Roz Fox - Family Fortune

Kissing Caleb Tanner was good. Very, very good. Kissing Caleb Tanner was good. Very, very good. But mere kissing wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. Crystal felt a feverish need for more. Crazy thoughts cartwheeled through her brain. She wanted to explore all that heat and muscle held in check by the cloth she twisted beneath her hands. Caleb hauled in a ragged breath. “Oh, baby,” he muttered. “Where have you been all my life?” Dipping his head, he brought his Ups to hers again, and Crystal experienced the sensation of a weightless free fall. Nothing like this had ever happened to her. She never lost control around men. Never. Panic reared suddenly, shutting off her intake of air. It made no sense. The faces of people she’d loved, people who’d left her, beat at the back of her eyelids. Her mother and now Margaret Lyon. Her dad. Her fiancé. She couldn’t breathe. Words of warning shrieked in her ears. Back off Back off! You’re nothing to Caleb Tanner. You’re a fool to fall for him! But maybe some men were different.... Crystal willed the panic to subside. They each eased back a little. Crystal released his shirtfront, wishing he’d say something. But why should he? He might have laid the fire, but she’d struck the match. Letter to Reader Dear Reader, I’ve loved reading family sagas since I picked up my first Edna Ferber novel quite some time ago. And I think many people enjoy reading about complex families playing out destinies of power and conflict and—of course—love. It’s been a wonderful challenge to be one of three authors privileged to take Superromance readers on a fifty-year journey with the Lyon family. From the sultry swamps of Bayou Sans Fin to the lush Garden District of New Orleans, I’ve helped the family forge one of Louisiana’s most powerful broadcasting businesses. But life is never simple in any dynasty Fortunately love is ultimately the legacy that holds the Lyon family together. And up till now, Crystal Jardln, a Lyon first cousin, has had precious little love in her life. But Skipper West, an Injured child she befriends, and Caleb Tanner, a hero in every sense, are going to change that! I hope you enjoy Family Fortune and the other IYON LEGACY books. Sincerely, Roz Denny Fox Yes. I love to hear from readers. You can reach me at: P.O. Box 17480-101, Tucson, Arizona 85748 Title Page Family Fortune Roz Denny Fox www.millsandboon.co.uk CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN FAMILY REUNION Copyright

Kissing Caleb Tanner was good. Very, very good.

But mere kissing wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. Crystal felt a feverish need for more. Crazy thoughts cartwheeled through her brain. She wanted to explore all that heat and muscle held in check by the cloth she twisted beneath her hands.

Caleb hauled in a ragged breath. “Oh, baby,” he muttered. “Where have you been all my life?” Dipping his head, he brought his Ups to hers again, and Crystal experienced the sensation of a weightless free fall.

Nothing like this had ever happened to her. She never lost control around men. Never. Panic reared suddenly, shutting off her intake of air. It made no sense. The faces of people she’d loved, people who’d left her, beat at the back of her eyelids. Her mother and now Margaret Lyon. Her dad. Her fiancé.

She couldn’t breathe. Words of warning shrieked in her ears. Back off Back off! You’re nothing to Caleb Tanner. You’re a fool to fall for him!

But maybe some men were different.... Crystal willed the panic to subside. They each eased back a little. Crystal released his shirtfront, wishing he’d say something. But why should he? He might have laid the fire, but she’d struck the match.

Dear Reader,

I’ve loved reading family sagas since I picked up my first Edna Ferber novel quite some time ago. And I think many people enjoy reading about complex families playing out destinies of power and conflict and—of course—love.

It’s been a wonderful challenge to be one of three authors privileged to take Superromance readers on a fifty-year journey with the Lyon family. From the sultry swamps of Bayou Sans Fin to the lush Garden District of New Orleans, I’ve helped the family forge one of Louisiana’s most powerful broadcasting businesses.

But life is never simple in any dynasty Fortunately love is ultimately the legacy that holds the Lyon family together. And up till now, Crystal Jardln, a Lyon first cousin, has had precious little love in her life. But Skipper West, an Injured child she befriends, and Caleb Tanner, a hero in every sense, are going to change that!

I hope you enjoy Family Fortune and the other

IYON LEGACY books.

Sincerely,

Roz Denny Fox

Yes. I love to hear from readers. You can reach me at:

P.O. Box 17480-101, Tucson, Arizona 85748

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

September 1999

ANOTHER THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS withdrawn from Margaret Lyon’s private bank account! Crystal Jardin scowled at her computer screen. In the past two weeks, there had been identical withdrawals from Margaret’s bank account via an ATM. Always on a Monday. And from an unknown automatic teller. Crystal found that the most worrisome. She wouldn’t be as concerned if she hadn’t just seen a WDIX-TV segment on a computer hackers’ convention. She’d learned that bank officials haunted the convention, hiring the brainy kids who could get into bank systems and putting them to work writing codes to plug this very type of break-in.

The segment stuck in her brain because, in addition to her duties as the business manager for the family-owned, New Orleans-based Lyon Broadcasting Company, she served as personal financial adviser to Margaret, the principal stockholder, and to a few other family members, as well.

Granted, the amount of the withdrawals wasn’t particularly alarming. Margaret was an extremely wealthy woman, and prone to shopping sprees. And Crystal hadn’t been too concerned when Margaret disappeared without informing the family of her whereabouts. Until today. She recalled that the last time they sat down to go over finances, which they did regularly, Margaret hadn’t been herself. Who’d expect her to be? It was just after her beloved husband Paul’s death.

Crystal understood that Margie needed time alone. The woman had loved Paul Lyon for nearly sixty years. Losing him suddenly to a heart attack—after doctors had twice snatched him from the brink of death—had shaken the entire family, and no one more than Margaret. Not only that, the funeral had been overwhelming, with half of New Orleans turning out. The many heartfelt eulogies given by colleagues in the broadcasting business for the man known as the Voice of Dixie must have added to the weight of Margaret’s sorrow.

At the time Margie went missing, everyone in the family assumed she’d gone off alone to grieve. But when she didn’t call or show up at one of the ocean resorts she and Paul had always favored, her son, André, and his wife, Gaby, began to panic. And now, this complete elimination of a paper trail in Margie’s bank transactions was beginning to panic Crystal, too.

At seventy-seven, the family matriarch excelled in anything relating to the TV station she’d brought to life fifty years ago. But the woman Crystal loved like a grandmother didn’t have the skill to hack into a bank computer system.