One thing was for sure, Eleanor wasn’t going to allow Stinger to publish anything about Joseph’s family secrets or about her sexual relationship with him. What would her parents think if they read that in the paper? Not to mention all Joseph’s female fans who’d probably lynch her. But more importantly, Ivan’s privacy needed to be respected and upheld, not splashed over the front pages like some tacky soap opera plot.
Speaking of soap operas… Eleanor pulled out her phone and composed a message to Pierre – the guy whose affair she’d been planning to expose for her front-page scoop.
‘Hi Pierre, I won’t print the story. Please just make sure you do the right thing from now on. I know I will…’
She sent the message then opened up a web browser, with the intention of searching online for the legality of what Stinger was doing, but there was a tap on the window which made her jump. Her head whipped around to face the glass and her heart surged with emotion as she looked into the eyes of her beloved, who was grinning at her behind his shades. She unlocked the door and he pulled it open, then he offered her his hand – which she grasped and climbed out of the car with dignity. They faced each other and he bent to kiss her, but stopped at the last second in case any photographers were lurking in the dark.
“They’re dying to meet you,” he said. “And they’re not mad.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, come on, let’s go inside. You okay?”
“Well, my professional dreams have been shattered and I’ve just been blackmailed and assaulted. But I’m with you, so I guess that counts for something.”
He wrapped his arms around her and they strolled inside the apartment foyer, where Joseph kissed her hard – out of the way of any prying paparazzi. He gazed affectionately into her eyes, then they went up to Dylan’s apartment. Dylan was waiting at the front door looking anxious but welcoming. He seemed naturally surly, but he offered his hand for her to shake. “Hi, Eleanor,” he said. “Great to meet you at last.”
“You too,” she said cringing.
“Come in. Sarah’s just dishing up some dinner for you and Joe.”
“Thank you so much. I’m freezing.”
He led them through the apartment and into the dining room, relishing the heat as it melted her frozen limbs. She saw out of the huge windows that it had just started snowing heavily, but this place was warm and homey. It was full of friendly family vibes – something Eleanor never really felt in the home of her own parents. But this place seemed to glow with affection somehow.
“Did you put some ice on your face?” Dylan asked as they followed him down the hallway.
She reached up and rubbed her cheek. “No. I didn’t think to.”
“Alright, I’ll get you some in a sec.”
He pushed opened the dining room door and all eyes were on Eleanor. She glanced around the table and noticed the family resemblance between Joseph and his brothers. She was introduced to Adam – who seemed to be the inspiration behind Joseph’s cocky charm; and Ivan – who seemed tougher than the others. Eleanor was relieved that he was being transmitted from the UK via the laptop webcam, because she found him slightly intimidating. But perhaps he was just worried about this terrible Gerald Stinger situation… Sarah was Dylan’s girlfriend – and she seemed level-headed and friendly. And finally Amy was Adam’s fiancée, who was sweet and hospitable.
Joseph drew back a chair for her. “Take a seat, Ellie.”
She sat and gazed at the laptop. Ivan was glowering at her.
“So how are you going to get us out of this mess, Joseph?” Ivan asked.
Joseph sat next to Eleanor and held her hand, showing solidarity.
“We’re going to do all we can… but just as a precaution I was thinking maybe you should come home, Ivan? If The New York Spin publish this, the British tabloids will no doubt jump in too. You’d be surrounded by salivating journalists in no time.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I guess I should.”
“We need to think of damage limitation,” Adam said. “The cat’s out the bag, so now we should try to control it.”
Eleanor sat up tall. “I have a plan.”
“Oh yeah?” Ivan said.
“Yeah. I know it might sound crazy but I think we should bring down News Scape. Give them a taste of their own medicine. Expose their dirt and force them not to publish anything about Ivan – or else we’ll tell the world what they’ve been up to.”
This idea was met with silence. Dylan and Sarah exchanged a dubious look. Amy gazed at Eleanor with eyes full of sympathy. Joseph stared at her in shock. Adam burst into laughter.
Ivan scoffed. “Tell you what would be easier – why don’t you invent a time machine and go back to dismantle the entire apparatus of the Roman Empire?”
Joseph squeezed Eleanor’s hand tenderly. “What did you have in mind, sweetheart?”
Eleanor steeled herself, pushing away her nerves. “Well, technically I’m still in charge of this story. I was thinking we could dig a little deeper into Stinger’s underhand techniques. Do you remember, Joseph, when Bob Crowe pointed that gun at Blair Robertson?”
Joseph shrugged. “Sure. The rogue reporter who’d just got out of prison, right?”
“Yeah. He said something about it all being corrupt. We both dismissed him as a nutjob, but what if he could give us some info? I reckon he’d be glad to help us – to get revenge on News Scape for abandoning him when he was in trouble. It seems like all the journalists at News Scape are being encouraged to use illegal techniques, and I think it’s time someone brought them down.”
Joseph’s handsome face lit up with excitement. “And how about we use The Big Society to get the story out there independently? Our goal could be to get Stinger arrested – I mean, he broke into my apartment; and who else has he blackmailed? And – more importantly – how much of this does Robertson know about?”
Joseph and Eleanor grinned at each other. She could feel the doubt reverberating around the room from the others, but as long as they both had faith in this crazy plan, then maybe – just maybe – they’d win this game.
Ivan brought Eleanor back to reality. He raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Do you even know where to find this Bob Crowe guy?”
“No,” Eleanor said. “But I’ll find out. I am, after all, an investigative journalist.”
Chapter Eighteen
After a ‘blagging’ phone call to the News Scape offices, Eleanor discovered where Bob Crowe was currently living. She was proud of the fact that she’d used Stinger’s own underhand techniques against him by calling the night staff and pretending to be a prison official, insisting they provide her with Bob’s current address.
“He’s in a town outside Omaha,” she announced. “It’s called Weeping Waters. Shame it couldn’t be Florida. What’s the weather like in Nebraska this time of year?”
“Cold,” Joseph said. “What’s he doing there?”
“Apparently he grew up there. He’s gone back to live in the family home. It was pretty easy to trace him.”
“Well, it means we’ve got a long journey ahead tomorrow,” Joseph said. “I think we should definitely speak to him in person.”
“I agree.”
“You can borrow my private jet,” Adam said.
Eleanor laughed, thinking he was joking. But he wasn’t. Apparently the jet was on standby with a willing pilot whenever they needed it.
Joseph stood up and gently massaged Eleanor’s shoulders from behind. He bent and kissed her on the cheek. “We’ll have our own private jet too as soon as I get my royalty money.”
“You better make sure News Scape pays you before you bring it down to its knees, Joe,” Dylan said. “I assume they owe you a lot.”
“Millions,” Joseph said. “And it’s due imminently. Enough to retire on if I want.”
“But you won’t,” Adam said. “Performing’s in your blood.”
“Yeah,” Joseph said. “But once I’m out of my record contract, I can make the music I
want again.”
Ivan said his goodbyes because it was very late in the UK, so the men started to clear the table and carry the dishes through to the kitchen, which impressed Eleanor, but then she realised she was now alone with Amy and Sarah. She’d been bullied at school by a couple of popular cheerleading bitches, and she’d felt uncomfortable alone with groups of women ever since. She sat up tall and hardened herself as she always did in such situations. She’d decided back in high school that if she built a high enough wall around herself, no one could ever hurt her again. But that just seemed to prevent her own love from flowing outwards…
She glanced towards the kitchen door, wishing Joseph would come back. She sat bolt upright, worried that if she moved, the space might fold up and swallow her whole – crushing her like a Venus flytrap. She forced herself to relax. For some reason it smelled of summer in here – of fresh-cut grass and sunscreen. Nothing bad was going to happen. Sarah and Amy seemed lovely.
She gazed at them, smiling weakly.
Sarah swept her brown bob out of her face. “They’ll probably have a sneaky game of poker after they’ve loaded the dishwasher,” she said. “But Joseph will be back soon, don’t worry.”
“Oh. Good.”
Sarah poured her a glass of wine. “Here, you deserve this.”
“Thank you.” Eleanor rubbed her tired eyes. “God, this is such a mess – I never meant for any of this to happen.”
Amy smiled kindly. “It’s nothing you can’t handle, Eleanor. You’re much stronger than you think.”
Eleanor sipped her wine. “Thank you.” She laughed as she felt herself relax. “God, I was so worried that you two were going to… oh nothing – it’s silly.”
“What?” Sarah asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve just realised that things work better when we women support each other, doesn’t it?”
Amy nodded. “Definitely. It works better when everyone supports each other.”
Eleanor swigged back her drink, enjoying the soothing feel of the alcohol as it soaked into her brain. “I don’t understand why some people have this weird desire to drag other people down. It just feels horrible and causes separation. But when we humans pull together, it feels better.”
Sarah hopped up and threw another log on the open fire, then she poked it with an iron stoker, making the flames sizzle and rise. “It would be nice if your friend Blair Robertson could take heed.”
Eleanor sighed. “Yeah… the press should have the freedom to print stories uncensored by the authorities – it’s one of the ideals that our great nation was built on. But people like Robertson have totally twisted that sacred ideal. In the name of freedom, the tabloids drag down innocent people down and tell us who to hate – all for financial gain.”
“True,” Amy said. “It’s gotten out of hand.”
“But I don’t want to cause suffering,” Eleanor said. “I don’t want my heart hardened by hatred. I want to love and I want to spread goodness. I want to make the world a better place, not add to the misery. There’s enough misery as it is. I want to help my fellow humans.”
Sarah smiled proudly at her. “And that’s why Joseph loves you. Because he’s the same. Right, Amy?”
“Absolutely. You’re incredible. And he knows it.”
Eleanor felt her spirits soar. “Thank you. I like him, too. Under all that cocky charm.”
Sarah sipped her wine. “So what’s your plan to bring down Blair Robertson?”
Eleanor laughed at the prospect. “Oh god… I said that, didn’t I? I wonder if I’m really the woman for this job.”
“You’re the perfect woman for the job,” Sarah said. “We’re all able to do things we never expected when we have a little faith in ourselves. Unfortunately, sometimes you need to go through those things in order to discover how strong you really are.”
“Yeah,” Amy said. She smiled pensively. “We’re all a work-in-progress, huh?”
The women exchanged tender smiles between them, and Eleanor suddenly realised that she could get along with small groups of women after all. There was no need to allow those girls from her past to dictate her future. She grinned at her new friends as the emotion from today welled up. She swallowed, but she was unable to stop the tears as they burst into the world, and she started to bawl her eyes out.
Sarah and Amy leapt up in a pincer movement, each sitting one on side of her. They wrapped their arms around her and hugged her until the tears were all cried out. Her throat trembled with a whimper, and she laughed, feeling purged. Her restrictive walls crumbled and her heart filled with gooey affection.
“Thank you,” she said with a shudder. “You don’t know how much your kindness means to me. It makes me want to be kind, too. So that’s what I’m going to do. But first, I have a news conglomerate to take down. So I guess I’d better get an early night!”
Chapter Nineteen
The next morning Eleanor woke up early in Joseph’s arms and dragged herself under the shower. It was still dark outside, and she felt half-dead, but it was toasty in Joseph’s apartment and she was glowing inside with love and excitement. Joseph made them a breakfast of waffles, bacon, and maple syrup to prepare them for their adventure to Nebraska, then he called his bandmates and told them he wouldn’t be coming to the studio today.
They held hands in the back of the cab as it took them to the airfield where Adam’s private jet was ready to fly to Omaha airport. It was so different to being at a regular airport where the public were shunted around like cattle. Here Eleanor was treated like a princess by the over-attentive ground staff who insisted on carrying her laptop bag and helping her ascend the wheeled staircase – which was manoeuvred next to the jet’s cabin-door on the back of a truck. Matthew was wealthy and well-connected, but she’d never experienced anything like this before.
She’d flown many times in a regular airplane, but the inside of the private jet was something else. Instead of the usual rows of seats, it was like a flying five-star hotel room, complete with luxury couches, a drinks cabinet, and even a king-sized bed. The thick carpet and arty wall décor seemed brand new, as if the interior had recently been given a refurbishment. Eleanor sank into a soft velvet couch and realised that Adam could probably afford to refurbish as often as he wanted: he was clearly a very wealthy man. And Joseph would be too, as soon as his royalty payments started to come through. He’d be set up for life. Somehow this realisation scared her. She didn’t want him for his money; she wanted him for his charms, his affection… for the fun they had together.
Joseph sat down next to her and she snuggled into his arms. Eleanor had always wanted to join the mile high club, and hopefully she would on the journey home. But for now, there was a lot at stake in Nebraska. Saving Ivan’s reputation was clearly Joseph’s motivation, but Eleanor’s mind was fixed on the bigger prize – bringing down News Scape from within.
Three hours after they’d taken off, they touched down in Omaha, and climbed into a taxi to take them to Weeping Waters. Omaha itself was much more hilly than Eleanor was expecting, but as the taxi took them out of the city, the wide road opened out ahead and the landscape transformed into the sweeping flat vistas of cornfields and scrublands that Eleanor associated with Nebraska. The fields seemed to roll all the way to the horizon on both sides, and the term ‘wild frontier’ sprang to mind. It was so different to New York. At one point during their journey, the driver had to negotiate around a herd of bulls coming along the road in the opposite direction. A couple of cowboys on buggies were guiding them, and the driver explained this was perfectly normal in these parts.
It was a cold day out here in the sticks, and the frost clung to the trees even at noon, making it look like a Christmas card. The beauty was breathtaking.
“I never realised winter could be so pretty,” Eleanor whispered.
Joseph squeezed her hand affectionately. “You’re not a huge winter fan, are you?”
She chuckled. “I definitely prefer the beach.”
>
“Well, when this is all over, I’ll take you to our own private island. How does that sound?”
“Perfect.”
“As for me – I don’t care what season it is. As long as I’m with you… you make the sun come out.”
She grinned with joy. The gently flowing landscape was easy on the eye and it made her feel wide and open; as if she was part of the beauty of nature all around her. She felt relaxed and ‘at one’, as her tension and stress started to unwind. She turned to gaze into Joseph’s eyes, and they smiled at each other with affection.
The taxi pulled up outside Bob Crowe’s farm. It was a wooden colonial-style farmhouse, probably built a hundred years ago, and it looked peaceful and serene. It had been recently painted a warm olive green, and – as Eleanor made her way with Joseph up the long driveway – she saw that there was a porch with a swing chair, a Juliet balcony, and shutters for the windows. It was like stepping back in time, to an era before cars and skyscrapers. Eleanor realised the house was set in acres of lush green grass surrounded by trees. She imagined there would be a horse paddock out back.
Joseph knocked on the wooden door and they exchanged a look of anticipation, listening as the sweet sound of birdsong encircled them. There didn’t seem to be many cars passing through this way, which made it very peaceful, but also eerily secluded – depending on how you looked at it. After a few tense moments, the door was eased open and Bob Crowe peered out. He looked tired and weary. He was reasonably attractive, with receding brown hair and lines on his round face that gave away how hard he’d worked. Or possibly how hard life in prison had been. His nose seemed slightly too big for his face, but his smile was warm and welcoming. He was dressed in jeans and a padded lumberjack shirt, which made him look more relaxed than when he’d been pointing a gun at Blair Robertson – and at Eleanor. He suspiciously inspected the strangers at his door.
“You?” he whispered, as realisation dawned.
“Hi,” Eleanor said. “Can we come in?”
The Billionaire's Revenge: Billionaire Brothers Billionaire Bachelors (Tycoon Billionaires Book 3) Page 13