Journey to Fortune [Power Surge: The Billionaire Club 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Power Surge: The Billionaire Club 4

  Journey to Fortune

  Tia Rose Richman embraces the new woman she’s become after finally sticking up for herself in front of her coworkers. Giving in to her newfound sexuality and confidence while in Paris, she spends the weekend in the arms of a man she just met. When she returns to his hotel room, by request, she decides to put her new confidence to use, and climbs into bed with him. But the man is not Hudson Ross. It’s his twin brother, and she just allowed him to have his way with her most intimate parts.

  She embraces the weekend in the arms of two brothers who make her feel beautiful despite her own negativity. Her last boyfriend complained about her weight and her insecurities. So when she returns to New York, why can’t she get Jagger and Hudson Ross out of her head? Can she survive the threat in the shadows and the persistence of two men who always get what they want?

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre

  Length: 45,512 words

  JOURNEY TO FORTUNE

  Power Surge: The Billionaire Club 4

  Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  JOURNEY TO FORTUNE

  Copyright © 2013 by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-847-9

  First E-book Publication: November 2013

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Journey to Fortune by Dixie Lynn Dwyer from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Dixie Lynn Dwyer’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Dwyer’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  Dear readers,

  Thank you for your continued support, and for making my newest miniseries such a success.

  Each story in this series has a similar underlying conundrum. Even with all the money in the world, with the capabilities of buying and getting just about anything one desires, money still cannot buy you love.

  This newest story in the series tells a tale about three people who yearn to feel whole, to feel connected, and ultimately to be loved. Their journeys to get there are unique and challenging. Hudson and Jagger must learn to look beyond the monetary, and materialistic things in life to open their hearts to their destinies, while Tia Rose must gain enough self-confidence and determination to put her past behind her, achieve what she wants and craves in life, and just live for today, for the moment, in the power of finding herself so she can ultimately find true love.

  Enjoy the story, as Tia Rose, Hudson, and Jagger, embark on their journey to fortune.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  About the Author

  JOURNEY TO FORTUNE

  Power Surge: The Billionaire Club 4

  DIXIE LYNN DWYER

  Copyright © 2013

  Prologue

  “You’re lying to me again. I know you are, Salvador. Just spit it out. I want to know why you didn’t show up last night. I want to know why you’re breaking things off with me. I can handle the truth. Stop patronizing me, Goddamn it!” Tia Rose Richman raised her voice in frustration. She couldn’t take it any longer.

  Salvador was avoiding her. She was tired of his mistreatment and lack of respect. She felt like she was drowning in this relationship. No matter what she did, he wasn’t happy. She never should have stayed with him. Slash that. She never should have gotten involved with him. It was just like her relationship with her parents, except Salvador hadn’t hit her. Yet.

  She paced her bedroom in her small apartment on the East Side of the Village. New York City wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. She was mega pissed off. The fucker stood me up. Again.

  “I don’t think that you can. You’re a child. You need to grow up,” he snapped at her, in that irritating English accent of his. The fucking snob. Me, grow up? I’ve been working my ass off since I was twelve, and had a damn paper route, for crying out loud. Now, after college, I’m still doing odd jobs on the weekends to make money. What the fuck does he mean, grow up?

  “I am far from a child. Just because you have a fucking master’s degree in psychology does not make you a damn expert in knowing everyone’s personalities. You don’t know me at all. I am working my way up at Malone’s Designs.”

  “Working your way up, my ass,” he snapped at her. “They’re using you. You’re their damn puppet. You never stand up for yourself. You never speak your mind. You let people walk all over you and it makes me sick. You’re weak, Tia Rose, and your boss knows it. Why do you think you keep getting passed up for promotions and that yearly trip to Paris?”

  The bastard knew that statement would hurt me. H
e knows how hard I’ve worked.

  “You know that my designs were stolen.”

  “Oh, give me a break. Little Miss Missouri is crying again about how hard it is living in New York City, one of the toughest places around.”

  She felt the tears sting her eyes. He was such a heartless bastard, and he was too old for her.

  “I’ve had it with you putting me down and saying that I’m not good enough. Not for you or for my profession.”

  “Well, you’re not. I’m done with you. I was with another woman last night.”

  Her heart ached something terrible. It wasn’t that she loved Salvador, but he was so good looking, and so many women craved his attention. When he had found her six months ago, standing in the Marquis hotel, unsure of where the conference room was located, he escorted her and swept her off her feet. She had been naive and stupid. Her parents were right. She was a loser. Their hateful comments and the way they always put Tia Rose down filtered through her mind, making her feel worthless. Salvador’s words just added to the facts.

  “Did you hear me, Tia? I was with another woman last night.”

  “With Leza? You slept with Leza?” she asked, knowing that blonde Amazon wanted Salvador so badly. She wanted his money, his reputation, and to be escorted around town as his lover, or mistress. Was she considered a mistress because Salvador was with Tia? She had fallen for his charms, was impressed by his money and maturity, but never connected on that deeper level she yearned for. She shook her head as Salvador released his claws.

  “She’s a real woman. She’s strong, sensual, and open to exploration. I know that you have fears, but you’re the coldest bitch I ever fucked.”

  She gasped and felt her blood pressure boiling.

  “Are we back to this again, Salvador? Back to your sick fetishes? I don’t need a master’s degree to see that you’re sick in the head. I won’t allow you to tie me up and cut me, so that you can get off on your power trip.”

  “Tia Rose. Don’t push me. It was one time. One time I shared a secret with you and how it made me feel empowered. I was thinking that allowing me that control of you would make you feel empowered, too.”

  “Ha! As if. You want power and control? You have that in your freaking businesses that you own. You always get what you want when you want it. Not everyone is so spoiled. Leza is so great and so sensual? Then keep her. I’ll have you know that I’m a very sensual woman. In fact, I wasn’t the problem. You and your small penis were. Good-bye, Salvador, and go to hell!”

  Tia Rose disconnected the call.

  She stared around at her small, elegantly decorated apartment and absorbed the silence. She glanced at the coffee table, and a small box of ripped movie and Broadway show tickets from when she and Salvador went on numerous dates. She was shaking with fury and some fear. Salvador expected respect, and when he was questioned, she experienced his wrath. It wasn’t pretty. She had enough verbal abuse at home. It was another reason why she left. She thought about her parents. The fact that her mother allowed her husband to hit her still to this day frightened Tia Rose. Was Salvador capable of hurting her like that?

  I know the answer. I’ve been denying it for months. Of course he is. Look how quickly he dumped me. Now I have no one again. Is being completely alone, cut off from the world, better than withstanding the pain of insults and abuse?

  Suddenly the anger and the hatred for his words, his description of her being a coldhearted bitch slowly began to disintegrate. She was single again. Her very first real relationship went down the tubes because of her feelings of inadequacies, her lack of sexual experience, and her body.

  She hated her body.

  She hated the large breasts, her large ass, and that damn bit of belly that would never flatten. She did crunches and abdominal workouts until she pulled her back out. She wasn’t overly fat, just husky, well-built if she lived in the Renaissance Era. Back then, a woman with her voluptuous, well-curved figure would be considered most beautiful, and the kind of woman every man dreamed of. Women with large breasts and large hips were considered goddesses. Why hadn’t Salvador seen me as a goddess?

  The tears rolled down her cheeks as she grabbed the box, the reminder of a man who hardly knew her at all, and who most definitely didn’t love her. She walked to the garbage and threw out the box. She needed to get ready for work.

  It was over. Salvador made his choice. If Leza was what he found to be sexually stimulating, then so be it. Today, life changed for Tia Rose. Today, she was once again alone in a world obsessed with emaciated women, dominated by the big mouths with the deep pockets, and she was on the bottom. Her mother was right. A rich handsome man wanted one thing and one thing only. She remembered her mother’s hateful words when she called to tell her that she had found someone.

  He won’t stick around, Tia. He wants one thing from you, and I’m sure you gave it up. Why buy the cow when the milk’s for free?

  Tia Rose thought about that. The words sunk in immediately. Her mother’s intentions in insulting her weight and her lack of self-control were enunciated with the words, “Why buy the cow”—me—“when you can get the milk for free?” My virginity. My pussy. Well, that asshole never even gave me an orgasm.

  She would get through this. Just like she got through leaving Missouri, her broken heart, and her abusive parents. She had to stop with the self-destruction. She was alone in this world. That was the bottom line. There was no sugar-coating it anymore. Alone, miserable, and unloved. Something had to change. What worse could happen to her now?

  Chapter 1

  Tia Rose was in a hell of a mood. It seemed like her day could get a bit worse after all. As she took the cab, she sat on melted chocolate. At least she hoped that it was chocolate. Disgusted, she tossed the cab driver his fare, told him about the dirty seat, and then proceeded to the front of the office building. She wished she had worn her light sweater. It was a bit chilly. Scratch that, she wished she had worn a black skirt. That would have at least hid the chocolate. She always kept a change of clothes in her office at work. Just in case. So all she needed to do was get past the front desk and hopefully her bosses, Bernadette and Cade Sinclair.

  “Good morning, Tia Rose. You are punctual as usual. I hope you don’t mind that I arrived for our meeting thirty minutes early. I have a plane to catch, and I want to stop by the store before I head out.”

  Tia Rose cringed with her head lowered, staring at the floor, and pausing in her tracks. Shit, fuck, shit.

  Slowly she looked up. Not that she had to. She knew the sound of the very wealthy, charismatic playboy. God, Dante Parrone was gorgeous. He also hung out with only the hottest females around. He complimented her about her green eyes on more than one occasion. But he was only being a flirt, as most millionaires were.

  “Oh, Good morning, Mr. Perrone. Um, could you just give me a few moments to settle in?”

  “Dante, darling. How are you this morning? Did Tia offer you an espresso or anything?” Bethany Tyler asked. She appeared out of nowhere. I swear that woman can smell money from a mile away.

  “Ah, Bethany. You look wonderful as always. No, she didn’t have a chance to. Tia just arrived,” he said.

  Tia Rose turned around to head to her office. She bent over to grab the bag she dropped, as she was carrying too much into work as usual.

  Is it really bad that my lack of self-confidence has me thinking about the little homemade chocolate biscotti I made yesterday that are sitting in my lunch bag? Oh, dipping it into some fancy coffee from the office coffee bar would be so relaxing right now.

  “Tia, I was hoping to meet with you about those designs. Didn’t you mention a whole catalog of new furniture concepts you had?” Her boss, Bernadette Sinclair, appeared from the hallway.

  “Oh, hello, Dante. How are you, darling?” she asked then kissed the gorgeous specimen of male on each cheek. It was so French and obviously above Tia Rose’s low standards. All three of these people completely forgot that she was in the room. S
he decided to leave them to their fancy-smancy, rich people talk. Well, in Bethany’s case, wannabe rich person. Bethany saw dollar signs and had no morals or values whatsoever. She’d spread her legs for any man with money, and she’d stab her own mother in the back if it meant Bethany would be in the spotlight and filled with fortune. She was that bad.

  Tia didn’t trust her, but unfortunately, Bethany held the position right above her. She was her boss, so Tia had to keep her mouth shut. That was becoming more and more difficult to do lately. That woman really aggravated Tia Rose. She was so pompous, and she had the nerve to continue to steal Tia Rose’s ideas.

  Well, I’m too much of a wuss to stand up for myself. Just like what Salvador told me on the phone. I will never stand up for myself. I’m weak and I’m a loser.

  She heard a gasp and quickly turned around. Now a few other office workers were standing there. Bethany looked downright excited. Her shit-eating grin was so obvious and huge that Tia wondered what could have possibly made the woman smile that way. One glance at Dante Perrone and his very uncertain expression, and she felt guilty of something. Her boss had her eyebrows scrunched up, and why was she sniffing the air like that?

  “Oh, Mrs. Sinclair, don’t worry about the catalogue items Tia was speaking of. I have them all organized and ready to present to you, Mr. Sinclair, and the board. We’re meeting in thirty minutes, correct?” Bethany asked.

  “What? How could you have the catalogue when I created—”