“I would have done the same. You didn’t have a choice. We were outgunned. If you hadn’t given me up, all three of us would have died and then they would have started on the rest of the town.” The words felt like they were in a foreign language, odd and alien on his tongue. But they were the truth.
They just weren’t the whole truth. He wasn’t ready to face that. Not yet.
One step at a time. Leo preached it. One step and then another until he would find himself walking and talking and feeling again. He’d worked so hard on his body and neglected his soul.
“This is more than I could hope. Logan Green, I need you to know that my Holly, my heart, she walks the earth because of you, because of your courage.”
“Don’t say that.” Logan couldn’t listen to anyone talk about him being brave. He’d been an idiot bumbling his way through life, a joke.
“You may not hear, but I say because it is true. You may never like me, but in my heart, in my soul, you are my brother,” Alexei said with deep purpose. “Know that wherever you to go, whatever you to do, I am behind you. I will be there if you need me.”
Logan nodded, the only motion he seemed capable of.
“Please to tell Sheriff I come by. I must sign paperwork for the class I teach.” Alexei took a step back, his face more open than it had been before. Alexei seemed younger now, happier. “And if you ever want to come to house with your friends, know you are most welcome. Holly would love to see you. Caleb as well, though he will likely just growl your way.”
Alexei put his hat back on his head and left, the station quiet again, but nothing could stop the voices pounding through Logan’s head.
He could forgive Alexei. He could say the words and know the truth and one day, he might even be able to be friendly. He might be able to sit down to a meal with him and laugh and joke and enjoy time with Holly again. The three of them had survived something together. He could handle that. He might be able to walk into Nate’s office and not see himself there.
He could forgive everyone involved but the most important person. For that, he would need to see someone else.
And he would need to be honest for once in his fucking life.
He picked up the phone because his honesty had started in one particular place, with one man. It only seemed fair to continue it. He dialed the number and the phone answered on the first ring.
“Hello?”
Logan took a long breath. It took courage to banish demons. He needed to find some. His hand strayed to the comic book on his desk. His younger self had played at being Superman, had found comfort in the stories. But he was just a man and had to take small steps. He’d held back in the beginning, so damn sure that his real secrets never needed to come out. He’d had people who wanted to help him, but he hadn’t let them. “Hey, Leo. I need to tell you a story.”
Leo Meyer’s infinitely patient voice came over the line. “I’m here to listen.”
Logan began again. This time, he began with the truth.
Chapter Thirteen
Georgia stepped inside the sheriff’s department hoping she wasn’t making a terrible mistake, but after the lovely morning she’d had, she felt powerful. She’d made friends outside her normal circle. Considering the fact that the friends inside her normal circles were well-dressed snakes who already used Botox even before their thirties, she was really thinking that Nell, the vegan who needed a little lip gloss, Lucy, who seemed to be pining after some mountain man everyone else was a little scared of, and Naomi, who just sat back and enjoyed the chaos, seemed like the coolest friends ever.
It didn’t matter that Naomi was older than she was. She’d gotten along great with the nurse. They had chatted after the meeting and talked about Chicago, where Naomi was from. Lucy had sat by them and asked all sorts of questions about big cities, and Nell had served them vegan muffins, which weren’t as good as real muffins, but she’d been able to eat them once Momma Marie had given her a mug of tea with a kicker of vodka. Apparently, Momma Marie knew what it took to get through a vegan meal.
Georgia was starting to adore Momma Marie.
She’d conquered Bliss’s social scene, and now she wanted to conquer Logan Green.
Maybe not conquer, but getting through a meal without shouting at each other would be a good start. She owed it to Seth.
No. She wasn’t going to lie to herself. Women with the strength to shoot a son of a bitch were honest with themselves and others. It was in the bylaws of the club she’d just been claimed as an ancillary member of. When she actually shot her own son of a bitch, she would be a full member. Momma Marie had promised shotgun lessons as soon as possible.
She wasn’t going to lie. She was doing this for herself. Because she wanted them both.
She walked in and was struck by how quiet the place was.
“Georgia?”
She nearly started, Logan’s voice coming out of nowhere. He was sitting at a desk to her left, his face dark, his eyes fixed on her. He looked a little like a man who hadn’t slept the night before. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. “Hey.”
He flicked his eyes to a place to her right and kept them there. “Go away, Georgia. I’m not in a good mood.”
Immediately her back came up. The instinct to tell him where to shove his mood was right there, just begging to be let out. She’d behaved perfectly. She’d spent time with his mom. She’d fit in. She’d done everything right, and he wanted to reject her? Well, she could make that painful.
And she stopped because something was so obviously wrong. This wasn’t about her, and it would be childish to make it about her. This was about Logan. “Maybe I can help.”
His brows came together as though that had been the last thing he’d expected her to say. “Georgia, I’m not trying to be a bastard. I…just had to admit something to a man I admire very much. I need to be alone for a while.”
That was part of his problem. “You’re always alone. Even when you’re with me and Seth. You’re still alone. Have you thought that maybe being alone isn’t working for you?”
“Don’t push me, Georgia.”
Tears sprang to her eyes, but she wasn’t going to shed them. She just needed to make him understand. “I’m not trying to push you. I’m trying to help you. I’m trying to mean something to you.”
His fingers drummed along the desk. “Do you know what I’m going to ask you to do tonight, Georgia? I’m going to ask you to sign a contract. Before I touch you, you’ll have to sign a contract that gives me use of your body. I have to pencil your name in because it’s a standard contract I sign with all subs.”
Did he really think she hadn’t grilled her brothers about him? She knew exactly how obnoxious to be for Chase to break down and tell her what she wanted to know. She just kept asking the question for fifteen minutes in a place where he couldn’t escape her and, voila, she knew everything there was to know about Master Logan. “How many?”
Those brows were now a near perfect V over his deep green eyes. “What?”
She tapped her foot against the floor, but sneakers didn’t have the same effect her heels normally had. “How many contracts have you signed? You say it’s standard and you’re the big bad Dom, so how many contracts? Kitten’s doesn’t count because there was no sex involved. Give me this massive number, Logan Green, so I’ll know just how little I mean to you.”
He stared at her for a minute, and she knew they both knew the truth. He hadn’t signed a contract before. Oh, he’d slept with submissives. As far as she knew, he’d slept with half the women in Dallas and an even larger percentage of Southern Colorado’s female population, but he’d never signed that sacred contract with one of them.