Masters Forever (Masters #3)

by Ginger Voight

  “I fucked up,” Devlin admitted. “I thought I could mitigate the damage. I thought I could finally have it all, and for the first time I wanted to try. And you know what that’s like, Casper. You love her, too.”

  “Why do you think I let her go?” Caz raged as he thrust him up against the wall again. “I should have known better than to let her chase after the likes of you.”

  He let him go before he turned back to me, his hand immediately on my tummy. “Are you okay? Is the baby…?”

  I nodded. “She’s fine.”

  “She?” he echoed and I nodded again. He glared at Dev before he wrapped an arm around me and walked me to the sofa. “That’s it. Fuck Devlin. You’re marrying me. We’re moving to France. Fuck everything else.”

  Dev joined us. “She’s not marrying you, Caz.”

  He practically growled at the other man. “And how the fuck do you plan to keep her safe?”

  “Stop it!” I finally yelled as I shot to my feet. “God, do you even listen to yourselves? I’m not some princess in a tower you both have to rescue! Sexist jackasses! Jesus! Everything bad that has happened to me since I met the both of you hasn’t been because of Suzanne. It’s been because of you. You won’t tell me the whole truth, because you’re both so concerned with ‘protecting’ me. Just like Dad. Just like Oliver. Just like everyone my whole goddamned life. Why do you think I hired you, Dev? I just wanted to be in control of my own life for fucking once, and all you’ve done since we met is treat me like everyone else. You pat me on the head and make all my decisions for me. That’s not love. That’s ownership. And that’s why it never worked.”

  Dev looked suitably chagrined, so I kept going. “I keep telling you both that I matter. I’m tired of being some little chess piece people can move around at will, or some doll people can dress and pose and prop. I’m more than your ‘pussycat,’” I said to Caz, “and more than your wife,” I told Devlin. “I’m a person who gets to decide for herself what she will and will not do. A year ago, my choices might have been a little different. I might have run as far as my legs could have taken me. I love you,” I told Devlin. “But this is ridiculous. I’m not going to live my life looking over my shoulder, waiting to see what Suzanne Everhart is going to do next. I’m a mother now, one whose baby has been threatened. Those stakes are too high to play your stupid games anymore. Look at me,” I demanded, referring to the bruises around my neck from the bag they had placed over my head. Neither Caz nor Dev could face it. “If you think for one minute that I’m going to let either of you fight Suzanne for me, you’re nuts. This is my battle now. I’m going to fight it. And I’m going to win it.”

  Both men were quiet as they listened. “What’s your plan to do that, Coralie?” Dev finally asked.

  “We’re going to take her down the only way she could ever be taken down. We’re going to work together. The enemy of your enemy is your friend, but you’ve both been too stupid to realize it. I’m pretty sure Suzanne has made plenty of enemies. Her greatest trick is that she makes all of you think you’re fighting her all on your own. But you’re not on your own. You never have been.”

  Caz and Dev shared a resigned glance before Caz asked, “So what do we do?”

  I glanced between them. “We end it where it started. Las Vegas.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  It took a few days for us to prepare ourselves for our trip to the aptly named Sin City. Dev, of course, had to answer for the dead intruders in his home, and all the police questions that brought along with it. Thanks to his security camera, it was clear that he acted in self-defense, which ended up splashed all over the news courtesy of PING, who got the exclusive that the newest pop sensation had taken down two intruders who had threatened me. The 9-1-1 calls were released, where he referred to me as his wife, which set the gossip world ablaze with all kinds of rumors.

  If I thought this would make Suzanne and Harvey distance themselves from Devlin, I was mistaken. True to form, Harvey used the controversy to his advantage, turning everything into a pro-gun argument, saying this was proof that we needed to guard our Second Amendment rights. Devlin, however, opted to stay quiet. He didn’t have to say anything at all for his debut album to soar to the number one spot. He had turned into a real life hero, fighting to the death for the woman he loved. His videos, particularly his performance on the Fierce finale, as well as the cover from A Journey to Remember, had millions upon millions of views, as people tried to piece together this enigmatic man who was, as it turned out, capable of anything. This included a passionate love for his ex, the love affair that many of my fans just couldn’t let die.

  Despite this newfound interest, I refused to comment publicly either, beyond a, “The Cabots appreciate everyone’s concern, and ask for privacy at this difficult and troubling time.”

  Because of all the media attention, there was no hiding what was going on from Father anymore either. Dev, Caz and I invited Oliver and Darcy over to the house, where we sat Father and Margot down to tell them what was going on. Aubrey joined us, not only for moral support but to finally do what needed to be done to take down the Everharts. The minute she saw the bruises on my neck, my feisty, fiery cousin was ready to burn down their empire by whatever means necessary.

  I worried how my father might take the news. He was still very sick, and learning what kind of hot water I had landed in, and why, would certainly prove a shock to his system. To my surprise, he simply listened quietly as we told him every last sordid detail.

  Darcy surprised us all when she admitted that Suzanne had threatened her, too, adding new dimensions to our dilemma. “I’m the one who killed Harlen,” she said quietly, which made Devlin fall onto the sofa beside her.

  “What?”

  “She wasn’t framing me, Dev. I did it. She’s not hiding evidence. I am. It’s been under everyone’s noses the whole time. I keep it in my apartment. My trashed out, cluttered apartment. In one of my mannequins.”

  Dev and I shared a startled glance before she continued.

  “Her doctor prescribed pills to me that I could use in a lethal combination and make it look like he did it himself. It was her idea, but I carried it out. And I’ve never been sorry. Not one single day. Look what he did to us. To Mama,” she added through her tears, which made Oliver wrap a protective arm around her. “But I knew that it would come back to haunt me one day, which is why I never wanted to be in the spotlight.” She took Oliver’s hand in hers. “And now look what all I have to lose.”

  “You’re not going to lose me,” he promised at once. “The Everharts are powerful. But only because we made them that way. They wouldn’t be anything without all of us. It’s time they knew that.” He turned back to us. “We have decided to go public with Darcy’s story. We already talked to Andy Carnevale. She’s agreed to write it, and Graham Baxter himself will do whatever is needed to legally fight against any charges. We were just waiting for the right moment, when it would do the most damage to Suzanne. No matter what, she’s the one who has to be stopped.”

  Margot agreed. The video of her daughter with Harvey was enough to scare her straight. She touched Aubrey’s shoulder. “I’ll do whatever I need to do. That pig isn’t touching you again. No one,” she emphasized, “is every going to hurt you again. I’m sorry, Aubrey,” she said at last, and Aubrey hugged her mother tight.

  Father wheeled to the center of the room. “I cannot say that I am happy with any of this or any of you. These decisions you made, they had consequences, which we’re all living now, whether we like it or not. But you’re right. The Everharts need to be stopped. And our family is the only one strong enough to defeat them.” He glanced at Dev and Darcy, and even spared Caz a glance. “That family includes you. You have all gone far and above to protect us, but Coralie is absolutely right. You cannot do it alone. You must be fortified and protected with the strength of family, which has always been my driving force.”

  Gretchen poured him a brandy, which he nodded his th
anks before he took a long sip. “A long time ago, I promised my beloved Madeline that we would fill our house with a family of our own. We, like you, had tried to make it alone and had failed. Miserably. We knew that to truly enjoy this life, we needed a tribe to call our own. If we couldn’t find one, we’d make one. When Maddie died, I thought I had failed this task. Though we wanted many, we only had the one child,” he said, indicating me. “This made me all the more determined to protect her however I could, lest I lose her too. This is why I invited Margot and Aubrey to live with us. I wanted to fortify our family. This was why I hired Oliver, a good man, who could protect the only asset that ever meant anything to me–my daughter. This is why I embraced Devlin, who walked into her life and finally brought her joy, or Darcy for how she helped Coralie see her own importance even when, to my great shame, I couldn’t. This is why I accepted Caz, even though I knew what he was the minute he walked into my house. Ultimately he helped Coralie become who she was meant to be, the face of our Cabot family, a face of strength, beauty and grace, just like her mother.”

  I couldn’t stop the tears if I wanted to. I ran over to where he sat and knelt beside him, my head in his lap.

  “Dad,” I murmured, and he stroked my hair.

  “You are all my family now. You are all Cabots. And let me tell you something about Cabots. No one can defeat us as long as we stay strong and united. We will all go to Las Vegas together.”

  “Dad, no,” I said, but he shook his head.

  “I don’t get to decide for you. You don’t get to decide for me.” That shut me up. “Everything will proceed along as it has been. We will continue to show our support to the Everharts publicly. Suzanne is sure that she has both Margot and me bamboozled, and she’s arrogant enough to believe that none of you will ever share these dirty secrets with us. Likewise, Coralie and Caz will continue with their engagement. According to the world, nothing will have changed.”

  We said nothing as we listened. He continued. “This means Suzanne will think that you’re all still scrambling for a way to take her down. She’ll stay focused on Devlin, Caz and Coralie, which gives the rest of us the chance to strike where she’s not watching. I will move to Las Vegas, to make it easier to support Harvey’s bid for the White House, right from his very own hotel. Under their noses, so there is less chance of physical harm befalling Coralie. We only have another couple of months until the convention, so everyone will be in overdrive doing whatever they can to help him win, including his biggest and most vocal supporter. Me.” He turned to me. “You say she has a new male escort in Las Vegas.” I nodded. “Margot, you will use your wiles to woo him. Odds are he’s just as trapped as Dev and Caz once were. They can help you set him up on video, to give him a little… incentive… to show us where Suzanne’s other videos might be.”

  He turned to Aubrey. “You, likewise, will spend your summer break volunteering for the campaign. This is your college major, and you already have an in, so you will use that opportunity to find whatever connections you can that would link Suzanne to something unsavory. Something,” he said looking at Dev and Caz, “like an agency of prostitution.”

  He turned to Oliver. “Likewise you will connect every dot you can between Suzanne and the doctor who prescribed Darcy the pills. We’re going to hit her from every front.”

  “I can help, too,” Gretchen said. “We can stay at the Harvey, where I will attend Charles personally. There I can infiltrate the staff. If it is like you say, many are looking for the faintest glimmer of hope that they can be set free.”

  Father nodded. “Very good. We’ll launch the attack in stages as soon as we have uncovered every smoking gun, including any connection she might have had with the goons who attacked CC, with the videos as the piece de resistance of her sick, criminal behavior. I want that woman in jail for what she’s done. This isn’t over, and we haven’t won, until that happens.”

  We all nodded in agreement. We were about to topple an empire, and that wasn’t going to be easy.

  Towards that end, Father enlisted the help of a couple of corporate raiders, who would be willing to pounce the second the Harvey stock started to sink with every new revelation. Graham Baxter conferenced with us many times in those final days before we headed to Las Vegas, and he invited Alexander Fullerton to join him.

  Alex Fullerton was one of the iconic names behind Fullerton Enterprises International, one of the most powerful companies in Los Angeles, and, in fact, the world. Alex was a vocal opponent of Harvey Everhart, throwing all his money into any candidate who could take him down.

  They both decided they wouldn’t mind entering the casino business should the opportunity present itself, so they would be watching and ready to pounce the second it did so.

  By the first of June, instead of heading to France like we had planned, we moved to Las Vegas, where Father, Gretchen, Margot, Aubrey, Caz and I set up residence at The Harvey in the five-bedroom Concerto penthouse suite.

  Suzanne threw us a party the first night we were there to welcome us, where of course she had Devlin play for us. She continually wanted to rub my nose in the fact that she had him and I didn’t. I behaved appropriately, as it was my job to do so. I no longer feared Suzanne, nor worried that she’d keep Dev and me apart. But I played the part anyway, to help her feel more confident that she had truly backed us all into a corner.

  With Father playing nice to her and Harvey, I knew Suzanne had no clue that he knew about all of her scandalous secrets.

  Instead she thought that I had been properly muzzled by my near death experience at Devlin’s house in Brentwood. It was up to me to make sure that she kept thinking that.

  That night I went my separate way with Caz while she was suitably distracted by Dev. I no longer worried about their having sex. I knew it was inevitable, but I also knew it didn’t matter. He needed to keep her busy and clueless, and nothing could do that like a roll between the sheets with a man like Devlin Masters.

  I knew that it didn’t mean anything to Dev, who used to fuck women like her just for money. This was his talent, his skill. He could make anyone believe the fantasy. For Suzanne, that now meant that he had submitted to her at last. This would lower her guard so we could all go in for the kill.

  Likewise, Margot homed in on Rhys, the handsome British bartender, whom I pinpointed during our first covert attack, the night after our arrival.

  I sat at the bar, where he greeted me with a smile. “Miss Cabot,” he said. “In the mood for another Screaming Orgasm?”

  “Always,” I smiled. “But I’ll take a ginger ale. Bad things always happen when I drink in Las Vegas. Last year I even ended up married if you can believe that.”

  “Married, huh?” he murmured. “No happily ever after, I take it?”

  I shrugged. “Depends on your perspective. I ended up getting it annulled.”

  “Cue Britney Spears,” he commented as he set the drink beside my hand, where my new engagement ring sparkled. “Didn’t learn your lesson the first time?”

  “Guess not,” I shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for romance.”

  He leaned across the bar. “I’m a sucker for suckers.”

  I laughed. “I just bet.”

  “Coralie,” Margot greeted as she sat down next to me. Her blue eyes glittered as she scoped out her target, who looked tall, lean and tasty in his uniform. “I thought you’d be upstairs by now.”

  I glanced Rhys over. “I wasn’t done having fun.”

  “You’ve had enough fun,” she jeered before she turned back to Rhys. “Did she tell you she was pregnant?”

  His eyes widened as he looked back at me. Again I shrugged.

  “Blame it on all those screaming orgasms.”

  “Don’t you have a fiancé to get back to?” Margot snapped.

  “You two know each other?”

  “She’s my aunt,” I said. “My much older aunt.”

  “Age is nothing but a number, am I right?” She paused to look at his
nametag. “Rhys?”

  He leaned forward. “I’ve always loved older women. Call it a weakness.”

  “I’ve always loved younger men,” she commented. “Call it a strength.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Your money is your strength, Margot.”

  He grinned at her. “So what is your weakness, Margot?”

  She fished a hundred dollar bill out of her purse. “Dirty martinis. So keep ‘em coming.”

  He nodded before he mixed her drink. Margot turned to me. “Shouldn’t you go check on your father, CC?”

  His eyebrows rose. “CC?”

  “That’s my nickname,” I growled as I stood. “My friends call me Coralie.”

  “Then why don’t you go find some of your friends, Coralie,” Margot said with emphasis, clearly trying to get rid of me. She turned to Rhys. “I’ll pay for her drink. She’s leaving.”

  “She didn’t have anything,” Rhys told her.

  “Oh good,” she purred as she leaned across the counter, putting her impressive cleavage on display. “I hate sloppy seconds. Don’t you?”

  I rolled my eyes and stalked away, which set the scene for Margot to do her thing.

  Caz met me as I crossed the lobby to the elevator. “Hey, you. I wondered where you went.” He offered a single, dark red rose. “Feel like an adventure?”

  I eyed him suspiciously. “What are you doing?”

  He leaned forward. “My master’s bidding,” he said into my ear, which made me shudder. Without another word, I followed him outside to the waiting limo. I climbed inside and he shut the door behind me, handing me the rose as he bent to bid me adieu. “Have a good night, pussycat. You deserve it.”

  “Wait. Where are you going?”

  He grinned. “It’s my turn to distract Suzanne.”

  I grabbed his arm. “What? I thought you were done with all that.”

  “I was,” he said. “But I have a plan.”

  “Caz,” I warned instantly. “We’re not supposed to do this alone.”