Showdown: Tech Billionaires Read online

  Showdown

  Tech Billionaires book 5

  A Novel

  by:

  Ainsley St Claire

  Copyright 2021 Ainsley St Claire

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a production of the author’s imagination. Locations and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions or locations is completely coincidental.

  Tech Billionaires: Showdown/Ainsley St Claire—1st edition

  Books By Ainsley St Claire

  The Venture Capitalist Series

  Forbidden Love (Emerson and Dillon)

  Promise (Sara and Trey)

  Desire (Hadlee and Cameron)

  Temptation (Greer and Andy)

  Obsession (Cynthia and Todd)

  Flawless (Constance and Parker)

  Longing (Bella and Christopher)

  Enchanted (Quinn and William)

  Fascination (CeCe and Mason)

  Clear Security Holiday Heartbreakers

  Gifted (Kate and Jim)

  Unwrapped (Fiona and Bash)

  Merry & Bright (Grace and Vincent)

  Tech Billionaires

  Tech Billionaire (Cecelia and Nate) via Bookfunnel only

  House of Cards (Maggie and Jonnie)

  Royally Flushed (Corrine and Jackson)

  Sleight of Hand (Tinsley and Landon)

  Running Hot (Marcella and Walker)

  Showdown (Nate and Lilly)

  The Stiletto Sisters

  Champagne Brunch (Mia and Axel) April 2021

  Martini Lunch June 2021

  Happy Hour August 2021

  After Dinner Drinks February 2022

  Dedication & thank you

  To my sons. You’re my moon, sun, and stars. I appreciate the time you give me to write and I promise to never allow you to read a word of a kissy book.

  Always remember, I loved you first.

  Thank you to my amazing editor Jessica Royer Ocken. Your patience as we work through my manuscripts never falters. I’m so grateful for all you do.

  Nancy, Linda, and Courtnay. Your abilities to find the missing quotation marks or the extra commas save me each and every time. Thank you!!!

  To the most important group of all—I’m humbled by you, my readers.

  Thank you for allowing me to share my friends with you.

  Get the Newsletter

  If you like to download Nate and Cecelia’s story, you can get a free copy of a prequel to the series, simply titled Tech Billionaire. It is only available through the newsletter so sign up for Ainsley’s Naughty Readers to receive the latest news on my upcoming novels, sign up for my free author newsletter at https://dl.bookfunnel.com/jluob93y32

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Books By Ainsley St Claire

  Dedication & thank you

  Get the Newsletter

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  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

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Epilogue

  Sneak Preview

  Chapter 1

  Also by Ainsley St Claire

  Coming Soon

  Follow Ainsley

  Chapter 1

  Nate

  I’m dead asleep when I become vaguely aware that someone is shaking me.

  “Mr. Lancaster?”

  They shake me again.

  I’m on a large yacht in the Mediterranean Sea, and I’m jetlagged.

  “Sir, someone is approaching the boat. I need to get you into the safe room with the other passengers.”

  I finally sit up and register what he’s saying. “My girls.”

  Lilly, our nanny, swings the door open with the girls, holding their hands. I pull the covers back, and I’m a bit woozy. Two men put their arms under me, and we’re all quickly shuffled into a large room at the center of the boat with all the other passengers.

  My best friend, Jim Adelson, head of Clear Security, is with us, along with his wife, Kate. He’s sitting at a large desk with multiple monitors and what looks like controls for the boat. His team is on the deck, and he’s watching what they’re doing on a screen.

  It’s the middle of the night. While the yacht has fourteen decent-sized cabins, once you put everyone in this room, there isn’t much space. The girls and I sit down against the wall.

  Lilly looks at me. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m so tired.”

  My head is foggy, and I’m struggling to understand what’s going on. Of all the times to have taken a sleeping pill… But I was exhausted, and I need to sleep. This is a big week for my good friend Mason Sullivan. He’s getting married in Italy, and people are coming from all over the world to celebrate.

  “You’ve been up for days and didn’t even sleep on the overnight flight from San Francisco. Lie down.” Lilly pats her lap, and I comply. I’m only going to shut my eyes for a few minutes. She caresses the side of my face.

  “You smell so good,” I mutter, and I’m out.

  Cecelia comes to me in my dreams again. She’s losing her patience.

  “Please, tell me who did this to you,” I beg.

  “It doesn’t matter. Just remember that I’ll always love you. You need to move on. Show the girls what a good relationship is all about. Show them what love is.”

  “You’re the only woman I’ll ever love,” I argue. “I don’t want to be with anyone else. I’ll never have what we had again.” I drop to her feet and cry. “I miss you so much. Come back to me, please.”

  I’m still crying when I wake with a start. The dream seems so real, yet when I wake, Cecelia’s not here. The lights are muted, and most passengers are sitting against the walls, leaning against each other. My girls are curled up against me, and I’m still resting my head on Lilly’s lap, which is now soggy. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” she says. “I’ve never seen you cry in all the time I’ve worked for you. I promise I won’t tell.” She winks at me, and offers a warm smile.

  I’m touched by her kindness, which makes me wonder what’s wrong with me all over again. Just because she’s nice to me doesn’t mean she wants me crying all over her nightgown.

  But she probably knows my life as well as anyone does at this point. Lilly was the last person Cecelia hired before we left for our ill-fated trip. Lilly started work the weekend we were in Las Vegas—the weekend Cecelia went
missing. Nearly three years later, she’s still here. The girls and I were a mess at the beginning, and the paparazzi were everywhere. I begged her to stay. I needed so much help. I didn’t know what to do. Cecelia had done it all with our housekeeper. But I had no idea even where to begin.

  I lean back against the wall and reposition the girls so they’re not spread eagle on the floor with feet and knees in everyone’s backs. I look over at Jim, and he gives me a tight smile.

  “What’s going on?”

  “A boat circled our boat three times, completely under the radar. We heard nothing, but just happened to catch them with night vision. We didn’t have time to do much of anything, so I pulled most of our team inside, and we locked down the metal doors and hurricane shutters.”

  “What kind of power were they using that they couldn’t be heard?”

  “We don’t know, but we’ve since commandeered their boat—they all left it to board ours—and it’s now sitting at a dock onshore.”

  “Nice. I’m sure I’m not the only one here who’d like to check out that tech.”

  “No, Mason thought you, Jackson, and Landon would be very interested.”

  I smile. “What else?”

  “They had night-vision goggles, but we think they were using radar as they approached because they didn’t seem to realize there wasn’t anyone on deck until they got close.”

  “Strange.”

  Jim nods. “My team has marked each of them with a tracker. They may have fancy technology, but they’re fucking amateurs.”

  “They’ve gotten into the side room,” the yacht’s purser reports. “They don’t realize they’re now locked in a metal box with no way to get out.”

  Jim grins. “The captain is calling the Italian coast guard. Whoever these people are, they’re going to be in for a surprise when they realize what they’ve done.”

  The cameras don’t pick up much in the dark, but it isn’t long before we see blinking lights on the radar, followed by the sounds of people boarding the boat.

  Landon stands next to us with one of his company’s cutting-edge translation devices. “Let’s see how this works in real life.”

  He puts the translator next to the speaker, and we all huddle around the computer.

  “Are you alone on this boat?” a voice asks, probably a coast guard officer.

  “I have a crew of workers, but we’re driving to Monte Carlo to pick up our passengers,” the captain responds, not entirely truthfully.

  “How did you see them coming?” the coast guardsman asks.

  “I have radar,” the captain responds.

  “How did they get on the boat?”

  “I don’t know,” the captain replies.

  “They’re Corsican pirates,” the guardsman says dismissively. “You will have to wait until morning until the police can look at everything.”

  “Oh, come on. We can give you the men. I need to keep moving so I can be on time to pick up guests of the Giordano family and the Bellissima Vineyards.”

  “They’ll wait for you. Tell them to go shopping for another day.”

  “You’re killing me!”

  “Do not leave until we get a report.”

  We hear shuffling and footsteps.

  “What an asshole,” the captain mumbles. “He didn’t even see if these guys were actually Corsican.”

  The captain calls Jim on a ship phone and relays the call we heard. He reports that the coast guard has gone, leaving the intruders behind.

  “Do you believe they’re Corsican pirates?” Mason asks Jim after he hangs up.

  “Not with their tech,” Jim replies. “We have some of their night-vision goggles, and we have their boat, so we can do our own research.”

  “I’d like that boat moved to Bellissima tonight. Is that possible?” Mason asks.

  “It’s Italy. Andreas would know,” Jim says.

  Andreas, one of the Giordanos, is married to Greer, one of Mason’s fiancée’s oldest friends. His family owns Bellissima, which is one of the oldest and largest vineyards in all of Italy and the spot where Mason and Caroline are getting married. Andreas helped to arrange this trip, and he was supposed to join us, but family business got in the way.

  Dillon fires off a text message to Andreas. “We won’t hear from him for a few hours. Do we stay or move forward?”

  “We stay.” Jim looks at our band of friends. “And, unfortunately, we stay in the safe room. We can’t be sure all of the pirates—or whatever they are—are trapped or that there isn’t another wave coming.”

  I look over at the girls cuddled up with Lilly. I’d be lost without her, though she must be ready to move on and start her own family. Not sure what I’ll do when she tells me she’s done with us. I run my hand through my hair.

  So, we sit in the safe room all night, in fear of the arrival of more pirates and in hope of the arrival of the police, but neither transpires.

  Andreas returns the text just after seven, and he’s irate with the coast guard. He reaches out to the local police closest to where we are, and they arrive just after eleven with four boats and twelve men to arrest the intruders. They take them into custody and send us on our way.

  One of the men leaves behind his wet suit, so we add that to the gear we’ve compiled to trace. It’s Chinese made. They were speaking Italian, but their goggles are Russian made, and we’ll have to check out the boat engine later. That seems a bit advanced for some pirates, if you ask me. But then again, they’re thieves, and we’re in a five-hundred-million-dollar yacht.

  Andreas works with Jim’s team to retrieve the intruders’ boat and transport it to the vineyard, and then we’re finally back on our way. The five-hour delay means the only sunbathing the girls are going to do is on the deck and comes with thirty-knots-per-hour gusts as we continue crossing the Med. There will be no day of leisure on shore for any of us.

  While Lilly watches the girls, I take a nap in my bed, and when I wake, it’s midafternoon. I finally feel refreshed, almost like my regular self. I walk upstairs to the lounge, which is only partially open, so we can enjoy beverages and some lunch without blowing away.

  I look out at the girls on the deck and damn, if my older daughter, Katrina, who is 16, doesn’t look like a giant felony. I’m not sure what to do about that. Thankfully, Jim’s men aren’t ogling her, and they’re keeping the crew away.

  After a moment, she walks into the lounge. “Daddy, you’re up!”

  “Yes, baby. I was exhausted. I’m not getting a lot of sleep these days.”

  “You need to work less,” she scolds.

  I smile at my little girl. She may be a teenager, but she’s her mother through and through. “You sound more and more like your mom.”

  She takes a giant bite of a bagel and orders a Coke from the bartender before returning to her chair outside with Lilly and her younger sister, Bex. Our baby daughter was Rebekah to Cecelia, but Lilly started calling her Bex, and it stuck. Bex glows when we use her nickname.

  Lilly comes in next. “You’re awake.”

  “I’m really sorry I drooled all over you last night.”

  She smiles a beautiful, soft smile, and my heart feels warm. We’re so lucky to have such a wonderful person taking care of us—all of us. I’m realizing she’s a huge support for me, too, not just the girls.

  I hang out with my daughters by the pool for a while and try not to notice Lilly in her bikini. It doesn’t leave much to the imagination. What is wrong with me? It’s like I’ve never seen her before. She’s lived with us for nearly three years… Though I guess I haven’t been incredibly present for much of that time. So much has happened to all of us. I refocus my attention and decide to keep a sharp watch over the deck. If anyone looks at the girls for too long—any of the girls—I’ll take him out. I was in the Marine Corps. I know what to do.

  Dillon comes around and lets me know the boat to shore will be leaving in an hour. “Can you be ready?”

  I give him a thumbs up. A p
art of me would prefer to stay here with my family, but I know I should go out and be sociable.

  I excuse myself and return to our berth to get ready. We’re going into Monte Carlo, so tuxedos are required. My clothes have made the trip without getting too wrinkled, but I can never tie my tie right. I groan my frustration with my clumsy hands.

  “Would you like some help?”

  I turn to find Lilly. She’s tan from lying out on the deck with the girls, and she’s now wearing cut-off jeans and a T-shirt, her blond hair tucked up in a messy bun.

  “My dad used to have to wear one, so I learned young.” She steps up and takes over.

  I don’t know much about her family. “What did your dad do?”

  “He’s a professor. They were always going to one party or another.”

  I look down, and the tie is perfect. “Thank you. This is much better than I could have ever done.”

  “I love that you went with the dark blue paisley. That really brings out your eyes.”

  I clear my throat. “So, what’s the plan for you and the girls tonight?”

  “We’ll remain on the boat. We’re watching movies. There’s something on Disney+ they’re both interested in. We’re popping popcorn—no going on the deck. Both Rod and Charlie are close by at all times, and we’re feet away from the safe room.”

  “Good. You also have my cell phone number, if you need to reach me. It’s one of Landon’s new satellite phones, so it should work. Should we test it before I go?”

  “We can if it will make you feel better.”

  She’s a little patronizing.

  I give her a half-smile. If it’ll make me feel better? I want her to feel safe, and I need my girls to feel safe. “If you feel fine, I’ll be fine. I’m not sure how late a night it will be. We’re relatively unknown here, but Jim and his men are going with us. The women went shopping earlier and made their spa appointments. They should be back to the boat to celebrate shortly.”