The Playboy Billionaire (The Romero Brothers, Book 3) Read online

  THE PLAYBOY BILLIONAIRE

  (THE ROMERO BROTHERS, BOOK 3)

  Shadonna Richards

  Copyright 2014 by Shadonna Richards

  Author Contact:

  Website: www.ShadonnaRichards.blogspot.com

  Email: [email protected]

  Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/AuthorShadonnaRichards

  Twitter: @Shadonna

  Cover by Keri Knutson

  All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you, God, for all my blessings. To my cherished son and husband for your unconditional love. With gratitude to my family and friends for your endless support. To Solomon, Jermaine, Merdella, Nesitta, Monica, and Percell. To my editor M.M. for always being brilliant. To M.H. and K.D. for your wonderful support.

  THE PLAYBOY BILLIONAIRE (THE ROMERO BROTHERS, BOOK 3)

  Blue Monroe needs to get her life together. The once-promising TV reporter was wrongfully fired by Channel 31 News, thanks to her jealous ex, and newly hired by the wealthy Romero family. She desperately needs this job! All she’s got to do is keep out of sexy, hot playboy Zack’s way and everything will be fine. Blue's got other things to worry about like putting food on the table, taking care of her younger sister and keeping her dark family secret secure.

  Sexy philanthropist and playboy billionaire Zack Romero’s seductive past may soon catch up with him. Skilled in his taste for fine wine as well as fine women, he does a smooth job of running the Romero family’s prestigious award-winning winery and vineyard. But his world is soon rocked when a scandalous sex-tape with an ex-girlfriend threatens to surface. Zack's grandfather and the Romero patriarch, Toni’s ultimatum…control his love life! No sex for at least thirty days! But when Zack is forced to hire Blue Monroe to work closely with him to produce a documentary for the vineyard, will it be sour grapes or a sweet pairing from heaven?

  CHAPTER ONE

  The glorious morning sun glowed radiantly over the sprawling estate owned by Mayberry Hill’s most affluent family, the Romeros. The breathtaking scenery of the massive Romero Winery and Vineyard in all its miles of fresh green grass that seemed to go on forever into the horizon and vibrant rows of flourishing crops could be seen from the floor-to-ceiling windows of the study at Romero Manor. Toni Romero sat, once again, in the study surrounded by several of his successful grandsons whom he had a hand in raising from their teens to young men. The Romeros were all dressed in their finest suits. Only the growing look of disdain on the elder Romero’s face made it evident that this morning’s family meeting was not going to be a pleasant one.

  Another scandal threatened to mar the reputation of the Romero family. This time, Zack Romero was the target.

  “What do you think will happen if the press gets wind of this despicable…video tape, Zack?” Toni growled.

  Zack leaned against the study desk with his arms folded across his chest. He was getting ready to give a tour of the winery to a few college students from the class where he was guest lecturing this semester. Nothing seemed to be going good right now.

  “I’m sure I can handle it if that does happen. If!” Zack answered in a cool, low voice.

  “Zack! This is a sex tape! A sex tape! This is much more critical than you could imagine.”

  Dios Mio! His grandfather had a point. Zack's brother, Lucas, was plagued by some woman who’d claimed he was the father of her unborn child—a huge fiasco last year that almost blew up in his face. But this? This was different. Zack's ex, Selina, had a video recording of their rendezvous in Vegas.

  For chrissake! The explicit lovemaking was wild as sin on that video. He’d certainly performed some delicious sexual acts that could very well be illegal in some of the countries that distributed his company’s products. The kinky things he’d done with her in that tape were more than X-rated. Heck, if that ever got out there would be no turning back. For the first time during the family meeting Zack felt uncomfortable and loosened his silk Italian designed tie. He slid his fingers through his hair.

  “He’s right, Zack,” Pamela, the family’s press secretary intervened. “We need to do pre-emptive damage control in case the tape does get out.”

  “If the tape gets out,” Carl shot to his brother’s defense.

  The young men were dressed in corporate attire and getting ready to venture out to their prospective businesses. But one thing was certain about the Romero family—during times of crisis or impending trouble, they banded together like a pack of protective wolves. They were tight. Family came first. They would drop what they were doing and meet up at the grand estate to deal with matters if at all possible. Currently, Zack’s other brothers, Jules, Alonso and Dion, were out of town. Jules was in Europe opening up a franchise; Alonso, who practiced medicine, was in Haiti opening up a clinic; and Dion had flown to New York to deal with a merger. Lucas was with his pregnant wife Maxine but Carl remained by Zack’s side, brainstorming on a plan of action. Antonio III was with his wife Lucy and their toddler, Anderson.

  “Zack, you really need to get a hold of that tape,” Toni pressed. “You’re going up for the National Winery Awards for Excellence in Community Service. A high honor. You’ve created more useful employment for young adults than any other organization. You’ve provided more guidance and practical skills to help lower the unemployment rate. You deserve it. But this…thing you’ve done needs to be cleared up or everything you've worked so hard for, dedicated your life to, will be over.”

  “He’s right, Zack,” Carl reiterated. “You’re teaching at the college, man. Sex tapes and colleges don’t mix. Well, they do if you're some stupid jock frat boy, but in this case, the board will have a field day. By the way, I’ve already contacted the guys down at the office to look into the whereabouts of the video. The tech team is sending out searchers to see if any of it got online.”

  Zack nodded. “Good. Keep me posted, Carl.” Ironically, it was Zack who’d helped Lucas the year before with hunting down the stalker who’d been terrorizing Maxine. Now, Carl was helping Zack while he tended to business matters. The brothers used a contracted detective agency to handle certain security matters from time to time. The head of the agency was a distant cousin of theirs and had office space at Romero Towers in the downtown core of the city.

  Toni's lips were pinched with fury. “Why couldn’t you settle down with a nice girl? You need to stop dating different women and the wrong kind. You’re a Romero and a high profile one at that. I’ve told you boys before. We Romero men could be easy target and prey for media and publicity seekers. We need to take extra care.”

  Zack felt a muscle twitch in his jaw. He remained in cool, poised, daring the whole situation not to rile him up too much. He was often the smooth one who could control his emotions, especially his temper. But right now, his mind raced dangerously at the thought of what else was lurking.

  Selina was his ex-girlfriend from many years ago. He’d ended it with her. Zack was upfront with her about not wanting to settle down. The trouble was, she had problems, but he never held that against anyone. He wasn’t perfect either. But she’d accumulated a lot of debt and played the casinos one too many times. Yeah, he’d helped her out even when they weren’t together. That was the Romero bloodline running thro
ugh his veins.

  Romero was a Spanish surname meaning protector or guardian of the sacred place. It was in Zack's (and his siblings to some degree) DNA to always jump at the chance to protect those who were close to him by any means. Even ex-girlfriends. Well, this instance had proved to be a costly mistake. Zack didn’t take very well to getting burned. Very few would cross his path if they knew what was good for them.

  The last time Selina asked him, he finally told her he would no longer "loan" her money. He told her she needed to get help for her addiction before she saw another shiny dollar coin. So naturally, that revealing video they’d made years ago was going on the bidding block with the highest price from any slimy media outlet that would take it.

  Zack grimaced at the thought. But the last thing he wanted was to make it his grandfather’s problem or his brothers. He was going to deal with it his way, on his terms. No way in hell did he take to extortionists, but he would think of something fast. Zack always got himself out of his troubles no matter how crazy things seemed. He got himself into it. He’d get himself out of it. Even if it killed him.

  But this only served to reinforce his doubts about getting married or settling down with one woman. Ever. Good for his brother Lucas and Maxine. They were a nice pair. And good for his cousin Antonio and his bride Lucy and their lovely little son. But for Zack? No way in hell was he going that route.

  Women were nothing but trouble.

  “Don’t concern yourself any further,” Zack finally spoke up as he pushed away from the study desk. He shoved his hands in his pants pockets and lifted his chin as he faced his grandfather and brothers. “I’ve listened to each of you tell me what I should and should not be doing and I appreciate your input very much. However, I’m man enough to sort this out on my own.”

  “Oh, no. We’re in this together. If your name goes through the dirt, so does the family name.” Toni stood up, his cane in one hand.

  “I’ve got it under control,” Zack assured, his voice stern. He loved his grandfather but sometimes he felt Toni pushed too hard to keep tabs on the boys.

  “Under control? Under control?” Toni’s face grew red. “You can’t even seem to control the zipper on your pants, Zack.”

  “Ouch,” Carl said in Zack’s place.

  “What did you just say?” Zack asked, incredulous. His grandfather was known to be a bold man all his life, one who spoke the truth even if it shot out of his mouth like a speeding bullet and woe to whoever was the intended target. But this? This took the prize. His ears must have deceived him because they were buzzing.

  “I think I’d better leave,” Pamela said, turning the color of the red dress she had on. She turned to leave but then paused at the door and spun around to face them again. “Oh, um…Toni, the writer will be here soon to get set up for the documentary production.” Pamela reminded him, “She’s the one you hired to work on the vineyard clip with Zack for the National Wine Awards. Her name is Blue.”

  “Thank you, Pamela,” Toni said, his voice brusque.

  “Blue?” Zack responded in shock. “Not that reporter who tripped up and secretly recorded you speaking with Lucas about an arranged marriage?”

  “Yes, that’s the one,” Toni confirmed, waving dismissively.

  “And why?” Zack’s lips were pinched in anger.

  “She’s an excellent writer and I told her it would be fine to work on the special feature story and documentary about the family business in the winery industry with a profile on your commitment to community. You realize that this segment will be featured at the Awards Ceremony so it is crucial that we don’t screw it up. And later, she could do a book on the family.”

  “Don’t you think she’s done enough damage to the family?”

  “I heard her side of the story, Zack, and I am satisfied that it wasn’t her fault. She was set up by the boyfriend as a joke. He also worked at the station. Besides, she no longer works there.”

  Zack shook his head and chuckled. “I’m not working with her. I can handle my own publicity.”

  Toni shook his head, his eyebrows creased with fury. “Back to the subject at hand.” Toni’s voice was firm as he made a point to switch the subject back to the reason they had all convened at Romero Manor.

  “Back in my day,” Toni continued with his verbal lashing against Zack, “men were perfect gentlemen and we didn’t feel the need to…record such things as you’ve done with this Selina woman. What were you recording your business with her for? Educational purposes?”

  “Granddad,” Carl interjected.

  Zack silenced his brother with a raised hand and spoke. “That. Is. Not. Fair.” His tone was cool as a jazz musician.

  “Not fair?” The old man breathed in deeply and sat back down with an unreadable expression on his face as if he was searching for the right words. “Zack, I’m very sorry to have to be harsh with you…and your brothers but…this is not easy for me.”

  Emotion rose in Toni’s voice. “I love you boys very much. You’ve been through so much in your lives, from the time I discovered your father was my son and you boys were living out of his car after he lost his job. I was so happy to rear you as my own. But life is not easy in the so-called real world. There are people who would take pleasure in tearing you down because of your success and everything that you’ve worked so hard to achieve. You've seen it yourself. The press isn’t interested in the good things you do to help society, they just love a juicy scandal. They love to see you fall and fail so that their lives look more liveable. They are happy to see successful people hurt.”

  “Don’t they think we have our own suffering? They want to have what I have?” Zack shot back, arching a brow, maintaining his emotion.

  “They can walk a mile in my shoes then.” Zack’s deep voice sharpened with a matter-of-fact tone. “Let them eat expired canned food as a child because their father lost his job and their home and had mouths to feed. Let them take the pleasure of being ridiculed at school because their clothes were ill-fitted because your folks couldn’t afford to buy clothes or cut your hair. Because that’s the path we took to get where we are.” Zack was making a mockery of the situation. His subtle sarcasm was usurping the conversation. His blood was hot. Fire burned in his veins. How dare they? Whoever they were.

  He was not going to let the naysayers or future haters stop him from doing what he had to do.

  That was the burning passion behind his programs to create more jobs, heck, he even invented jobs so that every student who passed his program had gainful employment, well-paying jobs. Because jobs meant stability. And stability meant no one’s family had to suffer—the way he and his brothers did before they’d become so rich and powerful that they became the city’s most hated targets of luxury.

  “Listen, I’d better leave you two right now.” Carl rose from his chair and touched his brother’s shoulder as a sign of solidarity before walking out of the study.

  Toni turned to face Zack. “Zack. You know I love you, grandson.”

  “Yeah. I’m just glad you don’t hate me or I’d be dead right now with all that verbal lashing.”

  In spite of himself, his grandfather broke into a smile and Zack grinned slightly. He was still agitated as hell at all that was happening when he should be focusing on the tour later today and the National Winery Awards.

  “I’m glad to see you still have your sense of humor about it all. It would kill me if that…tape ever got out. Is there any way…?”

  “Granddad, I already told you. I’m not negotiating with an extortionist. Period. If she wants to play hard ball, that’s in her court. But she will pay the consequences, and I doubt she’d get rich out of a reality show from that either.”

  His grandfather grinned again. “Zack, I really hope so, for your sake.”

  “Now what’s that supposed to mean?”

  Toni sighed heavily. He looked at the fireplace and lifted his chin. Tears were moistening his eyes. “Zack, this is very hard for me but I have no choic
e.”

  “What are you talking about, Grandfather?”

  Toni shook his head, full of remorse. “Zack, I’ve already told you boys. I’m an old man. I don’t know how long I’ll be around. Or how much longer, I should say.” He coughed. “I just want you all to take things seriously. You’ve each come into your own, making valuable contributions. Lucas with his Healthy Start Software Program; Antonio with his real estate ventures. And what you’ve done with this vineyard. You’ve pretty much grown it over the past decade to what it is today. Remarkable!”

  “But?”

  “But you will lose it all if you don’t get serious about your private life.”

  “Grandfather, let me handle my private life.”

  “Good. Now that’s the most sensible thing I’ve heard all day.”

  “I don’t get it. Where are you going with this, Grandfather?”

  “I’m giving you an ultimatum.”

  “An ultimatum? What ultimatum? Why?” Zack didn’t like the way this sounded. His hot defences shot up now and the heat in his blood was burning inside his veins. Zack was a healthy man. He and his brothers worked out hard at the gym, religiously. They took nothing for granted. They were fit as mountain lions, yet a sick feeling settled in his gut about what his grandfather was implying.

  “Zack, I want you to settle down or leave the company.”

  “What?” Zack stood to full height, his eyes filled with rage. “What’s that supposed to mean? You want me to get hitched to keep my position?”

  “Not exactly. I just don’t want you having any more of these types of adventures with women unless it is the one you want to settle down with. Trust me, you’ll thank me later. I don’t mean to get into your personal life—"

  “Too late for that!”

  Toni held up his hand to silence Zack. “Zack, please allow me to finish. I’m only asking that you focus more on your business and what you are contributing to these wonderful programs that you have and less on…dating. No sex for at least thirty days. Just keep away from these women you meet.”