Fifth Avenue Box Set: Take MeAvenge MeScandalize MeExpose Me Read online

  That assessment shamed him. And he deserved it. All things considered, he sort of liked it. Since it helped him focus on something else.

  “She deserves better than that,” he said. “But you know that if they judged her before, they’ll all judge her more now. She’s the woman at the center of the scandal. He might have dealt in whores, but by default, whether she was paid or not, she was one. She will be one as far as the public is concerned. That’s how these things work, trust me. I deal in sexual crimes against women all the time. It’s what I do for a living. Until there is no way to blame a woman for all the sex, she will be blamed for it. It can come down to the fact that the rapist says she didn’t say no loud enough. Or that she didn’t fight hard enough. It’s ugly, and it’s something I hate, something I battle constantly in court and out, but it’s the way things work. And when all of this hits? Every woman involved is getting dragged straight through the mud with him.”

  “But her name is mud already, Austin,” Katy said, her eyes glistening. “And it will never be anything else unless this is finished. Not only that, he’ll make more of her. How many other Sarahs do there have to be?”

  Her question hung in the air, an accusation. Stark in the silence. Austin let out a slow breath.

  “No more,” he said.

  “Because if you really need control that badly, I’d much rather have you tie me down and spank my ass than back out and leave these other women to be abused by your father.”

  “I’m not doing either thing. I’m not backing down and I’m not... We don’t have time to mess around with whatever is happening between us.”

  She lifted a shoulder. “Right. I agree. So nothing is happening between us. And what did is...”

  “Not important.”

  “Nope.”

  “By the way,” he said, leaning back in his chair, “would you mind coming with me on Wednesday to ruin my mother’s life? She really did want you to come.”

  “Probably not for what’s actually happening,” she said.

  “No. But I think it would be good for you to be there.”

  “And can we trust her with my safety? You know, all the safety that had you forcing me out of paycheck and home?”

  “If not, we’re screwed, because I’m going to be very clearly letting her know that I’m actively attempting to stop Jason from ever doing what he did to Sarah again. So she’ll have the chance to stop both of us, I suppose. If she sides with him, she’ll tell him.”

  “She won’t, though,” Katy said. “I can tell just from that brief meeting with her.”

  “If she believes us, there’s no way she would side with him.”

  “And your sister?”

  “Addison is a spoiled brat. It’s almost cute. But she’s not stupid, and she isn’t cruel. I think once she sees the evidence...”

  “The pictures. You’ll even show Addison?”

  “Life is so ugly, and she’ll find it out sooner or later. I’d rather have her learn it this way than through being used by someone. This way, she can know that it happens. That people lie. That they manipulate. She can learn it without experiencing it.”

  “She is, though,” Katy said. “It’s her dad. I know you’ve been disillusioned about him for a while, but has she?”

  “Probably not. I survived it, though, and so will she. We’ll all survive it. Even if we come out of it without a reputation...we’ll survive it.”

  “I know what it’s like to survive things,” she said. “It’s not as glamorous as it sounds.”

  “In what way?”

  “Survival is only the beginning. It’s the living after that’s the problem.”

  “Has it been your problem?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “When you met me I was a twenty-six-year-old virgin with a vengeance complex. Now I’m a twenty-six-year-old with a vengeance complex. You tell me how well you think I’m living.”

  “You’re surviving,” he said.

  “Exactly. Which is more of a half life. So I hope you do better than that. Though,” she said, her lips twisting into something that sort of looked like a smile, “I think some of us are maybe better off. Focus on other things. Idle hands and all that.”

  “When you put it like that, I might be better off, too. But I hope that my mother and my sister do better than that. Addison is too young for anything else. My mother... She’s never hurt anyone. She’s never been anything but supportive and loving. And she doesn’t deserve this, not any of it.”

  “And you do?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know.” His chest felt heavy. With something. He wasn’t sure what. He didn’t understand what his feelings were doing. All this complex crap. He was used to happy, angry, hungry or horny, not necessarily in that order or frequency, and this...all of this...was not conforming to that.

  This was something else entirely. All-consuming emotion. It filled him completely, making every word, every movement, a challenge. All he really wanted was to stand up and turn everything in the room upside down. The desk. The chair. To break glass and spread out the papers until everything was as big of a mess outside as it was inside of him.

  But he couldn’t do that. He had to get a grip on himself and keep it.

  No outward signs of rage. No attempts at gaining control by using Katy’s body.

  “Sometimes I think maybe this is all keeping me from heading the same direction as my father.”

  “Do you really think you might have?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. Because I don’t know how he got there.”

  “I said it before, and it’s true—you’re not as charming as he is,” she said. “You’re much more honest. I think there’s something to that.”

  “I hope you’re right,” he said. “Anyway, I’m about to use some of that honesty to ruin my family. So here’s hoping that it serves a higher purpose. Otherwise, I’m setting my entire world on fire for nothing.”

  * * *

  The Treffen estate was impressive. Sprawling grounds, blanketed in crystalline snow, and a massive home with turrets rising from it, like an imposing old guard.

  Which is what it was a representation of, in so many ways. The old guard. The system as it had been for so many years.

  And, as Austin had so eloquently put it during their conversation on Christmas morning, they were about to set it on fire.

  He put the car in Park and got out, and she followed. The snow muffled the sound of the doors closing. The silence seemed to press in on them.

  It was so different from the city. Even different from her neighborhood in Connecticut. It had been a small town, but the houses had been crammed together. And there were always dogs and fights, eighties metal music and revving truck engines.

  This was an isolation and silence that cost, and she could see why people paid for it.

  “It’s incredible,” she said, the fog created by her words lingering in the air. “I mean...what a place to grow up.”

  He nodded slowly, slipping his hands into the pockets of his long, dark wool jacket. “It was. Do you see why I thought my life was enchanted?”

  “Very much.”

  “You can’t go back. You just start to wonder what’s hidden in the corners. What kinds of skeletons are buried in the yard.” He looked up and squinted against the sun. “But, hell, time to raise the dead.”

  “Séance time,” she said.

  She locked her arm through his as he pressed the doorbell. Because they were supposed to be playing a couple. And because she knew that this was the hardest thing he’d ever done.

  Things had been awkward with him for the past few days. They’d avoided each other. No more shared takeout. No more sex. Barely even a conversation.

  But none of that mattered right this second. Really, none of it mattered at all. They had one thing they were united on. And that was bringing Jason down, seeking out justice for Sarah. That was why they were here. It was why she was still in his house. Because nothing else—not their rela
tionship, not her feelings about him—really mattered.

  All of this was for Sarah.

  An older man in an honest-to-goodness butler getup answered the door.

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Treffen,” the butler said, sadly lacking in British accent.

  “David, good to see you. This is my...girlfriend, Katy.” He stumbled over the word, but then, what suited for his father—lover or mistress—did not suit for lunch with his mother and Katy well knew it.

  She couldn’t imagine being Austin’s girlfriend. She wouldn’t want to be anyway. Between the two of them they had so much baggage they’d require assistance carrying it all.

  When she did find someone, it would be someone normal. And it would be when she felt normal. When she finally got her head on straight and learned how to live life without this endless need to fix everything.

  For some reason, for just a second, that thought made her feel like she was in a free fall, with no idea of where she might land. It was terrifying. Nothing to hold on to, no idea of when she might hit bottom.

  And then, just as quickly as the feeling hit, it was gone.

  They were ushered through the expansive entryway, which was more like a grand antechamber to some palatial throne room, then through the living area and into a large, bright room with floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the snow-covered field outside, the white reflecting the sun and washing everything so that it looked overexposed.

  There were bookshelves, a cluster of furniture around a fireplace and, by the windows, a small, round table. Lenore was already sitting there, a smile on her face. Next to her was a beautiful blonde that Katy assumed was Addison. She looked like her mother probably had many decades—and many face-lifts—ago.

  She didn’t have the same artifice to her beauty. Her hair was back in a low bun, her lips the same shade of pink as her cheeks and the dress she was wearing. She looked like a fresh rosebud. All new and pretty, and unexposed. Still closed up tightly, untouched completely by the elements.

  Katy felt a pang of guilt that ran so deep it almost made her double over. Because today was the day that Addison Treffen would be shown what Katy already knew. That life was an utter bitch.

  She took a deep breath and walked in with Austin. She was dimly aware that he was doing the polite thing. Making introductions, greeting everyone and holding her chair out for her. She sat, nodding at what she hoped were appropriate times.

  Then the luncheon was served. And it was adorable. Pink lemonade, martinis and little sandwiches.

  They ate while talking about nothing. The weather and who wore what to where. And as lunch started to wind down, something in Katy started to wind up.

  And she wondered if she should excuse herself before the big moment. Fake a bathroom emergency. Something to do with an eyelash in her eye or...

  She caught Austin’s gaze, just as everyone’s plates were being cleared, and she knew that escape wasn’t an option.

  “There is a reason I wanted to have lunch with you today,” he said, looking at his mother with a steadiness that Katy could only admire. Because she could hardly look up at him, and yet he was meeting his mother’s eyes, giving her every respect, in spite of the fact that it was killing him to impart the news. “It’s about Dad.”

  “What about him?” Addison asked, perfect lips turned into a frown. “He’s not sick, is he?”

  “Not the way you mean,” Austin said, his tone dry. “I may be making the wrong choice telling you both at once, but it does affect you, Addison. And I don’t particularly want to tell the story twice. I have evidence that Dad had an affair. Ten years ago with my friend Sarah. The one who killed herself during the party.”

  Lenore’s face didn’t move. Addison’s did. Her brow crumpled, her expression turning fierce. “You aren’t serious, Austin. She was so young and...”

  “I am serious. And there’s more. And the reason that I’m here telling you this is that it’s all about to go public and I don’t want either of you standing with him.” He reached out and took his mother’s hand from across the table. “I don’t want you standing there behind him with that stoic supportive look on your face like some lobotomized politician’s wife,” he said, his tone intense. “Because he doesn’t deserve it. He deserves for you to take his money and make his life hell.”

  Lenore blinked rapidly, her eyes glassy with tears. “You have evidence, you said, Austin?”

  “Yes.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t need to see it. I’ve suspected as much. That he was unfaithful. But...you know, in my position, in the world I’m from, we’re taught not to care.”

  “You’re taught not to care?” Addison said. “You never taught me not to care. I don’t see how you can sit there so calmly and say that.”

  “I taught you to expect more, Addison,” Lenore said, her tone turning to steel, “because I damn well wished I had expected more for myself. Because I didn’t know how to ask for more, or go out and get more, because I thought you just had to sit back and endure it when you suspected your husband was having affairs. I must say, Austin, it’s much harder to do when someone confirms it. Until now, I only had the suspicions.”

  “The affair is the least of your worries. He’s been involved in illegal activity. Some of which...Katy has evidence of, as well.”

  Katy nodded slowly. That was her cue to take part in the play. “I’m Sarah Michaels’s sister. I’m sure you know that name. Austin and I met...quite by accident. But after we...spent some time together, we found out why it was we were both at that party. Both of us were looking for answers. For Sarah. And we’d both found things. Putting them together...”

  “We have a rough idea of what was happening. None of it is very pleasant, Mother, and I hate to trouble you with the details. But my advice...”

  “Is this legal advice, Austin?” she asked with a trace of dry humor.

  “Yes. And advice as your son. Walk away. Make the break now, take him for everything he’s worth. Make the public question the man they always thought they knew. You’ll come out of it stronger. Better. Rather than ruined, because make no mistake, Jason Treffen is going to lose it all and you don’t want to be part of that. You want to be someone who took something, not someone who stayed in Rome while it burned.”

  Lenore’s shoulders lowered a bit. “Avoiding scandal has always been so important to your father.”

  “He created this one,” Austin said. “It’s his own mess and he’s going to have to clean it up. You don’t. I know it will be hard, but I’ll be there for you. I brought it to you now because soon it’s going to be in the media, and I wanted you to have time to distance yourself from him before then. I hate telling you this,” he said, looking tired now. Older. “Both of you. I hate knowing it. I hate that it’s our life right now. But no matter how much I hate it, it doesn’t change anything.”

  Lenore looked at Katy. “You aren’t his girlfriend?”

  The older woman looked so shattered. And she knew the devastating news wasn’t really the question of Katy and Austin’s relationship. But even so, she couldn’t bring herself to disappoint her. She didn’t see the point of making things worse. It was only Jason’s blood she wanted.

  “Oh, no, I am. We met almost by accident. I mean, at the party like we told you. But...but then it turned out...”

  “Very convenient,” Addison said, her arms crossed under her breasts, her eyes now on Katy, and gone very sharp, digging into her. “And you have all this supposed evidence about my father?”

  “I have my own, Addison,” Austin growled. “And before you go accusing Katy of anything, remember that in doing so you’re accusing me of being a gullible idiot. And I know you wouldn’t do that.”

  “Will you excuse me, please?” Lenore asked. “I’m not feeling well. Thankfully, because of the weather Jason is staying in Manhattan all week. It will give me some time to process it all. I’ll call you in a couple of days, darling.” Lenore stood and bent, cupping Austin’s ch
in and kissing him lightly on the cheek before she walked out of the room.

  Katy felt nothing but sadness for her. For the position they’d put them in. Austin was right about the cost of all this. It wasn’t light. Vengeance hurt more people than she’d ever wanted to hurt. But it was the truth, so that had to make it right.

  Addison stood, too, her eyes on Austin. “Mom might not need your evidence, but I do. We’ll get in touch later. For now...for now, I have to deal with Mom.”

  “I understand. Tell Mom I love her.” Austin stood and Katy followed suit.

  “I will.” Addison gave Katy a hard look. “You’d better be right. If you’re going to go saying things like this...you’d better be right.”

  “I’d rather be wrong,” Katy said. “But I’m not.”

  Addison nodded once, then walked out of the room.

  Katy felt like she’d misjudged Addison. She wasn’t as soft as she’d seemed at first, but that shouldn’t surprise Katy, really. She was a Treffen, and she seemed to have that same spine of steel her mother had. That Austin had.

  “It’s time to head back,” he said, “now that we’ve done our damage.”

  “Right. And you were right,” she said, when they were outside and getting back into the car. “It wasn’t fun. At all. Because I can appreciate ruining Jason’s life. I can appreciate taking them from him. But I didn’t really enjoy taking him from them, if you know what I mean.”

  He started the engine. “Yeah, I do. Damn, it’s cold.”

  “Yeah.” She turned on the heat before leaning back in the seat.

  “I’m hoping that we’re not driving on a sheet of ice the whole way back.”

  “Do you have studs?” she asked.

  “No. I don’t drive often enough to put special tires on.”

  “Chains?”

  “No.”

  “You weren’t a Boy Scout, were you?”

  “Because I’m not prepared? Don’t I always have a condom when we need one?”

  She snorted. “Unless you can put condoms on tires to help give you more traction, I’m not really impressed with that right now.”

  “We’ll be fine.” He pulled out of the driveway and onto the two-lane road that headed back toward town and the interstate.