?”

The woman looked Stacey up and down before answering. “Yes, I believe so. I’m looking for someone.”

“Who are you looking for?”

“Charlie Albert. He had business here before he mucked up the deal. Have you seen him?”

Stacey’s heart raced. “Uh, no. No, not for a few days. Who are you?” It was a bit blunt, but she couldn’t help herself. Who was this woman?

The woman lowered her glasses and replied, “I’m Charlie Albert’s fiancée, not that it’s any business of yours.”

Stacey thought she misheard the woman. There had to be some sort of mistake. There was no way that this woman was Charlie’s fiancée.

“I’m Adele,” the woman went on, oblivious to Stacey’s inner turmoil. “I wanted to surprise him, you see. I’ve been overseas. His assistant said he had been here a couple times, so I thought he could be here now.”

“Sorry, he hasn’t been here since the apartments were dropped from the rebuilding plan.” Stacey hoped her voice sounded as if she had no interest in Adele or her claims of being Charlie’s fiancée.

Adele wrinkled her nose. “That’s a shame. I suppose I’ll try him elsewhere then. Now that I’m here, though, I can understand why he would leave as quickly as possible.” She laughed.

Stacey wanted to tell this strange, uppity woman that this was her home. She didn’t need strangers coming around running their mouths off about how little they thought of it. But she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Instead, she could only stare at Adele, who was looking around the lobby one last time.

“Well, thank you for the help, dear,” Adele said and left the apartment complex in her towering high heels without a backward glance.

Stacey just stood there. Her head was spinning as if everything had suddenly been uprooted. Part of her wanted to chase after Adele and ask her just how she could be Charlie’s fiancée.

But a sick, swooping feeling was slowly consuming Stacey. She had to talk to Charlie as soon as possible. She fumbled for her phone and brought up his number. The phone rang three times before a man answered.

“Charlie Albert’s phone.” The man’s voice was deep and somehow familiar although it wasn’t Charlie.

No one had ever picked up Charlie’s cell phone before and it threw Stacey off guard. She stumbled over her words. “Hi, uh, hello. This is Stacey, and, um, I’m Charlie’s—” What was she, exactly? His girlfriend? Or just a girl on the side?

“Stacey!” the man exclaimed as if he knew her. “This is Tony.”

In her haze, it took her a few seconds to remember who Tony was. The image of him smiling at her on board his yacht floated back to Stacey.

“Right, hi Tony!” She feigned a cheerfulness. “How are you? Your yacht was very lovely.”

“Glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed seeing you on it.”

The remark startled her. His tone had been warm and almost flirtatious. That’s odd, she thought to herself.

“I’m calling for Charlie,” she blurted out and cringed.

She probably sounded incredibly rude. She was blowing off what Tony had just said. But Stacey had no idea what to make of it and couldn’t focus on that right now. The image of smug Adele still danced in her memory.

“He’s in a meeting. He’s running late, actually, because we had a meeting of our own. That’s how I have his phone,” Tony joked, “but I can pass him a message.”

“Yeah, please. Let him know I called and would appreciate a call back.”

“Of course. I had no idea you two were so, well, close,” Tony replied tactfully.

For one wild second, Stacey wanted to ask Tony about Adele. He would know, wouldn’t he? Tony and Charlie seemed to be friends and ran in the same social circles. But she stopped herself before she could do something so silly. No, whatever was going on was something she would ask Charlie directly. She would not go behind his back.

“Thank you! I have to go to work now. Have a nice day!” Her voice was too high-pitched as she tried to hide her emotions. It just made her sound crazy and somewhat desperate.

She ended the call and headed to work, telling herself that she would get to the bottom of it soon enough.

<<<>>>

Although Stacey had promised herself not to dwell on Charlie and Adele, it proved to be impossible. The restaurant had one lone customer—an old lady sitting at a booth asking for coffee non-stop as she read a book.

Maria bustled into the kitchen about two hours into her shift and looked over at Stacey. “I quit.”

“What? That just leaves me and Amanda.”

Maria shrugged. “Not my problem. I’m going to go fucking mental if I stay here a second longer. See you around.”

Stacey stared as Maria headed toward the break room. She hadn’t ever been exactly close with Maria so she hadn’t been expecting a tearful goodbye. But a mumbled ‘see you around’ was a pretty shitty farewell.

Tears formed in Stacey’s eyes. She turned away to face the wall. What is wrong with me? She tried to regroup. Normally, someone quitting wouldn’t affect her like this.

She left the kitchen, leaving Brad behind playing a game on his phone and found William in his office. She knocked on the door, and he looked up at her.

“You’re not quitting too, are you? I was hoping to run with a skeleton crew until we closed, but it’s turning more into a ghost crew at this point.”

“Nope, I’m here ‘til we close,” Stacey replied. “I have a job lined up afterward already.”

“Amanda mentioned that the other day. Congrats.”

Working at another diner didn’t seem like something to be congratulated about. Out of the blue, her sister’s words from their last fight haunted her. All you do is work at some dead-end job without ever trying to better yourself or move onto something new.

“Thanks,” Stacey replied without really meaning it. “Figured I’d see if you wanted to alter the schedule.”

“I can’t give you any more hours. You’re already in overtime on my end. I’ll pick up some shifts. You know, Stacey, if you are hurting for money, I’d understand if you have to leave early.”

She was touched that William was giving her a way out if she wanted to take it. William had always paid everyone more than the minimum wage plus tips for wait staff. She didn’t need much, and it had always been enough to scrape by. Business had been so slow lately that the tips barely made a dent in her bills. But she was determined to stay out of loyalty to an employer who had treated her well the last four years.

“I’m making due,” she replied.

William looked relieved, “Thanks, Stacey. Don’t worry about Maria quitting. I’ll take care of it.”

“Just wanted to make sure. Thanks,” Stacey said and left the office with a wave.

She had been secretly hoping to get Maria’s hours. Not only because she wanted the money but because she had been hoping if she threw herself into her job then she could forget about everything else on her mind.

William had reminded her of another thing bothering her—her foolish sister and that damned diamond tennis bracelet. Allison had promised to give her the bracelet after dragging her to the yacht party. Instead, she had given it back to Jacob when he left for Europe in some misguided attempt at being romantic.

That was Allison in a nutshell. She would make promises and deals and never follow through with them. She’d change things at the last second on any whim. Stacey should have seen it coming. When she thought about how much they could have fetched selling that bracelet, it made her sick. She closed her eyes for a few seconds. Then she went to go check on her lone coffee-guzzling customer.

<<<>>>

Charlie didn’t call her back until late in the afternoon when she was almost done with her shift. When her phone vibrated in her pocket, she slunk off to the break room to take the call. Amanda had shown up twenty minutes ago, so Stacey finally had help to cover the customers.

“Hey, sorry it took me so long to call you back,” Charlie said when she answered.

“It’s fine. I need to talk to you about something.”

“Can it wait until tonight when I see you? There’re a few urgent matters I need to tend to in a few minutes.”

Stacey was taken aback. She was just going to confront him over the phone about Adele and had forgotten about their date later in the evening. But in person was probably better where she could watch his reaction.

“Oh, that’s what I’m calling about. I have to run an important errand for Tina tonight. Can we meet up for coffee or something instead?” Stacey felt there was no point in prolonging the agony over a dinner.

“Yeah, sure.” Charlie’s voice sounded disappointed.

She gave him the name of a coffee place near her apartment complex, and he said he would meet her there at six.

The rest of Stacey’s shift dragged by. She was incredibly nervous about seeing Charlie. She finished work with twenty minutes to get to the coffee shop. She tried to fix herself up before leaving to see him.

I shouldn’t waste my time, she told herself as she reapplied her lipstick. Why bother primping for him? Even so, Stacey ran a brush through her hair and set off to see him.

Chapter Two

Charlie was waiting when Stacey arrived. He had chosen a table in the back of the coffee shop. The place served run-of-the-mill coffee, but it was the only nearby place Stacey could afford. Charlie was on his phone and hadn’t seen her yet.

She stood there for a few seconds admiring him. He was handsome, and she liked looking at him. He was still dressed in business attire, probably from coming directly from the office. Stacey imagined his days were busy with a thousand different things going on at once. Perhaps, in another life, it could have worked out between them. But they were too different.

Stacey steeled herself and walked over to him, not bothering to buy a coffee. She was going to keep this short by telling him she had met his fiancée and couldn’t see him anymore. She sat down across from him.

“Didn’t even see you there,” Charlie said, smiling. “Sorry again for missing your call earlier. At least Tony got it. Work has been hectic today.”

“I can imagine,” Stacey replied, trying to sound casual, “especially with Adele flying in.”

Charlie stiffened. He was about to reach for his coffee but his hand froze. He was thrown off balance but Stacey found no pleasure in it. She just felt tired.

“Adele is in town?” he finally asked after swallowing a few times.

“Yup, she stopped by the complex, thinking you might be there. She didn’t care much for the place though. Made it pretty clear that she thought it was gross.”

“Sounds like her,” Charlie said with a sigh.

Stacey drummed her fingers against the table, waiting for him to say more. Her gaze must have unnerved him because he leaned forward.

“She isn’t my fiancée, Stacey.”

“Really?” Her tone was clipped.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, “Let me explain. My father organized the stupid engagement. He thinks it’s good for me to be paired with Adele. Her family owns a huge media company overseas. Dad wants to merge with them.”

“Don’t you control the company though?”

“Yeah, but only because my father is too ill to keep running it,” Charlie replied. “I took over the company a few years ago. Dad is constantly going behind my back, still trying to control things. But he’s too sick to manage the company properly. Lately, his schemes just keep getting more and more out of control. And my brother, Eric, sides with him on absolutely everything. He’s furious he didn’t get to run things so anything he can do to fuck things up for me, he jumps right on board.”

Stacey held up her hand. “So, you’re trying to tell me that your father planned this engagement with Adele behind your back? Do you think I’m stupid? Why would I believe that?”

“You can’t honestly believe I’d be seeing you if I were engaged to Adele!” he exclaimed.

“You haven’t exactly been up front this entire time, Charlie.”

“I know that but I thought—I thought I made things right. After changing my plans about the city.”

“You did. You did make things right,” Stacey replied, feeling guilty.

He had changed all his plans, hadn’t he? He had come to her with a new business plan just so people didn’t have to worry about leaving their homes. Stacey knew that he had gone out on a limb for all the residents, for her.