My chest squeezed as I watched the droves of families weave their way across the lot toward the main buildings, bundled in their jackets and scarves, their cheeks pinked and excitement filling their eyes.
Logan drove around the side of a building to another lot around back where he finally found an open spot tucked between a minivan and truck.
When he killed the engine, a swath of silence took over the cabin, and the man stared out the windshield at the flurries of snowflakes that fluttered from the darkened heavens.
Tension stretched thin.
Questions that swelled and taunted.
Old hopes and long-dead dreams.
It was insane being so uncomfortable with a man who had once been my refuge.
Finally, he glanced over at me, his tongue sweeping his lips in a rush of agitation, as if he’d just then thought better about bringing me here. “My niece and nephew have a dance performance to kick off the holiday season.”
It was December 2nd.
Clarity moved through my consciousness, this whole thing coming to make sense. Except for the part of why he’d brought me with him.
“Okay.” I stared at him, my response not quite a question but begging him to fill in the blanks.
“My family is the only thing that matters to me. Everything I do, I do for them. I will sacrifice anything for them. Reject anything that might bring them harm…or crush it before it has the chance.” A warning lit behind it. His chest vibrated like he was dealing with his own dread.
I knew his statement was his truth.
“I understand.”
“Do you?” That ferocity pierced me in the heart.
I swallowed down the disquiet.
“I do.”
Because he was supposed to be mine, and I’d been living that stark, gutting truth for the last seven years. Sacrificing it all to protect the one that mattered to me.
He gripped the side of my face, so out of the blue my mouth dropped open at the blaze of his palm against my skin. “And here you are.”
I guessed the reality of what I was asking of him had finally penetrated his hardened exterior.
I gulped the trepidation down. “My father promised time. Promised he would allow me this. Here. With you. I have until the New Year. Thirty days. He told me he would order Jarek to stand down.”
Logan let go of a disbelieving sound. “You don’t actually think that pompous prick takes orders from anyone?”
“From my father, yes.” My spirit shook, hoping it was the truth. “Why don’t you take me back to the apartment, though? There’s no reason to drag your family into this.”
Logan leaned farther over the console. All menace and power, the words razors that cut through flesh. “Is it wrong I don’t want to let you out of my sight?”
“You don’t have to protect me.”
His hand spread farther across my cheek. “I might hate you, Aster, but I see your fucking pain. I know you’ve been hurt. So don’t fucking tell me you don’t need protected, even if what you need protected from is yourself.”
My breaths were ragged when he suddenly pulled away and climbed from the car. I was still stuck in the same spot when he opened mine and extended a hand to help me out. “Come with me.”
I obeyed, tried not to whimper when he pulled me against the hot, hard planes of his body as I was struck with a blast of frigid cold.
He balanced me on the slick, frozen ground. “Are you good?”
No.