Going Down Hard Read online

  GOING DOWN HARD

  NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

  CARLY PHILLIPS

  Copyright © Karen Drogin 2017

  Kobo Edition

  CP Publishing 2017

  Cover Photo and Design: Sara Eirew

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  www.carlyphillips.com

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  Billionaire Bad Boys: Rich, Powerful and sexy as hell.

  Derek West rose from poverty to take the tech world by storm. He’s sexy, confident and has no problem making a play for the opposite sex. He never anticipates that the one woman who has him going down hard, is going to make this bad boy work for what he wants … and needs.

  “Carly Phillips is synonymous with red-hot romance and passionate love.”

  —Lauren Blakely, NY Times Bestselling Author

  * * *

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

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

  Prologue

  Sweat poured off Derek West’s body as he manually trimmed the hedges alongside the Olympic-sized pool on the grounds of the estate where his father, Thomas, worked as the groundskeeper, his mother the maid. And where he and his family resided in the guesthouse on the edge of the property.

  On such a blistering August afternoon, he’d rather be at Jones Beach with his friends, chilling out, drinking, and celebrating the dwindling days before college, but that wasn’t his life. His father needed him and he was here to help.

  The Storms family liked their yard elegant and perfect, and Derek’s father was paid to comply. No electric hedge trimmer for him. Which meant as Derek worked under the broiling-hot sun, he could hear Cassie Storms and her friends at the pool, dishing gossip, as usual.

  Cassie was his age, but she and her friends went to private school while Derek attended public. He was around enough to recognize the girls and know them by name. And he was more than interested in Cassie, especially since last night.

  He’d been sitting on the porch of the guesthouse, drinking a beer long after his parents and younger sister had gone to sleep. He’d have to hide the bottle from his father, but that didn’t stop him. Cassie had been out by the pool with her friends, until one by one they’d left, leaving her alone. With a little liquid courage in him, Derek had made his way over to where she sat, her shiny brown hair hanging over her shoulders, her brown eyes wide as he’d joined her.

  “Hey,” he said, sitting next to her on the lounge chair.

  “Hey.” Her brows furrowed in confusion.

  For as long as Derek had lived on the property, they’d managed to go their separate ways. He, taking a smaller driveway out to the main road, Cassie using the main entrance to the big house. But he’d always noticed her, and he’d be a liar if he didn’t admit to jerking off to thoughts of the girl in the mansion many nights as he lay in his tiny room and stared at the glow of lights across the way.

  “Want a sip?” He extended his hand, offering her the bottle.

  She shook her head. He wasn’t surprised. Cassie Storms was a good girl.

  “Chicken?” he asked, goading her.

  Her cheeks turned a cute pink. “No.” She paused as if wrestling with herself before coming to a decision. “Fine.” She grabbed the bottle from his hand and took a long drink, then wrinkled her nose.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It tastes a lot different than wine.”

  He held back a snort. Of course the rich girl drank wine.

  “But I kind of liked the taste.” She drew her tongue over her lips, soaking up what remained of the flavor and causing his dick to harden inside his shorts.

  He handed her the beer again and she took another sip. They talked about the heat and going away to school and shared the rest of the beer. She wanted to major in business and help run her father’s media company one day.

  Derek? He just wanted a degree, a way out of being somebody’s servant, the way his parents were. He was good at computer coding, and he figured he’d start there since it came easily to him. His father had bought him a state-of-the-art computer for Christmas, and Derek knew his dad was still paying off the expensive machine.

  “I should go inside,” Cassie said, but she didn’t seem in any hurry to leave.

  Instead she turned toward him, her thigh brushing his, their skin touching. Everything about her was soft, from her skin with a light dusting of freckles on her nose to her voice, and he was mesmerized by her. Need rushed through his body, desire for her overwhelming.

  He leaned closer until their breaths mingled, malt from the beer and sweetness from her. And though her eyes opened wide, she didn’t pull away. So he closed the distance and kissed her, his lips coming down on hers.

  The kiss was sweet, no tongue, but it was the hottest thing Derek had experienced in forever.

  “Cassie!” A female voice from the direction of her house yelled out her name.

  “Oh!” She jumped back and rose to her feet. Golden flecks sparkled in her brown eyes as she stared back at him. “I have to go.”

  “Meet me tomorrow,” he said, not ready for this—whatever this was—to end.

  “But—”

  “Late like tonight. Say you left something out by the pool. I’ll be waiting.”

  She blinked and nodded. “Okay,” she said in a breathy voice.

  “Cassandra! It’s time to come in.”

  Her cheeks flamed. “They treat me like a child. I can’t wait to go away to school.”

  He knew the feeling of wanting to get away.

  She turned to go.

  “Tomorrow night,” he reminded her, hating that he might sound desperate.

  “Okay.” She nodded, her expression eager, before she swung around and ran to the big house that always seemed so far away to him.

  Derek shook his head to clear the memories of last night, knowing the bulge in his shorts couldn’t be ignored. She was hot and his cock got hard just looking at her in her tiny bikini with her tits popping over the edge of the material. And earlier, her tight ass had wriggled his way when they’d risen to dip in the pool. He pressed a hand to the painful bulge in his pants.

  At least the hedges and bushes covered him from the chest down. But from his position, he had a perfect view of the girls and was within earshot of their conversation.

  “I’m hot,” Trina Davies, a curvy blonde and Cassie’s close friend, whined. “Can’t you get Marie to bring us more iced tea? What are you paying her for anyway?”

  Derek clenched his fists as the bitch spoke about his mother. Not even her big tits and curves were enough to make up for her attitude.

  “Trina’s right. If Marisol took so long, my mom would fire her ass.” This from Anna Davis, the redhead of the group.

  Derek glanced over the top of the bushes in time to see Cassie glance between her two friends. But she didn’t say anything. Didn’t defend his mother.

  He’d wanted to like her, had liked her last night. But just the fact that she’d hang out with these girls told him all he needed to know about what was inside the pretty face and hot body. And Derek was less than impressed and really fucking disappointed.

  He continued
to watch them in silence, unnoticed.

  Cassie chewed on her fingernail before finally speaking. “If Marie doesn’t come out in five minutes, I’ll go in and see what’s keeping her.”

  God forbid she should pour the drinks and carry them outside herself. Poor little rich girl, he thought in disgust. What had he been thinking, asking her to meet him tonight?

  Cassie pulled her hair off her neck and secured the long strands with a ponytail holder she’d been wearing around her wrist.

  Without warning, Derek sneezed, calling attention to himself. He ducked down, hoping they hadn’t noticed him staring.

  The giggles that followed told him he’d been busted, and his face flamed hot with embarrassment.

  “Did you see that? He’s watching us,” Anna said and not in a whisper.

  “He’s so hot,” Trina added. “I’d totally do him,” she said, loud enough to make sure he heard.

  Derek wasn’t sure whether to be proud or pissed at the way they spoke about him. As if him listening didn’t mean a thing.

  “He’s totally fuckable,” Anna agreed. “But not the guy you bring home to meet your father. Isn’t that right, Cass?”

  Derek stiffened. This was her chance to prove she wasn’t like her bitchy friends. She knew he was listening.

  “Cass?” Trina pushed her for an answer.

  “No, definitely not good enough to bring home to Daddy,” she said, dutifully and as expected.

  A sucker punch would have hurt less.

  Fuck her. Fuck them all, Derek thought.

  He couldn’t wait to get the hell out of here at the end of the summer. Thank God he had the brains to get a scholarship that let him go far away from here. He’d miss his parents, but he was grateful for the chance to start fresh somewhere.

  Where he wasn’t the gardener’s kid.

  Chapter One

  All of Cassie Storms’ dreams were about to come true. All the hard work for Storms Consolidated, the family multimedia company, the long hours, the fight for the right to do more than the home and gardens section, were about to reach fruition. Her father, Christopher, had called a meeting of the board of directors. The rumor mill said he would be stepping down as chairman and handing over the reins to the most qualified person. Not even Cassie knew for sure, but her gut told her the time had come for him to retire.

  She sat in the boardroom, the first one to arrive, waiting for the rest of the members to take their seats and for her dad to make his announcement. She didn’t know for a fact that he’d give her control. After all, her father wasn’t one for personal pats on the back or to reveal his hand, but Cassie had worked harder and longer hours than anyone else.

  She was the only family member on staff, her brother, Spencer, roaming Europe under the guise of getting himself together. In reality, he was carrying on with women and hanging out with other … degenerates was too harsh a word. But if there was a mess to be made, her brother tended to make it, and her parents, her father in particular, stepped in to clean things up and sweep them under the rug.

  Cassie had always been interested in the media empire started by her paternal grandfather, Alexander, a man Cassie respected and emulated. A man she missed terribly. Ten years ago, he’d been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and had handed his company over to his only child. And Christopher hadn’t been as good a businessman as Alexander had hoped. Alexander passed away long before her father’s choices hurt the company, but Cassie saw. And it broke her heart.

  Her grandfather had been more like a parent than her own father, caring about her goals and her choices. She’d promised him she’d work for the company he loved and do great things there, just as he would have. She was determined to keep that promise, no matter how hard her father often made it.

  And he did make it tough. Christopher was old-school. He hadn’t understood technology or the impact e-reading and online subscriptions would have on the business. He had no idea how to manage the sheer volume of sources from which the American public now collected its news. He had been too slow to advance with the times, and as a result, Storms Consolidated was in deep trouble.

  Maybe her father now understood this and that was why he’d decided to retire. No matter the reason, Cassie already had a plan in place to reposition her beloved grandfather’s company, starting with their technology magazine.

  Over the last six months, she’d been creating a portfolio of interviews with high-profile men and women who had made a major impact in the tech world, slowly rebuilding the company’s online presence and streaming the information on social media sites. Something her father had neglected. She hadn’t gotten an interview with everyone she wanted though, because her contacts were limited, due in good part to the magazine’s lack of reach.

  Then the idea had come to her. She’d called him and requested a meeting, speaking to his assistant. To her never-ending surprise, Derek West had agreed to see her.

  Her stomach fluttered at the thought of seeing him again.

  She hadn’t spoken to him since the kiss. Hadn’t seen him since the day he’d been working on the shrubs and had overheard her high school friends belittling his mother and mocking him.

  “He’s totally fuckable,” Anna agreed with Trina. “But not the guy you bring home to meet your father. Isn’t that right, Cass?”

  She internally agreed, if only because her parents were snobs. But she didn’t want to admit the fact out loud. Derek was listening and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

  But her friends pushed.

  And Cassie caved. “No, definitely not good enough to bring home to Daddy,” she said, dutifully and as expected.

  As she uttered the words, she nearly lost her lunch.

  She’d satisfied her bitchy friends … and hit a decent guy where it hurt.

  Still, she’d gathered her courage to face him and had shown up that night as he’d asked. She’d planned to apologize. To explain, if she could, about the pressure that went along with being friends with such pushy, mean girls. To tell him more about how she couldn’t wait to go to college and get away from it all, and admit she wanted to make new friends. And if he accepted her apology, she’d hoped to kiss him again.

  Years later, her lips still tingled at the gentleness with which he’d touched her that day. The roughness of his lips at odds with the soft kiss.

  But Derek had been MIA. He’d left her sitting alone on the lounge chair by the pool, looking over at the guesthouse, wondering if he was watching her through one of the windows.

  Laughing at her embarrassment.

  She’d deserve it if he had been. Eventually she’d stood, and with one last look at where he lived, she’d walked back inside the house.

  A few days later, she’d left for college. She made new friends, nicer girls she felt comfortable with and who made her feel like she fit in. Not people she was stuck with just because they were part of her family’s social circle. She lost touch with Trina and Anna and the others, barely sparing them a thought over the years. Good riddance, she’d believed, on the rare times when they’d crossed her mind.

  And over the years, she’d watched Derek West’s sudden, meteoric rise in the tech world, along with his partners, Lucas Monroe and Kaden Barnes. All three were co-creators of Blink, the social media app that had taken the world by storm. She didn’t miss the irony that they’d ended up in the same arena, Cassie focusing on the online tech magazine of Storms Consolidated.

  An interview with the most behind-the-scenes partner of Blink would help revitalize the magazine and put them back on the map. She intended to request one.

  The sound of footsteps and voices startled Cassie out of her musings. She rose to her feet as the board members walked into the room.

  She shook hands with the men and women she’d known most of her life and exchanged small talk as she waited for her father to arrive.

  Even this boardroom held good memories for her as a child. Not with her father, he was hardly the doting parent,
but with her grandfather. Alexander would often bring her to work with him and let her sit beside him at the head of the table. He’d used a gavel to call meetings to order, and he’d bought her a mini duplicate one so she could emulate him. Even then, she’d known what she wanted to do when she grew up.

  Today she would finally have her chance.

  Once everyone had filled the room, her father entered, and after he, too, said his hellos, they took their seats. As her dad began to talk about his love for the company, her heart began to race with hope and excitement.

  “The time has come for me to step down. My wife deserves more time than I’m able to give her while running this company.”

  Cassie smiled. For all her parents’ faults when it came to enabling her brother and treating her, the girl, as less than, they did set an example as a couple who truly loved one another. Daniella often mentioned her desire to travel, and maybe this was her father acceding to her mother’s wishes at last.

  Her father cleared his throat and continued. “You all know we recently had an offer to buy Storms Consolidated that we turned down. This company was started by my father, and I intend to keep it in the family.”

  Hidden by the table, Cassie clenched her hands together in her lap, her pulse pounding. Even the board members murmured amongst themselves, some casting furtive glances her way. She wouldn’t let them down.

  Christopher expounded more on the importance of the family business, never once mentioning Cassie by name. She swallowed hard but knew he had a flair for the dramatic. And he was building up to his announcement, after all.

  But the longer he spoke, the more her unease grew, and she didn’t know why. Except for the fact that she was sitting right here. And he hadn’t once looked her way or met her gaze.

  “So I announce my replacement with the hopes you will give him the support and respect you’ve always accorded me.”

  Him? Who? Cassie’s stomach churned and twisted painfully.

  “I’m excited to welcome my son, Spencer, home from Europe. He’s excited and ready to tackle all the growth and changes sure to come.” Christopher gestured to the door and began clapping as Cassie’s brother walked into the room.