21. Declan #2
"For it to make sense," I say quietly, "Donald Masters would have to be a sane man.
He isn't. My father is driven by arrogance, ego and the desire for power.
" I look around the room, finding every single person watching me with intent interest. "I've spent the better part of this year figuring out every move he's ever made within this company, and almost all of it has been on the back of destroying someone else.
I would suggest that you stop listening to his whispers, because chances are, you'll probably be his next target.
He clearly had no issues screwing his own son over. "
My steps are heavy as I leave Nexus Capital, a cloud of disbelief hanging over my head. It feels strange—a year of moving behind the scenes and working towards this moment, and now that it’s here…it feels anticlimactic. And it’s not over.
My town car is idling at the curb, and I slide in just as my phone rings. I grimace at the screen but accept the call, hearing him shouting before I get the thing to my ear.
“Have you lost your goddamn mind? What the fuck have you done, boy? You’ve just single-handedly destroyed everything I spent years building!”
I say nothing back, thinking back to all the times I’d imagined this moment, dreaming of the smug satisfaction that would fill me as I split his entire world wide open. Instead, I just feel strangely empty, like a husk, void of anything meaningful inside it.
“Are you even listening to me?” he screams. “Answer me!”
My stare drifts out the window, watching as the city passes in a blur.
“I was thinking,” I say quietly, “what means more to Donald Masters than anything else? More than his money, his image, his power .” There’s a taut silence, broken only by each heaving breath through the line.
“It wasn’t hard to come up with the answer—your legacy .
Someone like you wants to leave behind a memory, a name, long after your body has crumbled to dust. What would people say about you, Dad ?
Would they remember you as a loving family man?
An astute businessman, one that took the world by storm?
” I let out a low laugh. “Or the man who liked to fuck his stepsister when she was barely more than a girl.”
He sucks in a sharp breath. “Declan?—”
“I’ve been playing your game since I was born,” I cut him off ruthlessly, my anger slowly rising.
“I’ve got all the scars to prove it. I will always hate that it took me so long to open my eyes, but I see you now.
” I wait a beat. “I see you for what you really are—a pathetic, corrupt, shell. One who wouldn’t know a good thing if it shot him dead between the eyes. ”
“You little fucking shit,” he seethes viciously. I don’t need to be standing in front of him to know what he must look like—ace red and eyes bulging as he realizes the extent of how much I’ve just fucked up his life. “I’ve given you everything?—”
“Did you?” I ask curiously. “It feels like you gave me less than nothing. And if you’re referring to the CEO position, you gave it to me and then spent the entire three years trying to undermine me, attempting to ensure I’d never outshine you.
It’s a little ironic that I still did a better job than you, even when you were fucking around behind the curtains, hm? ”
“This isn’t over,” he promises. “You think you can just burn Nexus down and walk away? Your name is all over the place. The feds won’t just let you get away. If I’m going down?—”
“You’ll take me with you?” My laugh is genuine this time.
“Fuck, what a cliché you are, throwing some Scooby Doo villain shit at me. You’ve terrorized our family for years, but what happens when no one fears you anymore, Donald?
” He doesn’t have an answer for me, but I don’t need one.
“It’s over, old man. I seem to have come up with a lot of free time in the near future, and I promise, I’ll devote every single second to making sure you never recover from this.
I’ll bury you under every single illegal and immoral act you’ve ever done, starting with what you’ve done to our family.
” I wait a beat, letting that sink in. “You’re done. ”
“Declan, think about this.” He sounds nervous, a delayed reaction after he’d convinced himself he could still pull my strings. “Your mother. Your brother and sister…You’re not just destroying me. Think about our family.”
“All I’m thinking about is my family,” I say, and then end the call, slumping back against my seat.
I should feel elated, but it feels like a meaningless victory without my wife.
Hindsight is a goddamn bitch, leaving me wondering what might’ve been different if I’d told Lily from the start.
Maybe she was right, and she would’ve helped me.
Or I would’ve still lost her, but it wouldn’t have hurt as much as this does.
Either way, Lily’s the reason I had the courage to go after Donald like this, and I won’t just let her go.
No matter if it takes a year or more, I’ll show her things are different this time.
I’ll show her I’m different.
The driver pulls up alongside a familiar building, and I open the door, looking back at him. “I won’t be long, Tim. Wait here for me.” He tips his chin and I get out, heading through the front door of the elegant lobby
The front desk attendant recognizes me with a polite, “Mr. Masters.”
I give her a tight smile. “Is she home?”
Her head jerks up and down. “Yes, sir. Just head on up.”
I head for the bank of elevators, calling one and inputting the code needed for the penthouse. The ride up is short, the doors sliding open to reveal the foyer of her apartment, her decor over the top and gaudy, making it feel more like a show home.
I hear bare feet heading in my direction and turn, just as Silvia appears, her eyes wide with surprise.
She’s wearing a linen dress, something she favors when she’s sticking around home, her face free of makeup and hair pulled back into a low pony.
She looks like the girl I grew up with, but knowing everything she’s done, I know it’s all a mask—a way for her to hide the vapid creature underneath.
Her surprise dissipates, a slow smile pulling up her lips as she heads for me.
“I knew you’d see sense,” she breathes, reaching her arms out as if she’s about to wrap them around my neck. “She was never good enough for you, and now?—”
I sidestep her, making her stumble as I put a safe distance between us. “Declan?” she asks, her eyes widening as she watches me, unsure.
“I’ve learned a lot these past few weeks,” I say conversationally, tucking my hands into the pockets of my slacks.
“For example, I always thought you and I understood each other, growing up in the absolute fuckery of our families.
I knew you were tattling to your daddy, but I didn't think you'd actually turn on me. More fool me, I guess.”
“I don’t unders?—”
I cut her off rudely. "Lily is everything you're not. She's genuine and kind, and she wouldn't lie, especially not for the sake of hurting someone else." My lip lifts. "Even someone like you."
She shakes her head, blond hair flying around her head. “That’s just what she wants you to think, Dec. You saw those photos. She’s cheating on you.”
I snort, lifting my eyebrows. “How could she be cheating on me when it isn’t real?” She falters, mouth pressing together. “Why did you call me on my honeymoon?”
She lets out a nervous laugh. “Declan, I don’t…” she trails off, her brittle smile falling away at my expression.
“Let’s not pretend,” I say icily, “and just say we did.”
She wets her lips nervously. “Your father was worried. You know he never wanted you to marry her.” Her expression firms. “I didn’t make you cut your honeymoon short. That was all on you.”
“No, you didn’t,” I agree easily, making her eyes flare in surprise. “Carter did, after he found out what my father was doing. Why did Donald tell you to call?”
She swallows thickly, backing up a step. “Donald saw you when you were waiting for her at the altar. He saw your face, the way you looked at her.”
“Shouldn’t be shocked that’s what gave me away,” I muse. Hatred sparks in her eyes as I ask, “She made the most beautiful bride, didn’t she?”
I shoot her a look filled with such disgust and loathing that she stumbles back another step, all color draining from her face.
“And the photos and messages you’ve been sending her?” I ask lethally. “The photos of her? Turning up at her house?”
She’s twitchy, her expression disturbed.
“I just did that because I was worried about you. The way you looked at her changed. You were in too deep, forgetting what you were supposed to be doing. It was never about her .” She comes forward again and I don’t shift away, allowing her to press a hand to my chest. Her perfume is stifling, making my nose itch.
“You just need to remember what’s important, darling,” she whispers, her voice sultry with promise. “And that’s Nexus and me .”
My mouth twitches. “You?”
“Yes,” she reassures me. “Our fathers made a deal years ago to join our families together. They promised me you’d never actually marry that girl.
” A maniacal gleam enters her eyes. “But we can fix it, darling. Soon, it’ll be you and me.
We’ll rule our fathers’ empires together, a true power couple.
This has all just been a blip on the radar, soon to be forgotten?—”
I grip her wrists and gently push her arms away from me, stepping back at the same time.
“You and I were never going to happen, Lily or not.” I shake my head.
“I actually thought we were friends; that you understood what my father put me through. I was so desperate for someone to talk to, someone who got it, that I looked past anything I didn’t want to see.
” I laugh, low and bitter. “You’ve spent our lives fooling me, though.
Haven’t you, Silvia? Always showing me exactly what I needed to see, just so I’d believe someone was on my side.
Instead, you were just their little pet, running to do their bidding.
Did they tell you to tear Lily down every time you saw her?
” Her eyes flicker, but she doesn’t answer.
“You’re in so deep, you don’t even see it.
You’re a pawn, Silvia, someone Donald will sacrifice without a second thought.
What? Did he and your father sit around, whispering in your ear about how much I wanted you?
Did they reassure you I was faking it with Lily, just waiting until I could be with you?
” Her throat bobs, but I press my point home.
“And yet, I never showed the slightest interest in you, did I? Never gave you even a hint that I’d ever want more from you.
” She clamps her teeth down on her lip so hard, I’m surprised it doesn’t bleed.
“You were my friend,” I say with finality, “but now you’re nothing.
You’re just another part of my father that I want nothing to do with. ”
She shakes her head, eyes filling with tears, but I’m not moved. “Declan, you don’t mean that. We’ve been friends our whole lives.”
“I can’t blame you for everything,” I say absently, looking away.
“I knew I needed to hide my true feelings for Lily from you, knew that you’d report back to them , but I just thought you were jealous of someone stealing my attention.
I thought you were just worried for me, as my friend.
” A caustic laugh. “Shows what I fucking know, huh?”
I shake my head, turning back for the elevator. “I’m done with my father, Silvia, and I’m done with you.” I press the button, grateful when it immediately slides open. I get in and turn back to her, giving her one last look. “Stay away from me and stay away from my wife.”