Holy shit.
With all of that, you think I’m gonna let you or anyone near my woman, you think wrong.
His woman?
“I didn’t know it was like that,” Ethan grumbled.
“It’s exactly that,” Logan returned irately.
“You’re right, I wouldn’t let anyone near my wife. But, Logan, I can’t delay too long. You got until tomorrow morning.”
“Mom, you and Quinn get on packing up Lauren, yeah?”
I glanced to my right and found Quinn biting back a smile. I didn’t see anything amusing about the situation and neither did Dee. Her face was pale and her eyes were bright with tears. Jill had an arm around her mom and Jackie was next to her sister holding her hand.
“It wasn’t that bad,” I blurted out in an effort to ease some of Dee’s fears. “Logan had everything under control. He’s good at what he does, the best actually. It wasn’t safe but it wasn’t as dangerous as it sounds.”
Okay, that was a lie; it was really freaking dangerous. We could’ve died, but I hated seeing Dee and Logan’s sisters so scared. I didn’t want them to think that Logan didn’t know what he was doing.
“Shit,” Logan muttered under his breath, then called, “Mom, come here.”
Dee didn’t delay; she was across the room and had her arms around her son in a flash. I tried to move away to give them space but Logan’s hand went to my wrist and kept me behind him.
Still shielding me even though there was no threat.
In that moment a few things became clear. It was not anger that fueled Logan. It was fear. He wanted me close, wanted me behind him, wanted complete control because I’d lied earlier—Logan didn’t have control over the situation. I was in the car, in danger, and it was beyond his control. It was dangerous and there was nothing Logan could do about that. He could do his best to navigate us through but that didn’t mean I was in less danger.
This is what it feels like to be protected.
With everything slamming into me at once I bent my neck and let my forehead hit Logan’s back. He had his mother at his front, me at his back, and he was holding us both up at once. A testament to his strength. Proof he was more than he thought he was.
“Where’s Ian?” Logan asked.
“Right here.” I heard.
“Get Mom, yeah?”
That was big.
So huge I didn’t need to see Ian’s reaction to Logan’s request—which wasn’t a request as much as it was a sign of trust and respect—to feel Ian’s response. It was immediate and it was beautiful. Dee was shifted to Ian, Logan shifted me around to his front, and his lips went to the top of my head.
“DeeDee, sweetheart, he’s safe.” Ian paused and I saw Dee’s body buck. “He’s safe, baby. Lauren’s safe. He’s got good men all around him. You have to trust in that.”
Oh, boy, Ian had been holding back the public display of affection. Likely this was done for Logan’s benefit. Hearing Ian now, seeing the way he held Dee, this was not the first time he’d comforted her. The scene playing out was familiar and comfortable for both of them.
I braced for Logan’s reaction and didn’t let go of the breath I was holding until I heard him sigh.
“You’re a good man, Logan. You might not think it, but you are.”
His arms went super tight, then he announced, “I’m taking Lauren home.”
“I’ll give you an escort.” I jolted when Echo Kent’s voice boomed.
I hadn’t noticed he’d come into the conference room, which was a damn shock considering no one missed Echo Kent. The man was six-foot-five and built like a powerhouse. He would terrify me if I didn’t know he was a big old softy under all that muscle. Not that I’d ever tell anyone I thought Echo was a softy but when Echo was around his sister Shiloh he couldn’t hide it. He was as big as a gorilla but when his baby sister was in the room he turned into a cute Teddy bear.
“I’d appreciate that,” Logan returned.
“Lauren’s purse and your cell are on her desk,” Ethan started. “A wrecker will pick up your Mustang for processing. It’ll take about a week. Jasper brought a Suburban around for you to use until we sort your car.”
“Junk it.”
“What? You love that car,” I protested.
“Ren, baby, not only do I never want to drive that car again but I’d never put my woman back into a vehicle—”
“That’s crazy! You love your car.”
And he did love that Mustang. I’d never seen it not sparkling clean inside and out.
“Yeah, I do. But straight up, I love you more. And your ass is never, not fucking ever sitting in a car where your head almost got blown the fuck off. And I’m never getting back into that fucking car knowing there was a fucking bullet lodged in my dash instead of in your brain.”
So there were more than his usual ‘fucks’ sprinkled into that statement, thus it was safe to say he was more than a tad incensed. But that wasn’t what had my lungs burning. His cursing wasn’t what made my insides overheat while at the same making me shiver.
“You love me?”
“From the very first time you rolled your eyes at me.”
Say what?
“I roll my eyes a lot,” I informed him.
“Yeah, you do. And you did it about five minutes after I met you when you heard me and Matt giving Drake shit about being domesticated.”
“I think I also called you an ass because you were making fun of him.”
“Men don’t ‘make fun of’ their brothers, they give ‘em shit and bust their balls. And they do it as a way to communicate they’re jealous as fuck their brother has found something worth having. Drake knew what he had, he knew Liberty was his future, he knew he wasn’t going to be a dumbass and let her slip away. But I was the dumbass who was standing there knowing that ten feet from me stood everything I ever wanted yet I was going to let her slip away. So I gave my brother shit, and to my surprise that beautiful, shy woman rolled her eyes, called me an ass, and gave attitude. She had a strength under all that pretty. She was not afraid to call me out. She had Drake’s back and Liberty’s even though I was just messin’ with Drake. And still, I knew I was going to be a dumbass.”
I loved all of that so much. So, so much I couldn’t speak. Then I could but only to say his name.
“Logan,” I breathed out.
“Happily eat my words, I was wrong. So fuckin’ wrong. And it pains me to admit it took me almost losing you to wake my ass up. But feeling that fear, knowing you could be gone in a way that meant I would never have you back—oh, yeah, it woke my shit up. Knowing that I could lose a future with you. Me or you or both of us gone and you never getting from me what you should’ve had from me over the last year. Not only the words, but everything. I love you, Lauren. From the bottom of my soul. No more bullshit. We agreed on honesty, so there it is, all of it.”
That wasn’t honesty, that was Logan in front of everyone laying himself bare. That was him giving me everything I ever wanted and him not caring we weren’t in private.
I heard someone sniffle. I heard someone clear their throat. I heard someone’s footsteps.