“Thanks for the apology. But I have a hard-and-fast rule not to repeat shitty experiences. No more Board meetings for this guy.” And while he still needed some downtime, Logan only hoped there was another dire reason to rush off and save someone in a village at least a continent away in the next three weeks.
Moving into his lecturing pose of crossed arms and a frown, Adrian said, “This isn’t optional, son. I need you to start attending the Board meetings.”
For fuck’s sake. Why now? Why force the issue right now? With no warning? Five whole minutes after walking in the damn door? But he’d promised himself not to pick a fight. Logan stood, too. Trying hard to be simply matter-of-fact, he said, “I’m not good at inking things onto my calendar. Duty calls, and I go. Simple as that.”
“Duty calls here, at home. It isn’t just the quarterly meetings. That’s merely the first step. I want you to stop running around the globe at the drop of a hat. I want you to transition into running the Foundation.”
After being gone for months, Logan’s wants were simple. He wanted a shower. A steak from the District Chophouse as thick as his forearm to negate all the goat in his system. A soak in their backyard hot tub beneath the magnolia tree. And yeah, he’d be stoked to add another night with Brooke before she moved to his list of wants.
Nowhere on that list was a new fucking job.
“No, Dad.” Logan crossed to the desk. He picked up a tiny plastic wing and brandished it. “You want to squeeze in another round of golf a week? Put together more planes? Go ahead. That’s why we’ve got an executive director for the Foundation. A whole damn staff, actually.”
“They’re just that—staff. They aren’t Marshes. They can’t run the Foundation.” With a grimmer darkness to his eyes than Logan had seen in years, his dad clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re the only one who can do that, son.”
Logan spun away. “Not yet.” Desperation coated his voice thicker than the algae on the Tidal Basin this time of year.
It was too much to take in right now. He needed time to come up with an airtight argument against his father’s wishes. Time to figure out why the hell this bombshell was being dropped so out of the blue. It was like he was missing half the story. Most of all, he needed his brain not to be running on fumes when he did ultimately deal with this.
“I’m afraid so. This isn’t a negotiation, Logan. This is official notification that you’ve been promoted. You’ll transition into this new role as soon as you’ve had a few weeks to get your head back on straight.”
Everyone had their breaking point. Logan kind of thought he’d reached his when he’d decked his best friend. But no. That was just the precursor. The warm-up act. His dad’s oh-so-fitting choice of the word new didn’t tip him over the edge. It threw him off the goddamned cliff. So much for good intentions, he thought, just before his mouth jumped about five steps ahead of his brain.
“You know what, Dad? I’ve got enough new things to deal with, thanks to you.”
The sunlight streaming in the arched windows at the end of the house threw a spotlight on Adrian’s confusion. “I don’t understand.”
There was a lot of that going around. “Oh, you didn’t get the announcement? About my new baby sister? Gee, it must’ve gotten lost in the mail twenty-four years ago…just like mine did.” Yeah, he’d gone overboard on the sarcasm. But Logan didn’t care.
Beneath the July tennis tan, his dad’s face paled noticeably. “Your sister?”
Logan circled his hand in the air a couple of times. When nothing more was forthcoming, he went ahead and supplied the name himself. “Madison Abbott. I’m pretty damn sure you’ve heard of her.”
Silence filled the large room. It lasted long enough that Logan almost, almost started to wonder if he’d been wrong about the whole thing. If maybe he’d flown across three seas and an ocean as fast as possible for no good reason.
The throat clearing cracked through the room like a gunshot. “You know about Madison?”
Shit.
If there’d been any doubt, that snuffed it right out. And re-lit the pilot light on Logan’s anger.
“Like I said, I’m up to here,” he cut the back of his hand right below his chin, “with new stuff. A whole new reality where my father spent my entire life fucking lying to me. A new sister even existing. A new sister engaged to my best friend. A new sister living right here in my hometown, who wants to get to know me.”
“Madison? She’s here? In D.C.?”
Perversely, Logan took pleasure in the shock widening the eyes that mirrored his own. “Oh, that’s news to you? Guess what? It doesn’t come close to making us even.”
“Logan, sit down. Let me—”
He didn’t even bother to cut him off. Logan just spun on his heel and walked out of the room. Because he couldn’t bear to see the lies, the guilt, the recrimination, the apology, the whatfuckingever his dad decided to pour out onto him.
The decision not to get into the whole Madison thing today had been right. Because, sure, he’d gained a sister. But there was every chance that in the process, he was going to end up losing his father. Or at least losing the version he’d always looked up to and adored. And Logan could not take that right now.
So he thundered down the stairs. Ran from the new job, the fight with Dad, the fight with Knox, the heavy guilt pooling in his stomach about leaving Brooke. And he damned well wouldn’t stop running until he landed in bed and slept for two days straight. Then he’d screw his head back on and figure out what came next.
Chapter 10
Logan wasn’t sure if it was the sound of the drapes being yanked open or the sunlight that woke him. Either way, he wasn’t happy about the change in status. He threw an arm across his eyes.
“Get up.”
It didn’t require any sight to identify Griff as the interloper in his bedroom. Only years of military training provided an order that crisp and final. But it took zero training to ignore it. “No.”
Logan liked being of assistance to people. Liked saving them, helping them rebuild their lives after a tragedy. He liked making a difference. None of that changed the fact that he didn’t like the conditions in which he usually worked. Nobody enjoyed sleeping on a military-grade cot. Or the ground. So on the rare occasions he was back in the rectory, he loved wallowing in his California King. With, yeah, some ridiculous gajillion-thread-count sheets and a gray fleece throw. The headboard might be reclaimed boards, but the actual bed was like lying in a fucking cloud. Which was why he didn’t intend to leave it anytime soon.
He flipped onto his stomach. That ought to give Griff a clear, nonverbal get the hell out.
Instead, Griff bumped the mattress. “Dude, get up. It’s time for dinner.”
Food sounded good. Wading hip deep back into the shit storm he’d created among the ACSs did not. Logan thrashed around the covers until he was flat on his back again, scowling at Griff. “I doubt Knox—or any of the rest of you, for that matter—wants me to hang out in the kitchen. Just pretend I’m not up here. It should be easy. You’ve had plenty of practice.”
Griff crossed his arms. He wore a smirk as he leaned against the wall papered with a black-and-white photo of birch trees. “Really? You’re just going to hide up here? Like a total pussy?”
Ouch. Not untrue, but ouch. “I’m sleeping. I’m exactly half a world’s worth of time zones different from you right now. Let me sleep.”
“You did. All night, and all day. It’s Monday night. So get up before your ass hermetically seals to the mattress.”
“No.”
The smart thing to do would be to get up. Get some food, maybe run around the neighborhood for an hour to get the blood flowing. It was the best way to shake off jet lag. But Logan just didn’t want to get in another damn fight. He felt raw and empty from the last two. And Brooke wasn’t here to fill him back up with her soothing TLC. Not that she deserved to deal with him again when he was in such bad condition. No matter how tempting.
&
nbsp; Griff shook his head. “God, you’re stubborn. You can’t always have your own way.”
That jolted him up onto one elbow. “Are you serious with that shit? You think any of this happened my way? You think I wanted to yell at my dad and deal with a stranger who loves me sight unseen and take a swing at my best friend?”
“When you put it like that, nah.”
“Then get out and let me sleep.”
“Nope.” Griff kicked the mattress again. And he was still in his uniform, so those shiny, hard-soled shoes shook the whole damn bed. “We agreed to give you a mulligan. To be more precise—or else Ry will skin me—we’re all taking one.”
Logan scooted to sit up against the headboard. Because that idea had merit. “Like in golf? A do-over?”
“Exactly. The truth is, we all screwed up in the SER studio.”
That was the way Logan remembered it, too. Who knew his friends would come around so fast? “I could hear more of that,” he said cautiously.
“I won’t speak for the others.” Griffin dropped into the gray club chair and let his arms dangle off his knees. “But it’s been strange, getting used to Knox being in love.”
“Hang on—I heard you fell first?”
A grin so bright it could probably be used to power the lights at FedExField flashed across Griff’s face. “I sure did. Head over freaking heels. I can’t wait for you to meet Chloe.”
Another new thing, another change for Logan to absorb. Usually when he came back to D.C. it was all relaxation and fun with the guys. This time he had a whole agenda, and so far all of it sounded like work. “G-man, if she fell for you…well, it’s obvious that I wasn’t here to catch her eye first.”
“Asshole.” But Griff half rose to fist-bump Logan, laughing.
Okay. That was all it took for them to be back on solid ground. But there were three other guys in this tight brotherhood. And being gone so long, he’d obviously missed a metric shit ton of developments. “If you’re such a fan of true love now, what was your issue with Knox?”
“Because he’s not just some lonely guy trying to get lucky. Knox considered it his duty to sleep with every willing woman. Every damn last one. There was one month when he had more sex than my entire squad did in the same time. He’s picked up women in a three-floor elevator ride. Hell, he’s picked them up at funerals.”
Logan couldn’t resist reminding him of the more telling detail. “Knox had sex there, too, remember?” He claimed that he’d been unable to resist the coffin showcase room at the funeral home. All that satin-covered padding that deserved to be bounced on before going in the ground. And Knox had, indeed, more than cheered up two grieving cousins before the viewing ended.
“That’s my point. At first I didn’t believe it. I figured that Knox’s dating one woman for more than a week was just a thing he was trying once, like that time we all walked over hot coals in Fiji.”
“Bucket-list stuff.” It hadn’t sent any of them to the ER. Hadn’t been fun, either. But none of them regretted sharing the experience and having a story that, more often than not, got them hookups at a bar.
“Yeah. Easy to assume that he did it to say he tried it once but knew the whole time that it sucked. Then we thought he was nuts for sticking with a woman who’s so fixated on getting married.”
Considering Logan knew almost nothing about his new sister, that was a really weird detail to get front-loaded. “She is?”
Griff waved it off. “That’s a whole other story. Don’t worry—Madison’s got lots of great qualities, too. I wouldn’t be sad if a little of her marriage-mindedness rubbed off on Chloe.”
For just a second, Logan groped with one hand for a chair before he remembered he was already sitting down in bed. Because the massive change in hits kept coming faster than the top ten lists the week before New Year’s. “You want to marry her?”
“I gave her a ring already. As a placeholder.” Griff scrubbed a palm across his face. “She’s got to give it to me when she’s ready.”
“You don’t know when?”
Another grimace. This one with lips tighter than the seal on a beer bottle. “I know it’s not happening soon enough.”
“Dude. Hard to not be in control.” Especially for his friend who spent all day giving orders.
Griffin laughed. “I haven’t been in control since the moment I fell for her. And that’s okay.”
“You’re telling me Knox is just as crazy for my sister?”
“Yeah. But even though they’re engaged, it’s still hard to wrap my head around, you know? So when he got so mad in the studio, I had no idea he’d take a swing at you. I should’ve stopped it. Should’ve stepped in sooner.”
That was Griff’s signature move. Rescuing people from tough situations. Never thought he’d want to use it on one of the ACSs, though. “Thanks. But I didn’t need to be rescued by you.”
Griff snorted. “No kidding. Wait until you see Knox’s fat lip.”
It wasn’t that Logan wanted his best friend to be in as much pain as he was right now. It was just…well, that wouldn’t suck. “For that sight, I’ll get out of bed and come down to dinner.”
“Not down. Out.” Griffin pointed out the third-floor window. “We’re going to Pinstripes, to welcome you home in style. We’ll order a bunch of their pizzas, some ribs with that balsamic barbecue sauce you like so much, the prime rib dip, fried mozzarella balls…we’ll basically stuff ourselves until they run out of food or beer.”
“Good plan.” Logan threw back the sheets and headed for the dresser. Because all the clothes in his duffel bag needed to be not just washed but disinfected a couple of times.
Griff rose. “By the time I get into my civvies, you’d better be dressed. The others are going to meet us there.”
Now this visit made sense. Griff had been the advance guard in this mission. “Did you pull the short straw to get me out of bed?”
“It was a coin toss. And obviously I lost.” Griff tapped the door with his Coast Guard Academy signet ring. “But I’m not sad about it. I’m really glad you’re home, Logan. Things never feel right when the five of us aren’t together.”
“I’ll text you a reminder of that on your wedding night, G-man.” Then they did the awkward shoulder-clasp guy thing, and Jesus Christ but it was good to be home.
Logan just hoped the other ACSs felt the same way.
—
Half an hour later, Logan appreciated the convenience of Pinstripes marrying a restaurant and a bowling alley. Because he seriously wanted to hit himself in the head with a twelve-pound ball.
As soon as they’d arrived, Griff led him to the bar. Where Knox stood. And where Josh and Riley made a fucking production number out of pointing at the last set of leather couches and hightailing it over to them with Griff. It being a Monday night, there weren’t even other people at the bar who could hopefully spill a drink on Logan and give him an excuse to hightail it out of there.
Knox wore the custom bowling shirt he’d had made for all of them. Because even though they did their damnedest to keep a low profile, to stay out of the press, Knox could never ignore anything with the word custom in front of it. The brown shirt with black lettering was as classy as you could get in a place that squirted the shoes with anti-fungal spray. And even though Logan wore the same shirt, he didn’t feel anywhere close to being on the same team as Knox.
They were mirror images. Both tall, with dark hair. Same stupid shirt. Both holding a bottle of the excellent Dogfish Head Midas Touch—and neither of them had touched a single drop of it. Just sort of stared up and out across the lanes in opposite directions. In the old days, they’d be scanning for likely hookups. Now Knox was engaged. And Logan found himself unable to go more than ten minutes without thinking of Brooke.
He’d texted her on the way over. To apologize again for pulling a second vanishing act. She responded with a joke about wondering if he was a vampire after he left right before dawn, but at least now she’d seen him in t
he light. And then asked if he had plans for the next full moon…
Logan was still figuring out how to respond. Because he didn’t make plans. He had to be ready to roll at a moment’s notice. Not to mention his biggest plan had to be meeting Madison. And generally ghosting on his dad until after the Board meeting passed.
After the second time the clangs and screams at the only occupied lane indicated somebody landed a strike, Knox finally spoke. “Does your eye hurt?”
“Probably the same as your lip.”
“I’ll drink to that.” They clinked bottles. Threw back a long glug and then still didn’t look at each other.
For fuck’s sake.
Logan slammed the bottle on the bar hard enough to make beer foam out the top. “I’ve been gone for months. All that time, filtering my water or taking it from ration kits, I looked forward to the next time I’d be drinking with you dipshits. This?” He waved a hand back and forth between them. In the giant, silent chasm between them. “This isn’t what I had in mind.”
“What did you have in mind—taking another swing at me?” Knox’s tone was about as warm as the Ilulissat Icefjord in Greenland.
Well, Logan damn well wouldn’t let him stake out the high ground on top of a self-righteous pedestal when Knox was the one who’dd landed the first blow. “That wasn’t a plan. It was strictly defensive.”
Knox gingerly touched his swollen mouth. “Feels the same no matter how you spin it.”
And just like that, the pilot light on Logan’s anger sputtered out. Because…“You’re right,” he said.
“I am?”
“We both had an opinion. We both acted on it. There’s no reason to stay pissy. We’re even.”
Knox stared at him for a long time. Long enough that Logan wondered if maybe he should prepare to duck. Because he refused to hit his best friend again, self-defense or not. Finally, Knox slammed his own beer down on the bar. Lunged at Logan…and squeezed him in a bear hug. “You smooth-tempered bastard. God, I’ve missed you.”
“Back at ya.” Over his shoulder, Logan saw Josh shove a fist in the air. Riley whooped as he, Josh, and Griff jogged over to dog-pile on the same way they had that icy March day in the Alps. With all of them in matching shirts, the other customers probably thought they were a team celebrating. Which was true. Because anytime all five of them got to hang together, it felt like a celebration.
Giving It All Page 12
