Kyle stepped through a door at the end of the corridor and into a dorm room. It must have been Alice's, the floor and walls and beds coated with bright colors of pink and purple. There were two beds in there. Alice must live with a room-mate.
I laughed in my head. I doubt Kyle spent much time over here then.
He sat down on the bed to the left and I took the other, sitting opposite each other. It was quiet now with the door shut, the pounding noise from downstairs largely stifled.
He looked at me, his face set. “So what's the emergency?”
I stared back at him. We'd been at loggerheads for too long over all this shit. It was time to unite together for mutual gain. I couldn't keep doing this alone.
“I know I haven't been the greatest brother,” I said, conceding what most would look at as the truth. “And I know I told you I'd find a replacement for you at the club.”
He nodded slowly, his eyes still fierce. “Yes, you did. That was some time ago Crash.”
“I know, and I'm ready to put it all right.”
His eyes softened slightly, that hopeful look growing stronger.
“You remember I said I was working on something big? That I wanted to bring you in on it with me?”
“I do.”
“Well I've hit a major snag, and I need your help. It's time we put the past behind us Kyle. You help me, and you can step away from that club and never look back. I give you my word on that.”
“What do you need?” he asked, his tone growing in interest.
“There's a man who needs convincing of something. You're going to help me do it.”
“That's all?” he asked.
“That's the start,” I said quickly.
A silence fell as we looked on at each other, bridges being built as we spoke.
“OK, count me in.”
A smile spread over my face. “Excellent.”
We stood simultaneously and walked into the middle of the room, stretching out our hands in unison and shaking tight.
“I knew you'd come to your sense eventually,” he said, grinning. “Come on brother, lets drink together. We haven't done so in ages.”
“In a moment. I need to make a call. I'll join you downstairs shortly.”
“The work never stops,” he said, his expression more relaxed than I'd seen it in months. It was good to see the real Kyle again.
“And it never will.”
He laughed as he turned away and walked towards the door, shutting it tight at his back and once more plunging the room into silence.
I took out my phone and dialed. It immediately clicked to life.
“Jones, I have something for you to do. It must be urgent.”
“Yes Mr Logan. What is it?”
“Have you heard of Walter Lithgow? He's a powerful investor and businessman.”
“I have.”
“I need you to find some dirt on him, fast. And Jones, it needs to be good.”
“I understand Mr Logan. I'll get on it immediately.”
“Thank you Jones. Call me when you have something.”
The pieces were coming together.
Chapter 14
Elle
My mind was beginning to blur as I stood in the middle of the tumult, drinks being downed around me. It had been a long week at college and I was exhausted after coming back from dance class. A party as wild as this one wasn't exactly what I needed right now, but who could say no to Tess?
Alice was now taken with Kyle, and I got the impression that Tess was now latching onto me as her substitute. She was impossibly persistent, and wouldn't take no for an answer when all I wanted to do was crash out on my bed and watch a film on my laptop.
“Oh come on babe, it's only downstairs. A couple of hours at least. Come on!”
I didn't know why she cared so much. I mean, it wasn't like she was lacking in friends. Then again, it felt pretty nice that she was so keen for me to be there. I'd really fallen on my feet with my new group of friends round here.
I'd been there for a couple of hours now, though, and thoughts of my warm bed were beginning to dominate my mind. Kyle was there with Alice, so I knew they'd go back to his after. That meant I'd have the entire room to myself for the night.
Bliss.
I managed to duck away from Tess' eyes as I sneaked through the crowd towards the door. As I came out into the hall I saw Kyle just rounding the bottom of the stairs and moving in to kiss Alice. He had this glowing smile on his face, his step so light, like a weight had just been thrown from his shoulders.
I smiled as they kissed. They'd seemed so glum every time I'd seen them recently, so it was nice to see them happy for once.
I passed by them, their passion blinding them to everything else in the hall, and climbed wearily up the stairs. There was a lot of activity on my floor outside my room. But I didn't care. No amount of noise could stop me from sleeping tonight.
I stopped as I reached my door. There was a voice coming from inside, a guys voice.
What the fuck.
I listened closely. It was a one way conversation, some guy on the phone. I couldn't work out who it was through the door, the voice muffled.
Seriously, Alice needs to start locking the door. Probably some random guy looking for some privacy to make a call.
Well, he'll have to shift it. I need my bed.
I turned the handle and opened the door quickly, ready to reprimand the guy with some choice words.
My heart literally stopped.
Standing right there next to my bed was Crash, sliding his phone into his pocket. His face crinkled into that same expression I'd last seen on him as he saw me - one of shock, one of surprise - as he saw me.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I kinda shouted it. I didn't mean to be rude, but what the fuck?!
His face as stuck in a frown. He seemed equally as shocked to see me as I was to see him.
“Do you live with Alice?” he asked. “Shit that makes so much sense now.”
The door hung open to my back and I heard a drunken voice shouting from behind me.
“Hey Elle, is that your new guy?” It was Tom, some football jock, surrounded by his jock friends. The guy was a sleaze.
I didn't deign to answer him, but just turned and shut the door.
“Who was that?”
I swiveled back around to see a look of interest on Crash's face. Or was it jealousy. I was too tired to know right now.
Maybe being tired and not giving a shit was a good thing. Frankly after what happened when I last saw him I might have just died on the spot had I been fully awake and sober. Right now I didn't care.
“Just a random guy from round here. He's friends with Alice.”
“Alice?”
“That's what I said.” Wow, that was frosty.
“Well what does Kyle think about them being friends?”
“I don't know. What does it matter? Can a girl not have guy friends just because she's got a boyfriend?”
He had this look on this face. I couldn't place it.
“So, you haven't really answered my question,” I said again. “Why exactly are you in my room?”
His face loosened. “I came to see Kyle and we needed some privacy to talk. Alice said we could use the room. Is that not OK?”
“It's fine, I guess.” I couldn't remember the last time I had been this defensive and downright snappy. It wasn't usually my personality.
Whatever they'd spoken about, though, it was obviously good news for Kyle the way he'd looked when coming down the stairs.
There was a weird awkwardness hanging in the air as I stood there, still next to the door, my eyes refusing to meet his for more than a few moments. I didn't quite know how to feel, or what to say. Why did he, of all people, have to be in my room!
Then Alice had gone on to ward me off him, insinuate that he might have been involved in murder. I had no idea whether to believe her or not. But why would she lie?
His voice broke me from my thoughts, his tone deep and his words slow, each of them clear and cutting the air.
“I'm sorry for what happened in the square,” he said.
I met his eyes briefly but couldn't hold them. “Why,” I said, averting my eyes, “it should be me apologizing.”
He moved in towards me, closing the gap between us. His frame loomed above me, his suit snugly fitted to his athletic frame.
I didn't know where to look. He continued in closer, his scent filling my nose. He reached for my face, sliding his fingers over my cheek.
“Look at me,” he said, his words soft but commanding.
I did as ordered, my eyes moving up his body to meet his own. He held a smile on his face, his teeth masked my his lips. They moved slowly, opening to release more words as my eyes lingered on them.
“I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to kiss you back.”
The words made my heart miss a beat or two, my body going warm all over with anticipation. I looked at his deep hazel eyes as he leaned in closer, his tongue lightly sliding over his lips.
My breath was lost for a moment as his lips met mine. They were soft, his tongue gently massaging my bottom lip before moving deeper into my mouth. His hand lingered on the side of my face, gliding slowly down to my neck and up through my hair.
I couldn't stop it. I didn't want to.
I could hear Alice's warnings in my head but I didn't care. They were quickly drowned out by Crash's touch, his hand sliding over my shoulder and inching towards the small of my back, his fingers feeling at my skin, their tips warm and sensual.
Every touch was like a light bolt of electricity rushing through my body. He was like an artist with his fingers, drawing patterns across my back, up my neck. My body grew hotter as his hands began exploring further, his left sliding down my back and to the top of my ass.
I felt a surge rush through me as it drew lower, his fingers gripping at the fabric of my skirt and pulling it up. I felt his hand meet my bare ass, his fingers sliding beneath my underwear.
I could hear his breathing rise as his lips slid down to my neck, his hands growing more intense as the passion between us grew.
This was only going one way, but there was no stopping it. Did I want to stop it?
The guy was beyond beautiful, the sort of man I thought would never be interested in a girl like me. It made me hot to think that he wanted me, but nervous as well.
He was rich and powerful, the sort of guy who knew what he wanted and didn't stop until he got it.
He's probably slept with hundreds of women. He'd probably be demanding in bed. Maybe he'd want things I'd never done.
The thoughts made me retract slightly, my mind crashing out of the moment. I barely had any experience at all. What if I couldn't satisfy him?
I made a move to pull away, but his passion had grown, his lips and hands in full flow. I felt locked in his embrace, the cogs now in motion. I couldn't stop it, I still wasn't sure if I wanted to.
I pushed at him slightly harder and moved back, his hands sliding off me.
He looked down at me with a slightly confused look on his face just as a the door knocked loudly behind me.
“Crash?” It sounded like Kyle.
Crash looked up immediately. He looked like he'd just been suddenly woken from a dream now, his eyes slightly wide, trying to catch up with what was going on.
“Crash, I thought you were coming to drink? Are you still on the phone?”
The door opened slowly and Kyle's face appeared around it. His eyes washed over the scene. Crash, hands floating awkwardly, eyes slightly wide. Me, panting slightly, skirt unnaturally hitched up around my waist.
“Oh fuck, I see. You're busy. Bro, sorry.”
He averted his eyes from the scene, although only after double taking on my ass, and made a motion to shut the door.
“Wait.” It was Crash.
Kyle stopped in his tracks, his eyes moving back to his brother.
“I'm done here,” he continued. The words cut at me. They were callous.
He slid past me towards the door and walked straight past Kyle and through it. Kyle glanced back at me quickly, not quite knowing what was going on, before saying 'see ya' and shutting the door behind him.
He didn't know what was going on? Neither the fuck did I.
Chapter 15
Crash
What the fuck was I doing. I had no time for this sort of shit.
You're trying to build a legacy Crash. That's it. No time for anything else right now. Nothing.
I was sat in my office at the casino, mulling things over. I needed to keep things straight. I needed to avoid any sort of distraction at all. Nothing could deviate me from my path. Nothing would get in my way.
The problem was, every time I ran into that girl something happened. And for some strange reason I seemed to come across her every five fucking minutes.
Why the fuck did she push me away like that? I mean, what, does she think she's too good for me or something? She's the one who kissed me first the other week. What was her problem!
And why the fuck was it bothering me?! Seriously, she was just another girl. I'd had many.
The night was yet young, for me at least. The casino was open constantly, and if anything went wrong it would almost invariably be late night on Friday and Saturday.
I was a control freak. I hated not being around to sort out any mess if something happened, so invariably ended up staying late over the busiest two nights of the week. Right now it wasn't what I needed. I'd had a long fucking day.
That weasly little shit Walter Lithgow had just dashed my dream; discarded me as if I was nothing. Well, he'd soon find out what I was capable of. He'd soon change his mind.
I downed a glass of whiskey and snatched a cigar from my desk drawer.
Cohiba. Beautiful.
I'd always loved the smell when my father lit up when I was a kid. Now every time I smoked one I'd think of him.
A cloud of smoke soon began to gather in my office as my mind continued to rush like a raging river. I was restless, eager to hear from Jones, eager to know what skeletons Lithgow was hiding in his closet.
If he had anything, Jones would find it. And men like Lithgow always had things they wanted to hide. That was Jones' speciality - uncovering secrets - although he had others I'd call upon from time to time. He'd spent 20 years as a detective, so he'd developed a broad range of skills, and contacts, during that time.
Speed was critical. I needed information, and I needed it now. As soon as they moved forward with that fucking housing development my chance would be gone.
I wasn't going to let that happen. If Jones came up short, there were other methods I could call upon. There was nothing I wouldn't do.
My phone buzzed on my desk and I grabbed it quickly.
Not Jones. Fuck.
“What's up Jude?” Please don't be a problem at the bar. That was the last thing I wanted to deal with right now.
“Nothing major. Kyle's just turned up with Alice. He seems pretty wasted. I thought you might wanna know.”
Jude, ever the most loyal brother. He was the youngest, and always the most eager to please. He was just 20, and father had only recently allowed him to run the bar before he died. I wasn't sure he was ready, but he'd been doing a decent job so far.
“Thanks Jude. That's not a problem any more.”
“Oh, OK Crash. I'll keep an eye on them anywa
y.”
“Thanks Jude, and good job.”
I hung up the phone and put the cigar back to my mouth. I'll let Kyle have tonight. He can get as drunk as he likes. But when he's working with me, that won't happen.
My life wasn't a party like his had been recently. Ever since dad had died he'd been getting drunk more and more often. College parties, late night sessions at the bar. God knows what else he got up to.
I needed to trust him if he was to help me build our family's legacy. So from now, work would need to come first for him.
I continued to fill the room with the scent of my cigar as I sat at my desk, my eyes scanning over the many cameras pointed to various problem points in the casino. The number of people who thought they could get away with cheating or stealing down there astounded me. It was like they thought we were blind.
No, there were eyes on every corner of this place.
That's how those two guys had been caught out a while back. Brian and Steve, those were there names. They were in my pocket now. I wasn't sure how I'd use them, but the more people who owed me favors, the better.
I'd learnt that from my father.
“You never know who might come in handy one day Crash. Someone they know. A skill they have. The work they do. Everyone can offer you something, so build as many favors as you can. It helps give you options.”
They were wise words that I'd taken to heart. Since then I'd often chosen to let people go loose if ever they wronged me. Instead of breaking their leg of shattering their kneecap, you could turn these people into a long term investment. Brian and Steve were just the latest two to be added to that list.
My phone buzzed loudly again on the table.
Jones. Yes!
I picked it up in a flash, my words racing from my mouth.
“Speak to me Jones, what do you have?”
“I have a lead, something that has just come to me.”
“A lead? About Walter Lithgow?”
“Sort of. This lead is about your father.”
The Logan Brothers - Books 1-4: (EXPOSURE, CRASH, TWIN PASSIONS, and ADDICTED TO YOU) Page 27