TWIN PASSIONS: (A Logan Brothers Novel) (10 page)

She told me that anything I
could find was bound to come out at some point, and that he'd have to
get used to people prying into his business. If he was to climb to
the top of the tree, he was always going to find himself exposed to
the shitstorm coming his way. So many celebrities and well known
people lived under the spotlight, and that's exactly where Cade was
headed.

Mrs Banks had a way with words,
a way of trying to convince me to do what she wanted. I'd never
visited her office so much as I had over the last week or two, this
story clearly front and center of her mind. Quite why she was so
interested was beyond me.

But, whatever her motives, I was
being put into an impossible position, and it was eating away at me.
I'd either have to find some dirt on Cade and his family or I'd lose
out on the promotion that would see my career begin to soar.

Worse than that, however, was
that Mrs Banks had made it clear that I wasn't only going to miss out
on the promotion, but that I'd lose my job. She never said it in so
many words, but she'd suggested, on more than one occasion, that my
job would be at risk, alongside my prospects of finding work
elsewhere.

The weight of it all had become
suffocating when I'd had dinner with Cade that night. He'd been quite
sweet, putting that effort in, and had grown uncomfortable when he
told me that we couldn't see each other for a while and that the
interview he'd said he'd do for me was no longer possible.

I mean, I might have been
perhaps a little angry with him if that interview was still on the
cards, but Mrs Banks had made it clear that a simple story about his
career so far was not what our readers were looking for. No, she
wanted drama, she wanted scandal, and nothing else would be good
enough.

It was actually a relief when
Cade told me he couldn't give me an exclusive. It would help me stay
completely away from the blame if I did choose to bow to Mrs Banks'
demands. Whether I would was dominating my thoughts, making me lose
sleep as well as my appetite.

I needed someone to talk to, and
she was sitting in front of me right now.

“
Jesus Christ, that's a tricky
one honey. You really are caught between a rock and a hard place
right there,” Annie had said when I'd first told her.

“
Tell me about it. What do you
think I should do?”

Annie was a good ten years older
than me and had been around the block a few times. She had a good ear
for listening, and a good tongue for advice. I really needed some
right now.

She thought for a moment,
processing everything I'd told her, before speaking again.

“
OK, first thing you need to
ask yourself is this – how much do you care about Cade?”

“
Um, I dunno, quite a lot most
of the time.”

“
And the rest?”

“
Well he can be a dick
sometimes, but so can any guy. Most of the time we have a lot of fun
together.”

“
OK, so what we're asking here
is whether you're willing to betray him.”

“
Well, no, not really. I mean,
I don't love him or anything. I don't think I do anyway. But even if
I didn't like him much at all, I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that
to anyone, it's not me.”

She smiled consolingly. “I
feared that's what you'd say.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Well, Gem, you're one of the
nicest girls I've ever met, and certainly the nicest I've worked
with. To be a journalist you've gotta be pretty ruthless sometimes.
Now, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't know if you have that
side to you.”

“
So you don't think I've got
what it takes?”

She hesitated a touch. “Well I
wouldn't say that, no. I'd just say that you've got to be willing to
go to your dark side, you know, step out of your comfort zone.”

“
So, screw over my boyfriend
to better my career? Are you serious?!” My voice was entirely
indignant.

“
No, that's not what I'm
saying at all. I'm just speaking more generally. This case is
obviously different because it's personal.”

“
Hell yeah it's personal
Annie. He's my boyfriend for fuck's sake, I can't screw him like
this.”

Annie was nodding. “Well it
looks like you've already made up your mind then.”

I could feel my blood beginning
to boil a little bit. Why the hell was Banks putting me in this
position. She was such a manipulative bitch. Maybe I'd be better off
out of this fucking industry.

But no, I'd wanted to be a
journalist all my life. It was my dream, always had been, and I
couldn't give up on it so easily.

“
Look Gem, I know how
important this job is to you, so how about this. Find a story that
won't affect Cade, you know, something he won't care about. You know
him, just find something that won't be a big deal to him, but that
Banks will love. Cade might be a bit pissed that something's come out
about him, but he won't suspect you. Trust me, if he's going to
become a bigger star then he's going to have to get used to people
snooping into his private life.”

“
Yeah, that's what Banks has
been telling me.”

“
Well she's right there. Cade
might hate it at first, but he'll get used to it. Everyone in the
public eye is in the same boat honey, so you won't really be doing
much wrong.”

“
OK, so what do you think I'll
find? What sort of story could I possibly write that he won't hate me
for.”

“
Honey, he won't find out.”

“
OK, that I won't hate myself
for then? I can't do that to someone I care about Annie. Put yourself
in my shoes, could you?”

“
Gem, Cade's gonna come in for
all sort of shit if things go well in the ring. It's a symptom of
fame. If you don't do it, someone else will, and they won't be as
merciful as you. You might be doing him a favor at the end of the
day.”

“
Somehow I doubt it.”

“
Well what's the alternative
honey? Lose the promotion, lose your job? Then what? Your dream will
be stuck in the mud. Martha Banks has a lot of sway and can easily
stop you finding work elsewhere if she really wants. I've worked for
her for years, and when she sets her sights on something she can be a
ruthless and callous witch. Look, all I'm saying is have a snoop
around, it can't hurt to look.”

Jesus, she was making it sound
like everyone had skeletons in their closets, with easy evidence just
lying around to reveal them.

“
OK, so say I do have a
'snoop', as you put it. How exactly should I go about doing that? Not
everyone has secrets they are trying to hide, Annie, and even if they
do, why would they have any evidence of it?”

“
Well that's why you've gotta
start digging girl. There's no harm in having a look. Computer files
are a good place to start, or any paper files and letters he might
have in his apartment. Do you have a key?”

I nodded, not liking where she
was going with this.

“
Then go take a look while
he's out training. Just take a look and see what you can find. If you
find nothing then you can at least tell Mrs Banks that you've tried.
If you do find something you can use, you can go from there. Babe,
this is what it's all about, you've either gotta sink or swim here.”

Annie was showing me her own
ruthless edge, something I'd never previously noticed. I guess after so
many years under the employ of Martha Banks a few things would begin
to wear off.

“
Oh, and you know who else is
going after your promotion, don't you?” she continued, leaning
closer towards me across our table.

I shook my head, but I could
guess.

“
Tara Bradley.”

“
Yeah, that doesn't surprise
me at all.”

Tara Bradley was one of the
biggest kiss-asses I'd ever known and I knew she'd do whatever it
took to get ahead. If she was in my position she'd happily sacrifice
everything to get the best story she could.

“
Well, she may be an
insufferable bitch but she's going places. She'd sell her own mother
to get a good story.”

“
Yeah, well, I'm not sure
that's something to be emulated or admired.”

“
No, but you need to know what
you're up against. Banks clearly wants something on Cade and the
Logan boys but you can be sure that Tara is going to come up with
something pretty juicy as well.”

Now that did add an extra
dimension to this whole fucking mess. The last thing I wanted was
that sneaky little bitch creeping ahead of me.

Fuck it, maybe I should just
take a look. What could be the harm?

“
All right,” I said, “I'll
take a look in Cade's apartment. I mean, what's the worst that can
happen, really?”

“
Good girl. That's the
spirit.”

I sat back and looked up at the
bright sky, the sun beating down onto my uncovered shoulders. I could
see Cade's apartment in my head, silent and empty. He'd probably be
down at the boxing club now, sparring and preparing for the biggest
fight of his life.

He'd never suspect I'd been
there, I wouldn't leave a trace. All I needed to do was walk through
the door. It was the easiest thing in the world, and no one would
ever know.

I just needed to find out
exactly when he'd be out, and I knew just where to go to find the
answer.

Present Day

Zack

My office had begun to grow more
and more cluttered and messy over the last few months. I used to be
so clean and tidy, taking pride in the club that I ran, but now those
feelings had grown numb.

Nightshapes
was one of
the most popular dance clubs in town, although our figures had been
waning in recent months. Frankly, I didn't care, and felt myself
lucky that Crash was so preoccupied with other business concerns to
notice.

Since dad died he'd become the
head of the family and was responsible for overseeing all of our
businesses and assets, yet recently he'd been so consumed by his new
hotel and casino project that the club had fallen off his radar.

For me, the fun I used to have
running it and the enthusiasm I had for the job had begun to fade. I
used to feel proud in my role, like I was some sort of big fish in
town, someone to be looked up to, someone who was running a top club
at so young an age.

Yet it was all false, and I knew
that now. I hadn't achieved anything myself. It was all handed down
from my father, and I had nothing to be proud of. Cade, though, could
be proud of what he was doing, and a deep feeling of envy and
jealousy towards him had begun to invade every cell of my body.

He was the new local hero in
town, capable of bedding any girl he wanted. But no, the girl he
wanted was Gemma, and that pissed me off more than anything. The
irony of it all was that he had no idea I knew her, no idea I
harbored these sorts of feelings.
If he did, I wonder what he'd
do?

I took a drink of whiskey from
the cabinet next to my desk and snuffed out my cigarette. I knew I
wasn't meant to smoke in here but I didn't care anymore. It was
another part of my life that had been getting worse recently, and now
I was up to a pack a day.

It was a Tuesday night and that
meant one thing – student night. We'd brought it in recently to try
to get our numbers back up on what was traditionally a pretty slow
evening. Now that word was beginning to spread, however, it had
become our most popular night of the week outside of Friday and
Saturday.

I'd see Kyle come down
sometimes. Ever since he'd started dating Alice he would tag along to
some of their student evenings. I knew she was underage, along with
her friends, but I still let them in. Frankly, most of the students
coming down here probably were too. As long as it kept our profits
up, it didn't bother me.

The thud of the club and the
relentless sound of chatter and shouting girls invaded my ears as I
sat there. It was distant, but endless, and the night was just
getting started.

Another 6 hours of this shit.
I was growing sick of it.

I reached for a set of earphones
and stuck them as deep as possible into my ears, putting on some
relaxing chillout music to calm my aching head. I lay back and shut
my eyes, the noise of the hectic world around me beginning to fade
away.

Peace at last. Fucking bliss.

But, of course, it didn't last
long.

A mere 20 minutes into my
personal chillout session I felt a large hand shake lightly at my
shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes to see Brick, my head bouncer,
looming over me. He was a monster of a man, but had this hangdog
expression on his face. I guess the way my mood had turned recently,
I couldn't blame him, especially since I'd fired another guy just the
week before for no good reason. 

I could see his mouth moving but
had no idea what he was saying.
I mean, clearly I can't hear you
Brick with these fucking earphones in.