Ruthless
A Lawless Novel
Lexi Blake
Coming August 9, 2016
The first in a sexy contemporary romance
series featuring the Lawless siblings—from New York Times bestselling
author Lexi Blake.
The Lawless siblings are bound by vengeance.
Riley, Drew, Brandon, and Mia believe the CEO of StratCast orchestrated their
parents’ murder twenty years ago to steal their father’s software program. And
there’s only one way Riley can find some solid evidence...
Heir to the StratCast legacy, Ellie Stratton
hires a new attorney to handle a delicate business matter—and she’s shocked by
her attraction to him. Over the course of a few weeks, Riley becomes her lover,
her friend, her everything. But when her life is threatened, Ellie discovers
that Riley is more obsessed with settling an old score than in the love she
thought they were building. And Riley must choose between a revenge he’s
prepared for all his life and the woman he’s sure he can’t live without...
“Why did you do that?”
It was the first time she’d spoken without being prompted.
“Do what?”
Her face flushed the sweetest pink. The color went all the
way down that sexy V-neck. Her breasts flushed as well as her face, and it made
his damn dick tighten. “Kiss me. Why did you kiss me like that?”
Oh, so many reasons, but he gave her the most compelling
one. “I wanted to.”
The minute she’d opened the door and he’d seen her standing
there looking anxious, he’d known how to calm her down. All he’d had to do was
put his hands on her and some odd connection flared between the two of them.
She hadn’t fought him. He could have gone on kissing her. He’d been the one to
pull away.
It was like the minute he walked in, he was the only thing
that existed for her. It made him feel ten feet tall, but it also made him want
to please her.
It was an unsettling sensation.
Her hands came up, fingers on the sides of the table. “You
know what I’m asking. You knew I wasn’t alone. Why did you pretend to be my
boyfriend?”
It was easy to see she’d wanted him to wait for her at the
restaurant so as to avoid him meeting her sister and ex. When she’d opened the
door, he’d immediately known something was wrong. He’d gotten a glimpse of her
sister and known Ellie had likely needed a hand. It had to be tough on a
woman’s ego to lose even a pathetic excuse of a husband to a younger sister.
“You were alone with your sister who slept with your
husband. Excuse me. Ex-husband.”
She shook her head. “At the time, we were definitely
married. How did you know he was my ex-husband?”
“He took half your net wealth. I’m your lawyer. At this
level, a good lawyer is less legal counsel and more war consultant. I can’t
properly perform my duties if I don’t know everything about you, including the
fact that you tend to have terrible taste in men.”
She frowned. “I haven’t had a ton of boyfriends. I’m not
sure what my taste is.”
He really wanted to understand why she’d married that
obvious prick. “What attracted you to him? Because from where I was standing,
he looked like a dickwad desperate to be twenty-one again.”
She bit into her bottom lip, her eyes glancing away from
him. “He wasn’t always like that. I actually met him when he was twenty-one. He
was far more mature then.”
He liked her candor. “You were in college?”
“Last year of undergrad. We dated for two years and then it
seemed like it was time to get married. We’d moved back here to Manhattan so I
could take my place at StratCast. I thought he was going to go to grad school,
but he decided on a different path.”
“What path was that?”
A single brow rose over her right eye. “You don’t know?”
Of course he knew. He knew everything. “Are you referring to
your ex-husband’s penchant for swinging for the fences? When it comes to
investments, that is.”
It was what he liked to call “idiots who funded ridiculous
ideas.” They never wanted a simple profit out of their money. They wanted
millions and really fucking fast. They swung for the grand slam when all they
needed to do was get on base.
It took a true genius to take a single idea and make
millions off it. Drew had.
Her shoulders straightened. “He wanted the easy solution. A
get-rich-quick scheme. He wasn’t that way at first. At one point he was very
intellectual. It’s what attracted me to him. He was curious about the world and
liked to discuss everything from politics to social jus- tice to movies we saw.
He changed. I didn’t. In some ways, I blame getting involved with me for what
happened to him. He got around my father and real wealth and wanted some of his
own. When I met him, he wanted to be a professor. He wanted to teach.”
At least he’d gotten her this far. She was talking. Now he
needed to get those shoulders down from around her earlobes. For one moment,
for that moment when he’d drawn her into his arms and pressed his mouth to
hers, she’d relaxed against him, given over to him. Her body had softened and
she’d leaned into him, and if he’d pressed her, he didn’t know what would have
happened. She might have continued kissing him, forgetting all about the other
people in the room. He could have cupped her breast, her ass. Put his hands
anywhere he liked.
She hadn’t given a damn that they hadn’t been alone. All
she’d cared about was him.
The title of the book sets up Riley to a certain type of man and to a certain extent he is. But when he meets his mark, Ellie, for the first time, she is not he expected. He is determined to do what it takes to bring down the man who had a hand in his parents murder, but the more he gets to know Ellie, the more he wants to protect her from the fallout. Ellie instantly falls for Riley, but when she learns that he was involved in events that hurt her company, she is heartbroken. I loved that Riley did everything in his power to help Ellie, even if it meant going against his family. Luckily for him, his family he did not have to choose. Great story about revenge, loyalty, family and love. Looking forward the rest of the series!
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
I received an ARC via NetGalley for the purpose of an honest review. I was not compensated for this review, all conclusions are my own.
NY
Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her
husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world. She began writing
at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn't until she
started writing romance and urban fantasy that she found the stories of her
heart. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy
endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome, or foursome may seem.
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