Page 295 of Sin Bin

The stem of Logan’s glass snapped in his hand.

The loud sound had heads whipping around. As a waiter rushed over to sweep up the broken glass, Meadow tried to check Logan’s hand to make sure he hadn’t cut himself. But he brusquely waved her off, his hard stare fixed unwaveringly on his father.

“As you all know,” Lucien continued, addressing his slack-jawed guests, “Logan doesn’t need my money. He’s got plenty of his own. But I want him to know that I’ve included him in my will—”

Shocked gasps erupted from the crowd.

“—and whenever he retires from playing hockey, he can take his rightful place in the Brassard Foundation, if he so chooses.”

The crowd was buzzing louder than a colony of swarming bees. The wine Meadow had drunk churned and soured in her stomach.

Logan was glaring at his father. If looks could kill, Lucien would be deader than his ancestors.

He swallowed visibly and pressed on. “In the coming days and weeks, Logan, you may hear some hurtful things about my motives for delivering this speech tonight. As rich and powerful as I am, I can’t control gossip and speculation. The most important thing you need to know is that I deeply regret what I did to you and your mother. If I have to—”

Logan scraped back his chair and stood.

A pin-drop silence gripped the room.

The tension between father and son crackled like a live wire as they stared at each other.

Meadow gently touched Logan’s arm. “Baby—”

“I’m going for a walk,” he bit out.

She started to rise from her seat. “I’ll come with—”

“No,” he barked. “Stay here.”

Her heart twisted as she and everyone else watched him stalk out of the room.

That was when she knew beyond a doubt that coming here had been a mistake.

Chapter Forty-Three

LOGAN

“Fucking son of a bitch!” Logan raged, ripping open the knot of his tie as he stormed down the staircase to the lower deck.

Just as he’d suspected, his father had lured him to the party under false pretenses. He’d never intended to share more details about Logan’s mother. He’d summoned him there to witness his performance as a contrite father owning up to his past mistakes, atoning for his sins, doing the noble thing. He’d wanted to make himself look good in front of his billionaire cronies. It was all just for show. Nothing but theater.

Fuming, Logan reached the lower deck, turned right and kept walking until he came to the underwater lounge. It had an oval skylight, curved white couches and a wall of glass that looked below sea level. The room was bathed in a soft blue glow from aquarium-style lighting.

Logan marched over to the glass wall and began pacing back and forth. His father’s speech was ringing in his ears, boiling his blood with volcanic fury. Chest heaving up and down, he loosened the top buttons of his shirt, trying to get air into his tight lungs.

He could hear his father’s voice, every word dripping with false remorse. The man deserved a fucking Oscar for that performance he’d just put on. Many would praise him for his bravery, courage and transparency. In reality he was a master manipulator with the heart of a coward.

Snarling with fury, Logan slammed his fist against the wall, vibrating the thick glass. Every cell in his body was clamoring for revenge. He wanted to extract a pound of flesh. He wanted to make the old man suffer in the worst possible way.

His phone buzzed in his pants pocket. He pulled it out and stared at the text from Jupiter. Where are you? I’ll come to you.

He frowned and shoved the phone back in his pocket without replying. He knew he was wrong for shutting her out. She loved him like no one else and had been nothing but supportive. She deserved better than the way he’d been treating her today. He had every intention of making it up to her when they got back home tomorrow. Right now he just wanted to be left alone.

Hearing a whisper of movement at the door, he turned his head. “Jupiter?”

“No,” a woman’s sultry voice rose out of the blue-tinged darkness. “It’s me.”

He frowned as his stepmother came slinking toward him like a cat, a seductive gleam in her eyes.

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