The Heir Read online

  Mesa Falls

  The Key Players

  Mesa Falls Ranch, Montana’s premier luxury corporate retreat, got its start when a

  consortium bought the property.

  The Owners

  Weston Rivera, rancher

  Miles Rivera, rancher

  Gage Striker, investment banker

  Desmond Pierce, casino resort owner

  Alec Jacobsen, game developer

  Jonah Norlander, technology company CEO

  What do the owners have in common?

  They all went to Dowdon School, where they

  were students of the late Alonzo Salazar.

  The Salazars

  Alonzo Salazar (dec.), retired teacher at

  Dowdon School, CEO of Salazar Media

  Devon Salazar, copresident,

  Salazar Media, Alonzo’s son

  Marcus Salazar, copresident, Salazar Media, Alonzo’s son, Devon’s half brother

  As these key players converge, dark secrets

  come to light in Big Sky Country…

  Where family loyalties and passions collide…

  “Have you had dinner?”

  Desmond’s gray eyes met hers, the invitation she saw in them tickling her insides in a way that felt all wrong for a man she needed to be wary around.

  “I had something on the plane.” It wasn’t technically a lie because she’d eaten the protein bar she’d packed from home. “I can meet with any of your partners who are free this evening—”

  “Me. I’m free this evening.” He looked at her with a singular focus, like she was the only thing he had on his agenda for the rest of the week. Or—a wicked part of her brain amended—like she was the only item on his personal menu.

  “Good.” Nicole gave a nod of confirmation, hating that her voice had sounded breathless. Hungry. And not just because she’d eaten only a protein bar.

  * * *

  The Heir by Joanne Rock is part of the

  Dynasties: Mesa Falls series.

  Joanne Rock

  The Heir

  To my mom, for sharing her love of reading with me

  so seamlessly. She still claims I learned to read on

  my own before I went to school. Thank you, Mom.

  I know you had a lot to do with that!

  Dear Reader,

  I can’t believe we’re at the end of the series already! I’ve loved exploring Mesa Falls and the friends who craved this retreat from the world, even if they didn’t remember to visit as often as they should have. It was a good reminder to me that we all need to make time for friends and fun in our lives, no matter how busy we get.

  I’ve been waiting for the mysterious character of Nicole to return to Mesa Falls. She had a brief appearance in Rule Breaker, but now she’s back and she has some of the answers the men of Mesa Falls need. She is also the caretaker for her sister’s orphaned child, and with everything at stake, she’ll do anything to protect him. Even if that means going toe-to-toe with powerful and compelling Desmond Pierce to learn the identity of her nephew’s father. But from Desmond’s perspective, it’s Nicole who has been keeping all the secrets. And if she really is ward to his dead friend’s son, he will do everything in his power to keep her close. When these two start circling each other, sparks fly.

  Join me for one last trip to western Montana for all the drama and sizzle of a Dynasties story!

  Happy reading,

  Joanne Rock

  Joanne Rock credits her decision to write romance after a book she picked up during a flight delay engrossed her so thoroughly that she didn’t mind at all when her flight was delayed two more times. Giving her readers the chance to escape into another world has motivated her to write over eighty books for a variety of Harlequin series.

  Books by Joanne Rock

  Harlequin Desire

  Dynasties: Mesa Falls

  The Rebel

  The Rival

  Rule Breaker

  Heartbreaker

  The Rancher

  The Heir

  Texas Cattleman’s Club: Inheritance

  Her Texas Renegade

  Visit her Author Profile page at Harlequin.com, or joannerock.com, for more titles.

  You can also find Joanne Rock on Facebook, along with other Harlequin Desire authors, at Facebook.com/harlequindesireauthors!

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Scandalizing the CEO by Yvonne Lindsay

  Prologue

  Tired from a long night of travel, Nicole Cruz was still in bed when her phone rang on a Sunday morning.

  She answered before fully awake, her thoughts still half in dreamland. She’d gotten a flight into San Francisco after midnight, but hadn’t fallen into bed in San Jose until long afterward. It had been the first time she’d slept in her own home for nearly two weeks and she’d crashed hard.

  “Hello?” Propping herself up on her elbow, she shoved tangled auburn hair from her eyes for a better peek at her phone screen when she realized two things at once.

  First, this wasn’t a normal phone call. She’d swiped the connect button on a video chat.

  Second, her caller was Desmond Pierce, the rich and powerful casino resort owner who’d footed the bill for the return flight from Prince Edward Island yesterday so that Nicole and her nephew, Matthew, could answer his summons to western Montana. Nicole had insisted they stop in San Jose first so she could pick up a few of their things.

  In reality, it was so she could surreptitiously drop Matthew off at his boarding school this morning. She hadn’t told Desmond she had no intention of bringing the boy with her to Mesa Falls Ranch, the site of their appointed meeting later today to discuss the mystery of the teen’s paternity.

  “Good morning, Nicole.” Desmond’s deep voice resonated through the phone as his image filled her screen. His dark brown hair looked freshly cut around the sides, but the top was longer and slightly unruly. The bristle along his jaw was trimmed, too, but the shadow effect gave an edge to his tailored, European-cut suit.

  Gray eyes zeroed in on her with startling clarity, making her all too aware of the skimpy pink camisole she’d slept in.

  “Desmond,” she said on an awkward gasp, dragging an oversize pillow in front of her to hide her breasts. “I—probably shouldn’t have picked up.”

  Her pulse stuttered at the sight of him, his broad shoulders filling out his suit in an appealing way. She’d liked the sound of his voice the first time they’d spoken on the phone earlier in the week. But seeing him now had the strangest effect on her, heightening her senses, making her very aware of him. And of herself and her lack of clothes. His gaze never left her face—at least not that she’d noticed. But she would swear there was a hint of amusement gleaming in their depths.

  “Would you like to call me back when it’s more convenient?” His tone remained even, as if unaware he was talking to a woman in bed. “I just wanted to give you the details for your flight today.”

  And you couldn’t have just texted them? But she’d rather get the conversation over with now than have another talk hanging over her conscience, making her feel guil
ty about flying solo today.

  “Now is fine,” she assured him with false brightness, careful not to straighten up too much or she’d lose the pillow barrier she was banking on for coverage. “I should be up anyhow. I’ve got a lot to do before heading to the airfield.”

  “It’s not too late for me to send a car for you,” he offered, tapping the screen to life on a tablet as he spoke to her from behind a sleek mahogany desk. Behind him, a bank of windows overlooking the Bitterroot Mountains let her know he was already at Mesa Falls Ranch.

  He hadn’t been in residence during the few weeks she’d worked there. Shortly after Christmas she’d taken a job in guest services under an assumed name in the hope of learning more about the partners who ran the ranch. Before her sister’s untimely death from a brain aneurysm last year, Lana had given Nicole reason to believe one of the men running Mesa Falls might be Matthew’s father. But Nicole had been unceremoniously fired before she could learn the truth.

  An event Desmond Pierce had since claimed hadn’t been authorized by any of the partners. But at the time, her sudden termination had made her all the more wary of the men who owned Mesa Falls. She’d taken her nephew to Prince Edward Island in an effort to lie low and regroup, so it had rattled her to learn Desmond’s private investigator had followed them. She’d spent days dodging the tail, finally giving in to talk to Desmond Pierce the third time the PI asked her to contact him. They’d spoken briefly on the phone two times before now. Yet until she learned more about his motives, she was planning to keep Mattie safely ensconced at his school. Besides, as a gifted child with autism spectrum disorder, her nephew sometimes struggled with change, and he’d been through more than enough these last months after losing his mom.

  “I can get to the airport on my own,” Nicole assured him, refusing to take more help than necessary. Bad enough he was sending his jet to pick her up today. “Am I still heading to Reid-Hillview?” she asked, naming the private airfield closest to her house.

  “Yes,” Desmond confirmed, rising to his feet and buttoning his jacket with nimble fingers. Her focus lingered on his hand. “The pilot will be on-site at one o’clock to pick up you and Matthew, but he’ll wait until you’re ready, so don’t rush.”

  Her stomach knotted. Guilt niggled for a moment before she shoved it aside. She refused to feel bad about doing what was best for Mattie. She would drop him off at school before heading to the airfield.

  “I’ll need a little longer than that.” She dodged the mention of her traveling companion as she hugged the pillow to her chest and stood. “But I can probably be there by two.”

  “Excellent.” Desmond rewarded her with a smile that had probably charmed far more worldly women than her. There was something compelling about him that went beyond good looks. “I appreciate you agreeing to see me.”

  He had an ease and competence that suggested he could accomplish anything. But then, wealth imbued people with that kind of confidence. He’d wanted Nicole and her nephew to come to Montana, so he’d had them followed until they caved to his terms.

  Or so he thought. Nicole could at least keep him away from her nephew while Matthew was in school.

  “It wasn’t a decision I reached easily,” she reminded him, needing this man to know she wasn’t going to knuckle under to whatever demands he made once she was in Montana. “Being hounded by your detective didn’t help your case if you really only wished to speak to me.”

  She feared that he and his friends—any one of whom might have fathered her nephew—would try to wrest guardianship of Matthew away from her. And he might as well know straight out of the gate that wasn’t happening.

  His jaw tightened at her rebuke, but he didn’t deny it.

  “Forgive me. I was unsure how else to right the wrong you were done while employed at the ranch. We’ll make sure you’re compensated for the abrupt termination.”

  She studied his features, looking for a hint as to his deeper motive, but his gray eyes revealed nothing. And while she was quickly running out of her personal reserves on her quest to find her nephew’s father, she wouldn’t be accepting financial gifts from a man who already wielded too much power.

  “I’m not interested in that. I’m only coming to Montana to learn the truth about Mathew’s connection to Mesa Falls.”

  Perhaps Desmond heard that it was a line in the sand for her, because he didn’t argue. Then again, he didn’t concede, either.

  “I’m committed to helping you find the answers you’re searching for.” His gaze was unwavering.

  Could she trust those words? Or was he more interested in making sure she didn’t learn too much? It was impossible to tell. But she wouldn’t let Desmond Pierce stop her in her quest.

  And she damned well wouldn’t allow his charismatic appeal to slip past her guard. Nothing was more important than protecting her nephew’s best interests.

  When she simply nodded, Desmond continued. “I look forward to seeing you when you land. There’s a snowstorm rolling in later, so dress warm.”

  She knew it was for practical purposes that he was going to meet her personally, but a shiver still stole over her at the thought of stepping off the aircraft and coming face-to-face with this man for the first time.

  Now the only man who’d seen her in bed in over a year.

  Shaking off the wayward thought, Nicole wished her contact in Mesa Falls didn’t have to be so damnably attractive.

  “I’ll see you soon. And...thank you.” Disconnecting the call, Nicole made sure the screen went dark before she let go of the pillow.

  She needed a shower to clear her head, and then she’d put her game face on for the day ahead. She would drop Matthew off at his school before boarding Desmond’s private plane, then proceed to Montana alone to find out what the men of Mesa Falls had been hiding from her family. The next time she saw Desmond Pierce, he wasn’t going to be happy with her.

  One

  Parking his SUV in a deserted lot behind the Ravalli County Airport in Hamilton, Montana, Desmond Pierce killed the engine. He’d tracked the flight of the light Gulfstream jet delivering his guests and timed his arrival carefully to meet Nicole Cruz and her ward for the first time.

  Wind whipped off the jagged peaks of the Bitterroot range to the west, the snow-capped mountains casting long shadows on the valley as the sun dipped low in the sky. Desmond walked around to the front of the main hangar where the jet had just come to a full stop.

  He, along with five friends, had purchased the plane at the same time they’d bought Mesa Falls Ranch, where they’d invested heavily in sustainable ranching practices before expanding into a luxury resort to showcase their environmental initiatives. The ranch had been their memorial to a friend who’d died fourteen years ago when they’d been in boarding school together in Southern California. Until this winter, Desmond had thought he’d put that hellish time in his life behind him. But the old ghosts were back to plague him after a scandal hit Mesa Falls three months ago.

  A scandal fueled to a boiling point thanks in part to his guests—a woman full of secrets, and her thirteen-year-old nephew, Matthew Cruz, whose unknown paternity was a new question mark in a past Desmond had tried hard to forget. But since the boy was linked to the owners of Mesa Falls, Desmond had stepped up to take the lead in dealing with Nicole.

  It was his turn to be the face of the group, for one thing. For another? He’d experienced an unusual...curiosity about her during their conversations over the past week since his private investigator had located her.

  Hell if he knew why he’d given in to the urge for a video call this morning. But images of her in that pink camisole had tormented him every minute since then.

  He paused to stand under a metal awning sheltering one of the entrances into the hangar, waiting as the cabin door opened, a member of the ground crew securing the stairs. Tapping the snow off the toes of his boots, Desmond
reviewed what he knew about Nicole from the detective’s report. She’d taken a job at the ranch under an assumed name, using her time there to research the six partners who owned Mesa Falls. She believed one of them might be her nephew’s father after the boy’s mother died suddenly of an aneurysm. Before her death, Nicole’s sister indicated that someone close to the ranch’s owners had been financing Matthew’s education. Nicole wanted to know why.

  But Nicole had been fired by her supervisor, who quit immediately afterward. Nicole promptly grabbed Matthew from school and vanished, resulting in deeper mistrust between her and the men of Mesa Falls.

  But Desmond needed her cooperation if they were going to figure out the boy’s paternity. When he’d suggested she fly to Montana with her nephew for a meeting, she only agreed on the condition that he and his partners submit DNA samples for paternity tests—tests that had just come back negative for any matches. Results he had yet to share with Nicole, and which were going to give rise to a whole lot of new questions. He’d been afraid to give her too much of a heads-up on the news for fear she’d change her mind about returning to Montana.

  Now shadows stirred near the cabin door, making Desmond straighten where he stood. He’d seen photos of the boy, so he knew generally what to expect. Matthew—with his sandy hair, lean frame and dark brown eyes—bore little resemblance to anyone Desmond knew.

  Nicole had thick auburn waves and eyes the same deep brown as her nephew’s, with features Desmond had memorized even before their video call. The detective had given him a still photo pulled from the ranch’s security footage during the weeks she’d been an employee. At that time, Weston Rivera had been in charge of Mesa Falls while Desmond had been embroiled in running his casino resort on the northern shore of Lake Tahoe, so his path had never crossed Nicole’s.

  A missed opportunity? Or was it just as well considering the interest she stirred in him that didn’t have anything to do with her connection to Mesa Falls? He didn’t know what spurred the reaction. She was lovely, certainly. But that alone had never been enough to spark the kind of awareness he had for this woman. The casino he ran attracted wealth and beauty in direct proportion to one another. Nicole had something different. Warmth. Fire. He’d heard it in her voice when they spoke on the phone. Seen it in her eyes in that video call.