Twisted Minds (21 page)

Twenty-Four

The Manhattan Manwhore

It didn’t sit well with me that my journal had been missing for a day.

My gut told me Cass was behind it based on pure instinct, and also the fact that I wasn’t gullible and moronic like Finn was.

When I’d told Finn that I’d found the journal, he suggested that maybe it had been there the entire time and I simply hadn’t seen it. Which made no fucking sense since I’d thrown everything out of my bag during my search.

I was sure beyond a reasonable doubt that Cass was behind it.

What made the entire thing even more unsettling was the fact that she had returned the journal. Why steal something only to put it back? Why not simply destroy it? With her twisted mind, it was impossible to know her reasons for doing the things she did.

There was no way to prove she’d been the one who’d taken it, but if there was some way to make the truth come out, I knew it would change Finn’s mind about her.

Just as I was getting ready to head to bed, Finn burst into my room, gasping for air as though he’d just run laps around his house. “Nate! You have to see this!” His voice was filled with alarm as he shoved his phone in my face.

Focusing on the screen, my eyes skimmed the headline of the article he was showing me:
Manhattan Manwhore’s Secret List Revealed.

What the fuck was this?

Taking the phone from him, I noticed that it was one of those stupid viral websites called Flash Feed that morons visited when they were trying to find scandalous real-life stories.

Just as I was about to ask him why he was showing me this, I caught sight of a picture of me on the site.

As I skimmed through the article, my heart drowned in the pit of my stomach. This was bad. This was worse than bad. This was fucking terrible.

Misogynistic. Arrogant. Womanizer.

Those are the words that first come to mind when Nathaniel James is mentioned. Son of a New York City business tycoon with a multi-million dollar empire that he is set to inherit, it’s not a far stretch to assume that James has had everything handed to him on a silver platter.

Which is why the next part shouldn’t come as a surprise.

After James’ journal was anonymously leaked yesterday, we were appalled to discover the contents of a very detailed and misogynistic list created by James. The list details James’ sexual exploits in great detail, even going as far as to use a tally system to record women based on their physical appearance.

One of the women mentioned in the journal, twenty-two-year-old Tamryn Goodwill (pictured), spoke to us exclusively about the damning consequences for her. “It didn’t happen the way he wrote it,” she sobs on the phone. “Nathaniel plied me with alcohol and made sure I was willing.”

When I recognized the girl in the picture as “Robin Hood”, I almost lost my shit.

“She stole my silverware!” I cried, unable to read anymore, as I threw my hands up in disbelief.

“Dude, how the fuck did this happen?” Finn demanded, seeming just as angry as I was.

“I have no idea,” I managed to say.

My head was still spinning in circles; I was still reeling from the shock of seeing my words being used against me.

Then I realized what this could mean if my father found out. He wouldn’t want something like this linked to him or his company; this had the potential to jeopardize my entire career at
MDC
.

It wasn’t like my father was a saint; he was even worse than I was, dating multiple women at once, wooing them with his money, and then ditching them when he grew bored. He wouldn’t be mad that I’d kept a list of women I’d been with; he’d be mad at me for getting caught.

“My father is going to lose his shit if he sees this.” I held onto the side of my head as though it would somehow help. It didn’t. My life was still descending into chaos.

“No, he won’t,” Finn assured me, patting me on the back. “Your father is off the grid in the Bahamas. You can fix this before he gets wind of it.”

He was right. My father was in the Bahamas for the summer. He wouldn’t be back for another week. One week. That’s how long I had to fix things. This was my chance to put my Business degree to use.

Fuck. A Business degree. That wasn’t going to help in any fucking way.

Then a distinct image hit me. Auburn hair. Glittering, grey eyes.

Anger churned through me. Fucking Cass.

“She did this.” My teeth were clenched as I spoke, and my hands started to shake.

“Who?”

“Cass!”

No one knew about my journal, except Finn and Cass. And there was no doubt in my mind that Cass had done this. This was her way of getting back at me for being involved in her breakup with Finn. Maybe that had been her motive the entire time—revenge. She was the only one who would stoop so low in order to feel better about herself.

Then a terrible thought occurred to me. What if Kira ever saw this? She had just given herself to me, and I was just starting to realize the depth of feelings I had for. If she saw this, it would destroy everything that existed between us.

“Seriously, you need to stop blaming her for this,” Finn’s eyes turned a shade of brown I’d never seen before. “She had nothing to do with your journal missing or this article being published. Cass is a changed person.”

“Changed person, my ass!” I shot back, my voice rising. “She did this because I told you about her propositioning me for sex!”

Finn fell silent, and I knew his mind was being forced back to that dark day six months ago when his relationship with Cass had ended.

Cass had stumbled into the apartment in the early hours of the morning and drunkenly knocked into the coat rack in the foyer. She’d been at some friend’s party, and Finn had opted to stay at home because he had an early class the next morning.

The clattering of metal against the hardwood floor had jolted me awake from my sleep. I’d lain awake in bed for a few seconds, waiting for sleep to overtake me again, when my bedroom door creaked open.

It was Cass.

“Wrong room, Cass,” I told her, my tone drowsy as I leaned up on an elbow to get a better view of her.

“Shhh!” was her response.

The room was bathed in darkness, but there was enough light coming in from the streetlight outside that I could just make out her tiny figure as she shut the door behind her and proceeded further into the room.

“How much did you have to drink?” I asked as I reached over to flip on the lamp sitting on my bedside table.

The light fell across her body as she stood by my bed in a clingy green dress. Her hair was up in a sophisticated bun. She looked like anything but the wide-eyed girl who’d first arrived in the city all those years ago. Admittedly, she looked good, but she was still in the wrong freaking room.

“Oh, not much,” she responded in a giggly tone which contradicted her words.

“Uh huh,” I said in disbelief, pushing the heavy quilt off me and swinging my legs over the edge of the bed.

Cass drew closer to me, and her grey eyes eagerly drank in my upper body. Yeah, I worked out a bunch and liked to look good, but it wasn’t like she hadn’t seen me half-naked before. The way her eyes were appraising me made it seem as though my six-pack and large arms were new to her.

“You know I’ve always liked you, Nate,” she said, her tone flirtatious.

With a groan, I rose from the bed. She was being completely inappropriate right now. This was way out of line, even for me.

“Cass, you need to leave.” My tone was firm, but she didn’t seem to care.

“You and I,” she said, slurring her words a little, “we’re two of a kind. We’re better than everyone else. We’re thirsty for success, ambition, respect. And we demand it.”

What in the hell was she going on about?

I gently placed a hand on her elbow. “Your boyfriend is in the other room sleeping.”

“And he never has to know.” Cass leaned in, her mouth inches away from mine as her sickly sweet perfume clouded my nostrils.

Before I could even open my mouth to protest, Cass slid out of her green dress and let it fall to the floor. She was completely naked underneath it; no bra, no underwear, nothing. Her breasts were small, but perky, and her hips formed small curves, but otherwise she was toned and slender all over.

“You need to put your dress back on,” I told her, as my eyes lingered on her body.

“Why don’t you put it back on for me?” she taunted, pushing me down onto the bed with a strength I didn’t know she possessed.

Quicker than my mind could comprehend, she was on top of me, straddling me with her slim legs. Even though this was completely wrong, I started to get a little hard. An attractive, naked girl was on top of me—of course it was a turn on.

Cass must have felt my hard on, because a sly smile filled her face and she reached down to stroke it over my boxers. “Someone likes it.”

But I couldn’t like it. There was nothing to like. This had to end.

Even though Finn was about to be devastated, I pushed Cass off of me and called for him at the top of my lungs. What followed was drawn out fighting, a lot of things being broken, excuses, begging and pleading, and then the end of their tumultuous relationship.

“It’s not fair bringing that up,” Finn said as we both returned from the memory. “She was wasted that night. She told me she made an honest mistake.”

For fuck’s sake, I couldn’t believe he was trying to defend her.

“An honest mistake is side-swiping someone’s car,” I said, trying not to lose my temper at him. “You weren’t in the room that night. She knew exactly what she was doing.”

“You’re right,” Finn agreed. “I wasn’t there. All I have is two sides of a story and I have to make the best judgment I can make.”

I stared at him, realizing that in order to be with Cass he was making himself believe her version over mine. I knew I was many things, but being untruthful to my best friend wasn’t one of those things.

“This is fucking ridiculous!” I cried, unable to keep my cool any longer.

“Look, Nate, I’m not saying I don’t believe you about what happened that night,” Finn added quickly, sensing that I was about to lose my shit. “I’m just keeping an open mind about it. All I know is that Cass had nothing to do with the article. She doesn’t have a vendetta against you. Like I said, she’s a changed person.”

“Yeah, okay,” I responded bitterly.

We both took a few moments to calm down. A lot had been said, and there was still the giant issue of an article being published about me and my journal which I somehow had to have removed from the internet.

“At least your journal is back,” Finn finally said, trying to sound optimistic. “All we have to do is figure out what to do about this article before your father hears about it.”

He was right, of course. Even though I knew deep down that Cass had everything to do with this, there was no way for me to prove it. My main focus had to be the removal of the article.

“How do I do that?” I asked, feeling completely helpless.

“I don’t know, man, but we’ll figure it out.” He sighed. “Let’s get something to eat first and then we can talk about it some more.”

“I’ll be down in a sec,” I told him, desperately needing a moment alone.

“Okay, see you down there.” He flashed me a tight smile and left me in silence.

With a frustrated groan, I buried my head in my hands. My life was suddenly spinning out of control. Ever since I’d first laid eyes on Cass in that crappy Chinese restaurant, I knew something bad was going to happen. I should’ve grabbed Finn and made him leave town right then and there.

“Is it true?”

Kira’s voice came from the doorway, and I jerked my head up to find her walking into my room. Her face was red, her nostrils were flared, and her forehead was scrunched up with a hundred lines.

“What?” I asked, rising from the bed as a bad feeling washed over me.

“This!” She thrust her phone in my face and I saw the fucking article about me on the screen.

No, no, no, no.

This couldn’t be happening right now.

“How did you see this?” I questioned, although I had a sinking suspicion that Cass had something to do with it.

Cass had been jealous that I liked Kira and had feelings for her. She’d gotten mad as she’d compared herself to Kira. This was her way of sabotaging that too. Man, she was good. If I didn’t hate her fucking guts, I’d give her a medal for covering all the bases.

“It doesn’t matter!” Kira’s tone was shrill. “Yes or no? Is the article true? Do you keep a record of all the women you sleep with?”

“Yes,” was my simple answer.

What else was there to say? She deserved the truth.

“So you sleep with women, just like you slept with me, and keep count in your journal so you can feel good about yourself?” Her voice rose with each word.

“Yes, and no,” I added quickly. “But it was different with you. It wasn’t just about se-”

“Stop.” Kira’s anger dissipated and her face fell, as though she’d been hoping for a different response. “I never want to speak to you again.” Her voice was faint, but her response hit me so hard that she might as well have been screaming at me.