I opened my mouth to speak but had nothing to say, the crowd once more engulfing Elle as she disappeared.
A smile hit my face.
Well that was unexpected.
Chapter 12
Elle
“Look, what's the big deal? If that's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done then you should count yourself lucky!”
I had, literally, never been so embarrassed in my life. Lexi was doing her best to cheer me up but I was having none of it.
I mean, sure there was the skinny dipping incident in front of my entire year but I was drunk then. It's different hearing about things after the event to actually remembering them first hand.
I sat there on the steps outside of the Modern Art Museum, my head in my hands. His face when I kissed him: he looked at me like I was mad or something.
I mean, what did I expect. He was this millionaire businessman, a guy who ran a casino and a load of other businesses. I was just a stupid little shy girl who he'd taken pity on a couple of times. What, did I take that to mean he liked me or something?
Idiot Elle.
I don't know what came over me though. The dance had been a blur. I'd been so nervous beforehand, I didn't think I could go through with it. When it started, though, I got lost into it. It was liberating, and when it ended, I couldn't stop the adrenaline from rushing through my body.
It was like this surge of excitement. I'd never felt anything like it before. The crowd were clapping and cheering, cameras flashing and clicking. And then I saw him, standing at the back of the crowd, his tall frame carrying his eyeline over their heads.
He looked directly at me, smiling. It was as if he knew I'd be there, like he had come down to see me perform. I knew that wasn't the case, but in the moment that thought kidnapped my mind.
I went straight for him, I couldn't help it. That beautiful smile, those hazel eyes looking at me in a way that made my legs go weak. The excitement got to me, and I lunged for him. I could barely remember doing it now, but I knew it had happened.
The numb feeling of humiliation radiating through my body was enough to convince me of that.
Lexi was laughing in a sort of funny consoling way. “Elle, seriously, it can't have been that bad?”
“It was worse,” I said blankly, my voice muffled by my hands.
“So you kissed him, big deal. It's kinda romantic, don't you think?”
“Err, yeah, a completely one-sided romance. He just looked at me like I was a fucking lunatic. You didn't see his face Lex. It was like a mixture of shock and disgust.”
She was still laughing. “It can't have been that bad babe. You're acting like you've never been rejected.”
Oh God. Rejected. What a horrible word.
I took my head from my hands and looked at her. “And you have?”
“All the time!”
“Bullshit. When would you ever get rejected?”
“I used to when I was younger. You didn't see me as a teen. I had this mouth full of braces and these little skinny legs. The worst was this guy I liked at school, Billy. He didn't just reject me. Literally, he actually got angry that I asked him out. Angry! Can you imagine that?!”
“What a douche.”
“I know!”
I couldn't help but smile at Lexi's honesty. And, of course, the idea of her as this skinny teenage girl with braces: that was a funny image.
“Look, lets grab lunch and have a cocktail, take your mind off it. Alice is coming down with Tess, we can have a girly day.”
“Fine, but no mention of this to them. I just know how Tess will react, and frankly, it's a little close to home with Alice. So don't let it slip, all right?”
She nodded, her smiley face still enjoying my pain.
“Not a word.”
....
An hour or so later the four of us were sat at a nice little outdoor restaurant on the river. The sun was out and streaming down onto our shoulders, the days turning warmer as summer approached.
Tess was her usually buoyant self, chatting away happily about all of the latest gossip she'd heard over the last week or two. She was quite like Lexi actually. They were both so smiley and bubbly, always looking to have fun and make the best of any situation.
Alice was much more solemn, much quieter. She had this air about her, this sort of gravitas as though she was the leader, the queen bee. It wasn't like she was a bitch or wanted that mantle. It was just her. She held an inner power, this confidence. I didn't think much would phase her.
And yet, she was full of mysteries. That conversation I'd heard her have with Kyle at the twins' birthday. I wondered what it was about that place, about that hotel that she hated so much. This girl was strong minded and unflappable. What had happened there that shattered her calm?
I hadn't seen Tess since that night. When she brought it up, I could sense Alice retreating back into her shell a little bit.
“So Elle,” Tess started, her face smothered in this suggestive look, “I saw you leaving with Crash Logan himself the other night. That was an interesting turn of events?!”
Alice looked up at me as Tess spoke, a look of slight surprise on her face. Clearly she didn't know about it.
It was hard for me to answer her while keeping my tone completely flat. I mean, that night had been a disaster until Crash came along. I couldn't see what others had said about him. This guy who plundered his way through life, not caring who got in his way.
He had been made to sound a brute, but that wasn't the guy I knew. Maybe he showed me a different side. Maybe with me he had no reason to live up to the reputation that had been built up around him. Maybe with me he could be himself.
“Oh yeah” I said, “we just had a drink upstairs in the hotel bar.”
“And?” Tess carried on, dragging the word out, as if there was more to tell. There wasn't really anything to tell. Nothing of note.
“And that's it.” My tone was turning defensive. I did that when under the spotlight. It made me seem guilty of something.
“If you say so,” said Tess. “I saw how you stared him down that first night you arrived. There was a spark there. Something's going to happen between you two, I can feel it.”
My mind turned back about an hour. Yeah, right.
“I wouldn't go there if I were you.” It was Alice, her words carrying a weight.
“Hey come on Alice, you went there with Kyle. And Crash, he's solar hot, like supernova hot.”
Alice's voice remained heavy, a warning to it. “Kyle and Crash are very different people. Tess, you know Crash's reputation. The things I've heard about him from Kyle. He's not someone you want to know, trust me.”
My interest was way too piqued to leave it at that.
“What's wrong with Crash? He's always seemed really nice to me.”
Alice went silent for a moment, thinking.
“There are things about him that you wouldn't even want to know. He's very much his fathers son, let's put it that way.”
His father's son. What the hell did that mean? I'd never met his father, I had no idea what he was like. I looked over at Lexi, her eyes pricking up. It appeared she probably knew what Alice was talking about.
“What do you mean though?” I asked. I couldn't lay this one to rest. “What did his father do?”
“Think about it Elle. Look at the sort of businesses his father built. Casino's, bars, strip clubs. They deal in vice. You know what happens in that sort of world.”
“What, like murder.” I said it quickly, without thinking.
Alice's expression changed immediately, her eyes dropping a little, her face losing some of its color. She nodded, her tone now completely dry. “Probably, yeah.”
I sensed a deep turmoil raging inside her, like she was battling some deepset guilt or something. She cl
early wasn't letting on all she knew.
“Charles Logan was a horrible man,” she said quietly, “and Crash is no different.”
The table went silent. What had started as a friendly natter and gossip had descended into some sort of serious drama, one I was finding myself increasingly embroiled in.
Alice seemed to have a deep resentment towards Crash's father and Crash himself, and I had a good idea of why that was the case.
From what Lexi had revealed to me before, Mr Logan had been the stumbling block in the way of Alice and Kyle getting together. He'd ruled with an iron fist, or so she said, and Alice probably hated him for it.
The rule had been passed to Crash, and now he was the one causing them problems. He looked to be carrying on in his father's stead, keeping Kyle working at the strip club, not giving their relationship his blessing.
For Alice, the eldest males in the Logan clan had always been a thorn in her side. Kyle was next in line and, the way she spoke, if Crash died I doubt she'd shed a tear.
In fact, she'd probably welcome it.
Chapter 13
Crash
The office I stood in wasn't the type I was used to. It wasn't the sort of building I was used to. It wasn't the sort of business I was used to.
The man standing ahead of me, however, was the sort of man I had dealt with many times before. He was a very rich man, the sort of man my father had done business with often. Over the last few years I'd often be at his side as he groomed me to be his successor.
I never expected to take up the mantle so soon.
I'd also seen men like this at my casino. Men like him turned up often for high-roller games: poker and roulette and blackjack on private tables away from the main casino floor. The pots at those games would often run into the millions, and were a big moneymaker for us.
But the situation I found myself in now was entirely new to me. I never expected to be in a position like this at only 27 years old. That fact alone had made it hard for me to convince the investors to move forwards with my plan.
But move forward they did.
The office I stood in was huge and grand. Too much space and barely anything to fill it. There was an area of comfortable chairs and a coffee table to one side of the door as I entered. Ahead of me, a good 30 feet of open space from the door, was a large wooden desk, a man sitting behind it, cigar clenched between his teeth.
Behind him the city loomed, seen through wide windows. We were right in the center, right at the top of the highest building in town, the world at our feet. It was far removed from the city streets, a place closer to where I conducted my business. But I wanted to move higher, up into the stratosphere. And the man sitting in front of me would help me do it.
I'd met with this same man, and others, about a week ago. It had been the most important meeting of my life, a chance for me to take the world by the balls and make my mark. My age and inexperience stood against me, but my passion and desire and ambition for success saw me through.
At least, that's what I was told.
Now I stood in front of this man, his expression bland and emotionless. His name was Walter Lithgow, and he held my future in his hands.
“Sit down please Mr Logan,” he said as I walked in through the office towards his overly grand desk.
I sat, a suspicion growing inside of me. His face was more stark than it had been the week before. He'd smiled and told me they were happy to move forward with my proposal that day, happy to work with me to create a casino to rival those in Vegas. It had been one of the most gratifying moments of my life, my hard work rewarded.
But now he'd called me in once again, and I knew something was up. His face was lost of its smile, his eyes no longer bright. A feeling of dread settled in me, a feeling that my great opportunity might be about to be snatched away.
“I have some bad news Mr Logan.”
Fuck.
“I'm afraid we have talked further about your proposal and have decided, on second thought, to move in another direction.”
I clenched tight at the arms of my chair, my fingers digging into the leather.
“I understand that this is a major blow for you, but please be assured that we will consider working with you again in the future should our paths cross once more.”
The fucking shit. This was it. This was my one fucking chance for something huge. The plot, the real estate: it was perfect for my proposal, completely goddamn fucking perfect. I'd never have another opportunity as good.
I steadied my nerve and spoke, my words cold as ice.
“And what direction are you choosing to go in, to shit on my dreams like this?”
“Now hold on just a moment Mr Logan. I'd have you watch your tongue.”
Watch my tongue? You better watch your fucking back.
“We are merely businessmen looking to make as much money as possible. Regrettably the other proposal may prove more lucrative.”
“And what is it?” I asked again, my jaw clenched.
“A new housing development,” he said bluntly. “It will provide an immediate return on investment, and a sizeable one at that. We liked the idea of your casino, but it will take a while to recoup our money.”
“And what about the long term? Won't it prove more lucrative for you in the future?”
“Perhaps,” he conceded, “but it's too much of a risk. I chose, in the end, to play the safe option.”
“You?” I spat. “It was your decision?!”
“I had the final word, yes. The size of my investment gives me that power. I understand it is a setback for you, but this is business I'm afraid. You'll learn that as you mature.”
As I mature! The decrepit old fuck.
“Now please, I really don't have anything more to say.” He gestured to the door and then turned his head back down to some papers on his desk without giving me a second thought.
Oh he'd give me a second thought. I'd make sure of that.
....
I sat back down in my Hummer, my phone in hand. I dialed and waited for the pick up. It rang three times before I heard a voice, hard to decipher amid the noise.
“Crash...hold...I'm...call...back.”
Well that made no sense.
A waited a moment and the phone rang. I picked up and heard Kyle's voice clearly this time, the chatter behind him now soft in the background.
“Crash, what's up?” His tone was typically frosty.
We still weren't getting along, not as we used to. He only picked the phone up in case I had positive news for him about the club. Otherwise I'm sure he'd have just ignored it.
This time, however, I would make him happy.
“I need to talk to you urgently,” I said. “Where are you?”
His voice picked up at the rush of my words. “At a party.”
“Where?”
His words stiffened slightly again. “With Alice at her halls.” She was always a sore spot between us.
“OK, I'm coming there now. Which halls is it?”
“Dulwich.”
“Right, I'll be there in 20.”
I shut the phone off quickly and gunned the engine.
Time to get this family back together.
....
I pulled into the parking lot outside Dulwich halls. There were students swarming the place, getting typically wasted for a Friday night.
I stepped out of the car as a few drunken jocks showered praise on it.
“Whoa, cool Hummer man!”
I had no time for them.
I pressed on forward towards the main door. It was being held open by a block of wood, allowing anyone to enter and join in the party raging inside.
There were stairs to the immediate left on entry, with a wide hall in front and doors to the right. The hall was sparsely populated with sm
all pockets of people, drinking punch from red paper cups and chattering wildly.
I walked through and towards the source of the sound, turning through a door into a large space, pulsing with guys and girls and their raging hormones. There was a long table to the side, massive bowls of orange liquid inside.
God only knows what the fuck they put in there.
Next to the orange poison there were countless bottles of spirits and mixers and stacks of plastic cups. I cut a path straight for it and snatched a half empty bottle of Smirnoff, pouring a couple of shots into a cup and sinking it in one.
I breathed deep. Better.
My eyes fell over the crowd in front of me, scanning for my brother. Where the fuck was he?
A tap on my shoulder gave me my answer. He stood to my left, his face stern as usual but with a look of hope to it, as if he'd finally get the news he was waiting for.
I wouldn't disappoint him.
“We need somewhere quiet to talk,” I said. “Somewhere private.”
He nodded and walked me back into the main hall. Alice was there, talking to another girl over in the corner. Kyle walked towards her and they spoke for a moment. She had this look on her face, like she didn't trust me, didn't like me. I guess I deserved that.
He turned and tilted his head towards the stairs, walking up them with me following. I'd never been inside a college building like this before. It was like one massive party, one massive sleepover. I could see doors open along the wall at the top of the stairs, college kids lying around on beds and on the floor smoking and drinking and laughing.
They spilled out into the corridor, guys throwing footballs down the length of it, girls slapping them on the arm and telling them off for almost taking their heads off. It was a world far removed from my own, from the way I'd grown up. Ever since I was a late teen, I'd been managing bars and casinos, never a moment to relax and completely let loose.
A small sense of jealousy hit me as I looked on at the scene, one immediately quenched. No, this wasn't for me. I had far bigger fish to fry.
The Logan Brothers - Books 1-4: (EXPOSURE, CRASH, TWIN PASSIONS, and ADDICTED TO YOU) Page 26