Crude Heir (Billionaire Heirs #3)

Chapter 1

Derrick

“Your father doesn’t want anyone to know,” she whispers into the phone, her voice barely audible. Her words hit me like a punch in the gut, a painful reminder of whose interests matter most to her. And they’re not mine.

Father. The term wasn’t part of my vocabulary until recently. Even though I’ve known the truth for several weeks, it doesn’t make the situation any easier to deal with. And now, here she is, dropping yet another bomb in my lap.

“Derrick, are you there?” Her voice trembles with concern and maybe even a touch of desperation. It should move me, but I just can’t bring myself to feel anything. After finding out my own mother has lied to me for my entire goddamn life, I’m having a hard time trusting anyone. And she, of all people, is at the bottom of that list. “Honey, I know you’re angry, but I need you to hear me out.”

“I’m here.” My reply comes out curt and detached, a reflection of the walls I’ve built around myself after her betrayal and the subsequent fallout.

“I said your father doesn’t want—”

“I heard,” I reply through clenched teeth, struggling to contain the mixture of resentment and disappointment building up inside. “ Your boss is trying to keep a lid on whatever you’re about to tell me.”

It shouldn’t have come as a shock to learn my mother’s long-time employer is my father. But when that man is Texas billionaire Keith Kelly, the owner of Kelly Oil & Gas, the revelation thrusts my life into the public eye, drawing the whole world’s attention. The knowledge has bashed every pillar of my being until I don’t even know who I am.

There’s a brief pause on the other end of the line, as if she’s trying to choose her words carefully. I tap my fingers against my desk, wishing this call to be over. “There’s…an issue with the accounting in the Eagle Ford region.”

My blood runs cold. “What are you saying? Theft?” It doesn’t surprise me that he would want to keep something like that a secret.

“Yes.” She says the word as if it hurt her physically.

“Oh hell.” Why did this have to happen now? In Eagle Ford of all places? “Why would he want to cover this up?”

“I don’t know,” she says, her voice strained.

“How can he pull this shit and leave Addler hanging?”

“He didn’t. The sale was supposed to be postponed. Keith is furious . He’s on the phone with Simon now.”

Selling the construction division was done to bring in a substantial amount of money. This was all part of the restructuring Keith had announced. I helped find the buyer, before I found out what was going on. Hell, I even got him the lease for the de Marco Ranch.

“How bad is it?” I ask, my body feeling hollow.

“Millions,” she whispers, making my stomach churn. “I don’t know the exact total, but he just admitted it’s what he discovered when he had the heart attack.” If she hadn’t been there to call an ambulance when he collapsed over his desk, he likely wouldn’t have survived.

“So now what?”

“Keith…Keith doesn’t want anyone to know yet,” she says, sounding exhausted. “So please be mindful of the information. He doesn’t know I’m calling—”

My temper flares. Just like that, I’m embroiled in another one of her damn secrets. This is just adding salt to a deep and painful wound.

“I need to let you go, I’m late for a meeting.” I don’t wait for a reply, instead slamming my thumb on the button, ending the call abruptly. It’s the first excuse to come to mind, and one that she, the ever-efficient corporate secretary, wouldn’t question.

I toss the phone on the massive oak desk and push back so hard my leather chair creaks in protest. Now I have to figure out what to do next. I can’t be the obedient son and keep my mouth shut. There’s too much at stake and I’m the one responsible for dragging my best friend into this mess. I sit forward, staring down at the phone’s screen.

The best course of action is to reach out to Addler. I need to give him a heads-up about the mess I unknowingly led him into. We have plans to meet later tonight for drinks, but there’s no way I can hold off until then. Not with the knowledge, the secret my mother shared, churning in my gut. I pick up my phone, flip to the recent calls, and dial his number.

Addler picks up on the second ring. “Hey, bro.”

His familiar greeting eases the tightness in my chest, if only for a moment. This is precisely why I need to be honest with him. He’s the closest thing to a brother I’ve ever had, even before I discovered I have a blood relation on my father’s side. No, I’m not going to hide a damn thing from him.

I take a fortifying breath before speaking. “You still in the area?” I grab my keys from the top drawer and circle my desk, determined to drive out to meet him, wherever he may be. What are they going to do if I leave for the rest of the day? Fire me? I fucking doubt it.

“Yeah,” he replies, the sounds of surrounding traffic filtering in from the background. “You caught me in the parking lot, about to take off.”

“You have a few? I need to talk to you.” I walk down the hall, aware of the glances coming my way. It seems like most of the women in the building have nothing better to do than watch and see who comes by. While I normally ignore them without much trouble, today, I need to be conscious of who’s around. And the only one who poses a problem is nowhere in sight.

“Don’t tell me.” He lets out an exaggerated sigh. “You’re not going to make it tonight.” We used to be inseparable through boarding school and college. Wherever you found one of us, the other was never far behind. Now we’re in different parts of the state, if that. And the one occasion we have to hang out, I’m about to end up screwing it up.

“It’s not that.” I step into the elevator and press the button for the parking garage. “We need to talk, and I can’t wait.” He just dropped a few million for a division of Kelly Oil & Gas that may have been front and center in an embezzlement scheme. I glance over my shoulder to make sure nobody’s within earshot. This isn’t a conversation I want to have over the phone or in public, where someone might overhear.

“Sounds serious.”

“It is.” That’s an understatement of epic proportions. The loss was severe enough to nearly kill the old man when he discovered the extent of the damage to his precious company.

“Okay, I’ll wait for you here.” The distinct sound of a car alarm comes blaring through the line. “I’m parked on the fifth level.”

“I’m on the way.” I jam my thumb against the button that closes the doors. As the elevator descends, I brace myself for the inevitable shitstorm I’m about to bring down on our heads.

* * *

Derrick

Addler braces his hands firmly against the exterior reinforced concrete wall, his gaze fixed on the sprawling city below. “How much money are we talking about here? Thousands? Tens of thousands?” he asks, his brow furrowed in concern as he poses the question.

I exhale slowly, the weight of the truth settling on my conscience. “She said it was more along the lines of millions,” I correct him, my voice heavy with remorse. “The old man had a literal heart attack when he found out about the money being gone.”

He lets out a low whistle. “The company’s missing that much?” Clearly he’s as surprised at the amount as I was when she told me.

Be mindful of the information. The gravity of her warning echoes in the back of my mind. While I don’t expect anyone to be lurking in the shadows, I glance around the parking garage, hoping nobody’s close enough to hear us. It’s unsettling to think that someone could easily be directly below us, hidden from view, and we’d never know.

“Man, I’m sorry,” I offer the apology from the bottom of my heart. “I just got the phone call about it a few minutes ago.” Even then, she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, but somehow, she felt it was necessary. I suppose I should be grateful she didn’t hold onto this for Keith’s benefit, also.

“Nah, I get it.” He shrugs nonchalantly. “Shit like this happens all the time,” he says with complete confidence.

“It does?” I’m genuinely surprised at the revelation. Though I’m still asking myself how something of this magnitude can even happen.

His serious expression revealing a side of the business world I don’t normally see. “Yeah. You just don’t hear about a lot of them,” he explains. “Usually, the company doesn’t want the bad press. Sometimes they don’t want to look weak, or it’ll damage their reputation. Imagine a money manager who doesn’t notice someone stealing money. They’d lose credibility. People would pull their investments, and the company would take a hit.”

Realization washes over me as the gravity of the situation sinks in. “Oh hell. I never considered that.” I’ve always known the business world could be cutthroat. But it turns out the intricacies of these deals have repercussions that are a lot more treacherous than I imagined. I didn’t expect my best friend to get caught in this mess, especially not because of me.

“You never know why it’s covered up. But I’m not worried about this.” He assures me, gesturing toward the building. “Per the wording in the contract, I’m only responsible for what happens from Monday forward. So, whatever this is stays with Kelly Oil.”

A sense of ease courses through me as the knot in the middle of my back loosens slightly. “That’s a relief,” I confess, grateful he won’t be directly implicated in what could be a huge embezzlement scandal.

He turns, leaning an elbow on top of the half wall. “I have to admit, I wondered why they were selling an entire division so cheap,” he muses aloud.

“Cheap? Only you would consider shelling out a few million dollars cheap,” I retort, sarcasm lacing my voice. Of course, to Addler de Marco, sole heir to a South Texas billionaire, it’s probably just a drop in the bucket. His family’s rumored to have ties to the criminal underworld, though whether or not that’s true remains to be seen. But Addler is determined to use the money he has to grow the business legitimately.

“Hey, are you forgetting your newfound fortune?” he shoots back with a playful grin.

I grimace, the weight of the situation pressing down on me. “I can’t seem to fucking get away from it.”

“How are you doing with that?” Addler shifts to a more serious tone, genuine concern shining through.

Addler, one of my few friends, and I have gone through thick and thin since college. I’ve never met someone more driven. Meanwhile, my entire professional career feels like a sham now, as if every accomplishment was orchestrated by him , just looking out for the kid he didn’t acknowledge. Where the hell could I go right now without that following me?

“Ever since Keith Kelly had his heart attack, my world’s been upside down,” I confess. “He felt the need to make what he thought was a deathbed confession. So now, everyone knows he fathered a kid with his secretary.” The words tumble out with a mixture of anger and hurt, yet I can’t stop myself from spilling my guts to him. “People started doing the math and figured out I was born almost exactly nine months after Simon.” I pause, letting the implication sink in. “I can feel him hating me from the next floor.” I exhale.

“Shit,” Addler mutters, dropping his head back in exasperation.

“Well, he thought he was an only child, set to inherit the Kelly Dynasty. Now he’s finding out he’s only entitled to half,” I explain, bitterness creeping into my voice fueled by the memory of the hate in Simon’s eyes every time we’re face-to-face. “Not that I want a single dime of it.”

As we continue with our conversation, the sound of an engine catches my attention. A faded-red older-model compact car comes into view as it ascends the ramp. Nicole Fuentes sits behind the wheel. She’s likely coming back from running an errand for my newly found brother.

“You okay?” Addler asks, noticing my distraction as she drives past us and pulls into an empty space on the other side of the parking area.

“Just someone from the office,” I reply, my eyes fixed on Nicole as she steps out of the vehicle and goes around to the passenger’s side. She bends down, offering a nice view of that shapely ass then retrieves a tray of coffee cups. Turning, she shuts the door with a quick kick before she heads our way.

The woman’s trouble in high heels. As always, she seems like a complete contradiction. She wants to dress like Little Miss Sunshine, but the image doesn’t seem to fit. Every time I see her, she fidgets, as if uncomfortable in her own skin.

“I’m thinking I should head back and start looking into this,” Addler says, pulling me from my thoughts.

What? I’m astonished at the sudden change of heart. I push the sound of her heels clicking against concrete to the back of my mind. “Why? I thought you said this wouldn’t matter.”

A glimmer of determination flickers in his eyes. “It doesn’t matter to me, directly. But I might be able to preserve evidence if they don’t know I’m coming.” He shrugs. “It might be helpful if you go to trial, maybe even recover some of the stolen funds.”

He’s right. Preserving evidence will undoubtedly benefit Kelly Oil if they decide to take legal action. The company would get the money back, but that has nothing to do with me. “Makes sense, but do you know what you’re looking for?”

He nods confidently. “I have someone there who can help. In fact, I probably have the best person for the job.”

“Well, I’ve done my part in telling you. Since you’re off the hook with everything up to Monday, I’m washing my hands of the whole thing,” I declare, a mix of resignation and determination in my voice.

“Of course you are.” Addler has the balls to laugh despite my standing right in front of him.