CRASH (A Logan Brothers Novel) (14 page)

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!

It had only been about a week
since I'd humiliated myself in front of the entire square outside the
museum. A week since Crash had looked at me like I was a lunatic when
I rushed in to kiss him.

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.

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 upon 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 of the essence. 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 only 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 anyway.”

“
Thanks Jude, and good job.”

I put the phone down and 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 father died he'd been getting drunk
more and more often. College parties, late night sessions at the bar.
God knows whatever else he got up to.

I needed to trust him if he was
to help me build our families 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 here 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 hairs on my arms stood on
end.

“
My father? About his murder?”

“
Yes.”

“
Well tell me! What do you
have?!”

This was exactly what I'd been
waiting for. Something, anything about my fathers death. I wanted to
know who did it. I wanted to know what happened. I wanted to get
revenge.

“
Why don't you come to my
office. It's better we talk face to face. You never know who might be
listening down a phone line.”

Typical Jones.Always on edge,
always on guard.

“
OK. I'll be there in 10
minutes.”

I slammed the phone down and
paced straight out of my office. I could see Graham, my floor
manager, chatting to one of the high rollers as they came in through
the main entrance.

I paced quickly down the steps
and greeted the man with a firm handshake.

“
Mr Yashido, wonderful to see
you again in our humble casino.”

The more you kissed their ass,
the more they'd keep coming back and paying you off.

“
Thank you Mr Logan. I was
sorry to hear about the death of your father. A terrible tragedy.”

Yeah, one that will be
shortly corrected I hope.

“
Thank you for your kind words
Mr Yashido, they're much appreciated. Graham, would you please see to
Mr Yashido's needs. Champagne, on the house.”

More ass kissing.

Mr Yashido nodded and bowed
slightly before being ushered away by Graham.

“
I'll be back shortly,” I
whispered to him as he left. “Make sure he stays as long as
possible.”

With that I continued on out of
the exit and into the dark night. The rain was beginning to fall as I
stepped into my Hummer, a crack of thunder far off in the distance.

A storm was coming.

....

20 minutes later I stood in
Jones' office, that familiar cloud of smoke floating around him as he
sat at his desk. I couldn't sit, though, not right now.

“
So tell me, what do you
know?” I asked firmly as he slid a glass of whisky over towards me.

“
Well, as instructed I started
looking into Mr Lithgow's past and came across some very interesting
information.”