Unmistakably Us (Imagine Ink Book 5)

by Verlene Landon

  “So, did you figure it out on your own or did that dear, sweet boy tell you?”

  January was dumbfounded. “How do you…I mean, did he—”

  “Hush child, of course he didn’t say anything to me, but just have a look at ‘em. Anyone the great Lord gave two working eyes to can see it. That is, except that clueless duo out there.” Nodding toward Michael and Tori wasn’t needed for January to know exactly who the duo was.

  “He told me,” January whispered, and she watched a smile split Logan’s face at something his brother said. They all seemed comfortable with each other, and that was a promising sign.

  She decided then that she would do her best to get Logan to come clean to Michael before she left. It felt like the least she could do since she was essentially sneaking off in the dead of night to marry another man.

  “That just confirms what I already knew to be right. I do love being right,” Francis delivered smugly. “Now, what are you going to do about your relationship with him? Seems to me, he’s working out that one on his own.”

  Panic brought January back to the conversation. “Nothing, that’s what, and I respectfully asked that you don’t either.” January knew if she asked her to, for the most part, she’d hold her tongue and butt out, or at least, she hoped that was the case. January was banking on Francis’ respect for directness and letting people solve their own messes.

  When Francis crossed her arms and gave her a stern look, January was afraid she had overestimated the situation.

  “I ain’t happy about it, not one damn bit, but you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make his stubborn ass drink it. Can I just say one thing, then I’ll let it go?” Her words said she would but her face said anything but, however, January just had to make it through the weekend. Francis was too busy today to plan a scheme, so she should be good.

  “Of, course,” January responded. She respected the older woman and wouldn’t pass on her wisdom.

  “I love you like one of my own. You know that. Same with all those stubborn asses out there. That will never change, no matter the decisions they make. I don’t and won’t hold none of it against them because we are all worth being loved and accepted, no matter our mistakes.” Her words mirrored Gus’ but she knew they both believed it whole-heartedly. It wasn’t just lip service.

  “However, that doesn’t mean that our choices and mistakes do not come with some steep prices. Can you afford to pay this one?” Francis went silent for a moment before wrapping January in her arms. “Don’t answer me, think about it and answer for yourself.” When she released January, Francis grabbed a bowl of potato salad and instructed her to grab another with some Jell-O whipped cream concoction and they headed outside.

  Francis didn’t mention it again.

  Spotting January coming through the door was like someone cranked up the sun. She was so beautiful with her radiant blonde hair a mess and zero make-up. She was wearing a tank top proclaiming she goes both ways, with white and red wine glasses underneath. The white shorts made her legs look so long and tan. Tan they were, long, well, they were the perfect length when wrapped around his neck.

  Her Chucks were the same color as the wine, and it struck Logan how put-together she looked without effort. It was obvious she was not a high-maintenance chick, but somehow, she still looked better than everyone here.

  They all paled in comparison to her, even those wearing heels and designer clothes.

  Tori’s voice was an irritant, although he couldn’t make out her words. He vaguely heard a few, but he continued to stare at January. He had tunnel vision bad. When her hazel green eyes finally met his, she blushed and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.

  Tori was still talking, and now, her words were registering in his brain. “You know, if you leave your tongue lolling out in the sun like that, it’ll get sunburned.” Logan didn’t respond. She was just messing with him. Today, the ease between himself and his brother and his wife was pleasant. It was like once he changed his mindset, it was conveyed somehow.

  “It happened to Sixx once. He couldn’t lick his balls for a week. Do you want that, not to be able to…lick anything interesting for a week? By the look on your face, I’m going to say that’s a hard no.”

  “Torionna?” Michael softly scolded his wife…for him.

  Logan knew he had it bad, and he wanted everyone to know it at this point. He and January had always been cool at gatherings, a little flirting and maybe a stolen touch, but that was it. Time to change things.

  “Damn skippy, so I think I should roll it up and give that beautiful lady a kiss before I suffer UV damage, what do ya think?” It was rhetorical, but he knew Tori would understand his jovial jest and it would make an impact on the entire clan if he scooped her up in his arms.

  “Oh, my God, you are sappy as fuck. You have it bad, but I guess there are worse people who could be a part of the family,” Tori said very tongue-in-cheek, or at least, he hoped. Michael clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a kind of nod of approval.

  January had set her dish down and was heading his way, and he was on the verge of taking a step, when John appeared out of nowhere like a fucking bearded ninja. His words said he was there the whole time though Logan failed to notice.

  “Don’t make me hurt you for doing her wrong. I don’t think you will, but I’m embracing some disclosure. If there’s anything left after Francis takes her pound of flesh, that is, or after my lady rips off your balls and feeds them the cats, I will pulverize what’s left.”

  Logan had nothing. What do you say when you’ve just been threatened but somehow given approval at the same time. “If I do, I’ll help her with the castration.” Logan meant that shit too; he would rather suffer physical pain than have January suffer one ounce of heartache.

  The grin that graced John’s face was a little scary and encouraging at the same time. Family was an ass-load of contradictions. “Good man, now, go make her feel like the only person in world that matters.”

  Logan would do just that. He wanted them to be a couple, not just two people flirting or fucking in secret, but a real couple with all the shit that came with it. He barely got a step before she was right in front of him, stealing his breath and changing the rhythm of his heart with just her presence.

  Without conscious thought or analyzing how she might react, Logan scooped her up and kissed her with the intent of sharing all his feelings in that one moment.

  At first, her lips were stiff and her posture rigid. Logan died a little inside. His mind reeled with a million reasons why, but most all were she didn’t want him the way he wanted her. Didn’t desire to make their relationship public and would never stay with him by choice.

  Those insecurities were raging through his body, slicing and destroying everything good in their path. When Kip and Gene showed up, he almost wept. If they were back, he hadn’t come as far as he thought. But as his soul was shriveling and he was trying to extricate himself from the kiss, her body relaxed into it. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and she held his face and took control of the public intimacy between them.

  Two minutes or two years later, he heard whooping and hollering, causing January to drop her legs and pull back. When she wiped her mouth with the back of his hand, he almost lost his shit. Then she stammered and turned a shade of crimson that matched her shoes. She was more embarrassed now than that night behind the club.

  January tossed him a shy grin and started chewing her lips, and then was talking about steaks, potato salad, and plates that needed washed. He looked around and found no shoulder devil rock gods or anything, just a stunned but seemingly pleased audience and one pissed sister storming inside.

  Everyone else except Francis and January herself were pulling papers from their pockets and purses and discussing the pool, but Logan was dividing his focus between January and Gus. He was confused about what was going on. He had thought of all the people here, Gus would be especially happy about them.

  J
anuary followed his gaze and cursed under her breath. Logan gently took her hand. She looked down at their joined hands and back at him, shaking her head. He took that to mean something else was going on between them that had upset Gus.

  “I should go talk to her.” January turned to leave. On the way to the door, Francis took her arm and was whispering to her and leading her inside. Logan was about to follow when Frank stopped him.

  “Let the ladies talk, son. It’ll all work out. You’ll see.” The men turned their attention to the grill as the rest of the ladies filed inside.

  What he wouldn’t give to be in there instead of out here. He wanted to be there for January, not that Gus would hurt her, but January loved her sister to the point she would cut off her own arm if it would help Gus. Logan was worried that if she were not one hundred percent on-board with them, January would sacrifice them for her sister.

  In a way, Logan understood that—not that people had sacrificed for him, but he had witnessed that level of devotion toward others. It was something he coveted—not that he would ever ask someone he loved to sacrifice for him; he just wanted to know what it would feel like for someone to be willing to.

  “I’m happy for you, brother.” Michael still didn’t know how true that word was, but it felt more genuine this time for some reason. Maybe it was all the bonding and acceptance he had received from this family, but he was really feeling like he wasn’t a sham.

  He deserved this family, and damn it, he deserved a future with January.

  Fifteen

  “Gus, please let me explain. I—”

  Gus spun on her heels. “You don’t have to explain anything to me, Jan. You know that. I said what I needed to say, and so did you. You insist on going back, but God only knows why. I’ve accepted it. I don’t fucking like it, but you’re an adult.” Clapping came from behind, and January turned to see Stacy smiling and applauding.

  “Not now, hooker, not now.” Gus raised her voice to her best friend. Stacy surrendered and leaned again the counter, boring her gaze into January.

  “But how dare you string him along? That’s just cruel. You owe him more than what you’re about to bestow on him. I’ve always said we are more than our past actions, but this is now. You know you’re on the way out and that just happened in front of everyone.”

  Her sister actually had to take a breath, she was so mad. That’s a first; Gus didn’t do mad.

  “I may not know Logan well, but I can tell you for him to do a public display like that means something, you mean something, and you’re just going to throw it away?”

  “It’s not like that, Gus. I swear. Just please, can we talk about this later?”

  “Excuse me, did she say you’re leaving? I don’t mean to make this about me or Michael or everyone else, but he thinks the world of Logan, shit, we all do, and if you haven’t noticed, Logan is the type to bolt. It wouldn’t surprise me if he still keeps his clothes in a duffle. If you’re leaving after that, shouldn’t you at least give him an explanation?”

  “Tori, shush,” her mother interjected. “While my beautiful daughter has a point, and yes, we’re all invested in the both of you, separately and together, this right here, is about you and Logan and no one else.”

  January let her eyes assess the older woman’s for a meaning that floated between the two of them privately.

  “I do mean no one else.” It was clear she meant Gus and her parents.

  The last time January felt this lost was, shit, she didn’t remember, but right now, she felt like a five-year-old who lost her parents in a department store. The faces looked friendly, but they weren’t the ones she was looking for. No matter where she looked, she didn’t belong, alone and terrified among housewares.

  Hurting Logan was the last thing she ever wanted to do. Hell, hurting any of them was. She knew Gus was hurting because she didn’t understand her need to run back to their emotionally abusive and controlling parents. But to see the pain and confusion on Tori and Erika’s faces was rough, too.

  Stacy looked disappointed, like she expected more, but there was also a bit of sympathy and curiosity. She knew about the paperwork she’d drawn up to leave Logan Demon, so she knew there were feelings there. It was probably the lawyer in her that needed to know why since she knew it wasn’t because she didn’t give a shit.

  Staring into Francis’ eyes was hard. She knew more than anyone and she disapproved—boy, did she disapprove—but she was a woman of honor and wouldn’t out January because she had asked her not to and it would hurt others.

  Her sister’s pain damn near broke her. She wanted to shout, I’m doing this for you. I promise it’s better this way. But of course, she would never do that. To drive that last nail in the coffin for Gus having any reconciliation with their parents was unthinkable. The level of pain she had already endured was more than enough. Gus didn’t need to know her parents were using her to control January. Nope, there is too much guilt there already.

  January stiffened her resolve. She would have to stand her ground, even if it meant disappointing the women in this room and the men outside. Hurting or disappointing this family was the last fucking thing she wanted, but she had made her choice for reasons that were her own. Right or wrong, she’d see it though.

  “While I appreciate your concern, especially for Lo—” The doorbell halted her words. Not exactly a bad thing, or so she thought until Gus opened the front door. January’s world tilted on it’s axis when she saw her mother’s superior face with her father at her back, as always.

  “Augusta,” her mother spoke in a formal tone, as if she were addressing the man who delivered her packages. “I am here for my daughter.” January wanted to step in, leave the kitchen and advert her parent’s attention. Instead, her feet were rooted to the tile while she observed with a head tilted around the column dividing the kitchen from the living space.

  “Which one would that be?” Gus queried after throwing the door wide and taking a defensive stance. What was left of January’s hope shattered. Her mother treated Gus like a nuisance, not a daughter. It was clear, her mother had well and truly written off her first-born child.

  “The only one worthy of the moniker, or at least she was, until you got your claws in her.” January was aware of Francis’ tense stance next to her but it was the string of low curses coming from her that had January turning to see if she had been possessed, because this was not the norm.

  “Lovely to see you too, Mother. Father. So what’s the rush? Jan is young and will have plenty of years to wither under your thumb if she choses. Why not let her live a little now? Enjoy life, experience things, don’t you want her to be happy?”

  Leave it to Gus to go for the kill with a smile on her face. January had better intervene fast because her mother would drop a bomb just to level her own daughter. She could practically read the words poised on her mother’s tongue. No, you did the living for the both of you, now she must do her duty because you failed to do so. You failed at everything. You are no daughter of mine.

  Those were the words that terrified January. She had heard them a thousand times, had them drilled into her. Their mother spoke about Gus in a very unflattering way, but then she would turn around, apologize to January and explain why she’d said it. The apologies and explanations were usually more insulting that the original offense; she could finally see that now. They weren’t apologies at all, but strategies. Melody Thorne knew if she pushed too hard to come between them, she’d lose January altogether. January felt like such a fucking chump for having fell for it so many times and gotten in too deep because of it.

  Knowing the truth now didn’t really help. The damage was done, so to speak, and she would give anything for Gus to never have to hear any of those words from her mother. She swallowed her pride, gulped down the past months and everything it made her feel. She even ingested all the pain she was about to cause by seemingly siding with the enemy because it would be worth it in the long-run.

  Forgive me
, sister. I love you more than I can ever express. Glancing at Francis, she made another mental declaration. She wanted, no needed, to turn and catch a glimpse of Logan through the glass, but she knew if she did, she would likely sacrifice everything, including her sister at the altar of her mother for one more night in his arms, and that was a price she simply could not pay. Not after all she’d done until this point.

  Besides, her mother was a shrewd predator. She realized that now, and if she got the slightest whiff of Logan being more than just another body milling about the area, she would seek and destroy just to bring January to heel. Hurting him by leaving would be nothing compared to the damage her mother could do.

  Fake smile in place, one so obvious even her mother would know—good, I want her to—she forced her feet to move forward one shaky step at a time.

  “Mom, Dad, so good to see you.” The obvious opposite sentiments were apparent in January’s voice as she shouldered her way around her sister to air-kiss their cheeks. “But I’m not sure to what we owe the pleasure? As you can see, we are in the middle of a social gathering, maybe I could give you a call at your hotel as soon as we are done with dinner?”

  The saccharine was still there, but her voice took on an edge.

  “You know exactly why we are here. We’ve come to bring you home, dear.” The last word was spat out like a curse, and the ones preceding it were low so as not to be overheard by the room at large.

  January was aware of the hushed tone in the room. Breathing was the overwhelming soundtrack of the lull between words. A distant slow swoosh sound broke up the rhythm of it.

  Keeping the false sunshine and glitter lacing her voice, January responded, ignoring the chill that coursed through her entire being. “I messaged you, about my plans to return Sunday night, did you not get my text?”