by Nicole Fox
# # #
Logan
Piece stopped breathing when he looked outside to see what all of the commotion was about. All of his boys stood around him, pressing closer to the glass, their fingerprints turning to rainbows as the lights from outside shown through them. Every detail of that moment, from the icy cold glass under his fingers to the warm feeling spreading through his chest seemed important. Every little thing about this second was some of the most important of his life.
Because somehow, Francesca Savoy, wrapped up in a massive pile of winter coats and scarves, was standing in front of his store. Lights glittered off of the silver embroidery on her solid white jacket. Her heels sunk into the gravel as she wobbled across the parking lot from the car, her face wary but determined.
She posed herself in front of the well-lit storefront, and it took a moment for Logan to realize why. The cameras. They surrounded her like sharks smelling blood in the water. The lighting must have been particularly good where she stood.
Logan’s heart turned to ice, the blood draining from his face. “Of course she would bring cameras. This is some kind of publicity thing for her. I guess it’s best to just go out there and find out what the hell she wants so I can go back to my life. I’m so fucking tired of these cameras. I don’t know how her family stands them.”
Taking a deep breath, Logan braced himself. Then he pushed the door open.
A flood of light passed over him as he pushed past the threshold, the cold air instantly pulling all of the heat from his body as he stepped out into the cold. Francesca was there, her beautiful body posed in the gravel, her liquid green eyes watching him like a hawk would her prey. Logan could feel a lump form in his throat that he wasn’t quite sure he could speak around. But he needed to try.
“What are you doing here, Francesca?” Logan gestured to the cameras which seemed to all be rolling, pointing at him expectantly. “Did you bring the crew along to make me look like the bad guy again? Because I’m tired of playing the lawless loser for you.”
No matter what Nikki said about Francesca being miserable with Davis, it couldn’t have been true. She didn’t look miserable, standing in the center of the circle of light in the parking lot. In fact, she looked perfect, poised. Just as she always had. Her green eyes were as hard as emeralds as she stared at him, her breath puffing in the cold December air. “Francesca hadn’t even said a damned thing when I sent the bassinet to her. Not a single damned word.”
Heart as hard as ice, Logan stared the woman who had come two thousand, seven hundred miles for some kind of publicity stunt.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Logan waited for an answer.
Francesca seemed to be frozen where she stood, her feet stuck to the ground. Her face was empty of any emotion as she stared at him, her mouth moving but no words coming out. Suddenly, tears spilled down her beautiful face. A sob spilled out of her throat and she took one, wobbly step forward.
She ran to him as quickly as a woman in heels could ever run on gravel, her words completely incoherent through her sobs.
His heart twisting, Logan caught Francesca as she nearly stumbled into him. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close, the scent of her filling up his senses. It was like heaven to have her arms around him again, and in that moment, the cameras, the shop, and his boys all disappeared in the warmth of her embrace.
“I love you, Logan,” she whispered, her voice so quiet, he almost couldn’t hear her over the thundering in his blood. Taking a step back, Francesca looked up at him, her green eyes so much brighter with tears in them. She seemed to be searching his face for something. “I never should have left you. Davis isn’t who my baby needs to raise him; he needs his father. His real father. I was so stupid to leave you.”
Francesca glanced to the side, fresh tears spilling over her long, black lashes and down her beautiful face. “I made the biggest mistake of my life when I went back to him. I — I would — I want you to come back to me. No matter what that means.” She swallowed hard, her eyes coming to rest on his face again. “Please.”
Logan, caught up in the beauty of Francesca’s face, opened and closed his mouth several times. He seemed unable to answer. The blood rushed hot through his veins, his heart thundering back to life like someone had started up a bike’s engine. Emotion filled up his throat, blocking off anything he might have said.
Francesca’s eyes searched his face for some hint of the emotions that had him all tangled up, but Logan wasn’t even sure he knew how he was feeling. Every cell in his body seemed to be reaching out to Francesca, wanting to wrap her in his arms. But she’d left him.
And then owned up to her mistake.
So Logan did the only thing he could do: wrap his arms tightly around her most precious body, and pray she understood the words he couldn’t seem to say.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Francesca
Tears spilling down her face, Francesca wrapped her arms tighter around Logan. She never should have left this embrace. Everything about it felt perfect, like two puzzle pieces coming together to form a whole. Ever since Logan and Francesca had been separated, something had felt like it was missing from her life. No matter how hard she tried to ignore it. But now, with him so close, it was nearly impossible to deny her mistake at leaving him in the first place. No, this is where she belonged. This is where their child belonged.
Smiling, Francesca snuggled a little closer, ignoring the audience to their private moment. She was used to having an audience. Every single camera in the world couldn’t ruin this moment. Nothing could.
But Francesca was wrong. Something could ruin it. And Davis Thorne was going to try his hardest to do so.
The sound of a car driving too fast on gravel tore through the parking lot, followed by the unmistakable sound the skittering of tires. A car door opened and slammed closed, pulling Francesca out of Logan’s arms to investigate who could be pulling into the shop like a madman.
She instantly regretted looking.
“Francesca!” Davis shouted, his voice thick with something crazy. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Leaving your ass behind like she should have done a long time ago,” Nikki snapped. Francesca’s heart dropped down into her toes, her whole body shivering in the freezing cold weather. “Hey, you!” she said, pointing to one of Logan’s boys. “Go call the damned police. Please.” The kid looked shocked for a second, then disappeared back into the building.
Davis’s pale skin was red with rage, his red hair looking like his scalp was on fire from his rage. A blood vessel popped out on his forehead as he took another step towards Francesca and Logan. “You stupid bitch! How dare you break up with me? After I supported you through this embarrassing pregnancy because biker dude couldn’t step up? You have got to be kidding me.”
Francesca could feel her own anger rising in her blood and her eyes narrowed more with every word. Spinning on her heel, she stood beside Logan, who loomed over her like a protector. “You supported me? By what? Sleeping with the whole world? Making a fool of me by getting arrested on national television? How did you get out anyway?”
Several of Logan’s boys had come out of the garage and stood behind them. They were all pretty threatening individually, and together, they should have sent Davis running back to his car with his tail between his legs. But he had lost it by then and seemed to see nothing but Francesca.
He sneered at her. “I posted bail and walked out of the jail.”
Nikki snorted. “You’re breaking the law by being out of the state aren’t you?”
Davis’s face got impossibly redder as Francesca watched. Logan’s muscles seemed to tense a little more with every crazy sentence out of Davis’s stupid mouth. “Who cares? I thought you liked bad boys, Francesca? Come, don’t you find me hot now, just like your pet inmate?”
Francesca’s eyes darkened with rage. “Shut up, Davis, and go back home before they miss you and throw you in jail forever.
Not that wouldn’t make me happy; you have literally ruined the last year of my life.”
“I ruined your life?” Davis screamed, his voice cracking as he nearly started foaming at the mouth. “You think I ruined your life? Don’t you think you have biker boy to blame for ruining your fucking life when he knocked you up?”
Pressing her hands protectively to the precious life inside of her belly, Francesca took a step back, staggering back from the barrage.
But Nikki stepped forward. “You stupid cow, of course not. You’re the one who made her miserable. You’re the one cheated, who lied to me to get me to cheat with you. You’re the one who stole all of that money and made a fool of yourself. You’re the one that ruined your chances with Francesca by being a selfish prick. Francesca only stuck by you because she thought you would be a good father to her kid, no matter how you treated her. She thought you had integrity. Obviously she was wrong, because you’re just a piece of trash.”
Davis gaped at Nikki, his mouth moving but no words coming out. Francesca kind of felt like gaping at her, too. In all of the time they had been friends, Nikki had never stood up for her so vehemently.
New tears slipped down Francesca’s face. “Yes, I was wrong. I was wrong to ever pick Davis over a good man like you, Logan. I’m sorry that it took all of these disasters for me to see clearly. I was just trying to do what was best for my baby. For our baby.”
Francesca turned to Logan, watching as the hardened mask over his features melted away, leaving behind a vulnerable, beautiful man. And her heart melted in return.
# # #
Logan
For a long time after Francesca finished speaking, there was silence in the parking lot. Even Davis was stunned into silence, unable to continue his tirade. He stood there sputtering, his voice lost under the hatred in both Nikki and Francesca’s words.
Logan studied Francesca, unable to believe how strong this beautiful woman could be. Standing in front of all of these cameras and all of these people, admitting to the whole world that she had been wrong. She was trying so hard to fix her mistake, and Logan couldn’t let her suffer any longer.
“Francesca,” he said, taking her tiny hands in his own. “I stayed away. I stayed away from you, thinking a guy like me would only complicate your life. I didn’t want to ruin your career or ruin the future of our son. I’d rather be miserable if it would give you the chance to be happy. But I can’t sit idly by if you are being so poorly treated.” Kissing the fuzzy fabric of her gloves, Logan smiled down on Francesca.
“How did I get so lucky?” he wondered, watching as Francesca’s emerald eyes lit up like Christmas lights on a tree. Logan was the luckiest man in the world, and he’d only get luckier as his son grew.
Sirens blazed, making Logan wince out of habit. Davis’s face was still livid, his eyes bulging out of his skull as he took an angry step forward. It was the wrong move.
Pyro stepped forward at the same time Blade did, their predatory eyes locked on Davis, the spoiled brat. “I believe those sirens are for you, friend. So you might not want to make it worse by stepping forward again,” Pyro said as Blade slammed one of her meaty fists into her other palm.
Davis swallowed hard, then turned on his heel to go back to his car. But two more of Logan’s boys were leaning against his car, big wicked grins on their faces. “Going somewhere?” Jackboot asked, flexing a little as Davis yelped.
He was surrounded, and there was nothing in the world he could do about it. But Davis wasn’t the kind who could go down without a fight, so he turned around, facing the only fight he might actually win.
He turned to Francesca.
Logan automatically stepped closer to her, his hands coming to rest on her shoulders protectively. Francesca stood tall, her eyes blazing like she was just daring Davis to do his worst.
“You stupid whore. No wonder nobody of any worth wants you. You had to drag your date out of the trash and dress him up in pretty clothes. Good luck having a career after I’m gone; I am your career. Your stupid fans love me.”
The police cars pulled into the gravel parking lot. They stepped forward, looking around and trying to figure out exactly what was happening. Logan pointed to Davis. “This man has been harassing us,” he said, a grimace on his face. The cops glanced around at the cameras with confusion in their faces.
“I think you’ll also find that he is breaking the terms of his bail in Nevada,” Nikki smirked, an evil grin on her pretty face. “They told him not to leave the state and not to stalk his ex girlfriend, both of which he’s been doing. Any chance you could clean up this trash for us officers?” She batted her pretty black lashes at them, making a few of Logan’s boys chuckle.
Davis screamed like a madman as they cuffed him for the second time, dragging him bodily from the parking lot to the cheers of the bikers gathered around to watch. Logan and Francesca watched in silence, trying to drown out the sound of his voice as he tossed more horrible insults at the two of them. They both sighed in relief as the door shut behind him, silencing his yells.
“Well,” Francesca said finally, her voice filled with false cheer. “At least we won’t have to worry about seeing him anytime soon. There’s no way he’ll be back out on bail, and his sentence will be at least several years. I think the minimum sentence for the money he’s taken is ten years, and not even rich daddy will be able to get him out of that.”
Logan chuckled. “That’s great news.” He turned her around, grabbing her chin with his fingers.
Francesca looked up at him, her too-big green eyes glittering. A smile formed on her perfect lips as she wrapped her arms around Logan’s neck. “It’s okay. Not as good as knowing you’ll be around.”
Logan wavered a little under those big eyes, an icy touch of uncertainty cutting through his happiness. “But what if I do ruin your career?”
“I have enough money to retire for both of us and — ” She touched her belly gently. “And Lenny. Yes, after my grandfather.”
Logan’s smile grew. “I like it.”
Bowing his head, Logan kissed Francesca with all of his might, much to the delight of onlookers. The whole crowd cheered, even the camera crew, making for a most dramatic and wonderful end to the Savoy’s TV season.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Francesca
It took several hours for the police to clean up after Davis; Francesca and Logan needed to fill out paperwork and Nikki and a few of the boys filled out witness statements. The case was pretty cut and dry. It was hard to deny that Davis had been breaking the law by being outside of the area allowed by his bail. Francesca was glad it was his turn to be hauled off in cuffs instead of Logan. It felt a little like justice was being done, though Francesca had a hard time not feeling sorry for Davis. As much of a brat as he was, she knew why he was like that. “Diane might not have been the perfect mom, but at least she didn’t spoil me so rotten that no normal person wouldn’t want me around.”
Davis hadn’t gotten the same treatment from his parents; he’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and had never known the word “no.”
“A shame. But we won’t let you become a brat like that, will we?” Francesca thought down at her belly, running her gloved hands over her baby bump. “Even if I tried, I don’t think Logan would have any of it.”
Chuckling, Francesca turned to find Logan walking toward her. “We’re done with all of the police reports and things. The officers said we could go home.”
Nikki had already left to head back to her hotel room and Logan’s boys had all also headed home, leaving Francesca and Logan alone. “Can we go back to your place?” Francesca asked, shivering in the night air. “I want to get out of this cold and find a shower hot enough that I forget that this kind of cold is even possible.”
Logan laughed and led her inside the shop. They ended up calling a cab to take them; Francesca couldn’t stand the idea of riding Logan’s bike through the cold to his place. She was pretty sure it would kill her. A
s soon as their Uber driver showed up, Logan took Francesca home with the promise of warmth.
Francesca was content as she stepped into the tiny apartment. Glancing around, she studied the tiny space, running her eyes over the complete lack of decor as Logan turned up the heat. The heater cut on with a purr, spilling hot air into the apartment, sending pleasant shivers up and down Francesca’s spine. It was a one-bedroom apartment, the living room nearly empty of furniture. There was a single chair in here, a bed and side table in the bedroom, and nothing else but a few mismatched lamps. Francesca thought the space looked sad, the off-white paint giving the impression of it being tenant-less. Not a single inch of the apartment looked lived in, which made her wonder if Logan had been living at work.
“The bathroom’s in here; I’ll get the hot water started for you,” Logan said quietly, slipped past her to a small door behind her.
