He blinked, frowning at the full sunlight streaming into the room.
"Hey, you awake in there?"
The sound of his mother's voice registered, too.
She smiled as she entered, then her face beamed as she looked at Sophie.
"You're awake, ma belle! Bonjour! We were all so worried about you."
Sophie reached for her forehead. "I get a bit forgetful after...after..."
"A vision?" his mother finished for her.
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"Yes. Sorry." She sat up and stretched, her breasts outlined against his T-shirt.
Logan tried not to notice.
"Give me a minute and it'll come back to me."
"Nonsense. You have plenty of time." His mother turned to him. "I've ordered coffee and croissants. They're out in the kitchen."
"Thanks, Mom," Logan said, wondering if Angelina had the same suspicions as he had.
His mother sat on the bed. "You saved my family, this hotel, and everyone here.
Thank you."
Sophie's eyes widened. "The bomb. Oh my God, the bomb! Is it disabled?"
"Yes, it is. You did it."
"I did?"
"Yes, cher. You did it."
Tears streamed down Sophie's cheeks and she threw her arms around his mother.
Then they both cried tears of joy.
Logan didn't feel joy, though.
He still had questions. Questions he couldn't believe no one had thought to ask.
"How did you know the bomb was in the laundry room, Sophie?"
She stilled, and both she and his mother turned to gape at him.
"What?"
"You heard me. How did you know?"
"Logan, I've told you about the visions."
"Uh-huh. Which doesn't have a damn thing to do with the fact that not only did you slip out of my bed in the middle of night, but I followed you to the laundry room and watched you disable the bomb. What, did you have second thoughts about blowing up the hotel?"
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His mother's eyes turned a stormy black. "Logan Storm! How dare you!"
"Oh come on, Mother," he said, refusing to believe Sophie's wide-eyed look of shock. "Didn't anybody wonder how she knew the bomb's location, or how she knew that pulling the red wire would disable the timer? Or am I the only one who made that connection?"
"Logan, I had nothing to do with that bomb. I wasn't even awake when I went downstairs. At least, not in the way you think. My visions, my magic, told me where it was, led me to it, and showed me how to disable it."
He crossed his arms, more convinced than ever that he was right. "Right. How convenient. Your magic."
"Logan, this is outrageous!" his mother objected. "How dare you treat Sophie this way! She saved our lives!"
"Yeah, she did, and wasn't that convenient? Here she is now, the family hero, ingratiating herself even further with the entire Storm clan. You played it perfectly, didn't you?"
Sophie didn't respond, just stared at him, open-mouthed, as if she couldn't believe what he'd said.
"My family might be blind to your lies, Sophie. But I'm not. In fact, I'm sure the police would like to know what a little bomb-maker you really are."
"Bomb-maker?"
"That's right. You made the bomb. You were going to blow up the hotel, or at least made sure I'd find you just as you disabled it. Yeah, your dramatic show was pretty good. I'll give you that much. But I think you orchestrated this whole thing, from start to finish."
"That's enough, Logan," his mother warned, then turned to Sophie. "Please do not think for a moment that any of us believe what he says."
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"It's okay, Angelina," Sophie said, her voice so soft he barely heard her. "I think I know exactly what Logan means."
She slipped off the bed and reached for the black dress. "If you'll excuse me, I'd really like to go home now. Angelina, would you mind calling me a taxi?"
"Of course, cher." His mother glared at him, and stormed from the room muttering about how she didn't blame Sophie for not wanting to spend another moment in Logan's apartment.
He stood there, unable to believe his mother was simply going to let her walk.
When she came out of his bathroom, she smoothed the dress and stopped in front of him. "I'll be at my shop if the police are looking to talk to me."
She turned away and left, shutting the door quietly behind her.
His mother hadn't left, though. In fact, his father had entered the apartment and was engaged in quiet conversation with her. Galen looked up and glared angrily at Logan.
"Are you daft, boy? What possessed you to accuse the little colleen of trying to harm us?"
Even his father had fallen for her lies. "The evidence is clear."
"Evidence. Bah! She saved your ass, son. Hell, she saved us all."
"Your father is right, Logan," Angelina said, anger clear in the dark fury of her eyes. "I understand your reluctance to let anyone into your heart. God knows I've tried my best to help you understand and embrace your magic. If you were open enough to the gift you have, you'd know already that Sophie was innocent. We all know it, because we feel it. You keep yourself closed off and remote from us as if we're all lepers and you're afraid you'll be infected. Well, no more, Logan. I'm ashamed to call you my son."
Tears pooling in her eyes, Angelina hurried from the room.
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His father stepped toward him and shook his head. "And I'm ashamed to call you a Storm. Grow up, son."
His father didn't leave as quietly. The sound of the door slamming echoed down the empty hallway.
Shit! How had he become the bad guy here?
And he still hadn't gotten any goddamn answers. She'd left fast enough, no doubt because she hadn't developed her lies yet.
Well, he'd see her, and demand the answers he sought.
Because he wasn't wrong here. He wasn't, no matter what his parents said.
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Chapter Fourteen
"Good lord, Sophie, you could have been killed!"
"No shit, honey. What the hell were you thinking going after that bomb?"
Sophie looked to both Sam and Josh and shrugged. "I did what I had to do."
She hadn't told them about Logan, about his accusations that she had planted the bomb.
It just hurt too much to even think about it, and yet his angry words resounded over and over in her mind. Swiping away the tears, she tried for a smile.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Sam asked, wiping a tear away with her thumb.
What would she do without her two best friends?
"I...I can't talk about it."
"Come on, Soph," Josh urged, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "You can lean on us. That's what we're here for."
The tears flowed freely as she allowed herself to feel the miserable sensations living within her. "Logan," she managed. "He thought I did it."
"What?" Sam said, her eyes widening. "That's insane!"
"Why in the hell would he think that?" Josh asked, his words biting, anger evident and growing. "I told you he was an asinine prick."
"Well he did find me in the room with the bomb. And I knew how to disconnect the timer. In some ways I can understand that."
"But if he loved you, if he knew you like we do, he'd know there's no way you could do something like this," Sam said.
They were right. He should have known. But he didn't believe her, didn't believe in her.
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Didn't love her.
Both Sam and Josh accepted what she'd done without asking for explanation.
Because they knew her. More importantly, they trusted her.
She'd never had Logan's trust. And she never would. From the first time he'd met her, he thought she was trying to deceive him and his family, and he'd go on thinking that no matter what she said or did.
"I need to go home." She wanted a shower, a change of clothes and needed to spend a few hours letting out the pain she'd been holding inside since she left the hotel.
She stood, but Josh wouldn't let her go. "I'll take you home. Sam, can you watch over the shop today?"
"Of course." Sam hugged her and said, "Go, get some rest. We'll talk later."
She nodded and let Josh lead her out to his car. The drive home was quiet, and fortunately Josh didn't press for details of her conversation with Logan. He followed her inside and said he'd make some tea while she took a shower.
It felt good to wash away the day before, at least physically. Mentally and emotionally...that was going to take some time and effort. Donning a pair of sweats and a loose shirt, she slipped through the beads and curled up on the sofa. Josh had a hot cup of herbal tea ready and sat down next to her.
She sipped the tea, knowing he was expecting her to talk about Logan. But she couldn't. Talking meant thinking about it, and his accusations were still prominent in her mind. What she needed was to push them away, not talk about them so they'd hover nearby.
Josh smoothed the wet tendrils of her hair and pulled her closer. Admittedly, it felt good to be comforted, to know that she had at least two people in her life who truly believed in her.
"I warned you about him," he said, kissing the top of her head.
She let out a small laugh. "That you did."
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"I could kill that sonofabitch for hurting you like this, Soph."
Holding the tears at bay, she looked up at him. "I appreciate that, Josh. But I knew what I was getting into with Logan. He was honest with me, told me he didn't trust me, didn't care for me. Yet I stupidly believed I could change his feelings."
"Just because you knew where the bomb was, and how to cut the red wire doesn't mean you planted it there. God, doesn't he know about your magic?"
"I guess not. He just assumed..." Wait. Something was wrong here. Sophie stilled, her mind trying to process what Josh had just said.
No, she was wrong. She must have mentioned the red wire somewhere in her explanations, right? Forcing herself to remember the short conversation she'd had with both Josh and Sam at the shop, it occurred to her she'd never really given details to either of them, and it was way too soon for any police or news reports to be out.
She gently pushed away from Josh's chest and sat up, not wanting to ask the question, not wanting the suspicions that had crept into her mind. "Josh, how did you know about the red wire on the bomb?"