The Renegade Billionaire: A Small Town Romance (Happiness Ever After Book 1)

I’m halfway back to the hideaway when I pull the truck over and rage-text Grey.

I almost chuck my phone out the window.

Oh, fuck. Why did I say that? My only explanation is that when shit goes south, we stick together.

My phone rings in my hand.

“What the hell do you need me in Georgia for?” Typical Grey, he doesn’t waste words with a greeting.

“Because I can’t just rent you a room for five months and not have you here.”

“Five months? Have you lost your fucking mind? What the hell am I going to do in Georgia?”

“Help me keep my head on straight. I’ve been here for what? Almost a month? And I’m already losing my damn mind. Plus…” I glance out the window. There’s a calmness here, but it makes my skin so itchy I could actually be allergic to it. “The inn owners need the cash. They’re good people, but Madison can’t keep up with the bills by herself right now and I think I ruined their oven this morning.”

Grey is quiet for a beat, then another. “How do you know all of this?”

“I don’t know, I connected with Pops. We picked up his mail this morning, and I accidentally saw an old bill about taxes they’re behind on, and I’m not sure Madison knows.”

“You really have a soft spot for this old couple, huh?” Greyson’s tone lightens. Neither of us come from very happy homes, but at least we got to experience it with my grandfather, and I know we’re both feeling the hole he left in our hearts.

“I do.” Grey will find out that Madison isn’t old soon enough, but I don’t need to deal with his inquisition right now. “You don’t have to be here the entire time, just make them think you will be.”

He sighs. “Okay. When do you want me?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, Brax? Are you shitting me?”

“No. I’ll rent you a room, and I’ll rent another room to be your office. You won’t really need a suit here, so pack casually. Sage already takes most of his college courses online anyway, so he can go back and forth with you.”

Grey’s muttering under his breath, and I hear him moving about whatever room he’s in.

“Five months, Brax? Are you really going to drop money for two extra rooms that no one will be in?”

“Maybe.” My hand clenches around the steering wheel. “It’s not like we would ever miss that money, and it’s a way to help them out. Ace wanted me here for a reason, Grey. Plus, there really isn’t anything tying us to California anymore. We can live and work anywhere.”

“You. He wanted you there. Jesus, Braxton. You can’t just up and move a billion-dollar company on a whim. We have employees, people who count on us.”

“I’m not firing anyone. At least not yet. Some with ties to my father will have to go, and I didn’t say anything about moving the company here.” Though it does make me think. Would moving such a large company here be a way to help fix the heart of Happiness?

“Braxton.” Grey mutters my name as though he’s said it a few times.

“You can just fly back and forth until I figure out what I’m supposed to do here, and while you’re here, we’ll come up with a plan to deal with my family.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” He sounds frustrated, but also concerned. “I’ll take my plane so your parents can’t trace me.”

“You don’t have to do that. Mr. Coop said we’re all restricted from Omni assets. Everyone has been given instructions to bar them on sight—even in the hangers.”

“It’s fine.” His heavy sigh says otherwise. “It’s just sitting there anyway.”

Greyson Wells was the only heir named to the Wells Diamond Emporium even though he has a nephew, but since his family was even more corrupt than my own, I suppose nothing really surprises me anymore.

Taking Ace’s surname was the first thing he did when he came to live with us. That and ensure Sage was also a Reyes. But he’s refused to touch a dime of his inheritance even after selling off the company piece by piece. He tried to split it between me and Sage, but we both refused it, so it all just sits in a bank earning money on money.

“It’s your call. I’ll see you soon.”

He blows out a frustrated breath. “Yeah, I’ll let you know my flight information once I’ve got a plan. We also need to discuss your mother.”

A tension headache connects with a right hook to my skull. “What now?”

“She was escorted out of the shelter for refusing to engage with a woman in need of a shower and a bed. She’s on probation and can return next week…with restrictions. She’ll probably be put on kitchen or cleaning duty now.”

Freaking hell. Why are they all so fucking selfish? “Okay, does Mr. Coop know?”

“He does. He was about to call you when I called him for some paperwork. I said I’d relay the message.”

“Thanks, Grey.”

“It’s you and me against the world, right? What else am I going to do?”

Grey and I made a pact when we were eleven years old—brothers first and always.

“Always.”

“See you tomorrow, Brax.”

“Bye.”

He hangs up, and now the panic sets in. What’s Madison going to say about this?

She’s going to find it shady as hell, because it is.

I don’t have an explanation for my behavior. I’m out of control, and it’s a feeling I haven’t had since…well, since the last time I ran away and tried to blow through my parents’ money to spite them.

That was different.

Last time, I went on a bender doing good deeds up and down the West Coast because my parents didn’t deserve what they had. This time, I’m using my own money but the sentiment is the same—I’m trying to correct shitty behavior by anonymously throwing money at people who deserve the good things in life.

My therapist would have a field day with me.

Madison Ryan won’t accept a handout, but will she turn away paying guests?

Probably.

I can see her stubborn streak a mile away, but she’ll have to get used to a helping hand because I’m incapable of walking away—not when the dark circles smudge her eyes every day. And not when my grandfather’s final wish was for me to find happiness here.

Hopefully, my help won’t end up as it did this morning ever again, though.

Tossing my phone onto the bench seat of the truck, I hurry back to the Hideaway to square things away with Pops before Madison can say no.

I just need to make a quick stop at the high school first.

“George said he’d be here in about an hour to upgrade the wiffee for you,” Pops says. I stop taking the bed apart and look up at him.

What the hell is wiffee?

“Isn’t that what you said you needed for those TV calls? I don’t understand why business ain’t done in person anymore.”

Wi-Fi. I chuckle and go back to unscrewing the headboard from the frame. We can only fit a twin bed in here if I’m going to convert it into an office. If Grey and Sage end up staying for any real amount of time, I’ll have to make some sort of a deal with Madison because I already know she won’t let me pay for another room.

Maybe I should’ve just rented four to begin with.

“Wi-Fi, Pops. It’s an internet connection. Grey is handling a lot of accounts for us right now. This will help him be able to do that.”

He takes a seat in the desk chair I picked up at Walmart. “And why’s he gotta be here again?”

I shrug and look away. I hate lying to his face. “It’s our company. We work best as a team, so it’s better if he’s with me, and I don’t want to be out west right now. This seems like the perfect solution. I want a slower pace, but we still have a company to run, so this is a win-win.”

“Are you in trouble with the law, boy?”

His question has me tumbling back on my ass with a laugh. “I’ve never been and hopefully never will be in trouble with the law. You have my word.”

“Yeah,” he mutters. “I believe you.”

“What the heck is happening in here?” Madison’s voice sets off a bundle of nerves I knew were coming but I’m still not prepared for.

“We rented two more rooms,” Pops says proudly.

“To whom? For how long? And won’t they need a bed?” She drops her oversized bag on the floor and enters the room.

At first, I think she’s going to take the screwdriver from my hands, but instead, she holds the longboard that connects the headboard to the footboard, and suddenly it’s a hell of a lot easier to unscrew the damn thing.

“Nope. They’re using this one as a home office with a twin bed for when his nephew visits.” Pops is as carefree as ever. If anything, he’s looking a little too smug for my liking—Madison’s going to be pissed.

“They? This isn’t a home or an office building, Pops. This is an inn.” She turns those dangerous blue eyes on me. “This is you, isn’t it?”

Swallowing hard, I duck my head, pretending the screw is more difficult than it is.

“My acting CEO, Grey⁠—”

“Your best friend.”

I look up and nod. “Glad to see you were listening. Yes, my acting CEO and best friend is coming to stay, and since I’m on sabbatical, he’ll need a private office to take virtual meetings in.”

“This…none of this makes sense. For how long? How long is he going to be here?”

Once again, I look away, and Pops answers before I can.

“They booked two more rooms for five months.” He flashes a wide, toothy grin.

“F—five months? Why wouldn’t you rent a house or an Airbnb?”

This time, I look her square in the eye. “Because I like it here, and I don’t have a lot of places where I can just be…me. So I wanted to stay here.”

Her face scrunches up in the cutest way. “You feel like you fit here? With us?”

I nod.

“And you can afford to…holy crap. Ninety thousand dollars, Braxton? Did you pay ninety thousand more dollars?” She swats at my arms with both of her little hands. “I don’t even know if I could get that much selling the place. What the heck is wrong with you?”

“With Grey here, it’ll be a business expense. I’m not paying for it, the company is.”

“Your company, Braxton. Your. Company. But.” She’s searching the room as though it’ll give her some answers. When her gaze finally meets mine, hers is watery and fragile. “There’s that much money in marketing?”

She shakes her head and holds up a hand. “Sorry, don’t answer that. It was an incredibly rude thing to ask. But this with the amount you’ve already paid, it’s just too much. Take it back.”

My shoulders shake with laughter I hold in. If I outright laugh in her face, she might try to kill me.

“I’m at a point in my life where I need to make some changes. I’m comfortable in this town, Madison, and that doesn’t happen often.”

“That’s not true. You’ve liked everything and everyone since the day you showed up here.”

My cheek twitches with the beginnings of a smile. “Here, yes. But with the way I’m making changes to my company, I’m not sure I’m very well-liked at home. I’m…different here, I guess.”

“Different.” The cute little line between her brows deepens. “What makes you behave differently here?”

You, I almost say. Instead, I remove the final screw in the bed before answering her. “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s the sense of community, or that there’s no city traffic clogging up the streets. I like that everyone cares about you and Pops. I could do without the constant interrogation, but I get that people do it because they’re protecting their community. I don’t know where I’ll end up, so while I’m on sabbatical, I want to be where I’m happy, and what better place for that than Happiness?”

“That’s…you like an awful lot of things, Braxton.”

“Miss Madi, Miss Madi!” A young female voice filters up the stairs.

“Jessa?” Madison calls out. “We’re upstairs.” She turns her frown my way. “We’re not done with this conversation. There’s no way you’re paying $100,000. That’s highway robbery.”

Footsteps crash against each stair, and then the doorway is filled by a teenage girl wearing a basketball uniform.

Damn it. Does every good deed have to be shared with Madison Ryan?

“We did it. The fundraiser you helped me set up. We did it. We’ll be able to fund a team this year and refurbish the gym floor during Christmas break.” The girl jumps up and down.

Madison releases the board she was holding with a loud thud, and the girl crashes into her for a hug.

“Thank you so much, Miss Madi. I might have a shot at a scholarship now. Coaches will be able to come see me play. It’s no cap amazing.”

Jesus, the teen-speak is the same here as it was in California. I’ll never understand why no cap means no lie or why they can’t just say no lie.

The chair Pops is sitting in squeaks as he turns toward the window and begins to whistle.

Well, that doesn’t look guilty at all.

Madison directs her gaze in my direction, every question she wants to ask playing across her features.

“Jessa, that’s great, honey. But, how? The projection we came up with was for next season.”

The girl shrieks and claps her hands and I almost cover my ears. “I know. Isn’t it amazing? Coach said we got a ton of online donations. A few big ones, and a lot of the hundred-dollar levels. I think my TikTok must have worked faster than we thought it would.”

“Your…TikTok.” I might be the only one hearing the skepticism in Madison’s tone because this girl is too happy to pay attention.

“Now that’s something to celebrate,” Pops says cheerily. “I guess your wiffee really does work like magic.”

“Wi-Fi,” Madison and I correct in unison.

“I’m so happy for you, Jessa.” Madison is still frowning at me. “Coach has confirmed all the donations?”

“Yup. It’s all in the account we set up. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” The girl’s knuckles turn white as she wraps herself around Madison again.

Madison’s curious gaze hasn’t left mine though, and heat creeps down my spine. Doing anonymous good deeds shouldn’t be this difficult.

“I really didn’t do anything, Jessa. I just helped you set it up. You have to thank the donors.”

“How? How should I do that?”

“Well, if you think the donations came from TikTok, I’d start there with a heartfelt thank-you video, and anyone you have contact info for should get a personalized thank-you card.”

“Okay. I can do that. Can you believe it, Miss Madi? This is the luckiest day of my whole entire life.”

Madison’s gaze on me is like a physical weight, so I keep staring at the bed that’s nearly disassembled.

“Yup.” Madison pops the P with an exaggerated sound. “Seems to be a lot of luck flying around here lately.”

“Okay, I wanted you to know first. I’m going to start the thank-you stuff. Thanks again, Miss Madi. You changed my life.”

“Ah, kiddo. You did that all on your own. I’ll see you tomorrow at the Chug.”

“Yes. I’ll be there early to help you set up.”

“That would be great. Come on, I’ll walk you out.” She turns what I’m sure she thinks is a glare my way. “And we will finish this conversation, Braxton. I’m serious.”

I simply watch her retreating form, feeling really fucking good because I have no doubt she’ll try.

As soon as I hear them on the stairs, I turn to Pops. “Madison really cares about everyone in town, doesn’t she?”

“She has since the day she moved in. She spent a lot of time on the outside, and once her life had some stability, she made sure no one felt as she had.” His shoulders droop, and he clasps his hands on his knees. “Sometimes I think that’s why she works so hard making love matches. She doesn’t ever want anyone to feel like she did with her parents. A loveless life isn’t a life at all.”

“She’s pretty incredible,” I admit.

“She’s been crowned Happiness Sweetheart for a reason, and it’s not just because she plans the best festivals, even if she does. She’s the sweetheart ’cause she deserves the love she shares so freely.”

“Yeah.” My throat is thick with emotion that sits like hot embers on the tip of my tongue.

“Well, you finish up in here. I’ll go see about dinner.”

“No,” I shout. “I’ll help Madison in a minute. Why don’t you go see if that show you were talking about is on?”

“Dumpster Diving. This program is going to change your life,” he says as he slowly rises from the chair. “I’ll have Madi record it so we can watch it together.”

I smile at this old man. His heart is always in the right place, but I have a feeling Madison’s assessment is spot-on and trouble follows him everywhere.

“Sounds good.”

He’s standing in the hallway when he says, “Real good luck over at that high school, huh?”

I swallow hard. “Sure is. There’s a reason all the big companies are advertising on TikTok now. If you hit it right, it can change everything.”

“Mm-hmm,” he hums. “Come on down when you’re done here. We can make a list for what your guy will need.”

I nod and go back to work, feeling an odd mix of satisfaction and regret. Seeing the faces of two good deeds is something I’ll always remember, but the guilt over lying to Madison about it sits as spiky as a thorn in my chest.

My innkeeper, Madison.

Maybe my friend Madison?

My phone buzzes in my pocket with a text.

I stare at his words for a long moment.

He doesn’t respond, and that’s just fine. I have a lot of deeds to deliver, and now I have to figure out how to do them all without relying on the DDD.