A Bride for the Billionaire Bad Boy (The Romero Brothers, Book 2) (3 page)

Anything to release the pent-up pressure he was
feeling. He loathed deceitful women and wondered what the hell put that woman
up to her shenanigans. He’d met her at a club once, yes. But she was all over
him and Lucas just wasn’t feeling her. He guessed it was true that hell hath no
fury like a woman scorned—by a Romero.

Right now, he didn’t even have his mind on a specific
woman, unless he counted that woman he’d met.
The hard-as-hell-to-get-her-attention
Maxine Summers.

Maxine was that hot chick he’d met through the agency
that hooked up his grandfather’s fifth wedding to the younger nurse Shelly. The
wedding didn’t exactly go as planned but his granddad was sure glad they had
made arrangements for him to get hitched in style.
 

He’d always thought it was crazy the way Maxine seemed
to ignore him every time he was near her. She wasn’t stuck-up or anything
remotely
close
to hoity-toity. Lucas could tell she
was interested in him, but she was perhaps shy about expressing herself around
him. She’d even told him she’d heard about his reputation with the women and
seen it for herself and that’s what piqued his interest in her. She was
brutally honest. He hadn’t met too many girls who carried those qualifications.
That really turned him on.

“That’s twenty-eight reps, man. Sure you
wanna
go on?” Zack commented as he handed Lucas his bottled
beverage that was ever present by his side while he worked out.

Lucas replaced the weights on the rack and sat up to
take a good swig of his energy drink. “Thanks.” He wiped the sweat off his face
with the white towel and then flung it over his shoulder.

“Granddad’s going to want to meet with us soon,” Zack
said, leaning against the treadmill sipping on his bottled water.

“I can’t wait,”
Lucas
said,
his tone sharp as acid. He growled knowing full well that a scolding would
follow very soon.

“Let Granddad know I’m coming,” Lucas added. “I’m going
to hit the shower first.”

“Sure thing,” Zack agreed. He then grabbed his cell
phone and headed towards the main area of the mansion.

CHAPTER THREE

A few moments later, Lucas stripped off his gym vest
and track pants and headed to the shower of the home-built gym. He turned on
the faucet, making sure the water was cool enough. He knew full well that it
wasn’t good to shower immediately after working out. He should let his body
cool down a bit first. Trouble was, he knew damn well nothing could cool him down.
He was fired up. Seething.
Beside himself.
He rubbed
the stubble on his chin and got inside the stall allowing the water to splash
on his skin before lathering up. All the while thinking. Women.
Nothing but trouble.
He turned cold inside thinking about
the latest headlines he’d seen in the morning papers:

“Another Romero Weasels Way Out of Trouble with Family
Connections.”

“The Bad Boys of the Romero Family,” followed by a
caption of “Lucas and Zack at it again!”

“
Romeros
Want to Rule,”
followed by a story about how the family was likened to modern-day barbarians
who seek to buy up as many properties and take over as many businesses as
possible to “take over” and “now they want to sow their wild oats!”

Tabloids!

Didn’t they have anything more newsworthy to cover?
Like the massive layoffs and high unemployment rate? Growing up, he and his
family didn’t have much until they’d found out about their long-lost
grandfather, Toni. When Lucas's father Jack was unemployed,
their
family home was repossessed by the bank
and they were forced to live out
of their dad’s old minivan until the authorities got involved. That was why no
matter how successful or rich they were, they never forgot where they came from
and would do everything in their power to help those up.

What was that saying again? “When you have more, you
should give more!” That being said, he also knew one didn’t have to be rich to
give.

Yeah, he lived on the edge at times! Sure, he wasn’t
perfect. He sometimes could be a real jerk in the business arena but he still
couldn’t get his head around the press mentality.

Anything to feed the story-making machines! The Romero
family sold papers! That was something he would never get used to.

 
“When
Money Affords Everything…Even Bribery!” was the headline that irked him the
most. The same woman claimed that Lucas was trying to buy her off from coming
public—which was completely fabricated. She even took a
selfie
on her camera phone at the time while they were
entwined in some exotic dance move. Yeah, the music was pumping and the energy
at the club was electric. People go to clubs to have a good time, let loose.
Unwind. Unfortunately, when snapshots are taken and a little airbrushing on a
photo manipulation program is applied, things can look ten times worse than
they are.

Damn
those camera phones!
Lucas thought bitterly.

The brothers, along with their cousin Antonio (prior
to his tying the knot recently), would often unwind at an exclusive nightclub
in the downtown core of Toronto every so now and again. Unfortunately, many
opportunists and wannabe reality stars would take their phone recording devices
and cameras and take all sorts of snapshots of them or with them and post all
sorts of stories online.

Lucas thought little of it at the time but every time
there was a community program he was involved in on a workday or a major deal
to clinch, random images would surface in the media at just the right time in an
attempt to discredit his reputation as trustworthy or professional. Like he
needed that sort of help. It was bad enough his old man left him a legacy of a tainted
name from which he had to distance himself.

His father, Jack, was caught up in some fraud and
mishandling of funds scandal some time ago but the media never eased up after
he was cleared on a technicality. Reports even went as far as to accuse the
Romero family of using their influence and money to buy off
witnesses—which was completely false. But that didn’t help much.

He had already gotten into a heated discussion with
his grandfather over the phone last night about the situation as it unfolded in
the media. His grandfather’s solution was to issue a written statement, yet
again. But Lucas sure as hell wasn’t going to apologize or try to explain
himself every single time a ridiculous insinuation came to light in the papers.
He had better things to do with his time than to consistently play into games.

But a few things were true about Lucas Romero.

He didn’t bow to pressure.

He didn’t care what the hell people thought about
him—as long as he was true to himself.

He didn’t believe in marriage.

 
***

An hour later, the Romero clan was seated in the plush
study on the main floor.

“Have you read the headlines this morning?” Toni spoke
up as he sat by the grand marble fireplace facing his grandsons. He was, in a
word, furious.

“Granddad, I’m sorry this all happened but I had
nothing to do with that girl. I’m not issuing a statement,” Lucas asserted.

“Do you even care about your reputation, Lucas?”

“I care about not wasting time,” he responded with
rigidity.

“Lucas, I’ve told you before and I’m telling you
again. In business, reputation is everything. Without it, you’re nothing.”

“You can’t control what people say about you, Gramps!”
Zack shot to Lucas’s defense.

Toni gave his grandson a stern glare. He sighed deeply
before answering. “That is true, Zack. But it doesn’t mean that you live in
such a way that makes it darn easy for people to say horrible things.”

“Now what’s that supposed to mean?” Lucas’s voice
hardened. He felt his muscles tense as he pulled away from the oak table in the
study he was leaning against. His hands were still shoved in the pockets of his
trousers. His blazer was opened and his tie loosened around his neck. He was on
his way to the office downtown after the meeting.

Antonio and Lucy looked on with mixed expressions.
Lucy rubbed her hand over her swollen belly as if she felt her baby move. She
was five months pregnant with Toni’s first great-grandchild. Something that
should be the delight of his world right now but unfortunately it was
overshadowed by the current nonsense. At least Antonio III was doing something
valuable with his life. He had some stability being married to a good woman,
expecting a child. The way things should be.

Jules, Troy and Carl, Toni's other grandsons, were
present and had already proffered their share into the matter when the family
meeting commenced without Lucas while he showered. Occasionally, the men would
exchange glances with each other as the elder Romero spoke. It wasn’t often a
family emergency meeting had to be called at Romero Mansion to brainstorm on
what move to make after the family name was being sullied. Toni was at least
grateful for that. But one time or twice was one or two too many.

“I’m saying that this isn’t the first time you had some…indiscretion.
Remember that time at the hotel in Vegas?”

“You’re not seriously blaming
me
for that?” Lucas fired in a clipped tone. He leaned back against
the desk again, his hands shoved in the pockets of his dress pants as his
blazer hung loosely. Toni resisted the urge to tell him to button up his suit. What
he wanted to tell him instead was to button up his attitude.

Toni’s pet peeve was the casual business look his
grandsons often sported. He always thought it was better for a young man to
have his suit done up and neat to give the impression of professionalism. But
that was back in his day. Was Toni being too old-fashioned regarding his
grandsons? For heaven’s sake, they were two generations apart. Toni grew up in
a much different era from his grandsons.
Very different.

“Granddad, I’m sorry you’ve had to endure
inconvenience with all this press intrusion but I’m not taking responsibility
for other people’s actions. I think we’re all wasting our time trying to address
this. And as for Vegas, I don’t go around judging people by their backgrounds.”

“Lucas! You need to be more careful with whom you
associate. I’m warning you.” The tension in the study was beyond palpable. Toni
recomposed himself, feeling guilty for tearing into Lucas the way he did. “Lucas,
I didn’t mean to raise my voice like that,” Toni’s voice softened.

Lucas’s gaze was fixed outside through the French
doors overlooking the massive garden. Luckily it was a private area and
tranquil so they were unaware of what was going on outside at the main
entrance. It was a quiet area of the estate.
A perfect place
for family gatherings.
At times, one of sorrow.
Toni’s other grandson Antonio III was an emotional wreck when the family was
called in to the study years ago to address the tragic death of his father
Antonio, Jr. The family attorney was the one who delivered the heartbreaking news.

“What do you propose we do, Grandfather?” Antonio III
chimed in, his eyes narrowed in anger. He was just as fed up with the series of
bad press as the rest of them.

“We must act fast in order to mend the damage,” Toni
responded with an air of authority. He then redirected his attention to Lucas.
“Lucas, you’ve done so brilliantly with your Healthy Start Program. You’ve not
only created jobs with that spectacular software and the initiative walk-in
program. I want you to focus on the launch of your new product line. I just
don’t want this perception of your being reckless and dishonest to tarnish
that.”

“He has a point, Lucas,” Carl added, his deep voice
cut through the tension in the room. Carl himself owned the successful string
of fitness centers around the city and was quickly branching out to the west
coast and to the U.S.

“I’m not disputing that we need to uphold the family
honor, Granddad,” Lucas growled. He moved from the spot where he was resting
and paced by the fireplace. “I’m disputing the fact that we need to keep
playing into this publicity game when every Jane, Mary and Sue comes forth with
ridiculous allegations. There’s a time to do damage control and there’s a time
to let things go and focus on what really matters. What’s that saying? Time
spent on getting even is time wasted for getting ahead.”

“Good point!” Lucy spoke up. Since coming into the
family circle six months ago, she rarely spoke up at family meetings such as
this.

“I second that,” Zack concurred.

 
“Yes, you
do have a point, Lucas. I understand you don't want to play into the publicity
game, but you must understand that we have a reputation to uphold. I don't want
you to be the easy target and prey of every young woman out there.” Toni rose
from his seat with cane in hand and hobbled over to his grandson. “I just wish
you were more steady in your life. I wish you would settle down. I wish you
would…” Toni broke off. His voice choked.