The Billionaire’s Rival Read online

  The Billionaire’s Rival

  Jeannette Winters

  An original work of Jeannette Winters, 2019.

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, events, business establishments or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Contents

  Jeannette Winters

  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

  Epilogue

  Also by Jeannette Winters

  By Jeannette Winters & Lena Lane

  Jeannette Winters

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  The Billionaire’s Rival

  Charles Lawson carries the weight of the entire family’s future on his shoulders. As CEO of Lawson Steel it is his responsibility to ensure their legacy continued for the next generation. First on his agenda is to clean up loose ends from the past. Doing so is risky and if he fails, the price could be great. It’s a risk he’s willing to take.

  * * *

  Rosslyn Clark loves her life as is, but family is everything to her. When her parents find themselves in a crisis, all she loves is at risk. Whether she likes it or not, sometimes change is inevitable.

  * * *

  As Charles prepares to seal the deal, he finds one beautiful blonde stands in his way, and things become complicated. Can he continue with his original plan and look at her as collateral damage or has Rosslyn become something more to him?

  * * *

  Rosslyn finds herself caught between two powerful men, one she works for, the other, his rival. Will she do what is expected of her, or will she walk away from everything and follow her heart?

  1

  Charles Lawson leaned back in his high leather chair and glared at his brother Dylan. “There is more at risk than just that contract.”

  Dylan shook his head. “The only thing that matters is getting that contract signed. We’ll deal with whatever issues come up later.”

  That’s not going to happen. Charles could appreciate his brother’s eagerness to get the next project off the ground, but his gut told him to let this one go. “We don’t need it, Dylan.”

  “Need it, no. But I want this one,” Dylan snarled.

  Dylan was acting as though this was only going to affect him. That wasn’t the case. “This isn’t about you. It’s about Lawson Steel. And although I value your opinion, I—”

  “You don’t want it.”

  Charles knew Dylan was out to prove himself, but as head of the company, it was Charles’s responsibility to ensure they didn’t get tangled up in anything that might tarnish the Lawson name. Dylan saw only one thing: the dollar amount on the bottom line. But they didn’t need the money, none of them did. Which was why he didn’t jump at this opportunity. His experience had shown him that anyone willing to overpay to get what they wanted usually had ulterior motives. Never had they been good ones either.

  He wasn’t willing to say they were unscrupulous people, but Charles didn’t want their name linked to anything potentially . . . illegal. He didn’t have any proof, but his gut was telling him to walk away from this one. Sometimes your gut was all you had to go on.

  “I listen to your opinion no differently than others. But I need you to trust me on this. Something’s not right.”

  Frustration was written all over Dylan’s face as he responded, “I looked over the contract myself. It’s clean. Hell, I’ve never seen one so detailed without errors.”

  Exactly. Charles heard over and over again how perfect this deal was. He’d learned many years earlier nothing was perfect. You could only hope the flaws weren’t numerous or serious. And if you don’t rush, you can limit the negative exposure.

  Dylan headed to the door but turned back and snapped, “You’re really not going to budge on this are you?”

  It was a stance he was forced to take, even if it meant putting a bigger wedge between him and Dylan. “Until I feel comfortable that it is not going to blow up in our face, consider this deal off the table.”

  Dylan slammed the door behind him as he left the office. That went fucking well. As a whole, the family had always been close growing up. Dylan was the baby of the family and hadn’t been ready for their father to retire and the next generation to step up. But Dylan seemed to harbor more resentment toward Charles than the others. Of course it didn’t help when Charles told Dylan that he wasn’t ready for such responsibility.

  He needed to get over it. That comment had been a few years ago when Dylan had just finished college. At that time, Dylan was like every young man in his mid-twenties . . . invincible, or at least they believe they are. Charles had seen too many of his friends make mistakes; some didn’t live long enough to regret those mistakes. It wasn’t something he had wanted for Dylan or any of his brothers. As the eldest, it was his job to keep them in line, even if that meant they hated him for it.

  Of course Dylan didn’t prove Charles wrong. If anything he showed Charles just what a fuck-up he could be. Dylan never got arrested, but for a few years he lived his life on the edge and very much in the public eye. Dylan squandered the family’s money on fast cars and even faster women. For a short time, Dylan had his face plastered all over the tabloids. More than once Charles thought for sure Dylan was going to be the one to tarnish the Lawson name. Thankfully that phase seemed to have passed. Now he needed to deal with Dylan challenging every decision Charles made.

  Lawson men were thickheaded. It was a family trait. Being told no, or you were wrong, wasn’t easy for any of them to swallow. And with age, it seemed to be getting worse, at least for Charles.

  Dylan said it was because Charles was more like their grandfather than any of them. He hoped that wasn’t the case. Since Charles was the one who’d spent so much time with their father, he was unlucky enough to have spent the most time with their grandfather as well. That’s why he knew just how screwed-up their grandfather actually had been. The guy had some serious issues. Control freak was nothing compared to his verbal abuse. It wasn’t bestowed upon Charles or any of his siblings, but he’d seen plenty of it upon their father. Charles couldn’t believe some of the shit he’d heard. There were a few times he thought for sure they’d come to blows, but they never did. His father, although a tough son of a bitch, never retaliated. Charles wasn’t so sure he could’ve held back if it had been him.

  He’d asked his father about it once, why he didn’t knock his grandfather on his ass and end i
t. His father said it was his job to end the cycle. Although Charles tried asking what that meant, his father never spoke of it again. Hopefully that behavior had ended with their grandfather because Charles couldn’t imagine anyone, let alone a child, being treated like . . . a total worthless piece of shit.

  Because of what he’d witnessed, Charles was careful to watch his temper and tried to choose his words wisely. He never wanted to be like their grandfather. But Dylan knew exactly how to provoke him, like he wanted Charles to lose control. Maybe he wants me to fail. To show me I’m not the right person for the job just like I did to him.

  He wouldn’t ever admit that had crossed his mind a few times. But second guessing his father’s decision wasn’t going to do any good. At that moment, all he could do was stay focused and do what was expected of him. The price he paid for being the eldest.

  Charles picked up the contract Dylan had left in his office. He wished there was something concrete to go on. He knew Dylan was going to let the others know what a stubborn ass Charles was being over this. It was only a matter of time before one of them, if not all, started to show up at the office, trying to make peace between the two.

  However that wasn’t a quarrel between his brothers he could just let go. This was business and no one was going to make him change his mind, no matter how much they pleaded. Hate me if you must Dylan, but I know I’m right.

  Charles didn’t have the time or energy to seek concrete proof just to appease his brother. The company didn’t need the money or the contract. It was a moot point, and he wasn’t wasting resources on something that wasn’t going to happen.

  Tossing the contract back on his desk, he returned to what he should be focusing on. There was a new project coming up in Dubai that needed all the specifications reviewed for the final time before signing off on it. He’d been up half the night and all he needed was a few more hours and it would be set to go. As long as no unforeseen issues arose in the meantime.

  Charles believed in triple checking. He’d created the initial drafts, but they went through a lot of hands afterward. It was his job to ensure any changes didn’t affect the building’s integrity. Moving an electrical outlet was one thing, but certain things were non-negotiable. Every once in a while a client asked for the impossible and some on Charles’s staff weren’t able to say no. I have no problem being the bad guy. It was his name on the line after all.

  He was almost finished when his cell phone rang. Their father was the only person Charles knew Dylan wouldn’t grumble to. So which brother was it going to be? Gareth? He and Dylan were more alike than they’d want to admit. No way Dylan had sought his assistance. Hell, if anything, Dylan was more likely to complain about Gareth not pulling his weight. Gareth was the brother who rarely wanted anything to do with the company. But Charles wasn’t letting him off the hook, even if it meant having him do some unconventional, and probably unnecessary, research.

  “Hello Gareth. That didn’t take long?”

  “I’m efficient.”

  There was no doubt Gareth had looked over everything thoroughly. Charles also knew his motivation was to get it done and over with. Gareth was useful to the company with his knack of finding things no one else could. He was almost tempted to let him dig into that contract Dylan brought him. But doing so would open a door Charles already considered closed.

  “Is there anything I should know?” Charles asked.

  “You want to meet for lunch and discuss what I found?”

  That wasn’t an answer. “Why don’t you come to my office now? I’m free at the moment.”

  There was no way Gareth hadn’t heard him. “There is this cute waitress that—”

  “I’m busy.”

  “I thought you said you were free,” Gareth said.

  Not to hear about your latest conquest. “To talk business.”

  “Charles, you need to loosen up a bit. It doesn’t all fall on your shoulders, you know. We’re all here to support you anytime you need it.”

  Charles bit back his sarcastic remark. Pissing off one brother a day was his limit. There had been a few occasions where he may have exceeded it. It was easy for Gareth and the others to say they were all in, but actually following through was another thing. Not only did they each have their own lives and businesses to maintain, they were still getting used to the day to day workings of Lawson Steel. It was going to take time to know when something was wrong.

  Even though he didn’t have time to screw off, this was his brother. Charles needed to make the time. If he didn’t, the days turned into weeks and then into months before they saw each other socially. But he wasn’t going out for “legs and eggs” as Gareth called it. Why exotic dance clubs served breakfast all day made as little sense as why his brother went there to eat.

  “Lunch, at The Choice. I’ll meet you in the lobby at one.” Charles ended the call before Gareth could protest. Gareth probably wasn’t actually in the building anyway. This might be the only way to get him into the office. Keeping him at a desk was going to take a lot more than anything Charles could come up with for him to do. I probably would need to hire him a hot looking secretary. But then I’d have to deal with the sexual harassment complaints. This was one of the days he wished he wasn’t the CEO.

  There might be six of them, but Charles was the one who’d worked by their father’s side all along. It was a burden the others didn’t understand, and truthfully, he didn’t want them to. Since birth, Charles had been groomed for this. When the others were off spending their summers doing what they wanted, he was stuck going with his father from one construction site to another. The worst had been sitting quietly during the meetings. His father told him you learn a lot just watching people. Actions told more than words.

  It probably was the most valuable lesson he’d learned, and he applied it to all his dealings. People thought he was quiet, and some accused him of being standoffish. They were way off the mark. He let them talk themselves into a corner and enjoyed watching as they tried to get themselves out.

  This tactic had backfired a few times, usually when dealing with the opposite sex. He would listen, and then the moment came when they asked what he thought. Charles always gave them his honest opinion. It wasn’t always accepted as well as he anticipated. Hell, a few times it made Dylan’s reaction seem warm and friendly. He’d even caught a few slaps across the face, probably well-deserved in their eyes. But Charles was known for being brutally honest and had no time for idle chatter. Charles was all about Lawson Steel, all the time.

  That wasn’t the case for his siblings. They each had chosen their own paths, for the most part. But they had been groomed to someday work as a whole to take C. J. Lawson Steel to the next level. What none of them knew, and couldn’t, was a stipulation for Charles to continue running the company. Charles needed to somehow unite them but not by having them all work in the same building.

  There was one contract Lawson Steel had never been able to obtain. Not only did he need to knock Grayson, their only competitor he took seriously, out of the running, but he also needed all five of his brothers to agree to sign the contract. Since they were butting heads on the insignificant ones, he was dreading what was going to happen when he broached the subject. From how his meeting with Dylan had gone, he might be creating a bigger wedge instead of making progress.

  Charles didn’t intentionally piss Dylan off, but he wasn’t going to give in when he knew he was right either. Charles had been taught how to manage anyone, but family was different, and he needed to somehow learn a new way. This was something he couldn’t ask his father for advice on either.

  This business had been passed down for several generations. Hell, Charles was the seventh generation of Lawsons to man the helm. He was proud of the legacy, no different than being named after them all. Charles Joseph Lawson the Seventh. The title came with power and prestige in the business world.

  The only drawback from that title was the endless pressure to ensure someday there was an ei
ghth in line to carry on the name. Charles was in no rush to tie the knot. He was thirty-eight, not ninety-eight. There was plenty of time to have children, if he wanted.

  That was the key, if he wanted. No matter what his father thought, Charles wasn’t marrying to provide an heir. And the way things were going, it didn’t look like he’d be marrying for love either. He was willing to take on the company, and all the responsibility that went along with it. But no one was pushing him into anything more than that. His personal life was off limits. His brothers had gotten that message a long time ago, their father, not so much.

  But times were changing faster than his father could keep up with or understand. This generation was global. It was nothing for him to be in New York one week then Dubai the next for work with a stop in Paris to meet friends for dinner. The need to be on each job site in person, ensuring everything was as designed, no longer was required. People were hired to video and photograph every step of the construction. Not just per the contract, but for insurance purposes as well. It was all about covering your ass, or assets as Charles called it.

  When his father ran the business, if a customer had an issue, you talked it out like men, sometimes shouting a few threats, but that was all, and then you fixed whatever the customer thought was wrong. Now everything was done through a third party. The only time you found out there was a problem was when you heard about it from a lawyer, and it was settled in court if not negotiated prior to that. There were definitely people who used the court system to make money. But those should be held accountable, because they chose to use substandard materials, and that was something Charles never would tolerate.