Page 81 of Consuming Logan

Settled? As in long-term? No fucking way. He’d get down on bent knees and crawl before he lost his family.

“Where is she?”

He heard some rustling, and then Drew Walters’ voice came through the line. “We don’t know where our daughter is thanks to you. Don’t call again. Ever.”

The line went dead.

Ring. Ring. Shit, he’d forgotten about the door.

Pushing to his feet, Logan opened the door.

A small man with dark hair, dark skin, and jeans that had seen better days lifted his eyes from the clipboard in his hands.

“Good morning, sir.” His accent, thick with long ‘r’ sounds. “We have a work request to pick-up some furniture.”

Of course, with a renter in her house, Ava would need a few things from the house. Logan wanted her and the babies to be comfortable.

“The master bedroom is at the top of the stairs. Turn left. It’s the first door on the right. Take everything.”

Gripping the doorknob, Logan squeezed until the metal cut into his injured hand. She loved the way their mattress cradled her body. And he loved seeing her in his bed. Soon enough, he’d have her back in his arms.

A thought occurred to him. “Give me the delivery address for the furniture.” He would get dressed and arrive before the movers.

The man gave him a quizzical look. “Sir, the furniture is going back to the warehouse.”

Logan felt his vision dim. “What are you saying?”

“We’re here to return the infant furniture to the Baby Bundle Store.”

Ava had truly left him. But what plunged the blade deeper was that she was cutting the one thread that irrevocably connected him to her. It hit Logan then. He’d promised to cherish her love, to protect her. The opposite had happened. More focused on his perceived loss, he’d lost sight of all he’d gained with Ava’s love, a chance to wake up with his woman and babies in his life. This was true powerlessness.

She had taken the babies away from him. This time when his heart stopped beating, he welcomed the loss of sensation, yet he still felt the pain.

Chapter 30

Dark shadows blanketed Ava’s office. She’d walked out on the man she loved and her children’s father. How could they come back from everything that had been said and done over the past four months? A dim glow radiated from her computer monitor. Not that she minded the darkness, she just didn’t want anyone else to see her like this. Her heart still ached at the thought of what Logan had said to her. He all but told her that she and the babies didn’t matter. His career would always come first. From the moment she met him, she’d always admired his strength and confidence, but the attack had changed him.

Brides were supposed to be happy. To wed the man she loved and share children with him should have been the best part of her life. Career came and went, but family connection superseded great jobs and big checks. Somehow the attacker had warped Logan’s reality. And with him, her life had become twisted into this ugly carnal mess that even she didn’t understand any more.

She wondered if this had been the madman’s intention. She thought about the note mailed to the house. Logan’s attacker hadn’t mentioned the injury or Logan’s career. His target had been to splice Logan and Ava’s connection Had the plan been to destroy their relationship from the inside out?

The hand wound had unleashed an insecurity Logan was too blind to appreciate. His own betrayal consumed his future. Ava loved him, but he would have to release the anger and bitterness to fully love her. Could a man who refused to love those who loved him, truly love her? As a father, could Logan provide a balance of love, empathy, hard work, and ambition? She wasn’t so sure anymore.

In the shadows, someone moved. Ava jerked. Tyson O’Connor, the omnipotent billionaire who always seemed to be in the right place when something went terribly wrong, stepped into view. His scent was understated, yet potent, like the man himself.

“Ava, please,” he said, green eyes so like Logan’s, filled with compassion. How had she missed the resemblance at their first meeting? Like in all things, she saw what she looked for. “Let me help.”

That pulled her up short. “You’ve done enough,” she gave him a narrow-eyed glare.

Unlike Logan, she had nothing against the man…until a few hours ago.

“I had to intervene. My security team called. You left the house in the middle of the night.”

His voice dripped with disapproval. The possibility of her staying in the house until morning, and then packing to leave would never have happened. Logan would have stopped her. Well, the old Logan would’ve wanted her always. Once he discovered her gone, would he want her back? Did she want that? Of course, she did.

“You sicked your Girl Scout on me?”

Tyson gave her a twisted smirk, “Only you would consider MaKenzie Young a friendly face. She’s a detective and my friend.”