Page 204 of Sin Bin

“She didn’t give me up! She deserted me at a fucking casino! You know why? Because you forced her to be a single parent and she couldn’t handle it!”

His father swallowed visibly. “When I learned what she’d done, I was…stunned.”

Logan gave a harsh snort. “Sure you were.”

“I was. Never in a million years did I imagine…” He trailed off as Logan pushed away from the window and started stalking toward him.

“Where are you going with all this?” Logan said in a low growl.

“I’m trying to tell you,” Lucien said, taking a cautious step backward. “After I learned that you were in foster care, I had a private investigator track your mother down.”

Logan stopped and stared at him, afraid to ask but knowing he had to. “Do you know where she is?”

His father looked at him without answering.

“Where did she go?” Logan persisted. “When she left me all those years ago, where the hell did she go?”

It was a long time before his father spoke. “She went to Argentina.”

Logan felt the floor tilt beneath his feet, the words hitting him like a semi truck. He must have swayed a little because his father took a concerned step forward.

Logan shook his head, warning him off. Then he leaned back against the table behind him and closed his eyes, trying to regain his balance.

“Logan—”

“I had a vision about her.” His voice was a raw whisper. “She was standing at a bus stop. She had on her old cocktail waitress uniform and…she was looking right at me. But when I went after her…she disappeared.”

There was silence. He could feel his father watching him, pitying him.

“Is she…” He managed a painful swallow and tried again. “Is she dead?”

Another excruciatingly long pause.

“Yes.”

Logan didn’t realize he’d stopped breathing until he heard himself gasping for air, his lungs filling and contracting.

How did she die? When???

The questions clawed at his insides, burned in his throat. But he wouldn’t give voice to the words. He couldn’t.

He stood on trembling legs and turned away from his father, gripping the edge of the table so hard he thought he would break off a piece. His knuckles were white as chalk.

“Logan—”

“Get out.” His voice was low and hard. “Get the hell out and don’t ever come back. If you come anywhere near me again, I won’t be responsible for what happens to you.”

There was a long, heavy pause. “You have a brother and sister. They’d love to meet you.”

Something squeezed painfully inside Logan’s chest. He inhaled a deep breath through his mouth and held it, his grip tightening on the table.

Lucien said quietly, “In case you change your mind—”

“I won’t.”

“—I’ll leave my card with my contact information.”

“Don’t bother.”

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