Michael turned away from his brother, not willing to get caught up in this argument again. There was no talking to him when it came to his precious Avery. Instead he walked over to the full-length mirror and checked himself out, something he never tired of doing. He smiled at his fine, dark features. Everyone said he looked like Sidney Poitier at his most handsome, but Michael knew he looked much better than that.
“What about Sunday?” Michael asked.
Carter didn’t feel like facing the family. He was tired of having to put on that perfect front that was such a lie. His life was a mess and he had embraced that. He didn’t appreciate his mother making him act as if everything was okay.
After finding out Carter paid a woman to have sex with her fiancé, Alex, in order to win her away from him, Avery left him. Despite everything he had done—the millions it had cost him to hide his mistake and all he promised never to do again—she handed him his engagement ring and walked away. Carter was devastated, but never considered giving up. He had come to love Avery, the middle-class girl next door, more than he knew he was capable of loving a woman. She was different from him, but she quickly became the only thing that mattered in his life. So there was no doubt in his mind he would win her back. It would take some time and a lot of work, but he would get her back. After all, he was Carter Chase and what woman could resist him?
Then Avery disappeared. Actually, she ran away with her family’s help, and Carter hadn’t been able to find her. It seemed impossible, considering he had the power of the Chase name and all its money and connections. If only her father hadn’t been chief of police of View Park and her brother a detective, he would have been able to impose himself on them more. They were keeping an eye on everything he did in trying to find Avery, waiting for the chance to catch him breaking the law. He’d even gotten a call from the FBI after a bug was found in Nikki Jackson’s car. They couldn’t trace it to him, but they all knew he’d had it done. It was driving him crazy.
He’d begun trying to find her immediately, his only distractions being the law firm he ran and the commitment he’d made to his father to look after Chase Beauty while his parents were away for his mother’s rehab treatment. He had everyone she knew traced and bugged. He put a flag on Avery’s Social Security number and credit cards, but her family found out and he was blocked out after only one week. He tried to get the police involved, but Avery’s father convinced them that she wasn’t missing and of course they sided with him. They were getting in contact with Avery some way that satisfied Missing Persons enough. Even Carter’s deep connections as one of the hottest up-and-coming lawyers in L.A. couldn’t help him.
After a few months, he gave up and decided he didn’t care. It was all a lie, but he knew it would drive him crazy if he didn’t at least try to convince himself he didn’t want her anymore. He called off all but one of the ten private investigators he had on retainer but still remained focused on the Jackson family. The Jacksons knew he was following them and they were able to elude him at every step. Still, whenever they left L.A., Carter had someone on them, searching for Avery. The last trip had been to Tampa, Florida, followed by a rental car driven to St. Petersburg, which was where Avery’s mother, Nikki, disappeared before showing up in Charlotte, where she caught a plane back home to L.A. Carter had sent his P.I. to Charlotte two days ago.
“You’re coming to the celebration whether you want to or not. It’s for you.”
“My birthday was last month,” Carter said.
“It’s not for your birthday, asshole. You better come, you bastard!”
“Stop yelling.” Carter covered his ears.
“Stop being such a—”
“She might be in Charlotte,” Carter said.
Michael sighed, feeling pity for the brother he had always looked up to. Carter had never been this sick over a woman. “You don’t have time for another trip.”
“I’m not going until my P.I. comes back with proof.”
“What about the board?” Michael asked.
Carter made a grumbling sound. “That’s what the party is about, right?”
Michael couldn’t believe this. “You’re going to be made a member of the board of directors Wednesday, Carter. That’s a big deal.”
“I know,” Carter said. “I’ll be there.”
“Do you have any idea how important this is to Dad?”
“Of course I do. It’s important to me too.”
The idea that he would be made a member of Chase Beauty’s board was still odd to Carter, considering that when he made the choice to start his own law firm instead of going to work for Daddy, Steven had all but promised him he’d never be on the board. It had been a major bone of contention between him and his father and their relationship, which had always been on edge. It had been better some times than others, but never recovered from that decision to do his own thing years ago.
“Nothing is important to you anymore,” Michael said, concealing his envy.
Michael was always a little on edge when Carter and their father started getting close again, even though he knew it never lasted. Still, this one-millionth make-up was lasting longer than usual and Michael felt left out. He was the favorite son and that position meant more than anything in the world to him. Chase Beauty was going to be his, and Carter’s so-called invasion didn’t make him happy. Michael had always been fine with Carter as the company’s legal firm on retainer. He enjoyed working with him almost as much as he enjoyed working with his father. But this was more, much more. He loved his brother without question, but couldn’t ignore that he felt uneasy about his formally joining the company.
“You better straighten up,” Michael ordered. “Avery is gone. Stop being such a pussy and get over it.”
Carter stood up from the bed and faced his brother head-on. Both a little over six feet, they met eye to eye. Even though his head was spinning, Carter stayed steady. “Back off.”
Michael didn’t blink. “You lost her, but you keep this up, you’ll lose everything.”
Carter smiled, because at that moment, he believed Michael, but he really didn’t care.
From A Price to Pay
1
Thirty-one-year-old Carter Chase was standing impatiently in the foyer of his family’s famous and often photographed home, the fifteen-thousand-square-foot Chase Mansion in View Park, a suburb of Los Angeles. He was impatient for a couple of reasons. First, his parents, Steven and Janet, were late. Church let out at eleven and it was twelve-thirty. They had promised to be home by noon at the latest. Second, he was always impatient to see his baby girl, Connor, especially considering he only had another eight hours with her before her mother would come pick her up from his house.
Connor Chase, the newest addition to America’s wealthiest and most famous black family, was born six months ago and Carter’s life was changed forever. Only a few months earlier, he’d been knocked in the face with the reality that her mother, Avery Jackson, the woman Carter loved and had wanted to marry, was married to another man, and pregnant.
He was only temporarily jealous of the other man, college professor Anthony Harper, because he had little right to be. Carter understood that he drove Avery away trying to control her and keep secrets from her. He was wrong and deserved to have his heart broken, which she did when she left L.A. to live in secrecy with relatives outside Miami. But he’d never stopped believing he would get her back. And as much as it hurt that she had been with another man, he wouldn’t pass judgment on her. He’d been sleeping with any woman he could get his hands on in the six months after Avery left California, just to stop thinking about her for a few moments.
But the pregnancy was another thing. He was certain that Connor was his from the moment he saw Avery’s belly, but Anthony had convinced Avery to lie and say the baby was his. He’d conspired with a local doctor who owed him a big favor to create medical records to support the lie. The idea that Avery, the woman he loved with all his heart, was having another man’s baby
had floored Carter.
Being a Chase, a member of America’s black royal family, Carter had always gotten everything he wanted. He’d had a charmed life, always able to win any contest and influence or buy his way out of whatever he needed to. He was an heir to an empire, Ivy League educated and in charge of his own successful law firm; not to mention having that whole tall, dark, and handsome thing in his favor. He was six feet tall with chocolate brown skin and hazel eyes. His smile and style added to making him one of the most eligible bachelors on the market, with his pick of the best women. Which was why everyone was surprised when he hung it all up for a middle-class girl next door, Avery Jackson.
But they just didn’t know. He hadn’t expected to fall in love with her at all, but Avery quickly became everything in the world to him. She was perfect in every way that mattered. She grounded him, made him feel like a king regardless of his last name or his wealth. Carter felt a connection to Avery that he hadn’t believed could exist between a man and a woman. But he’d made mistakes to get her away from her first fiancé, Alex, and even more mistakes to keep her. Unlike the other women he’d dated, Avery didn’t care about the money, the glossy high-life or the power. She didn’t care about all the things that came with being a Chase, so for the first time in his life a woman didn’t put up with his crap, and she had left it all behind.
Like with any other obstacle, as soon as Avery returned, Carter was determined to win her back, regardless of her marital and parental status. And he’d almost done it. He’d gotten her to the point where she admitted she wanted him—loved him—but there was one problem. Avery actually believed in fidelity and the sanctity of marriage. She wouldn’t cheat on Anthony and she wouldn’t leave him even after the truth of Connor’s paternity came out.
But he was a Chase, so there was always a plan B. It would take a lot of patience, but he would get Avery back. And although he had been angry with her when she finally told him that Connor was his, moments after giving birth, it only made him more determined to get her back. Now it was about more than the woman he loved; he had a family.
So while it hurt to see Avery with her husband, Carter knew it was only a matter of time before he’d have her back. Meanwhile, he took every moment he could to spend with his daughter, whom he loved to no end.
That was, he took every moment that he could get Connor away from her doting grandmother, Janet Chase.
“They’re coming.” Maya, the caretaker of Chase Mansion, stood at the archway between the foyer and the great room.
She looked tired, although Carter never really saw her do anything but cook. She always hired contractors to do heavy work, but he knew his mother loved Maya, who had been taking care of the Chase clan for almost fifteen years.
“I can hear the car, Maya. Thanks.”
“Are you sure I can’t get you somethin’?” Although she’d been in the country for more than twenty years, Maya’s Caribbean accent was still very strong. “You know how she likes to stall when she has the baby.”
“Not this time,” Carter said. “I have to get going. I’m meeting Julia for lunch.”
“How nice.”
Carter noted that Maya rolled her eyes like she did whenever the name of Julia Hall, Carter’s current girlfriend, was mentioned. Maya had loved Avery because Avery was kind and warm to her, while Julia maintained a clear class distinction in the very few times she even acknowledged Maya was there.
Carter smiled at the sound of his baby’s voice. Before the front door even opened, he could hear her laughter and cooing.
Janet Chase, a woman of the best breeding, class, and social mastery, had always placed her family first. She was the image maker of the Chase name, and tough as nails when it came to her family. She was also a sucker for a grandchild, and her only granddaughter simply brought her to her knees. She hated giving her up, but as soon as she walked into the house, she could see from the look on her oldest son’s face that she wasn’t going to get away with her stall tactics today.
“Don’t start,” Janet said as she handed the baby bag to Maya. “We tried to leave, but they wouldn’t let us. Ask your father.”
“Who is they?” Carter asked, delighting at the squeal Connor gave as soon as she saw him and reached out for her daddy. She was so stinkin’ cute.
“Everyone at church.” Janet reluctantly handed Connor over. “I tell you, she looks more and more like Leigh every day. She looks ridiculously cute in her new dress.”
Janet spent an obscene amount of money on dresses for Connor. There were two other Chase grandchildren, twins by second son, Michael, but Connor was a girl and that took Janet’s indulgence to a whole other level.
“You’re not letting people, strangers, hold her, Mom.” Carter gave Connor a big, fat kiss on her lips.
“Of course not.” Janet smoothed out her cobalt blue, Diane von Furstenberg cashmere wrap dress. She was a very beautiful woman, who still turned heads in her fifties because she looked at least ten years younger than she was, and she had an air of un-attainability about her that men loved.
She turned to Maya. “Can you please serve lunch in the Florida room in about an hour?”
Maya nodded, handing the baby bag to Carter before leaving.
“Hello, son.” Steven Chase closed the front door behind him, greeting his son briefly before reaching down for his vibrating smartphone.
Carter would have replied if he thought his father was paying any attention, but he knew he wasn’t. Steven Chase was head of a billion-dollar empire, Chase Beauty, and that empire came first. There was no ignoring him once he walked into a room. From even his youngest days, Steven had a presence that sucked up all the attention in the room. This included his own children, his sons especially.
Carter and his father had been at odds as long as Carter could remember, with brief periods of peace. Right now was a period of peace where they got along, but that still didn’t guarantee he’d get any attention from his father.
“You’re making me late for lunch with Julia,” Carter said to his mother.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were having lunch with her?” Janet asked. “I can keep Connor while you both…”
“No thanks,” Carter said. “You’ll see Connor again soon. We have to…”
“You know,” Janet interrupted, “this wouldn’t be an inconvenience if you actually came to church.”
Carter gave his mother an annoyed glance. “You know that’s not going to happen, Mom.”
“You should open your eyes, son.” Janet leaned forward to kiss Connor on her tiny, brown nose. “That God you’ve decided not to believe in gave you this blessing.”
“Science and genetics gave me this blessing,” Carter replied. In choosing to govern his beliefs by logic and rationality, he had made the decision while at Harvard as an undergrad to believe in evolution over creationism, and his mother had given him a hard time about it ever since. Avery gave him hell for it.
“Carter.” Steven hung up his cell, getting his son’s attention. His salt-and-pepper temples added a distinguished look to his dark, masculine figure. “Come in the office. I need to talk business with you.”
“I can’t,” Carter said.
Chase Beauty was the largest client of Chase Law, the small firm that Carter had decided to start instead of joining his father’s company. This, in addition to his sense of entitlement and assumption of power and control over everything, made Steven expect Carter to jump at the snap of his finger.
“I have to meet Julia for…”
“Now,” Steven said definitively. He was already walking down the hallway toward his office.
Janet joyously reached her arms out. “I’ll hold her while…”
“Nice try,” Carter said as he headed down the hallway with his baby in his arms.
“Close the door,” Steven ordered without looking up from his desk.
“Dad, this has to be quick.”
Steven looked up, ready to remind his stubborn son that a
one-hundred-thousand-dollar-a-month retainer meant he could take as much time as he wanted, but thought better of it. They were getting along, as much as Steven and Carter could ever get along. These periods of relative peace between them never lasted long, so Steven let it go. “Did you read that Luxury Life report I sent you?”
“I read all the reports weeks…”
“No, this is a new one I had my marketing department put together. I sent it to your office Wednesday.”
Carter shook his head. “I haven’t gotten around to it.”
“Dammit, Carter!” Steven leaned back in the detailed leather chair of his finely furnished home office, one of seventeen rooms in the house. “That’s the only thing I asked you to do for me this week.”
Carter pretended to bite Connor’s tiny fingers as she put them over his mouth. She laughed as if it was the funniest thing ever. “You know I have that big antitrust case right now, and two new clients.”
Steven sighed. “As your father, I’m glad your firm is growing. As your client, I don’t give a damn. Read the report by Monday.”
That was a lie, Carter thought. He wasn’t glad as a father either. Although he had interned in the Chase Beauty legal department during Harvard Law, Carter’s decision to go out on his own instead of join the company, as expected, had always been a sore point between him and his father. A sore point was putting it lightly.
“I’ll get to it tonight, after I drop Connor at Avery’s…”
“Carter, I know you’re happy you have a baby and all that, but you can’t let it interfere with your work.”
“Maybe I can do like you did, Dad.” Carter’s voice was laced with extreme sarcasm. “Just ignore my kid altogether. I’m sure she’ll understand like we all did.”
Steven sneered, wondering if Carter thought he was too old to get knocked upside the head. No, he hadn’t been the best father, but he was building an empire and they had Janet. He still loved them all more than his own life.
“You’ve never appreciated the sacrifices I’ve made for this family,” Steven said, “but you seem fine with benefiting from them. Read it. I need to make a decision now.”
Gone Too Far Page 28
