Irresistibly Charming

by Victoria Pinder

  Surreal was a dream and this was his reality. She pressed herself closer to him, so he felt her support. “And you thought…?”

  He pressed his lips together like whatever he remembered stung like a bee. At first, he didn’t say a word, but finally he broke his silence. “I didn’t feel anything but panicked that my mother might…” His closed laptop dinged.

  The program must still be running. He let her go and reached for the laptop, opening it as he said, “Hold on.”

  She hugged her waist and prayed this wasn’t bad news as she stared at his unreadable numbers program that flashed too fast. “What’s going on?”

  He winked at her. “Nothing. My accounts are increasing.”

  “Good.” Tension escaped her body.

  He closed the computer and returned to her side. His mouth neared hers as he asked, “Where were we?”

  Her lips tingled for that kiss of his, but she needed more of Logan, too. She swallowed, sat back and said, “You were worried about your mother.”

  He snapped his fingers. “Ah, I didn’t want to call home and hear the disappointment in my mother’s voice like I had done something wrong. But then,” he shrugged. “When I saw my brothers that night after being processed, I was crushed.”

  “Why?” If her mother was still alive she’d do anything to help.

  His words felt like ice shards that poked into her skin. “Because Oliver told us that they’d arrested Mom at the hospital after her cancer treatment.”

  “Your mother has cancer?” Her mind raced. Whoever had done to his family was very cruel. Her blood boiled with the need to help him find the monster who would hurt his mother.

  If her own mother was in his mother’s place, nothing would stop her. Her spine began to harden.

  Logan patted her hand. “Yes, which is why it’s important we get her out and get her care. She was never strong. I can’t imagine her in there even now.”

  Strength came in all forms.

  Maybe his mother wasn’t a dragon attorney in the courtroom like hers had been. And maybe Hannah wasn’t the super-star best daughter or sister. But she was sure his mother was stronger than Logan feared. Hannah Hughes was stronger than everyone assumed though it had taken a catastrophe for her to know that about herself.

  “We should get going or we will be late for drinks with your brother.”

  The red dress would show Harry and the world that she wasn’t the same as before and that she’d changed. She was a survivor and had nothing to be ashamed of. The dress was a perfect start. She grabbed it and motioned she’d go and change. “We’ll talk to my brother about helping on her case too.”

  “Roy has his law firm still,” Logan added.

  “Even though he was arrested?”

  “He can’t practice until he’s cleared by the bar.”

  “My brother certainly can—I’m sure he’ll help.” Logan’s mother had once been a queen and had been banished to prison. She went to their room, and Logan followed. In the bathroom, she brought the red dress down her body.

  She quickly glanced at herself in the mirror with pleased surprise. This dress fit like a glove and honestly, she never wore red. It looked good on her skin.

  Hannah left the bathroom and saw a half-naked Logan as he fit his white shirt around his shoulders and put his hands in the sleeves before he buttoned it over his chest. He stole her breath away and she looked her fill.

  Finished, he looked up. “We’ll work on this together. My mother needs to be out on bail.”

  “I understand, Logan. I would have done anything to save my mom from suffering.”

  He stopped moving and his brown eyes widened. “I’m sorry your parents died last year.”

  At least he hadn’t gotten lost in his grief like she’d been. She felt goosebumps on her arms and drew closer to him like he was the sun in the sky. “The airplane crash changed everything. I can’t even explain. I was so lost, Logan. I feel like I am coming out of a blur these past few months where I finally can start living.”

  He opened his arms for her. “Come here. Hannah, I won’t hurt you.”

  She walked right into his strong embrace and held him tight. “I know. I trust you.”

  He kissed her cheek. “Then I’ll try to be the man worthy of that.”

  She glanced up to meet his gaze. “You already are, Logan.”

  Chapter 10

  Hannah blamed the red heels for the swing in her step as they entered the restaurant to meet her brother. The restaurant overlooked Biscayne Bay and unlike in Washington DC, no one bothered to wear a winter coat or heavy boots.

  Outside on the beach, palm trees swayed. Inside, men wore suits and ties while the women were in fancy dresses with designer shoes. Candlelight dimmed the interior and low laughter suggested a pleasant evening.

  This had been her mother’s favorite restaurant. She spotted her brother at a table near the window with a view of the beach and she held Logan’s arm as they made their way over.

  Her brother and Roxy, his fiancée, stood. Hannah noticed Logan held his breath but he didn’t falter next to her. “Harry, this is Logan Bentley. Logan, this is my brother, Harrison Hughes, and his fiancée, Roxanne Hawke.”

  Logan shook her brother’s hand and met his hard stare. “Harrison.”

  Her brother didn’t blink. “Harry is fine as long as you’re making my sister happy.”

  Logan pulled out a seat for her as he said, “I don’t deserve Hannah.”

  “You don’t.” Harry agreed when they all sat down.

  Hannah’s heart beat fast. Her brother had his light brown hair cut slightly shorter now that he was back and he had their father’s thin lips when deciding on something, but he looked well. He and Roxanne, a dark blonde with brown eyes, made a cute couple.

  She put her hand on Logan’s arm. He sat next to her but leaned closer to her brother. “Be nice, Harry. I married Logan.”

  Harry sat back in his chair with a slight pout on his lips that she remembered from the few times in his life he hadn’t won a competition. “That’s why we’re here.” The waitress walked over to them and Harry said, “Let’s get a bottle. Merlot okay?”

  As Harry ordered, Logan put his napkin on his lap and nodded at her brother’s fiancée. “Nice to see you again, Roxy.”

  Hannah realized that she didn’t know much about Logan really. She looked across the table. “You two know each other?”

  Roxy nodded first though a small blush blossomed on her cheeks. “We went to college together. It’s a small world.”

  Logan’s phone beeped, and his face went white when he looked at it. He scooted his chair back and met her gaze. “Can you excuse me for a moment?”

  “What’s wrong, Logan?” Hannah prayed under her breath that it wasn’t bad news.

  He stood though his eyes were black as night. “My accounts aren’t clearing. I need to fix whatever is stopping my buys.”

  Fair—this was more important than dinner. He was also somehow intending to get her money back for her. “Do you need a computer?”

  He shook his head. “I can handle things on my phone. Order me chicken of some kind? I’ll be right back.”

  “Good luck.” She let his hand go.

  The waitress came and she ordered chicken piccata for Logan since she wasn’t sure what type of chicken he wanted, but she doubted lemon butter and wine sauce was something he’d had in prison.

  After they’d all ordered, Hannah turned to the pretty blonde sitting next to her brother. “You knew Logan in college, Roxanne?”

  “Roxy.” The other woman quickly corrected her as she picked up her wine glass. Once she had a sip, she put it down and told Hannah, “Every girl in my sorority had a crush on his older brother, Ollie, including me.” She laughed, brushing the long-ago crush off but Harry’s face darkened. “Logan was the more serious Bentley, and he dated the quiet studious girls. I think he took our valedictorian, Lisa Gardiner, to prom.”

  Was her brother jealous?
Hannah needed to redirect his energy. “Logan is very worried about his mother.”

  Her brother picked up the stem of his glass. “The charges against him and his family are serious.”

  She waited as he sipped his red wine, and as he swallowed, she said a small prayer. “Can you help them, especially his mother? She has cancer and they arrested her after a treatment.”

  “I understand.” He put his glass down and leaned closer to her, taking her hand. “While in prison, they have to continue giving her care.”

  That was something positive at least, but the images of her mother suffering like that replayed in her mind over and over again. She needed Harry to understand as she squeezed his hand. “The Bentleys were Mom and Dad’s clients. Can you help?”

  Her brother took another drink, his defenses rising. When he spoke next, he sounded more like their father. “Do you love Logan, or is he your newest cause, sis?”

  An arrow pierced through her heart. Her brother didn’t need to channel their father and cross examine her. She whispered, “I think I do love him, but please don’t tell him. Not yet.”

  Her brother’s eyes went wide. “Why not?”

  None of this was her brother’s business. She sucked in her bottom lip and hoped she kept this level. “Because it’s too soon and I need to be sure.”

  Harrison’s gaze softened. “And smart.” He reached for her hand. “Hannah, don’t get hurt.”

  Now that was the Harry she missed. She nodded and bowed her head. “Will you help Logan’s family?”

  “Yes, of course.” She straightened in relief as he added, “You’re my sister.”

  “Thank you.” She drew her hand back. Her spine tingled warmly, and she knew Logan was behind her. A second later he’d arrived at his seat and she glanced up at him. Hopefully he hadn’t heard that conversation, at least the part about love. “Logan, did you fix the trading issue?”

  He fixed the napkin on his lap again as he sat. “Someone is on the outside trying to block my trades, but I fixed it, for now.”

  “Good.” Maybe he could have dinner in peace. She sipped the red wine and it went right to her head. She put the glass down as she hadn’t had anything alcoholic in over a year. Giving up alcohol was supposed to help her get in touch with her soul, but now she realized that giving up every small joy in life wasn’t really living either.

  Logan looked from Harry to her. “Were you discussing Reverend Jensen and your hundred million?”

  Her brother’s hands folded in his lap as his gaze narrowed. “No, she wasn’t. What happened to my sister’s money?”

  Drat. Part of her shriveled inside, but she stayed near Logan. She needed to tell the truth. She sipped her wine for the second time, swallowed, and briefly closed her eyes. “The reverend stole my debit card and is claiming I gave it to him along with the pin.”

  Her brother twisted his head like a flamingo as he turned toward her again. “Are you broke?”

  Logan placed his hand on the back of her seat. “We’re fine. My wife, your sister, has everything she needs.”

  Harry stared at her, and she assumed he wondered why she hadn’t told him. Heat raced up her spine and face. “Where are you living?”

  Her heart thumped. She pushed her hair behind her ear and strove for calm. “The Porsche Building in Sunny Isles. We moved in today.”

  Logan added, “I have my brothers Roy and Dylan gathering everything we know about Reverend Jensen before we serve him with any legal action. We should have everything tomorrow morning.”

  Harry again reminded her of a bird with a long neck as he said, “I will handle my sister’s case. She was my responsibility. Nobody steals from my family.”

  Logan handed her brother a business card that she had no idea he had. “Roy is expecting your call. You can work on this together if you wish.”

  Harry nodded once. “Absolutely.”

  No one said anything. Hannah sipped her wine again, feeling regret for not telling Harry sooner. A server came to the table with a huge tray of food. Roxy stated the obvious, breaking the silence. “Dinner is here.”

  Logan’s phone beeped. He looked at the screen and his face drained of all color. Hannah waited for the server to finish putting their plates on the table before she asked in a soft voice, “Logan, are you okay?”

  He met her gaze. “Someone is working around my temporary fix. I need to get to a computer soon but we have time to finish our meal.”

  Oh no. They both had too much riding on his skills to lose access. She tried to quiet her ragged nerves.

  Harry offered, “Logan, if there is anything else we can do for your mother especially, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’m going to do some research on her medical treatment while in prison after dinner tonight.”

  Logan’s jaw clenched with emotion. “Please let us know anything you find.”

  “I will,” Harry said.

  They ate their meal a little faster than normal, feeling the urge to get back to the condo. She hardly touched any more alcohol and sipped water instead between bites.

  When they finished, Harry took the bill immediately without even asking at the table.

  Logan’s body stiffened while her brother signed the credit card slip. “Thank you.” He pushed his chair back. “Hannah, are you ready?” He held her chair for her as she rose and then said, “Good-bye, Harry and Roxy.”

  Right. Time was of the essence and Logan needed to work. But she walked over to her brother who stood and opened her arms for a hug. “See you soon, Harry. I should have called you months ago.”

  Her brother hugged her back and said, “You should have. I love you, Hannah.”

  Her heart felt like it tore in half. Her brother was one of the best men she’d ever known and that wasn’t sibling bias. As the hug ended, she cupped his face. He had some of their father’s features in his profile. “Good, because I love you too, Harry.” She let him go and turned toward his fiancée. “And Roxy?”

  “Yeah?” The pretty blonde stood with a questioning look.

  They didn’t need to be like the men and possessive. Hannah smiled at her and shook her hand. “Thanks for looking out for my brother.”

  Roxy hugged her quickly. “Have fun with Logan. He turned out to be hotter than I would have imagined from back in school.”

  Agreed, but in high school, and most of her life, she’d been blind to really see or appreciate the hotness of men. Logan was the sexiest one she’d ever met and somehow they were married without all of the awkwardness of dating. Hannah laughed. “I will. Thanks.”

  Logan put his hand on her lower back as they walked out of the restaurant together. Outside paparazzi clearly caught them unaware as they rushed toward a waiting limo. Lights flashed in her eyes. Once they cleared Logan’s name, no one would care about them anymore. They thought he was a thief, a man without honor, and they were so wrong.

  In fact, she took on his mission to clear his family’s name as her own. She was no longer just going to sit there and wait. If she wanted to be happy with Logan, then she needed to use her brains for once and help him figure out who set him and his family up.

  The limo pulled away and she sat closer to him, happy to have her new plan.

  Chapter 11

  Hannah Hughes now Bentley grew up in a house where questions and logic mattered more than feelings. She’d been trained from birth to figure out logically a timeline of events and calculate from the logistics where the defenses and offenses occurred. She might have preferred creative writing over realism, but she had been well trained.

  The first thing she needed to do to help Logan was uncover the timeline that got them all out of jail. From there they could pin more on Jensen and possibly discover his connections.

  She knocked on the office door where Logan was hard at work doing some financial things she didn’t understand, but from his red face, she knew he was angry. She leaned against the door. “What’s going on?”

  He glanced up from the screen
and his face almost became a normal color as he took a deep breath. “Someone tried to build security measures to prevent my sales and purchases.”

  Whoever ran Kirno had money, enough to hire the best techies out there. She crossed her arms. “So, you’re fighting a computer programmer?”

  “Yeah…” He nodded at the same time someone knocked at the condo door.

  Logan stood and came closer to her. He smelled like testosterone mixed with his new almond-scented bath wash. She placed her hand on his strong arm to stop him and said, “Let me help you.”

  His hand settled at her hip. “Can you get the door? It’s probably Beau. I texted him about this to help as he ran a cyber security business. I’ll get coffee started but you can send him right in here.”

  They were a team. She looked up, puckered her lips and he claimed them in a fast kiss. “Okay. If there is something else I can do…”

  A loud knock echoed.

  Logan let her go and said, “Once I get Beau caught up, we’ll come in the kitchen to get the coffee and say hello.”

  She spun on her heels and headed toward the door. Logan’s work was out of her league, but there had to be something else she could do. She was good at talking with people. Putting them at ease. Hannah realized that she needed to interview all the wives and find out what everyone knew. She’d make the timeline and discuss it with him later. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to go talk to Beau’s wife and invite her down.”

  Logan shrugged as he found the pods for his coffee. “That’s fine.”

  She opened the door and directed Beau inside the office.

  As Logan passed her, he traced her arms and winked at her. A thrill rushed through her.

  Yes, she’d help him—however she could. Hannah picked up the house phone and called upstairs. She’d get cell phone information from everyone tomorrow. Beau’s wife, Sarah Sawyer, answered on the second ring. After hellos Hannah said, “Sarah, I’d like for you to come downstairs and talk. We can have a cup of coffee and tiramisu.”