He bent forward. “Who says I’m alone?” My brow furrowed and he chuckled as he kissed my nose. “Don’t you worry about me, baby. I’ll land on my feet. I always do.”
“I’m not leaving till you tell me what you’re going to do.”
He stood. “It’s a surprise.” He tapped on the hood so the driver would pull away from the curb. I was practically ready to jump out of the car, to stop him from doing something monumentally stupid, but the limo slid easily down the drive and onto the street, taking me to somewhere away from the prying eyes of the Everharts.
I held the rose in my hand. Unconscious beauty. I trembled as I thought about everything that had happened to me since I got my very first rose from Devlin. And now, we were going to have a daughter. It was almost too much to process.
The limo took me to another posh hotel, the one where we had stayed on our ‘honeymoon.’ The driver lowered the privacy pane. “Your date waits for you in the bar, miss.”
I nodded before I stepped out, where a uniformed bellman greeted me, welcoming me to the hotel.
I walked through the crowd towards the bar on the other side of the hotel. Thanks to the mirrors and crystals and the purple accents, it felt like stepping right into a dream. I didn’t see Devlin anywhere, so instead I sat at the bar to wait. One of the men turned to me. “Hey, gorgeous. Can I buy you a drink?”
I shook my head. “I’m waiting for someone.”
My inebriated companion at the bar grinned at me as he slurred, “What can he do for you that I can’t?”
“Everything,” I heard Dev say over my shoulder. I turned to face him, as breathtakingly handsome as the first night we met. Maybe even more so, considering I now loved him more than I thought it was possible to love anyone.
I had endured hell for him. He had been worth it.
I smiled at him. “What are you doing?”
He leaned against the bar. “I’m approaching the loveliest lady at the bar, because she looks interesting, and I’d like to get to know her.” He held out a hand. “My name is Devlin Masters. It’s nice to meet you.”
I laughed as I took his hand in mine. “My name is Coralie.”
His fingers curled around me. “Would you like to join me in a private booth, Coralie?”
I nodded. I could think of nothing better.
He turned to the bartender. “Send over a bottle of your finest sparkling cider,” he said before he grinned at me and pulled me to a darkened corner booth. He pulled me close before he laid his arm along the top of the seat. “So tell me about yourself, Coralie. What brings you to Las Vegas?”
“Business,” I answered. “Very old, very troubling business. You?”
He leaned forward. “The same. I’ve been trying to get out of this town for a very long time, since I moved here in fact. If all goes according to plan, I can put this town in the rearview mirror once and for all.”
“Oh, it’s not so bad,” I said as I touched the hand he had sitting on the table in front of me. “I’ve always had a lot of fun in Vegas.”
“You have?” he asked as his gaze drifted towards my mouth. “What kind of fun?”
I chuckled. “What happens in Vegas…,” I said and he chuckled as well.
“A pretty girl with a lot of secrets. I suspect you might be trouble, Coralie.”
“Some might say a handsome man at a bar might be the one offering a little trouble.”
“They’d be right,” he told me in a low voice. “You can’t trust men you meet in a bar.”
“Can I trust you?”
“No,” he said as he looked at me. “But I hope you do.”
I took his hand in mine. “Devlin.”
“I love you, Coralie. I have from the minute I watched you stand up to your father that very first night. I knew you were too good for me then.” He scooted closer as one hand cupped my face. “When I touched you, I knew in that instant heaven existed. It was there. In your arms. In your eyes. In your body. My salvation from everything I had done to myself. My poison, because I knew I’d never stop at one taste. I knew that I would overdose on you. You’re my obsession. Nothing even comes close. Not even the music.”
“Dev,” I sighed as I leaned forward, my forehead against his.
“You know everything there is to know about me. All my shortcomings. All my failures. Everything I’ve had to edit to survive the world around me, just so I could fit in. Just so I could play everyone else’s game. I don’t want to play any more games with you. There’s nothing left to be won if I can’t spend the rest of my life with you, even if it’s one day. Or one night.” He slid a hotel key across the bar. “I don’t care if the world around us burns to the ground. Give me one night to love you like you always deserved to be loved.”
With that he kissed me softly before he scooted out of the booth and exited the bar. I slipped the key discreetly into my handbag.
I met him in room 1127 nearly twenty minutes later. He pulled me into the room and took me into his arms, his mouth on mine in an instant. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me up into his embrace. We didn’t speak as he guided us towards the bed, where we fell together. He pulled my dress’s shoulder straps down, revealing my breasts, which were even fuller now that I was pregnant. He worshipped every inch with his tongue, teasing me until I was arching for him. Aching for him.
He shoved the rest of my dress down my torso as he explored the delicate skin he bared slowly, like a masterpiece. Finally he revealed my tummy, where my baby bump had started to protrude. I had just entered my nineteenth week, where I could already feel a fluttering from my daughter, letting me know she was growing stronger every day, despite the storm that raged around us.
He spread his large, strong hand over my stomach in wonder. He leaned forward to murmur against my skin and kiss it tenderly. “I love you, baby girl.” I caressed his dark hair with one hand as he traced every contour. I willed her to move, but my daughter was making her own rules even in the womb. I knew better than to discourage it.
Devlin decided to continue his progress further south, finally slipping my dress over my hips, where he could disappear between my legs. I sighed as he revealed my body, spreading my legs apart so that he could look at me, study me, explore me at his leisure. When his tongue found my most sensitive core, I gasped out loud. He made me feel like a goddess he was honored to serve. He took his time, relishing every gasp, every moan. “I’ll never get enough of you,” he told me before he sucked me into his mouth, driving me right over the edge until I was bucking up against him. When he crawled up between my legs, Chloe finally made her presence known with a tickling flutter that made him pull back.
“What was that?”
I pulled him back down to me. “That was our daughter. Saying ‘about time.’” I kissed him and he kissed me back as he cradled me in his arms. He was positively gentle when he finally slid inside of me, and we both let out a long, slow breath. This was where we were most complete and we knew it. I wrapped my legs around him. Each thrust was an unbreakable vow that we made to each other. It drove away all the memories of anyone else. There was nothing left except us, and the love we shared. I could never live without him. I wouldn’t even know how.
“You’re everything,” he muttered against my lips. “Everything.”
“You’re mine,” I claimed in a whisper. “Forever.”
He shuddered against me before he came. I held him as he released every last barrier between us. Afterwards he just held me, as if he might die if he let me go. I indulged him for as long as I dared. I finally rose from the bed to dress, so I could return to the Harvey before Suzanne came looking for me.
He sat on the bed, naked and beautiful, as he watched me dress. “Marry me, Coralie. Again. After this is all over.”
I smiled. “I never needed a piece of paper to belong to you, Devlin.” I bent to kiss him, which he tried to deepen, but I pulled away. “But I will marry you. In our chapel in France. In front of my father and my f
amily. If you can wait that long.”
He caressed my face with his hand. “I can handle anything as long as you’re beside me, darlin’,” he said, with that hint of an Irish brogue that always melted me.
I blew him a kiss before I left him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
When I arrived at the Harvey, I was stunned to realize that Caz hadn’t made it back to our room, despite the late hour. I texted him, but he didn’t respond. I tried not to panic, but I had no idea where he was or what he was doing, and I already knew that Suzanne didn’t play around. She was a dangerous woman when someone crossed her, and Caz had done more than that. He had taken away every last chip she had to bargain with.
I was still awake that morning, when dawn broke, and he hadn’t returned. I went immediately to Father. “Why did he deviate from the plan?” he asked me.
“Because he’s Caz,” I muttered.
As it would have it, Margot hadn’t returned all night either. She didn’t saunter in until about noon, wearing the same clothes as the night before, but no makeup, with her hair askew. It was a total walk of shame, except she had no shame.
She had hit the mother lode with Rhys, who had fallen hook, line and sinker for my vivacious aunt. He joined her that morning, to share with Father what he knew.
That he spoke in a flawless American accent shocked everyone.
“My name is Rhys Merchant,” he introduced formally as he shook our hands. “I’m an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and I’ve been investigating Suzanne Everhart for just over a year.”
“A whole year and you haven’t found anything?” Father asked.
“They’re slick,” Rhys acknowledged. “But we’re closing in on Harvey’s association with Everett Pertree.”
My brow furrowed. “I met him once, at Suzanne’s party.”
Rhys nodded, and I remembered that he was there at the bar as they spoke. “His company drives digital technology. About five years ago, right around the time Harvey decided to run for Congress, this included the manufacture and distribution of voting machines.”
My eyes flew open. “Are you serious?”
He nodded. “So far we can’t connect the dots between Suzanne and Everett, or even Harvey and Everett. He’s not even a donor for their campaign. However, he does business with a company in Costa Rica, run by a man named Mr. Tigg, who is a donor for the Everharts.”
“Mr. Tigg,” I repeated. “I know that name. Why do I know that name?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Rhys asked. He pulled his tablet from his backpack, to show us photos he had stored there. Each were of R. TIGG, but none of them were the same person. The most recent ID was of one of the men who had attacked me. I sucked in a breath.
“Oh my God.”
“And now you see where things got a whole lot more interesting. This guy isn’t R. Tigg at all. He’s Julio Marquez of Costa Mesa. He’s not a citizen. He has no social security number. But he has a fake ID proving he’s R. Tigg. Just like this guy,” he said, opening up another photo, of another bald man who looked similar enough to the first guy. “And this guy,” he said as he swiped through. “And this guy. The list goes on and on.”
As it turned out, Aubrey had already been hard at work connecting Mr. Tigg to the campaign, since he was a donor. His company had many smaller, legitimate companies under his umbrella.
Rhys confirmed that the hotel was abuzz with a special VIP guest who would be staying at the Crescendo suite next to us, none other than Mr. Tigg himself.
Gretchen nodded. She had heard all about Mr. Tigg through the housekeeping staff. “Apparently he stays here regularly. They consider him a ‘whale,’ with enough money to drop in the casinos to warrant a free room and all the conveniences they can offer. They do everything to keep him happy, catering in particular to his anonymity. No one has ever actually seen him. He truly is an international man of mystery.”
“We need to get to him,” I said, but Rhys shook his head.
“Security will be heightened over the next few days while he’s here. Every trip, the same protocol. He comes in with an entourage of security, all dressed the same, all bald, to distract from the target, all rushed through the hotel with VIP treatment each and every visit.”
I called Dev to let him know what was going on. He insisted on coming back to the hotel, and to get close to Suzanne, particularly when I told him that Caz had gone AWOL.
“I swear to Christ that fucker can’t take anything seriously,” he grumbled.
“He’s going to get himself killed,” I said.
“Nah. He’ll land on his feet like always.”
Still, the day came and went without hide or hair of Caz Bixby. I started to panic, trying in vain to contact him. I wanted to text him the information we had uncovered, but Dev discouraged me from doing so. “What if he doesn’t have his phone?” he suggested, which only made my anxiety worse. “We don’t want to show our hand.”
“So what do we do?” I asked.
“We trust him,” Dev said quietly.
“You trust Caz Bixby?”
He sighed. “What choice do I have?”
Father tried his best to keep me focused. Everything was falling into place quickly, so we would soon launch our attack. Connecting the dots between Mr. Tigg and a security company for the hotel led us to a shipping company, which housed a bunch of warehouses in North Las Vegas. Father hired an investigator from Los Angeles, one recommended by Graham himself, to infiltrate the grounds to find out what it was hiding.
By Friday, we had confirmation that it contained video equipment and digital records.
We also had confirmation that Mr. Tigg was a silent partner who owned interest in an online escort service, the one that used to employ Caz and Dev. Dev was shell-shocked by this revelation, realizing that Suzanne likely painted him right into the corner where she wanted him from the start.
It became more important than ever to uncover the identity of her mysterious partner in crime.
That Caz had still not returned had me more concerned than ever. Was he willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of our mission?
We didn’t have time to figure it out. We were ready to begin our epic takedown of Suzanne Everhart.
On Friday, her medical records, revealing her abortion, hit the web, courtesy of PING. Harvey flew in to Vegas to help mitigate the damage, which meant Devlin was at the hotel constantly to manage them as they fended off the chaos.
On Saturday, when Harvey was scheduled to fly back out again, a flash drive was found in his coat pocket, which contained upon it a video of him having sex with what looked to be an underage girl. At least she was underage in Los Angeles, where the video was recorded. That he possessed it at all was bad enough, considering it was considered child pornography. That was why it was his face, and not hers, that the news released in what frames they could publish. This only sent the campaign further into a nosedive. Stocks plummeted and shareholders scrambled. Graham and Alex made their move, buying up stock as fast as people were willing to sell them.
By Monday, Mr. Tigg’s connection with the Everharts had been uncovered by hackers who had been itching to take down Harvey Everhart before he could clinch the nomination. I knew Aubrey was behind this, with her anarchist friends, and they wouldn’t stop until they uncovered everything. They linked Mr. Tigg, and by association, the Everharts, to our home-invasion robbery, by proving that TIGG Conglomerate provided the umbrella for a security company in Los Angeles, the very one linked to the men who had attacked me, who had, as it turned out, been masquerading as one of a number of Mr. Tiggs.
It was good, but it still didn’t reveal our smoking gun. We needed to connect Suzanne to the felonious activity she had been conducting herself. We needed proof that she videoed people in her hotel.
This was broadcast in living color by none other than Caz Bixby that Monday night.
I nearly wept with relief when the video hijacked every single TV in
the hotel. He was sitting in the Overture suite, as cocky as ever as he said, “Hey, everybody! My name’s Caz Bixby. Some of you might know me as a miracle-working trainer in Los Angeles, but I started out my career right here at the Harvey. I started as a bartender, like this guy,” he said as he pointed to a man I had never seen before, but Devlin, who stood beside me, sucked in a breath. “Say hello, Maurice.”
Maurice merely nodded. I glanced to Devlin. “Is that…?”
He nodded. “My former boss.”
“Maurice went on to form his own company years ago. He’s what you might call an entrepreneur,” Caz grinned. “While he was tending bar, he noticed that a lot of women had an unmet need. They wanted to feel special. Romanced. Desired. So he started his own company, Alphas4Hire, where any woman could order any man she wanted, for anything she wanted. You pay for the company, but the sex is free. Am I right?” he said as he nudged Maurice, who only nodded.
“That’s right, ladies. I used to be a professional escort. I kind of fell into his line of work by accident, when I met a very wealthy woman who would pay me to do just about anything to her that a guy like me shouldn’t do, especially since she was married.”
He walked the camera over to the door of the bedroom. “I’m sure you’d like to meet her, and you will. You know what? I’m being stingy. Let’s show you some video. Whet the appetite a little.”
He then played a montage of Suzanne, having sex in every conceivable position, with many different men, all of whom had their faces blurred out of the frame, but their different bodies indicated how often Suzanne had indulged her playmates for hire. Her cries of pleasure filled the entire hotel as people turned from the soft-core porn that Caz dared to show, which indicated that bondage and discipline was her favorite kind of kink and not against her will. This invalidated any story she might spin that she was the victim rather than a willing participant. Each and every video, and there were plenty, proved it was her preferred form of play.
“You might recognize Suzanne Everhart. Her husband wants to be the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world. Yet, oddly, he can’t get the job done with his own wife. I think maybe she’s too old.” The video changed to Harvey in bed with his ex-wife’s sister.
Masters Forever (Masters #3) Page 29
