Fugitive Millionaire Revenge (Fabian Cooper Book Two) (10 page)

“I don’t know, Gray. Why don’t you just end it all now, since you apparently have nothing more to live for anymore.”

“Fabian! Don’t say that to him,” Claire scolds. “Can’t you see he’s really hurt?”

“Yeah, Claire. That’s the problem. Nathan, the golden boy, sticks a dagger into his heart, yet he still can’t bring himself to fully accept me into his life. He’d rather die. That’s what kills me inside, Claire.”

Fabian goes over to the mini bar and pours his own stiff drink of bourbon. He gulps down a hearty portion. “It’s why I drink so much.”

Nathan suddenly bursts into the living room, wearing a black silk robe over silky gold pajama bottoms. “Gray! I heard the alarm. Are you okay?”

Gray gives Nathan a defeated look. “No, I’m not okay, Nathan. I’ll probably never be okay again.”

Nathan glares at Fabian. “Did Fabian hurt you?”

“My son did not hurt me. It’s you I have a problem with.”

Nathan makes a show of playing innocent. “What’s going on, Gray? What lies have they been filling your head with?”

Fabian puts his glass down and glares back at Nathan. “The only one that’s been lying to him is you, Nathan.”

“Fabian, I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’ve called the police. They’re on their way to arrest you for what you did to Sloane.”

Fabian scowls. “I didn’t do anything to that bitch.”

Sloane walks into the room wearing only a red silk robe over her naked body. “When the police get here I’m telling them everything, Fabian. You and miss gullible over there assaulted and kidnapped me. You held me captive in a camper all the way from Mexico to the States. Then you beat me and left me alone and penniless at some truck stop in the middle of god knows where. Thankfully, a kindhearted trucker took pity on me and gave me a lift to a hotel. Gray and Nathan were so happy I made it back here unharmed. No thanks to you.”

Suddenly, Fabian feels like he’s the one that’s being played. “So, you were here the whole time, huh? Gray, why didn’t you say something?”

“I wanted to hear what lie you were going to tell. Now I wished I’d never let you in here. I could have kept believing that Nathan and my wife actually gave a damn about me.”

Sloane goes over to Gray and places a manicured hand on his shoulder, acting as if she’s truly concerned about his feelings. “Gray honey, what are you talking about?”

Nathan jumps in with an answer of his own. “They’ve been filling his head with a bunch of crap.”

Gray gestures to Fabian. “Play the recording for Nathan, Fabian.”

“Gladly.” Fabian quickly rewinds the recording and plays the conversation from the beginning. He keeps his eyes glued on Nathan and Sloane to see how they react. He sees their demeanor change from arrogantly confident to nervously worried. They know the truth is finally being exposed to Gray. He’s guessing that both of them are trying to figure out how they can save their own ass.

Nathan gives Sloane an angry look. “Sloane, why would you involve me in your weird fantasy? Gray, I would never do anything to hurt you. Please believe me when I tell you that I have no reason to do something like that. I already have a great life thanks to your support and guidance.”

Sloane goes into dramatic hysterics. “All that stuff I said wasn’t really what I felt. Fabian was holding a gun on me at the time. He said if I didn’t say those things he’d shoot me dead. I swear that’s the truth, Gray. What else could I do?”

Claire shoots up off the sofa. “She’s lying! It was just you and me sitting in that restaurant that night. You didn’t know I had a recorder.”

Sloane angrily counters. “Oh, stop the bullshit, Claire. Gray, this little hussy was sitting right there approving of Fabian’s thuggish behavior. You went along with everything. Both of you should be arrested!”

“You’re a conniving liar and a cheater, Sloane,” Claire shoots back.

Gray puts his hands on his head. “All of this is so confusing. Now I don’t know who to believe.”

Fabian realizes that he and Claire’s honest account is no match for Nathan and Sloane’s stellar performances. He takes a seat next to Claire on the loveseat. He’s not going to engage in a shouting match with those two. He’ll just sit here calmly and wait for the police.

“If I were you, Gray,” Fabian says. “I wouldn’t know who to believe either. On one side you’ve got a biological son that you feel ambivalent about, and his girlfriend who you hardly know. On the other side are two spoiled kiss ups that you adore. I guess we’ll let the police sort through this mess.”

“We don’t need the police to figure out who is telling the truth,” Claire says confidently.

Fabian looks at her quizzically. “We don’t?”

“No. I’ve got something that will clear this all up.” Claire stands up and takes the floor. She pulls out her smartphone and pulls up a video she saved.

Sloane reacts to Claire’s sudden display of absolute confidence with her own bravado. “She’s bluffing. Claire is just a little mouse that is desperate for attention.”

Nathan appears to be nervous. “Let’s see what she’s got first before knocking it down.”

Claire holds up her cell for all to see. “What I’ve got is a video of Nathan and Sloane having sex at a local hotel.”

Fabian is intrigued. “You do?”

Gray is surprised. “You what?”

Nathan is none too pleased at this development. “Bullshit. Let me see that video.” Nathan attempts to grab Claire’s phone, but Fabian steps in and shields her.

“Bring it here, Claire,” Gray says.

Claire goes over to Gray. She, Gray, Fabian, Nathan and Sloane all watch the short video together.

“You two underestimated what a fabulous team Fabian and I make.”

Gray is crushed. “How can you look me in the eye everyday pretending…how could you do this to me after all I’ve done for both of you?”

Gray rises from his chair, walks over to an antique desk, opens the drawer and pulls out a handgun. He walks up to Nathan and tries to hand it to him. “Here, Nathan. You might as well finish me off. I’m hurting so bad right now I might as well be dead.”

Nathan refuses to take it. “Get that thing away from me, Gray. You know I hate those things. Listen, the truth is that Sloane filled my head with all of these grand ideas. She said that once we got Fabian out of the way for good, you’d change your will and leave me all of his money.”

“So it all boils down to money in the end. Is that it, Nathan? I thought being the president of my company with a generous salary of two hundred and fifty thousand a year, plus bonuses would be enough to satisfy any ambitions you had.”

“It is, but she kept filling my head up with all this stuff about me and her having this wonderful life together after you’re gone. For some reason, it all made sense at the time. I guess I let Sloane’s manipulations get inside of my head. Gray, I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”

Gray ignores Nathan and walks over to Sloane. “Sloane, why not just ask me for a divorce? I would have given you a decent settlement. Even more than our agreed upon prenup, if that’s what you wanted.”

“Because her greed consumes her,” Fabian answers. “She always wants more. She won’t be happy until you’re dead and I’m out of the picture.”

Gray stares at the gun in his hand. His father seems to be contemplating whether or not to use it, which is very alarming. He quickly steps in between Sloane and his father.

“Give me the gun, dad.”

Gray looks Fabian in the eye and actually smiles. “That’s okay, son. I’m not going to use it.” Gray puts the gun back into the desk drawer. He goes back over to confront Nathan and Sloane together.

“I want both of you out of my house,” he says coldly. “Get out! I never want to see either of you again.”

Sloane throws up her hands in exasperation. “Alright! I admit that I slept with Nathan and told him a bunch of stuff I thought he wanted to hear. Gray, I swear to god it was all fake. I don’t love Nathan. I just wanted to fool around a little and have a good time. No harm no foul. He’s the one that goaded me into this stupid scheme.”

Nathan is beside himself with indignation. “That’s a damn lie! She’s behind it all, Gray. My eyes are wide open now. I can see that she purposely threw herself at me sexually just to come between you, me and Fabian. Damnit! She used me like a chump so she could get her hands on all that money. I’m such a stupid fool.”

“It no longer matters to me which one of you did what,” Gray says dryly. “Nathan, you are no longer top executive at Cooper Enterprises. You’ll submit your resignation first thing tomorrow. I’ll contact our human resources manager and have her set up your severance pay.”

“No! Gray don’t do this,” Nathan begs as he drops to his knees in front of his mentor. “I’ll do anything to make it up to you. I’ll take a leave of absence for a while, without pay, or some other type of punishment. You and that company mean everything to me. You’re the only father figure I’ve ever had. Please don’t take it all away.”

Gray looks down at Nathan. “I guess I didn’t do a good enough job at being a father to either of you boys. Sorry, son. My mind is made up.” Gray heads back to his chair.

“Gray, please…I’m the best leader you’ve got and you know it. I can’t…I won’t resign.”

Gray spins around. His face is beet red with anger. “What did you say? Listen here, Nathan. This is my company and whatever I say goes. You’ve made me look like a damn fool and I’m not letting you get away with it. You had your fun with my wife. Now, take your punishment like a man. Get out of here, and take that whore with you!”

Fabian gets in Nathan’s face. “You heard him, bro. Get the hell out of here. Our friendship is over too.”

Nathan stands there blinking back tears as he struggles to regain his composure. “You’ll regret this, Gray. I promise you. You’ll live to regret taking away everything I’ve worked so hard to achieve all these years.”

“Do you think this is easy for me?” Gray asks. “It’s not. You did this to yourself, Nathan. You…”

Gray grabs his heart. “You…agh!” Gray crumbles to the floor in agonizing pain.

“Dad!” Fabian kneels down by Gray’s side.

Claire still has her cell out and starts dialing. “I’m calling 911.”

“Oh my god,” Sloane says with genuine concern. “He’s having a heart attack.”

Nathan pulls at his hair. “No, this can’t be happening. Oh my god, Gray. I’m so sorry. I did this to him. Oh god. Please let him be okay.”

Gray lies on the floor gasping for air, fighting for every breath.

Tears are streaming down Fabian’s cheeks as he gently holds his father in his arms. “Hang in there, dad. You’re gonna come out of this okay. You’re too damn stubborn to die. I love you and I need you to live. There’s so much I wanna say to you.”

Gray grimaces in pain while keeping a steady gaze on his son.

*****

Claire stands outside on the estate grounds silently watching as the paramedics carry Gray Cooper on a stretcher into a waiting ambulance. The live in house staff is huddled nearby watching the proceedings with solemn expressions. She can imagine they are worried that their boss may be leaving Cooper Manor for the last time.

The whirling red and blue lights from a patrol car flashes brightly as two uniformed officers and a detective team from New York’s finest hang out and talk among themselves. Claire is grateful that they have taken no action to arrest either her or Fabian.

Fabian. Poor Fabian. He looks so distraught as he climbs into the ambulance and takes a seat near the stretcher. He has refused to leave Gray’s side, even for her. Claire walks up closer to the ambulance. She is trying to think of something supportive to say to her man, but can’t quite come up with the right words. Everything will be okay is so overused and she doesn’t know if things will be okay.

She longs to climb in there with him, just to give him some strong emotional support. But, that’s not possible. There’s only room for one family member. Fabian is right where he belongs—holding Gray’s hand as they take him to the hospital. The ambulance door closes. Sirens blare loudly as the mobile emergency vehicle makes its way towards the front gate.

Claire is feeling a little tinge of guilt. Maybe if she had never shown Gray that videotape of Sloane and Nathan going at it in a hotel room he’d still be sitting inside, upset but well enough to chat with her and Fabian. She knows she acted impulsively.

While they were in Mexico she had gone behind Fabian’s back and hired P.I. Mike to do a side job, which she added to Fabian’s bill.

She had Mike do some digging into Nathan’s activities around the time of Sloane’s so called kidnapping. She was hoping the P.I. would find some dirt they could use to beat Nathan at his own game. The trip in the camper had distracted her so much that she’d forgotten all about it. That is, until Mike sent her an email with a video attached. That was yesterday. She put off watching it until an hour before they pulled into Fabian’s neighborhood. She was going to tell Fabian about it before they talked to Gray, but decided to wait. She was hoping it would come in handy at the right moment. Boy, did it ever.

Mike’s email was short and to the point:

I shot this video after discovering the mark has a standing reservation at a hotel. He usually goes there at odd times with a classy blonde. Snuck a camera in the room during their latest rendezvous. Hope you can use this.

Claire has a new found respect for private eyes.

She forgot that Sloane had told her about Gray’s heart condition. It was one of those bits of information that she stored in the back of her mind. If she had remembered, she would have chosen to show the video only to Nathan and Sloane. That would have been enough to scare them into coming clean. At least she thinks that’s how it would have gone down. As they say, hindsight is twenty twenty.

Gray was so upset. His heart just couldn’t take it. He had invested so much of himself in molding Nathan into his version of the perfect son. He never dreamed in a million years that Nathan would turn on him, or have an affair with his wife.

Perhaps her showing the video didn’t really make much difference. The damage had already been done. Fabian’s father was an emotional basket case. She did what she felt was right at the time. At least Gray knows for sure now that Fabian is telling the truth.