Ruler

Sarah Rudolph

Description

Julia’s life is flipped upside down when she enters competition for the throne. Will she choose her family or the love that she can’t have?
At the age of twenty three, Julia Ricardo is lost. Her dream job of being an investigative reporter crashed and burned, with her job now being only to write fluff pieces. She lost her boyfriend and is starting to lose her family. After a hard day at work, her older brother calls her up and tells her their grandfather is in town and wants to see Julia. Julia's mother never talked about her life before moving to Malibu, and the grandparents never made any contact with the family during Julia’s childhood. When Julia arrives at her old home, she learns that her grandfather is a king of a small kingdom named LockHill. LockHill needed an heir and Julia needed a change. But when she arrives in LockHill, instead of everything being in place; she is faced with two obstacles. One, a family that wants to be ruler of LockHill and take it away from her grandfather. They will do anything to get it. And two, their son Harry. Harry craves adventure along with getting closer to Julia. He has many tricks up his sleeves, every one of them bringing the two of them closer together. From rides on his motorcycle to dips on the dance floor, Julia can’t help falling for the man she can’t have.

Sujets

• Young Adult Fiction
• Regalía
• Royalty
• Competition
• Redevance

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 31 janvier 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781664290426
• Langue: English

Extrait

RULER
SARAH RUDOLPH


Copyright © 2023 Sarah Rudolph.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9043-3 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9044-0 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9042-6 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023901348
 
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 01/26/2023
CONTENTS
Character List
Prologue
Part One
Chapter 1The Story
Chapter 2Problems and Old Wounds
Chapter 3The Truth
Chapter 4Family Dinner
Chapter 5The New Beginning
Chapter 6Rules and Motorcycles
Chapter 7The Village
Chapter 8Lies and Contracts
Chapter 9The Tutor
Chapter 10Sticky Situations
Part Two
Chapter 11The Wishing Well
Chapter 12Feelings and pictures
Chapter 13The Magazine
Chapter 14Interviews and Pools
Chapter 15The Big Apple
Chapter 16Pasts and Mistakes
Chapter 17The First Day
Chapter 18Questions and the City
Chapter 19The Black Eye
Chapter 20Family Reunions
Part Three
Chapter 21The Mystery
Chapter 22One Day Left
Chapter 23The Start
Chapter 24Puppy Love
Chapter 25The Ball Part One
Chapter 26The Ball Part Two
Chapter 27Royalty and Invites
Chapter 28The First Date
Chapter 29Decisions and Seafood
Chapter 30The Goodbyes
Part Four
Chapter 31A Month
Chapter 32The Answer
Chapter 33Knockouts and Big News
Chapter 34The Accident
Chapter 35Broken Bones and Preparation
Chapter 36The Count Down
Chapter 37Dresses and Movies
Chapter 38The Lovers
Chapter 39Wedding Bells
Chapter 40The Right Time
 
Epilogue
CHARACTER LIST
Main Characters ;
Julia Ricardo
Harry King
George LockHill
Gracie Ricardo
Christy King
Antonio Barato
Jenna Renaud
Side Characters ;
Anna LockHill
Sadie Evans
Rory Evans
Florence Bottomweather
Daisy King
Bill King
Bustle Cheat
Cleopatra Nails
Dia Ricardo
Henry Ricardo
Jayden Ricardo
Sebastian Ricardo
Peter Ricardo
Lindsey Ricardo
Axel King (German Shepherd)
Duchess LockHill (Harlequin Great Dane)
Jackie Perez
Isabella Barato
Minor Characters;
Miss Ollie Wendy Lorraine Jam
Hope Jam
Howard Tackle
Serra Rudolf
PROLOGUE
“Dear Mr. Bezz,
If you’re reading this letter, it means one of two things. One, it means that the job was successful, which you shouldn’t have doubted at all because RM always gets the job done. Unlike you. Two, you owe RM money for that said job. Now, I’m not asking for a lot … … … … Wait, never mind I am. You owe the RM 3 million dollars. In cash. No credit cards and no checks. Only cash. Now, I know that you are a sly businessman. I mean, you would have to be one to come to the RM for help. So, if you don’t pay the 3 million dollars by Valentine’s Day … Well, let’s just say you won’t just be getting chocolates from your wife. Oh, am I scaring you Mr. Bezz? Boo-hoo, go cry me a river Mr. Bezz … … … … And I’m sorry if I find myself crude, but you know the saying. Crude men make crueler criminals.
From: RM”
My heart drummed throughout my ears, as I re-read the letter twice. Excitement buzzed all around me, as I glanced down to the letter in my hands. This is all I need! This is what I need to nail Mr. Bezz into jail forever! A month ago, I would have laughed if I saw this letter. January wasn’t really the month for me, but that didn’t matter … February, Valentine’s Day especially is the month and the day for me. Wait a minute … Who’s the RM in the letter? The records on Mr. Bezz never show anything about a RM … The only thing that the records of Mr. Bezz show are that he married an actress, and they have a toddler together … Nothing about the RM … Did I miss something in the letter? I re-read the letter a few more times, my eyes scanning for a clue. For all I know, the RM could be a financing company … Wait, today is Valentine’s Day … Which means, that the RM should be here shortly … Which means I’ll be able to get my proof for my story … Oh, if Bustle could see me now!
My rocky boyfriend Bustle would have been so proud of me, he may actually give me a kiss on the head. He may even take me out to …
“ Please, please, please don’t do this! I’m an innocent man, I’m telling you! ”
“Can it Bezz.”
Mr. Bezz’s sharp high-pitched voice stopped my thoughts of Bustle in their tracks, the voice buzzing throughout the air. It’s about time! I folded the letter neatly before I stuffed it into my jean’s pocket. I quietly opened the shut door, the door barely even creaking. I crouched down to my knees, crab walking to the railing. From my position, I could easily see the whole floor of the factory. Let’s just hope that they can’t see me. Aside from Mr. Bezz, there were at least four burly men. The men looked like they would crush ten soda pop cans against their heads before they did pushups. The burly men were wearing black and white tuxes, a red tie splashing against the white shirt. Pistols hung from their belt; secured into holsters. Fedora hats were sitting on top of their head, a red feather sticking out from the side.
The last man was standing in the middle, the man running his fingers over the barrel of his pistol. My eyes focused on the man in the middle, watching as the man’s muscles tensed up and then relaxed. By the way he’s standing in the group … He may be the leader. The man in the middle was taller than the rest of the men, and he seemed to present himself with class.
Click. Click. Click. The sound of handcuffs clicking shut on Mr. Bezz’s hands echoed throughout the factory.
“ Please ,” begged Mr. Bezz, his eyes frantically searching for someone kind. “I’m innocent. I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but whatever I did, I’m telling you, I didn’t mean to!”
“Innocent? Oh, I hardly find that right.”
A new voice crackled through the air, the voice sending a shiver down my spine. The voice came from the entrance of the factory, belonging to the gentlemen strolling towards the group and Mr. Bezz.
Unlike the burly men, this man was more … proper than the rest of them. He was wearing the same outfit as the rest of the mafia, except his tie was a magenta color. The fedora was dipped slightly down, the lip of the hat casting a shadow over his caramel skin. Three feathers were sticking out of his hat, all three of them blood red. Unlike the rest of the men, this man didn’t have any weapons. Strange … You would think that he would carry a weapon. What type of thug is he?
The man with no weapon stopped right beside the man in the middle.
“¿El cooperó? ”asked the man with no weapon.
“ Sí señor ” responded the man in the middle.
So, they both speak Spanish … I should have taken that Spanish class in high school … I watched as the no weapon man and the man in the middle talked in Spanish, the two of them speaking as fluent as a river flowing.
Frustration was pricking at my skin, as I listened to the conversation. Oh, come on … Say something in English for once!
“You know if you really want to scare me, just talk in English,” snarled Mr. Bezz, lunging forward in the chair. “Then I could at least understand what you’re saying!”
The man with no weapon raised an eyebrow at Mr. Bezz, while the one in the middle started to toy with his pistol.
“Not right now Julio..”
“But boss-”
“I said not right now .” growled the man with no weapon, whirling to face the man called Julio.
The man with no weapon glared at Julio for what seemed like forever, before Julio forced his pistol back in its hostler. Okay … So the man with no weapon is the boss … The boss of what, I have no clue. The boss man started to make his way towards Mr. Bezz, and Mr. Bezz started to straighten up.
“You knew this day was coming Mr. Bezz . You knew that one day RM would catch up to you.”
The boss man stopped ten feet away from Mr. Bezz, the man’s eyes glued to Mr. Bezz.
“The RM? What’s the RM?”
The boss man sighed heavily, before he snapped his fingers. Like trained dog, Julio was at his side. This time with a black suitcase. CLICK! The boss man opened the case, pulling out a syringe. Don’t think about the needle. Don’t open your eyes. Even just thinking about shots was enough to do me over. When I was a little girl and was about to get a shot, I held my breath until I passed out so I wouldn’t get a shot.
My eyes flickered open when Mr. Bezz started to talk.
“What was that?” yelled Mr. Bezz.
“That my dear reckless friend, is something that I cooked up myself. It’s a version of truth serum … But, it’s more … deadly .”
Truth serum? How can truth serum be deadly?
Every bone in my body was telling me to run, but I didn’t want to. No … I need to stay … I nee