Yahrah John - Taming Her Tycoon

She’s the ultimate temptation

In high school, Naomi Brooks had a major crush on Lucius Knight—much like every other girl. So it’s oh-so-satisfying to have the sexy corporate raider eager to buy her organic-products company years later. This man doesn’t know how to lose. And he’s making it clear that he wants Naomi’s business as well as her body...

Even when Naomi was a rough-and-tumble tomboy, Lucius was drawn to her. Now that she’s bold, sexy and confident, she’s even more alluring. He’s willing to play dirty to convince her that a liaison can be mutually beneficial in and out of the bedroom. But that gamble, and an explosive family secret, might cost him the only conquest that truly matters: her heart.

“Why don’t we stop playing games? Let’s quit acting like there isn’t a mutual attraction sizzling between us.”

“There is no attraction,” Naomi threw back at him caustically.

“Don’t deny it. The chemistry has been there from the moment we met.”

“Only a rich, arrogant millionaire intent on getting his greedy hands all over my company would say that.” She rose from the chair she was seated in. “Neither I nor my company is for sale, Lucius.”

She stalked out of the lounge with as much dignity as she could muster given that he was partly right. There was something there between them. She had to be on her guard with Lucius at all times. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—fall prey to his charms like most of the women he encountered.

She was in the elevator and the doors had nearly shut when Lucius caught up to her and worked them open with his large hands before stepping inside.

They were alone in the elevator.

He walked purposely toward her, and Naomi automatically shrank back a couple of steps. But when she did, her back hit the wall—not a good position to be in with a dangerously sexy man like Lucius.

Dear Reader,

I came up with the Knights of Los Angeles series after watching the television show Empire. I loved the name Lucius and the family dynamic of brother against brother, and thus the idea for Taming Her Tycoon was born.

This book focuses on corporate raider Lucius Knight’s quest to learn his parentage. When he does, it will rock his world. All the while, Lucius has his eye on former tomboy turned businesswoman Naomi Brooks. He wants the lady and her organic-products company, but can he convince her that mixing business and pleasure would be oh-so-satisfying? The series will conclude with his brother Maximus Knight’s fight to retain his empire.

My next book, Miami After Hours, will be available June 2017. In the meantime, feel free to visit my website at www.yahrahstjohn.comor write me at yahrah@yahrahstjohn.com for more info.

Best wishes,

Yahrah St. John

Taming Her Tycoon

Yahrah St. John

www.millsandboon.co.uk

YAHRAH ST. JOHNis the author of twenty-two books, fifteen of which are under Harlequin Kimani Romance. Yahrah hails from the windy city of Chicago, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from Northwestern University. She currently resides in the beautiful city of sunny Orlando. Yahrah was nominated for an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award in 2011 for Two to Tango and was the winner of an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award in 2013 for A Chance with You.

St. John is a member of Romance Writers of America, but is an avid reader of all genres. She enjoys Broadway shows and concerts, reading, cooking, traveling and watching professional basketball, and she is an adventure sport enthusiast. But her true passion remains writing. For more information, please visit www.yahrahstjohn.com.

To my friends and colleagues Mary Dillard, Alana Guinard and Mica Reinhardt for providing an ear when I needed a sounding board.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

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

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

“I want Brooks and Johnson,” Lucius Knight told his lawyer and best friend, Adam Powell, as the two sparred in the boxing ring of their favorite gym on a Wednesday afternoon. It was one of Lucius’s favorite pastimes when he needed to blow off some steam, and today was one of those days.

“I know. I’ve been acquiring the shares like you asked, but why?” Adam inquired as he squared off against his six-foot-two friend.

Lucius put his gloves down and looked him in the eye. “Does it matter? I want it.”

“Yeah, it does,” Adam said. “I’ve never seen you so focused on a company before. Why is it so important to you?”

Lucius couldn’t tell Adam the real reason he was interested in Brooks and Johnson, an organic retail company, was its cofounder Naomi Brooks. Known for his playboy lifestyle, Lucius hadn’t been able to settle for anyone or anything, let alone a woman. But Naomi Brooks was different. He liked her story. She was a no-nonsense type of woman, a real do-gooder who not only believed in what she was selling—organic products that ranged from shampoos and conditioners to body lotion—but had also become successful in her own right. Who would have thought that the nerdy sophomore with the boyish figure and acne problems who followed him around during his senior year in high school would someday turn her basement business into a national success story?

Lucius understood that kind of determination.

Because he’d done the same thing. A reformed bad boy turned businessman, Lucius had experienced a chaotic relationship with his mother and had chosen to live with his grandmother in the Rose Park neighborhood of Long Beach.

Adjusting to the neighborhood and being a loner hadn’t been easy for Lucius. He’d rebelled and gotten into trouble often in school. Eventually, he’d met Adam, and a friendship that would last decades had been formed. Lucius had gone on to obtain an MBA before investing in his first business venture, an up-and-coming technology firm. The gamble paid off, and he’d made his first million before he was thirty. And thanks to his shrewd sense for recognizing opportunities, he’d formed Knight International and was now a wealthy tycoon with holdings across multiple industries.

“Hey, hey.” Adam waved a gloved hand in front of Lucius, jolting him from looking back down memory lane.

“You do that again and you’ll get knocked out,” Lucius joked, effectively ending their conversation about Brooks and Johnson.

“I doubt that.” Adam gave him a jab in the side. “Who do you think taught you how to fight?”

Lucius answered with a blow of his own to Adam’s middle. “You did. But as in the stories of old, sometimes the student becomes the teacher.”

Adam laughed heartily. “We’ll see about that.”

The two men continued to spar for another hour before they finally took a break. The gym along Santa Fe Avenue was starting to fill up with locals, which signaled it was time for Lucius to roll. Even though he still liked coming to the old neighborhood because it reminded him of days gone past, Lucius also knew the hundred he’d paid to the kid outside to watch his Bentley to ensure no one would scratch it wouldn’t last too much longer.

“How about a beer?” Adam said as they jumped down from the ring and walked toward the benches where their gym bags were.