“Let’s hear it,” Logan said.
“We tested Mickey’s blood the other day and it wasn’t a match. We tested all four of you and unfortunately, none of you were a match either.” The doctor said looking up from his chart briefly.
“None of us?” Rock’s jaw dropped.
“Out of all five of us men, not a single one was viable?” Charlie was incredulous.
Logan looked silently at the doctor, his jaw rigid with tension. He felt his mother let out a quiet sigh so he reached up and squeezed her hand.
“You said you had good news too, doctor. But so far, all I heard was a ton of shit,” Mickey said loudly, glaring at the doctor.
Everyone turned to look at Mickey and then back at the doctor, awaiting his response.
“Yes, there was one match and she has already signed all the paperwork, agreeing to the donation. So, we can schedule the surgery for this afternoon if you are ready, Laura,” the doctor said directly to Logan’s mother.
The entire room was silent and everyone was looking around at one another in utter confusion.
“You just said there wasn’t a match.” Logan furrowed his brow and tried to understand what the doctor was saying.
“None of you five were a match, but we did have one match. A, uh-” He lifted up one of the papers on the clipboard to double check. “Gina Vile. She was a match and is being prepped now. So, we are ready to go, Mrs. Clay, if you are.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t know who that person is,” Laura sputtered in confusion while Logan stood straight up, his face beat red.
“Gina?” Logan was barely breathing.
Dylan stepped forward. “Wait, Logan’s girl, Gina?”
“Wow, I didn’t know she got tested,” Charlie said slowly.
“You have a girlfriend, Logan?” Mickey was now standing and the entire room was firing questions back and forth in utter chaos.
“Everyone, stop!” Logan shouted and the room fell silent.
He looked around at everyone, while the doctor cleared his throat. “I’m just going to go. If you want to see her, she is being prepped in OR 3.”
The doctor looked uncomfortable and backed out of the room quickly. Everyone’s eyes turned to Logan whose hands were on his forehead, trying to sort out in his head everything that he had just heard.
“So, your girlfriend wants to donate a kidney to me? Why did we not even know you had a girlfriend?” Laura broke the silence quietly, speaking slowly.
“I broke up with her in New York. She wasn’t honest about who she was, she only started dating me to convince me to take the record deal,” Logan tried to explain.
“Well, didn’t you already want the record deal?” Charlie asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Yeah, of course,” Logan replied.
“Then, what convincing did she need to do?” Dylan asked, poking holes in his logic and making Logan think back on his time with her.
“Did you guys only talk about the record deal? Because you were a different person around her, you seemed so happy,” Rock said, his voice low.
“No, we never really talked about it.”
“Why did you break up with her, son?” his father finally chimed in.
Logan hung his head and sighed. All of the reasons he had weren’t making sense anymore, or they just didn’t seem as important.
“Shit,” Logan muttered to himself.
“Logan, go talk to her, baby. But for God’s sake, do not let this woman give me her kidney. I never even met her and my son has been a complete ass to her. That poor girl.” Laura smiled at him, teasing him slightly in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Logan tried to smile back but it was forced. He headed out of the room, feeling all eyes on him.
Chapter Twelve
Gina sat on the operating table that was surprisingly more narrow than she had expected. The nurse standing in front of her was explaining how the procedure would go and what would happen each step of the way, even though it was at least the third time she’d heard the spiel today. However, they told her that with a volunteer operation like hers, they had to make sure again and again she knew what she was doing.
Although it sounded a whole lot more like they were trying to give her time to back out.
That was definitely not going to happen, Gina thought to herself as she tucked her hospital gown a little tighter.
She felt strange knowing soon she would be lying naked on a table for a room full of doctors and nurses and who knows who else to see her. She glanced around at several trays filled with vacuum sealed medical instruments and gulped, pushing her nerves down at the sight of the sharp scalpels.
“Do you understand everything I have just explained?” the nurse finally asked and Gina nodded her head yes.
“I need to hear you say that you do or do not understand, miss,” the nurse badgered her again.
“Yes! I understand. For like the sixth time, I understand. Can we please just go ahead and get started?” Gina begged.
They could ask a hundred times, but she wasn’t changing her mind. She knew how much Logan loved his mother and she had learned how desperately his mother needed a kidney. Logan would probably never know where it came from and she was fine with that. She knew that she had destroyed that relationship long before it even started, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want Logan to be happy. Even more so, she knew that he would give up his career to take care of his ailing mother. With a voice like his, that wasn’t something she could allow.
His music was too important. He was too important, for both her and the world who needed him.
“Can I have a moment alone with her, please?” a deep voice behind Gina suddenly commandeered the attention of everyone in the room.
“Uhm, yeah, I guess we can spare a couple of minutes. Come on, folks.” The lead nurse pointed a few orderlies and nurses toward the exit and people slowly shuffled out. Gina didn’t turn around, she didn’t need to.
She knew who was there.
“What are you doing here?” she said softly, looking down at her bare feet dangling off the side of the table.
“Me? Gina, what the hell are you doing here?” Logan walked around the table to stand a few feet in front of her. His muscled arms were crossed over his broad chest and his stance was wide and firm.
“I didn’t know that you would find out. I’m sorry,” she mumbled, uncomfortable with the heaviness pushing down on her chest right now.
She wasn’t used to this type of anguish. Being around a man she couldn’t have, but that she wanted more than anything- that was a very new. Gina always got what she wanted.
“Why are you doing this, Gina? Do you think that I’m suddenly going to forget everything that you did and be with you because of it?” Logan narrowed his eyes as he looked down at her.
“No! Of course not! I didn’t even know they would tell you my name. I told the nurse not to,” Gina whined slightly, pouting.
“You’re doing this with no ulterior motive?” Logan asked again, softer this time.
“Does it matter?” She sighed before glancing up at him, surprised to see that while his stance was domineering, his gaze wasn’t. She knew she didn’t deserve his trust and he wasn’t going to believe her, but his kind eyes gave her the slightest glimmer of hope.
“I can’t think of anything in my life that has ever mattered more.” Logan dropped his arms to his side and looked at her incredulously, surprised she didn’t know that already.
“What are you talking about?” She furrowed her brow as she stared at him.
He closed the distance between them with a few small steps, pushing her legs apart as he stood against the table between them. He put his hands flat on the table on either side of her and leaned closer, only inches from her face.
“You matter to me, Gina,” he whispered softly, causing her eyes to dart up and meet him.
“Really?” She choked out, pushing back tears that were forcing their way thr
ough. That was definitely not what she’d expected to hear, and she wasn’t even sure she wanted to hear it.
He leaned down and kissed the tear off her cheek, then wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her tighter against him. She hugged her legs around him, eagerly wanting to be as close to him as possible and feel him against her in every way.
“Really, Gina,” he confirmed, kissing her jaw and whispering in her ear as he pushed her hair back over her shoulder. She smiled and buried her face in his neck, wrapping her arms around his chest as far as she could reach.
“I love you, Logan,” she whispered, slightly muffled, into his skin.
“I know,” he chuckled and kissed her cheek again. She pulled back to look at him, a slight grin on her tear-stained face.
“How do you know?”
“That look on your face,” he replied, kissing her softly on the lips.
“What about it?” she asked, tasting him on her tongue even after he pulled away to look at her.
“It’s the same look you gave New York,” he told her.
She scrunched up her nose at him and stuck out her tongue defiantly, causing him to laugh loudly before descending to devour her mouth. She leaned backward, allowing him greater access as he pushed his hands inside her hospital gown and slid her forward on the table. Her breathing was ragged and his eyes were nearly dark gray at this point.
“Logan,” she gasped as he unbuttoned the front of his pants.
“What?” he said between the assaults on her neck now moving down her collarbone.
“We can’t do this here! What if someone sees us?” She giggled, pressing her fingers into his warm, hard skin.
“We’ll charge them for tickets later.” He raised his eyebrows and winked at her, pushing her hospital gown up her thighs. She laughed and leaned in closer, inhaling the perfectly musky scent of his skin.
“But, I’m about to have surgery,” she continued to protest even though she was sounding less and less convincing with each contact of his lips ravaging her body.
“The hell you are. You’re not doing that,” he said firmly, pulling her hips against him and finding his way to her very core. She gasped and moaned, wiggling to scoot as close to him as possible.
“Don’t you know by now that I never do what I’m told?” she whispered into his ear seductively, kissing him again.
“You’re going to be the death of me, woman.” Logan growled into her shoulder, biting her skin softly.
He wouldn’t know for a few years how true his last words were.
Epilogue
2012
“I heard you the first time, Gina.”
“And yet, you’re just standing there not getting ready.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her high heel against the marble floor of their New York City penthouse. Logan placed his hand against the glass, leaning against it as he looked out onto the city.
“I have two hours. I’ll be fine. I planned on checking in on my mom first,” he said, turning around and walking past her into the bedroom to grab his cell phone.
“You spoke to her this morning,” Gina called after him then stomped into the kitchen. “I have one kidney, too. It would be really nice if you could fucking act like I matter to you every once in a while.”
He rolled his eyes and took a deep breath, dialing his parent’s house.
“Hi, honey,” Laura’s voice chimed through the phone.
“Hey, Momma. How are you feeling today?”
“Baby, you don’t need to keep checking on me. I’m fine, perfectly healthy. That nurse you hired is so sweet, she takes good care of me. Your dad is loving his job, just having somewhere to go everyday I think.”
“I know it’s been a few years, but I always worry about you. I feel like I never get to talk to you anymore,” he sighed.
“I know, baby. I miss you too, but I understand. I see you on the news all the time, you’re playing so many shows. I am so proud of you, honey. Plus I’m sure you and Gina are keeping busy together.” Laura always loved to hear about his girlfriend. “How is my beautiful Gina?”
“She is fine, she says hello,” Logan lied, pacing back and forth around the bedroom. He hated lying to his mother, but he didn’t want her to know how things really were.
“Mom, I gotta go. I have a show tonight, need to dress and go to sound check. Give my love to Dad, okay?” Logan asked.
“Of course, baby boy. Hey, Logan? Maybe try to come out to see us sometime soon? It’s been so long,” she asked, trying not to push.
“I’ll look at my schedule, Momma. Soon, I hope. Okay? Love you.” He hung up and tossed his phone onto his bed, pulling his shirt off and heading to his walk in closet.
His jaw was tight and he felt anger coursing through him, as he slid clothes around on the rack, deciding what to wear. Finally picking something, he got dressed and headed back out into the living room where Gina was standing at the kitchen island overlooking the living area.
She was tapping away at a laptop, a serious look on her face. Her jet black hair was pulled up into a tight bun and missing any streaks of color it once had. She was wearing a pencil skirt and linen blouse, topped off with stilettos. As he walked in, she glanced up at him and then let out an exasperated sigh.
“What the hell are you wearing?” She smacked her hand down against the counter, sounding irritated.
“What do you mean?” Logan said, stopping in his tracks to look up at her.
“I put the outfit for tonight on the back of the closet door. Can you please go put that one on, we really don’t have time for this.” She rolled her eyes at him and then went back to typing.
“This outfit is fine, I’m wearing this,” he grumbled and she looked up at him again, fire in her eyes now.
“Seriously? Damn it, Logan, who is your manager? Who made you the star that you are today? Was it you? Was it your mom? No, it was me. So, if I say to wear a different outfit, don’t you think I have some inkling as to what I am talking about?” Gina was almost shouting at him as she clicked her heels across the floor, walking over to him with her hands on her hips.
“Ugh, fine, Gina. Yes, I know you did all that, but I’m not an idiot. I can pick a damn shirt,” he muttered.
“Can you please just go change, Logan? Don’t you think you owe me at least that?” Gina glared at him as she gestured to her side.
Logan followed her hands and thought of the small scar on her skin beneath her blouse and all that it implied. He sighed, feeling guilty, and headed back toward the bedroom. He wouldn’t change his past for anything, because his mother was alive and healthy. But it had been a heavy cost.
Book Two: Her Forbidden Rockstar
Her Forbidden Rockstar
A Forbidden Rockers Novel
Chapter One
2014
Everyone dreads Mondays and the start of the work week, wishing they could go back to Friday night when the weekend was just unfolding. Everyone but Caroline Sanders. She bounced out of bed in a flurry of energy, readying herself for work and thinking excitedly about the week laid out before her.
She rustled through her closet, trying to decide between four different shades of brown pencil skirts. She finally settled on a beige-brown version, yanking it off the hanger, then grabbing a blouse to match it. For a final approval, she held them up in front of her body in the floor length mirror, over her nude bra and panties. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she tossed the clothes onto her bed and went to pick out something different.
Tossing a few other ideas out of the closet, she stood before her bed with her arms crossed and her foot tapping. Every outfit she owned looked the same and none of them were calling her name today. She pushed her chocolate brown, wavy hair over her shoulder, letting it run down her back in decadent waves. Sliding her fingers through her silky hair boosted her spirits since her hair was one of the very few things she actually loved about her body.
She patted on a bit of powder and bronzer over her n
aturally fair skin that she kept well disguised with weekly spray tans. She dabbed a bit of dark brown mascara on her eye lashes, complimenting her hazel eyes, and a slight bit of rosy gloss on her pink lips. She smiled at herself in the mirror, feeling satisfied. She went in search for some shoes, preferably heels, to boost her short, thin frame and found a nude colored pair on a shelf in her closet that would do the job.
She hurried to pull on her skirt, blouse, and matching heels, exiting her bedroom and flying around her apartment, grabbing her purse and keys. Caroline was a woman of routine and was never late to work, so she immediately dashed out her front door the moment she was dressed and ready to go. She stepped into the elevator and impatiently waited as it took her down to the lobby. The doors opened with a pleasant ding, and the doorman smiled at her, greeting her immediately.
“Ms. Caroline, how are we feeling this morning?” Jeremy, the doorman, nodded toward her as she stepped off the elevator.
“Just fine, Jeremy, how's the weather?” she responded brightly.
“It’s a little breezy for July, but it’s still warm! Really brightens up a Monday for you,” he said.
Caroline laughed, heading out the door as he held it open for her. She stepped onto the gray sidewalk and hopped into the waiting cab that Jeremy had already called for her, knowing her schedule after years of working for her building.
“4634 Lexington Avenue, please,” Caroline told the driver.
He nodded in response and pulled away from the curb. Caroline sat back and melted into the once-black, imitation leather seats, drifting into a daydream. She always dreamed of the same thing when she had time to herself, standing in a bookstore beaming at the rows of shiny covers staring back at her, all designed by her. Book covers of all genres and picture books with her illustrations bringing smiles to children’s faces.
Logan Clay: A Forbidden Rockers Box Set Page 8
