Page 73 of Consuming Logan

Logan tracked shaky fingers through his hair. He’d done everything asked of him. All his hard work, now he could protect Ava, his family. Normally, Logan didn’t do limits, but this was a win.

Logan shot to his full height, pacing. “This is great news.”

“It is,” Franklin insisted.

So why was the fellow surgeon looking like he was about to be disemboweled. And, he wasn’t even listening to the freaking patient, him. “Can you stop with the phone,” he bellowed. That got his attention.

Franklin jumped. Quickly, he pocketed the phone, and adjusted his glasses.

“Dr. Masters I must warn you not to stress your repair site. No hitting, blocking, lifting more than ten pounds. You must protect the tendons from any and all trauma. Continue to work on your range of motion exercises and your grip strength. If you’re compliant, I can’t find a reason that you won’t have a full recovery.”

“That’s more like it,” Logan gave a fist pump. He would call Ava as soon as he finished up here. “Thanks,” he said, preparing to leave. But then he turned back. “I’m headed home to my woman, but can I call one of the staff members to help you?”

Dark circles rimmed Franklin’s eyes, his lips appeared cracked and dry. He had a malnourished unhealthy look. Maybe he had a chronic condition Logan wasn’t aware of.

“No. No. And…I’m sorry about the breach,” Franklin said, genuine remorse in his voice.

Why was Franklin being melodramatic? And what could be more important than his hand and returning to the staff with full credentials?

“Yeah me too,” Logan murmured. “Hopefully no one was hurt.”

“It was more than a physical security breach,” his gaze slid beyond Logan. “Your research lab was targeted.”

Logan came to an abrupt stop, his rubber-soled shoes squeaking on the wood flooring. “What the hell happened to my lab?”

“The…the breach…your files and several of the departmental records have been corrupted.”

Logan sucked in a breath. “It’s okay,” he reassured himself. “My staff is meticulous about computer backups.”

Franklin tensed and Logan felt the next words would bring him to his knees. “Somehow, the computer files were hacked and scrambled.”

Logan felt his lungs seize up. All his work was gone.

“Why wasn’t I called.”

“The lab’s owner was notified first thing.”

“That’s me. It’s my lab.”

“No, the security officer contacted your brother.”

Logan stared in confusion. “Darwin is here.”

“No, your other brother, the one that supplied your blood transfusion. Mr. Tyson O’Connor.”

Logan didn’t sit, as much as collapse onto the nearby exam table. They had lied to him. All of them. His father. His mother. His brother. His Ava.

The phone rang. The caller ID flashed Ava Mine, Home. He didn’t answer. Without a word, he stood, and then walked out of the office. The lab could wait. It would take him thirty minutes to reach the Preserves Country Club Estates. His parents owed him some answers.

Chapter 27

“Did you cheat on my mother?”

Logan stormed in the sunroom of the guesthouse where Robert Lee Masters sat with a dinner tray in front of him. White linen drapes hung beside four-foot windows; the room too bright for the conversation to come.

Logan’s father, the man he’d trusted his entire life looked up from the Shell Cove Courier, his face relaxed. He didn’t deserve comfort. No, a man who betrayed his wife, and lied to children should never have a peaceful second.

His father tossed the paper aside, rubbing his eyes. “You’re so much like Belle that it’s painful to watch.”