Page 73 of Whatever You Want

“Would Vanessa really go this far?” I whispered, hoping my daughter wasn’t listening. It was hard to believe that Logan could be married to someone capable of going to those extremes.

His mouth was tight, and he glanced in the rearview mirror. “Let’s talk about this when we get back to the house.”

I forced myself to relax, but I could feel the tension rolling off of him. It did nothing to soothe my own nerves, and honestly, I was freaked out. My head rested against the window, staring at the trees and buildings as they flew by in a blur.

As soon as we pulled into my garage, I gave Madison my iPad and sent her straight to her room.

“Do you want a beer?” I asked, already on my way to the kitchen.

“Actually, I could use something stronger.”

My feet paused, and I glanced over my shoulder. “Whiskey, okay?”

“Yeah.” He took a seat on my couch, bent forward, and dropped his head in his hands.

I searched through the cabinet, trying to find the bottle of Jack Daniels that I received as a gift from one of my clients last year at Christmas. I wasn’t a fan of hard liquor unless it was mixed with something sweet or fruity. When I reached the unopened bottle, I was glad I never gave it away like I planned on. I added an ice cube, and poured a hefty amount into the glass. I left the bottle on the counter. I had a feeling he was going to want more than one drink. Hell, after the day I had, I might join him.

“Here.” He looked up, and I placed the crystal tumbler in his hands.

“Thanks.” He sighed and swallowed most of his drink back in one gulp.

I went to sit next to him, but he pulled me on his lap instead. “I hate her. I fucking hate her.”

“We don’t know for sure if it’s even Vanessa.” My fingers toyed with the hair on the back of his neck, trying to get him to relax. It was almost laughable how I was defending a woman who clearly hated me, but I could sense his struggle and wanted to approach this with a clear head. This would, no doubt, only complicate things further for us. But our relationship wasn’t the only thing that would be affected, it could impact his job, and the fallout would not be good for Brina.

Fuck! Now I really hated the bitch. I picked up what was left of his drink and finished it off.

“I know it’s her.” He shook his head. “Who else do we know that’s this fucking crazy?”

“Logan.” I grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at me. “This is Brina’s mother. Let’s think about this. Let’s be smart. Do you really think she would hurt me? Or do you think she’s just trying to scare me?”

He turned his head away. “What I think doesn’t matter. If she did this, who freaking knows how far she’s willing to take things. This is beyond forgivable, and most importantly, it needs to stop.”

I brushed my lips across his temple. I’ve never seen him so out of sorts. “We need to have proof before we confront her.”

“I agree.” He adjusted me on his lap. “I don’t scare easily, but, Ava, I was fucking terrified." He was visibly shaking, and I was afraid there wasn’t anything I could say or do to console him. “All Madison’s voicemail said was someone smashed your car window, and the police were there, and she was afraid that a bad guy was after her.”

I nuzzled my face into his neck. “Logan, we are both okay. Try to relax.”

He ran a hand down my back. “This is my fault. I basically threw you right in her face. Marco warned me, she’s the reason why he wanted me to stay away from you.”

I placed my hand up to his stubbled cheek and forced him to look at me. “Were you the one who threw that brick through my windshield and slashed my tires?”

He scoffed. “Of course not.”

“Then why the hell would you blame yourself?”

“Because I knew something like this could happen, but I couldn’t stay away from you.” His eyes slid shut and my heart hurt for him. “I don’t want her to come between us. I don’t want to lose you.”

My eyes glistened with emotion, with how much this was tearing him apart. While today shook me to the core, my fear has slowly fading, turning to anger. The only thing I wanted to do was make things easier for him. My fingers dug into his shoulder, and I shifted my body sideways. “You won’t lose me, but maybe we should slow down. If she’s this unhinged, she’s not going to stop until she gets what she wants.”

His body stiffened. “No. We are not slowing down. I won’t fucking allow her to come between us.”

“Logan, this is getting really messy. I trust that you will deal with this, but she brought my daughter into this today. That is not okay with me.” Tears sprung to my eyes. “As much as I want to be with you, if I have to choose between you and protecting my kid, I will choose my daughter. And I can’t ask you to do what’s best for mine at the sake of yours.”

“Are you breaking up with me?”

I shook my head. “Absolutely not. I’m just trying to give you some space to sort through this. I’m also afraid of what the fallout will do to Brina.”

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