I went to answer him definitively, to put a nail in the coffin of any hopes he might harbour. Jasper seemed to be the peacemaker of the pack and got fractious when conflict arose.
“It won’t be an issue,” I replied crisply. “He doesn’t want anything to do with me anyway, or Evie. We’ll put the offer on the table and then… what?”
All four of them were watching me closely, small smiles on their faces.
“If you think that Logan isn’t eating his fucking heart out every time he goes to bed at night,” Reed said, “you’re kidding yourself.” He looked me over then, some of the haunted, hungry expression that crept in, occasionally, coming to the fore. “Whether he likes it or not, every fibre of his being longs to be with you and the cub. I’m pretty sure that’s why he’s such a raging cunt.”
“Just because he bloody wants Lily, doesn’t mean he gets her,” Damon bit off. I blinked, his usual snarky exterior cracking right now. “He has to show he deserves her before he gets within ten feet of our mate.”
I flushed at that. I shouldn’t have reacted to it. I was a strong, independent woman who didn’t need no man, or men, but damn… Damon watched my face with interest, seeming to catch every bit of my response to his words, and that made him smile. Like a smug bastard, of course, but still.
“Agreed,” Ben said, then took my hand. “You don’t have to put up with any of his shit, not even for a second. We won’t do it in front of Evie, but we’re more than happy to take the prick out the back and ‘show him the error of his ways’.”
“That shouldn’t be hot, right?” I babbled. I looked from one to the other as they all growled their responses. “Beating up a man shouldn’t be hot, but it really, really is.”
“Keep thinking sexy thoughts, beta,” Damon said as the elevator doors opened. “Not only does it make you smell fucking tasty—”
“It’ll drive Logan right out of his mind,” Reed finished with a grim smile.
Chapter 56
Apparently, Logan was doing a damn good job of that himself.
“What do you want?” he snapped at no one in particular as he opened the door to the hotel room.
“We’ve got a once in a lifetime offer for you,” Damon said. “Move over, dickhead, and let us in.”
Logan looked like warmed-up shit. His dark hair was stringy and lank, his face gaunt, and his facial hair had meandered over the line from stubble to straggly. But it was his eyes that freaked me out. Dull, listless, they met mine for a moment and then flicked away before he stepped back from the doorway with little grace. We soon saw how he was getting himself into this state.
Bottles of spirits and empty cans of beer littered the table, as did half open boxes of pizza. The place stank like a dumpster outside a bar.
“Make yourselves at home,” Logan said with a grim smile, waving at the suite.
“Fuck, brother…” Reed said.
“I’m fairly sure this isn’t a welfare check,” Logan said, plonking himself down at the head of the dining table as we clustered closer. “So let's just skip over the pleasantries. What do you want?”
“We need to know what you want,” Ben countered. “We’re enrolling in a program at Crowe Corp to try and help Evie settle better into life in the city.” The death’s head smile on Logan’s face faded at the mention of my daughter. “They asked us about your involvement.”
“It’s to help us learn how to be parents,” Jasper said. “Unlearn all the bullshit we picked up from the old man. They asked whether you wanted to be involved.”
“Me?” Logan stared at each one of us, but his gaze stopped on me. “You want me in this?”
“You’re Evie’s father too,” I replied stiffly. “That’s all that’s on the table right now. If you want to be a part of her life, then you need to start here. You’ll only see her during the program and you’ll do whatever the people running it say. This is a chance for you to build a relationship with her under supervision.”
“Yeah?” All the bluster, all the ire, seemed to bleed out of Logan’s voice. He collapsed back into his chair, staring, unable to stop. “You’d let me do that?”
“The Taylor pack seemed to think it was a good idea and, in the end, I’m all about Evie.” I let out a long, shuddering breath. “If I’d known… any of this was possible.” I looked across the room, seeing each of the men who seemed determined to claim me as theirs. “If I’d known I was your mate, not some omega, I would never have gone down the path I did. I thought I was protecting all of you and your future omega from the consequences of one silly mistake.”
I straightened up then, staring right back at Logan.
“I made a mistake and I’m not willing to make another. I don’t know how it’ll work, but if you can get with the program and be a positive influence in Evie’s life, then I won’t deny her that any longer.”
“OK.”
That was the only response we were going to get?
“I mean, sure, I’ll be there,” Logan said much more gruffly. “Just give me the times and dates.”