by Susan Stoker
“Logan?”
“Yeah, Smarty. It’s me.”
“Where are we? My head is killing me.”
“It’s a long story. Just relax. I’m here and you’re safe.”
“Can I have a glass of water?”
“I was dying of thirst when I woke up too. Here,” Brad said, holding out a plastic cup filled with water.
Logan didn’t even look at the other man, keeping his eyes on Grace. Her face was pale, and she was squinting as if the light hurt her head, but she recognized him and seemed to be okay. It was enough for the moment. He took the cup from Brad and held it to Grace’s lips. “Here you go. Don’t drink too fast.”
She ignored his warning and gulped the water down as if she hadn’t had anything to drink in days rather than hours. “More,” she demanded, holding the cup out.
A feminine chuckle sounded from the doorway, and all three men whirled toward the sound, ready for battle.
“I’ve never seen Grace Mason act with so little decorum,” Alexis drawled. “I like it. Makes her seem more human and less like a robot.”
“What the hell are you doing here, Alexis?” Brad demanded of his little sister.
“I’m worried about you, that’s what,” she shot back, hands on her hips. “You wouldn’t tell me anything, and these guys wouldn’t either. So I decided to see for myself that you really were all right. Excuse me for caring.”
“Damn. Get in here and keep your voice down,” Blake ordered, grabbing the slight woman by the arm and pulling her into the room. “Where did you come from?”
“I was waiting around the corner. I heard you guys come up, and I snuck in behind you. You were too concerned about getting to Grace and didn’t pay attention to the door. Probably not something you should repeat.”
“Ah, shit. Blake, I forgot to ask you earlier to get in touch with Alexis to see what she could tell us. Regardless, it’s obvious you’re losing your touch,” Logan said with a smile, finding something humorous for the first time in way too long that day. “A five-foot-nothing woman got the drop on you.”
“Fuck off,” Blake told his brother without heat.
“Yeah, fuck off,” Alexis repeated, looking pissed, her hands on her hips as she glared at Blake. “For your information, I’m studying to be a private investigator. I can sneak up on people with the best of them.”
Blake rolled his eyes. “Spare me from wanna-be badasses.”
“Here’s another cup of water,” Brad told Logan, interrupting the spat between Blake and his sister to hold out the freshly filled cup.
Logan held it out to Grace and helped her sit up farther on the bed, making sure to keep her covered by the sheet as he did so. Once again, she guzzled it down, burping loudly when she’d drained the entire thing.
“Oh, excuse me.”
Alexis chuckled at the completely unladylike sound coming from Grace, but sobered quickly when no one else even cracked a smile.
“Better?” Logan asked her.
Grace nodded and closed her eyes again, leaning against his chest as she might if they were sitting at home in their bed.
“Grace, I need you to wake up and talk to me.”
“Mmmm.”
“Grace!” Logan called her name sharply.
“What?”
“Where are you?”
“Huh?” She opened her eyes and looked around.
Logan saw the second she realized they weren’t at his apartment. She stiffened in his arms and asked, “What is your brother doing here? And Brad?”
“Me too!” Alexis piped up from the doorway.
Grace looked up at Logan. “What’s going on?”
“What do you remember?”
“Nothing really, I-” She stopped suddenly and her eyes widened. “My father! I went to meet him. You weren’t there yet, but I was waiting for you. He knocked on my window. I got out and . . . that’s it.”
With each word out of her mouth, she seemed to become more coherent. “I remember him smirking at me. He was lying about it all, wasn’t he?”
“Looks that way,” Logan told her, compassion easy to hear in his voice.
“Where are we?”
“The Imperial Hotel in Denver.”
“Why are Brad and Alexis here?”
“Look at me, Grace,” Logan told her, putting a hand on either side of her head and lifting her chin so she had no choice but to look at him. “Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?”
One of the things he liked about Grace was that she was always very deliberate. She thought before she acted and before she talked. She did the same thing now. Logan watched as she flexed her legs, shifted under his hold, and moved both arms.
“No. I’m okay.”
“You sure? Come on, let me help you stand.” Logan turned to Brad, Blake, and Alexis. “Turn around.”
All three did as he requested without protest.
Grace scooted off the bed and stood, just then realizing that she wasn’t wearing any clothes.
“Why am I naked?” she whispered, the panic easy to see on her expressive face. “Logan?”
“In a second. Tell me. And really think about it. Do you hurt anywhere?”
She shook her head quickly that time. “No. I’m just stiff and my head hurts, but otherwise no. What aren’t you saying?”
“Come on, let me help you get dressed.” Logan scooped up the clothes that Brad had folded and put on a nearby chair. He held her elbow as Grace shuffled to the bathroom, the sheet wrapped tightly around her.
“We’ll be right out,” he told the others, closing the door behind them and turning on the bathroom fan to give them some privacy.
He positioned her so her back was to the large mirror on the wall. “Let me see, Grace. Let go of the sheet.”
She clung to the cotton for a moment, staring up at Logan. Finally, she let it drop and held her arms out to her sides. Her eyes filled up with tears, but she stood still, letting Logan examine her.
Logan put his hands on her waist and smoothed them down over her hips. She didn’t wince or pull away from his touch. There were a few red marks on her breasts and stomach, but nothing that screamed that she’d been manhandled too badly. “Turn around, sweetie.”
She did so, without a word, her eyes watching him in the mirror.
Her skin was smooth and pale, and Logan saw only a few more light bruises on her hips and the back of her thighs. He knelt down and turned her around to face him again. He looked up. “Okay?”
Proving that she was pretty darn smart, Grace bit her lip and asked softly, “Was I raped?”
Logan shook his head quickly. “I don’t think so. Not if you don’t hurt down here. We’ll get you to a doctor and find out for sure, though.” Logan stood, taking her hands in his.
“What happened to me?” she asked in a trembling voice.
“Come on, get dressed, and we’ll go out and talk with the others.”
“You’re scaring me, Logan.”
He couldn’t hold back from taking Grace into his arms any longer. He enfolded her naked body into his arms and simply held her, rocking her back and forth, his heart slowing down for the first time since he’d learned she was missing. She was whole and relatively unscathed in his arms. Nothing else mattered at the moment. He whispered in her ear how much he loved her while caressing her back with his hands.
She shuddered a few times, but settled under his touch. Finally, she eased back. “I’m okay.”
“I love you, Grace. I’ve never been so scared in all my life when I learned that you were gone. You’re the most important thing in my life. I hate that we lost so many years, but I’m going to make those years up to you now.”
“Logan, I-”
He put his finger on her lips. “Not now. Think about it. We’ve got things we need to discuss, and we need to figure this thing out with your parents. But no matter what, remember that I love you. I think I’ve always loved you.”
Logan leaned down and kissed her
on the forehead before reaching for her panties on the counter. He held them out, helping Grace step into them, pulling them up around her hips. He then held out her jeans and helped her get dressed, one leg at a time. She put her arms into the straps of her bra and he turned her and fastened it behind her, then held her shirt out for her.
She didn’t need help getting dressed. She’d been doing it on her own for around twenty-five years, but Logan needed the connection with her, and she needed to feel cared for. There was no telling what the mystery men had done to her, and could’ve done to her, while she’d been unconscious with whatever drugs they’d given her and Brad.
They walked back out into the room and found Blake, Brad, and Alexis all waiting. Logan didn’t care that they’d taken longer than they probably should’ve. Grace needed the time, and he needed to tell her how he felt about her.
He led her to the edge of the bed and sat down next to her.
“I looked at the pictures, Logan,” Blake told him, “Brad was right. They’re bad.”
“Pictures?” Grace asked, tilting her head. “Oh shit.”
Logan sighed then took her hands in his. “Yeah. Apparently your parents’ plan is to blackmail the Grants and Brad into marrying you. They drugged you both and took compromising pictures.”
“What? Every time I think they can’t sink any lower, they do.” Grace said incredulously. “Brad? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I woke up before you, probably because I weigh more than you do and the drugs wore off faster. I was . . . um . . . naked too. There was an envelope on the dresser with the pictures in it. I called Alexis, and she called Logan and his brother.”
Grace’s eyes locked on the envelope in Blake’s hand. She sucked her lips together nervously. “I want to see them,” she said firmly.
“I don’t think-”
Grace cut Logan off abruptly. “Do you remember anything?” she asked Brad.
He shook his head. “No. I was as out of it as you were.”
“Give them to me.” She held out her hand impatiently.
Blake looked at Logan, as if asking permission.
“Don’t look at him. They’re of me and Brad. I don’t have to have permission from anyone to look at pictures of myself,” Grace fumed. Her words probably would’ve held a bit more weight if she wasn’t shaking like a leaf and her hand wasn’t visibly trembling as she held it out in front of her.
Logan nodded at his brother, and Blake handed the envelope to Grace. Logan kept his eyes and hands on Grace, wishing he could spare her this, but knowing he couldn’t. Once again he was proud as he could be of her. It would’ve been easy for her to let him and his brothers take care of the situation, but she refused. He knew she didn’t think she was a strong person, that letting her parents manipulate her for years while desperately wanting their affection meant she was weak. But the fact that she was still the same beautiful person inside as well as out gave credence to her strength.
Grace pulled out the pictures and gasped in shock and outrage when she saw the first one. She would’ve dropped them, but Logan put his hand under hers to steady her.
Grace’s hand shook as she looked through picture after picture of her and Brad, each one increasingly graphic and disgusting. A few included a man she’d never seen before, and it looked like they were having a ménage à trois. Grace closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself.
Logan plucked the pictures out of her hands and was surprised she let him. Grace turned and threw herself into Brad’s arms and exclaimed, “I’m so sorry. God. My parents are such assholes. I’m sorry.”
The other man looked shocked for a moment, then immediately curled his arms around her. “It’s okay, Grace.”
“It’s not okay!” She whirled to face Logan. “What are we doing about this? Seriously. It’s one thing to tie me up and try to force me to have a baby they can steal and raise to be an asshole. But it’s another thing altogether to bring other people into their fucked-up world.”
“Calm down, Grace,” Logan said evenly.
“Calm down? You saw those pictures! How can you tell me to calm down? My parents are going to embarrass Brad and his family. That’s totally not okay.”
“Grace-”
“No! Seriously. How are we going to stop them? Am I ever going to be free of them? Am I going to have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life wondering what they have in store for me next? Is Brad?”
“Grace. Look at me.” Logan stood up in front of Grace, put his hands on her shoulders, and waited until she met his eyes. “They aren’t going to get away with this. Everything went way too smoothly. This can’t be the first time they’ve used blackmail to get something they want.” He could see the wheels turning in her mind, and went on. “Maybe someone at work, or one of the servants?”
Grace closed her eyes and massaged her temples. “Yeah. I could probably give you some names of people you could talk to.”
“Later,” Logan said firmly. “I need to get you to the hospital, then home.”
“I’m scared to go back there,” Grace said in a soft voice, pleading with Logan with her eyes. “I know it’s your place, but what if they come after me again?”
“You can stay at my apartment here in Denver,” Alexis volunteered immediately. “I can go home and talk to my mom and dad with Brad. No one will think to look for you at my place.”
“Grace?” Logan asked. “It’s up to you. Whatever makes you feel the most comfortable is what we’ll do.”
She nodded and bit her lip as she thought about their options. “Okay. Thanks, Alexis. I . . . I know you probably think I’m a bitch, and this is really going above and beyond, but I appreciate it.”
“I don’t think you’re a bitch. I don’t know you well enough,” Alexis told Grace, “but you’ve gone a long way toward redeeming any bad feelings I might’ve had after that horrible dinner.”
The two women smiled at each other.
Logan turned to his brother. “Blake, I’ll get in touch tomorrow with you and Nathan. I’ll probably stop in and talk with the Grants, and see if we can’t come up with a strategy to outmaneuver the Masons together. We’ll need to come up with a statement if they do go ahead with publicizing the pictures before making their asinine demands of the Grants.”
“Grace? You okay?” Blake asked, surprising Logan.
She blinked, as if not sure why he asked. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
The other man came over and hugged Grace tightly. “I’m glad. You scared us. My brother cares an awful lot about you. Stick close to him, yeah?”
“No need to tell me. I’d already planned to,” Grace reassured Blake.
“Good.”
“Brad, you need a ride?” Alexis asked.
“No. My car should still be here,” her brother told her with a shrug. “They took my phone, but my keys were still in the pocket of my slacks.”
“What about you, Blake? You’re going to need a ride back to Castle Rock if you let Logan take your car,” Alexis told him.
“Damn. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. You could go with your brother and let me borrow your car,” Blake said, a hopeful grin on his face.
Alexis laughed. “As if. No one drives my Mercedes but me. I can give you a ride . . . but it’s late . . . and I still need to talk to my parents with Brad. You can come too. You have a place I can crash for the night when we get to Castle Rock?”
Logan’s brother eyed the younger woman. “How old are you?”
“Why? Afraid I’m not old enough for you?”
“You look like you’re about fifteen.”
“Fuck off. I’m twenty-five. Plenty old enough for you, old man. You got a place for me to stay, or what?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a spare room,” Blake said reluctantly.
“Good. Then I can come and help you and your other brother figure out what the hell is going on and what we’re gonna do about it.”
“Why?” Blake’s question was shor
t and harsh.
The younger woman put her hands on her hips. “Because. He’s my brother, it’s my family’s reputation on the line, and I can help.”
“You? I doubt it.”
Logan inwardly winced. Even he knew better than to blatantly bait a woman like his brother just did with Alexis.
Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared out in annoyance.
“We’re gonna get going. Alexis,” Logan interrupted before the other woman went off on Blake. “What’s your address so I can put it in my phone? Anything we need to know about your place? Security guards who need to know us, alarms, anything?” Relieved he’d diverted her attention, Logan listened as Alexis gave them the ins and outs of her building as well as the alarm code and keys to her apartment. She said she’d call the doorman and tell him that they were on their way and that they’d be staying in her apartment for the foreseeable future.
Ignoring the “discussion” that resumed between Alexis and Blake when they went to leave, Logan took Grace’s hand in his and led her out of the hotel to the elevator.
She paused and when they were in the elevator, she wrapped her arms around Logan’s waist and held on. Neither of them said a word as the doors opened and they walked out into the lobby, arms around each other. They were both quiet as they got into Blake’s car and pulled out into the still night.
The trip to the emergency room was surprisingly quick. For once, there weren’t that many people waiting, and when the triage nurse heard that Grace might have been violated, she quickly got them a private room.
Much to his relief, and Grace’s if the unclenching of her fists was any indication, a female doctor came in not too much after the nurse left. Grace explained, in brief, the situation, and the doctor took a blood sample that could be analyzed later for sexually transmitted diseases and to try to identify exactly what drug was used on her and Brad. She then did a quick exam, including swabbing for any DNA that might have been left behind if Grace had been violated. After the exam the doctor told Grace that, in her professional experience, she didn’t think Grace had been raped, but because she’d been unconscious during the attack, the lack of any physical damage didn’t necessarily mean anything.