He shook his head slowly.
“It hasn’t been an easy process. I grew up with my dads, my grandfathers and my great-grandfathers telling me stories of everything they had to do to keep the town under our control. I thought this was my moment, the time where I corrected the trajectory our family had been on and got us back on the well-worn path…”
He glanced back at Logan then.
“But I can see now I don’t know my arse from a hole in the ground.”
Evie let out a theatrical little gasp, the kind she always used when she caught adults swearing. I shot her a meaningful look.
“I’ll let the council know that a new ruling pack needs to be found as soon as I get home.”
“What?”
A few people said that, but Logan’s was uttered the loudest. He seemed to wake up from whatever coma he was in, his focus sharpening as he stared at his dad.
“You’ll all need to let me know what you want done with your stuff. I’ve been talking to the lawyer and we might be able to hang onto the farm despite the shift in leadership. The paperwork’s a little fuzzy in that regards but…”
Richard looked back to his mate then.
“Gracie, can I get a moment of your time? You don’t owe me anything after the balls up of this afternoon but…”
She got to her feet and nodded, looking at everyone else as she passed, before the two of them walked outside. The doorbell rang again, cutting through the silence.
“Well,thatmust be the pizza,” Carmen said, getting to her feet again, Ben and Taylor moving to go and help her.
“Come and have a beer, mate,” Jasper offered Logan but he just stood there for a moment like he’d been struck dumb, before shaking his head and stalking out of the house.
It’d been a long,drama-filled day, so when we got home after a decadent meal of gourmet pizza and Carmen’s famous chocolate cake, I was glad to just be in my house, with my pack, Jasper in Evie’s room, lying on her bed reading a book to her, Reed walking over to me on the couch to press a cup of coffee into my fingers and then curl himself around me. I pressed my body back against his, feeling all that warm solidity. His arms went around me, cradling me against him, all that savagery and all that softness in one embrace. He nuzzled my neck, finding with unerring aim the bite he’d left on me, something he seemed to want to do over and over. But as I shivered, staring out the big glass door at the back of my house, I saw him.
A shadow in the growing dark, he slunk into my garden like a fox in a henhouse. A big, black wolf with eyes like silver that seemed to pierce the glass and spear straight into me. Reed chuckled at that, then let out a low warning growl before sinking his teeth into the scar he’d left, then sucking at the overly sensitive skin.
“That’s it, beta,” he murmured as I began to respond. “Show him everything he’s missing out on.”
Chapter 60
I hadn’t expected to see Logan again. He could’ve stayed and had a conversation with us at Carmen’s or come and talked to me in my garden, rather than lurking around like a stray dog. Instead, he’d taken off like the pound was on his tail and I hadn’t seen him again that night. So, colour me surprised when he turned up at the next session at Crowe Corp.
“Brother,” Ben said by way of greeting.
Logan nodded to the guys and then walked over to Evie.
“How’s it going, cub? How’s the hands?” He took hers in his and then looked them over, Evie watching him closely as she did so.
That was always a worry. When you had her full attention, awkward comments ensued.
“Dad, why don’t you live with us?” Logan paused in what he was doing, then looked up at Evie. “Everyone else does. I know the house is really crowded and you might think you can’t fit, but I think you can.”
“I made a mistake, cub, that’s why I can’t live there,” he said. “Now flex your hands. No pain?”
“Nope. My other dads are always leaving the seat of the toilet up and Mummy screamed at them for doing that the other day, but she forgives them, especially when they give her kisses afterwards. Maybe you need to give her kisses too?”
“Evie…” I growled, but the damage was done. Logan chanced a look up at me and then back at my daughter.
“I’ve got to do a lot more apologising before I get to the kissing part. Now, mind in the game. You’re gonna kick those boys’ arses today.”
“We’re not supposed to say arses.”
“Butt? Bottoms? Rear ends?” She collapsed into giggles. My daughter might be fairly bright, but like a lot of kids, bums were a source of endless hysterics to her. “Help your poor old dad out here.”