Page 17 of Winter's End

“Since you’re staying”—I gave her a pointed, sour look—“I’ll make us some coffee.”

I walked back into our bedroom and pulled an errant t-shirt over my head before heading out to the kitchen. Hillary had seen my scars enough times, but I wasn’t willing to showcase them, regardless. Fucking Stanley would not be part of today’s conversation.

I’d been forced to sit down with our fathers two days ago to review the events at our farce of a wedding. Hillary and I had convinced them it had all been an elaborate prank from one of my business enemies to tear down my reputation. Both men raged about lawsuits and pressing charges, and I’d told them to fuck off. Hillary and I would handle it in our own way, through our own channels, before we quietly divorced. Since they didn’t have a leg to stand on, and Hillary was about to come into a hell of a lot more cash than the two of them combined, they’d shut up and left it in our hands.

We’d agreed to wait three months before filing the official paperwork. I didn’t need any more fucking press with the amount of heat on me from Georgioandthe FBI, especially given the due date for the money I owed Georgio was just around the corner.

I needed to talk to her about that.

Actually…

I made us two espressos in the expensive-as-fuck machine Hill had insisted on buying and sat down at the island.

“Okay, I’ll attempt”—I stressed that word, since I had no doubt in my mind Winter Wallace would not take coaching from me of any kind—“to teach Winter how to manage her panic attacks. But I need something from you, too.”

I laid it all out on our marble countertop. My debt to Georgio and the total amount owing—chump change in theory, but it was chump change I didn’t have. I explained how I’d tied Carson into the Front Street property to stop Georgio from seizing the asset, but now I needed Carson Baker out of the picture too, given his history with Winter.

A rare look of shame crossed Hillary’s face.

“I was such a self-absorbed bitch, then.” She let out a long sigh. “I should have stopped that bullshit from happening when it did. Ugh. I can’t believe Winter doesn’t hate me for that.”

“Her heart is better than ours,” I said simply. I didn’t fucking deserve her forgiveness, but she seemed to give it to me, anyway, in little tiny pieces. And I ate them up like the fucking starved sap I was.

“I don’t need your help to exact revenge, but I need him out of the picture. I need you to look at the contracts to see if there’s a loophole. And”—this was the part I’d known I’d have to do all along, but it disintegrated my pride to do it— “I’m going to need a loan from you to get Georgio off of my back.”

“Fuck off, Logan, I’ll just give you the money. I can sell one of Daddy’s watches for that.”

I held up a hand to stop her. “No. It’s a loan. I need it to be no interest and open-ended, but you’re getting that money back.”

If I paid Georgio every red cent, he wouldn’t come for the Front Street property. If Hill could find a loophole to unravel our shell corporations and get Carson off of the deed, I could get my most lucrative asset back. It was a long shot, but it would free me up to exact real revenge on Carson. The permanent kind.

I had already scoured the docs myself until two in the morning, desperate to find something that would give me the ammunition I needed. Carson had asked to meet today. I wanted to walk into that conversation knowing I had the upper hand. Right now, I didn’t. And I didn’t like that one bit.

She shot me an exasperated look, but shook her head. “Okay.” She took a pen out of her purse on the counter and a piece of paper towel off the rack. She scribbled a few words on it and signed her name at the bottom.

“Sign here, please,” she directed, and I scrawled my signature next to hers.

“That’s our ‘legally binding’ contract for the loan, okay? I’m tucking it into my purse. If it gets lost for any reason, it’s null and void.”

I shook my head but refused to comment. She’d get every penny back.

“Send me the contracts later today and I’ll review them. And let me know if there is anything else I can help with. I have some karma I need reversing, too.” She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t fuck it up with her, Loggie. I mean it.”

“I won’t.” I fucking wouldn’t either. I was getting a second chance, and Winter Wallace was going to fucking fall for me if it was the last thing I did.

I hadn’t had a craving in a few days, but the raw hunger for the delicious hit of euphoria was gnawing at my insides.

Bourbon & Blues was a trigger for me, that much was obvious. I hadn’t set foot inside the bar since I had the altercation with Georgio over his letter, and now, the need to take a fucking hit and sink into its bliss was killing me.

I needed a sober buddy in this joint, and all I was going to get was Carson, who was probably going to be high himself.

Fuck.

I debated calling Hill, but thought better of it. She was already taking on a huge favor after our talk this morning, and I would not be the needy addict on everyone’s arm. I was Logan-fucking-Eccles, for fuck’s sakes. Man up.

It was Thursday night, anyway. Winter was singing with her band, and that would be enough of a distraction to soothe my starvation. I fucking hoped.

Travis was manning the bar as I walked into the lounge.

---