by Mari Carr
“Get off the boat,” Marek repeated.
“Ask them why they said they’re protecting Victoria.” Weston’s voice came out in two short bursts, and now she realized she could hear him breathing. Was he running?
“Why did you say you were protecting Victoria?” she asked Barton.
Victoria turned to look out over the water. “My mother was the sole survivor of a maritime disaster. Her name was Eileen Mayweather. Her sister and brother didn’t survive. She only barely remembered it. And didn’t remember her life before.”
Eileen Mayweather. Why was that name familiar?
Elroy snorted, apparently deciding her silence meant she didn’t know anything. “She doesn’t know anything.”
She’d seen that name somewhere. Recently.
On a birth certificate.
“On my God,” she breathed. “Your mother was one of the children on the Esperanza.”
“What did you say?” Barton snapped.
The shock their expressions displayed when she said the name of the ship was nothing compared to the horror on their faces now.
“Let me take care of her,” Elroy breathed.
“You’re never laying a hand on me again.” Rose knew it was true. She turned to Victoria. “Why didn’t you tell someone?”
“Tell them what? My mother was adopted by Robert Prosser. She remembered the ship. Remembered that they were all below decks, and the water came into the compartment where they were. She was closest to the hatch, and when someone opened it, she was the only one they could get out.”
“How could you be with them?” She motioned to Barton and Elroy. “These people kidnapped your mother, killed your aunt and uncle.”
“My life is here,” she said simply. “And if the Masters’ Admiralty ever came calling, I could protect us all.”
Barton turned in his chair, frowning. A moment later, Rose heard them too. Footsteps.
* * *
Weston reached the dock three steps behind Marek even though he’d had a head start.
“Rose!” Weston yelled. He was relieved when she appeared a moment later, his parents standing behind her.
He didn’t miss the horror on their faces when they saw him.
“Wes,” his mother mouthed, though he couldn’t hear her. “My son.”
Weston shook his head. She was no mother to him.
“You’re alive.” For a moment, Weston thought he saw a calculating look of pleasure on Elroy’s face. No doubt he was already trying to figure out how he could manipulate the black sheep son into returning to the fold.
“We’re leaving,” he said to his fathers. “You’re never going to hurt Rose again.”
Weston gestured for Rose to come with him. Mercifully, she saw the fear on his face and she moved toward him. Once she reached the dock, she matched his hasty pace as they walked away from the yacht. The warning from the man on the phone was still ringing in his ears. They had to get out of there. Now.
“You can’t run forever,” Elroy yelled at their retreating backs. “We will find you!”
Marek took Rose’s hand, encouraging her to move even faster. Weston limping behind them as quickly as possible. “We have to leave.”
“But…” Rose started to ask why, but Marek and Weston didn’t bother to explain. They raced along the dock, just reaching the edge of the pier when a bright flash of light blinded them, then scorching hot air and a crashing boom sent the three of them to their knees. Weston and Marek fell over Rose, covering her body with theirs.
Weston turned around, knowing what he was going to see before his eyes found it. Or didn’t find it. The yacht they’d all been standing on, just moments before, had exploded.
His parents were dead.
And the stranger on the phone had saved them.
“Oh my God,” Rose said, as she looked at the flames floating on the remains of the ship. For a moment, it looked as if the water was on fire. They sat there for a minute or two, each of them trying to come to grips with their near-death experience.
“They’re dead,” Rose whispered.
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Marek, as always, recovered quickly. “We need to get out of here.” He reached down to help Rose to her feet, then offered the same strong grip to Weston.
“I don’t understand,” Rose murmured as she looked at the destruction. “Who would…”
Weston shook his head. He could actually name too many people who would want the Andersons dead, but he didn’t bother making her a list.
For the first time in twelve years, Weston’s world felt…right.
His parents were gone, Rose was his. Marek was there, with them.
The sirens grew louder and a crowd was forming.
“Wes,” Marek said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Weston looked at Marek, and then at Rose. “It’s done. Let’s go home.”
Epilogue
Juliette and Franco met him in the great hall. Her office had turned into Grand Central Station lately, and she was tired of it.
The elevator doors at the far end opened, revealing a lone occupant. Today, Tristan had a sword strapped to one side of his waist. On anyone else, it would have looked like they’d just come from a LARP event, or the Renaissance Fair, but it looked right on him somehow. The sword looked more serviceable than ornamental, and two straps, the one in the back longer than the one in the front, kept it at the perfect angle and made sure it didn’t wave around as he walked.
It had been a tense month as they’d waited for Knight to return, but at least Rose and Weston were safe. And she’d managed to bring Marek Lee into the Trinity Masters. If anyone questioned her decision not to punish Rose and Weston, she would say it was all to get Marek. It would be a lie, but that’s what she’d say.
Franco wore the black robe—this time a plain black one that actually fit him. She held a tablet, as if she were planning to take notes.
“Grand Master,” Tristan inclined his head in a bow. The gesture went with the sword.
“Did you speak with your society?” Franco asked in his stronger-than-normal accent.
“Yes.”
“I’m extending an invitation for your Admiral to join us here in Boston and—”
Tristan held up a hand, breaking into Franco’s recitation of the lines they’d practiced.
“I’m sorry, Grand Master. I have a message for you.”
Juliette swallowed. Tristan Knight’s eyes were solemn. He looked like the cop who’d shown up at the door to tell you someone you loved was dead.
The silence ticked on before Franco recovered and said, “What is the message?”
Tristan cleared his throat and said, “The message is: ‘Some things cannot be forgiven.’”
Coming November 2017!
Treachery’s Devotion
Masters’ Admiralty, book one
A warrior with everything to prove.
Tristan Knight has served the Admiral of England since he was a teenager. As a knight, he has pledged his life to protect the Masters’ Admiralty, and when he’s assigned to escort an archaeologist on a research trip he knows the menial task is punishment for the failure of his last mission.
A woman in a gilded cage.
Sophia Starabba is a brilliant scholar and accomplished law enforcement officer, working for Italy’s cultural heritage protection department. But none of that matters to her family or the other members of the territory of Rome. To them she’s the “Principessa”- daughter of the Admiral.
The man who holds the key.
James Rathmann lives for mysteries. In another life, he would have been a detective, but a love for digging in the dirt made him an archaeologist. Now one of the world’s leading experts on coins, and curator at the British Museum, he’s been called to Rome to examine a recent discovery.
An old enemy back from the dead.
Among the coins they find something alarming—a silver coin bearing the mark of a villain everyone had as
sumed was long dead. Sophia leads them on the trail to identify the coin’s owner, and possibly discover the identity of the Domino, a killer and anarchist who plagued the Masters’ Admiralty a hundred years ago.
But the Domino isn’t dead, and together James, Sophia and Tristan will fight to stay alive and one step ahead of a killer who will do anything to destroy the Masters’ Admiralty.
Read more about the world of the Trinity Masters…
Elemental Pleasure
* * *
Trinity Masters, book 1
* * *
A dangerous Marine. A tech genius. A brilliant scientist.
* * *
When Carly Kenan joined the secretive Trinity Masters in college, she received entrée to an exclusive club that gave her access to wealth and power. But there’s a price all members must pay—they accept an arranged marriage, between not two, but three people.
* * *
Ordered to return to the Trinity Masters’ headquarters in Boston, Carly meets Marine Lance Glassco, a mathematician for DARPA, and Preston Kim, a dangerously intelligent chemist.
Though on the surface they have nothing in common, it’s clear the Grand Master thinks that together the three of them can do something amazing. And that’s why he’s declared that Carly, Lance and Preston must marry.
* * *
Though the physical attraction is instantaneous and incendiary, Carly is unprepared for the emotional intensity of the ménage relationship. Pushed beyond her limits, Carly runs from Lance and Preston. What she doesn’t understand is that she now belongs to them, body and soul…and they belong to her.
* * *
When Lance uncovers a dangerous crime at Preston’s company, Carly is caught in the crossfire and the struggling lovers are forced to move beyond desire…to trust. For the Trinity Masters, there is passion and power in three.
* * *
Primal Passion
* * *
Trinity Masters, book 2
* * *
An FBI agent. A billionaire CEO. A virgin scientist.
* * *
Deni Parker doesn’t have time for anything but her cutting-edge scientific work, and that’s how she likes it. She doesn’t have time for relationships. When she’s called to the altar—years ahead of what she expected—by the very intimidating, and far too handsome, Price Bennett, Deni’s more than a little unprepared.
* * *
Price didn’t join the Trinity Masters to play messenger. As CEO of a major security firm and heir to one of the largest fortunes in the world, he’s annoyed when the Grand Master orders him to transport the disorganized scientist to the ceremony to meet her partners. It’s only when they arrive that Price realizes he isn’t a messenger—he’s been matched with Deni.
* * *
Gunner Wells has been in love with Deni for years, but he’s resisted giving in to his attraction. When he arrives at the Trinity Masters headquarters to be bound in marriage, he’s delighted to discover Deni is not only a member of the secret society, but one of his partners…along with billionaire playboy, Price.
* * *
Their strong personalities clash—in the bedroom and out of it—but Price and Gunner have to put aside their overprotectiveness, and Deni must put aside her pride, when someone tries to stop her research—with deadly methods.
* * *
Scorching Desire
* * *
Trinity Masters, book 3
* * *
A reformed spy. A respectable lawyer. A renowned playboy.
* * *
When Damon Corso is blackmailed it’s not just his career that’s in jeopardy, but the existence of the Trinity Masters–America’s oldest and most powerful secret society. He and fellow member Marco Polin, a world famous playboy musician, enjoy sharing women, a secret that until now they’ve kept quiet.
* * *
Tasha Kasharin, the reformed spy sent to help them, knows this is more than simple blackmail. Marco and Damon’s lives are in danger. She ignores her increasingly vivid fantasies about being part of a trinity with them until their investigation is interrupted by the Grand Master, who calls them to the altar and binds them in a ménage marriage.
* * *
The men must trust their futures to the unexpectedly innocent woman who’s now their wife, while dealing with the change in their own relationship, and the complicated feelings that come with it. Blackmail escalates to violence, and they’ll have to trust and accept one another if they’re going to survive.
* * *
Forbidden Legacy
* * *
Trinity Masters, book 4
* * *
An enigmatic leader. A talented doctor. And the man who can bring them together.
* * *
Harrison Adams has served as leader of the Trinity Masters for a decade. He’s always placed the group above his own needs—even when it comes to the one woman who calls to him. When a dangerous threat to the secret society surfaces, Harrison sets a plan in motion that could save the organization, but it comes with a price.
* * *
Alexis turned down an invitation to join the Trinity Masters, afraid to relinquish control over her life, her future…her heart. That rejection means night after night of unrequited lust as she and Harrison are forced to ignore their desires. Her heart aching, she throws herself into her job and her difficult working relationship with her boss, Michael. He’s attractive and maddening, but Alexis has zero plans to give in to the crazy chemistry between them.
* * *
Harrison asks Alexis to experiment in a ménage relationship with him and she agrees unable to take another moment of longing for him. Perhaps with a third around she’ll be able to keep her heart intact. She is completely unaware their third will be Michael. She couldn’t have known how giving herself to them would inflame her desires. Or how much she would enjoy submitting to them.
* * *
But when an evil man looking for revenge sets his sights on Harrison, time is the one thing none of them have. And it soon becomes apparent Harrison’s forbidden legacy could destroy them all…
* * *
Hidden Devotion
* * *
Trinity Masters, book 5
* * *
A reluctant leader. A CIA agent. A lost legacy.
* * *
Juliette Adams’s spent her life running, from both her status as the daughter of the Grand Master and her arranged marriage. Until the day everything changed and she became Grand Master—a position she was never meant to hold.
* * *
Devon Asher has more than a few secrets, the least of which is that he’s desperately in love with Juliette, which shouldn’t be a problem since they were betrothed when they were children. Now that she’s Grand Master his secrets aren’t safe.
* * *
Franco Garcia Santiago always assumed the tales of a Trinity Masters were fantastical stories his grandfather made up, until Juliette shows up at his door. Together they uncover the secrets of the Trinity Masters, unaware of the danger they’re putting themselves in.
* * *
Juliette must decide if she’ll turn her back on her destiny or embrace the role of Grand Master, and if she’ll use her power to discontinue the trinity marriages she grew up despising, or follow her heart, which tells her happiness lies with both Devon and Franco.
* * *
Elegant Seduction
* * *
Trinity Masters, book 6
* * *
A spoiled heiress. A corporate mediator. And a man with a secret.
* * *
Sebastian has dedicated his life to upholding the ideals of the Trinity Masters. However, when his best friend, Juliette, is named Grand Master, he knows secrets he’s harbored will be revealed. While he expects Juliette to be angry, he does not expect her to call him to the altar, to bind him to a stranger, Grant, and to Elle, the woman who’s haunted his dreams for years.
* * *
&n
bsp; Then Juliette reveals a secret of her own. There’s evil at play in the secret society and she needs him to root it out. Sebastian has no choice but to go undercover to spy on his own trinity. As the danger surrounding the trio grows, Sebastian is forced to choose between loyalty and love.
* * *
Because reluctantly bound to Elle and Grant or not, Sebastian can’t deny the pair have earned their place in his heart.
* * *
Secret Scandal
* * *
Trinity Masters, book 7
* * *
A dashing thief. A passionate scholar. And the beautiful bodyguard engaged to protect them.
* * *
Eli Wexler is a prominent art historian, a job that under normal circumstances isn’t dangerous. But Eli is a member of the Trinity Masters, and when he’s called to the altar he not only meets the man and woman he’s to marry, but is given a mystery to solve as well.
