Master of the Game (Rush Series Book 3)

Master of the Game

By LR Potter

Copyright 2013 LR Potter

This
book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are
products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not
to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual
events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

This
ebook
is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This
ebook
may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If
you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an
additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of
this author.

Cover
Art By:

Carolyn
M.
Pinard

Photos
used with permission by Shutter Stock Photography

Prologue

Alex
Masters stood facing the enormous bank of windows which encompassed two entire
walls of his office at
DrayCo
International. He stood
with his arms crossed, causing his pale blue dress-shirt to strain at the seams
as it struggled to contain the bulky, rippling muscles underneath. His navy
suit jacket had long since been discarded over the back of his chair far
earlier in the day. Suit jackets were not intended to be worn in the sultry,
humid air of Savannah, Georgia, or at least not for long.

His
blonde head was tilted to one side as he tried to concentrate on the voice
coming in through his ever-present
BluTooth
. His
luminescent, pale green eyes stared without seeing the throngs of people and
cars which streamed past down below on the busy streets of Savannah.

“Alex?”

The
abruptness of his name coming through the
BluTooth
caused him to snap back into focus once more.

“Sorry,
I missed that. Can you repeat?” he asked.

“I said
,
I need you to fly to the worksite in
Puerta
Vallarta. The situation is getting dicey. Go down and see if we should continue
with the project or pull out. While I’d hate to throw it away at this stage of
the game, I don’t want to be in the middle of a drug war either,” Rush Drayton,
CEO of
DrayCo
International, said.

“Will
you be joining me?” Alex asked.

Rush
laughed. “And leave my honeymoon? No, I trust your judgment. If need be, I’ll
come when I get back. Just head down, see what you can ferret out and report
back to me.”

“What
about the Cayman project? “ Alex asked.

“For
the most part, its issues are resolved. Trinity and I will fly there before we
come home. Right now, the hotspot is Puerto Vallarta. I need to know if what is
happening is due to typical territorial issues or if this is backlash from the
Tiko
Mars’ situation.”

“Will
do,” Alex replied. “When are you due back?”

“Two
weeks.”

“I’ll
fly out first thing in the morning.
Anything else?”
Alex asked.

“Did
you add the additional security measures I requested at my house?” Rush asked.

“Yes,
it’s now officially more secure than Fort Knox,” Alex replied with a grin.

“Can’t be too careful.
Hopefully, it’ll put Trinity
more at ease… if anything can,” Rush replied. His words were a nasty reminder
to them both of the kidnappings which had transpired in both El Paso and before
that in James Franklin’s warehouse.

“How’s
the new security detail working out?” Alex asked.

Rush
sighed on the other end. “You know Trinity. While she doesn’t particularly like
it, she’s learning to accept it for our son’s sake. But for their part, the
team seems adequate.”

“Okay,
boss, I’ll call you tomorrow once I get situated,” Alex said.

“Tomorrow,
then,” Rush said, as he disconnected.

Alex
shook his head as he thought about the struggle his poor security team would
have dealing with Trinity Drayton. She hated having a detail. While she’d not
tried to ditch or evade a team since being kidnapped in El Paso, she certainly
lamented about having one. Alex was happy everything had worked out for Rush
and Trinity. They’d beaten the odds hedged against them and were now married -
a family at last - with their son, Blake. And even though so many obstacles had
tried to keep them apart, they’d managed to come out on the other side
together… together, happy, and safe. Now, if he could just keep them that way.
As head of security, it was his
job
to keep them that way – well, the safe part anyway.

Rubbing
a hand against his neck, Alex sighed. While for Caesar Augustus the road always
led to Rome, for him, the road always led to Mexico.

He
wondered what Devon was doing right at that moment… if the path she’d chosen
had made her happy – had given her what she’d expected it to? Alex considered
himself a very smart and resourceful man. He’d graduated top of his class at
Harvard, had clawed his way up through the ranks of the special forces, and
once he’d completed his stint in the Marine Corps, he’d been recruited heavily
and obtained by the CIA. And yet, even with all that, he knew if he lived to be
a hundred, he’d never,
ever
understand the workings of a woman’s mind.

Mexico… again.
Alex sighed heavily as he
thought of everything he’d gained and lost in Mexico. If he were honest, Mexico
wasn’t to blame. Things always boiled down to choices - choices and their
devastating consequences – as well as the price you were willing to pay for
them.

Chapter 1

The Beginning: Five Years
Before
….

After
having run up the four flights of stairs to their apartment, Alex now hesitated
at the door. He inhaled deeply, closed his eyes, and leaned his forehead
against the door. How she must hate him… and he didn’t blame her. Grief at his
own loss and guilt for failing her slashed at him and settled like a stone
weight in his belly. His beautiful, sweet girl… tore up and torn apart; and
he’d not been there for her.

 
He slid his key into the lock and opened the
door quietly. The apartment was nearly dark in the late afternoon. He stood a
moment listening for her, but all was quiet. Maybe she was asleep? He dropped
his flight bag down by the door.

Moving
stealthily through the apartment, he finally found her. Addison, his wife of
two years, was sitting up on the bed, huddled, with her arms wrapped around her
knees looking off into space. He stood in the doorway for a long moment and
took her in. His heart broke at her dejected posture. Her usually shiny, long
blonde hair was dull and not brushed. He moved to her and sat on the edge of
the bed facing her. It took her a moment to realize he’d sat down beside her.
Tears immediately flooded her eyes. Silently she mouthed his name, “Alex?”

“Addie, honey.
I’m so sorry,” he murmured, as
he pulled her up against his body.

He felt
her stiffen against him, which caused him to tighten his arms even further
around her. She leaned into him for a moment as tears streaked her face and soaked
his T-shirt. Then, she began to struggle against him.

“You,
asshole,” she cried, as she began to beat her fists against his chest and
shoulders ineffectively.

His
face grim, he only gathered her closer to him and laid them down side by side.
“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I just didn’t know.

“Where
were you?” she cried. “I called and called and you never answered.”

“I
know, Addie. I know,” he murmured.

“It was
a boy. Did they tell you that? A son, we had son,” she said cruelly.

Alex
closed his eyes and swallowed hard as the pain hit him in his gut.

Raggedly,
he repeated, “I’m sorry, baby.”

She
pulled away and her chin trembled. “I needed you, Alex. I needed you so badly
and no one would tell me where you were.”

With
hands that shook, he brushed the hair from her face. “What did the doctors say?
Are
you
okay?”

She
shoved his hand away. “I don’t give a damn about myself. Our son is dead and
you couldn’t tear yourself away even for a second to call me. I was left in
that damned hospital by myself… by myself while they scraped his body from
inside me.” Her sobs caused her body to shudder and shake.

He
buried one hand in her hair and placed the other on her back and snatched her
up against his chest as pain exploded within him at her words. He knew he let
her down. Pain of the miscarriage and guilt at her pain warred within him.
They’d been so excited just a few short weeks before his last assignment. And
now, it was gone… the baby was gone.

“I
wanted him so much,” she whimpered into the crook of his neck.

“I
know, baby,” he whispered across the top of her head.

Alex
held her as she cried, running his hand up and down her back in soothing
comfort. He continued to hold her long after she quieted and her breathing
became even… long after the late afternoon light faded into the inky darkness
of night.

Alex
was hunched over the counter drinking a cup of coffee the next morning when
Addison entered the room. “Hey,” he said softly.

Her
eyes were red and swollen. She eyed him warily as she passed him on her way to
grab her own coffee. After adding creamer, she took a couple of sips before
speaking. “I can’t go on like this, Alex,” she said dully, her lips trembling.

He
sighed. “Addie, I was in the middle of a jungle. There was no way for anyone to
reach me. This is my job. You knew this from the beginning,” he said evenly.

She
stared at him for a long minute. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say? You’re
right, I did know about your job. I guess I just assumed that eventually you’d
tire of playing spy games with the CIA. I assumed, once we were married, that
I’d be your priority. But I seem to lose every time to your stupid job.” Her
chin began to wobble and she swallowed hard trying to contain her overwrought
emotions. “I really needed you, Alex. I shudder to think if I’d really had the
baby. Would he have been able to depend on you?” She paused before adding, “I
don’t think so.”

He
flinched at her words. “Addie, that’s not fair. I came as soon as I could.”

Addison
flipped her long, blonde hair over her shoulders before squaring herself up.
“My father said I should move back home.”

“This
is your home,” he said quietly.

Her
chest began to rise and fall rapidly. “This hasn’t been a home for a really
long time… if ever.”

Rising
slowly from the barstool, he approached her. Cupping her cheek within his palm,
he stared down into her beautiful face. “Addie, of course your father is going
to say that. He hasn’t approved of our marriage from the beginning. Let’s just
take this slow, okay?”

Tears
began to stream down her face once more. “Alex, I can’t live like this anymore.
I want a normal life where I come home after class and find you here. Where the
hardest thing we have to decide is what to have for dinner. You’re gone so
much,
it feels like, for the most part, that we’re not even
married. I want a life with you. I want children… I want your children. But I
don’t want to raise them alone.”

He
stared down into her watery green eyes. After a long moment, he said softly,
“Addie, I can’t give up my job.”

“You
mean, you
won’t
give it up,” she
said.

“How do
you think we could possibly pay for these children if I don’t work?” he asked
patiently.

“My
father…” she began.

“No! I
will not go into the corporate world of your father’s. We’ve already talked
about this. This is exactly what your father wants,” he said.

Snatching
herself away from him, she cried. “This is what
I
want.”

Sadly
and slowly, he shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I won’t quit… at least not yet.
Maybe later, but not now.”

She
gripped the edge of the counter. “It’s either them or me,” she said softly.

He
blinked as he absorbed her words. “Don’t give an ultimatum you can’t live with,
Addie.”

She
began to back away from him. “I need some time to think. I’m going to my
parent’s for a few days.”

“Addie…”
he began, before swearing when she headed to the bedroom and refused to be
stopped. “Dammit!”

Rubbing
a hand roughly over his face, he thought this probably was for the best. They
both needed time to think things through. He picked up his phone and looked
again at the text he’d been reading before she’d entered the kitchen:
Need you back. Pronto!