Terri
By the next day, Terri thought she might go crazy.
After returning to Logan’s penthouse the day before, he’d mumbled something about needing to run out for work then asked her not to leave while he was gone. Moping around the apartment, aimlessly flicking through TV channels, it was the first time she felt like he really owned her.
Instead of coming home for dinner, he called on the landline to say that he’d be having a business meeting and Terri should use his credit card to order in. She’d spent another couple hours feeling sorry for herself before going to bed early.
Waking up the next morning, her heart felt even heavier. Either Logan was penalizing her for the moment they shared on the bridge or he felt self-conscious about it and couldn’t stand to be around her.
Crawling from bed, she realized she’d never made that second phone call to her brother. He had to be worried sick!
“Shoot,” she breathed, scrambling from bed.
Not caring that she wore just her pajama pants and a tank top, she rushed into the living room and dialed Charlie’s number.
This time, he picked up after only one ring. “Hello?”
“It’s Terri.”
“Terri.” He sighed in noticeable relief. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Where are you?” he asked.
“I’m still in Ho Chi Minh. I’m staying here for a bit longer, then I’m gonna head home.”
“Okay. What’s the name of the hostel you’re at again? I wrote it down but lost it.”
She drew her bottom lip between her teeth. “I don’t remember. I’m out right now. I’m, uh, calling from a coffee shop.”
“You don’t remember the name of it?” he slowly asked. Phones rang in the distance on his end. He was at his office. “How do you find it?”
“By sight. It’s pretty recognizable.” God, she was a bad liar.
A sound made her turn around. Logan stood in the doorway, watching her with interest. The T-shirt and jeans were the most casual outfit she’d seen him in yet, and the way they hugged his body was a crime.
“I have to go,” Terri blurted out. “The barista says he needs the phone. I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you.”
“Terri—”
She hung up on him with a cringe.
“Your brother?” Logan asked.
“Yeah. Needed to let him know I’m still alive.”
The bitter tone hadn’t been intentional, but she also wouldn’t have taken it back if given the option.
“Did he ask you anything?”
“Like what?”
Terri folded her arms. Of course only a conversation with Charlie would prompt Logan talking to her again.
“Anything at all.”
She pressed her lips together hard. “He didn’t mention you, if that’s what you mean. Maybe you're not as big a fish as you want to believe.”
Logan barked out a laugh, and her cheeks warmed. Damn this guy. No matter what he did, he unraveled her.
“He didn’t ask anything other than the name of the hostel I’m supposedly saying at.” With a sigh, she plopped onto the couch. “He still seems to think all that’s up is my broken phone, so…”
“Okay. Thank you.”
He started to turn in the direction of his office, but Terri stopped him by speaking up.
“How much longer will we be here for?”
He contemplated it for a moment. “A day or two. Eager to get home?”
“Yes.”
She still didn’t have a solid plan for things once she got there, but Logan would know if she half-assed an attempt to encourage Charlie to drop the investigation.
Instead of returning to his office, Logan hovered in the doorway.
“You look unhappy.”
She had to stop himself from laughing in his face. “What would I be unhappy about?”
He opened his mouth but faltered and closed it. They both knew about the growing list. There was the uncomfortable knowledge that he had bought her, his request for her to manipulate her brother, his leading her on and almost kissing her before drawing back…
Take your pick.
“I’d really like you to do something for me.” She leaned forward on the couch.
“What’s that?”
“Take me to my hostel and the warehouse where you… found me.”
His eyebrows knit together. “Terri, we talked about this. There won’t be anything there.”
“You don’t know that.” Her voice was firm. “There might be some kind of clue. We won’t know until we go look.”
His face wrinkled. There was conflict there, but he was softening.
“This is important to me,” she stressed. “Law and justice is important to me. And I keep thinking about the other women…”
“Did you see other women there?”
She gave him a look to cut stone. “You know they exist.”
He nodded grudgingly. “Okay. I’ll take you there. Can you be ready in ten?”
She jumped to standing. “Yes. And thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He turned back to his office, but not before his gaze flicked down her body in what was no doubt his attempt at surreptitiously checking her out.
Terri scoffed.
“What?” He turned back around.
“Did you just check me out?”
His lashes fluttered, pink creeping into his face. “No.”
No, just like no, you didn’t almost kiss me yesterday?
She bit the inside of her cheek. This argument wouldn’t go anywhere fruitful. And hell would freeze over before she turned into a simpering girl demanding attention from someone who didn’t want to give it.
It had been a bad idea to confront him.
“Okay.” With that, she breezed past him and into the bedroom.
Exactly eight minutes later, she was dressed and ready to go, sipping on some coffee from the pot in the kitchen and waiting for Logan at the front door. He appeared in the living room wearing the same T-shirt and jeans, but with two leather jackets in his arms.
“I picked this up for you last night.” He handed her the smaller of the jackets, which she stared at with mixed emotions.
Logan was a difficult man to figure out. One day he was blatantly ignoring her and the next he was presenting her with a gift.
“Safety first,” he said, opening up the door.
“Safety first,” she mumbled.
Still. It was a gift. And it was weird.
Taking a final sip of coffee, she left the mug on the table by the door and followed him into the hall.
The hostel was closest, and Terri breathed a sigh of relief as Logan’s motorcycle turned onto its street. Now that they had concrete plans to visit the place where she’d been held against her will, anxiety was taking hold. It would be nice to have an extra twenty minutes to mentally prepare before seeing the warehouse again.
What she didn’t expect was the way her feet froze to the concrete in front of the hostel. The first time she’d arrived there, it had been exciting. The complete opposite of the last time she’d left the place.
Her mouth dry, she gazed up at the unassuming building wedged between a dry cleaner’s and a takeout restaurant.
Logan touched her elbow. “We don’t have to go in.”
She forced herself to swallow. “No. It’s okay.”
“Or I can go in. You can wait out here and watch the bike.”
“Does it need watching?” She cocked an eyebrow.
“Of course it does.”
“No, it doesn’t.” She laughed, mostly at how wild it was that she could hate and adore him at the same time.
Before the fear had a chance to creep back in, she walked up the front steps and into the hostel.
“Remember me?” she asked the manager behind the plexiglass.
The old lady’s eyes went wide. Yep. She sure did remember Terri. And was probably shocked to see her walking fre
e.
“Some men kidnapped me from here the other night.” Terri stepped closer to the plexiglass.
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “English bad.”
“You spoke English with me when I checked in.” Terri’s hands balled into fists.
“No.” The woman shook her head and pretended to be busy with some papers.
“Are you serious? What the—”
Logan set his hand on Terri’s shoulder. Cutting herself off, she closed her eyes and breathed in deep. Losing her cool and yelling at this woman would do no good.
“I need help.” Terri opened her eyes. It took all the strength she had, but she kept her voice even and low. “If there’s anything you know about the men who came in here… please.”
The woman shook her head and gestured at the front door.
“Let’s go, Terri,” Logan said.
Her jaw dropped. “We just got here.”
“We won’t be getting any information out of her.” He sent the manager a withering look. “But we can report her to the authorities and leave reviews all over the internet.”
The woman blanched.
“Come on.” Logan steered Terri for the front door.
Outside, she took a minute to gather herself. “Sorry. I almost lost my cool there.”
“It’s okay. Are you sure you want to go to the warehouse?”
Terri’s stomach twisted. “Yes,” she lied.
“Then let’s go.” With that, he pulled his helmet on.
Terri hesitated. “Did you mean that? About reporting her to the police?”
“Why are you asking?”
“Because you don’t want to get too involved in this.”
He froze on the bike, hands on the handlebars, and gazed down the road.
“You’re right,” he said. “I don’t want to get too involved. The authorities will come asking questions, and then I’ll have to explain that I knew about the trafficking ring and I went there to buy a girl to help me get out of some legal trouble. Yeah. Doesn’t look too good.”
“Then we can send in an anonymous tip.”
He turned to look at her. “Really?”
“Yeah. Sure.” She shrugged.
Logan’s lips turned down as he thought about it, then he shrugged as well.
“Okay.”
“I still want to go to that warehouse.” She climbed onto the seat behind him.
As they sped through the streets, she wondered why she’d so easily offered to make their report anonymous. Logan had done some good things for her, but he was far from a bleeding heart. In fact, there was a good chance their involvement would bring more trouble into her life.
She refused to believe it had anything to do with that candle she held for him. It was a little crush, mostly due to his perfect good looks. Nothing more.
There wasn’t time to ponder over it all that much. They soon arrived at the long lane of warehouses with cars sporadically parked outside of the doors.
A chill like Terri had never felt coursed through her. The best thing it could be compared to was being struck by lightning.
What if Logan had been wrong, she suddenly wondered, and the kidnappers hadn’t moved on at all? Say they were still at the warehouse? They wouldn’t let Terri get away a second time.
She steeled herself. She couldn’t think that way. And, besides, wasn’t the risk worth it? What if there was a clue left behind that could lead them right to the men?
Logan pulled up to the warehouse, where he kept the motorcycle running. From their seats on it, they inspected the building’s dark windows.
“Well?” he asked. “What do you think?”
“I’m going to try the door.”
Before he could respond, she was off and walking through the dirt. To her surprise, the doorknob obeyed her touch and turned.
Hands shaking, she entered the hallway one slow step at a time. Head cocked, she listened for even the slightest sound.
Nothing. Except for the footsteps behind her.
She looked over her shoulder. Logan entered the hallway, leaving the door open behind him. Light poured around his silhouette, leaving his face and body dark.
“I want to look in here,” she whispered, turning another doorknob.
At this point, she could hardly breathe. Fear made the hair on her arms stand up straight. But she couldn’t turn back. She’d never forgive herself if she did.
The door creaked open, revealing the main part of the warehouse, the part where she’d been auctioned off.
Empty. Completely empty.
Not even the stage she’d stood on or the curtains she’d walked alongside remained. There wasn’t a trace of evidence anywhere.
Terri’s shoulders sank from the weight of this new reality. She realized then exactly how much she’d gotten her hopes up. Having them dashed to smithereens made her want to curl into a ball.
“I’m sorry,” Logan said from behind her.
“Yeah. Me, too,” she said bitterly.
It was a quiet walk back to the motorcycle, after which Logan tore full speed away from the warehouse district. She tried her best to leave her thoughts and questions behind with the empty building, but it wasn’t that easy.
They could send in their anonymous report to the police, but would it make any difference? Especially if the hostel manager denied Terri’s story.
Sometimes you won; sometimes you lost. It was the bitter truth she’d learned in her years as a paralegal. She’d just never thought she would have to live that reality firsthand.
Chapter 9
Logan
Terri’s disappointment followed them back to the penthouse, and Logan felt it every mile. As he drove, he tried to think of ways to cheer her up.
He knew, of course, that catching the traffickers was all she really wanted. For the first time since they’d met, he wanted to give that to her. It meant taking a risk, for sure. If he turned information in directly to the police, they’d want to know how he knew where to find the ring.
Or maybe not. Could be that he’d be granted some kind of immunity.
He chewed it over, changing his mind at least ten times before they made it back to his place. Logan Denton wasn’t used to sticking his neck out for anyone.
But Terri wasn’t anyone.
She was kind, fun, wonderfully brash. She’d escaped human trafficking but she’d gone back to that hellhole on the off chance that returning might allow her to help other people.
The moment they were through his front door, she sulked to the couch, where she plopped down and stared at the wall.
“Need anything?” he asked.
She didn’t bother looking up. “I’m okay. Thanks.”
“I’ll be in my office, if you do.” He hesitated, not wanting to leave her quite yet.
She still hadn’t looked at him, though, so it was pretty clear she wasn’t in the mood for company.
In his office, he made the decision to really make that night memorable. They’d have dinner at the top restaurant in the city, and he’d order her a designer dress for the occasion—not an easy feat, but completely possible when you were a well-known billionaire.
Hours later, after they’d met in the kitchen for a quiet lunch and then returned to their respective tasks—his working and her staring lethargically at the TV—the doorbell rang.
“Who’s that?” she asked, sitting up from the couch for the first time since lunch.
Without supplying an answer, he opened the door and gave the delivery man a tip in exchange for the dress.
“I know this might have been ballsy of me…” He laid the garment bag across the couch and unzipped it. “And you don’t have to wear it if you don’t like it or it doesn’t fit, but I wanted to get you something.”
She watched him with uncertain eyes until he drew the green floor-length party dress from the bag, then all of her attention went to the gown. Reaching out, she ran a tentative finger along its collar.
“It’s really
pretty.”
“I thought the color would suit you well. You know, on…” He coughed. “On account of your eyes.”
Her lips pressed together in the way that meant she was trying not to smile.
“It is a good match to my eyes.”
“Again, if you don’t want to wear it…”
“I’ll try it on right now.” She stood, dress in her arms. “Are we going somewhere tonight?”
“There’s a restaurant that I hope you’ll like. It’s world famous.”
“Oh.” She hesitated. “Thank you for taking me to those places today.”
“You’re welcome. I’m only sorry you didn’t get the answers you hoped for.”
“Well, what can you do?”
He didn’t know how to answer. The way he was programmed, whenever he had a desire, he pursued it ruthlessly until it was his. He didn’t take “no” easily.
Terri slipped into the bedroom right as his phone began ringing in the office. Ducking into his workspace, he frowned at the cell.
Usually, Dwayne Coryford only called if he had something big he wanted to share. The man, who’d been a business associate for years, didn’t mince words and didn’t waste time. He’d been the one who tipped Logan off about the traffickers taking Terri.
Logan’s heart did a flip. Was Dwayne calling about that?
“Dwayne,” he answered, taking a few strides across the room to close the door. “How are you?”
“Okay. You have a minute? I have some news that might interest you.”
Logan’s heart rate quickened. “Sure thing.”
“It’s about that, ah, shop we talked about the other day.”
“Uh-huh.” Logan settled into his desk chair, his heart showing no signs of calming down.
Terri had been right when she said he didn’t want to get too involved in hunting down the traffickers. But you know what? She’d broken him down. It wasn’t an easy task, changing his mind, but she’d done it without even trying to.
He wanted to help put the people responsible for kidnapping and selling women in jail. He wanted to play his part in making the world a better place, and he wanted to see Terri’s smile when he did it.
Maybe he could never make the move he wanted to by taking her in his arms and worshipping her head to toe, but he could do this. He could be the kind of man he should have been through this whole thing.
Bidder - An Auctioned to the Billionaire Romance (Criminal Passions Book 2) Page 5