Gone Too Far (2 page)

Her mother-in-law, Janet Chase, made her life hell. While she wanted the marriage to happen to avoid having a child with the Chase name born out of wedlock, afterward Janet wanted Kimberly out so she could be replaced with a suitable woman to bear the Chase name. Their battles reached levels neither had expected. Things got so out of control, it began to harm the marriage that Kimberly had to pinch herself every morning to believe she had. An unbelievably sexy, handsome, smart, successful, and rich guy loved her, adored her, and she had the two most perfect twin boys in the world. She was living the highlife every day, except for the fact that she was never allowed to forget that she didn't belong.

She'd made mistakes and her marriage began to show cracks. She had assumed that Michael loved her more than anything but found out he loved his father's approval more. Steven Chase was a man among men, and he never let his boys forget it. While the eldest son, Carter, had found a way to get out from under Steven's shadow, Michael hadn't, and Kimberly's desire not to be the cause of more strife between Michael and Steven made her make bad decisions. The worst decision was not telling Michael that her pimp, David, had come to Los Angeles to extort money from her, threatening to expose her past and embarrass a family that was always under the microscope. David proved more than she could handle. His demands continued to escalate, and even though she had slept with him to make him leave, he wouldn't. When he threatened to release a tape of them having sex, Kimberly could no longer bear it. There was a struggle and David died.

She was a Chase, so it was all covered up. This family was expert at keeping scandals from the public and overcoming those that seeped through their hands. There was never a moment when they weren't actively trying to keep up their appearance of perfection. A lot had been done that was wrong, but murder, even though it happened in self-defense, was the last straw.

Her dream man had become her nightmare. He hated her because she had slept with her ex-pimp and, mostly, because she had Steven threatening to cut Michael off from his chance at the CEO seat of Chase Beauty—the dream he had above all others. She hated him because he used their children to hurt her. He threw his affairs in her face and practically kept her prisoner in their home. She had tried to leave with her boys, not caring that she wouldn't get a penny, but she learned quickly that she would never be able to.

Things reached the brink when Michael finally broke down. In his own sick way, he still loved Kimberly too much to let her go, and he hated her for it. But it was interfering with every aspect of his life, and it was starting to wear on the family name and image. Kimberly played the last hand she had left and, surprisingly, won. He had threatened to never let her go with more than the clothes on her back and to never let her see her kids again, but when she appeared to be willing to do that, he caved to keep her near.

In the divorce settlement, she was given their $5 million home, $10 million in cash, $75,000 a year in alimony, and $300,000 a year in child support. Certainly better than the clothes on her back, but most importantly, she had her boys. And that was all that mattered; it was all that ever mattered, but the other stuff was nice too. Of course, it wasn't nearly half of what Michael had. He kept their home in Maui and had at least a $300 million investment in Chase Beauty. There was also the matter of his trust fund, which was worth millions, and he never relinquished his control of the trust funds of their two boys, Daniel and Evan, which was at least $10 million each and growing.

The money was a headache at times. She had spent the almost eight years of her marriage spending money and nothing else. She had no idea how to manage it, so she hired one of the best to manage it for her. It had taken him almost six months, but Glenn had finally convinced her to make riskier investment decisions. She had been willing to live without the money if she could keep her boys, but now that she had them, she didn't want to lose the money either.

“Not only will you not lose the millions you have,” Glenn answered, “but you also stand to make millions more. You just have to trust me.”

“I won't trust you,” Kimberly answered. Since Bernie Madoff, no one trusted their money managers. “But I will give you a closely monitored chance.”

“That's all I ask. I'll let you get back to your family.”

Kimberly said good-bye and hung up. She placed the phone lightly on the table and looked around. Her family. What had become of that? It seemed insane, but there were times when she missed Michael. Even after the hell he put her through, she hadn't forgotten how happy they had been once. She hadn't forgotten how he loved her despite knowing about her past and how hard he had worked, although ultimately unsuccessfully, to protect her past from his family. What they had shared at one time, she had been certain was stronger than any problems they could ever have. She was wrong. During the bad times, Kimberly had feared so much, but now all she feared was the belief that she would never feel that kind of love again.

The phone rang again, and she was hoping it was Michael, telling her he was bringing the boys home from dinner at Chase Mansion with their family. It wasn't. She noticed the caller ID, and the grind in the pit of her stomach brought her peaceful evening to an end. She wasn't going to take that call. She wasn't in the mood to talk about the revenge she was planning for Steven and Janet Chase for trying to buy her children away from her six months ago.

 

Carter leaned back on the large, plush, regal sofa in the great room of Chase Mansion, the home that was famous around the world not just for who lived in it, but also for the fact that it was nestled in a decidedly upper-middle-class black suburb rather than in Bel Air or Beverly Hills. He was tired after spending the morning at Chase Law, the law firm that he started several years ago, and spending the rest of the day with his little angel, Connor. He was still getting used to the energy it took to be a dad.

It was all worth it, he thought as his little princess rolled onto her side and fell on his lap. She looked up at him, rubbing her tiny little nose with her chunky fingers, and yawned. He picked her up and brought her to him, kissing her on her fat cheeks before laying her against his chest.

Carter had never known he could love like this. After more than thirty years of a father who seemed to have only enough emotion to offer his wife, Carter wasn't familiar with an affectionate type of fatherly love. Of course, he knew he would love his child, but what he imagined was nothing like what he actually felt. Connor was the sun and the moon to him. He would give his life for her. There was a time when he'd do the same for her mother, but now it was only Connor. She was the only good, pure thing in his life, and he loved her beyond words.

Carter's twenty-nine-year-old sister, Leigh, sat down on the sofa next to him with a glass cup of strawberry ice cream in her hand. She looked down at Connor. “She's tired. You don't usually keep her up this late, do you?”

Carter kissed Connor's head. She now had a full head of soft, curly hair that smelled like lavender. “She's fine.”

“Avery's going to be mad,” Leigh said, “but you don't care about that, do you?”

Carter shot Leigh a look. His very pretty sister, the doctor, looked like an angel with her unassuming beauty; soft, tender features; and short curls. But she could, on occasion, be passive-aggressive when telling you how she felt, especially when she didn't approve.

“Is that what you came over here for?” Carter asked. “To get on me about Avery?”

“That's none of my business.” Leigh looked at the ice cream and wondered if there was whipped cream in the fridge. “I was just stating a fact.”

“I decide how late my daughter stays up,” Carter said defiantly. “It's been a peaceful family evening, Leigh. Everyone is getting along. Let's let this rare occasion last.”

Leigh laughed. He was right. She was well aware that, in the dictionary, the word
Chase
could be defined as “dysfunctional family.” Why would they need to discuss battles they had with others when there were more than enough battles just between them? The most constant battle was between Carter and their father. Steven and Carter got along only sporadically, something that existed their whole life but escalated when, after Harvard Law, Carter decided to start his own law firm instead of joining Chase Beauty. Steven, a man who relied on his influence over his children to get them to do his bidding, had never fully recovered from the rejection. They were closer now, ever since Carter and Michael had been in the Chase jet that crashed in Denver last year. They had tried their best to put aside their differences—differences that hit a height when Steven found out that Carter had known all along that Kimberly had been a teenaged hooker and kept it from the family.

“You forget Michael and Daddy,” Leigh said. “You should know better than to mistake not fighting with getting along. You're an expert at it.”

Carter looked over at the bar, where his father was fixing a drink. You could never not notice Steven Chase. He was a powerful, tall, dark man who commanded attention. While his distinguished white temples hinted that he was well into his fifties, he was still in remarkable shape. He carried himself with a unique mastery very few men had.

And he was married to a woman, standing next to him, of a very rare caliber. Janet was Steven's introduction to the world of black blue blood. She was an exceptionally beautiful woman who had always looked ten years younger than she was. She was always impeccable, even when she was a mess inside, which was more often than she'd ever admit.

Carter turned his attention to the floor, where his little brother by one year, Michael, was playing chess with his eight-year-old son Daniel, while Daniel's twin, Evan, looked on with a discontented look on his face. Six months ago, everyone thought Michael would implode. His life had gotten so out of control that it threatened to destroy the whole family. No one knew what to do. Even Carter was on the verge of hopelessness, despite the fact that he and Michael had been best friends their whole lives and usually helped each other out of their biggest messes.

Everyone was shocked beyond belief when Michael, whose one and only dream in life was to take over Chase Beauty, resigned from his position on the Chase Beauty board of directors and took an indefinite leave of absence from his position as CFO. This was in response to his parents' attempt to force him to divorce Kimberly and run her out of L.A. with $20 million and nothing else. He eventually came back within a month, but you could still feel a chill in any room in which Steven and Michael were together. Things had changed forever.

“If anything good came from Michael and Dad's drama,” Carter whispered to his sister, “it's that Michael isn't under Dad's finger anymore. His entire existence rose and fell on Dad's approval, something I warned him could never fully be achieved.”

“I'm still worried about him,” Leigh said. She always worried about Michael and Carter and their little sister, Haley, who…“Hey, where did Haley go? She was here like five minutes ago.”

“She probably went back to her new house,” Carter answered as the doorbell rang.

“You mean the guest house?” Leigh was speaking of the 2,500-square-foot house behind the main house and the pool but in front of the basketball court.

“Mom's latest attempt to keep her close,” Carter said. “You know the kid can only stand peaceful family moments for so long. Dysfunction is her energy source.”

“Hello, everyone.”

While everyone expected to see whoever had rung the doorbell, they turned their attention in the other direction as Peter Hargrove entered the room from the back with that always-too-cheerful smile on his face and those constantly ruffled dark brown curls.

“Well,” Michael said out aloud, “if it isn't Haley's first of what's certain to be a minimum of five husbands. Nice of you to join us, Pete.”

“It's Peter,” the young man corrected with an annoyed glance at his brother-in-law. “Is Haley around?”

“You mean your wife?” Michael asked. “Why is it that I know more about your wife's whereabouts than you do?”

“Michael.” Janet spoke sternly as she nodded to her son. “That's enough.”

Janet took a deep breath and forced a kind smile as she turned to Peter. “Haley is in the game room downstairs. Peter, have you had dinner?”

“I ate out,” he answered with his strong Australian accent. He ran his fingers over his unruly hair as he stood looking pleased with himself. He knew he was handsome in the rebellious rich boy sort of way, and his dark skin and half-Australian, half-Aboriginal features made him stand out.

“Where the hell have you been?” Steven asked, not trying to conceal his disdain for this boy who had forced himself into his family.

“Out and about, mate.” Peter, dressed in faded black shorts and a Manchester United T-shirt, seemed unaware or unconcerned of his father-in-law's disdain for him.

“You wouldn't have possibly been looking for a job?” Michael asked sarcastically.

“Don't need a job,” Peter said with an above-it-all grin as he strode through the middle of the room. “I'm rich, remember?”

Steven let out a low groan, and Janet placed her hand firmly on his arm to get him to calm down. She waited until Peter was gone before letting go.

“I'm not going to warn you again,” she scolded. “You must try to be nicer to him.”

“This is as good as it's going to get,” Steven answered, taking a quick sip of his drink. “I can't stand that kid.”

“Carter.” Maya, the Chase Mansion maid for almost twenty years, stood in the archway to the great room, and with her strong Caribbean accent said, “It's Avery.”

Carter took a second before nodding to Maya, who quickly left.
Here we go,
he thought as he lifted himself off the sofa with his baby in his arms. He ignored the insolent glances thrown his way as he left the room. This was none of their business.