Chapter Twenty
Olivia
I parked my car in my usual spot outside of the Club X building and closed my eyes to calm my nerves. My stomach had been doing somersaults from the moment I left my apartment, and now that I sat just yards away from where Cash was, I thought I might throw up from fear. What if he’d changed his mind after I sent him away? I’d tried to call him three times that morning, and each time my call had been sent to voicemail.
Checking out my look in the mirror, I tried to reassure myself that Josie was right. Cash was crazy about me. Now I had to show him I was crazy about him.
You can do this.
I hoped that Beck’s Loser playing on the radio at that moment wasn’t a sign or bad omen. Pushing that silly thought out of my mind, I took one last deep breath and headed toward the front door. I could do this. This was the new Olivia, Version 2.0, and she could handle this, no problem.
The bar area looked empty as it always did when the club was closed, and as I walked through I looked for Stefan or Kane, but they didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby. All the better. I wasn’t in the mood to make small talk. I’d practiced what I would say to Cash half a dozen times on the drive there, and I didn’t want to forget it all by getting stuck in some distracting conversation, particularly with Stefan.
As I approached my office, I saw a box sitting next to my door. I got closer and realized it contained everything from my office. He’d taken me seriously when I said I quit. My bravado sank to its lowest point. This was not going according to plan already.
Cash’s door was slightly ajar, so I knocked lightly and peeked my head in hoping to be greeted by his typical workday smile. He looked up from his laptop and instead of seeing a smile, all I saw were his eyes ice cold staring back at me.
“Do you have a minute? I’d like to talk to you, if you’re free.”
“Olivia, your things are in the box outside of your office. Your last paycheck will be direct deposited in your account, as usual.”
And with that he returned to typing away on his laptop, effectively dismissing me. I stood there with my cheek pressed up to the side of his door in shock. Why was he acting so cold toward me? What had changed?
I pushed the door open and stepped into his office, closing it behind me so we could have this discussion in private. He looked up as the door clicked closed, but again returned his attention to his work, leaving me standing there feeling awkward and unwanted.
“Cash, about my resignation. I’ve thought about it and I’d really like it if we could sit down and talk about things,” I said quietly, my plans barely holding up under his frigid reception.
Without even looking up, he said, “I’m not interested in talking about anything. Your things are outside in the box.”
His tone was so cold, so distant, that I stepped back feeling like I’d been slapped across the face. This man who’d been so wonderful now refused to even acknowledge my request to speak to him. What had happened?
“Why are you being like this? I thought we could…that you…What’s changed between us, Cash?”
He spun his laptop around to face me. “This changed between us, Olivia.”
I sat down in front of his desk and began reading an article on the club written by Ciara Danson. Somehow, she’d found a way to get information only available to members, and she’d gone to town ripping Cash and his brothers as “owners of a modern day whorehouse” and “overgrown boys who used their business as a front to satisfy their own depraved desires.” The entire article smacked of ignorance and petty jealousy, and by the time I finished reading what Ciara had written, I understood what had changed.
He thought I’d betrayed him and everything we’d had together.
I looked up and saw his expression full of hatred for me. “I didn’t do this, Cash. You can’t believe I’d ever do something like this to you and your brothers.”
“Tell me that doesn’t sound exactly like something you’d say. That it doesn’t sound like what you wanted to say to me when you left my place the other night.”
“No, I was hurt. I’ll admit that, but I wouldn’t do that to you. I care about you. You have to know that.”
He turned his laptop around toward him and stared over it at me. “I don’t know anything like that. All I know is that reporter wrote things only a member could know, and of all the members, you’re the only one I see with a reason to want this place closed.”
“No! That’s not true. I came here today to tell you I wanted to keep working here…” I stopped and tried to collect my thoughts as my mind reeled from his hurtful words. “I came here because I wanted to tell you that I miss you. I’d hoped we could try again.”
“There’s nothing more to try.”
I fought back the tears as his words felt like they were cutting into my heart. This time he didn’t turn away but just stared at me with a look full of hate. My emotions began to spin out of control, and I scrambled for anything that would convince him I wasn’t the one who’d betrayed him.
“Don’t do this, Cash. I swear I never spoke to her, except that day right here in your office. I wouldn’t do that, no matter how hurt I was about what happened the other day. You have to believe me. I didn’t do that.”
He sat there saying nothing, his expression emotionless like everything he’d felt for me had hardened over. I’d never felt so alone just inches away from another person in my entire life.
“Cash, please listen to me. I thought about what you said last night and you were right. I don’t want to throw away what we have. Please…”
My words weren’t getting through. He sat there just staring at me, his blue eyes so icy I wanted to look away. All the sexiness and tenderness they’d held in the past were gone. When he finally spoke again, his words crushed me.
“Go home, Olivia. There’s nothing here for you anymore.”
I stood to leave, stunned at how distant and uncaring he’d been and unsure what to do next. I couldn’t leave things like this, but he wasn’t even listening to me. I walked out to collect my things from the cardboard box and couldn’t hold back the tears any longer when I saw the nameplate he’d had made for me right after I began working for him. Running my fingers over the gold outline of my name, I cried as I remembered how wonderful things had been then.
A voice behind me quietly said my name, and I looked up to see Kane standing over me. I lifted the box and struggled to wipe my tears away so he didn’t see me falling apart right there outside my former office.
“Hey, I was just getting my stuff. I guess you know all about what happened and you think I told that Ciara woman everything too.”
Kane reached out and took the box from my arms. “Here, let me take this. Let’s go into the club and talk for a minute.”
I followed him, still a wreck emotionally from Cash’s coldness but happy at least one of them didn’t think I’d betrayed their trust. He set the box down on the bar and waved someone over. I turned to see Stefan smiling at me.
“Hey, Olivia. I see Cash is still not feeling in a forgiving mood. Not that I think you were part of that Ciara’s story.”
“He thinks I told her things, but I swear to you both I didn’t do that. I have no idea how she found out details about the fantasy rooms, but it wasn’t me,” I sobbed, unable to stop the tears from streaming down my cheeks again. Drying my eyes, I added, “I told Cash all that too, but he won’t listen.”
“My brother’s stubborn,” Stefan said with a smile. “Don’t worry. Once we figure out who was behind this, he’ll warm up again.”
I hung my head, embarrassed I couldn’t keep it together in front of these two men. “I don’t think so. He was so distant toward me you’d swear we’d never been anything but strangers to one another.”
“That’s how you can tell you got to him. When Cash is hurt, he goes into himself. It’s like he presses a button and the walls just go up around him.”
It didn’t help to think I’d gotten to him as the memory of his iciness replayed in my mind. Never before had anyone shut me out so completely and so effortlessly, or at least it seemed that way.
“You can deal with Cash later, but for now, who do you think could have been Ciara’s source?” Kane asked.
I shook my head. “I have no idea. I’ve never seen her since that day in his office.”
“Well, I saw her Monday night outside with some guy. Tall, dirty blond hair, acted like a jackass when he couldn’t get in. They seemed very interested in one another, but he couldn’t be her source since he couldn’t even get in the door.”
Kane’s words rang in my ears. “Tall with dirty blond hair? Was he wearing a black watch with a huge face?”
“Yeah. You know him?”
Before I could answer, Stefan slammed his hand down on the bar. “Jake! After Cash made me void his membership the other day, I knew Richfield was pissed. I told him to just let Cash calm down, that it likely wasn’t anything that had to be permanent, but he threatened to make him pay for what he’d done. I figured he was just blowing off steam.”
I raised my hand to my face to cover the last of the bruise that hadn’t completely faded from my cheek. “Jake’s all about blowing off steam these days, it seems.”
Stefan leaned down and narrowed his eyes to look at me. “Did something happen with Jake and you? Is that what made Cash go all scorched earth on him?”
Nodding, I looked away, embarrassed. “Yeah. It’s no big deal.”
“Fuck it isn’t. Jake hit you? If I’d have known, I’d have kicked Richfield’s ass the minute I got off the phone with Cash. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m more worried about what Ciara Danson’s article is going to do to the club than a bruise or two from some jackass. Isn’t there anything that can be done about it?”
“I think it’s time for me to pay Miss Danson a visit,” Kane said with a smile. “You know, to convince her and her boss that the article needs to go.”
I could only imagine what Kane would do to the flirty Ciara Danson. She’d likely try to use her feminine charms on him, but I didn’t see that ploy working on someone like Kane. But if it was Jake who talked to her, I wanted to hear the truth from her firsthand.
“I want to go with you,” I said, forgetting how scary this brother could be. He looked over at me and raised his eyebrows, like I’d just made the most bizarre suggestion, but merely shrugged after a moment. “Since Jake likely did this because of me, I’d like to know for sure if he’s her source.”
“That’s fine with me. We might even stop over at his place if I’m in the mood after talking to her. Just so you know.”
Stefan moved to join us, but Kane held his hand up to stop him. “You stay here with Cash. I’ll let you know what happens.”
“I’m not exactly the person he wants to be around when his love life is crashing down around him, you know?”
I shot him a knowing glance as Kane answered, “And you think he’d be happier with you and Olivia going somewhere together?”
A sly smile spread across Stefan’s lips. “Point taken. Give Jake a shot for me. Better yet, I’ll handle that myself.” He turned toward me and put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry about Cash, Olivia. It’ll all work out.”
As I turned to follow Kane, I mumbled, “I hope so. Right now, I can’t see it.”
* * *
Spending time with Kane turned out to be far different than what I’d expected. The largest and scariest Club X brother said almost nothing to me the entire time we rode to the offices of All The Rage in his black 69 Mustang, but strangely enough, the silence didn’t make me uncomfortable. Unlike with Cash, Kane not talking felt right.
We walked into the building where Ciara Danson worked and found her sitting in a cubicle on the second floor. The look on her smarmy face showed she recognized me immediately, but I noticed unlike when she’d come to interview Cash, she wasn’t dressed so her coworkers could see all the blessings that God had given her. She’d have to use something else if she intended to charm this brother.
“I guess you saw the article, Miss Lucas. Your boss is probably very unhappy, but I’d have thought he’d come here himself instead of sending his secretary and one of the club’s bouncers.”
Amused by her ignorance, I smiled and said, “Ciara, this is Kane. He’s one of the owners of Club X.”
She looked him up and down, obviously liking what she saw, and smacked her lips. “Nice to meet you, Kane. I’m sorry, but I didn’t realize there was a third brother involved in the club. All my source told me about was Cassian and Stefan. If they had told me about you…”
Kane stared down at her with his usual steely look, unfazed by her attempt at flirting with him. “Let me tell you what’s going to happen, Miss Danson. I’m going to turn around and go speak to your boss. When he asks me why I think you should get rid of that article, I’m going to explain to him just who Ciara Danson is. Seems you’ve had a few run-ins with the law, and from what I hear, that degree of yours isn’t all you claim it to be. Florida State is a big school, but with the right man searching, it’s easy to find out the truth.”
The tone in his deep, raspy voice should have told her to stop while she was ahead, but Ciara wasn’t going to give up so easily. Looking up at him with her big blue eyes, she said syrupy sweet, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but perhaps we could meet over a few drinks and discuss this.”
Kane let her speak and then continued, “Now you can delete that article and everything associated with it and keep your job snooping into exciting events like pie eating contests and other nonsense worthy of your time, or you can claim some kind of journalistic ethics and I can go in there and get you fired. Your choice.”
I’d never heard Kane say so much at one time. Ciara stared up at him with a stunned look, like she’d just been slapped across the face. Everything seemed to stop for a moment, and then she turned in her seat to face her laptop. “Fine. You win.”
She typed a few words and before our eyes the article disappeared from the site. When she claimed it was all gone, Kane walked behind her and leaned over her to type his own words onto a screen I’d never seen on my computer. A few keystrokes later, he stood up to his full height and returned to my side.
“And now you’re going to tell us who your source was,” Kane said in a flat voice.
“It’s not enough that I deleted everything?” Ciara whined, all her charm and flirtatiousness gone now.
“No. Tell Olivia who your source was, or I’m heading into your boss’s office.”
Ciara hesitated, and Kane turned to walk away. “Okay! His name was Jake. I met him outside the club the other night when he was denied entrance, even though he’s a member. I heard him bitching about the owners, and I figured he was ripe for the picking. He told me everything.”
Hearing her confirm what I already suspected didn’t make the betrayal any easier. Kane threatened Ciara with revealing her past one more time before we left, and then we headed back to his car. Closing the car door, I turned to face him, dying to know what she’d done to get arrested.
“You have to tell me. What did the lovely Ciara do to get in trouble?”
Kane started the engine and shifted the car into gear. With a slight smile, he said, “Our little Ciara has a penchant for the five-finger discount. And her real name isn’t Ciara Danson. It’s Cheryl.”
“Shoplifting? And a new, sexy name? How did you find out?”
“That’s my job, Olivia. I handle all the dirty work for Club X—the sex, the fantasies, and finding out things about the people who want to come to the club.” He turned his head and smiled at me. “And yes, I know all about you. That’s why I was pretty sure you didn’t do this.”
“There’s not much to know, I guess. Investigating me must have taken all of five minutes.”
His smile grew bigger, and he chuckled. “You’re one of the rare people I’ve met in this business. You have no real vices, no problems with the law, and from all reports, you’re honest.”
“Pretty boring, huh?”
“Not so much. Seems to me those are the perfect qualities for an executive assistant.”
Kane’s allusion to my working for Cash again buoyed my spirits. We pulled up to the front of the club, but it was obvious that Kane had other places to go rather than return to work. I would have felt better if he was with me when I walked back into the club, but I had a feeling I knew where he was going.
“You aren’t coming in?”
Shaking his head, he narrowed his eyes to slits. “No. I’m going to pay Jake Richfield a visit.”
“Oh. Okay. I’d say be careful, but I think he’s the one who needs to worry about that.”
Kane chuckled low and looked over at Club X. “I think you have a box to take care of. Tell Stefan I’ll be back later.”
“Okay.” I got out of the car and leaned back in through the window. “And thanks for believing in me, Kane. I appreciate it.”
“Any time, Olivia. Don’t worry about Cash. Things have a way of working out.”
“Yeah. But hey, if this is the last time I see you because I don’t have a job anymore, it was nice meeting you. You turned out to be way different than I thought you were. Even if what you do isn’t exactly legal.”
That rare, genuine Kane smile brightened up his face and went all the way to his blue eyes. “The club is the club. I let Cash worry about the legality of it. As for me, don’t tell anyone how I really am. I won’t be able to do my job if people think I’m a nice guy. Let that be our little secret.”
“Got it.”
As he drove away, I looked at the front door of Club X with a lump in my throat. Whatever lay behind that door, I had to face it, even if it meant the end of my time there.