Beyond Layers: Layer Series Book Four (Layers Series 4) (33 page)

“I’ll be fine. Have fun with Richard.”

“I always do, Sam,” he says, and pulls the door shut.

I inhale as I press the up button. As the elevator ascends, I exhale.
Okay, Sam. You can do
this. You’re a Grant, for hell sakes
.
You kicked ass in front of fifty board members. Okay, not exactly in front of, but you kicked ass.

When it stops, I inhale again and pull it open. My breath catches when I take in the man before me.

“Angel.”

I let out my breath. “Logan.”

He smiles.

I step out. “Is that lasagna I smell?”

He nods and I ralph at his feet.

I step out of the shower and he hands me a warm towel.

“Thanks,” I say and wrap it around me.

“Feeling better?”

“Much.”

“I put the lasagna in the fridge.”

I nod.

“Do you think you have the flu?”

“Um.”

“Maybe it’s food poisoning?”

“Maybe,” I lie.

“Can I get you anything? A new lung, perhaps.”

“It was bad, wasn’t it?”

“I looked for a lung in the toilet.”

“Could you…?” I point to another towel.

“Oh. Sorry,” he says, and grabs it.

I take it and wrap it around my wet hair.

Logan looks everywhere except at me. He’s just as nervous as I am, maybe more.
No, not more.

“I’ll give you some space,” he says, looking at his bare feet.

I look down at them.
Even the man’s friggin’ feet are beautiful.
Big sigh.

“Sorry about your new Nikes. They were lovely.”

“Not a big deal. Can I get you anything?”

“No.”

“Okay, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

“Okay,” I say and watch him walk out and shut the door.

Ralphing on his shoes is not exactly how I’d hoped to greet him.

I dry, dress, and go in search of him. I find him in the main living area sitting on the leather sectional. As I approach, he stands.

“You made tea and toast?”

“I want you to try and eat something. You look like you’ve lost weight?”

I sit, tucking my legs under me. “I think you might have dropped a few pounds as well.”

“I’ve already gained most of them back.”

He hands me a cup of herbal tea.

I take a sip and relax against the cool leather.

“Sam, I….”

“Go on.”

“I’m sorry for everything.”

“As you should be. Holing up in the Tower, drinking, making friends with the doorman and a cockroach isn’t how I’d hoped you’d used the time and space I’d given us.”

“I didn’t exactly see it as a gift, angel.”

“Maybe not, but I’d hoped you would take the time and work things out. Think on your future and work on dealing with it, not wallow in it.”

“I didn’t see a future, angel. Not without you. I couldn’t get past the hurt.”

“Obviously.”

“I’m sorry, I know you’re disappointed.”

“I hurt too, Logan, but I didn’t have time to wallow.”

He frowns and looks down at his empty hands. I’m betting he wishes he’d gotten himself a beer so he could peel the label. “Go get a beer.”

He looks up. “How’d you know?”

“I know it helps you think, having your hands busy.”

He gets up, gets a bottle out of the fridge, and rejoins me.

“Better?”

“Much.”

“I’m sorry for hurting you, Logan, but I needed the space. I needed to think about my behavior, and what I was going to do about it. Deep down I knew I wasn’t cursed and things happen that we can’t control. I’ve been afraid for so long, I don’t know how to live without fear. I’m always waiting for the next event, the next tragedy. I thought if I was always on alert, somehow I could control things.”

“I knew you were afraid of losing me, afraid I’d be seriously injured on the ice. I was always afraid of losing you. I was afraid if I told you about my past, about Luke and the accident, you’d leave me.”

“Did you read my last e-mail?”

He nods.

“Then you know I’m getting help, seeing a shrink.”

“I think that’s good, angel.”

“I want you to see one as well. And I’d like us to see someone together. You and I are so similar we need someone to help us see past ourselves.”

“I’ll do any and everything to make us whole and healthy. But I can’t do it without you. I can’t be separated from you.”

“I agree; we need to work things out together.”

“I’ve been doing lunch this past week.”

“I heard. Yesterday Lee, today Jax.”

“Lee told me about your mom and the Colettis.”

“He told me.”

“Wow, is all I can say to that.”

“That’s about all any of us can say to that.”

“I met Jaxson at Grant today.”

I nod. “He called me a few days ago. Said he wasn’t asking my permission but he wanted to inform me he was going to interfere.”

“We talked about the takeover and what happened in Dublin. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

“It’s been a long few weeks.”

“We also talked about the time he thought Alexia had left him. How he lost it, went on a bender for months.”

“I remember.”

“He told me it was just a huge misunderstanding and he regretted not seeing through the lies and having more faith in himself and his love for Alexia. He said to never let you out of my sight, never let you separate us.”

I put my tea down on the coffee table and hold out my hand. “I’ll never let you leave me, Logan. Never.”

He puts down his beer and stands. Ignoring my extended hand, he scoops me up. “I need you, angel. How’s your tummy?”

Getting bigger.
“Fine. I’m good.”

He carries me to the bedroom and sets me on the bed. I lean back on my elbows as he strips. “Oh my. Is that for me?”

“Always for you. Only for you.”

He helps me remove my sleep pants and tee. Taking a step back, he scans me.

“Like what you see, Romano?”

“Fucking love what I see.”

He grasps my ankles and pulls me to the edge of the bed. Spreading my thighs wide, he kneels. “We’re going to play a little game.”

“We are?”

“Yes, we are. You are going to beg me to touch you, to fuck you, to make love to you.”

“I am?”

He runs the back of his hand down my inner thigh. “Yes, you are.”

“Okay.”

“And you’re going to address me as Sir.”

“I am?”

“Yes. You are.”

“Okay. Please, Sir. I beg you to touch me, fuck me, make love to me.”

He frowns. “Not yet. I haven’t started the game.”

“Oh. Well, I have a game of my own.”

His frown deepens, clearly annoyed by this bit of news. “You do?”

“I do. Do you want to know what it is?”

“No. I wanted to play my game,” he whines.

“You need to learn how to take turns, learn how to share, Logan.”

“Why?”

“Because sometimes life gets even more complicated and we have to open up our heart, and minds to other… possibilities.”

“I don’t like your game. Let’s play my game first and if we still have the energy we’ll play yours.”

“No. We are going to play my game first. It’s called Guess What?”

“Okay, but I’m telling you right now, my dick doesn’t like it.”

“Does it always come down to your dick?”

He bites his lip, thinking. “Yeah, it does.”

I sit up slightly and he frowns.

“My game will change your life.”

Shit ass grin. “Oh, yeah.”

“Not like that.”

He frowns.

“It won’t take long, Logan. Then we can play your game.”

He sighs big as he looks between my legs. “Okay, but make it fast.”

“Guess what happens when you go to your doctor and they give you birth control samples, and said samples have expired?”

He shrugs, looking bored and seriously annoyed. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t be good. Said pills might not be as effective and…”

“And?”

“No way?”

“Shit happens.”

“Anngeell,” he says, as his eyes roll back and his head connects with hardwood.

I sit up. “Score!”

Years later
….

Madison Square Garden. Grant Private Suite, aka Romeo’s Nursery.

I
look around for my daughters, which, by the way, isn’t easy. Between Lex’s triplets, my twins Avery and Alisa, Jules’s daughter Noel, Marco and Henry’s adopted daughter Chloe and Krissy, there’s a lot of estrogen.

“Have you seen Avery and Alisa?

Jules lowers her binoculars. “They went with Lex and her girls. Something about food, I think?”

Chase, JB, Gray, and Allie and Matt’s son Marcus play a loud game of cards on the table behind us.

I turn. “Chase?”

He looks up from his cards. “What?”

“Where did your mom go?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“I hope she went to get some food. I’m starving,” JB adds.

A very pregnant Allie waddles into the suite and sits next to Jules.

“Where have you been?”

“Do you need to ask?”

Jules chuckles. “Kegels help, ya know.”

“Kegels are Band-Aids. Vasectomies are the cure,” I tell her.

Allie laughs. “I’m working on it.”

Jules elbows me. “What about you? Are you working on it?”

I rub my five-month
twin
pregnant belly. “I’ve already made the appointment. After I deliver these two little guys, its
snip, snip
.”

“What is it with you Grants and multiples? I wish I could pop out two at a time. I’d be done. Hell, who am I kidding? I’m done.”

“No, you don’t,” I tell Allie. “We humans were built for one baby at a time. I wouldn’t wish a multiple pregnancy on anyone.”

“Did you tell Allie you found out your mom was a twin?”

I shake my head.

“Oh, my God. That’s unreal. Are you looking for her?”

“Uncle Carlo has some promising leads.”

“Who has promising leads?” Marco asks, sitting next to me.

“My uncle Carlo.”

He nods. “Yeah, Lex told me about that. Crazy stuff.”

I nod my agreement. “Where’s Henry?”

“He took Chloe to the changing room. She had an accident. She’s two, shouldn’t she be potty trained?”

I laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Jules asks.

“Us. I was just thinking about how much we’ve changed. Remember when Lex came home with the boys and they were lying in a bassinet, wrapped up like little burritos?”