The Logan Brothers - Books 1-4: (EXPOSURE, CRASH, TWIN PASSIONS, and ADDICTED TO YOU)

by Shorter, L. A.

  He sat in his chair, twiddling a pen around his fingers. “No, I like to meet with everyone once a week. It's part of my routine. I don't want things sliding.”

  Christ he was so organized now. It never used to be like this. In fact, he was even more businesslike and ambitious than dad had been. Every I and T was dotted, every single detail recorded and made a note of. This guy was shooting for the stratosphere, and he'd take the whole family with him.

  “If you remember anything about that,” he said, gesturing to my bruised face, “you tell me straight away. Got it?”

  “Sure Crash, sure.”

  He left it at that, apparently believing my story. At the end of the day, it was just a beating, and he had a lot bigger fish to fry right now.

  I left the office and walked down to the casino floor. It was the middle of the afternoon now, and the place was starting to get busy, casual gamblers flooding in to finish off their weekends with a bang.

  I got a few funny looks as I walked around, my face black and blue. I guess people were used to seeing Cade like this, being a boxer and all that, but not me. Not that I was famous around here like Cade was; well, not as famous anyway. Being a Logan, we all had some level of notoriety.

  I considered joining a table but put it out of my mind. Frankly, I wasn't in the mood right now. Instead, I headed for the main exit, battling the oncoming crowd as I went.

  Just as I was inching towards the door, a face appeared in front of me that I truly didn't expect to see down here.

  What the hell was she doing here! Here, or all fucking places! Didn't she know this was my family's casino?

  No, I guess she didn't...

  I tried to turn but she caught my eye.

  Jesus Christ, I hope her dad's men aren't watching.

  ….

  Amy

  I used to love going to the casino on a Sunday. There was something about it being the end of the week that dragged in all these hapless no-hopers. Or maybe it was all in my head, I couldn't tell. All I knew was that Sunday was always a good payday for me, and I wasn't going to let Jude stop me from taking advantage of that.

  Anyway, for all I knew he was at his bar or his little underground poker den. It might have been a one-off, him coming here. I mean, the odds of running into him right now must have been slim...

  Oh Jesus Christ!

  Talk about tempting fate and everything.

  I walked straight in and there he was, on the way out. I thought about turning straight back but no, I was drawn by his face. It was wrecked, his cheek heavily bruised, his lip cut, and two large black eyes dominating his face. He looked like he'd been hit by a damn truck.

  “Jesus Jude, what happened?” I couldn't hide my concern, despite the way he'd been with me last time.

  He looked guiltily at me, his eyes slightly down. I guess he knew he'd been a dick the other night.

  “Nothing, I got in a fight.”

  He was looking over my shoulder and glancing off to the left and right. He looked unnaturally twitchy.

  “With who, Mike Tyson?!”

  He laughed lightly, a smile creaking in the corner of his mouth. “Not quite. You should see the other guy though...you think this is bad!”

  His face quickly lost its smile again as his eyes twitched once more.

  “Hey, I was just leaving. Don't worry, I won't disturb your game like last time.”

  He moved forward to pass me but I grabbed at his arm. Maybe it was the two glasses of wine I'd had at lunch, or maybe it was just me, but I wasn't going to let him walk away that easily.

  He stopped in his tracks and looked over at me.

  “I deserve an explanation for the other night Jude,” I said quietly. “I'm not the sort of girl to treat like that, OK. If you knew my father....”

  I saw his eyes change at my words, widening briefly as he glanced again towards the exit.

  “Or...you do know my father?” I said. “Has he spoken to you?”

  He shook his head. “No, we didn't share second names, remember. I have no idea who your father is.”

  His eyes were shifty and distracted. It didn't looked as though he was telling the truth.

  “Look Amy, I'd better go, I've got a lot of work on.”

  He pulled his arm away from me and made a move to walk forward, but was stopped by a voice sounding behind us.

  “Jude, turn around.”

  I looked over to see Crash Logan walking at us. I remembered him briefly from years ago. He was the oldest of the Logan boys, and I remembered having a crush on him when I'd met him once.

  “Amy O'Brien, right, Conor's daughter?” asked Crash, holding his hand out. “I think we met once, a few years ago, at a charity function of your father's. You probably don't remember.”

  I took his hand as Jude turned back to us. I glanced at his face but there was no shock in it that I was Conor O'Brien's daughter.

  “I see that you know my brother Jude,” said Crash.

  I only put two and two together when Crash said it outright.

  Brother....

  Jude was a Logan!

  “Er, yeah, we've met. I had no idea he was one of you Logans though,” I said, widening my eyes as I looked at Jude, who stayed quiet.

  “He's as guilty as all of us,” said Crash. “I understand you left town a while ago? Are you back for good?”

  I smiled courteously. “Not for good no, my job keeps me on the road.”

  “Oh? What do you do?”

  “I'm a professional poker player. I know, not particularly normal for a girl like me.”

  “As long as you enjoy it, who's to argue with you.”

  He glanced back at Jude, who was still twitching to leave.

  “Jude, I've got one more thing I want to talk to you about. Come back up to the office will you, when you're ready.”

  He turned back to me and took my hand, kissing it lightly. “Nice to see you again Amy. You're welcome here any time.”

  With that he smiled and walked away, once more leaving me alone with Jude.

  “So you're a Logan,” I said to him. “That explains a few things.”

  He looked directly at me, his eyes steeling. “Like what?”

  “Like you being here, like running that flash bar, like having all the money.”

  “Yeah, well, you're the daughter of Conor O'Brien, and that explains a few things as well.

  “Enlighten me,” I said.

  “Well, like you running away for three years for one. I don't blame anyone for running a mile from that psychopath.”

  There was real venom in his words, in the way that he spat them out. I looked at him closely, watching memories float across his eyes.

  “Look Amy, I don't wanna keep Crash waiting. He's a busy guy.”

  I said nothing as he moved past me, and away towards the stairs going up to the gallery.

  He was like a different guy to the smiley, fun, charming guy I met only a couple of weeks ago. He'd been all over me, drawing me in like a bee to a flower with his vivacious spirit and lust for my body. He'd followed me to my hotel just to see me again when I left him alone in that hotel room, our attraction to each other overpowering our senses.

  But now, now he was completely different. He was stand-offish, he was twitchy and nervous, his face and body had been battered. When Crash mentioned I was Conor O'Brien's daughter there was no surprise in his eyes. No, he already knew that. I didn't know how, but he'd found out, and that was probably what had put him off.

  I just hoped, for the sake of my father and our relationship, that's that where things ended.

  ….

  Jude

  Jesus fucking Christ that was awkward. Why the hell did Crash have to come down like that. I could tell he knew something was going on, I'd seen it in his eyes. He was feeling the situation out, and now he'd summoned me back to his office to get the full story.

  I walked up the stairs and glanced back at Amy as I went. She had this glare on her face like she w
as figuring something out, the cogs turning over and over in her head. Damn she looked cute like that.

  I turned back quickly though, not wanting to be caught staring, and kept up towards the office door. I walked straight in without knocking. Crash was there, close to the glass, looking out on the casino floor.

  “Tell me the truth Jude. I know you weren't beaten up by a couple of guys outside Rizzo's.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, still keeping up the charade.

  “I called Kyle when you left earlier. He told me he was in Rizzo's all night on Thursday. You never went there, Jude. So tell me, who did this to you?”

  Fuck it.

  “Ah yeah, it wasn't Rizzo's. No, it was Druids Bar, that's it. Like I said, I can barely remember. Guess I must have had a bit of concussion or something.”

  His face stayed firm, his expression flat.

  “Why are you lying to me?” he asked. “Just tell me the truth Jude.”

  I stood for a moment, thinking about whether to continue digging a hole or just give in. Frankly, the delay was proof enough that I wasn't telling the truth.

  In the end, however, Crash spoke for me.

  “It's to do with Amy O'Brien isn't it?” he asked. “It was obvious by the way you were with her. I saw you down there, Jude, it wasn't how you usually are with the girls.”

  “Fine,” I said, nodding slowly. “It was his men, they followed me to the....um, well they followed me home and...did this.” I pointed to my face.

  He turned away quickly and cursed. “I told you not to go there Jude. You don't mess with Conor O'Brien.”

  “It wasn't my fault. He found out about us somehow and then warned me off, and that was it. I didn't go near her.”

  “OK, so how did it happen.”

  “She turned up at the bar the other night,” I said quickly. “She came in and I told her I couldn't see her. I guess O'Brien had his men watching her or something – I wouldn't put it past him – and they probably saw her go in. I left a bit after her and they beat me up. One of them said it was a message from him. So, like I said earlier, it was just a misunderstanding.”

  Crash was nodding and looking at me, thinking things over. He had no anger on his face, there didn't appear to be any fury building inside him. This wasn't just a couple of punks he could punish. No, Conor O'Brien was above even Crash's paygrade.

  “OK, does she know?”

  “What, that her dad's a fucking psycho and will have any potential suitor for his daughter beaten half to death? Erm, I doubt it, no. Jesus Christ if I told her that and it fucked up their relationship, you'd probably lose your youngest brother.”

  Crash's jaw clenched at the thought. “If that happened, then he'd have to kill all of us, because I wouldn't rest until I put him six feet under.”

  I saw the old fire inside his eyes beginning to light. And I knew what he was capable of if he had the right motivation.

  “Right, just stay away from her, all right. You remember what I told you about him. He doesn't like our family much, so you don't want to antagonize him.”

  “Yeah, I've got the scars to prove that Crash. Trust me, I've got no intentions of meddling with her again.”

  I said it with such conviction that I even believed it myself. The truth, however, was that my intentions weren't always the way things actually went and, deep down, I still wanted that girl like the desert wants the rain

  .

  Chapter 12

  Amy

  I drove up the wide, open street in the hills on the outskirts of the city. The place was drenched in money and littered with grand houses, occupied by the rich and famous of the city. None moreso, however, than my father's excessively grand palace.

  The entrance to his driveway was about halfway up the street, and his entire compound stretched back over several football fields beyond the street. I cruised up and slowly turned my car into the drive and towards the main gate. It was the first time I'd come here since I returned and now, as then, my dad wasn't expecting me.

  The gate was firmly shut as I rolled in and slowed to a stop outside, ready for inspection. It was the same guard as before, however, and this time he recognized me quickly.

  “Miss O'Brien, is your father expecting you?”

  I shook my head. “Is he in?”

  “He is.”

  “Well let me through. I need to talk to him.”

  He fiddled around in his little control room for a second before the gate creaked and slowly opened in front of me.

  I drove forward up the path as it winded towards the mansion ahead of me. Despite the progress I'd been making with my father, I still felt weighed down at the sight of it. It wasn't somewhere I wanted to see again.

  I noticed a couple of guards lingering around and patrolling the property as I went. They always seemed to be dressed in black, and always wearing sunglasses whether it was sunny or not. Today, dark clouds were dominating the sky, but they still kept to their predetermined outfits anyway.

  I saw them look over at me as I went, one of them holding his hand to his side, preparing to pull a pistol out if he needed to. This place, it seemed, was always on high alert, and whether that was my dad's paranoia, or a genuine threat, I didn't know.

  A man came down to open my door when I pulled into the main parking area just outside the mansion. He was holding a radio of some kind in his hand, and had probably just been notified of my arrival.

  “Miss O'Brien, what a surprise.”

  I stepped out of my car. “Where's my father?”

  “Um, he's in his office miss. I'm not sure he wishes to be disturbed.”

  I started walking towards the door as he spoke, not interested in whether he wanted to be disturbed or not. The guard attempted to call me back, but there was little he could do, and he knew it.

  I marched straight forward and into the house, pushing the large main door open, and continuing on into the wide hall. My dad's office was in the left wing, through the hall and towards the end of a long corridor. Or, at least, it had been when I used to live here.

  I could hear a single voice inside as I approached. It sounded like he was on the phone, and was shouting down the line at someone. It was like I was tapping into an old memory of my childhood, hearing my dad roaring at someone on the phone from inside his office. I'd heard it so many times before, and never wanted to hear it again.

  As I lifted my hand to knock on the door I stopped, a curiosity building inside me. I could just about hear my father's words through the door, muffled by the wood, but just about decipherable.

  “I want the culprit found!” he roared. “Cooper, Logan, and Lithgow have all been murdered. Someone's doing it, someone's taking them out. I need to know who it is.”

  There was a pause as my dad listened down the line.

  “The FBI are getting nowhere with this. I know because my sources have told me! Do whatever you need to do to find the truth, or it'll be me turning up dead next time.”

  I heard him slam the phone down with a loud crack.

  Cooper? Logan? Lithgow? I'd read about all of their deaths over the last year or so, they were all high profile businessmen in this city, just like my father. Cooper and Jude's dad, Charles Logan, had been found murdered in similar circumstances, both found stabbed and shot to death in hotel rooms. Lithgow, though, well he'd never been found. He'd gone missing a while ago and hadn't been seen since. For a billionaire, that was highly unusual, and highly suspicious.

  I stood behind the door, still trying to turn things over in my mind. What did my father have to fear? Was he linked to these men in some way? I knew he worked with Charles Logan, but the others? Why would someone be killing them?

  Finally, though, I realized why my dad seemed so paranoid, why he always had extra security with him. It had been a while since those murders, but it had clearly got to him. My father, Conor O'Brien, living in fear. I knew it must have been killing him not knowing who'd killed them all, not knowing whether he
was next on the list.

  I knew, also, why he wanted me to have security as well. If he was a target, maybe I was too? But then, nothing had happened to him. Those murders had been a while ago now, and the dust had settled. If someone had wanted to kill him, they'd have done so already. He'd become consumed by it all, certain that someone was after him. I guess, after years living the life he had, it was inevitable that he'd have enemies.

  I lifted my hand up to the door again, this time knocking lightly.

  “WHAT?” came his booming voice through the door.

  “It's Amy dad, I need to speak to you.”

  I heard his chair move suddenly and quick footsteps come towards me. The key turned in the lock and the door opened quickly. His face looked strained and worried.

  “Amy, what are you doing here? Are you OK? Is something wrong?”

  I kept my expression fairly blank. I was here for a reason, and what I just heard wasn't going to change that.

  “Nothing's wrong dad. I wanted to ask you something, and I want the truth.”

  “Yes?” he asked quickly. “Come in darling, sit down.”

  I walked in and he shut the door behind me.

  “So, what's the matter?”

  “No lies, remember dad. I want the truth, OK?”

  He nodded. “Of course.”

  “Did you have Jude Logan beaten up?” I asked it outright and watched him closely for any signs of deceit. His eyes flickered briefly, a guilt inside them.

  “Jude Logan? Why do you ask?” His voice was turning defensive.

  “It's just a hunch, dad.” I always trusted my gut.

  “Why would I have any cause to do that Amy?”

  “You know why. I know what you're like, I know how protective you can be.”

  “I really don't know what you're talking about honey,” he said. “Are you seeing him or something?”

  “I hoped I might, yeah,” I said quickly. “He turned me down.”

  “Oh sweetheart, that's a shame.” His tone was so contrived. “Well I'm sure you can do a lot better than one of those Logan boys. None of them are good enough for you Amy.”