Logan's Woman (22 page)

“I can’t kill Marshal,” he said, stubborn, even
though his heart quickened.

“He’s a man. Kill him. Kill everyone
that’s at the house when you make your move. And I want it to be
soon, Carl.” He paused for effect. “Or it’ll be
you
that’s the one paying.”

Chapter 23

It was a
very
long time before Claire could
think of something to say.

About anything.

Logan, her father, the four men that
she now knew by name, and herself, were all sitting in the drawing
room. Not shooting at each other, not shouting at each other, not
even
arguing
with
each other. Instead, she listened as her father explained what he
was doing there.

“Shooting at me? Explain that.” Logan had been
stony and quiet the whole time. Claire was sitting next to him, her
hand clenched in his. She wondered if she could feel how tense she
was – she sure could.

He was leaning back into the sofa, an arm
around her back, and his hand was loosely on his thigh, fingers
twined with hers. Logan never interrupted her father as he spoke to
them.

“We did not know if you were a threat or not.
All I knew was that Joey was planning something and I had to track
down my daughter – we didn’t know if you were a threat or not.”
There was a reserved note in his voice as he spoke to them. Claire
could feel her father’s eyes burning into the spot where their
fingers were twined.

Blake took a bite of his apple, laughing –
coldly. The sound was hallow, almost mocking. “It was a poor job
your men did.”

“It was a rushed mission,” her father defended,
a frown forming on his brows.

“Sloppy.” Luke nodded in agreement as Blake
took another bite. The sound of the apple and his teeth chomping
through it was oddly loud in the silent room. Claire took a
shuddering breath, and Logan’s fingers tightened around
hers.

She drew support from that.

“What now?” she asked. She swore the sound of
her own voice was as loud as a blow-horn in the quiet
room.

“We take you home. Sending you away was one of
the most rash and foolish things I have ever done. Claire,” he
said, his voice breaking. “I’m so sorry for what I put you
through.”

Claire stared at him. Again, drawing a blank.
She curled her hand into a fist as she struggled to speak. “I
can’t… Daddy, I’m not leaving.”

He paused. “Of course you are, honey. I will be
able to keep you safe until my election is over.”

She barely noticed the two agents that entered
the room just then, standing behind the chair her father sat in.
Claire’s head shook, and her blonde locks slid over her shoulder.
“No. I’m not leaving.”

Her father took a calming breath, closing his
eyes. “Yes you are. This is not up for discussion.”

“Daddy –“

Logan cut in just then, sitting forward
slightly. She looked at him with worry and noticed the glint in his
eyes. “If her safety was so important to you from the beginning,
then why didn’t you just drop out of the election?”

If someone had dropped a pin in the room, it
would have sounded like an explosion.

Her father drew his shoulders up, meeting
Logan’s dead eyes with the gaze of a polished politician. “I was
not aware that Joey would –“

“You know you’re speaking to a politician when
everything he says is a lie. Did you major in law?” Blake asked,
the barb clear.

Her father’s lips pressed and he turned to
Claire, standing. “Let’s go, Claire. We have a helicopter waiting
to take you home. Marley has missed you and she is glad you’re
coming back.” He held out his hand. “Let’s go.”

Claire stayed where she was, mind
racing. The one thing that Logan had left out when they’d been
talking was that she had a big honking ring on her finger for a
reason. Her father obviously hadn’t noticed it – how, she wasn’t
sure. But she knew her father wasn’t going to be pleased in
the
least
… Maybe
that’s why she hadn’t said anything.

Feeling her heart drop to her stomach, she got
to her feet. Logan tightened his fingers around her hand, but she
twisted them lose. Blake and Luke slowly rose to their
feet.

As she stared at her father, she realized
several things.

The first among them was that
leaving…wasn’t an option. Her father loved her, yes. Her father
wanted to protect her, yes. But would he do a better job than
Logan? Tonight had been a fluke – she’d had such an amazing feeling
of finally having her time with Logan that they had
both
been caught unaware.
The other men, the specially trained ones, though, hadn’t. They’d
known and they’d warned them.

And the cowboys…

Her father’s mansion, surrounded by trees and
people and other houses, was not a safe option. Here, it was a vast
open space where there wasn’t much that a person could hide
behind.

She felt Logan stand behind her, his chest just
brushing against her back, sending her the support that she needed.
Another thing that flashed through her mind – would she really be
happy away from Logan? Hiding with her father? She knew that Logan
might not ever love her – but with him, she had something that
she’d never gotten from her father.

Passion. Security. Strong arms wrapped around
her at night that stilled the panic attacks. A man who would care
for her with all that he had left of his heart.

Logan had been right about one thing – her
father cared more about the election more than he did about her
safety. Even when her life was so dangerously placed on the line,
he still refused to back out. Even for his daughter.

Her heart hammered in her ears. Feeling pale,
lightheaded, but strong with Logan’s presence behind her, she shook
her head and looked him straight in the eyes as she said, “I’m not
leaving here. Take your people and go home. Finish the election.
Logan will take care of me.”

She leaned back into him, drawing as much
emotional comfort as she could. Tears threatened to build in her
eyes as her father’s hand slowly lowered.

“What happened.” His voice was nothing but a
low, ragged, whisper.

Logan kissed the back of her head subtly before
reaching in front of her, picking up her hand. She didn’t fight him
as he presented it to her father. The precious ring glistened under
the lighting of the room.

Everyone except Claire, Logan, and her father
left the room immediately.

“That’s… Claire… What have you…”

“Her legal name is now Claire Marshal,” Logan
said lowly. Despite the tense situation, pride rung in his voice
and it caused a warmth to surface in her chest. Feeling her face
start to heat, she dropped her hand.

Her father lunged for it before it
could drop to her side fully. “What,” he breathed, staring at the
ring as if it were a demon’s mark, “have you
done
?”

She flinched as he shouted the last
word. Claire pressed back into Logan, but held her ground with her
father. “I got married. To a man that will take care of me.”
Much better than you ever did
, she added silently, feeling pain flash through her as she
realized how correct she was.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he
roared, his cool, neatly collected façade cracking even more at the
seams. “You
married my
daughter?
”

Logan was silent behind her, but she knew the
warning his eyes held.

Her father, with blue eyes raging,
looked at her. Actually
looked at
her
.

“When I win the election, I will be
coming back for you. And you
won’t
have a say in the matter. I’ll call my lawyers to
have this annulled immediately.”

“You can’t do that,” she whispered, eyes going
wide. Logan’s body turned tense behind her.

“I can, and I will.” He turned to Logan
sharply, seeming to shut her out completely. “If you think you can
stop this, you won’t know the meaning of ‘fucked’ when I’m done
with you.”

Chapter 24

Logan held onto Claire as the door slammed
behind her father. He felt her shudder and then heard the soft,
pained gasp. He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to look
at him.

Tears tracked down her cheek in a steady
rhythm, and his heart broke at the sight. “Claire…”

“Don’t, Logan. Please, just…don’t.” And then
her body crumpled against his and the shaking turned into full out
sobbing.

Her body was small and frail against his.
Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he stood there for a second,
just letting her get it out. She started to mumble about her
father, about how it was wrong, about how she wanted him to come
back. And each watery, broken word had his heart breaking just a
little more.

When her sobs died off, Logan pulled
back to wipe his thumbs under her cheeks, hating how defeated she
looked. Hating how
he
felt defeated.

She turned her face into his hand, and another
rush of tears trailed down her cheeks, this time silent. Logan put
his arm behind her knees and then swooped her up, an arm under her
back and her face pressed into his chest.

“I don’t think he’s going to come to our real
wedding,” she murmured. The wetness of her tears soaked into his
shirt. With every spot of dampness he felt, he wanted to wring the
bastards neck.

He carried her to their room, pushing open the
door and, after kicking the door closed behind him, laid her down
on the bed. She curled on her side, a shaky breath leaving her
delicate body.

“Don’t think about that,” he said, using a low
voice. He laid behind her, wrapping her up in his arms, holding
her.

“Logan, I really think I messed up… I hurt
him.”

“And what has he done to you other than that
this whole past year?” he asked her softly, tightening his arms
around her. “You did what you felt was best. You stayed with your
husband.”

“I… I know that. But he’s my father and he’s
always tried…”

“’
Tried’ is the a poor excuse to
what he should have done for you. Claire, you know that I’ll do
anything I can in my power to make sure that you’re safe. When I
married you, I wasn’t doing it
just
to make sure you had somewhere to stay where you
would be safe…”

Her head turned. Big, innocent blue eyes met
his. She turned her body around fully to look at him, her lip
trembling. “What do you mean?”

“I married you so that
I
could keep you and
protect you. I think it was your innocence that made me want to
keep you,” he said, voice light. Her face turned a bright shade of
pink.

“My innocence?” She pulled back, eyeing him
warily now. At least the complete and utter pain was gone, replaced
by confusion.

He smiled, tipping his finger to her
nose. “Yes. Your innocence. You laugh at things easily, you tease
me without being scared that I’m going to kill you. You aren’t
afraid to let me know what you’re thinking and you
definitely
have a way with
making me smile.”

“And not a lot of people can do that?” she
hedged. That pink blush was quickly turning dark red.

“Not a one. Before you, it’d been
a
long
while since
I had anyone at this house. After Christina left… I just didn’t
want to waste my time on another one of her.”

“Logan,” Claire began admonishingly, leaning up
on her elbow with complete seriousness. “Not all women are alike.
For one, my friend Tiffany is very rude. And then my other friend,
Malikai? She’s such a sweetheart. I think it’s because of her name
and how she got teased a lot. Very shy person.” She nodded her
head, her hair sliding around her shoulders to brush against his
chest.

Her scent wafted over him and his eyes closed
on their own accord as he inhaled. God. There could be a raging war
outside the door, right this instant, and he would still want her
more than he wanted to breathe.

“…
So you see,” she continued, “we
are not all alike. And I am definitely not innocent. I mean, I’ve
kissed a guy before you!”

By now, she was sitting up fully, half-way on
his chest, half-way on the bed. His hands came up on their own to
cradle her hips, watching her lips as she spoke, not really
listening to a word she said.

She still had on the same shirt
she’d been in when Logan had found her in the barn
—
which she’d put on after
previously being naked. Which meant that she had no bra on. As he
pictured the soft swells, the peaking nipples, so red and puckered
from his mouth…

He groaned.

“Logan? Are you listening to me?” Claire leaned
down, peering over his face, her hair casting a curtain around
them. He swallowed and nodded, flexing his hands on her hips,
forcing control over himself.