“The fuck you doing here?” I hiss. The tension that’s been winding up inside of me so tight is ready to snap when Lauren strolls in and sits in the chair across from my desk.
Is it her? If it is, how the hell she could tie herself up with Shadow when she has a daughter to think about beats the fuck out of me.
Her designer white suit and matching pumps are a little too innocent for the witch and her spells as she crosses her legs at the ankle and places her hands in her lap.
Anger bleeds around the hole of worry carved in my gut. It rages until it churns.
“I’m interviewing. It’s my understanding you need a new secretary since Maggie up and vanished. I’ve been working alongside my father for years as his assistant. I’ve answered the phone, sent out letters. You know I’d be perfect for this job, Logan. Just as I’d be perfect for you.”
I internally scoff — suspicion clouding my eyesight with rage. There’s not a chance in hell she knows about Maggie’s death. If she does, she’s an idiot for coming here alone and lying about wanting a job when we both know what she wants is me.
Studying her, I wonder how much she knows, how the possibility that maybe it could be her working with Shadow. The screwed up thing about this whole theory, most of my regulars hated Whitney as much as she hated them. Suppose it’s easy to set hatred aside when you want the threat of getting what you want to be removed from the picture.
“This innocent act of yours doesn’t appeal to me. Cut the bullshit, I see right through it. Tell me why you’re really here, Lauren. Is it to try and convince me to fuck you? If so, not only does it make you look like a desperate whore in heat, it’s a waste of both of our time. You have one chance to tell me the truth.”
Her entire body trembles, giving away her fear. It shouldn’t escalate inside me that she is when I’m not sure if it’s her. Doesn’t fucking matter when it comes to Ellie, everyone from here on out is a suspect.
“A whore? That’s rich coming from you. Of course, I want you. We were perfect together, Logan. I came here because we make a good team. You’re scaring me with the way you’re looking at me, what’s going on?”
No, we weren’t. Lauren was as much of a whore as I was. She took dick from anyone. Especially men, she didn’t bother asking their name.
“I guess it takes one to know one, doesn’t it? You want to know what’s going on? Let me lay it out for you one last time. I’m sick and tired of women like you not leaving me the fuck alone. Not giving two shits that I’ve found love and it sure the hell isn’t with any of you. I’ll give you one last warning to knock the bullshit off. There will be no mercy, no fucks given next time. I will toss you out of here and make sure your daughter’s school knows all about what the president of the PTA does while her child sleeps at night.”
Her whole body stiffens briefly at my words before she relaxes and uncrosses her legs. I shake my head, getting more pissed off by how I want to slap the smug look of ignorance off her face.
“Children are your weakness. Everyone here knows that. You won’t go to Emily’s school and intentionally hurt her. Look, I’m not here to make enemies. I don’t like Ellie because she took you away from me. I want you back. Even if I have to share with her, that’s all I want. That’s all most of us here want.”
I clench my jaw, glance down when I feel a sharp pain hitch up my arm. That’s when I notice how white my knuckles are. I force my fists to relax even though all I want to do is wrap my hands around Lauren’s throat and squeeze the truth out of her.
The woman knows something; I know she does. Call it a sixth sense, paranoia; I don’t care.
“Right. You expect me to believe you’ll share me with Ellie, the woman you don’t like when you never wanted to with Whitney? I don’t think so. Ellie is different, Lauren. I won’t share her with anyone, and I don’t want anyone but her. I don’t want you or any of your friends near her. You do, and I will gut you. I was never yours. You’ve been nothing but a convenient fuck for me. The same as I was for you. The same as every other woman before Ellie.”
God, I want to bash some decency into her head. Tell her if she thinks Shadow will help her get what she wants, she’s mistaken; he’ll kill her the first chance he gets and her daughter too if given an opportunity. He won’t care that she’s a child.
Lauren rises, takes several small steps making herself close enough to reach out and wrap her hand around my bicep. Her touch making my skin itch.
“Come on, Logan, you don’t mean any of that. How can you say you’ll forget me when you’ve had me many times? Come downstairs into the dungeon with me. We can have fun in any room you choose. The spanking room is your favorite. Let’s start there. Let me show you what you’ve been missing. It’ll be a reminder that you’ll always be a part of this world.”
My eyes close as fierce fury riles in my blood. This hot simmering aggravation that twists my insides tight. Revulsion and regret for a past that will haunt me for the rest of my life. There’s no after when it comes to my past. Not if something happens to Ellie before I can put it to rest.
“Let me be the first to tell you, Mitchell Brother Holdings is about to become non-existent. We’re selling, Lauren. The new owner will be here tomorrow. I’m ditching this place, forgetting about you and everyone I’ve had contact with. I want no part of it. Let that sink through your head and don’t bother me again.”
I jerk my arm free from her grip. I’m done with this. So fucking over it and ready to say fuck everyone and close the place down for the night. Hell, it would be worth paying everyone a dozen times their pay to see the look on Ellie’s face when I showed up at her store and told her to drop what she’s doing and leave with me.
Might have to do a little begging first.
I need her in my arms. Need to hear her voice, need to apologize, and I need to tell her we need to be extra cautious until I find out who is working with Shadow.
“What? No, if you sell, you’ll make things worse for Ellie. I’d hate to see the rumors I’ve heard come true. She’ll get blamed. They’ll blame her.”
A snap.
I feel it in my spine — a crackle and a pop that has me seeing red.
“What did you say? Who? Who the hell will blame her? Tell me right the hell now!”
I kick the door shut, flip the lock and lurch forward. I wrap my fingers around her throat, lift and drag her across the floor, slamming her into the window.
“Logan, you are really scaring me now. Have they done something to Ellie?”
“Who, goddamn it?”
She spurts off a woman’s name in the middle of a gasp for oxygen.
The person is someone I never thought of because she’s someone I’ve never laid a hand on. I’ve never fucked her, never even thought about it.
It’s not my past that will haunt me for the rest of my life if something happens to Ellie.
It’s Lane’s.
And now I know where the power, the influence, and money is coming from.
I didn’t think this could get any more corrupted than it was.
I was wrong.
Only hope I’m not dead wrong.
Chapter Seventeen
Ellie
“I love him.” Even when I left his office angry, I love Logan so much, and it feels good to express it to my family. I might not have if I wasn’t a little buzzed from downing a couple of shots the minute I walked into the store, but, oh well. I’ve earned a late afternoon of catching a buzz.
I swallow around the myriad of guilty emotions clogging my throat from walking out on Logan a bit ago and lick the salt off my wrist, tip back my shot of tequila, and shove the lime in my mouth while I let those meaningful words sink in. Logan’s past and the wrongful things he’s done won’t dishearten my love for him. To me, he is my safe place, my friend, my lover, my home.
Even in the dark trudges of murder, sex, and deceit, a life I will loathe for the rest of my life, he makes me happy. My destiny led me to Logan.
&n
bsp; “Oh, trust me, we know you do. It’s been obvious for a while now. You’ve been laughing and singing all week. It’s been driving us crazy. Thank you, sweet baby Jesus we have tomorrow off. I bet you’re glad to have a day off to Gabe.” Renita tips her shot glass back, makes a scrunch face and shakes her shoulders in laughter from her partial lie. I might have laughed, sure as hell wasn’t singing.
“Nah, I’m growing fond of this girl of yours.” Gabe slides me a wink. I’m fond of him too, the guy does need time off though. I swear he never sleeps.
“I trust Logan.” I giggle, feeling the buzz from the last shot hitting my system.
Trust.
It’s crazy how it can mean so much to a person, how it can build in such a short time but can be lost even quicker. I’ve never been one to trust easily, but I trust Logan with my life.
There is no place I’d rather be than by his side. No place safer than in his arms. No place that makes me remember that life is too short to let another second pass you by when everything inside feels right.
“We know,” Renita and Norah and Gabe say at the same time.
“She’s been daydreaming all week too. Look at her standing over there in La-la Land. Should I sing the theme song from that movie?” Norah adds, causing me to roll my eyes. She places her hands on her hips, cocks a brow as if she’s waiting for me to say more, but what can I say? She wouldn’t be wrong. I have been off in my little world lately. It’s my world, and I’m embracing it.
Long gone is the woman I was, and in her place is a woman who’s losing sight of the lonely woman she never wants to be again.
“Hell no!” Renita chokes out around a laugh. “None of us want to lose our hearing from your damn singing. You’re worse than Ellie is.”
I chuckle behind my hand at Renita’s teasing. At how easily she cracks on us, but still uses that tone that shows the crazy love she has for Norah and me.
For the past half hour, we’ve been razzing one another, laughing through the disaster we’ve made in the store. There are piles of new clothes and items we’ve been pricing all week scattered everywhere. There are several things I ran across and boxed up that will look great in Logan’s house too.
This is the distract I need from going back to Behind Closed Doors and spending time with Logan. I feel bad he’s working when he hates it. I can’t imagine having to work day and night hating what you do. I love my job and everything that comes with it. I wouldn’t trade what we have here for anything.
“You’re such a liar; if I were to sing, we’d have people coming in just to hear me. Men would be lining the streets. If Ellie were to sing, they’d open the door and shut it as quickly.” Norah opens her mouth, sticks a finger inside and pretends like she’s gagging.
“Ellie, hand me those shit-kicker boots behind you, I need them, shit’s getting deep and no way am I ruining my new shoes. I don’t want to hurt my daughter’s feelings, but since one of you brought up singing, I used to wear earplugs after that incident with you two screeching through the house pretending to be Madonna. I figure you’re old enough now that I can tell you.”
Laughter punches through the air. Humor and free from care. If only Logan were here with us so he could loosen up and simply be.
“What?” I clutch my hand to my chest, feigning shock. “The nerve, and here we thought you enjoyed singing with us.” It doesn’t surprise me a bit if Renita did wear them, Norah and I were awful.
“I’m sorry, Mom we sold them last week, guess your shit out of luck.” Norah comes back with the comment that topples us all over into a fit of laughter. Tears are forming in our eyes, leaking out like faucets.
“It was Norah who wanted to be Madonna. I wanted to be Celine,” I mutter, faking hurt and turning toward Aunt Sandy and Gabe. We set my aunt up on the new couch that was brought into the store earlier in the week; her cast leg propped on her wheelchair and a pile of clothes laid out all around her.
When I returned from seeing Logan, I told Gabe to get his butt in here and join us, so he strolled in with me and plopped down next to my aunt. There was no sense in him sitting out there with switching from running the air-conditioning to rolling down the windows for air while he could be having fun. It’s ridiculous he’s keeping an eye on me anyway.
“Listen to this story. There was this one time when Renita told Norah and me we’d be better off keeping our day jobs than singing. We were only like eight or nine, walking through the house singing ‘You’ve Got a Friend In Me’ from Toy Story when she shattered our dreams.” I pause for dramatic effect by sniffling. Renita sighs, which only eggs me on. “We were too young to have a job, so when I asked her what she meant, she turned around and said it means go do something else because the two of you are shitty singers.” I can’t hold back my laughter as Aunt Sandy glares at Renita.
“Right and then she turned around and bought me a karaoke machine for Christmas?” Norah includes.
“She did too. Maybe we should get her hearing checked; she is getting old.” I toss in a tease. Renita might be in her mid-fifties, but she doesn’t look it, doesn’t act it either.
“I said no such thing as shitty. Get your story right if you’re going to tell it. I was trying to protect the world that day. They weren’t singing; they had been screaming that song at the top of their lungs for days. If my hearing is bad, it’s because of that. After the millionth time, I told them to use their inside voice. Luckily, they are both still here today.”
Aunt Sandy chuckles, points her finger in Renita’s direction, and says, “We all have our weaknesses. Unfortunately for my sister, her non-filtered mouth is hers. I believe you, if you say she cursed, then she cursed. Let’s get back on the topic of this man I have yet to meet. Does he love you?”
At that, I stop giggling, but the smile on my face remains.
“Yes,” I answer quickly and without thought because I know for sure that Logan does.
I jump when my phone starts ringing where it sits next to me on top of a pile of shirts. I glance and see it’s Logan.
Thank you, God. I feel guilty for not keeping my mouth shut when Logan is stressed to the max.
My smile widens, he’s been calling me from work most nights and every time I see his name, I either go outside or sit at the top of the stairs leading to our apartment for privacy because I never know what Logan I’m going to get. The naughty or sweet.
Standing up from my chair, I snatch my phone and make my way toward the front door, I holler over my shoulder that I’ll be around the corner in the parking lot if they need me, but by the time I unlock the door, close it behind me, and walk down the sidewalk a ways, it stops ringing.
I make it to my Jeep, intent on sitting in the air conditioning to call Logan back when the happiness and good feelings I had from joking with my family drain from my body as I sense I’m not alone out here.
It’s a bad vibe, one that draws awareness that it’s damn quiet around here too. Unusually so.
I glance across the street. Gabe’s SUV and the one from my night security both are in their usual spots.
I’ve never met the man who protects me at night. Whoever it is, he’s good. He shows up at five to relieve Gabe, and he’s waiting outside my apartment when I leave around ten to go to Logan’s.
I exhale a sigh of relief, and it’s not until I take a few more steps toward my Jeep to call Logan back that my eyes land on several women standing less than a few feet away, killing me with the scorching look of death much deadlier than the ones from the other night at the club.
I freeze.
It is the stupidest thing I can do when my head is fuzzy, or maybe it’s the smartest because liquid courage might be what I need to tell them off. I knew there would come a day when this might happen, and Logan has been worried since day one, but I didn’t think I’d be approached once again at my home. Let alone by a half dozen scorned women.
Terror sends a cold draft through my chest. I refuse to let them see it.
None o
f them say a word, they biasedly glare at me. Intently giving me a repelling once-over. Unhurriedly and calculatingly, their eyes roam over my baggy sweats-shorts, bare feet, and old faded college tank.
“You won’t get away with whatever you have planned. I’m not a pushover. Not easily persuaded with whatever you think you’ll accomplish here,” I spit, sobering up quickly.
Anger jumps under my skin and my lungs contract. I welcome the emotion. It’s much more gratifying than fear.
“If you’re here to frighten me away from Logan, it isn’t going to work. He doesn’t want you. I’m certain he’s made himself clear. Crawl back to wherever you came from, and for your protection, I’d stay there.” God, I’m tired of people thinking they can scare me. Especially ones who don’t give a shit about the man underneath Logan’s skin.
I will not let these women get to me. I start to scream for help, but when one of them speaks, it paralyzes my voice.
“He belongs to the club. Not to us. Definitely not to you. You can’t train a man like Logan Mitchell. He’s the trainer. He may treat you differently because you’re the complete opposite of his ex-wife, but that’s over now, isn’t it? You’re an interferer, and we can’t have that.”
I feel like I’m living on another planet, perhaps another era. One where women fight to the death to have the only man left to please them. I need to be pinched or something because surely this isn’t happening. This isn’t reality. This is a joke. Then again, being a member of a sex club isn’t something I will understand, especially if the members are single and money-hungry. Maybe that’s why they’re holding on to Logan like he’s the thread that keeps them bound. One snip and they will fall into an abyss they can’t climb out of. It’s ridiculous, but so is the way they’re acting.
I hold my breath behind pursed lips to strengthen myself against the gusts of laughter that want to burst free. Instead, I let rage burn my throat and decide I will not be silent. Not when it comes to Logan.
Unbound Trilogy Boxset Page 37