Breaking Rules: The Scottish Billionaire Book 2, page 1
Breaking Rules
The Scottish Billionaire Book 2
M. S. Parker
Belmonte Publishing, LLC
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 Belmonte Publishing LLC
Published by Belmonte Publishing LLC
Contents
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The Scottish Billionaire Reading order
1. Alec
2. Lumen
3. Alec
4. Lumen
5. Alec
6. Lumen
7. Lumen
8. Alec
9. Lumen
10. Alec
11. Lumen
12. Alec
13. Lumen
14. Lumen
15. Alec
16. Lumen
17. Alec
18. Lumen
19. Alec
20. Lumen
21. Alec
22. Lumen
23. Alec
24. Lumen
25. Alec
26. Lumen
27. Alec
28. Lumen
29. Alec
30. Lumen
Office romances by M. S. Parker
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The Scottish Billionaire Reading order
Thank you for reading Breaking Rules, the second book in my new series, The Scottish Billionaire. I highly recommend reading the books in this order:
Prequel – The Scottish Billionaire
1. Off Limits
2. Breaking Rules (This book)
3. Mending Fate (Coming June 9th)
One
Alec
The day was rainy and overcast, barely over fifty degrees, which made it a completely average Monday afternoon at the beginning of October. Well, in Seattle, Washington, anyway. For someone with my control issues and need for continuity, it was perfect. For someone from Scotland, it felt like home.
I’d come to the States as a child, but an old enough one to remember where I came from. I remembered becoming a US citizen, but I’d kept my Scottish citizenship too. I didn’t know if any of my siblings had kept theirs. I’d been the only one who’d returned to Scotland for university, but since receiving my degree, I’d only gone back for work.
Maybe it was time to plan a trip I could take my daughter on, let her see where her grandparents – the grand-da she knew, as well as the gran she didn’t – had met and fallen in love, where I had been born and spent the first nine years of my life.
Evanne would love it. I’d never taken a vacation in all my years as CEO of my family’s company, MIRI. A month over the next summer might be just the thing. And if it was summer, perhaps Evanne’s teacher could join us.
My dick pulsed at that thought.
“Mr. McCrae!” My assistant, Tuesday Boswell, burst into my office just as I was shifting in my chair. “Turn on the TV!”
I stared at her in complete surprise, my hard-on fading as quickly as it had come. Tuesday was the most level-headed, professional woman I’d ever met. Da himself had picked her out to be my assistant when I’d started at MIRI. She’d never come in without knocking or buzzing the intercom.
“I’m sorry, Mr. McCrae,” she said as she hurried over to the television I kept in the corner for emergencies, “but this is important.”
Only the fact that I knew she wasn’t one given to dramatics kept me from reprimanding her. She grabbed the remote and turned from the business report being presented to a local channel.
The moment I saw what was on the screen, I forgot that Tuesday had interrupted my lunch.
“…a series of gunshots at Kurt Wright School. Police are on the scene…”
I didn’t wait to hear anything else or to see anything more than a helicopter shot of the school. My daughter and the woman I…Lumen…I had to go.
Immediately.
I grabbed my car keys and phone, shoving the latter into my pocket as I practically ran to the elevator. My heart thudded against my ribcage, and the thoughts that raced through my mind piled up on each other, each one worse than the last, something I wouldn’t have thought possible. If I’d been thinking at all.
It took every ounce of self-control I possessed to keep from speeding through the streets. I had always prided myself on my ability to adhere to a strict schedule without needing to break speed limits and the like. This, however, was no simple meeting to which I was running late.
There had been gunshots at my daughter’s school.
The tragedy and horror that had plagued this nation for too long had finally struck my home. If an elite private school, funded by Seattle’s wealthiest and most influential inhabitants, couldn’t keep our children safe, could anywhere? How could we keep letting this happen?
The street was already closed off, Seattle PD’s finest lining up behind barriers and police tape. Cars were jam-packed and double-parked, more than half with drivers who looked right pissed at how impossible it was going to be to get out of here.
As much as panic tried to take over, I managed to keep my head long enough to find a parking spot another street over. I’d probably get a ticket, but that wasn’t important. I ran back to the line, ears straining to hear another shot. All I heard, however, were the shouts of the people who wanted to know where their kids were and if anyone had been hurt.
Excellent questions.
When I was in sight of the barricade, I slowed to a walk, not because I was any less anxious, but because if there was one thing I knew, it was how important appearance was. If I looked like I was in control, they’d be more likely to listen to me than if I looked to be a panicked parent.
The chaos inside had to stay hidden.
“Excuse me!” I shouted at one of the cops, pushing my way through the crowd. I’d never been so glad to be six-and-a-half feet tall as I was now. I doubted people would have moved out of my way as fast if I’d been a smaller man.
“I can’t let you through, sir.” The cop’s eyes widened as I reached the police tape. “Everything is under control, and statements will be made when the authorities deem it appropriate.”
“Don’t you be givin’ me the party line.” The one thing I couldn’t control as well as I could my expression was my accent. The more keyed up I was, the thicker it became. “I have a daughter in there.”
And a…lover? I didn’t know what Lumen was, exactly, but only Evanne was more important right now.
“I understand, but I have my orders.” The kid’s voice shook, and I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
I narrowed my eyes, leaning closer to him. “What. Happened.”
“Someone said it was firecrackers.” A woman next to me spoke up. “But those weren’t firecrackers.”
“Are you a parent?” I asked the question even though I doubted this woman had the means to send a child to this particular institution.
“I’m a janitor,” she said, lifting her chin. “Afternoon shift. I was one of the people who called 911. I know gunshots when I hear them. I grew up in Youngstown.”
I squeezed her arm, thankful for the information and her quick thinking. “How many gunshots did you hear?”
“Six.”
“There were three.” An older man with an ascot stood off to the side, a sour expression on his face. “And I’ve been informed that the suspect is in custody.”
It took me a moment to place who he was. “Mr. Arkham, right?”
“You’re the McCrae boy.”
I was in my early thirties, which meant I couldn’t really be a boy, but I wasn’t about to argue that when I wanted answers. “Alec McCrae, aye. You have answers about what happened?”
“No one knows anything,” the cop interrupted. “You have to wait until an announcement is made.”
“I am not waitin’ to see my daughter,” I said firmly, working to keep my voice even. “Or to find out if she’s hurt.”
“I heard two people were taken to the hospital.” A well-dressed woman was wringing her hands as she paced. “At least tell us if they were kids or adults. My Spencer is in there. Please. Tell us something.”
“I have a friend on the force,” Mr. Arkham said. “The ambulance was for a teacher who fainted and hit their head.”
For a moment, Lumen’s face popped into my mind, but I pushed it away. If she was hurt, it wouldn’t have been from passing out. The lass was one of the strongest people I’d ever met.
When the cop still refused to speak, the people behind me started shouting.
“We need to get in there!”
“Stop stalling!”
“What the hell’s going on in there?!”
“Those are our kids!”
“Do you know who I am?!”
“I’ll have your badge!”
The cop shifted, glancing around him as if looking for assistance, but all the way around the perimeter, cops were dealing with the same thing.
I wasn’t getting through here, but I wasn’t giving up either. I hadn’t gotten to where I was today by dropping things that w
I finally spotted where the elementary students had been gathered and quickened my step. All my attention focused on the little figures, scanning for long, dark brown curls and the blue bow I’d put in her hair this morning. She was tall for her age, but still only eight, so I worried that I wouldn’t be able to see her over the older kids and adults.
Then I saw a familiar slender body and thick, honey-blonde waves pulled back from a face I’d had in my mind for nearly two full months. As she turned, I spotted a figure clinging to her, and everything else disappeared.
“Evanne!”
Two
Lumen
I jotted myself a note to put green peppers on the grocery list that Mai and I had hanging on our fridge and then added to the note that we needed to decide who was going grocery shopping this week. I supposed it’d come down to whether I’d spend more time with Alec and Evanne, or if Mai would spend more with Hob. Then again, the less time I was at the apartment, the more time my roommate could have with her boyfriend in the privacy of our home.
I just hoped that wouldn’t turn into another instance of me walking in on the two of them having sex on our couch. I was still trying to get over the last time I’d found the two of them naked. It wasn’t something I wanted to see again.
I picked up the last crisp pepper slice from the vegetable portion of my lunch and bit it in half. In the silence of my classroom, the crunching sound I made while chewing was louder than I’d realized it would be. Or maybe the kids had just been noisier than usual today. I loved my students, but I also loved having this small bit of time to myself in the middle of the–
My phone buzzed from inside my purse, but by the time I dug it out, it was too late. I frowned as I saw Soleil’s name pop up on my screen. It wasn’t that I minded her calling me. Hell, I’d given her my number in the hopes that she would call. But it was the middle of the day, and she should have been in school. Why would she have called when she should be in class?
I still had a few minutes before I had to go get my class, so I tapped Soleil’s name to call her back. The phone rang once. Twice–
A loud bang startled me into nearly dropping my phone.
That couldn’t have been what–
A second bang left no doubt in my mind what I was hearing.
Gunshots.
“Evanne!”
The shout pulled me out of the memory. My heart was racing, but it’d started racing after the first gunshot and hadn’t stopped since. We’d had a whole section of our pre-beginning-of-the-year meeting dedicated to active shooter drills, but we hadn’t run one yet.
Since my kids had been in the lunchroom at the time, I’d known where they’d be taken for the meeting point and had made my way there once I’d confirmed that my hallway was empty. The kids were confused and a little upset, but none of them were freaking out, which made me wonder how much they actually knew about what’d happened.
Hell, I didn’t know what had happened.
“Evanne!”
I turned, taking Evanne with me. I knew that voice, and my eyes immediately sought out the person who went with it. Alec’s golden blond hair was easy to spot, and the moment my eyes met his, the panic I’d been feeling faded. I could still see his in those bright blue eyes, though, and I knew he wouldn’t relax until he had his arms around his daughter.
I turned slightly, motioning to the lunch monitor who’d brought the kids out. “That’s Evanne’s dad.” I pointed. “Alec McCrae.”
Her eyes widened, letting me know that she knew the name. Good. He wasn’t one to use his name to get special privileges, but I had a scared little girl hugging me, and a dad who was probably even more frightened than she was.
“I’m going to take Evanne to her father,” I said.
“We’re supposed to keep the kids until Principal McKenna dismisses us.”
My laugh was more snort than anything. “Trust me, Principal McKenna cares more about making Mr. McCrae happy than he does about following the rules. She’s already been marked as accounted for, and if anyone has any issues, I’ll take responsibility for it.”
The look on the lunch monitor’s face assured me that if there was trouble, I would indeed be the one taking responsibility for any complaints. I gave her a small smile before putting my head closer to Evanne’s.
“Hey, sweetie, your dad’s here.”
Her head came up, pretty blue eyes wide. “He is?”
“I’m going to take you over to him, okay?”
She nodded, and the two of us made our way over to where Alec was impatiently waiting on the other side of the police tape. I almost felt sorry for the cop standing nearby, knowing Alec had probably been giving him a hard time about not being allowed to come get Evanne. The guy was just doing his job, but if I’d learned anything at all about Alec in the short time I’d known him, it was that he didn’t let anything get in the way of what he wanted…and his daughter was at the top of that list.
“Daddy!” Evanne ducked under the tape before the cop could even turn completely toward us.
“Miss…”
I held up a hand. “I’m her teacher, Ms. Browne, and I’m releasing her to her father’s custody.”
“Mo chride,” Alec murmured as he hugged Evanne. The rest of what he said either wasn’t in English or was said with an accent too thick for me to understand.
“If these parents start demanding their kids back too, can I send them to you?” the cop asked, clearly annoyed.
“Vargas!” Another cop gestured to the one getting ready to argue with me. “We got orders!”
“Thank you, lass,” Alec said, drawing my attention back to him as the cop walked away. “I was going mad. What happened?”
Before I could answer, someone called my name. A few feet away, Soleil Artz ducked around an angry woman who seemed to be threatening a cop if he didn’t let her cut through the school parking lot to get to where her car was parked rather than having to walk around the block. I suddenly remembered that Soleil had called me right before I’d heard the gunshots.
“I need to go,” I said to Alec.
He didn’t answer, but I understood. Evanne was foremost on his mind at the moment, and I wouldn’t have cared so much about him if his daughter hadn’t been his priority. He’d reach out once Evanne was settled, and we knew more about what had happened.
I stayed on my side of the police tape but moved down the line until Soleil was directly across from me. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard someone had a gun.” Soleil shuffled her feet, her hazel eyes refusing to meet mine. “I was curious.”
“‘Curious?’” I raised an eyebrow. “It’s okay to say you were worried. If I heard there’d been a shooting at your school, I’d be worried for you.”
She shrugged, not giving an inch.
“You called me but didn’t leave a message.”
“You didn’t answer.”
Was that what had prompted Soleil coming here, wanting to know why I hadn’t picked up? “I couldn’t get to my phone in time, but I was getting ready to call you back when the shooting started. Are you okay?”
Her mouth quirked up at the corners, but only for a moment. “I’m fine.”
I reached across the police tape and lightly touched Soleil’s arm. She looked at me. “You called me on a school day, and now you’re here instead of in school. What’s going on?”
