Brister snarled at his wife. “Don’t you go anywh—”
Logan gave in to the impulse and grabbed Brister by the back of the neck, cutting him off. “Unlike your wife, I punch back,” he growled low in his throat even as Heidi hurried around him, her feet making soft shuffling sounds as she raced out.
Once she was out of the room, a sense of relief slid through Logan. No matter what shitstorm had just been unleashed, at least she was safe.
* * *
“You showed more restraint than I would have.” There was more than a touch of savagery in Iris’s tone.
Logan’s mouth curved up ever so slightly. He wasn’t sure how he’d showed so much restraint with that piece of garbage. The only thing Logan remembered thinking was that poor woman did not need to see even more violence. Because as far as he knew, this couple had been married for at least twenty-five years.
This definitely wasn’t the first time that asshole had hit her. And Brister had gone for her ribs, somewhere no one would see. Logan gritted his teeth, thinking of the woman, about how she’d likely gotten used to the abuse.
“We’re good to go,” Wyatt said as he stepped back into the living room. He did a quick sweep of the room, his sharp blue eyes only softening once they landed on Iris. Unlike his normal suits, since he’d been here he’d been more casual in jeans, boots and flannel shirts. The look did nothing to take away from the authority of the man.
The police had already hauled Brister off even though he’d tried to claim it was a misunderstanding and that his wife would tell them “the truth.” Logan had worried that since this was a small town and Brister was a very wealthy individual, they might look the other way. And maybe they would once Logan and the rest of them left. It made him feel ill.
He stood, unable to remain immobile anymore. “We can’t just leave her here.” Because no doubt the guy would be out on bail soon and then she’d be an easy target.
Wyatt’s expression turned just as savage as his wife’s tone had been. “We’re not leaving her. She has a sister and brother-in-law she’s going to go stay with. Her adult daughter lives close to them as well—and they’re all across the country. I’m going to fly her on my plane. She’s packing a bag as well as grabbing all of their financial records. I told her to take her time, to take anything she’ll need when she divorces him. And I’ll do a sweep of his records to make sure she gets everything she’ll need. She’s got a son who works in finance but he’s in London, so trust me, she’ll have the tools at her disposal to handle this.”
Logan lifted an eyebrow. “She’s leaving him for good?”
“Yes. She said her kids are out of the house. She said she’s tired of being a punching bag. She was also adamant that he’d never hit the kids.”
“Doesn’t mean they didn’t see or hear things,” Iris murmured.
Yeah, no shit. Maybe there was a reason neither of his kids lived here anymore. Logan knew it was hard for women to leave their abusers, so he hoped this stuck. God, did he hope so. That man was a bull and she was so damn petite. Who the hell could live with themselves and actually hurt the one they loved on a continuous basis? “I don’t think he’ll make it easy on her.”
Wyatt took his wife’s hand in his, his smile a bit sharklike. “My attorney is going to represent her. She’ll get everything she deserves.”
Logan blinked, but he probably shouldn’t be surprised. Wyatt was a tough bastard, but he had a soft heart where women were concerned. “Good.”
“Well since it’s clear this deal is not happening,” Iris said dryly, looking away from the huge bay of windows, “are we going to head home after we drop Heidi off? I’m done with all this snow.”
“Actually, I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if we stopped over in New York. I have another meeting I should really do in person. I’d pushed it back, but…” Wyatt shrugged.
Iris lifted a shoulder. “Fine with me. The casino is a well-oiled machine at this point, and with Hayden and Vadim in charge I’m not worried about staying away.”
Wyatt looked at Logan, eyebrows raised.
Surprised again, Logan shrugged. “I go wherever you say.” Wyatt was the boss.
Wyatt gave him a hard look. “If you want to head home, we can trade out security. Mia’s headed home, but Julian is coming. It’s okay if you want to trade out with someone.”
Logan shook his head. Even though he wanted to get home to Grace, he figured that some distance between them probably wasn’t a bad thing right now. He’d obviously spooked her with that marathon of wild sex—and wasn’t that a hit to his ego.
No, he would give her the distance she needed. They’d been texting nonstop and he was trying like hell to keep things normal between them. He was pretty sure he was succeeding but he figured the distance would help them both.
Hell, he needed to keep his own head on straight if he was going to figure out how to approach her, how to fix what had happened between them. Because he couldn’t lose her. She was too damn special, too damn everything for him.
Chapter 5
I’m back. Are you free?
Grace nearly jolted as the text from Logan came through. Was she free? Yes, she was.
And nervous about seeing him.
It had been four weeks since he’d been gone on business and she missed him like crazy. They’d texted every day, but everything had stayed fairly surface-level. Which was good, but she had a feeling that tension they were both trying to avoid was still lingering right below the surface. They’d had a ton of hot sex and hadn’t talked about it. It had to come up eventually, right? Or maybe he was fine never talking about it.
She texted back. Yep. School is officially out for two weeks and I just got home.
Up for some company?
Oh…he meant right now. She was still wearing her pajamas she’d worn to school since the last day had been pajama day. Feel free to stop by.
I’ll be there in five minutes.
Tension ratcheted up inside her. Five minutes wasn’t any time at all to mentally prep. Which was probably a good thing. Less time for her to stress out. She didn’t bother changing out of her school pajamas either. This was who she was and she wasn’t going to run around trying to find something sexy to wear. Besides, they were friends anyway. Just friends.
Instead she started a pot of coffee because the man was always drinking the stuff no matter the time of day. Then she peered into her fridge.
Old takeout boxes that she definitely needed to throw away. Taking a chance, she called a local Chinese restaurant that delivered and ordered his and her favorites. Because yeah, she knew his favorites.
When the doorbell rang a few minutes later, she tried—and failed—to ignore that familiar rush of nerves she experienced every single time before she got to see him. Tugging open the door and seeing him for the first time in weeks sent another rush through her, but this one was pure, raw longing. How was it possible that he’d gotten even sexier in the last month?
“I’ve missed you,” he said as she opened the door. In dark slacks, a plain white button-up shirt that did nothing to hide his hotness, and an open black jacket, he looked like his put-together self—and she wanted to jump him. Then that sexy mouth of his curved up into a wicked smile as he took in her attire. “And nice reindeer ears.”