by Lexi Blake
“I went into Creede because Emily wanted a particular wine, and at the time there wasn’t a liquor store I could buy it from. She was very insistent. She claimed she wouldn’t drink anything but an Argentine Malbec. She’d gone through all the bottles we had at the lodge. Creede was the closest place to stock it.” Mason was standing in the doorway, a somber look on his face. “Cole was in the middle of negotiations so I didn’t want to bother him with it. And I didn’t expect to have the car serviced. I had the oil changed when I went into town. Something was weird with Emily’s car because I could have sworn I’d had that oil changed a couple of weeks before, but the light came on that day indicating the oil was low.”
Mason took care of the cars. When they’d been together, one of the things Mason did was maintenance on the vehicles. He’d kept a careful record of each cars’ service. If he thought he’d changed the oil, then he likely had.
Mason was right about one thing. He’d been knee-deep in negotiations. “Are you trying to say there was some kind of mechanical failure with Emily’s car?”
Gemma sat back, considering him. “I don’t know. Here’s the thing. They didn’t check because her blood alcohol level was so high. It was twice the legal limit, but I reviewed the photographs of the scene and there were no skid marks, no place where she even tried to brake. The car was taken to a junkyard and crushed and recycled so we can’t know.”
“I was overworked at the time,” Nate said. “I should have done a more thorough investigation, but I left it to some outside help. When things go crazy, officers from other counties pitch in. We’re a small county. We have to use our resources the best we can. There was no question Emily was drunk and her blood work proved it. I assumed they didn’t find brake marks because she didn’t brake. She likely passed out cold.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time it happened on that pass.” Elk Creek Pass was dangerous and not everyone respected the mountain. There had been several fatality accidents because someone decided they could handle the pass after they’d had a few. “It’s a miracle Mason made it down himself. He could have died, too.”
“I wasn’t drunk,” Mason said quietly, his jaw a tense line. “Emily might have had too much to drink, but I hadn’t. I will admit that I lost track of her. I got waylaid by a problem with some contracts. At the time I was the lead counsel for Cole’s firm. I needed a quiet place to talk and by the time I got off the phone, an hour and a half had gone by. I found her and she was trashed.”
“How did she get in the car if you were sober and she wasn’t?” He was tired of this fight. He wanted to move on.
Mason wouldn’t look at him, preferring to address Gemma and the sheriff. “You have to understand, Emily was mean when she wasn’t drunk. She was pretty much evil when she’d had a couple. I tried to pick her up and take her out of there and she threatened to call the police. She said she would call the police and tell them that Cole and I beat her. She had the bruises to prove it.”
Cole went cold at the thought. “Shit. The night before we’d hosted a play party and she had some paddle marks on her ass. She never minded them. She said she liked to look at them.”
Mason laughed but it was a bitter sound. “Yeah, well, she also didn’t mind them because she could use them. I backed away. I was going to call you, but she stole my cell. I got frustrated and I decided to wait until she passed out. I got a cup of coffee and the next thing I remember was waking up in the sheriff’s department in the morning. I was in a cell and Nate told me you had left me there.”
“You don’t remember talking to me that night?” It was etched in Cole’s brain forever.
Mason shook his head and his eyes came up, meeting Cole’s with a sure stare. “I drank coffee, Cole. Coffee. No alcohol. I spent the night dealing with your contract problems and your sub. I needed the caffeine.”
Gemma’s eyes lit up. “I need to know who gave you that coffee, Mason. Because that’s the person who tried to kill you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Mason stared out at the city. He could hear the sounds of laughter from the other rooms, but he stared straight ahead. All around him the buildings of Dallas shot up from the ground, a concrete garden.
It was hours after Gemma had explained the situation to him and he was still trying to wrap his head around it. His toxicology reports had told the story. He’d been drugged. It was why he couldn’t remember the accident or coming down the mountain after Emily. Everyone had blamed him and now they had to face the truth. He’d been innocent.
He knew he’d been innocent, so why was finally having the proof messing with his head?
Cole should have believed in him. Cole should have trusted him.
Why had she dragged all this shit into the open again just as he’d been starting to forget? When he’d been in bed with Kitten and Cole this morning, he’d been able to forget all the pain between them, and now his need for revenge was an aching burn in his gut again. He wanted to be back there, wanted that glorious moment where nothing had mattered except the feel of Cole’s hard body against his and the way Kitten had stared at them like they were a work of art. For a moment he’d been safe and happy and he hadn’t given a damn about what had happened before.
Cole had tried to talk to him but Julian had called with important news and Mason wasn’t ready to listen to Cole yet. He might never be.
“You know you’re going to get sniped, right?”
Mason rolled his eyes. He didn’t need to turn to figure out his taciturn babysitter had shown up. “I think that should be my choice. I don’t want you here, Chase. If somebody shoots me here, then I’m kind of cool with it.”
Someone had been trying to kill him for a long time it seemed, and Cole had done nothing about it. Cole had blamed him.
“And if I’m not cool with it?”
Shit. Chase wasn’t alone. Mason had wanted to avoid the hell out of this particular reunion. Julian Lodge owned the building he was currently in. Julian Lodge was the biggest, baddest Dom in their particular world, and he’d basically told the man to suck his cock.
He forced himself to turn and sure enough, there was the devil himself in a three-piece suit since the dinner party hadn’t become a play party yet. “I can always leave. I wouldn’t want to bring your party down.”
“Chase, would you mind giving us a moment,” Julian said.
“Yes, I would. The sniping and all.” Chase Dawson didn’t move. “I kind of get paid to make sure no one gets killed in this case.”
“Don’t you think your talents would be put to better use researching the situation?” Julian asked with a pointed stare.
“Nat got a flat tire on her way home. Ben’s out picking her up. Wolf is escorting Dani and Chloe to a Mommy and Me class on kicking her legs or something. Trust me, if one of us is going to be brutally murdered in the line of duty, it should be Ben, but I’m all you’ve got so you two should talk because I’m not going anywhere.”
Julian sighed and shook his head. “I should have fired them all long ago. Chase and Ben. Leo and Wolf. No one listens to me anymore. Of course, you rather started that trend. Didn’t you, Mason?”
Was Julian about to give him the boot? How would Cole handle that? This place was practically Kitten’s home. She’d spent years here. She loved Julian Lodge like a father. Would she look at him differently?
“I was never your submissive, Julian.”
“No, but I rather thought we were friends.” Julian stared at him, his dark eyes seeming to see right through him.
“You were Cole’s friend.” They had all been Cole’s friends. Mason was Cole’s plaything. That was all he’d ever really been. The poor kid Cole had taken in and tossed out like the trash when he proved he wasn’t good enough to run with the alpha dogs.
“No. I was your friend. Do you know what I was trying to do that day I called you?” Julian asked.
“I’m not stupid. I knew what was going on. I couldn’t afford the membership and I doubt Cole
would have wanted me here. If it makes you feel safer, I never intended to walk through these doors again.”
Julian shook his head and looked out over the cityscape, reminding Mason of a king surveying his kingdom. “I was going to offer you a place to stay. I was going to suggest you move in to The Club for a while. I was worried about you.”
His heart threatened to sink because of all the things Julian could have said, that was the last he expected. “You were going to give me a place to stay?”
“As I said, I was worried about you. Many of us were. Jackson attempted to call you as well.”
Jack Barnes. Mason had ignored him, too. “I was in a bad place.”
“We knew. That was why we called. Mason, what Cole did was wrong. You understand that, right?”
Was Julian trying to steer him away from Cole? “I wasn’t drunk.”
Julian leaned against the balcony. “It wouldn’t matter if you had been. If you had been drunk, you should have been properly punished and sent into counseling. He had a responsibility to care for you and he failed. He allowed his fear and grief to overwhelm his duty to you. I believe he understands that now. As it is, I’ve heard the new evidence. I’ve already sent it on to Chase, and he needs to sit down with you.”
“I have some questions about the party,” Chase admitted. “I’d like a guest list, but I understand the person who owned the house moved and didn’t keep one. Unlike the rest of the civilized world, apparently she didn’t evite everyone. She called at the last minute.”
“Trish wasn’t big on organization.” She’d been friends with Cole’s family, and he’d heard she moved shortly after the accident. “There were also a bunch of people who showed up who weren’t invited. The house was packed that night. They spilled out into the yard, and it wasn’t exactly a warm night. Cole had been hosting a group of his executives. Several of them went out with us that night. I can at least give you those names. Most of them still work for Cole.”
“I would appreciate that.” Chase’s eyes narrowed. “You still keep up with Cole’s business?”
That felt like more than a friendly question. “Not really, why?”
“Chase.” Julian managed to make the name sound like a warning.
“Boss, this is why he’s here, isn’t it?” Chase asked, his big shoulders shrugging up and down.
There was definitely something he was missing. “I thought I was here because Cole’s being overly protective.”
Julian put a hand up and that seemed to get Chase to back down. “Again, you’re here because we’re worried about you. I think you’re about to make a big mistake. I’m going to ask you not to.”
“What kind of mistake?” He was genuinely curious. Julian wasn’t behaving in any manner he’d expected. Unless Julian was setting him up for a mighty fall, he might have to believe the Dom was being honest. He might have to reevaluate. Those years he’d spent at The Club had been some of the best of his life and then he’d labeled it all as false memory after Cole had left him. He’d put everything in a file labeled lies, and maybe he’d been hasty. Tara and Darin had seemed to have actually been hurt by his distance. What if Julian and Jack had felt the same?
“Are you planning to bring Cole down, Mason?”
Well, Julian had never been naïve. Mason shrugged with a negligence he didn’t feel. He might still get kicked to the curb tonight. “Would you blame me?”
“No.” Julian shook his head. “I wouldn’t. I understand the need for revenge. I understand the need to balance the score. I also figured out long ago that there shouldn’t be a score kept between lovers. I made that mistake many times. I was unkind. I put my place as a Dom first and didn’t even think about the fact that I should care for my submissives on an emotional level. Cole made this mistake with you. Don’t further complicate things. This is no longer only between you and Cole.”
Ah, now things were becoming clearer. It made sense that Julian would care about Kitten. She was related to him through Finn. “This is about Kitten.”
“Poor little sub. You keep trying to find a way to make yourself meaningless. This is about three people I care about. I see what you’re doing. If you go through with it, you’re going to destroy more lives than just Cole’s. Kitten is in love with you.” He smiled for the first time and the sight was almost enough to make Mason sigh. Julian always looked like a dark god, but he was truly gorgeous when he smiled. “She’s more open and happy than I’ve ever seen her. She’s coming into her own and you’re a big part of that. You have a place in this family. Can’t you see that? You’re the glue that binds them. You. They don’t work without you. They were struggling without you.”
And he had no doubt they would find their way when he walked out. He wasn’t good for Kitten. He could see that now. She needed more than he could give her. Did he really expect that she would leave all that wealth to go live with him in some hovel? He would have to work long hours so she would be alone. She would come to resent him, and he couldn’t handle that.
And she won’t resent you for walking away? Even without finding a way to hurt Cole, she’ll hate you for leaving her. You promised her. You promised with your body. You promised to stay with her by taking her into your arms.
He couldn’t stay. He couldn’t leave.
He was stuck and he had no idea how to get out.
“You understand that this plan of yours hurts more than you, correct?” Julian was saying.
He wished Cole had let him stay behind. He needed to be alone. He needed to think and he couldn’t do it here. “Sure. I hurt Kitten. I hurt Cole.”
“You hurt more than merely them, Mason, and you know it.”
Mason sighed. “Fine. I hurt The Club.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed. “I was talking about that town in Colorado. Have you given any consideration to what this will do to every family who lives there?”
Mason shook his head, forcing himself to focus. “What are you talking about? How does my leaving Cole hurt Bliss?”
Any sympathy leeched from Julian’s face and Mason found himself staring at the biggest, baddest Dom in his world. “Are you going to play this game out to the end?”
He didn’t even try to fight it. He let his eyes find the floor because Julian was serious when he started to look like the lord of the underworld. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Sir.”
No matter what happened between him and Cole, he’d been wrong about the rest, and if there was any way to repair the relationships, he had to try. He didn’t have to lose everything this time.
You don’t have to lose anything at all. All you need to lose is the tiniest bit of your pride, and it hasn’t exactly been helpful.
“Did you think we wouldn’t find out?” Julian asked, his voice as cold as ice.
“Find out what?” He was fairly certain he wasn’t involved in the same conversation he’d thought he had been. Julian seemed to know something he didn’t. His revenge plans had always been vague and unformed. He’d planned to ruin Cole and walk off with Kitten, but at every turn he’d chosen to bring them closer together rather than drive a wedge. He’d failed at the revenge thing the same way he’d failed at everything else.
Except bringing them all together and keeping them together. Julian was right. He’d been damn good at that. He could be the rock of that household if he let himself. Kitten got lost in her own world and Cole buried himself in work. Mason could be the one who drew them back to their family if he managed to let go of the past.
“Chase is not the only one I’ve brought into this investigation. Ben and Chase run my personal security, but McKay-Taggart works for my business.”
Where was this going? “Yes, I remember. Big blonde guy. Heavy on the sarcasm. His partner is easier to deal with.”
“They have a forensic accountant working for them now.” Julian managed to make every word seem like an accusation. “Phoebe Murdoch found your scam very quickly. We know about the money you have hidden. I’ll be hon
est, I thought you would be smart enough to hide it better. Did you get it in exchange for information on the corporate structure?”
Information on the corporate structure? “Are you talking about Cole’s company? I don’t understand. You’re going to need to be clearer. Why would you hire an accountant? I don’t have any money. Are you accusing me of something?”
It sure felt like he was.
Chase sighed, a weary sound. “I think you’re going to have to go through with it, boss. He’s not going down easy. He should. You had to know someone would find that trail. It wasn’t even hidden very well. You have to be less sloppy when you’re committing crimes.” Chase stopped suddenly and regarded Mason. “You’re not stupid. Did you mean for us to find it? Or is something else going on?”
Nausea rolled in his gut because here he was again. He didn’t even know what they were accusing him of this time, but it sounded like it would be special. This time he was trying to hurt not only Cole and Kitten, but an entire town. “I’m sure you know everything.”
It occurred to him to soften, to ask what was going on, but he couldn’t do it. If history was going to repeat itself, he wouldn’t cry and whine over Cole this time. He wouldn’t plead. He wouldn’t call Cole and beg to be allowed to come home. He didn’t have a fucking home and this time he would remember that. He would walk out with his damn pride intact and everyone could fuck themselves.
If he didn’t have anything else, at least he had the truth.
Chase turned and looked at Julian. “Maybe I should take a couple of hours and review the report Phoebe sent again, boss. Something’s not adding up.”
“Or we can bring the information we have to Cole and see what happens.” Julian turned, straightening his tie and smoothing down the lapels of his jacket. “I think it’s time for Cole to see what we’ve discovered.”
