Page 54 of Ruthless Rebel

“No, I should go,” I start slowly, not missing the disappointment in Logan’s eyes, so I rush to add, “Helen is dropping Cassie off with me first thing in the morning, I’ve got her then until Elle and Marcus get back home next week, so I should try and get some sleep so I can keep up with her.”

Lincoln smiles softly, reading between the lines that if I could have stayed, I would have, but it’s Logan who laughs. “Good luck with that, my little psycho, that girl takes after both her parents and is going to run rings around you.”

My own smile is instant at the thought of my daughter, at the love that these two both have for her. “Yeah, well, the world could use more Elle Kings,” I mutter, before taking a deep breath. “I’ll see you both tomorrow?” My question lingers in the air, and Lincoln nods, but Logan is already pushing to his feet.

His lips are on mine before I can even stop him, but this kiss is different from the others, it’s gentle and holds promise, before he pulls back and smiles. “See you tomorrow.”

I nod before my eyes move back over to Lincoln, who is watching us closely, and for some reason I can’t make myself go to him. I have a comfort with Logan from our years of friendship, that I just haven’t reached with Lincoln yet. Logan makes it easy, he pushes against your boundaries and fights for what he wants, but Lincoln is like me. Quiet, reserved, so instead of stealing a kiss from him like I did with Logan, all I can do is turn and walk away.

The rest of the vacation I enjoy with my daughter, pretending I don’t feel their lingering looks, the accidental touches during the day, and that I don’t spend my nights wondering what they are doing without me between them. So I guess it’s safe to say I am well and truly fucked with it comes to Lincoln Blackwell and Logan Royton.

26

LINCOLN

Being back in Black Hallows is a welcome reprieve, after the torture of the last few days we spent in the Maldives. The day after the wedding, Elle and Marcus kissed Cassie goodbye and moved to a private island to enjoy their honeymoon, which put Asher on Cassie duty. I do have to admit it was a joy to see them spend so much father and daughter bonding time together, and both Jace and Logan were fighting for the spot of favorite uncle, but after days of trying, Cassie confirmed that the title still belonged to me. Yet being so close to Asher after everything that happened was painful. I wanted to touch him, taste him, and from the way Logan was drooling over him, and describing how much he wanted him every night I fucked him, I know he felt the same.

Going our separate ways when we landed was a little strange after spending a full week by his side, but he had to head back to New York, and I have to get back to work. Jace headed home with the Deckers, not ready to say goodbye to Riley and his little sister yet, and Asher and Cassie both came back to the house with me. We shared a tired and quiet dinner with one another last night, but after they said goodnight, I haven’t seen them since.

Exhaustion clings to my entire body from the jet lag, but I am more than used to running on not enough sleep, so I cram in a quick workout in the home gym, to help wake me up before I head into the office. Most of my clients knew I was going to be away, so I’m not anticipating too much of a busy day, yet still I groan inwardly as I pull into the parking garage beneath the office in town, and climb out of my car.

Eliza meets me at the door, having no doubt been waiting for me to arrive, and just as I’m about to ream her out about it, I notice the extra large cup of coffee she is holding in her hand. “Eliza, have I told you yet how much I missed you?” I ask with a smile, as she holds out the drink for me.

“Not yet, Mr. Blackwell, but it is only 7:36am, so there is still plenty of time for it to occur,” she smiles brightly, and I laugh, she really does fit in here perfectly.

“A whole week without me and I’m still Mr. Blackwell, huh?” I tease, following her inside towards her desk.

“You’re my boss who I respect very much, and that is your name, so yes, you are still Mr. Blackwell.” She rolls her eyes at me as she talks, gathering up a stack of files and mail that is clearly meant for me, and my smile instantly drops. “These are all for you, some new prospective client files to review, and all of last month's mail for you to go over. Most of it is already sorted, tabbed, and ready to be filed as you see fit, but there were a few things marked private that I left for you to open.”

I reluctantly take the pile from her with a frown. “Remind me again who decided it was a good idea for me to go on vacation?” I groan, already over this day, and she laughs lightly.

“I believe it was you, knowing you couldn’t miss your best friend in the whole world’s wedding,” she reminds me, taking a sip of her own coffee and awaiting any further instruction.

“He’s not my best friend in the whole world,” I reply quickly, and not one ounce of her believes me.

“Whatever you say, Mr. Blackwell, will Mr. Donovan be joining us today?” She asks, tapping an even bigger pile of files that I’m glad are meant for Asher and not me.

“No, Ash is on Cassie duty this week, so we probably won’t see him. He’s enjoying his time with her, and with both Elle and Marcus still away, there isn’t really anyone else to take care of her,” I explain, nodding hello to one of the security guys as they enter and head straight towards the kitchen.

“Well, if he needs to come in for anything this week I’m happy to keep an eye on her. I can stick one of the guys on the desk, and work from one of the secure offices in the back with her. She’d just need some toys to occupy her,” she says with a shrug, not realizing how rare her kindness is in a town like this, especially among people we actually trust.

“Thank you, Eliza, I’ll be sure to mention it to Ash when I speak to him,” I reply, before gesturing to my office. “I’m gonna go and tackle my inbox and all this, so hold all my calls unless it’s family until lunch time, okay?”

She nods sharply, “Yes, sir.” Then just as she plonks herself back into her chair ready to get back to work, I remember something.

“Oh, and this is for you,” I tell her, handing her the small gift bag in my hand that contains a fancy bottle of perfume that Elle helped me pick out. “Thank you for holding down the fort,” I smile with a wink, handing over the box and walking away before she can refuse it, and tell me it’s too much.

When I reach my office, I dump the files and mail on the desk and fire up my computer, while sipping my coffee and contemplating where to even start on catching up. I’m not exactly someone who has ever taken a break before, so trying to get back into the swing of things after a vacation feels a little weird,even for me.

I spend the next two hours catching up on emails, because despite my out of office being on, it seems my clients can’t read very well. Then I make quick work of going through the new prospective client files and splitting them up between who can be dealt with via email and who I think needs an in-person meeting. Once all of those are dealt with I move onto the mail, and Eliza was right, she really did tackle most of it so that it’s easy to file, leaving only a few pieces marked private or confidential for me to go through myself.

Just as I begin that, my phone rings and I see Logan’s name flashing across the front of it, and I smile as I answer. “Missing me already?” I ask, opening the first piece of mail and scanning it slowly.

“In your dreams, hacker boy, I’m just calling to see when your cock is next free,” he purrs, his tone going straight to my dick even though we fucked every way possible over the last seven days.

“Oh is that right?” I muse, tabbing the piece of mail in front of me and adding it to the relevant pile before moving onto the next. “Maybe my cock needs to come and remind you who you belong to.”

I can hear his smirk through the phone as he replies, “I just checked mine and it says property of Asher Donovan, how strange.”

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