Unspoken: A Billionaire Romance Read online

  Unspoken

  Sandi Lynn

  Sandi Lynn Romance, LLC

  Contents

  Unspoken

  Mission Statement

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Unspoken

  New York Times, USA Today & Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author

  Sandi Lynn

  Unspoken

  Copyright © 2021 Sandi Lynn Romance, LLC

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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

  Created with Vellum

  Mission Statement

  Sandi Lynn Romance

  Providing readers with romance novels that will whisk them away

  to another world and from the daily grind of life – one book at a time.

  Introduction

  Her name was Ellie Scott, and she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.Our worlds collided one day in the produce section of the grocery store when I accidentally hit the corner of the display of apples, and they started fall. I was speechless the moment she looked at me and her beautiful emerald eyes met mine. It felt like time had stopped and suddenly all was right in my disheveled life.

  We lived in different worlds. Mine was a world of hearing, and hers was a world of silence. Despite her being deaf, the chemistry between us was undeniable.

  But I faced two problems: the secret I held and my family. I was born a Walker and came from a family of wealth and status. My parents would never approve or accept her, and my mother would stop at nothing to keep us apart.

  They threatened my career and my future. What they didn’t understand was that I would give up everything to be with her.

  Then everything went to hell the day my ex-fiancée showed up with some news that threatened to tear us apart.My life was finally right, and I wasn’t going to let anyone, or anything destroy it. I would protect what was mine.

  Chapter 1

  Henry

  The Walkers. We were the perfect family to outsiders, but within the walls of our family was another story. We were a family who suffered a tragedy twenty-one years ago. A tragedy neither of my parents would ever forget. The kind of tragedy that set the course of my life. I would always feel the loss, and it would stay with me for the rest of my life. The person I felt the sorriest for was my sister, Addison. Somehow, my parents thought having her would help them, but she only reminded them of the loss we all suffered. Don’t get me wrong; they loved Addison. She was their daughter, but I knew my father could never have a bond with her like the bond he had with Abigail. Addison knew it. She felt it, and it was my job to protect her from it.

  I walked into the Burger Bar and saw my best friend, Ben, sitting at a small table by the window. Walking over, I pulled out the seat across from him and sat down.

  “It’s about time.” He picked up his bottle of beer.

  “Sorry. I was here on time, but Kirsten called as soon as Christian pulled up, and we had another argument.”

  “What about this time? By the way, I took the liberty of ordering our burgers. Your beer should be here in a second.”

  “Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I have a meeting tonight and we were supposed to meet at her parents’ house to pick out wedding invitations.”

  “Let me guess. You forgot?”

  “I did, and now she’s all pissed off. I told her just to pick out what she liked, and she started yelling at me. She went on and on about how I don’t care about the wedding, and she knows I scheduled the meeting on purpose.”

  Ben let out a laugh. “Well, you don’t care, bro.”

  “I know that. I don’t give a damn about wedding invitations. I have more important things to worry about, and she’s just going to have to get used to it. I’m a very busy man and I don’t have time for such nonsense as picking out wedding invites.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  The waitress walked over and set my beer down in front of me.

  “Your burgers will be up shortly.” She smiled.

  “Is it really worth it, Henry?” he asked in a serious tone.

  I sighed as I picked up my beer and took a swig.

  “You’re letting your family control your life and your future. If you marry Kirsten, you’re going to be a miserable prick the rest of your life. And I’m saying this with love. Even as your wife, you will never put her first. Do you think that’s fair to her?”

  “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Change the subject.”

  I arrived home around nine-thirty p.m. After setting my briefcase down, I unbuttoned my suitcoat and walked to the kitchen where I found Kirsten looking in my refrigerator.

  “Hey. I didn’t know you were coming over tonight.”

  “I wasn’t going to, but after I narrowed the invitations down to three choices, I thought you could help me pick one out. That’s if you want to,” she spoke with an attitude.

  “Of course, I want to, Kirsten. I’m sorry about tonight. I completely forgot we had that planned. Things have been busy at work, and you know I’ve been working on that investment deal.” I held out my hand to her. “Now show me the three invitations you picked, and I’ll see which one I like the best.”

  As she lay in my arms, I stared at her while she slept, and a million thoughts ran through my head. I was thirty years old and engaged to a woman I didn’t love and didn’t want to spend the rest of my life with. My father always preached to me that having a beautiful and strong woman by your side from a good family was the key to a man’s success. Maybe that rang true for him with my mother, but for me, I hadn’t thought about settling down. I didn’t want to. But my parents had other plans for me when they introduced me to Kirsten, the daughter of a friend of theirs. A well-bred beautiful socialite that came from a good wealthy family.

  I was twenty-seven at the time when my parents sat me down for a conversation. A conversation which revolved around their disapproval of my life as a bachelor. They thought it was time for me to get serious with someone and settle down by the time I turned thirty if I were to step into the position of CEO of Walker Capital. My father was thirty and married to my mother when he took over the company from my grandfather, and he expected the same from me. Ever since my sister died, I felt it was my obligation to be the perfect and obedient son. Life
had already let them down and I wasn’t going to be the reason it happened again. I never got into trouble, I studied hard in school, and I graduated at the top of my class from Yale.

  I’d dated a variety of women over the years. But for me it was just about the sex and having a good time. My work was my focus and running the family business was my legacy. I didn’t need a good woman by my side to do that. I wasn’t a believer in true love even though my parents seemed to have it. But did they? Or were they just good actors for the sake of the Walker name. Who the hell knew? I came from a powerful family where status meant everything.

  Kirsten’s family owned a quantity of high-end department stores around the country. Higher end than Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue. She was a Columbia graduate and a buyer for the company. My father met her father ten years ago at a global business event and they had been friends ever since. Since I was single and she was newly single, our parents deemed it a good idea we met. According to my parents, she was the perfect woman for me, and she would fit perfectly within our little family. But I wasn’t happy. I hadn’t been in a long time and marriage wouldn’t change that. In fact, it would only make things worse.

  Chapter 2

  Two Weeks Later

  Henry

  Since my fridge was empty, I was out of coffee, and my housekeeper, Delilah, was on vacation, I left the office early and stopped at the grocery store. I was almost finished shopping when I forgot to pick up some fresh spinach. So, I turned the cart around and headed back to the produce department. Between all the people in that section, a big cardboard box display filled with guacamole mix, and a cart in the middle of the aisle, I couldn’t get through.

  “Excuse me,” I spoke to the woman standing there looking at the apples.

  “Excuse me.” I sighed as she wasn’t turning around or moving her cart.

  “Excuse me,” I asked one last time. “What the fuck,” I mumbled under my breath as I placed my hands on her cart and moved it, hitting the edge of the display of apples. The top row started to tumble causing a domino effect, and the apples started to fall to the ground.

  “Oh shit,” I said.

  The woman placed her hands on the tumbling apples as I placed mine next to hers out of panic to try and stop them. The moment she turned her head and looked at me with her beautiful green eyes, I was speechless.

  “I’m sorry,” I spoke as we both tried to stop more apples from falling. “Your cart was in the way, and I couldn’t get through. I was asking you to excuse me, so I moved your cart myself. Obviously, I used a little too much force.” The corners of my mouth curved upward.

  She stared at me for a moment and then brought her index finger up to her ear and then down to her lips. I cocked my head at her for I knew what that meant.

  “Are you deaf?” I signed.

  A bright smile crossed her face.

  “Yes,” she signed as she nodded her head. “You too?” She pointed at me.

  “No. But I do know sign language.”

  We both bent down to pick up the apples from the ground.

  “I’m sorry I left my cart in the way,” she signed.

  “Please. You have nothing to be sorry for. Do you read lips?” I signed.

  “Yes.” she nodded as a beautiful smile graced her face.

  We finished picking up the apples and I felt compelled to introduce myself.

  “My name is Henry,” I finger-spelled my name.

  “Ellie.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Ellie,” I signed and then held out my hand to her.

  “It’s nice to meet you too, Henry.” She placed her hand in mine.

  She glanced over at my cart and then back at me with a grin across her face.

  “You can tell a lot about a guy by the food he buys,” she signed.

  “All good I hope.”

  “Yes,” she signed. “All good.”

  I let out a chuckle.

  “I better get going. Sorry for making the apples fall,” I spoke as I signed at the same time.

  “It’s okay. It was quite humorous.”

  I gave her a smile as I took my cart and grabbed a couple bags of spinach. I couldn’t stop stealing small glances at her as she placed some apples in a plastic bag. She was incredibly beautiful with her five-foot seven stature, lean body, long blonde wavy hair, and eyes that resembled a pair of perfect emeralds. Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of my phone. When I pulled it from my pocket, I saw Kirsten was calling.

  “Hello.”

  “Hey, handsome. Are you still at the office?”

  “Uh, no. I’m just getting ready to check out at the grocery store.”

  “Seriously?” She laughed. “You’re at the grocery store? You have Delilah to do that for you.”

  “She’s on vacation, remember? Plus, I was out of coffee and some other things.”

  “You could have just spent the night at my place tonight. I have plenty of coffee.”

  “As nice as that sounds, I have a lot of work to do when I get home. We already discussed that.”

  “I know. I was just checking in since I haven’t heard from you all day. Dinner tonight? I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  “Yes. Of course. I have to let you go, Kirsten. I’m checking out now.”

  “Okay. I love you.”

  “Me too. I’ll see you later.”

  I headed towards where the registers were located and sighed at the long lines. My eyes diverted to Ellie who was standing in line with nobody behind her. I used it as the perfect opportunity to talk to her one last time before I would never see her again. As I walked over in her direction, she smiled at me.

  “Crazy lines,” I signed.

  “Always are at this time of the day.”

  When it was her turn, she loaded her groceries on the belt and reached into her purse. Suddenly, a look of panic crossed her face as she frantically dug through her purse.

  The cashier reached over and placed her hand on her arm to get her attention.

  “Is something wrong, Ellie?”

  Ellie turned to me and asked if I could tell the cashier that she’d left her wallet at home and she’d be back.

  “No worries. I can pay for your groceries,” I signed back and reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet.

  She shook her head as she reached over and placed her hand on my arm.

  “It’s the least I can do since I knocked over the apples.” I smirked.

  I handed the cashier some cash, and Ellie thanked me with a beautiful smile.

  “You’re welcome.” The corners of my mouth curved upward.

  She grabbed her two bags and waited for me by the door.

  “That was nice of you to pay for her groceries,” the cashier spoke. “She’s so nice, and she comes in here all the time.”

  “We just met in the produce section over a mishap with the apples.”

  “That’s cool. It’s great you know sign language. She’s lucky you were here.”

  “Yeah. I guess so.” I glanced over at her as the corners of my mouth curved upward.

  When we exited through the doors, she set her bags down and thanked me again.

  “I will repay you. Can I get your phone number and we can set up a time to meet?” she signed.

  “Of course. Give me your phone.”

  I typed in my number and handed it back to her.

  “Are you taking a cab home?” I asked, as Christian pulled up.

  “The subway,” she signed.

  There was no way I was letting her take the subway home.

  “No. Let me take you home. This is my car.” I pointed to the limo.

  Christian climbed out, grabbed my bags, and put them in the trunk.

  “Christian, take Ellie’s bags.” I picked them up off the cement and handed them to him. “We’ll be taking her home.” I smiled at Ellie.

  “No. You’ve done enough,” she signed.

  “I’m taking you home. Climb in.”
I opened the door.

  She gave me the cutest look of disapproval as she stood on the sidewalk.

  “Go on. Climb in. You really don’t have a choice since I’m holding your groceries hostage.” I smirked.

  The corners of her mouth curved upward, and she climbed inside.

  “I feel so stupid for leaving my wallet at home.”

  “Don’t. I do it all the time. What is your address?”

  “312 E. 30th Street,” she signed.

  “312 E. 30th Street, Christian.”

  “You’re not too far from me. I live at E. 60th Street.”

  “Nice,” she signed with a grin. “I bet your apartment is huge.”

  “It’s a good size.” I laughed. “Do you live with anyone?”

  I wasn’t sure why I’d just asked her that, and now I felt like an idiot.

  “No. But my mom lives in the same building. As soon as an apartment became available, I grabbed it. I’ve only been living on my own for six months. How about you? Do you live with anyone?”

  “No. I live alone.”

  I didn’t lie to her because I did live alone. I had my place, and Kirsten had hers. She wanted us to move in together, but I liked my space, and I wasn’t ready to share it. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be.