Logan arrived in his home tired. It was around 8p.m., he had made sure that he was the last one to leave the office especially since it was spring and days were longer. He always left his office at 7p.m. when the sun set.
Nodding at the butler, he entered his house and walked to his sitting room, and his steps faltered as he took in the picture in front of him, his blood boiling. Dirty dishes were on the coffee table, unfinished food and food crumbs covered his table. There were dirty socks on the large couch and empty cans covered the floor. "CAMERON!" He barked as he took heavy steps up the stairs.
He dropped his suitcase and jacket on his bed before he strolled out of his room to continue the search for his brother. "CAMERON!" He barked and pushed Cameron's door harshly, causing it to bang against the wall, and then he froze at the door, pursing his lips together. Cameron jumped out of his bed and gave his brother an annoyed look. Behind him was a girl laying naked on the bed, covered in white linen. After taking in the image, Logan's face turned red and he barked at the girl, "GET OUT!"
The girl didn't need to be told twice. She jumped out of bed and gathered her clothes in her hands before running out of the house. Logan glared at Cameron, and Cameron knew immediately that he was in trouble. "Take a shower, and meet me downstairs." Logan said sternly, not leaving any space for argument. Giving him a last glance, he walked out of the room, anger radiating from his body. Cameron sighed and closed the door. He knew his brother wouldn't approve of his actions, but he did it anyway.
Logan went downstairs and started cleaning up his brother's mess. He took a small bin and threw all the food and empty cans in it. Striding towards the couch, he picked up the socks and threw them in the bin without second thought. After taking out the trash, he took the dishes and empty glasses to his private kitchen and dumped them in the sink. He poured warm water into the sink and washed the dishes. When he was finished, he took the wet cloth and walked back into the sitting room to clean the coffee table. Walking back into the kitchen, he took out pots and ingredients and started cooking.
Logan had dozens of maids, but they were restricted from his kitchen and office. He did not trust anyone when it came to his food, but of course, he never said that out loud except to Thuso and MJ. A small smile tugged on his lips as he remembered how she had smiled at him that evening, it had been the first time she genuinely smiled at him. His smile widened but it vanished immediately as soon as Carmen's image popped into his mind.
It had been over three months sincea Carmen had an accident, and she was out of danger. He had not seen her since the last time he ran into her at the hospital. Just the mere mention of her name was enough to send him on a shooting spree. The last time he had lashed out on Doctor Becker and threatened to have her fired if she kept on pushing the 'Carmen' matter, he was done with her, especially after he had all her stuff delivered. Pushing the thoughts aside, Logan filled his mind with food.
About an hour later, Cameron was dragged downstairs by a mouth-watering aroma. stumbling into the kitchen, his steps halted as he stared at his brother, his mouth hanging ajar. He was shocked to see his brother cooking; he'd expected to find the maid that had made him lunch earlier to be cooking. Another thing was that Logan was cooking in another kitchen, he didn't know that there were two kitchens. The kitchens were both fancy, but this one was fancier than the other. It looked like one of those kitchens in cooking shows.
Cameron stood next to the table and cleared his throat to grab Logan's attention, but to no avail. He cleared his throat again, louder this time around. Logan turned around and raised his eyebrows at him. They stared at each other for the longest time, neither one of them uttering a word. Their eyes did the talking, understanding brewing in them. Cameron opened his mouth to speak, and closed it. He opened it and closed it again. On the the third try, he breathed, "Logan..." A storm of emotions strained in his voice.
Logan opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. He was about to repeat his brother's name when Logan finally spoke. He said one word which held so much intensity in it. A word that needed no reply at all. "Sit."
Watching as his brother retreated to his cooking, turning his back against him, Cameron clenched his fists on his side and gritted his teeth. Figuring that the conversation was closed, he pulled a chair and sat down. He circled his fingers on the table, he kept on stealing glances at Logan and thinking about their childhood. He still cooks. Cameron thought.
Logan was busy stirring up his soup, seemingly taking out his anger on the world with the wooden spoon. "Logan?" His hand froze midair as his brother called his name. He closed his eyes and sighed. Placing the wooden spoon on the chopping board, he slowly turned around to face his brother. "Why-"
"What I meant to say by sit was, sit down- and shut the hell up." Logan said quietly in a sharp tone.
Cameron drummed his fingers against the table, rocking his head back and forth, his eyes holding his brother's. Again, they communicated with their eyes, daring each other to say something. Seeing as this wasn't getting him anywhere, Cameron slammed his hand against the table and stood up, "I'll be in the sitting room," he said and walked out before Logan could say anything, not that he was going to.
Logan finished cooking and dished up for the both of them. He took both plates to the sitting room and placed them on the coffee table. "Legs off the table," he muttered to Cameron as he turned back to the kitchen to get their drinks. Upon coming back, he sat down next to his brother and they started to eat in silence.
Once they were done, Logan cleaned up again. "Can I ask you a question?" He asked once he was done.
Cameron was in the living room watching football on TV.
Cameron shrugged in response. "Sure."
"How do you know MJ Billings?" He tried to play it off, but it was all over his face, and Logan knew that whatever was about to come out of his mouth next would be a lie.
"Everybody knows who MJ Billings is," Cameron said in a haste.
They both knew that was a lie, a ridiculous one at that. Nobody knew who MJ was, most of his friends in the office just recently learned who she was. MJ could blend in crowds and nobody would ever guess who she was, until the day she put herself in a position to be known, she would remain a mystery.
Had it not been for the strange visit earlier this week, they would not even be having this conversation, and maybe if Cameron was willing to come clean, they would even forget it and move on.
For the past few months everyone had lied to him, but never in a daylight could he have imagined his younger brother to be part of that list.
He and MJ knew each other, Logan was yet to figure out how, but one way or the other, there was something between the two of them that they did not want anyone else to know about.
Logan watched him for some time, a lot of emotions brewing in him. It was one thing having to watch out for the world, and another not being able to trust his own brother. Cameron was a smooth liar, but even now, he was failing miserably.
Without warning, Logan stood up and took out a memory stick from his pocket, and then he plugged it on the TV before grabbing the remote off the couch and sitting down. "Do you mind if we watch a movie?" He asked, and Cameron was shocked by the swift change of topic.
Logan knew Cameron would agree to anything at all right now to get off the hook, but unknowingly to him, he was playing right into Logan's hands.
The video was taking a long time to load, but he had all the time in the world, although Antonina would not agree to that, he still had to drive back to her place.
The video finally started playing, and Cameron shifted uncomfortably when Logan's house came into view; the video showed people coming in and out the day of the engagement party. One particular truck stood out, it was from a local delivery company that distributed alcohol. Logan remembered how Carmen had stocked a lot of alcohol as if she was having a mass meeting, the workers unloaded loads and loads of boxes and packs of different alcohol brands, but the one thing that caught both their attention was how six guys went into the house, but only five came out.
It was so busy that day, everyone was occupied, so no one saw a thing. Well, except for Thuso who is seen distracting everyone else so that the intruder could sneak upstairs.
"It's a pity that Thuso is not here to watch this movie with us, I'm sure he would have definitely loved to see his face before I reconstructed it," Logan commented, leaning back against the couch with his feet on the armrest. "Now that I think about it, I don't regret beating him up at all." By now, Cameron was mum, he already knew what was coming next. "You know, for a while now I've been pretty messed up over how empty this house was without you, Montana, dad, and funny enough, our dear stepmother." He chuckled bitterly. "I thought to myself, Cameron hasn't been home in a long time, it's been close to three years now. I was hoping that after you were released from prison, you would at least consider coming home just to lay low for a bit. But the one time you decide to come home..." He forwarded the tape to later in the evening when Cameron snuck into his office right after MJ had entered. "Shall we hear what is being said?" He mused while increasing the volume.
The one action that made his heart leap was when Cameron touched her face and her neck, and she seemed to melt right into his touch. It made him think of just how she would have if Logan had been the one to touch her, she always seemed to be torn in half; the night at the yatch still haunted him, because she left him feeling like he was a monster. She was scared of him, and that was a conversation they still needed to have.
'I'll catch up with you later,' Cameron's voice sounded from the audio, and he dropped his can of beer, causing its contents to spill on the grey carpet.
Logan whistled, casting a grim glance at the display. "If you must know, I just cleaned that carpet."
"Logan-"
"Let's see the rest of the footage, shall we?" It bugged him more than he was willing to admit, but he was dying to know what was going on between his brother and his ex girlfriend; did they actually meet after the events of the party?
He had watched the footage a thousand times, but he could never stop the feeling in his gut every single time.
Right after MJ had left the office with the birthday invitation out of sight, Cameron started looking around the office, he was not looking for anything in particular, he was just admiring. But once his eyes started moving, his steps followed as he moved to pick something from the desk; it was the ultrasound scan Carmen had shown him the other day.
Logan felt his heart clench at the image, and for a second, he thought of turning off the TV.
Moving on, Cameron looked at the pictures and his eyes moved at a train speed as he took in every single details.
'No!' He breathed, dropping the scan on the floor. 'Oh, God!' He ran both his hands over his head and started pacing around. 'I can't let her continue with this, I have to stop this!' He ran out of the office.
The footage spilt into four frames, showing images from different places; Jorge's room as Logan stepped out with MJ and Carmen, the staircase, Logan's office, and the hallway. MJ's arm moved an inch, and for a second it looked like she was about to push Carmen, but before she could move any further, Cameron came running down the stairs and he ran into the trio, and then Carmen tumbled down the stairs.
Logan switched off the TV and threw the remote on the side, and then he sat up straight. "It took me three months, three months to finally gain the courage to watch that video and find out what really happened. And once I did, I played it over and over again hoping that something would change, but guess what?" He gulped, staring at his brother with intense eyes. "Everything damn time I watch it all I see is your bloody face. My own brother, betraying me. Do you have any idea how much that hurts?" He asked, but before Cameron could answer, he chuckled and said, "Oh, wait...you do! I left you to rot in prison for a day, and that's the same thing!" His voice raised to an octave, breaking with every word he said.
"Fuck," Cameron muttered, burying his head in his hands. "Logan, I can-"
Logan raised a knowing eyebrow at him. "Explain?"
Cameron sat up straight, turning to face his brother. "It is not what it looks like. I know how it looks, but it is-"
Logan stood up and fixed his clothes. "Save it. I don't need your explanation, Cam. I just wanted to look you in the eye and tell you that I know." Cameron gulped, unable to say a single word. "Make yourself at home, throw parties, and invite as many girls as you want, but clean after yourself and stay the fuck out of my kitchen," he said in a controlled voice before strolling out of the room.
Cameron stared at the stained carpet in shame, not knowing what to do next. What did this mean for him?