by Lexi Blake
Kitten had walked into the house first. He’d talked to Cole and had been a few minutes behind her. When he’d walked through the door and into the hall, the first thing he’d heard was Kitten saying that the Master had tossed him out.
Mason won’t be coming back and my Master will be here any moment.
He’d immediately known something was very wrong. The door had closed behind him and he’d had to move quickly to get to the parlor. He’d flattened his back to the wall as that crazy Lea had moved Kitten outside to confront Cole. He’d dialed 911, but maybe he should have followed her out.
He’d decided to make a break for Cole’s office where he kept a couple of handguns locked up in his case. He’d decided to try to call Cole because he couldn’t let his Master think he was alone.
Cole’s voice came over the phone. “I haven’t loved any submissive except Emily.”
Bingo. Ms. Hamilton’s shoulders relaxed and suddenly the gun wasn’t pointing Cole’s way anymore. “I knew. I knew you loved her. She was too beautiful to not love. She looked like her mother.”
“I’m going for the gun, Cole. Is the key still in your desk?” He watched out the window, but Cole never looked up.
“I’m sure her mother was lovely, too.” He coughed a little. “No. No guns.”
Shit. Cole had gotten rid of the guns. Mason had asked him to. He didn’t like the idea of having them in the house, but his mind might have just changed. What the fuck was he going to do?
If there was anyone else in the house, they would have to take him out because he couldn’t hold back his panic another instant. He started walking down the hall toward the back. He had no idea how long the cops would take. He couldn’t risk Lea going crazy and killing Kitten.
He stopped, so much of the story falling into place in his head.
“Cole, I want you to do something for me. If Lea is the one who drugged me, then she probably drugged Emily, too. I’m coming out and you act shocked to see me. But I need you to plant the idea in Ms. Hamilton’s head that someone drugged Emily and it wasn’t me.”
He could practically hear his Master’s teeth grinding. “I think this is a bad idea. For us I mean, Lea. Let’s go and sit down somewhere and talk this out. The last thing we need is other people dragging themselves into our personal lives.”
He understood his Master’s very deliberate words, but Cole was going to have to learn to live with disappointment. This was one argument he needed to make for himself. Besides, he seemed to be the one they both really wanted. If he could get Lea to let her guard down even for a second, Kitten might be able to run.
“I want to be alone with you,” Lea was saying. Her voice was tinny, but Mason could make out her words. “I wish it had turned out differently. You weren’t supposed to come home.”
“I’m at the back, Cole. I’m coming around the side of the house. I’ll say I snuck into the pool house,” he explained quietly.
“Again, I think this is a conversation best had between the two of us.”
Lea might believe those words were for her, but Mason knew the truth. His Master was pissed and wanted him to hide, but Mason was done with hiding.
He was a lawyer and that meant he knew how to put on a show. He took a deep breath and wound his way to the front of the house. He stepped out and forced his eyes to go wide. “What the hell?”
Two guns were immediately pointed his way.
Mason held his hands up. “Hello. Uhm, Cole, I know you don’t want me here, but I’m surprised that you hired some new guards. What’s happening?”
Cole moved quickly, placing himself in front of Mason. “What’s happening is me totally losing control, and you better believe I will have your ass for this. Ms. Hamilton, I can’t let you shoot him. I know you blame him for Emily’s death, but it wasn’t his fault.”
Ms. Hamilton pointed that gun of hers straight at Cole as though she was judging whether or not the bullet would pass through him and make it to Mason.
“Did you know the investigation is being reopened, Ms. Hamilton?” Mason asked.
“What?” Ms. Hamilton sounded surprised.
“The Bliss County Sheriff’s Department is looking into it and I’m not a suspect,” Mason explained. She didn’t need to know it was Gemma who was actually investigating. Ms. Hamilton seemed more like a woman who preferred to deal with men. “They found GHB in my system. Do you know what that is?”
“Cole, if you don’t shut him up, I’m going to kill this one,” Lea said.
In the distance, Mason heard the sweetest sound ever. Sirens. Pretty sirens coming this way. They would have to plow through the gates though. It still could take some time.
He needed to change one of their targets and fast.
Cole held out a hand. “That’s the police, Lea. Are you going to kill all of us? How will you make it out of here?”
Mason was paying attention to Ms. Hamilton. He knew who the real weak link was. When he wanted to turn two witnesses against each other, he always identified the weak link. “GHB is a drug that made it hard for me to think or move.”
Ms. Hamilton shook her head. “Did you give this to her?”
She was obviously flustered, and he needed her to listen. “No. It was given to me. It was given to me in a cup of coffee.”
“Shut him up, Cole,” Lea shouted this time.
Mason could see the lights pulling up to the front of the house. He couldn’t have Kitten in a hostage situation. He stepped out from behind Cole. “Lea has been in love with Cole for as long as she’s worked for him. That’s why she hates me. That’s why she gave me that coffee that night. I believe she gave Emily the keys and encouraged her to drive. She wanted Emily dead and she wanted me out of Cole’s life so she could have him.”
Ms. Hamilton turned. “You were at that party? You said you were with Cole.”
Cole stepped in front of him again, making himself the target. “No. She wasn’t with me. She went to the party.”
“I had to. You were ignoring the company. People were starting to say you weren’t as smart as your father, and I couldn’t let that happen. Mason did that to you. He dulled your edge. And when he was gone, you became everything I knew you could be. Ruthless and predatory. Everything I love about you. We were a real team. I always knew we could be so good for each other if I could get rid of Mason. But then you had to bring her in.” Tears slipped down her cheeks. “Why did you have to come home early? You would have found the evidence and I could have arranged for something to happen to her. A break-in or something. I don’t know. It’s all screwed now. I have to take her with me. I loved you so much, Cole.”
It was everything he needed. He just had to get Kitten away from her. “She loved Cole enough to kill Emily so Emily couldn’t have him. It wasn’t me. It was Lea and she’s used you to cover it up for years.”
A strangled cry came from Ms. Hamilton and she lifted her gun. Cole jumped for Kitten just as Mason heard the gates being forced open.
Cole tackled Kitten and Lea as the gun went off. He immediately rolled to his left, protecting Kitten with his body as Ms. Hamilton fired again. Mason jumped on her, swatting the gun out of the way, but not before he saw blood bloom across Lea’s chest.
And then the world became a cacophony of bullhorns and shouted orders and red and blue lights.
“Get down now, Mason!” Cole screamed.
And Mason, because he always tried to obey an order, found the grass.
He took a deep breath because all those long years of hell were finally over.
Chapter Nineteen
Cole finally closed the door behind him as the old grandfather clock chimed three in the morning. What a freaking night.
“So Cole’s personal assistant was in love with him and she set everything up?” Callie asked, patting one of the baby’s bottoms as she paced. The twins seemed to be night owls.
“Apparently Lea’s been working with the housekeeper for a while,” he explained. “From what I ca
n tell from the messages on her phone, at first they started working to get rid of Mason. At least that’s what Lea wanted Hamilton to believe.”
Callie seemed far more excited than the rest of them. “I can’t wait to tell Jen. She met Lea a couple of times and always told me she had crazy eyes. I should have listened to her. She’s lived in a lot of cities so she’s knowledgeable about crazy eyes.”
“I solved another case,” Gemma was saying. “I’m kind of like a superhero. I was surprised you had never figured out that Emily was Ms. Hamilton’s niece.”
That had surprised him, too. When she’d talked to the cops, Ms. Hamilton had confessed everything, including the fact that she’d engineered his meeting with Emily. “I knew she had a sister, but she’d never talked about her family. I didn’t think they were close. I feel like an idiot.”
“Hey, the next time you have a mystery, skip the super-expensive investigators and call me.” Gemma smiled, obviously pleased with herself.
“Hey, I need a new deputy.” Nate took the baby from Callie and patted his back. “You want the job?”
“Ewww, polyester. Get Chanel to do the uniforms and I’ll think about it,” Gemma shot back. “I just wish I’d known I had solved another one before our presentation. It was kind of cool, actually. We were a little like rock stars.”
“That’s because you work in the town with the highest per capita murder rate in the country,” Zane replied. “They’re surprised Nate shows up every year and he’s still alive.”
Kitten was sitting on the sofa with Mason. Mason had an arm around her and her head found his shoulder. They looked soft and sweet together, and Cole couldn’t quite forget that Mason had ignored his every order. Oh, he might have been the one to play the women off each other, but he’d nearly gotten himself killed in the process, and there would be punishment for that.
Mason looked up and his eyes softened. “Master?”
Kitten immediately stood. “I believe our Master has had enough stimulation for the evening. I think it’s time we went to bed. Callie, do you have everything you need?”
Nate sighed. “We’ll probably need noise canceling headphones from the look on Cole’s face.”
His wife sent him a look that could freeze fire. “Nathan Wright, you hush.” She turned back to Kitten. “We’re great, hon. Thank you so much.”
Jesse shook his head. “Nate’s correct. I’ve seen that look before. Come on, darlin’. Let’s head to bed.”
“I haven’t had enough stimulation,” Cade said, eagerly grabbing Gemma’s hand.
Kitten came to stand in front of Cole.
He frowned down at her. “I don’t have a look.”
He was always stoic.
“Oh, you have a look,” she said with a grin. “And you have definitely been overstimulated. Come on and we’ll take care of you.”
Mason followed behind. “I think a different kind of stimulation is called for.”
“Don’t you even start in with the sarcasm, Mason Scott.” He couldn’t help it. He’d almost lost them both. Damn it. He hated feeling out of control and that was what he’d been. Out of control and dependent on luck and good timing to save them. “You’re in enough trouble as it is.”
He stomped down the hallway toward the bedroom. He couldn’t punish Mason. Not tonight. He was too angry. Too scared. Too everything. He could, however, let his submissive know exactly what he was in for. “You will wake up every morning for a week and you’ll take care of me.”
“Of course, Master. It would be my pleasure.” Mason calmly followed behind.
“You’ll get nothing for yourself and when you’re done, you’ll get up and you’ll fix breakfast until we can find a new housekeeper since my old housekeeper is currently on a seventy-two-hour psych hold before they take her to prison.”
“That might be more of a punishment for anyone having to eat what I cook, but I will do it with pride, Master.”
“And I’ll serve as your personal assistant since your former personal assistant is…well, dead.” Kitten hurried in front of him to open the door to the bedroom. She shook her head a bit ruefully. “I know I should feel worse about that, but she was unkind and also I didn’t like her filing system. Or how she called me a whore. I’m not a whore, Master. Unless you want to play a game. I might be a very good one.”
“Kitten, I can punish you, too.” Maybe he should. After all, she’d taken Mason’s side, calling him heroic for nearly getting them both killed.
“If it would make you feel better,” Kitten allowed. “Should I get the flogger? Oooh, or the canes? I love the canes.”
She was going to make him crazy.
“Sit down, Master, and let me help you out of those shoes.” Mason gestured toward the bed.
Before he knew it, he was sitting on the bed while his subs removed his shoes and socks. They took his shirt and he was suddenly left wearing only his slacks. Mason climbed on the bed behind him and soon his strong fingers worked the knots in Cole’s neck. Over and over his hands moved, easing him, but he couldn’t let it pass.
“You were supposed to obey me.”
Mason moved and Cole felt the warmth of his breath on his neck. “In some things, I have to make my own decisions. As Kitten couldn’t leave me behind in that parking garage, I couldn’t leave you two. I would do it again.”
His hands were working magic and now he tongued the back of Cole’s neck, making his flesh light up. “Do you think that’s what I want to hear?”
“I think the truth is I would rather die with the two of you than live alone. Should I move on to your feet, Master? You could lie down and we could work on your body.”
“All this submission isn’t going to save you,” he said, but his heart was already softening.
“It isn’t supposed to save me. It’s meant to save you,” Mason whispered against his ear. “I’ll take whatever punishment you like, so long as you don’t pull away again. I’m alive. Kitten’s alive. Don’t distance yourself. Let us help you.”
Kitten sank to her knees in front of him. “Let us take care of you. We need to spend this evening together. You and me and Master Mason.”
Fear. It had run through him so hard. He hadn’t even started to process it but he wasn’t going to let it rule him the way it had last time. He wouldn’t let it ruin his life again. Guilt had to be dealt with, too. He was a man who held everything inside, but he couldn’t. If he did, it would infect him and make him toxic the way it had after he’d pushed Mason away.
“I’m so sorry, my loves. I should have seen it.” It was his fault.
Kitten shook her head. “No.”
“Yes, pet.”
Mason eased off the bed. “Kitten, I don’t think there’s a place for clothes in this discussion.”
Cole shook his head. His first instinct had been punishment when they had been the ones to save him. Maybe he needed to distance himself. He needed to think of them to figure out what would truly be best for his submissives. “No. Not tonight. I need to think tonight.”
Kitten tossed her clothes aside with abandon. “I believe what Mason is trying to say is you’ve thought far too much.”
As far as he could tell he hadn’t thought clearly in years or they wouldn’t have found themselves in that situation. “I almost got both of you killed.”
“You didn’t almost get us killed. That was the crazy, mean ladies,” Kitten pointed out as she sank back to her knees. Her form was perfect as always and it placed her breasts on display. God, she was gorgeous.
“Who I hired.” They weren’t getting the point. “I started this. I hired Lea. I knew she wasn’t the best assistant and I let it go so I wouldn’t have to deal with the fallout of firing her. I should have done it years ago, but I got so distracted that I almost lost the company and everything we have.”
“That happens all the time in the corporate world.” Mason had gotten rid of his clothes, too. That was a fine man. He didn’t seem to be affected at all by his ne
ar-death experience. His cock was standing at full attention.
“It doesn’t happen to me.”
Kitten’s hands moved to his knees. “It does and it did. Things happen whether we’re smart or not. They happen and we deal with them, and it’s easier when we have a family. You’re my family, Master. You and Mason. Can I suck your cock?”
Damn but she knew how to get his mind off things.
“I want to suck you, too, Master.” Mason sank to his knees beside her, a decadent grin on his face.
They were going to pull him out of his head one way or another.
“Tell me you forgive me again.” He needed to hear it. Guilt was weighing him down, but he might be able to let it go if they would say the magic words.
“There’s nothing to forgive, my Master.” Kitten squeezed his hand. “But everything I have is yours.”
“I forgive you, Cole,” Mason said, his face shining up. “Forgive me, too. We both made mistakes. I kept things from you. I broke that trust, but I’m asking for forgiveness and another chance.”
What had he done to deserve this? “You have it. You have all the chances you need. You never have to ask for another one. Know that it’s yours.”
A good Dom knew when he was beat. A good husband knew when it was time to give over to his spouses.
He was going to marry them. He would legally marry Kitten, but he would tie Mason up in his life by doing the one thing he’d sworn he would never do. “I’m splitting the company in thirds.”
Finally he’d managed to shock his boy. Mason’s eyes went wide. “What?”
Kitten shook her head. “I don’t need that.”
“But I do. I need to share what I have with the two people who mean more to me than life. You will accept your shares and you will both take places on the board. Mason, you’re now the company’s lead counsel.”
“Master, I don’t know enough to be a board member.” Kitten was frowning, obviously worried.
Mason put a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll teach you. If you don’t want to take business classes, I’ll tutor you, but we’re a family and Roberts Corp is our business. The Master is right.”