Page 17 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

After that, she shifted her focus to the closet in Logan’s bedroom while she bided her time and-

God, she was bored out of her mind.

Every day was the same. She woke up, dragged herself out of bed, made her way upstairs and swam fifty laps in the pool before she came back downstairs, took a shower, tried to figure out how to control her fangs, got dressed and tried to find new and interesting ways to pass the time until it was time to return to her cell so that Logan’s men could clean the penthouse, restock the fridge with blood, drop off her latest requests, and did whatever it was that they did. When they were done, they opened her door and she was free to roam the penthouse once again while she struggled not to die from boredom.

She never saw them, never spoke to them, and had no idea how much longer she was going to be able to do this. She hadn’t spoken to anyone since the day Logan decided to break the news to her that she could look forward to spending eternity on aSentinel island. That was the last time she’d heard from Logan, but she knew that he was still watching her. The fact that his henchman always waited until she was in the bathroom or in her cell, where Logan wouldn’t be able to see her, to hit that button let her know that Logan was still watching her.

There was a soft hum seconds before the closet door slid open. Jill finished reading the page that she was on before she placed her book face-down on the mattress and made her way into the bedroom. She walked past the bed that she refused to sleep in and into the living room, past the couch, absently noting the white roses on the coffee table, letting her know that it was Tuesday as she made her way into the kitchen.

She walked past the puzzle and bath salts that she’d asked for yesterday and opened the door of the freshly stocked refrigerator and grabbed a bag of A positive blood. Sighing heavily, Jill closed the refrigerator door, grabbed a mug from the cabinet and placed it on the counter as she reached for the scissors only to go still when she heard it.

Swallowing hard, Jill slowly looked up as the sounds of a heartbeat sped up and-

Found herself wondering why there was a little girl cowering by the front door.

CHAPTER 10

“Miss me, Angel?”

“Not even a little bit,” Jill Williams, the woman that he still had no fucking clue what he was going to do about, said as he tightened his grip around the armrest as her intoxicating scent teased him, forcing him to bite back a groan.

Somehow, her scent was a hundred times stronger than when she was human, sweeter, and so fucking inviting that it was taking everything in him to stay where he was when all he wanted to do was-

Destroy this fucking hold that she had over him.

“Liar,” Logan drawled as he forced himself to stay where he was and read through the reports from Magnus’s failed auction.

The little prick managed to kill two Sentinels, wipe out a Pack, and piss off the Occultus demons, but his attempt to get his hands on Jill’s family had been stopped. He’d made sure of it. When shifters and demons descended upon the Williams’ mansion, his men came in behind them and took them out, making sure that the second wave of shifters never reached the mansion.

While Magnus was busy trying to make a play to fill that wish list, Logan had been making a few plays of his own. He’d blocked Pierce’s every move, destroyed the Packs that aligned with him, ensuring that no other Packs came to his aid, and took away the one thing that he wanted, leaving him with no other choice but to come to him. He-

Watched as his laptop slowly closed, drawing his attention to the small woman that was a mystery to him. He’d watched as she adjusted to her new life, from her first sip of blood on her own to her latest escape attempt. She was so fucking adorable when she grumbled, and she grumbled every fucking time one of her escape attempts failed.

Every day, he found himself watching her, more curious about her than the day before. He’d tried to focus on the plan, but she was like a fucking addiction that he couldn’t quit. Every day, he tried to fight it, tried to ignore this pull that she had over him, and every day, he happily gave in, unable to go a single fucking day without her.

“If you have a moment, I’d really like to discuss the children barricading themselves in one of the back bedrooms,” Jill said as her emerald eyes turned silver, letting him know just how pissed she was.

“There’s nothing to discuss,” Logan said, watching her as he settled back in his chair.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not true,” Jill said while he sat there, running his eyes over her as he took in all the changes. He missed her beautiful red hair and blue eyes, Logan thought, allowing his eyes to shift silver as he took in her long black hair, sun-kissed skin, and the way that her white sun dress hugged every generous curve.

She-

Christ, she took his breath away.

“They’re shifters and they don’t concern you,” Logan said, using his hold on the armrests to push his chair back.

“I’m pretty sure they do,” Jill said, watching him as he stood up.

“You should be more concerned about yourself,” Logan reminded her as he made his way out of the dining room he’d claimed as his office and headed towards his bedroom.

“Oh, we’ll get to that in a minute, but right now, I want to know what you’re doing with those kids,” Jill said as she followed him into his bedroom.

“They’re a means to an end,” Logan said as he pulled his jacket off and moved to toss it on his bed only to toss it on the floor instead when he spotted the tear from the bullet that lodged itself in his lung.

“Meaning?” Jill asked as her gaze flickered to his blood-stained shirt.

“That it’s none of your business,” Logan said, reaching for his belt as he walked into the bathroom.

---