by Emma Roberts
I dug my phone out of my pocket and dialed Gideon, not caring what time it was back in LA or that I was past due a check-in. I needed something to distract me.
He picked up on the first ring. “Logan, where are you?” he demanded without preamble.
I cut across him before he could gather steam. I wasn’t in the mood to have my ass chewed by a man I’d only just begun to tolerate. “We found her.”
Gideon’s breath came out in a rush that made the speaker near my ear crackle. When the white noise cleared, the relief was palpable in Gideon’s voice. “Oh, thank God. I was afraid you might have been on the wrong track. Isadora surfaced briefly again in Monaco. I was afraid Mina might have been taken to Monaco City or into Italy.”
“So far as we can tell, their final destination was Toulouse, but I’m glad you’re covering all your bases. Is that the only update you have on Isadora?”
“Unfortunately.”
A thought occurred to me, and I nearly slapped myself for not considering it before. In my panic, my sole concern had been retrieving Mina. But Isadora hadn’t just threatened Mina’s life. She’d threatened every Hustler under Mina’s employ, as well, as a motivation. Isadora was still clearly on the move, with access to her business and personal accounts. There was no telling if her threats had been idle or not. The blackmail threat Mina had received that began this clusterfuck had detailed killing one of Mina’s girls. And the expiration on the blackmail had passed while I’d been in the throes of finding her. Fuck. Isadora had to know that Mina had escaped, at the very least.
“Gideon, can you do me a favor?”
“Of course. What do you need?”
“We’ve confirmed that Isadora had significant involvement in the kidnapping. A thug at the docks confirmed she sold Mina into the trafficking ring. Could you put a security detail on the rest of the Hustler women for now? I don’t think a bomb sweep would be a bad idea, either, at this point. Isadora’s on the run, she’s angry, and she might try to hurt Mina by killing her girls. If it was her behind the blackmail, the Hacienda Hustlers are in significant danger.”
Gideon was silent for so long I was convinced I’d lost the connection. When he spoke, his voice was tinged with the barest hint of pain. “So…she really did it?”
I had to admit, I pitied the man. I knew firsthand the pain of having a disappointing parent. And what Isadora had done went far beyond anything my father had ever done to me. Compounding her abandonment of Gideon, there was this last betrayal—kidnapping and hurting the woman he loved. Though Logan refused to come to terms with the idea that Gideon had feelings for Mina.
“I’m afraid so.”
“Son of a bitch,” he whispered. “Why? Why the hell would she do this?”
I didn’t think the question was directed at me, so I let him mutter for a few moments before speaking again. “I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry. Sorry I didn’t see it sooner. Don’t worry about the Hustler girls, Logan. I’ve got this covered. I’ll call the best I can find as soon as we hang up.”
The tightness in my chest eased. I couldn’t help Mina, but at least I’d made strides toward protecting her employees. It was what she would have wanted.
“Thank you, Gideon. You’re a good man.”
“Likewise.” Another long pause. “There’s more I have to tell you, but it isn’t concrete yet.”
“Go ahead and share. We’re in the Hospital Pasteur and still waiting for Mina to come out of surgery.”
“Surgery?” he echoed. “Christ, Logan, why didn’t you tell me that before? My grandmother has been asking after her and I’m running out of excuses. She’s supposed to be shopping for a gown, not fighting for her life.”
“I didn’t tell you because I’m currently trying not to dwell on the worst-case scenario. Tell me what you found, Gideon. I’m losing my mind here.”
Papers rustled on the other end of the phone. “I was able to get into some of Isadora’s personal things. It wasn’t easy, let me tell you. I think that the reason for Mina’s abduction lies with Isadora’s father, Alastair. I found a photo of him with Mina in an old society newspaper. The caption claims that she was his date. I’m still trying to track down the reasons Isadora would do what she did, but I’d say there’s a better-than-average chance it had something to do with her father.”
My blood pressure kicked up a few notches and I had to wrestle my jealousy into submission. We’d been apart for six years before the blackmail brought us back together. Who she decided to date in the interim was not my business. Still, I was secretly thankful that Alastair Anwick had passed years ago, saving me the trouble of strangling him for laying hands on her.
“Good work, Gideon.”
“Anytime. I’ll call if I dig up anything else.”
He didn’t bother with a goodbye. The line clicked and my phone signaled the end of the call. I shoved it into my pocket mechanically, staring at the wall.
“She will be alright, you know,” Julienne said after a few minutes of silence. “I believe that. She has just gotten you back. She is not going to die and miss a chance to see you again.”
I shifted in my seat, staring at my linked fingers. “She was pretty pissed at me before she disappeared. I’m not sure she’ll be able to stand me after the shock and gratitude wear off.”
Julienne placed a hand on my bicep and squeezed. “Oh, I do not think you have anything to worry about, Mr. Farraday. I think she is in love. She dreamed about you almost every night. I know because as she tossed about, she would speak your name.”
She dreamed about me? I’d been pretty sure that she would loathe the very sight of me once she was rescued. I’d been at the epicenter of every miserable thing that had befallen her in recent months. How the hell could she still stand to be in my vicinity, let alone love me?
I was saved from that thought by the arrival of a short man wearing scrubs. He looked weary but pleased.
I leaped to my feet, the question springing to my lips automatically. “Is she alright?”
Keenan began to translate but the doctor waved away the help impatiently. “Miss Blakely is fine. She will be suffering some pain and weakness, but we were able to clean out the wound and repair the muscle damage.”
All of us relaxed in tandem.
“So why did it take so long?” I demanded. “It was a graze.”
“We were being thorough, given Miss Blakely’s unique circumstances.” The doctor paused, as though he’d said too much. He’d probably been informed by the police just how unique Mina’s circumstances were. Mina could very well be the key to bringing down an organized crime syndicate that involved a very high-profile man. The police would have questions for Mina when she woke up.
I didn’t care about any of that at the moment. She was safe, and that was all that mattered to me.
“May I go back and see her?”
The doctor nodded. “She should be coming out of recovery shortly and taken to her room. I will show you the way.”
“Give me a minute alone with her, please,” I said in an undertone to Keenan.
He must have seen just how close I was to breaking, because he nodded. “I’ll let Mina decide if she wants to see me. Call me when she’s up for more visitors, please.”
I nodded tightly and followed the doctor to the elevator, where we rode up two floors. Orderlies were wheeling her into her room when we arrived. The sight of her, still and pale in the hospital bed, with tubes hooked to her, made my throat constrict and my stomach lurch. So close. I’d come so damn close to losing her.
I sank into the chair next to her bed, seizing her hand. She was still warm, but not as feverishly hot as she had been the last time I’d held her. She stirred in her sleep, eyelids fluttering but not opening.
The doctor and staff backed out of the room, leaving me alone with her. I brought her hand to my lips, holding it there, only then realized I was shaking.
“Don’t ever scare me like this again, Mina,” I w
hispered, though I knew she wouldn’t hear me.
I pressed my lips to the throbbing pulse in her wrist, assuring myself she was still alive and safe, until my own heartbeat settled into a more natural rhythm.
Now, there was little to do but wait.
Chapter Thirteen
Mina
The absence of pain upon waking was so delicious it drew a light sigh from my throat. My muscles were still heavy and my head swam a little when I tried to sit up. A hospital gown attempted to swallow my body whole, and someone had tucked a blanket up around my neck, like I was a little girl. Aside from a little stiffness, I felt better than I had in days.
The creak of springs drew my attention to the armchair beside my bed, and the hulking shape slumped over in it. Logan. His dark hair was mussed, and shadows bruised the skin under his eyes. He looked boyish as he slept. I drank in the sight of him. Part of me had been convinced I’d conjured him up during a fever dream. But he was really here, his fingers wrapped so tightly around mine they threatened to stop the circulation. I pried myself loose as gently as I could and massaged my fingertips.
It was enough to wake Logan. He jerked upright with a sleepy protest. When he focused on me, his eyes flew open wide, and he launched himself out of the chair toward me. It was like being hit broadside by a concrete wall.
His strong arms closed around me, and tears sprung into my eyes, stinging as his scent swirled around me. He was actually here. He’d come for me, even when my last words to him had been a deliberate slap in the face.
Tears spilled down my face in a scalding rush when he pulled away. His rough, calloused hands came up to grasp my cheeks, his thumbs swiping beneath my eyes. “Are you in pain? Do I need to get a nurse?”
His concern only made the tears fall faster. I didn’t deserve his concern. I didn’t deserve him at all. I’d rejected him, and he’d still come for me. He’d slept at my bedside all night, if the blanket now pooled on the floor was any indication.
“No, I’m fine,” I managed to croak. “I’m just so...so grateful you’re here.”
My hands twined around his neck, and I pulled him to me, crushing him awkwardly against my chest.
He let out a soft sound that made it pretty damn clear he liked being there. Shifting his position so he could lay on his side on the bed, he cradled me against him. The movement was so unexpected that it drew a watery chuckle from my throat.
His free hand wound around my waist, resting at the small of my back so that he could hold me against his body. “I’m grateful I found you in time.” His voice was raw and fear was etched into every line of his face. “God, Mina, you were shot. And it could have been so much worse. I spent weeks wondering if I was going to find you dead.”
His voice broke on the last word and he buried his face in my hair, inhaling the scent of me. I let him, hoping that my being near would ground him, reassure him that I was here and just fine.
His grip tightened and he pulled me closer. “I’m taking you home as soon as they discharge you. I can’t stand to have you in danger for another second.”
There was a part of me—and I was ashamed at how large it was—that wanted to agree wholeheartedly. Yes. Take me home. Take me away from the fear and the ever-present danger. But then Kathleen’s face popped into my mind, and I knew that I couldn’t just leave. Her face would haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life if I did.
“I need to stay,” I said in a small voice.
Logan let out a soft growl against my throat that had my skin thrumming and my pussy clenching tight. Holy God. How could he make me react this way, even in a hospital bed?
“No.”
“Logan, just listen to me—”
“No. I am not going to put you in any more danger. There’s no fucking way.”
I struggled out of his arms and propped myself upright in bed. I had to make my point, and I wouldn’t be able to do it with his body pressed flush against mine. It would be only too easy for him to kiss me senseless and make me forget my argument.
“Logan, I have an in. We can take the traffickers down. There were other girls being sold with me. I can’t just leave them.”
Logan sat up and fixed me with a look so intense it made my insides squirm. He wasn’t above intimidating me to get his way. I set my jaw and glared back. I wasn’t going to budge either, damn it.
“I don’t care if I have to strap you into the jet with duct tape. You’re coming home, Mina. I’m not letting you get mixed up in this again. I almost lost you, goddamn it! I won’t risk that again.”
“Logan—”
“No, Mina. I’m taking you back to my house, strapping you into a bed, and having you monitored around the clock until I know you’re not going to try dying on me again!”
I clenched my jaw so tight it hurt. He was being unreasonable. He knew I was right. I just wasn’t sure how to get him to agree. I cast around for something to could use as a rebuttal. I almost winced when it came to me. It was a low blow, but if I knew Logan, he would have me on a plane the minute I was released from the hospital.
“Strapped to your bed, huh? Phoebe won’t like that.”
“I stopped giving a damn what Phoebe thinks long before you were kidnapped. I broke it off before we left the country. I’ll take whoever I damn well please home with me.”
The announcement pulled me up short, and I blinked at him in shock. Phoebe was gone? He broke the engagement? “But your father’s blackmail...?”
“Is all over the internet as of last night,” he said sourly. “But that happening was a risk I had to take. I wasn’t going to lose you, Mina. No matter what.”
Fresh tears gathered in my eyes. I really didn’t deserve him. He’d been so adamant about preserving his father’s legacy, he’d been willing to lock himself into a loveless marriage and send me away. But when my life had been on the line, he’d let the news of his father’s bigamy leak, rather than risk losing me forever. The enormity of his sacrifice nearly crushed me flat.
Logan sensed my weakness and pounced. “Let me take you home, Mina. Just you and me. For good, the way it was always meant to be. Let me try again. I promise things will be different this time around.”
I wanted to go with him. But there were so many lives on the line. So many women who’d be raped and forced into labor if I didn’t use the leverage I’d been given. I knew I had the power to change things. But did I have the power to change Logan’s mind? I cast about in my head, looking for anything I could offer him in exchange for this one favor. When I found the one thing he’d want, I winced. I was going to have to lay everything on the line. The work of six years, my beloved girls, my pride and my livelihood. All of it, just to wheedle this one favor from him.
“I’ll quit.”
“What?”
I drew in a shaky breath. “I said, I’ll quit. I’ll quit the Hustlers and go home with you. After we’ve shut down the trafficking ring.”
Logan’s eyes widened as my words sank in. If nothing else, my announcement had shown him that I was serious as a heart attack. Would it hurt to leave my girls? Absolutely. But I was willing to do it. For Kathleen. For Julienne. For all the other women who were in danger because of this ring. It had to be shut down once and for all.
“You’re not going to give up, are you?” he murmured, rubbing a hand over his face.
“No. And I’ll find a way to do it with or without you, Logan. This is your only chance. You want me to be done with the Hustlers? I’ll stop. But only if you help me finish what started when I was loaded on that ship.”
Logan settled himself into the chair, fingers steepled as he thought it through. Long moments passed during which I tried to read his thoughts by the expression on his face. He was like a stone block, sharing nothing.
“I’m coming with you,” he said finally. “You’re not going in alone. After the past weeks, I’m not leaving your side for at least another year.”
“We’ll look odd going into public restrooms togethe
r,” I teased. Logan didn’t laugh, and the humor I’d tried to interject fizzled out.
“I’ll keep you in my bed at least that long,” he promised, his eyes smoldering with desire. “I’m sure I’ll find ways of keeping you busy.”
Warmth rose into my cheeks and I rubbed my thighs together as desire ran through me. Fuck. How did he always make me long for him with little effort?
“Don’t try to distract me. Do we have a deal or not?”
Logan slid out of the chair suddenly, crouching by my bed. He seized my hand and slid something cold and circular onto my finger. A diamond ring. My mouth popped open in shock when I realized what he intended to do.
“Marry me, Mina. Promise me that once we’re through here, you’re mine for good. Promise me you will never put yourself in danger again after I help you do this.”
“Of course, I’ll marry you.” The words slipped out as easily as if I’d been waiting to say them my whole life.
Logan’s face split into a broad grin and I got a glimpse at the carefree man I’d fallen in love with at fourteen years of age. A man unburdened by responsibility, full of hope and ambition. The man I’d been pining after for six long years. And now that he was back, even briefly, I couldn’t let him go without kissing him.
Seizing him by the lapels, I pulled until he came up off his knees, crushing his lips to mine.
It took him no time at all to sense my eagerness. His arms wound around me, pulling me to the edge of the bed. We were briefly stymied by my IV, and I broke away from him just long enough to pant, “Block the door.”
“Hmm?”
“Use the chair to block the door. I think my heart rate is about to shoot up, and I don’t want a nurse coming to check.”
Logan chuckled, and the low, eager sound had a fresh wave of desire coursing through me. He obediently pushed the chair in front of the door, blocking the nurses out. Then he strode over to my side and kissed me thoroughly, not pulling away until I was breathless.
