Lukas' Angel (Ryan Family Book 1) Read online

  LUKAS’ ANGEL

  RYAN FAMILY BOOK 1

  LONI REE

  Lukas’ Angel

  Copyright © 2019 by Loni Ree

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Please respect the author and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials that would violate the author’s rights. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  CONTENTS

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  Coming Soon

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Loni Ree

  FOREWORD

  If you have read My Forever, My Angel (Ryan Family Book 1), this is the same book. I re-edited the book and decided to change the title to more closely match the future books I will be releasing in the series. I discovered after I published My Forever, My Angel that there are several works already published that have similar titles. To avoid confusion, I decided to change the name of this book and all future books in the series. While I was making the title change, I decided to re-edit the book, and I also added my contact information for readers at the end of the book. The story content has not been significantly changed only edited. I apologize for the confusion and I hope you enjoy Lukas’ Angel.

  CHAPTER 1

  LUKAS

  I have been responsible for my brothers and Sterling-Ryan for eight years. My parents, Lawrence and Michelle Ryan, were killed in a plane crash on their way to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary in Tahiti. Gramps George has significantly helped, but I have always felt I owed it to my parents to make sure my brothers succeed and Sterling-Ryan continues to kick ass in the corporate world. Two years before Mom and Dad died, Gramps George had retired from Sterling-Ryan, after working hard for many years. He and my grandmother had created Sterling-Ryan and turned it into the multi-billion dollar company it is today. There was no way I could ask him to start all over again at his age when I was old enough and had been groomed my whole life to follow in his and Dad's footsteps. I took over at the helm, and each brother has taken on a small role in running our family company. I work hard to keep control of the chaos.

  I told Gramps George a partnership with the Steele family would be a mistake. Like my plate isn't overflowing already with all our problems. Now, I am going to babysit fucking Steele Co. for the Steeles because Gramps is sentimental. He went to college with Christopher Steele, the former CEO of Steele Co. Consulting. He and his son, Christopher, II, were killed a few months ago in an accident and their deaths left their company in turmoil.

  Christopher's remaining son, Bradley, or I as like to call him, Useless, knows jack shit about business, and he is already drowning. He's a teacher for God's sake. Christopher Steele's younger brother, Drew, who owns DRS Security, Inc. a large Security Firm, asked Gramps George, my grandfather, to arrange a partnership of sorts between our two companies. The agreement states that in exchange for a significant portion of Steele Co. shares, we will step in and lend our expertise to stabilize Steele Co. until Bradley is ready to take the reins fully. I will also keep a position on the Board of Directors, to protect our interests and to keep an eye on young Bradley Steele in the future.

  For our agreement to work, my Gramps and Drew Steele agree, we need to make the "partnership" look more authentic with two marriages between our families. A union between Lucy Steele and myself, and then, another between Bradley and my sister, Annie is the final agreement. That part of the deal, of course, is not public knowledge. The idea of having a wife chosen for me does not sit well with me. The idea pisses me off, royally.

  As I was about to put my foot down and demand a different Ryan brother be the one to marry Lucy. Lucy dropped a bombshell on all of us. She has been secretly seeing one of Drew's security operatives.

  They have been going hot and heavy for a while because she is, in fact, pregnant. When Lucy revealed her pregnancy, Gramps and Drew moved on to plan B and pulled the little sister, Madison, out of their hat.

  Madison, at twenty-four, is seven years younger than Lucy and five years younger than Bradley. The Steeles have sheltered Madison her entire life. She had lived with her mother since her parents divorced several years ago until her mother died three years ago. Now, she lives alone and works as an accountant, of all things, and avoids the public spotlight, completely; which is the total opposite of her sister.

  We have all decided, one of my brothers is going to have to bite the bullet and marry Madison, for the "partnership" to work. At thirty-five, I am way too old, and I refuse to marry her. I have already stated, I expect my brother to treat her well, but no one expects a love match. I have no problem if whichever brother I choose decides to keep seeing other women on the side, as long as he is discreet. Drew and Bradley were less than thrilled with my indifference, but oh well.

  L ukas

  Since we decided Madison will marry one of my brother's, Bradley has been a pain in my ass. Who the fuck does Useless think he is? Calling and demanding an emergency meeting with me like he thinks I have all the time in the world to cater to him.

  I let my assistant know that I'm ready to deal with him. "Marta, please send Mr. Steele in." I casually recline at my desk and watch as he marches through the door ready for battle, a battle I already won.

  He couldn't even wait to be invited to be seated before spouting off. "Lucy overheard Marta in the fitting rooms at La Femme, discussing your plans for Madison. Marta said you were going to force one of your brothers to marry Madison, and you aren't concerned if he keeps his girls on the side as long as he agrees not to beat her. My sister should have someone who cares for her and is going to treat her right."

  Wow, I think a vein is going to bulge out of the side of his neck any minute, and I couldn't tell if he took a single breath the whole time he talked. My day gets better and better. Holding in the laughter is hard, but laughing in his face may push him over the edge. I guess I'll set him straight now. "Then you need to find a new family to sell your sister to because I will offer nothing better. We will treat her as we outlined before, my brother will protect her and won't abuse her. I will make no promises, other than those I stated earlier, the relationship isn't a love match, and if she is expecting one, well, she is in for a big disappointment. Now your sensitive bullshit is starting to turn my stomach. You need the partnership because you are too much of a pussy to control your shit, so your Uncle came begging to us to bail you out. I have the upper hand here, if you are unhappy with the agreement, walk! My conditions stand, we will proceed with the agreement as previously stated. I will order one of my brothers to marry Madison, and you will marry Annie, and we will create a partnership between the two companies. You still get the better end, you get all the help and get my sister! One of my brothers has to sacrifice his freedom, and we are bailing your ass out! He may not even think
your sister is good looking. You better bet your ass, I could give a shit less, if he gets relief elsewhere. Fuck off with your whiny demands and either agree or get out and go handle your shit." There goes the vein again.

  There he is rerunning his mouth, "You are a cold bastard. I have no choice, and you know it. If you aren't going to marry Madison yourself, when will you decide who she is going to marry?"

  Reality sinking in is a beautiful thing! He finally realizes who controls everything.

  Now, it is time for him to leave, "Get the fuck out of my office and wait until I contact you. One more thing, do not even think of calling another emergency meeting unless you have a true emergency. I honestly cannot even begin to think of what I would even consider an emergency. So forget calling." Actually, fuck off.

  CHAPTER 2

  LUKAS

  I t will be a miracle if I get through this fucking business dinner without either strangling Marta or firing her ass on the spot. I've explained to her stubborn ass over and over again how I expect her to behave at these work dinners. She's supposed to act like my assistant and not my goddamn lover. If she brushes up against me or tries to take my hand one more time, she's out of here. To be honest, I haven't touched her in weeks, and I need to convince her our short liaison is entirely over. After her performance tonight, a long overdue conversation is going to happen tomorrow. I will never have an affair with an employee again, the end hits too close to home.

  Between fighting her off and listening to the annoying fucker in front of me, I can feel a massive headache coming on, and I'm ready for the night to be over. As I'm listening to Jeffrey drone on and on, I glance to the right, and I almost spew my twenty-five-year-old whiskey all over the table, when I spot the most perfect woman, no angel I have ever seen. She is sitting down, so it is impossible to tell exactly how tall she is, but I can tell she is tiny. She has gorgeous, blonde hair in curls down her back and I can tell from across the room, she has unbelievable blue, almost purple eyes. There is no explanation for what the hell is happening to me. She is sitting at a table by herself, and the urge to get up and go join her is overwhelming. I think I'm losing my mind. Women do not cause me to lose my fucking mind. The stress of the upcoming partnership and dealing with Marta's shit and all the work stress has finally caused me to crack. There is no other explanation for these feelings.

  On the one hand, I have an undeniable urge to meet the gorgeous girl. On the other hand, I have a voice in my head telling me she may change my life and maybe it would be better for me to never see her again. My life is way too complicated as it is. I'm dragged out of my contemplation by Marta running her hand up my thigh underneath the table.

  I turn to deal with her and, of course, Jeffrey starts with some questions about his business, I have answered many times before. How does someone so obtuse run a multi-million dollar business? When I look over, and My Angel's table is empty, I barely refrain from murdering Marta, or throwing Jeffrey, through the wall, right then and there. For the rest of the night, I can scarcely control my temper.

  Over the next week, I find myself thinking about My Angel, all the time. I could really kick my own ass for not finding out who she was.

  Bradley

  G od, I hate feeling powerless. There is nothing I can do to protect my sister. I wish we could walk away from all of the mess, but too many people depend on us and Steele Co. is our family's legacy. I have to somehow find a way to make a success of the partnership with Sterling-Ryan. To make Steele Co. successful, I must sacrifice myself and my little sister. Her sacrifice is so much more than mine. At least, Annie and I have been friends and some times lovers for years and marriage between us is not entirely unreasonable.

  If I were, to be honest, I only chose teaching as a profession to piss my father off, because of the way he flaunted his preference for Christopher and Lucy, over Madison and I. I have never enjoyed teaching, and I look forward to taking over the reins of Steele Co. The shame is, it took the death of my father and brother, to bring me into the company. I hate what is happening to Madison, though. She is genuinely innocent in all of our family's mess.

  Madison is being thrown to the wolves, and I am powerless to stop it. I hate the asshole. I know he is making us wait because he knows he can. Wait to hear from me, my ass, what a jerk. Finally, I see a text from the jerk, himself.

  Wednesday night, I want your family over for dinner, I will announce at the end of the night which is the best choice. My decision will be final. We will announce both engagements at the Autumn Ball.

  Sometimes I wish I had something to hold over him, just one time, so he wasn't such an arrogant ass. I hope someday, he gets what's coming to him!

  I'm going to miss Madison, so much. The thought of not seeing her every day kills me. The whole situation is such a fucked up mess, and I am powerless to change it. Now, I have to find a way to watch my baby sister be ignored and cheated on by one of those overindulged assholes. Madison is truly a living doll, but anyone who has ever been around these jerks, knows they go for the tall, fake, big boob, airhead types who are definitely nothing like my sister. I only hope for a miracle and maybe, somehow, whichever brother Lukas chooses to marry her, will like her and will treat her the way she deserves. Lucy really screwed Madison over with her little stunt.

  M adison

  M y parents' marriage was never happy because it was doomed from the beginning. They were both in their mid-thirties and were told the time had come to get married and produce heirs before they were too old. They let their parents arrange their marriage with disastrous results. My siblings and I, endured years of fights and tension until they finally admitted their mistake and divorced. My mom was a wonderful woman, but my dad was the biggest ass around and when you put them together, all hell broke loose.

  Christopher was the only sibling with any interest in Steele Co., and Lucy was my dad's favorite daughter, so Christopher and Lucy remained in the large mansion, with our dad after the divorce. Bradley and I moved into a smaller house, with our mother, about an hour away. Our lives actually became a lot less stressful, until three years ago.

  That time of my life was a nightmare. My mom died of cancer when I was twenty-one, and I was a few months away from graduating from college. She was diagnosed and was then dead within two months. It started with headaches, and by the time she went to the doctor to have it checked, they found a really aggressive form of brain cancer. Because of how aggressive the disease, my mother chose to forgo treatment. She wanted to enjoy what time she had left, without suffering through the nasty effects of treatments. I will always be glad I had the time to say goodbye to her. Her death was really hard on me, but I managed to graduate from college, three months after my mom died. I will always be sorry she did not live long enough to see me graduate.

  After graduation, I was able to get a job in my field and working helped with the loneliness I experienced after losing someone so important in my life. Bradley and I had always been close, but we became inseparable after our mother's death since we saw our other siblings so infrequently.

  Then, three months ago, our world took another unbelievable hit. My dad and my older brother, Christopher, were killed in an automobile accident. Their deaths have left our family reeling. The two of them ran a large Business Consulting Firm, Steele Co. Consulting which has been left with an uncertain future and no leadership.

  My Uncle Drew is busy with his own security business and can only take the time to help out for a short time. My remaining brother, Bradley, is now having to quit his teaching position and step up and try to learn how to run a company he has never wanted to be a part of. My older sister, Lucy was supposed to marry Lukas Ryan, to create a partnership and strengthen our company. Only sometimes, things don't work out as planned. A positive pregnancy test has ended her agreement with Lukas.

  Now here I am. Madison Steele, the youngest sister who has lived a quiet life and avoided everything to do with the family business, being shoved into the middle
of everything. I'm now expected to jump into the middle of the situation and marry whichever Ryan brother is chosen for me by the biggest jerk imaginable. I must sign my life away to secure my family's future. If I want my little niece or nephew to have a chance at a happy life and my sister to marry the father of her child, I have to sacrifice myself to an asshole who is not even going to pretend to be faithful to me.

  Tonight, I'm supposed to go to dinner and wait for the big jerk himself to announce which of his brothers he is going to saddle with me. I've only seen pictures of the Ryan brothers. The whole family could be models. Lukas, the oldest and big jerk himself, is at least six and a half feet tall and nothing but muscles. Next is Nikolas, then Aiden and Annie who are twins and then finally, the baby Brayden.

  Muddy brown hair, always cut in the latest style, with piercing blue eyes, seems to be a genetic calling card of all the Ryan brothers. The only difference between them is a few years and maybe a couple of inches in height. Annie is a beautiful, feminine version of her brothers. She is tall and model thin, with straight, long, light brown, perfectly styled hair. In every photo, her make-up is perfectly applied to her model-perfect face. The brothers are all so gorgeous, any woman would die to be married to any one of them if it were a real marriage. But to me, this marriage is like a jail sentence, I must endure for my family.

  I guess the time has come to a stop feeling sorry for myself and get ready for the coming ordeal. I am prepared to get tonight over with. I have my violet A-line dress with matching five-inch heels ready. Hopefully, the dress will play up my most unique feature, my blue-purple eyes. A few curls in my waist-length, blonde hair, a swipe of mascara on my lashes, lip gloss on my lips and I'm good to go.

  L ukas

  When the night finally comes for our family dinner party with the Steeles, I have come to the conclusion I'm never going to find My Angel. I've spent the past week looking for her everywhere I go. I've eaten at the fucking restaurant, where I first saw her, four times in the hopes I will get lucky, and she will be there, too, but I have never seen her again. I keep telling myself, the effect she had on me was not as powerful as I remember.