Billionaire In Hiding: The Complete Series (Alpha Billionaire Romance Western Love Story)

BILLIONAIRE
IN HIDING

The
Complete Series

By
Claire Adams

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 and are not
to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual
events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Copyright
© 2016 Claire Adams

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Chapter 1

Garrett

“I
don’t know what you did and I don’t care. While you are here, you are just any
other drifter who’s looking for a job before moving onto the next location. I
won’t treat you any different.”

“Yes,
sir.”

“What’s
your name, son?” the older man asked me.

“Malcolm—I
mean, Garrett Reynolds,” I replied. Instantly, I knew the mistake I had made.
Luckily I also knew that this man in front of me was the only one who knew that
I wasn’t who I pretended to be; his job was to take me in and keep me safe.

I
was scared, I readily admitted that. I was in a strange city—hell, a strange
state even. I was dressed in clothes that I would never have worn in my
day-to-day life and the only thing keeping me alive was a government
organization that wanted to trade my testimony for the conviction of a drug
smuggler.

My
life was very clearly in danger and I was grateful to be at the ranch with the
silly cowboy clothes on. If working as a ranch hand and living in the middle of
nowhere was what I had to do to stay safe, I was going to do it.

“It’s
hard, but you can’t make that mistake again. Whoever you were before doesn’t
exist right now. You are Garrett Reynolds; don’t forget that.”

He
was stern with me and I appreciated the reminder. It was going to take practice
for me to learn this new person that I was supposed to be. In my normal life, I
was charismatic and social. I loved hanging out with my friends, partying, and
traveling. But all those things were gone now. Instead of traveling and having
fun, I was relegated to lowly, ranch hand duties and I was going to have to
like it.

The
agent had given me two choices in where I could relocate to. Either take the
ranch hand position in Montana or head up to Alaska and try my hand at fishing.
Because I knew myself to get violently sick on a boat, there really was no
choice for me: I had to go with the ranch.

“I
know, sir; I won’t let it happen again.”

“I’m
Sid Miller; it’s nice to meet you young man,” Sid said as he reached his hand
out and shook mine. “I promise you’ll be safe here until they come back for
you.”

I
trusted Sid, which was strange for someone I had just met and considering the
circumstances in which I had arrived at his ranch. But Sid Miller struck me as
the kind of man who always kept his word and wouldn’t do anything to let my
secret out.

He
was probably in his mid to late fifties with a big, gray mustache and weathered
skin. He wore cowboy boots, jeans, and a button up shirt that were probably
part of his daily wardrobe from the looks of the wear and tear on the clothing.
Sid also had a well-worn cowboy hat that seemed to fit him as if it were custom
made. There was no doubt that he wore cowboy gear better than me.

I
struggled with the boots the most. They felt like I was wearing ladies
high-heel shoes. As I took each step, I put my heel to the ground and then felt
off balance as the front of my foot hit the ground in odd timing. I would have
to practice walking in them so I didn’t look like a total idiot as I started my
job.

My
new identity was Garrett Reynolds and I was supposed to be familiar with horses
and farming. The problem was, I wasn’t familiar with either of those things. It
was going to be the best acting job of my life if I could actually convince
people that I belonged on that ranch.

“Sid,
thanks for everything.”

“Okay,
that’s enough of the pleasantries. These will be your quarters; I suspect they
are far below what you’re used to, but you’ll be safe. Depending on how long
you stay here, and how hard you work, I’ll move you up in position just like
anyone else around here.”

“Thank
you, sir.”

“For
now, you’re a ranch hand. You’ll work with the younger boys who are here for
the summer. This bunkhouse will be where you sleep and that building across the
way is where the ranch hands eat.”

The
ranch felt a little like a summer camp I had went to as a teenager. The
bunkhouse was filled with several sets of bunk beds and small lockers at the
foot of each bed. The lockers had padlocks on them, which I assumed was to keep
personal belongings safe. Although I only had on small bag of personal items
with me, and none of them were all that personal.

When
I left my home in Los Angeles, I wasn’t allowed to take any photos or items
that could be used to identify me. So I grabbed my journals and a few other
small items that were important.

Normally,
if I went on a long vacation I would have my sister or one of her friends
housesit my house, but it was too dangerous considering the current situation.
Instead, I just paid for the highest level of security and I’d have to hope
everything was still there when I got home.

“Yes,
sir,” I replied. “I truly am grateful for the safety you’re providing.”

“Do
you know when the trial will be?”

I
looked at him in surprise. I didn’t know that Sid had been told anything about
the trial that I had to testify in or the dangerous men who were threatening my
life. As I followed him up to the main house, we talked briefly about the
realities of my situation.

“Maybe
a month, or maybe two years, I’m not sure how long the process takes.”

“I’ve
had men here as long as six months, not much longer than that. So hopefully
that gives you an idea.”

“Thank
you,” I said gratefully.

Back
home, I had left a thriving business in the hands of my Corporate Vice
President, Casey Zane. It was a tough job and would require him to work harder
than he was used to. I had confidence in Casey though; he had only been with me
a year, but he had proven his abilities. Luckily we had a top-notch team of
leaders to support him in my absence as well.

The
worst that could happen would be that my private jet business would go bust
while I was away. And after having my life threatened and having one of my
co-workers murdered, bankruptcy didn’t seem like the end of the world.

I
had fought the idea of going into witness protection, though. I really didn’t
like the idea of leaving my employees exposed to the evil character who wanted
me dead. But the truth was that none of them knew about Frank Gordano and his
drug smuggling business like I did. The only other person who worked for me
that had known him was dead. So as much as I didn’t want to go into protective
custody, it was much better than being dead.

“I’m
going to introduce you to my wife. She’s the one that feeds you men and she’ll
help with any questions you might have.”

“Does
she know?”

“She
knows that we take in witnesses, but she prefers not to know which of you are
in the program and which are genuinely just here to work. It’s easier for her
that way.”

“Yes,
I understand.”

The
large farmhouse looked much bigger as we approached it. There was a sweeping,
wraparound deck and a white porch swing. It looked as if it was right out of a
storybook, and when Sid’s wife walked up to the front door and let us in, I
thought we were certainly in some sort of make-believe land.

I
had a girlfriend once that made me watch made-for-television movies with her.
As I stood on the porch of Sid’s perfect home, in the middle of his perfect,
Montana ranch, I felt like I was right, smackdab in the middle of a
made-for-television movie.

“This
beautiful woman is Meredith Miller, but you lot usually just call her Mrs.
Miller.”

“It’s
a pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” I said with extended hand.

Meredith
pushed my hand aside and gave me a warm hug. She was beautiful, warm, and
clearly cared about the men who came to work at their ranch. I knew instantly I
was going to enjoy my time at Miller Ranch.

Hard
work had never scared me. I hadn’t become a success by being afraid of hard
work. My aviation company was one of the top, private jet companies in the
world. I had over a thousand planes in the air and twice that many employees.
Sure, testifying in this case had put me in a precarious position, but I
couldn’t have forced my employees to do it. What kind of CEO would I have been
if I hadn’t been willing to keep them safe and testify myself? Plus, any of the
employees who had had contact with Frank Gordano weren’t even aware of what he
was transporting on our planes. I was really the only person who know the whole
story.

Meredith
was tall, thin, and had beautiful, caramel-colored skin. It was obvious that
she didn’t just sit in the house all day while Sid managed the ranch. As she
pulled away from our embrace, she looked into my eyes and for a moment I felt
like she could see right through me. I didn’t think she needed me to tell her
that I was there under protection; something told me that she knew it right
away by looking at me.

“What’s
your name, young man?” she asked.

“Garrett,”
I replied with a smile. Partially because I was proud of myself for remembering
the right name to say and partially in response to the beautiful grin on
Meredith’s face.

Just
being near her and talking to her had calmed my nerves a bit already. She had a
gentle way about her and I could see why Sid had married her. Someday I hoped
to find a woman that I could love like they seemed to love each other.

I
watched as Sid put his arm around Meredith and pulled her toward him to give
her a quick kiss. She laughed and smiled like a schoolgirl. Life would be so
great if I ever found a woman I could make smile like that with just my touch.

Women
and I had never really mixed all that well. Sure, I liked women and I spent
lots of time with them. I had them in my bed, at my parties, out for dates. But
I never seemed to be able to find a woman that felt like a true match for me.
When I envisioned my life with a partner and wife, I wanted someone who was
truly my equal. That didn’t mean I was looking for someone who owned a
billion-dollar business or anything like that; I just needed a woman who felt
like she could hold her own around me.

But
all of that was on hold for the time being. I wasn’t going to be dating anyone
and I certainly wouldn’t be finding a lifelong partner on a ranch full of men.
I had to hope that my time on the ranch wouldn’t last longer than a few weeks.
I could use it as a vacation, time to relax and reflect on my life a bit. If it
drug out longer than a few weeks, I was likely to go stir crazy alone on the
ranch with all the free time I was going to have.

“Have
you ever been around horses?”

“No,
ma’am,” I said and then quickly remembered that my new identity really had been
around horses before.

I
shot Sid a look and shrugged my shoulders at my mistake. It was going to take a
lot more practice than I thought to remember this new man that I was supposed
to be. I had a hard enough time remembering the man I already was.

“That’s
a pity; I think you’d do well there. My daughter, Sarah, will likely be home
for a few months very soon. If you’d like, I’ll have her teach you about them
and you could be in charge of their care with her.”

“Anything
you’d like. I’m here to work, ma’am. I can do anything.”

“Have
Walter start him in the horse house tomorrow,” Meredith said to her husband
before leading us into the house. “Have a seat; let’s get some lemonade into
you and chat for a minute.”

The
idea of chatting had turned my blood cold. In my old life, I would have loved to
sit down and talk with a nice couple like the Millers. But I could barely
remember the name of my cover story, and certainly couldn’t remember any of the
facts about this pretend person I was supposed to be.

I
was going to need to distract her and quickly. One of my favorite conversation
techniques was distraction. When a woman I had been dating for a few weeks
started asking about more long term decisions I always distracted her with
gifts and trips. It worked surprisingly well, at least for a little while, but
eventually they came back to nagging about a commitment.