Chapter 135
Chapter 134: Logan Shows Up
Sedona’s POV
Cameron arrived at four-thirty with someone I hadn’t seen before.
“Sedona,” Cameron said, moving toward me. This is Lucian. My PA p>
Lucian held out a gift, wrapped simply, the kind of wrapping that said he had done it himself.
“It’s good to meet you,” he said. “I’ve heard a great deal about you p>
“Good things, I hope,” I said, taking the gift.
“Mostly,” he said, and there was something in the way he said it, that amused me, and I smiled at it.
Claim
Cameron looked at Lucian with an expression I caught quickly and filed for it to be brought up later when we were alone.
“Open it later,” Cameron said, about the gift.
“I was going to open it now,” I said, because I was and also because the slight change in Cameron’s expression when I said so was worth it.
Lucian said nothing but there was an amused look on his face, watching the dynamics between brother and sister.
I opened the gift.
It was a book. Not a get-well-soon book, but a book about a popular author that I had been meaning to get my hands on.
I looked at Lucian.
“Cameron told me you liked this kind of books,” he said. “Before. And that you were looking forward to doing it again p>
“He told you that p>
“He mentioned it,” Lucian said, feeling sheepish.
ľ
I looked at Cameron, who was finding something interesting to look at in the middle distance.
“Thank you,” I said to Lucian. “This is exactly right p>
“I’m glad,” he said.
I liked him, I decided. He was warm and friendly and genuine in a way that I liked, there was no hidden depths to him, neither was he trying to use this as a way to garner something in return.
By six, the house was full. Forty-three confirmed, and more were coming with each passing minute. I moved through it accepting greetings, hugs and well wishes from well meaning people. Claim Then the room got louder, the way rooms got louder making it hard for me to breathe properly and was getting overwhelmed I needed air. The back door led to the garden, which was empty and filled with a silence that was deeply in contrast to the chaos happening behind me I stood there for a few minutes, just breathing. Then a hand closed around my arm. I turned around fast, the reflex of someone who had been startled, and the face I saw was the last face I had been preparing to see anytime soon Logan. “Sedona,” he said. His voice was low, which meant he knew he was not supposed to be here and was trying not to draw attention to it. I pulled my arm back. “Let go of me p> He released my arm but didn’t step back. “I need to talk to you. I’ve been-I’ve been trying to reach you for months. I just need five minutes p> “You’re not supposed to be here,” I said. “How did you even p> “I’ve been looking for you since you disappeared,” he said, and there was something in his voice that might have been genuine but I didn’t care about that, it was far too late for him to act like we could have what we had before. “Sedona, come back. Come back to Chicago. We can make it work, Nick needs you there, he needs his mother there, and we can figure out the rest, all of it, just come back p> “I’m not going back with you,” I said. My voice was level and calm. ľ “You don’t have to decide right now. Just hear me out. There’s been a lot of-things have been misrepresented to you, I think. Catherine has-what she’s told you, or what you might have assumed, I want to be able to explain my side of it p> “Logan p> “Five minutes p> “I said no.” I stepped back, putting more space between us. “Whatever you came here to say, this isn’t how it happens. Not like this, not in someone’s garden where you’ve shown up without an invitation p> His expression changed then, the rawness shifting into something harder, the thing underneath the appeal. “You just disappeared,” he said, and the edge was audible now. “You left. You left Nick, you left without a 21 Clem word, and you’ve been hiding here while he’s been asking for you every single day, and you think I’m the one who did something wrong p> “I know what Nick has been doing,” I said. “I also know what you’ve been doing. Those are not the same conversation p> He reached for my arm again. And then Dante was there. I hadn’t heard the door, hadn’t heard his footsteps on the stone path, but he was between us before Logan’s hand reached me, with the particular quality of presence that Dante fad, the kind that occupied space completely without having to announce itself. “Don’t,” Dante said. Logan looked at him and I watched the calculation happen in Logan’s expression, the reassessment of the situation. “Who are you p> “It doesn’t matter, what happens was that you were asked not to touch her,” Dante said. His voice was entirely even. “Get out of my way,” Logan said. “This is a private conversation p> “She said no,” Dante said. “She said it clearly. There isn’t a private conversation happening here p> Logan’s jaw tightened. “You want to be careful,” he said. “You’re involving yourself in a marriage, in a family situation that you don’t understand, and you’re standing there like you have some claim p> He swung. It was badly timed and telegraphed and Dante redirected it, and had Logan’s arm turned behind his back before the motion had completed. Logan made a sound of pain and surprise. “You’re going to leave,” Dante said, with the same even tone, as if he were explaining something simple to someone who had briefly forgotten it. “You’re going to leave this property, and you’re not going to come back tonight. Whatever you came here to resolve, this wasn’t the way to do it, and you know it p> He released Logan’s arm and stepped back, giving him room, not trapping him. Logan straightened and looked at me, and the expression on his face was something I didn’t want to spend energy reading right now. “This isn’t over,” he said. Comments LUCK DRAW > Vote 535 Florence A passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.