The Exposé 3 Read online

  I doubt it. Dax probably has everyone hooked up to a lie detector test by now, but I don’t want to push my second chance.

  “Thank you,” I say, getting up. “I really appreciate it. And I’ll find a way to crack this story, no matter what.”

  “Hey, anytime.” Granger gives me a friendly nod. “Listen, I remember what it’s like trying to get a foot in the door, but I can tell you’re ambitious and determined, almost too much for your own good—just like I was. I’m always here, if you need to run anything by me. Advice, direction, whatever you need.”

  I’m touched. “I’ll get right back on it,” I say. “And I’ll let you know as soon as I find anything.”

  “You do that.” Granger shows me to the door. “And keep your focus. A story like this could define your whole career.”

  His words echo as I exit the building. My whole career.

  I’m torn. On the one hand, I feel terrible for lying to Dax, but I can’t ignore what Granger said. He’s put his faith in me, he thinks this is a legitimate story -- so how can I just walk away?

  Besides, it’s not like I was having a relationship with Dax. He pursued me. He seduced me. And yes, I pretended to be someone I’m not, but he’s keeping secrets too. The notes, his past. He’s no saint here, and he didn’t even give me a chance to explain.

  My choice isn’t easy. Drop the story and kill my chance at the newspaper, or keep working it from the outside, and risk angering Dax even more.

  Except, he’s already mad at me. I’ve got nothing left to lose.

  So what do I do now?

  CHAPTER THREE

  DAX

  By the time I get to the club that afternoon, I’m in a foul mood. Zoe’s betrayal still weighs heavily on my shoulders, and I can’t shake the feeling she played me for an utter fool.

  My manager, Dominique, greets me by the door. “We’ll need to go over payroll,” she says briskly, accompanying me into the lounge. “And staff turnover has been too high this past month, we need to talk about that.”

  “Give me a damn minute to take off my coat, why don’t you?” I growl.

  She arches an eyebrow. “Someone got up on the wrong side of bed this morning.”

  “My bedroom has nothing to do with it,” I snap back.

  Besides, Zoe and I barely even made it to the couch.

  Dominique gives me a look, like she doesn’t have time for my bullshit. “Well, when you’ve removed the stick currently shoved up your derriere, come find me. There’s work to be done.”

  She turns to leave, but after Zoe’s sass I’m not going to tolerate her attitude. Isn’t there someone in this place who’ll show me some respect?

  “Hey!” I bark. “Don’t give me that tone. Have you forgotten who’s boss here?”

  “Not at all,” Dominique replies, icy. “But clearly you’ve forgotten that I’m your manager, not some serving wench you can boss around as you see fit. When you come back down off your high horse, I’ll be figuring out the schedule.”

  She stalks away. Damn. I feel a flash of remorse. She’s right, I am in a shitty mood, but that’s no excuse for taking it out on her.

  She’s not the one who’s screwed me over.

  I sigh, then go after her. “Dominique, wait,” I catch her in the hallway. “I’m sorry, OK?” I say gruffly.

  She looks surprised by the apology.

  “No problem.” She nods. One of the things I like about her is she doesn’t sulk, she just moves right on. “Like I said, we’ve got a lot to do. The waiting list needs another look. Oh, and the security guys are already here. They’re setting up in the Onyx suite, I think.”

  “Wait, what security guys?” I frown.

  Dominique looks confused. “The ones you ordered to install the cameras. A little heads up would have been nice,” she adds. “But since you were late, I had to let them in.”

  Cameras?

  What the fuck?

  I turn and stride down the hallway, throwing open the door to one of the private suites. There are two guys in work clothes installing cameras in the air vents over the bed.

  “What the hell’s going on?” I demand loudly.

  One of the guys pauses, up on a step-ladder. “You the boss man? We’re nearly done here, just a couple more rooms to go.”

  Dominique appears in the doorway behind me. “What’s wrong?” she asks.

  “They’ve been wiring every room?” I ask.

  She nods. “Additional security. It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

  Not even close.

  “Goddammit!” I curse, furious something managed to slip through the net like this. This place is supposed to be secure, and these guys have been running around doing God knows what. “Why the hell didn’t someone call me?”

  “I thought this was something you and Griffin ordered? Your name was on the job requisition.” Now Dominique’s looking worried, and Dominique never looks worried. Fuck.

  I turn back to the workmen. “You two, get down from there. Don’t make another fucking move.”

  “Dax?” Dominique says. “What do you want us to—”

  “Get Griffin, go room to room. Sweep everything for cameras and mics.” I demand. “Check twice, I don’t care how long it takes. God knows what they’ve planted by now.”

  Dominique’s face goes pale as she realizes the extent of the security breach.

  “Shit, Dax. I checked out all the paperwork before they came in here,” she apologizes. “It had your name on it, it even looked like your signature.”

  “Never mind that, just get started on the clean-up. I’m gonna find out who did this.” I dismiss her, before turning back to the workmen.

  They’re looking shifty as hell now, glancing around for an escape. I pick the younger guy, he looks barely out of his teens. “You.” I beckon.

  He gulps.

  “Call your boss right now,” I order him. “Tell him that you’re not leaving here until he comes to collect you in person.”

  “Wait a minute, you can’t do that--” the older guy starts, making for the door.

  I block his path. “Watch me.”

  I leave the room and slam the door behind me, turning the master key in the lock and trapping them inside. I figure on them lasting a while before admitting defeat, but it’s barely twenty minutes before Nikolai shows up at the front entrance with his usual entourage.

  He doesn’t even have the decency to look ashamed, he just gives me that same knowing smile he would flash fifteen years ago, back when I was a kid running errands for him. He was the biggest deal in our neighborhood, like a father to me for a while, but times change.

  Now, he wants a piece of my club, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let him have it.

  “Hidden cameras?” I spit, tossing one of the duffel bags outside at his feet. After scouring every room in the club, Griffin and Dominique found enough wires to put the CIA to shame. “This shit is underhanded, even for you.”

  Nikolai doesn’t even try to deny it. He shrugs, dressed in one of his impeccable suits, like the dirt he dishes out never touches him. “You didn’t leave me much choice, son.”

  I flinch to hear him call me ‘son.’ Once, I idolized the man. I thought I’d follow in his footsteps and take my own place in his empire. That was before I realized just how rotten that world was, violent and brutal to the core.

  I walked away. I thought I’d left it all behind me, and built an empire of my own -- on my terms. But I forgot, Nikolai never forgets.

  “What the fuck do you want from me?” I demand, finally done with skirting around the question. First, his mysterious visit, then his not-so-cloaked threats. Now this. I’m not going to take it anymore. “Is it dirt on my members? Blackmail? Bribes?”

  “Not everyone, just one.” Nikolai finally gives me a straight answer. “Andrew Landsley.”

  I recognize the name. But I don’t confirm his membership. “The politician? What do you want with him?” I ask, giving nothing away.
<
br />   “Let’s just say, I have some business interests coming before his committee.” Nikolai gives me a shark’s grin. “And I could use some guarantees he’ll swing the panel in my favor.”

  Money. Power. It’s always the same with him.

  Determination settles through me like ice. “I promise my members privacy,” I tell him. “What they do in these walls is private. So if he is a member here, and that’s a big if, he’d be under my protection.”

  Nikolai brushes an invisible piece of lint off his sleeve, unconcerned, and doesn’t even bat an eye at my refusal. “Everything’s got a price, son,” he counters. “You should have just left the cameras up. Your hands would have stayed squeaky clean.”

  There’s nothing clean about what he’s proposing. Let him spy on my members during their most intimate moments? The club is supposed to be a place for people to lose all their inhibitions and worries, without consequence. Nikolai is proposing that I allow him full access to the suites and rooms.

  Even I don’t know what goes on inside.

  “This is your last warning,” I tell him. I stand aside, and let Griffin hustle out the fake workmen. “Keep the fuck away from my club, or there’ll be trouble.”

  “Oh yeah?” Nikolai smirks. “What kind of trouble could a guy like you possibly cause me?”

  I give him a steely smile. “I didn’t spend years at your right hand without learning a thing or two. Like where certain accounts are hidden, or what dealings got done under the table. How are the guys in Miami?” I add, casual.

  Nikolai tenses. “You ought to be careful what you say, son. Old loyalty will only take you so far, and I’ve just about had enough of your games.”

  “I’m not the one playing games,” I tell him. “Get off my property, and don’t let me catch any of your goons here again. This is finished.”

  I slam the door behind me and go back upstairs.

  Griffin follows, whistling. “Guys like that don’t just give up and walk away, not when they want something this bad.”

  “I know.” I think hard, but there’s no solution. I refuse to sell out my clients, whoever they are, but Nikolai won’t quit now. “You still got those friends from the old days?” I ask.

  “My old squad?” Griffin nods.

  “See if you can get a couple down here,” I say, with a sinking feeling in my chest. “Double up security for now. I need this place protected.”

  He nods, and heads back to his office. I look around. In daylight, it’s just another exclusive club, but after dark... this place becomes a playground for everyone who needs an escape. They trust me with their secrets, their lives.

  But now those secrets are catching up with me.

  Nikolai. Zoe. God knows who else. Too many people wanting to know exactly what’s hidden behind the cloak of anonymity.

  Just how much are these secrets worth? I wonder, looking around. And how long can I keep them hidden when the whole world wants to tear it all down?

  CHAPTER FOUR

  ZOE

  I’m up to my elbows in silk and spandex.

  “What about this one?” Tasha asks, emerging from the store dressing room. “Too slutty right?”

  She strikes a pose in a scrap of slinky white silk.

  “It’s...hot,” I offer. “Just depends if hot is what you want for this audition.”

  Tasha makes a face. “I don’t know! This callback is like the biggest break I’ve gotten since moving to the city. I want everything to be perfect!”

  “Well, what did they tell you to wear?”

  Tasha rolls her eyes. “They never say. Some girls just show up in plain black, so they don’t distract from their performance, but I say, if you’re going to do it, you need to do it right. Maybe I should try the red again?”

  She disappears back into the dressing room.

  I look around. The luxury store is full of rich housewives and snooty-looking staff. They keep shooting me dirty looks, as if they can tell that my bank account would barely pay for a button on one of these dresses.

  Especially now that I’m out of a story – and a job.

  “Better or worse?” Tasha steps out again, this time looking like a classic femme fatale.

  “I like it. I like all of them!”

  “Some help,” Tasha grins. She checks her reflection. “You know, the director was pretty cute. And he couldn’t stop staring at my ass.”

  “There you go,” I laugh. “If you miss out on the role, maybe you’ll still get a date.”

  Tasha snorts. “I want both. What about you?” she asks, going to browse another rack of designer dresses. “Any eligible guys at that club of yours?”

  I pause. You mean aside from the dangerously sexy man who delivered an incredible orgasm but hates my guts right now?

  When I don’t respond, Tasha turns to me with a wicked grin. “Or are you still seeing the boss?”

  “We, uh, broke it off,” I tell her. It’s not exactly a lie. “But it’s fine. I’m focusing on the job hunt. I need a new gig – I kind of got fired,” I admit.

  “No!” she exclaims. “I’m sorry, babe. I can hook you up with my agency if you need. Like I said, you have to put up with some assholes, but the money’s great.”

  “Thanks. Who knows, maybe I’ll have to take you up on it if I don’t get this mess with Dax sorted out.”

  “Tell me about these problems with Sexy Boss Man,” Tasha teases. “You’re really upset about this, I can tell. You didn’t tell me you liked him, liked him.”

  “I don’t.” I say, covering quickly. “Things just got messed up between us, pretty bad.”

  Tasha comes to sit beside me, and I can tell by the look of sympathy on her face that she doesn’t believe me. “What happened?”

  “Nothing. It’s just…” I take a breath. “I screwed up at work, and now he hates me.”

  “I’m sure he doesn’t hate you, Zoe,” she soothes. “What’d you do that was so bad?”

  “I lied,” I admit. “Big time.” I don’t want to tell her the whole story, but maybe she can help. “But I need him to trust me again. So how can I fix it? Should I even try?”

  I owe Dax nothing, we weren’t even having a relationship, but still, I know I’ve done something wrong by sneaking around under false pretenses. Sure, it was fun and sexy going undercover, but it got serious real fast. And instead of coming clean, I betrayed him.

  “Aww,” she pats my hand sympathetically, then puts a glass of fitting room champagne in it. I take a fortifying gulp-- I guess these ritzy shops do have their good points. “You’ll figure it out, Zoe. But you have to try. Look how upset you are. He’s probably waiting on your move.”

  “I don’t think so.” I take another sip, feeling guilty. “He never wants to speak to me again. What do I do?” I ask, feeling awkward asking for advice.

  “Have you tried apologizing?”

  “Yup. He won’t even listen,” I sigh. Dax strikes me as the kind of guy to stick to his guns. He’s not just going to turn around at the drop of an ‘I’m sorry’ and say we’re all good again.

  “So make him listen.” Tasha gets up again. “Give him what he wants most,” she adds with a wink, before sashaying back into the dressing room.

  What he wants most...

  I think hard. Dax has been stressed since the moment I met him -- and all because of these anonymous notes. He wants to find out who’s threatening him. Which means if I can deliver that name to him, he might give me the time of day.

  I can get back on the inside for my story again, and shake my guilt, all in one move.

  For the first time in days, I feel some hope. I rummage in my purse and pull out the card I found in his apartment. Dimas Developments. It’s not much, but I need to start somewhere.

  “Are you OK finishing up here alone?” I call to Tasha. “I have some work to do.”

  “Sure, go ahead.” Tasha sticks her head out. “I can’t decide, so I’ll just get both!”

  *

 
Armed with just the business card and company name, I decide to do some old-school sleuthing. I head to City Hall, and spend hours combing through company registration records before I find the filing for Dimas: CEO, Nikolai Dimas. I check the names against business licenses and property deeds, until finally something pops.

  Nikolai was an early investor in Dax’s first club.

  Interesting.

  I look for more recent activity, and finally find it. Dimas has been buying up buildings down by the waterfront.

  I’ve been stuck down here in the records vault all afternoon, so I take the info and go see the place for myself. The neighborhood is pretty run-down and sketchy: tenement buildings, and busted warehouse lots. I walk the streets and wonder why someone would be pouring money into this part of town: there’s no subway, no coffee shops or stores, and no office buildings either. And the waterfront is a no-build zone: it’s all environmental protection, nothing but ugly wetlands too.

  What is Dimas up to?

  Down the block, I can see someone hauling trash bags full of possessions out of one of the buildings on my list, so I go over to check it out. It’s a harried-looking woman, trying to pack three kids and a bunch of boxes into a rusting old car.

  “Here, let me help,” I say, grabbing one of the bags.

  She looks at me suspiciously, until I put it in the car. “Thanks,” she says slowly.

  “You guys moving?” I ask in a friendly voice.

  She nods. “Not like we have a choice.”

  “You got evicted?”

  “They tried. Got half the building out, but our lease runs ‘til the end of the year,” she explains, “They can’t make us go. I checked with Legal Aid. So they just turned the water off instead, had their guys come play loud music all night next door until we couldn’t take anymore. My kids need to sleep, you know?”

  “That’s terrible,” I gasp. “Who would do something like that?”

  “Nobody nice.” The woman shakes her head. “These guys, they care about nothing except money. I heard they’re tearing the building down, putting up luxury condos.”