Page 54 of Short, Lethal & Claimed

“Probably,” Logan murmured absently as he gestured for her to continue.

“He would have dark hair, green eyes, a neatly trimmed beard simply because he knows how much I love the way it feels against my skin, and an easy smile. He’d love working with his hands, building something from nothing. He’d be a good father and love us more than anything,” Jill said, making him wonder if she had any idea that she was describing the man that he should have been.

Once upon a time, that’s all he wanted.

A wife that he adored, children that he would have spoiled only to have it destroyed in the blink of an eye.

“And how many children would you and this paragon of a man have?” Logan asked, swallowing hard as he thought about the moment Elizabeth turned to him and smiled as she ran her hands over the flowers growing in the meadow where their house would have been.

He’d imagined two small children by her side, a boy and a girl with her golden locks and a shy smile. He would have given anything to give them to her. He should have bought the land as soon as he had the money instead of waiting, but he had to be sure that it was what she wanted.

Once Elizabeth told him that she loved it, Logan kissed her forehead and ran across the meadow, through the woods, and down to the stream where they’d had their first kiss only to discover the coins that he hid there were gone. He lost his mind tearing that glade apart, searching for those coins only to realize that he’d lost everything. He tried to bargain with the lord onlyto be given until winter to buy the land before he sold it to someone else.

Because of him, Elizabeth had been forced to go to London to find work as a maid so that she could help buy the land. He’d begged her to stay with his family, but she was so damn determined to help him that she took a post before he could talk her out of it. Desperate to make things right, Logan traveled north, taking jobs cutting down trees during the day and working the wood at night. He’d worked until his fingers bled and he couldn’t see straight before he passed out and did it all over again the next day.

He’d saved every coin that he could get his hands on, but it wasn’t enough.

Not nearly fucking enough.

As soon as the first frost came, he went home, prepared to get down on his fucking knees and beg the lord for a chance to work off the debt in exchange for the land. He barely managed to get the words out when the lord’s wife was shoving her husband aside and grabbing Logan’s arm. She dragged him around the large manor, pointing at everything that she wanted replaced by spring, leaving her husband with no choice but to make the deal.

With Kale’s help, he managed to finish early, received the sealed parchment giving him the land and-

“Who was she?”

“Who’s that, Angel?”Logan asked as she watched the pained expression that told her everything that she needed to know slowly disappear.

“The real reason why you’re doing this,” Jill said, having absolutely no doubt in her mind now that this was over a woman.

She knew that look.

It was the same look that her brother Chris used to get when he tried pushing Izzy away. It was a mixture of regret and longing that had her wondering what kind of woman could bring a man like Logan to his knees.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Logan murmured instead.

“And what question would that be?” Jill asked on a bored sigh as she stood up and began her nightly search of his room with the hopes that she could find something useful this time.

“How many children?” Logan asked as she took her time making her way around his room, absently noting that the red lights were off on the two cameras in the room.

“As many as he was willing to give me,” Jill said, pretending that the reminder of everything that had been taken from her wasn’t slowly destroying her and forced herself to focus on getting out of this mess with the promise that she could finally lose it when this was all over.

“Why didn’t you access the trust fund your father set up for you?” Logan asked as she made her way around his bed.

“Because I didn’t need it,” Jill said, running her fingertips over the soft comforter as she glanced at Logan to find him watching her through silver eyes. “What was her name?”

His eyes flashed brighter as he bit out, “That’s none of your business.”

“I believe we already covered that,” Jill said as she shifted her attention to the nightstand, noting that there was a new book. Picking it up, she absently flipped through it as she said, “Her name?”

“Elizabeth,” came the softly spoken answer that had Jill absently nodding as she placed the book back down on the nightstand.

“Tell me about her,” Jill said, running her fingertips over the soft comforter as her gaze shifted to his bureau.

“What do you want to know?” Logan asked as she dropped her hand away from the bed and made her way to the bureau so that she could run her fingertips along the edge.

“Let’s start at the beginning,” Jill said as she took in his wallet, keys, and phone before she glanced back at Logan to find him watching her.

“That’s a different story altogether, Angel,” Logan drawled as she shifted her attention to the bathroom.

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