The Master Read online

  “I know Mother can be difficult at times, but surely you’re exaggerating.”

  “Ah, yes, the two faces of Marika. Do as she asks, play her game her way and she’ll be the best friend you’ve ever had. Defy her, confront her, contradict her and she’ll become your mortal enemy.”

  Sebastian quickly thought back and remembered a few questionable moments with his mother. When she didn’t approve of a friend, she quickly but quietly made sure he never returned to the house. And his first girlfriends; none of them pleased her and she barely hid it. Yes, she could be controlling and, yes, she liked to have things go her way, but Sebastian couldn’t accept his father’s depiction of her. Her intentions were good, of that he was sure. There was nothing diabolical about her.

  “Regardless of what you think Mother may be, it’s no excuse for turning into a sex fiend who regularly pays to see such vile acts performed before a crowd.”

  “It’s easy for you to say, son, when you're still a good looking young man who can simply grin and throw on the charm and have a woman like Serena give you a second glance. The time when I was young and dashing has passed me… all wasted on those frigid years with Marika when I tried to be a good husband.” He looks at his son. “I tried. I really did. I wanted my marriage to be a success. I wanted us to be happy. After all, for all her faults, your mother is a beautiful woman… on the outside. I tried to love her, but in the end she made it impossible.”

  Kaiser tapped the pilot’s shoulder, ready to finally take off.

  “Wait,” Sebastian called out, reaching for his father’s arm.

  “I’ve said all I have to say, Bash.”

  “Just one last thing. Just tell me, how far did you go with Serena?” Sebastian finally asked. The question had been burning on his lips since first seeing his father on Price’s yacht. Though he dreaded the answer, he had to know.

  “You really want to know?” An unhappy grin came to his lips.

  “I think you at least owe me that much.”

  “Fine. You read my fantasy encounter with her, so you already know what I wish to do to her. But the fact is that for all the times I’ve seen her, for all the requests I’ve made to Price, I’ve just barely touched her. Price is a cunning man who knows how to play the men who come to these events, and he certainly played us well. He taunted us and teased us with vague promises of eventually being able to touch her. He offered us all the possibility of filling our hands with Serena’s perfect breasts, and sliding our cocks between her thighs. But just when he got us all salivating to the point of eruption, he would throw down a price, and a hefty one at that. Few men had the capacity to fulfill their wish.”

  “And how much did you put down?”

  “I put down enough to be able to brush my fingers along her breasts, no more. For all my riches, it’s nothing when compared to the princes who bid for the chance to be with her. Small fortunes have been spent for just a few moments with Serena.”

  Wanting to find relief in his father’s admission, Sebastian let out a long and tortured breath, but all the torrid information his father threw at him left him tense.

  “Don’t look so stricken, Bash,” Kaiser said. “At least you found out about her now before it’s too late and now you understand why I was so adamant about breaking your relationship up. Now you know why she’s not worthy of the Sorenson name, nor will she ever be. You can safely and quietly end the relationship now and no one will be the wiser. In the end, you can count it off as a thrilling experience you were fortunate enough to take part in. You were able to have Serena, in all her splendor and glory, and not even have to pay the price.”

  “I have no intention of ending it with Serena.”

  “Son, I know how hard it must be. Believe me, I’ve lusted after her long enough to know that she must be a very difficult woman to get over, but the fact is that you can’t possibly envision marrying such a woman. Worst case scenario, keep her on as a lover for a while… until you tire of her, but marry a good woman from a good family; a woman you’ll be proud to introduce to everyone in our circles. You know, Bash, in life, there are women you fuck and women you marry. I think we both know which woman Serena is.”

  Overwhelmed by it all, Sebastian stared at his father, the man he thought he knew, when in fact, he never knew him at all.

  “Do the right thing and give Serena back to Price and the men who so covet her.”

  Without a word and without warning, Sebastian punched his father in the face and turned away as Kaiser covered his bloody nose with both hands.

  Without a sense of direction or purpose, Sebastian walked at a brisk pace, spurred on by the thundering sound of the helicopter’s propellers as it carried his father away.

  His father; how could he even call that vile man his father?

  He marched on with the need to get as far away from Price’s yacht as he could. After the enraging conversation with his father, his veins were pumped with angry driven adrenaline that pushed him to want to demolish everything in his path.

  He could only imagine the fury he would spring on the men who so openly lusted after Serena if he were to return to the yacht now. Serena was still inside, but if he was to walk in there now, he would become a monster just like his father.

  No, if he didn’t get far away, he’d surely maim someone, or even kill someone; bashing his head in as he cried for mercy, as he begged for his life.

  Chapter 10

  Serena

  Serena looked out at the confused, angry and disappointed faces staring back at her. Everything had happened so fast, many didn’t even understand what they had just witnessed.

  “Do we still get our wish fulfilled?” one of the two remaining winners asked. Confused, he patted his crotch and looked hopefully at Serena.

  “Not quite,” Serena said as she waved them both away.

  “What’s going on?” someone called from the back of the room.

  “Yeah. Where’s the show? Price might not be here, but I’ll take good care of you.”

  The men all chuckled and offered their services as well, but Serena simply stood there, her legs firmly planted apart and her fists on her hips. She glared at them all and offered not even the slightest hint of a smile.

  “Come on, Serena,” another called out. “We’ve been waiting for a long time for tonight. You can’t let us down. At least give us something.”

  She cleared her throat. “Gentlemen.” She waited for the agitated crowd to quiet down. “As you’ve all seen, Price is not here tonight. Not only that, but Price will no longer be putting on these types of shows… at least not with me.”

  The horny men growled with displeasure and some raised their fists in protest. One even tried to charge the stage, but was quickly stopped by Keegan, one of Price’s brutes. All of his employees were now on high alert as the tension mounted. Any minute now there could be an explosion of violent retaliation. It would be all too easy for just one man to incite a riot.

  Mr. Hurst, a prominent figure in the media world, burst forward. “This is a rip-off,” he cried while Maxime held him back. “We paid good money to be here tonight and we expect a show. I didn’t come here just to have a few drinks and see one half of a sloppy show. If Price isn’t here, the least you can do is give us a show of your own.”

  Again, the crowd roared.

  “I will not give you a show,” she said with firm determination. Taking a few menacing steps towards the older gentleman, she raised her chin and stood before him. “I’ll ask you to step back, Mr. Hurst. That, or I’ll have Maxime physically restrain you.”

  Her strong and authoritative tone took him by surprise. He broke away from Maxime’s hold and backed away a step, but quickly stopped to stand his ground. “I’ll sue the hell out of both of you.”

  “Sue us for what, Mr. Hurst? Breach of contract? What contract? You pay a hefty sum of money and I put on a sexually explicit spectacle for you?”

  Dumbfounded, he stared at her.

  “I’m
sure your wife, Marjorie, would be thrilled to see that play out in court.”

  His eyes widened in horror and he suddenly fidgeted with the cravat of his costume.

  “Oh, yes, Mr. Hurst I know your lovely wife, Marjorie.” She turned to another man. “As I do yours, Mr. Terrell, and yours, Mr. Whalen. Yes, I’m sure Emma and Cathy would be thrilled to hear where you’ve been tonight. I’m sure they would love to know where you’ve been going all these secretive nights.”

  “You wouldn’t,” Mr. Daily cried out, clutching his heart. The eighty two year old shipping magnate reeled back a few steps.

  For a moment, Serena thought he would die right there, but she barely cared. Though he appeared feeble to some, she knew he was a power to be reckoned with.

  The old man had once paid a large sum of money just to suckle her breasts. He’d sucked her nipples until they were shriveled up and sore. And when his time up had been called, he’d bitten into the already sensitive nub.

  She looked through the crowd. “It seems you all have a woman back home waiting for you. You all have a wife or fiancé who would surely bet thrilled to hear of your whereabouts tonight.”

  “Blackmail, Serena?” another called out. “Is that what you're telling us?”

  “Not blackmail, Mr. Leith, just a little guarantee.” With the men’s fantasies in her fists, she circled the stage, eyeing the men who surrounded her. “Mr. Hurst wished to sodomize me. Mr. Leith hoped to whip me into submission before throwing himself at me. Mr. Whalen wanted to join Price and fuck me in unison with him. And Mr. Terrell wanted to tie me up and rub his erection all over me until his orgasm spilled all over me. I could go on and on; some of you have proven yourself wildly imaginative, while others were rather mundane in their requests. Need I go on?”

  They all shook their heads.

  She glanced up at them all. “Mundane or wild, they are all right here. All in your handwriting, gentlemen. All with your signatures on them. Rest assured, my kind sirs, I have no desire or intention of divulging the goings-on tonight or any other such night… unless I have to.”

  A disappointed groan rumbled throughout the room.

  “Ah, come on, Serena, hand it over,” one younger patron said. A good looking young man with a boyish face and long, lanky limbs, he was the son of an oil tycoon who’d recently wed. “Be a sport. My wife would go crazy if she found out about this. She’s five months pregnant. You can’t do that to her.”

  “So long as your fantasies about me remain where they belong, in your imaginations, no one will ever have to know anything,” she reassures him and the crowd of men.

  “Is this a kick in the crotch, or what?” another man groaned. “Shit, I had to tell my daughter to buy the seven thousand dollar wedding dress instead of the eleven thousand dollar one she wanted just so I could come to this damned thing.”

  “Just so we’re clear, gentlemen,” she went on with a loud and firm voice. “Everything you’ve experienced tonight, or any other night with Price and me, is to be but a privately kept dream of yours. As of tonight, you’ve never seen anything remotely crude, you’ve never heard me lament or groan, and you’ve never touched me. In fact, you’ve never seen me at all. Are we all clear?”

  “Yeah, we’re clear,” Mr. Hurst growled.

  “How do we know you won’t expose us just out of spite?” Mr. Whalen asked.

  “I won’t, but if it will sooth your worries, I have here an explicit agreement, an agreement whereby you vow not to divulge a word of this or any other such night with Price, and I vow not to expose your lusty little secrets to anyone unless you breach your end of the bargain.”

  With long, purposeful strides, she made her way to the back of the room where she retrieved the legal agreements.

  “If you would all sign these, we should then be assured each other’s discretion in the matter.”

  They dutifully got in line and one by one they printed their full name, wrote the date then signed it before handing it to Serena for her to sign as well.

  An hour later, proud and grinning as the last of the feeble men crawled off the yacht, she stacked the pile of valuable sheets of paper and patted herself on the back for a job well done.

  Without Price and without Sebastian, she had taken full control of the room; full control of these men.

  And it felt glorious.

  Chapter 11

  Sebastian

  Sebastian walked to the end of the long pier at the far end of the large marina that harbored yachts of the rich. It was as far from Prices’ yacht as he could go without leaving the marina entirely. After all, he was in costume and he couldn’t very well walk the streets in such a state.

  And there was Serena. He didn’t want to be too far away from her, yet he needed to put some distance between himself and the entire situation concerning her.

  Torn between his love for her and his persistent doubts about their future together, he leaned against the railing and looked out at the black sea. He’d never been a man to spend much time contemplating his life; things fell into place with little effort. He’d always planned the events of his life with a firm authority and strong conviction, but now he found himself questioning and analyzing his life with Serena. Everything had changed the moment she came into his life.

  The change was welcomed and desired and the memory of his nights with her spilled over him, warming him and even heating him with fiery passion.

  But the events of the past days left him with a chill, and he wondered if that chill would ever leave him. Would he ever be able to go back and hold her in his arms without envisioning her with Price, with these men? Would he ever be able to touch her breasts without seeing his father’s hand there?

  His phone rang, startling him and breaking him out of his stupor. He’d forgotten he even had it on him.

  “Yeah,” he said.

  “Mr. Sorenson, this is Craig Newton from Donovan Dynamics.”

  Sebastian’s heart sank at the sound of his bodyguard’s voice. Something had gone wrong. He could feel it. He could hear it in his voice. “What is it?” he said.

  “It’s Mr. Price, sir. I was right outside his door. I don’t understand how he could have broken free and…”

  “What happened? Where is he?””

  “I don’t know what went wrong, but he got out of his collar and when I charged into his room, he was already climbing out the window.” After a long and fearful pause, he added, “He said he was on his way to see Mr. Sorenson Sr., sir. He said the old man had it coming. He said you would all pay for what you’ve done to him.”

  “Damn it.”

  “By my estimate, he should be there tonight…if your father is in Newport. Price has his own jet so he may arrive into the States faster than normal time. I don’t know exactly the difference between Europe and Newport, but…”

  “Tonight? How the hell can he be here tonight? When did this happen? When did he escape?”

  Craig stammered and hesitated. “I tried to call you a dozen times, sir. Your phone just rang and rang. I called every five minutes for the past…”

  “Shit.” With all the music and chaos inside, he hadn’t heard a thing. “I’m going to go out and try to find Kaiser before Price does. I doubt Kaiser will be in Newport. He told my mother he was at some retreat in Aspen. Close up there and get into town in case I need you. This could get ugly.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Sebastian cut the connection and shoved the phone back in his pocket. He knew his father and how his mind worked. No doubt Kaiser had concocted some brilliant bullshit story to explain to his wife why he would be absent from home the entire weekend. Work. It was always work, and as long as the loads of money kept rolling in, Sebastian knew his mother wouldn’t ask for more explanation than that. Kaiser probably told her he had a ton of paperwork to tend to, or some important phone calls overseas.

  Though he hated his father with a fury for now, he knew he couldn’t just leave him at the mercy of Price’s vengeance
. Running as fast as his get up would let him, he hurried back to the parking lot only to realize he hadn’t taken his car.

  “Damn.”

  Feeling lost and helpless, he turned around in circles until he spotted one of the weighty men from the yacht. He rushed to the distraught man and realized it was Mr. Schwartz, a highly touted figure in the world of classical music.

  “I need your keys,” he called out. “It’s an emergency. I need your car.”

  “Are you crazy? I’ve had a shitty night enough as it is. Now you want my car?”

  “Yes. Mr. Schwartz, this is a real emergency. Potentially a matter of life or death. I’ll be sure your vehicle is returned to you as soon as possible and I’ll compensate you for your help.”

  They had worked together frequently. They knew each other, even liked each other. Despite everything that had happened tonight, surely that meant something.

  After a long moment of reflection, Mr. Schwartz pulled the car keys out of his pocket and handed them to Sebastian.

  “Good luck, whatever it is you have to take care of.”

  Chapter 12

  Sebastian hoped his father wasn’t heading back home to Newport, but was actually heading to Aspen. But a quick call to his father’s office confirmed his father was going to be there tonight. Kaiser had asked his secretary to be sure his refrigerator was well-stocked with drinks as he was going to be at the office late tonight. Sebastian couldn’t help but swear at the irony of it all. His father seemed like such a creature of habit, was so predictable, but then since Sebastian met Serena, he found out that his father not only had a hand in murdering Price’s parents but he was also this man he barely knew. But he was still his father, and if he can prevent it, he wasn’t going to let Price get to him. However, it seemed everything stood in his way of getting to his father in time. Though the rush had ended hours ago, the streets were congested due to an accident that clogged an entire intersection. Sebastian muttered, “California traffic,” and then turned up the music. After twenty minutes of inching his way past the tangle of crumpled vehicles, Sebastian stepped on the gas, but Mr. Schwartz elegant sedan didn’t quite have the power of his sports car.