Logan tipped her chin up. “For the last fucking time, you didn’t do anything wrong. These guys are slick professionals. If they hadn’t got into the house this way, they would have found another. We weren’t prepared and that’s on our heads, not yours.” Logan’s expression was fierce but sincere.
“He hates me.”
Logan’s mouth turned down at the corners. “No, babe. He hates himself right now. He hates it when he makes a mistake. This was a doozy.” Logan tipped his head to the side. “Do you know what he’s most angry about? We left you here with no protection. This guy could have hurt you, Brenda, and Carl. We’re lucky he didn’t do anything violent. It’s not his history, but as we said this was personal. Who knows what this guy is capable of? I have to live with that as well. I exposed you to danger through my negligence.”
It had never occurred to her she might be in danger.
“He seemed harmless,” she argued.
“He could have had a gun.” Logan shook his head. “He could have overpowered you. He could have had half a dozen friends waiting in the wings to take you hostage. Meyer and I have been in this business a long time. We should have known this would happen. We’d never take a chance with your life or his parents’.”
She leaned her chin on her hands. “What will Meyer do now?”
“Fix it. He’s probably already thinking about what to do. I’m going to call Pierce and the guys. We’ve obviously hit a nerve. My gut is telling me there is a connection between the location of the servers and Jean-Luc.”
“Is your gut usually right?”
Logan smiled. “It hasn’t let me down yet. Help Brenda with dinner, okay? I’m going to call the guys and then see what I can do to help Meyer. Don’t worry. All this will blow over. Meyer will apologize and everything will go back to normal.”
“Should we call Sheriff Ryan?”
Logan nodded. “Yes. Why don’t you call him while I call the Feds and our men in New Jersey?”
Sadie was happy to do something constructive. “I’ll give him a call now.” She reached for the kitchen phone. “If he wants to come over right away, is that okay?”
“Sure. He’ll want a description of the man. The Feds will, too. Get ready for a long night, babe.”
It would be a long night. She doubted she’d get any sleep as long as Meyer was blaming her for what happened. Logan made a good case for why it wasn’t her fault but she still felt guilty. She dialed the Sheriff’s office and luckily, Jason was on duty. He took the information and said he or Ryan would be by to take their statements in less than an hour.
Sadie hung up the phone and headed for the coffee pot. She might as well make coffee. They’d be having company this evening and today seemed like a good day to break her one cup a day rule.
Chapter Ten
Logan was fucking exhausted. He’d spent the last several hours talking to the Feds and to Sheriff Ryan Parks. Ryan would be on the lookout for their “cable guy” along with the Feds. It was a cluster fuck of massive proportions. Not the least of which was what could have happened to Sadie and Meyer’s parents. He shuddered at the thought at what might have transpired in this house while they were gone. He’d seen how ruthless some criminals could be and it was a grisly sight to behold.
It was midnight, tomorrow was Thanksgiving, and all Logan wanted was a shower. He tried to be quiet as he entered the bedroom. Sadie had gone to bed about half an hour ago and he didn’t want to wake her. One look at the perfectly made up bed told him he didn’t need to worry about the noise. If she was in bed, it wasn’t their bed.
With a resigned sigh, he headed up the stairs and to the guest room Sadie had slept in when she first moved in. He pushed open the door and a shaft of light fell on the bed. She was curled up under the blankets but her eyes were open. He walked into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“You’re sleeping in the wrong bed, babe.”
She pushed herself to a sitting position and leaned back against the headboard. “I’m not. I can’t sleep with you and Meyer. He hates me right now.”
“He doesn’t hate you. I told you he’s mad at himself. When this used to happen, he’d blame me. Now he has a new target. You. You’re getting to know us, and this is his Achilles heel. He doesn’t like to make mistakes, and he has a damn hard time admitting them.”
Sadie looked like she was about to cry. “Does he get over it eventually?”
“He does.” Logan tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Her curls were disheveled and she looked adorable. “His dad has talked to him and now it’s my turn. Will you go sleep in our bed now?”
“No.” Sadie shook her head. “I’ll sleep here tonight. Maybe he and I can talk in the morning.”
Logan sighed. “Then I’ll sleep here with you. You shouldn’t be kicked out of the bed because he’s acting like a horse’s ass.”
“I won’t come between you,” Sadie said forcefully. “You’ve been with him a hell of a lot longer than with me. You should be with him.”
“My feelings are just as strong for you, Sadie, as for him.” Her expression turned to astonishment. His heart pounded with apprehension. Perhaps she didn’t feel the same? “I haven’t said I love you, so let me take the opportunity now. I love you.”
Sadie’s tongue snaked out and licked her lips, her eyes wide. “I love you, too. I didn’t want to.”
“I know.” Logan nodded. His breathing returned to normal. She loved them. Now, he only had to fix this mess. “But you do, and that’s the important thing. We love each other so you don’t get the shaft just because Meyer and I have been together longer. You’re an equal partner in this relationship.”
She looked down at the covers. “I’ve never been an equal anything.”
He tipped her chin up so he could see her expression in the dim light. “You are now. We’re a triangle. An equilateral triangle. Your needs and desires are just as important as mine and Meyer’s. You’re the center of this relationship. Our heart. We finally feel complete.”
Her eyes were bright with unshed tears and his stomach twisted in knots. He was going to kick Meyer’s ass for putting her through this. “Does Meyer feel complete?”
Logan grinned. “I know he loves you. He wouldn’t have unloaded on you in the kitchen earlier if he didn’t. He never goes after anyone unless he loves them. He’s not comfortable enough.”
Her eyebrows went up. “I kind of wish he was a little less comfortable.”
Logan nodded. “That’s the good and the bad with Meyer.”
Sadie finally smiled. “What’s the bad with you?”
Logan chuckled. He’d wondered when she would ask that question. “I tend to over think things. Such as whether you’ve been able to spend equal time with both Meyer and me. Whether we should move to Plenty, for example. I went over and over that until Meyer finally stepped in and made me make a decision. I can get caught up in the analysis of an issue and never make a decision. Drives Meyer up a wall. It’ll probably make you crazy, too.”
“Have we spent equal time?” Sadie laughed. “I haven’t been keeping track.”
“We have. I wanted to make sure we all spent a sufficient amount of time together so if we fell in love we wouldn’t second-guess it.”
Her smile disappeared. “It has happened fast.”
“Stop it.” Logan grasped her hands in his. “We’ve known each other almost two months and we’re adults. Adults who know what they want. We’re not kids.”
“We’re not spare parts.” Sadie murmured it so low Logan barely heard it.
“You are not spare parts, babe. Don’t even go there. We love you and we want to try and build a life with you.”
She nodded. “I want that, too. But I need to hear it from Meyer’s own lips.”
Logan stood, more determined than ever to get Meyer’s head out of his ass. “He will. I’ll let you sleep here in peace tonight. Tomorrow everything is going to get cleared up, understand? No more misunderstanding
s. No more thinking you’re not in this relationship as much as we are.”
Sadie lay back down on the bed. “Good night, Logan.”
“Good night, babe. I love you.”
Logan left the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him. Meyer was next and Logan wasn’t in the mood for excuses. He hit the stairs at a jog and headed down the hall to the office. He pushed open the door and Meyer was pounding the keyboard, his shoulders hunched.
“Any progress?”
Meyer didn’t pause or turn around, which only succeeded in pissing Logan off. “Some. I’m working to rebuild my file structure.”
“What exactly happened here? What did Jean-Luc do?”
Still more typing. “I’m kind of busy right now. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”
A wave of anger came over Logan. Meyer was fucking with their future and Logan was tired of this shit. He slammed his hand down on the keyboard, trapping Meyer’s hands under his.
“No, we can’t do this tomorrow. We need to talk. Now.”
Meyer froze for a moment then slowly turned in his chair. A muscle worked in his jaw and his expression was deathly but Logan didn’t give a fuck. They were going to talk about this.
“Then by all means, have a seat.” Meyer swept an arm to the chair next to his. “Please continue. I’m riveted to this conversation.”
The sarcasm in Meyer’s voice was heavy. Logan sat in the chair and looked at the man he loved. “First things first. What exactly did Jean-Luc do? What’s the damage?”
Meyer tapped a pencil on the desk. “It appears he hacked into my laptop and infected our network with a virus. It’s caused mayhem with the data and the files. Nothing is working correctly. Your laptop won’t even boot up. Sadie’s only works in safe-mode. It’s a fucking mess.” Meyer tossed the pencil on the desk. “It also appears as if he siphoned off our customer’s private data before he infected us. The files that I’ve been able to get to show they were opened while we were gone.”
The private data was a huge issue. They could lose business and their reputations because of this. Their own system Logan was less worried about. Meyer could, and would, eventually straighten things out. It would simply be a God-awful amount of work.
“Let me know how I can help. I can start calling clients tomorrow if I need to.” Logan was already forming the conversations in his mind that needed to happen. “Now, let’s get to Sadie. Do you know where’s she sleeping right now?”
Meyer’s expression closed. “In bed?” he retorted. “That’s the usual location.”
“She is in bed, but not ours. She’s upstairs in a guest room.”
Meyer’s mask slipped slightly. He wasn’t as unaffected by the news as he wanted Logan to think. “She needs to do whatever makes her happy.”
“She’s unhappy because of you. You blamed her for our mistake. And it was our mistake, babe.”
“I know. Don’t you think I know that?” Meyer’s eyes were almost gray. He looked tortured, his head hanging in shame. “If anything had happened to Sadie or Mom and Dad, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“Then why are you hiding out here? You should have apologized. Several times. And groveled for good measure. Shit, she thinks you hate her. I told her you loved her.”
Meyer’s head came up with a snap. “You told her I loved her? Fuck, Logan.”
“Don’t you?” Logan challenged. “I told her I loved her, too. She said she loves us, if it makes you feel any better.”
Meyer sucked in a breath. “She loves us, or she loves you? She can’t be too happy with me right now.”
“You’re not my favorite person at the moment, but I still love you. I told her she has to take the good with the bad.”
“There’s a lot of bad with me.” Meyer scraped a hand down his face. “Maybe I’m not worth the trouble?”
Logan pulled Meyer close and looked into his eyes. “You’re worth it. That’s what I told her, and I meant it. You need to make this right with her, babe. With Brenda and Carl, as well. You were shitty to everyone, including Sheriff Ryan. He was only trying to help and you acted like an ass.”
Meyer’s face turned red. “I know. I was just so pissed off. He got to me, Logan.”
“No.” Logan shook his head. “He got to us. Us. This isn’t just about you. It’s about all of us now. We need to make sure we keep Sadie and your parents safe. We need to make sure he doesn’t try this again somewhere else. Have you checked the cold backup servers in Colorado?”
Meyer nodded. “He didn’t go after those. Probably doesn’t even know they exist since they’re not hooked to this site. I only back up there once in a twenty-four hour period so if I re-load from there, some data will still be missing. We’ll need to recreate this morning. But first, I need to make sure this infection is completely gone. I’ve never seen this virus before.”
“You’ll figure it out. You always do.”
Meyer smiled. “Thanks, babe. I try. I’m onto something here. I think I may have it figured out. But you’re right. First, we need to make sure the people we love are safe.”
Logan kissed Meyer letting every loving emotion he felt sink into the kiss. Meyer needed to know he was loved for who he was. Warts and all.
“I love you.” Meyer caressed Logan’s jaw. “More than you can ever possibly know.”
Logan grinned. “I think I might know a little about loving someone a whole lot. Are you going to talk to Sadie now?”
Meyer shook his head. “I’ll let her sleep. I’ll apologize in the morning. I need to think about what I’m going to say to make her forgive me. Why do I act like this?”
“Because you’re our Meyer. Because you’re a genius who doesn’t know how to handle his emotions.”
“Got that right.” Meyer snorted. “Happiness I can handle. Anything else is a mystery. Emotions are messy.”
“But necessary. You’ll be fine. Just say you’re sorry and really meant it. She’ll forgive you. We need to make this right with her. She made that ‘spare parts’ remark again. You know, that’s twice she’s said that. I’m starting to wonder if there’s more to this than she said.”
“She plays things pretty close to the vest. We don’t know much about her, come to think of it.”
Logan stroked his chin. “Another thing to add to our list. Talk to Sadie about her past. I don’t ever want to hear her say she’s spare parts again.”
“I don’t either. I really do love her, Logan. She’s the one.” If Logan had ever had a doubt as to Meyer’s feelings, he didn’t now. Meyer’s tone of voice alone would have convinced him. He said it like he was taking a vow.
“Tomorrow you and me can start showing her. Are you ready for bed?”
“No, I’m going to work for awhile. I have a lot of thinking to do.”
Logan stood. “Don’t work all night. We have a long day tomorrow. It’s Thanksgiving, and we have much to be thankful for.”
Logan headed down the hall to their bedroom. All this shit needed to be sorted out first thing in the morning.
Angst was bad for the digestion.
* * * *
“That’s her story. When we heard from Jillian last night, we knew we needed to talk to you, as soon as possible. I’m sorry we’re interrupting your Thanksgiving morning, but this was important.”
Sami had an apologetic look on her face. When the doorbell had rang early this morning, Meyer had opened it to find Sami and Becca on his doorstep. They needed to talk to him urgently. Ryan had gone home to his pregnant wife, Jillian, and told her about what had happened. He must have remarked on the tension in the air because Jillian had called her friends and now two of them were sitting in Meyer’s kitchen drinking coffee and telling him a story that almost made his brain explode.
“It’s okay. You were right to come to us. They really called her ‘spare parts’?” Logan was incredulous and Meyer was still having trouble wrapping his mind around it. How could parents be so utterly cold? What was wrong with people?
Becca nodded. “Her brother did. It’s such a crappy thing to do to someone so incredibly nice. When Ryan told Jillian what happened, and that Sadie looked upset and was apologizing, we knew we had to take action. She was blamed for her brother’s inevitable death by her own fucking parents. Of course, she’s going to blame herself for this.” Becca grimaced. “Excuse my French.”
It explained so much. Why Sadie didn’t feel she had anything to give. She’d already given so much to people who didn’t appreciate it.
Just like me.
Sadie had given him her love and he’d thrown it back in her face, blaming her for something that was his own damn fault. She could have been hurt or killed but she hadn’t turned on him. He didn’t feel very good about himself right now.
“We’ll take care of this. I’ll make sure she doesn’t blame herself. I promise.”
Becca and Sami stood up from the table and headed for the door. Sami turned around and looked Meyer and Logan in the eye.
“Take care of her. She’s one of my best friends. If you hurt her, I’ll tie you to something at Original Sin and take a crop to you.”
From the look on her face, she wasn’t kidding. Jason and Gabe had their hands full with this one. Luckily, it wouldn’t get that far.
“I’m committed to making Sadie the happiest woman in Plenty. I swear,” he said.
“Me, too,” Logan joined in. “That’s saying something. The women in Plenty are pretty happy from what we’ve seen.”
The women seemed mollified and headed down the porch and to their car. Meyer looked at Logan. “Can you go help Mom with the cooking? I need to talk to Sadie.”
“Maybe we both should. Now that we know her past.” Logan’s gaze went to the stairs.
Meyer shook his head. “Give me some time alone with her. I need to make this right.”
“That’s true. Want some advice? Take a cup of coffee with you, for her. She’s slept late so I’m guessing she had a lousy night’s sleep. A cup of coffee might make her mood slightly better.”
Five minutes later he was knocking on the bedroom door, coffee in hand, ready to eat humble pie despite the huge lump of fear lodged in his throat. The door flew open and her expression registered surprise. Apparently, she hadn’t expected him to come to her. She stood back, not looking him in the eye.
Plenty to Give [Plenty, FL 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 12