Bidder - An Auctioned to the Billionaire Romance (Criminal Passions Book 2)

by Layla Valentine

  As she walked down the block, Terri noticed her hands shaking. Her mom was notorious for downplaying situations. It was just the tough Midwesterner in her.

  Which meant it was hard to say how Dad really was. And she wouldn’t have called if…

  Terri bit her lip. She wasn’t exactly close with her parents. It had always seemed like Charlie was their favorite child. After he left for college, the emptiness had been palpable.

  But she knew her parents loved her, even if it wasn’t in the way she would choose to love a child. So she cared. And she was going to Girard. The whole Bryce matter would need to be put on hold.

  “That was quick,” Logan said as she got into the car.

  She drew a deep breath.

  “Hey.” He turned in his seat to face her. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

  “We barely got a chance to… to talk. I didn’t get to mention you or…”

  How long had his hand been on her shoulder for? Or what was that flickering in his eyes? Concern? It seemed more than that.

  She closed her eyes. She was imagining things again.

  “Did you see someone?” Logan asked. “Or Bryce?”

  Right. That’s what his worry was about. Bryce.

  “No.” She opened her eyes. His hand was still on her shoulder, but the touch didn’t seem that significant anymore.

  “What happened?” he pressed.

  “Charlie got a call. Our dad took a spill from a ladder and is in the hospital. We’re both going out there today.”

  She stared at him, daring him to tell her she couldn’t leave Chicago.

  “I’m sorry.” He finally removed his hand. “How bad is he hurt?”

  “It’s uncertain. My mom isn’t the most upfront about things, but if she’s calling then this doesn’t mean it’s a light situation.” She pinned him with another hard look. “I need to go.”

  “Of course.” He nodded.

  She cocked her head. “Really? You’re not going to argue and say I have to stay in Chicago, under your watchful eye?”

  His lips twisted. “Well…”

  “If you say that, I might…” She bit her lip to stop herself from finishing.

  If she let herself become aggressive she could lose all control and just let him have it. She certainly had enough resentment built up.

  “Here’s an idea. What if I came with you?”

  She let that sink in. It was really hard—no, impossible—to imagine Logan in Girard. He’d be a spectacle with his ten-thousand-dollar outfits and commanding attitude.

  “Why would you want to come with?” she asked.

  “We said we were staying together through this. It’s safer that way.”

  “My parents’ house doesn’t have a high-tech security system like yours. If you’re worried about Bryce—”

  “I’m worried about you. If something happened to you, I wouldn’t survive it.”

  She opened her mouth, only to find she’d been knocked speechless.

  Logan turned red. “I mean…” He turned to look through the front window. The car was on, air-conditioning blowing, but they still sat in the parking spot.

  “If you don’t want me to come,” he said in a quieter voice, “I won’t. But I do think we should be together. No matter where we are. And if we’re taking back roads, it will be easy to tell if we’re being followed. So there’s that.”

  “Okay. Come with. I mean, please.” She made a face. Why was this conversation so damn hard?

  “When do we need to leave?”

  “As soon as possible,” she said, surprised he was being so agreeable. “Are you not busy?”

  “I can work remotely, and I can make the time.”

  “Okay.” She relaxed into her seat and buckled up.

  It felt a bit like she should thank him, but that would be odd. He wasn’t coming with her as a friend offering support during a difficult time. He was making sure she didn’t get killed and leave him without a witness to help take Bryce down.

  Right?

  Because what was that part where he said, ‘If something happened to you, I wouldn’t survive it’?

  Either Logan was an expert at sending mixed signals, or she had more of an overactive imagination than she’d ever thought possible.

  Chapter 16

  Logan

  It felt wrong to leave Chicago with Bryce nearby, possibly waiting to pounce at any moment, but it also felt wrong to let Terri travel by herself. He’d nearly had a heart attack when he couldn’t get in touch with her earlier and didn’t want a repeat of those events.

  But that thing he’d said in the car? About not being able to survive if something happened to her?

  He didn’t know where the hell those words came from, but it couldn’t happen again. The line between them had been drawn, and he’d be a pathetic man to tow it.

  They stopped at the house, where Terri grabbed the bag she hadn’t unpacked and he explained to Kim that they would be gone for a day. Or two.

  Three? Three really pushed it. That felt like a vacation he didn’t have time for. A lot could happen in three days.

  Then again, getting out of Chicago could be good. If Bryce was sniffing around, a little break from the city might throw him off their trail.

  “Ready.” Terri appeared at the top of the stairs, bag in hand.

  He’d packed as well, which should have taken him longer than her, so what she’d done up there with that extra time was anyone’s guess.

  As she got closer, he noticed she’d put on more makeup. She wore perfume now, too. So that’s what she’d been doing.

  “You look nice,” he said. ‘Nice’ was a good, safe word. Friendly acquaintances used it all the time.

  “Thanks.” She ducked her face, looking bashful.

  “I’ll take that.” Shouldering her bag, he headed for the garage.

  Maybe she hadn’t meant for him to notice the way she’d dolled herself up a bit. Maybe the intention hadn’t been aimed at him at all.

  They were headed to her hometown. There could be people there she wanted to impress. Say, a guy.

  A wave of jealousy rolled through Logan. Terri wasn’t anywhere close to his, but the thought of her with another man made him tense up.

  They climbed into the car, and he shot a glance her way, where she tapped on her new cell phone. Was she nervous about heading home? Is that why she’d put in a little extra effort?

  Whatever the reason, it had paid off. It was going to be hard to drive without looking over at her every few seconds.

  “It’s about three hours,” she said as they exited through the gate. There was a warning in her voice.

  “I don’t mind the drive.”

  “Okay. Just checking. It’s not too late for you to change your mind. I would be careful.”

  “Do you want me to stay?”

  “No.” Her eyes, the color of spring, caught his. “I don’t want you to go out of your way.”

  “Even if I was going out of my way, it doesn’t matter. We’ve been through this. No way in hell am I letting you take this trip alone.”

  “I won’t be alone,” she mused. “Charlie will be there.”

  A weird silence followed that. Looked like he would be meeting Charlie sooner than predicted.

  “What are you going to say?” Logan asked. “How are you going to introduce me?”

  “Well, he just texted to say he won’t be there till late tonight.” She waved her phone. “So we have some time. I’m thinking I’ll catch him first and explain it all to him.”

  Logan’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. He might have saved Terri’s life, but he’d still done it in order to get out from under Charlie’s nose. There was no hiding that.

  And he didn’t think Charlie would be so eager to overlook or forgive him for that, even though Terri seemed convinced otherwise.

  “We’ll roll with it,” Logan said, despite being the kind of person who abhorred rolling with anything.

  It
was Terri’s plan, though, and her brother. He could offer his opinion, but she was the one with the power. She’d proven it at that rooftop restaurant in Vietnam.

  They fell into silence, Terri fiddling with the radio some before leaving it on so low you couldn’t hear what the music was anyway. A tension filled the car, and there didn’t seem to be a way to dispel it.

  “What’s Girard like?” he asked, eager to talk about something—anything.

  “Tiny,” she answered. “Um, old.”

  “You mean historical?”

  “No.” She smiled at the road in front of them then laughed. “I mean there’s a ton of old people.”

  “Okay.” He joined in on the laughter. “Gotcha.”

  “Actually, I don’t know the exact demographics. That’s just how it’s always felt to me. There are some young and middle-aged people there. Every town has the people who are born and die there.”

  “And you never wanted that to be you?”

  She rubbed the back of her neck, forehead furrowing. For whatever reason, the question had her thinking hard. “No,” she said at last, with a crisp finality.

  “I felt the same way. I mean, even though I’m still in the city I grew up in, I feel a thousand miles away from where I once was.”

  “Metaphorical distance counts. It wouldn’t for me, but…” She shrugged. “It’s the next exit.”

  He signaled and took the exit. How were they leaving the city already? It felt like they’d gotten into the car only a minute ago.

  “What did you want, exactly?” she asked. “When you were a kid.”

  “To be successful. To have money. Own a company.” He paused. There was more to it. “To be in charge of my destiny.”

  There it was. The heart of the matter. He’d felt so out of control as a kid and teen, growing up poor and with no adults to turn to. Seeing his friends fall into drugs, crime, or just general despondency made him want to try harder to find a way out.

  “I took as many extra classes as I could in high school,” he said, “and I graduated early with a partial scholarship. Though I went to school in Chicago, I got to live in a dorm, so it already felt like I’d escaped.”

  “And then what? When did you get into hedge funds?”

  “That happened gradually, through acquaintances in grad school, which I also attended here.”

  Funny. Despite his disgust over his childhood and his worldwide travels since then, he’d never taken his roots out of Chicago. The city would always be a part of who he was.

  “What about you?” he asked. “You seem perfect for a law career. I’m surprised you quit.”

  She made a face. “I like some parts of it, sure, but I felt confined there. Also, it’s not like I got to work on whatever case I wanted. I was assigned jobs, and I had to do them. Even the ones I didn’t agree with. The firm I worked for took on whoever would pay.”

  “That’s the way it is, though. Right?”

  She made a noncommittal noise. “It would be nice to have the freedom to do the job with morals intact.”

  They drove in silence for a few more minutes before she spoke again.

  “My mom is going to have a hundred questions for you, by the way. Sorry about that.”

  “I can take it.”

  “Even if I tell her you’re not my boyfriend, she won’t believe it. She always thinks I’m trying to hide relationships from her.” She guffawed. “The truth is that most of my relationships don’t get to the ‘bringing home to the parents’ stage, so it’s not like I’m hiding anything.”

  “What stage do they usually make it to? If you don’t mind my asking.”

  He knew damn well he shouldn’t be asking.

  “Um.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “I’ve had a couple what you could call serious relationships. Well, maybe. I don’t know that you could even call them that. The rest were…” She eyed him. “Why are you asking me this?”

  He stiffened. “I’m making friendly talk. That’s all. But if I shouldn’t—”

  “What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?”

  He laughed. “If I had a girlfriend, I wouldn’t have let that kiss happen.”

  “I don’t know that,” she said, voice rising half an octave. “Plenty of people still would have.”

  “I’m a little offended that you think I could be one of those people.”

  Her lips pursed. “Don’t be. I’m practical, Logan. I know not to expect the best out of people until they show it to me. Don’t try to pretend you’re any different.”

  He inclined his head. “Okay. You’re right. I’m not any different.”

  “Ooh.” She bounced in her seat.

  “What?”

  “Fruit stand.” She pointed ahead of them. “Pull over. You’re about to pass it.”

  “Honeydew?” He wrinkled his nose at the sign. “You’re serious?”

  “Pull over, Logan,” she said in a voice that suggested murder if he didn’t comply.

  “Okay, okay.” He pulled into the dirt and grass in front of the stand, dust billowing from the car’s tires. “It’s just that you know what people say about honeydew, right?”

  “What? What do people say about honeydew?”

  “That it’s a waste of space in a fruit salad. Honeydew sucks.”

  “I love it. It’s my favorite fruit.”

  “I knew there was something not quite right about you.”

  She shot him one of those dirty looks he loved and got out of the car. Fighting a grin, he followed.

  “The problem,” she said, matter-of-fact, “is that most people cut honeydew before it’s ripe. So of course it’s the world’s least favorite fruit, or whatever you said it was.”

  She stopped at the stand, where an old farmer in a straw hat hovered over his rows of melons, berries, and corn on the cob. They were barely out of the suburbs, and yet it felt like they’d entered another land altogether.

  “Hm.” Terri pursed her lips and felt a honeydew. “This one is almost there…”

  “Sweet as nectar,” the old farmer said. “Get you some while they’re still here. They go quick.”

  Terri moved on to the next melon. Arms folded, Logan watched her. Part of their unagreed-upon game was that he needed to act annoyed with her, but he couldn’t stop grinning.

  “Perfect!” she squealed when she found the right one.

  “What about these?” Logan nodded at the cartons of berries. “We should bring something for your mom. Does she like blueberries?”

  “Yeah, she does, actually.” Terri paused. “I make a really good blueberry pie.”

  “Is that your way of saying I might get to taste it?”

  A smile sweeter than any pie on earth danced at the corners of her lips.

  “Maybe. If we stay in Girard long enough for me to make it.”

  “Then I’ll make sure we stay long enough.” He selected several containers of the berries. After paying for the fruit, they climbed back into the car.

  “Why do I feel like you want to taste my pie because you’re looking for a chance to judge me?” Terri secured the berries and melon in the backseat and buckled up.

  “I’m offended.”

  Though he said it mockingly, he really kind of was. Did he really come across as that much of an asshole?

  “So you know how to bake.” He pulled the car back onto the highway.

  “You surprised?”

  “Yes, but not because I thought you seemed like you couldn’t or anything. More surprised in a pleasant way. It’s nice learning new things about people.”

  What he really meant was that it was nice learning new things about her.

  “You look like you don’t eat pie.”

  “Oh, really?” he laughed. “Based on what?”

  “Based on…” She waved her hand at him, then cleared her throat and looked away. “You know, you, uh… you look very healthy. Fit. Health conscious.”

  “If that’s your way of saying I look g
ood, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Logan realized he was still smiling. He wondered if the whole drive would be this way. Pretty soon, his cheeks would be sore. Not like he minded.

  Chapter 17

  Terri

  The closer they got to Girard, the tighter Terri's stomach twisted. It had been over six months since she’d visited home, though Charlie had gone at least once a month to see their parents.

  It wasn't that anything particularly bad had happened during her childhood. That was, if you didn't count the constant, underlying feeling that she would never be enough for her mom and dad.

  And maybe she'd exacerbated that, built their preference for Charlie up in her head to make it more of a deal than it really was, but why delve into that when you didn't have to? She had her own life in Chicago now. Had for years. The past was in the past.

  Except, of course, when she had to visit home.

  “Wow,” Logan said as they took the exit for the hospital. “There really isn't much here.”

  “This isn't even our destination.” Her hands had started to go clammy, and her mouth dry. “We’re not in Girard yet.”

  Logan followed the signs for the hospital, where Terri's mom waited for them. It was a small building, newly built, and to call it a hospital would be generous, but that's what the sign proclaimed it to be.

  After finding a spot in the main parking lot, they entered through the front sliding doors. As fortune had it, they found themselves right in the waiting room, where her mom stood against the wall talking on her phone.

  At the sight of them, she murmured one last thing into her phone, then put it away. Her deep brown eyes swept right past Terri and landed on Logan, where they stayed.

  “Mom.” Terri stopped in front of her, feeling awkward, and shoved her hands into her jeans’ pockets.

  “Terri.” Donna Lane pressed a hand to her heart.

  “This is Logan.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Logan offered his hand.

  Terri’s mom shook his hand, her eyes still curious. “Since when do you have a boyfriend?”

  “He’s… uh…” Terri sent Logan a ‘see?’ look, but he smiled big.