The Grandmaster’s Legacy: Masters of Love and War (A Taylor Lee HOT Historical Romantic Suspense Collection) (The Grandmaster's Legacy)

by Taylor Lee

  The room was silent, as they all reacted in their own ways to Wyatt’s shocking suggestion.

  Lei looked at Wyatt and then at each of the men. Her expression was fierce, her voice cutting.

  “Were you laughing at me?”

  Everyone was startled by her question, but Wyatt understood.

  “No, honey. We were not laughing at you.

  “But you were laughing.”

  “Yes, we were laughing at the concept.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “The concept? You mean that you have fucked enough women that if they all voted for you they could make a difference in the outcome of the election?

  Wyatt nodded. “Yes.”

  “That is what you were laughing about?” Lei asked incredulously.

  A slight flush warmed Wyatt’s cheeks. “When you put it that way, it doesn’t seem funny. But, yes, that is what seemed humorous at the time.”

  Lei’s eyes flashed dangerously, “But not me? You weren’t making fun of me?”

  “No, honey. We were not.”

  Lei looked thoughtful. “Putting aside whether it is humorous, is it true?”

  Wyatt’s brows shot up. “What? That I have fucked enough prospective voters to make a difference?”

  Lei held his gaze. “Yes.”

  Wyatt gave a slight shake of his head and said with a diffident nod, through half-closed eyes, “It depends on how close the vote is.”

  A slight tick tugged at Lei’s cheek. “Hmm. How did you plan to find out if they would vote for you? Were you going to contact them?”

  Wyatt shook his head.

  Lei continued, her voice was hard. “Send a letter, a note? Set up a private meeting? Rent the fairgrounds for a group discussion?”

  “We didn’t get to that point, Lei. But, if we had, my recommendation would be that we not contact them personally.”

  Lei whirled on Tom, who was standing dumbfounded, staring at the two of them. “What do you think, Tom? Would you recommend contacting them? Or, would you assume that Wyatt’s prowess in the bedroom would make their votes a given?”

  Tom sighed. “Do you want me to answer that question, Lei? Or are you trying to make me feel like a bigger heel than I already do?”

  Lei glared at him. “No, that is not what I am trying to do. I am trying to decide if you are good enough to manage Wyatt’s campaign. I would appreciate an answer to my question.”

  Tom nodded, a flash of understanding crossing his face. “I see. No, I do not think we will need to, nor should we, contact them. And, yes, I think given Wyatt’s prowess in the bedroom, we can count on their votes.”

  Lei’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think that one of our “constituencies” – is that what you call it? Yes? Do you think women are a constituency that is more likely to vote for Wyatt than for Grant?”

  Tom took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. “Yes, without a doubt.”

  “Whether he has fucked them or not?”

  The slightest blush tinged Tom’s cheeks. “Yes.”

  Lei nodded. “I agree with you.”

  Tom shook his head in wonder. “Christ, Lei, is this the point in the discussion when you would give your father the kill or don’t kill signal?”

  Lei gave him a dismissive smile. “He wouldn’t need a signal. He’d already know.”

  Wyatt had held back as long as he could, as had Chief. He threw back his head and roared with laughter. Chief joined him and soon Joey, and finally Tom, were clutching their sides laughing. The only one who wasn’t was Alono. Lei stood up and went over to him. She kissed him on the cheek and whispered to him that she was okay.

  Wyatt’s eyes were dancing with appreciation. “Goddamn, now, Tom, do you see what I have to deal with on a daily basis?”

  Lei smiled and looked at Wyatt. “In answer to your question about going forward, we have our “issue” to deal with if we do or not. The reasons I agreed to the campaign have not changed. My vote is yes. And yours is?”

  “Honey, you know goddamn well there is only one vote that counts. It is yours. The minute you say stop, we stop. Now that you have put our campaign manager through his baptism of fire and he survived, I think it is time to get this campaign moving. I told Grant Forrester in a room full of people that I was going to whip his ass. Since that is what I intend to do we need to get started. Agreed?”

  There was a resounding chorus of yeses. Each of the men, one at a time, went to give Lei a hug. She looked up at Wyatt with a mock frown, “Depends on how close the vote is, huh?”

  “C’mon, honey, that was a damn funny line and you know it. Plus that’s when I knew for sure that you were having fun with us. After you had scared the shit out of us. But all joking aside, none of us were laughing at you, Lei. We never would. Moreover, we all know how upset you were—with good reason. That is why I wanted to have this conversation so that Tom, Chief, and I could tell you as a group that we behaved like assholes today. You had every reason to be upset.”

  Lei nodded in agreement. “I owe Joey and Alono an apology. I lumped you both in with the assholes – sorry Chief, you know I am only talking about those two,” she said pointing to Wyatt and Tom. “Joey, I’m sorry. I was so mad at Wyatt and you were there. Alono, god, baby, as usual you were caught in the middle. I’m sorry.” She went over and gave him another kiss on the cheek. Alono blushed bright red.

  ~~~

  Later Wyatt delighted Lei by climbing into the hot bath with her. He carefully washed each one of her toes. First he soaped them, then rinsed them off. Finally he sucked on each one of them as she giggled and writhed, amazed at how sensitive they were.

  A serious frown crossed his face. “Lei, did you mean it when you said you would never marry me?”

  She blushed and looked down. “No, I didn’t mean that.”

  His voice and expression were stern, all traces of humor were gone. “Good, because you will, you know. You do know that, don’t you, Lei?

  “Yes, Wyatt, I know that.”

  Chapter 9

  The next morning after breakfast, Tom called them together to discuss the campaign. He wanted to get the structure in place before he returned to Washington.

  Pointing to a large map of Wyoming on the wall, he laid out his preliminary strategy.

  “If I had to sum up my goal for the campaign, it would be this. We need to identify every person who might vote for Wyatt and get Wyatt in front of them, personally, if possible. In practical terms, that means we need volunteers in every nook and cranny of Wyoming. The state isn’t that big, but there are damn few towns, and a whole lot of land and mountain ranges in between. Thank God for the railroads. Damn if the Wyoming Central isn’t giving the CB& Q a run for their money. No matter. The competition ensures that we have the ability to crisscross this state in a way we never would have just ten years ago. We’ll rely on the railroads to get from town to town and we’ll schedule rallies and larger meetings in each of the towns. But we need volunteers across the state. Those volunteers need to reach every person who is likely to vote for Wyatt, and then convince them to vote for Wyatt. In practical terms, that means we need our people in every church, ranchers meeting, women’s group, and saloon in the state. And, yes, as we agreed last night, we need them in every brothel, beaver barn, and chippy joint. Those women can get to people in ways that no one else can. Not only do they have clients, but they have families, friends. And they can use the money.

  “Don’t look surprised, Chief. Yeah, we will be paying our volunteers and paying them well. Grant will be loaded with money from all the assholes that have been waiting for years to take Wyatt down. But he still has to raise the money, and he has to make promises to get it. That is a huge help to us. I intend to find out the name of every fucker who gives him money and make a big deal of it. Ninety percent of his money will come from outside of Wyoming. By god, every red blooded person in this state is going to know, and resent, that outsiders are trying to buy this election.

  “Of course, we are going
to try to buy it, as well. But we will do it with Wyatt’s money. Our money will go to real people. Yeah, we will do ads. We’ll have big rallies with food and booze and everything that makes a campaign fun for everyone. But the heart of the campaign is going to be the individual people who convince one, two, or three of their friends and family to vote for Wyatt. When it gets ugly, and we know it will, those people are going to be the ones who push back the rumors and start new ones about Grant.”

  Wyatt puffed on his cigar with a thoughtful frown. “Great plan, Tom. But, we have less than three months before the special election. How the hell do you expect to get all this in place by then?”

  “Wyatt, with your permission, I am going to bring in every available Caballero from across the country. Each one will manage a geographic area. And I want to bring in most of my people from Washington. My people know the political game inside and out. I need them here in Wyoming to help me. But the guts of the plan will be our volunteers. Ideally, within two weeks, we will have one person on our team for every five voters in Wyoming. Every one of those volunteers will be loaded down with fliers and posters with your handsome face. When the garbage starts, we will give those volunteers anonymous scandal sheets describing every disgusting illegal shit that Grant has taken in his life.

  “Christ, Tom, will I have any money left when you are done?”

  “It will be worth every cent, Wyatt. Keep remembering the alternative. Picture that fat fucker with his filthy cigar sitting in the governor’s house. We aren’t going to let that happen!”

  Lei was studying the red stars Tom had placed across the map on the wall.

  “Do those stars represent meetings?”

  “Exactly. Some large—big rallies, some small.”

  A tiny concerned frown marred her smooth brows. “Will Wyatt need to be at all of them?”

  Tom met her gaze directly. “Yeah, Lei, he will. And there will be a lot more of them. I think the hardest part for you and the children will be that he is going to be gone for most of the campaign.

  Wyatt sat up straight in his chair, “Now, Tom that is going to be a problem. You know how connected I am to Lei and the children. We can’t be apart like that. They are going to have to come with me.

  Tom sighed and glanced up at the ceiling, as if looking for guidance. “I don’t know how to say this any way except directly. First, we have to see how Lei plays out.”

  Wyatt reared up, his eyes flashing dangerously. “What the hell are you talking about, Tom?”

  Lei turned to Wyatt. Her face and voice were serious. “You know what he is talking about, Wyatt. He means that the more people see of me the less likely they are to vote for you.”

  Wyatt slammed both hands down on the desk with a bang. “Then this isn’t going to work.”

  Tom ignored him and spoke directly to Lei.

  “It isn’t only you, Lei. It is also your father. To be honest, we need to road test it. We have to see how hard Grant is going to hit you and Wan. It embarrasses me to say it, but, if he does, we will have to keep you in the background. That’s the way it will have to be. As for your father, my hope is that he will stay as far away from the campaign as possible.”

  They spent the next half hour arguing about Tom’s plan, all of which Wyatt supported, except for the exclusion of Lei. In the end Wyatt conceded. He knew Tom was on target. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew the prejudice against Lei was much more virulent than that against him. He also knew that Wan was a lightening rod. Grant and his team would do everything they could to associate Wan and, by extension Wyatt, with the Tong violence that was raging across the country.

  Tom had a devious glint in his eyes. “I have another element to my plan. I want to take on Grant directly. Of course, we will have fliers, posters, and background sheets – all positive about Wyatt and why he should be governor. To make the point, I intend to have a poster of Grant in the immediate vicinity of every one of you. Yours will have your face; his will have his. Enough said!”

  His grin faded to a dangerous glare. “But we will also let people know exactly who Grant is, what a disaster he would be for Wyoming. The guy is a lying, thieving bastard and has done more to corrupt the New Mexico territory than any person alive. We need to make sure everyone in Wyoming knows what a scoundrel he is.

  “Finally, I want to get the two of you and Grant together, in person, as much as possible. I want to challenge Grant to a series of debates across the state. He will resist, or his campaign will, but we will make it clear—he comes or he is a coward. Remember, Wyatt, every person who sees you, and better yet, who sees you up close next to Grant, will come away knowing who the better candidate is. More important, who is the better man.”

  ~~~

  When Tom returned from Washington ten days later, it was clear why Wyatt valued him the way he did. A hundred Caballeros were strategically assigned across the state. In turn, they had identified the twenty most likely volunteers in their assigned areas. Every town with more than fifty people had a campaign office and a paid volunteer in charge of it. The campaign volunteers were chosen for their position in the community, and the number of people they knew. Special priority was given to longtime residents, grandmothers, landowners and shopkeepers. Anyone active in the local churches was sought after. By the end of the second week, every campaign office had a brightly colored banner hanging out front. It was plastered with huge photographs of Wyatt in his black cowboy hat and open necked checked shirt – and, what Tom called his “killer grin.” Their campaign slogan, which was everywhere, said simply “Wyatt McManus, Wyoming’s Governor.”

  Tom also brought his entire Washington staff back with him. Most of them had never been out of the big city or farther west than Ohio. The idea of being in the Wild West was an exciting adventure. Chosen to help Tom elect Wyatt, their ultimate boss, become governor, was a tribute to their skills. The best part was that they were all selected because they knew what they were doing, and were as good as Tom thought they were.

  Most of the Washington staff had never met Wyatt. Tom arranged for an introductory planning session with the ranking staff members, and as many of the Caballeros who could get back to Cheyenne.

  Sarah Pritchard, Tom’s long time right hand assistant, was standing with Tom and several others when Wyatt walked into the campaign office. She took one look at the tall, handsome dark haired man with the flashing blue eyes and strong muscled body and said in an appreciative whisper, “Who the hell does that sweet ass belong to? Now that’s MY idea of a cowboy.”

  Tom grinned, and said, “Sarah, Ella, Keith, I’d like you to meet Wyatt McManus, the man all of you are going to help become the next governor of Wyoming.”

  Wyatt walked over and shook hands with each of them. “Welcome to Wyoming. Thank you for coming. I can use your help. Tom speaks highly of all of you.”

  At that moment, several of the Caballeros who had come from across the country entered and crowded around Wyatt. They all moved in close, wanting to shake his hand, and make a personal connection. Wyatt spoke to each of them, asking them specific questions, listening intently to their answers, and then thanked them for their work.

  Tom and Sarah stood with Ella and Keith and watched him. They had worked together for years on numerous campaigns. They knew politics and they knew politicians.

  Keith said, with an appreciative whistle, “Wow, you were right, Tom. If that is the way he is with the people who work for him, I can’t wait to see him with potential voters.”

  “The best thing about him is there won’t be a difference, Keith. That’s what makes him the best politician I have ever worked with—and he isn’t a politician—at least, until now. I’m telling you, I have seen whole rooms of people stop what they were doing when he walks in. They want to get close to him, shake his hand.”

  “Gee, Tom, I wonder why that is,” Sarah said with a guffaw. “Do you suppose it could be his tight ass, or broad shoulders? Or, maybe the most handsome face I have ever
seen? How about you, Ella? Are you surprised, like Tom is, that people drool all over the guy?”

  Ella laughed and shook her head. “Never. Sarah’s right. He’s downright beautiful. Does he look at every woman the way that he did Sarah and me? Or was that my imagination? Hope not. Like Sarah, I can tell a man who knows how to use his dick, and, if I’ve ever seen one…”

  “Ella, back off. I saw him first. I’ll fight you tooth and nail for what he’s stuffed in those tight britches. Oh yes! At least one time before we go back to what now seems like boring Washington,” Sarah said, with a salacious glint in her eye.

  “Ladies, ladies. Although when you talk like that it’s hard to call you ladies,” Tom interjected, “Just so you know, the only person who is better looking than Wyatt is Lei, his woman. Lei happens to be the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. When you see her, you will…”

  “Oh, my god, Tom. Tell me it’s true. You mean he isn’t married?” interrupted Ella.

  Tom shook his head with an annoyed scowl. “He’s more than married, girls. Lei is the mother of his children. They are madly in love with each other. And to let you both know, I just made an executive decision. If anyone from our team, besides me, travels around the state with Wyatt, it will be Keith!”

  “Unless Keith gets sick or something…” said Ella with a sly smile.

  Tom shook his head with a grimace. “Oh Christ, now I suppose I’m going to have to hire a taster for Keith—to keep him from being poisoned!”

  Ella and Sarah laughed and went over to the table where everyone was taking their seats. Tom had prepared an update for Wyatt and wanted to lay out a plan for the next several weeks. Even though he always enjoyed bantering with Sarah and Ella, Tom wondered for the first time if he had been wise to bring them. He had worked with them both for years and had utter confidence in their organizational abilities. They kept keep track of hundreds of details. They ran as tight a ship as he could ask for. But, let’s face it, they both were attractive and downright aggressive. In the past, these were why he liked them with him. Until now, their outrageousness had been a positive for their team. He also noticed the way Wyatt had sized them both up. He sighed and thought to himself, I guess years of habit die hard. Goddamn, that’s all he would need. To have the women he brought cause a problem. He was going to speak to them both.