She cracked up. “That’s cute, young man, considering this place would fall down around you if I weren’t here to keep it in order. Besides, I know how much you love me.”
He grunted again. “You really know how to bust a man’s balls, especially one who signs your paycheck.”
“Pssh. I’d do it for free since I love you right back.”
I felt the wobble of affection at the corner of his mouth, rising beneath the rage that simmered in the bare space.
I tried to ignore the way his body felt pressed against mine as he carried me through the main room and back into my bedroom. Tried to pretend my skin wasn’t shimmering with the vestiges of his touch when he sat me on the edge of the bed.
He started to turn and leave, though he paused when I called behind him, “You’re happy here?”
Logan glanced back. “My family has always made me that way.”
“I used to.”
He tapped the doorframe with his knuckles. “Yeah, but you stopped being her a long time ago.”
Grief cut through the middle of me, and I choked over the regret that wanted to get free when he walked out without saying anything else.
Fisting the comforter, I fought the moisture that burned at my eyes. I had to keep it together. Stay focused and stay the course.
This wasn’t about reconciling with Logan. There was nothing that could heal a wound that went that deep.
More than that, there was no way to undo what had already been done.
This was about my freedom. About recovering my life. About finding new direction.
I jolted when a minute later Logan strode back in. He carried the bags he’d dropped onto the floor and placed them next to me on the bed.
A frown pulled to my brow. “What’s this?”
“Do you plan to wear that dress forever? Or that tee? Not that I would mind all that much.” He cocked a grin at that.
Wings fluttered in my chest.
Crap.
I swallowed hard. “I guess not.”
“Then you’ll need more clothes.” He moved to the doorway then paused to look back at me. “What do you need on Jarek?”
Gulping, I forced myself to focus on the mission. “Everything. Anything. I just need to prove to my father the snake that he is.”
A difficult task when I’d been raised by a brood of vipers. Crimes expected. Cruelty required.
In the end, it would be Jarek’s loyalty that counted.
“That should be easy enough.”
“I’m afraid there won’t be anything easy about this.”
Jarek would kill anyone that threatened his position in the family. My father had no sons, and his brother was dead thanks to the man in front of me, which meant Jarek was next in line to take his place as the boss once he passed.
He would be none too keen when he found out my intention was to take that from him.
If I knew him well enough, he’d think at any time, I’d come crawling back, and I doubted he’d say much to my father, considering he was the one who’d made this dirty, messy bed.
I prayed that and my father’s promise would give me time.