Infatuation - A Club Destiny Novel (25 page)

“
So, where do we go from
here?” she asked Tag directly.

“
Let’s start by getting
the video and the emails over to CISS,” Tag stated as he stood just
a few feet away, “then we’ll go from there. I have to agree, I
don’t want to file a lawsuit against Stephen because that’s only
going to put him on the defensive and he’s going to
retaliate.”

McKenna waited to see if
Luke would say anything and when he didn’t, she did. “I think we
need to at least respond to them in some way. It’s what they want.
They’re trying to get a rise out of Luke and maybe Logan too. If we
sit back and pretend to ignore them, it’s only going to piss them
off.”

Both men paused
momentarily, hopefully considering her statement. They shared a
look between them before Tag turned back to her. “What do you
suggest?”

McKenna smiled.

She had just the thing.

*** ~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***

Tag prayed like hell that
this was going to work. He had serious doubts after looking at all
of the faces staring back at him in the large meeting room, but he
had to admit, it was worth a shot. Aside from outing Samantha on
their own, and taking a direct hit that they would probably never
recover from, he wasn’t sure they had much of a choice
anyhow.

He was mostly there for
support and to show the members that he was on their side. No
matter their final decision, he would ensure their interests were
protected to the best of his ability.

Tag’s eyes were glued to
the woman now standing in front of the entire room. She was dressed
to reflect the immaculate professional that she was, and he knew he
wasn’t the only person riveted by how incredibly stunning she
looked in gray pinstriped slacks that accentuated her tiny waist
and her curvy hips while the crisp white button down shirt hinted
at her impressive cleavage, although she wasn’t doing anything
specific to draw attention to her body.

“
Thanks for coming here
today,” McKenna addressed the entire room after Luke took his seat
beside Cole. “I know most of you probably know who I am, and I hope
by the end of this meeting, I can erase some of the fear I see in
your eyes.”

Uncomfortable laughter rattled through the
room.

Behind McKenna, on the projector screen, was
an enlarged image of the front page article from the Dallas Morning
News.

“
As many of you know, I’m
here doing an exclusive on Club Destiny, and before you panic any
more than you already have, I want to tell you that your anonymity
is my first and foremost priority. I will, in no way, offer any
names in any of my articles on this club.”

Tag might’ve imagined it,
but he thought he heard several sighs of relief.

“
However, from where I
stand, I’m not the enemy that you need to watch out for.” McKenna
pointed behind her to the screen. “Most of you have probably
already read the article and understand the intentions of Stephen
Crawford and Susan Toulmin, which is why we have invited each of
you here today.

“
You’ll notice amongst you
there are several familiar faces not in attendance today. If you
stop and think about who is not here, you will also note where you
normally see those people.”

Tag held his breath, waiting for McKenna to
get to the point.

“
I’ve learned in recent
days exactly how far Luke and Logan McCoy will go to protect the
members of their club. And this may upset you at first, but if you
think long and hard on their reasoning, you’ll understand that
their methods have always been in your best interest.

“
Each one of you is
considered a full member of Club Destiny.” McKenna paused, and Tag
waited to see if anyone would say anything. When they didn’t, she
continued. “What does that mean? Well, it means that you have full
access to the entire club while some members are restricted to
certain areas, including the private wing.

“
This
may seem a little underhanded if you think about it, but again,
every decision that Luke and Logan have made was in your best
interest. Due to the nature of the club and certain activities that
go on, each new member is put on a probation period in which they
are observed, and more importantly, trust is established. That
means that not every member you see within these walls is allowed
to venture into
the
club
.”

McKenna emphasized the
last words, referring mainly to the real Club Destiny, which not
many people even knew about. Every person in that room had at one
time or another been to the other club, although they probably
hadn’t thought anything of it at the time.

“
The two people that you
see on the screen behind me were never granted full membership.”
McKenna smiled, “Now I’m going to tell you why I am here today, and
why you’re hearing this from me and not from the
owners.”

This was the part Tag worried about. McKenna
did a fine job providing the backstory per se, but this was the
point where it was going to get a little touchy.

“
Most of you have been
worried about how much Susan Toulmin knows. If you’ve ever
interacted with her in any capacity, then you’ve worried your name
may be on this mysterious list she keeps referring to. Well, it
very well may be. It may very well be on Stephen Crawford’s
list.

“
Thanks to CISS, Luke and
Logan have compiled their own list of people in attendance at one
or more of the nightly events in which Stephen or Susan were
present. Don’t worry; there is no video evidence of any of this as
far as we know. Your visits are captured via the security codes
that you enter upon entry and exit to this floor. That also doesn’t
mean that every one of you is on that list. It does mean it’s a
possibility, and Luke and Logan wanted you to be aware of what was
going on. That is why your presence was insisted upon.”

McKenna stopped once
again, this time when her eyes met his, he smiled. She was doing a
phenomenal job. She hadn’t wanted to be the bearer of bad news, but
she agreed because she wanted to assure everyone that she was not
the enemy. Tag respected her for that.

“
Now I’ll tell you why we
brought you here today. It wasn’t just to inform you of the growing
concern, which most of you already knew about. It’s to ask for your
help, but let me preface this by saying you are in no way expected
to react or agree to anything we suggest. In fact, we are open to
your suggestions as well.”

Tag stood, knowing it was
his turn to address the room. As much as he wished McKenna could
keep talking because she was doing such a remarkable job, he wasn’t
about to let her take the brunt of what they were about to unleash
on them.

“
Many of you know me,
mainly because my face has been all over the news as it relates to
Club Destiny and the current lawsuit against Ms. Susan Toulmin. For
those who do not, my name is Tag Murphy, and I am Club Destiny’s
legal counsel. My job is to represent the best interest of this
club and, therefore, of its members.

“
In light of the lawsuit,
it has come to our attention that there are some other things going
on which are affecting you as members as well as the owners of this
club. These are serious matters, and I want to make sure you
understand that your anonymity is not the only thing on the line
here.”

Tag continued to explain
in brief detail what Stephen Crawford was doing and what he was
using as blackmail against Luke and Logan. That did not go over
well because rightfully so, the members felt as though they had
been unnecessarily dragged into the middle of this mess by
Crawford’s admission into the club. They were accurate in that
regard, but when Tag continued to explain, there was a measure of
understanding amongst them. Although, that didn’t mean they weren’t
angry.

“
Why doesn’t Samantha just
suck it up? She’s the one they’re after,” one of the members
asked.

The growl that erupted from the back of the
room, coming from Logan’s direction, was predatory in nature.

“
I’m sure that explains it
clearly,” Tag said, referring to Logan’s reaction, “but I’m going
to reiterate that Logan and Luke are working to ensure that your
membership to this club is kept strictly confidential. But, I can
also tell you that, without your cooperation, our hands are
tied.”

That settled the room down
some. It was clear from his comment that, at this point, their
identities were going to be released if Susan or Stephen had
anything to say about it. Tag didn’t fault Logan for wanting to
protect Sam. Hell, he wanted to protect Sam. But, the only thing he
could think about was if McKenna was in this same situation and
what he would do.

As much as it concerned him to think that
way, he knew he’d go to any length necessary to protect her.

~*~*~

Once the speeches were
concluded, McKenna stood at the back of the room with Tag, watching
while Logan and Luke addressed the crowd of people. It was still a
civil conversation, but it was hanging by a thread. If anyone ever
doubted how protective the two twins were of their lovers, they had
no question about it now.

And yes, there was an idiot in every crowd,
today was no exception. There was one who continued to insist that
Samantha be responsible for her own actions. When Tag told her that
the particular idiot was a state senator, McKenna sighed. Of course
he was. Hypocritical bastard.

By the time the meeting
was adjourned, Luke and Logan looked about ready to spit fire and
McKenna couldn’t say that she blamed them. After trying to reason
with them, the member’s insisted that they were in no way
supportive of their names being released. They didn’t care that
Logan and Luke were willing to waive their membership fee for the
following year if they allowed McKenna to use their name in an
article on the club.

“
What the fuck are we
going to do now?” Luke barked as he approached them when the room
had completely cleared of everyone except the McCoy twins, Cole and
Alex McDermott – whom McKenna learned was the head of CISS, and
Ashleigh Thomas’ soon to be husband.

“
When is
the next
free for all
?” McKenna asked, trying to keep a straight face. She didn’t
find any of this amusing, but the fact that these guys couldn’t
come up with a better reference still tickled
her.

“
Next week.”

“
Hmm...”

“
What does that mean?” Tag
asked, standing straight and tall at her side.

“
I was just wondering.”
She didn’t really know why she wanted to know, but she was thinking
that maybe if she knew what went on there, she could give it a sexy
twist that her readers wouldn’t be offended by. Not everyone was
into public displays or group sex of any kind, so it would be a
risk either way.

“
Well, I need to get back
to the office,” Logan said. “And tomorrow I plan to talk to Sam.
She deserves to know what’s going on.”

McKenna couldn’t argue
there. In her opinion, Sam deserved to know a long time ago.
However, she understood Logan was only trying to protect her as
best he knew how, even if she didn’t think he was going about it
the right way.

“
I’m going to put
something together, and I’ll let you all read it and let me know
what you think,” McKenna explained. “With your approval, we’ll
publish a brief article and see what type of response we
get.”

“
Were you able to figure
out where the emails to McKenna came from?” Tag interrupted,
speaking to Alex.

“
Dylan’s working on it as
we speak. He’ll have more in a little while. I’m heading back to
the office now to check out the video. Hopefully we’ll get
something that might help.”

Alex didn’t look at all
hopeful, and McKenna was beginning to understand how dire this
situation was. Club Destiny was going to take a hit, and based on
today’s meeting, if the member’s identities got out, there very
well may not be a Club Destiny in the future. She couldn’t imagine
what must be going through Luke’s head right now.

Two hours later, McKenna
was putting the finishing touches on the story she prepared. It
wasn’t going to be anything radical, nor would it probably get a
lot of attention, but it was the answer to the threat that the
newspaper article implied.

“
Will you read over this?”
she asked Tag when he reappeared in the living room. He had
disappeared with the excuse that he was taking a shower as soon as
they made it back to his room. Now it was McKenna’s turn to shower
because, in just a little while, they would be doing the official
tour of the underground club that no one seemed to know
about.

She wondered whether
attendance would be low tonight considering the meeting and the
topic of discussion. However, she also wondered whether it might
have the opposite effect. Some people got off on the anticipation
that they just might get caught doing something taboo. She
suspected that many of Club Destiny’s members were, in fact, kinky
like that.

“
Sure.” Tag glanced down
at the laptop before walking around to sit on the cushion beside
her.

“
If you don’t mind, I’m
going to take a shower now.”