28
Logan
Things are feeling a lot more hopeful by the time we reach the pancake house where we’re meeting Damien the next morning. Who knew a hard fingering was all we really needed to break down the wall for good?
Damien’s eyebrow arches when he sees me walk in with Aurora balanced on one hip and Lia crushed to my other side.
“Domestic life suits you,” he mocks when the three of us sit down, and Everest slides into the booth beside him. “Got your kid something,” he adds, tossing a little package on the table.
“She’s not his kid—ow!”
By now, Lia’s grown used to my pinches, so she bites down on her gasp and instead takes a long swig of the water the server has just set down.
Damien smirks, his eyes following the movement of my hand as I return it to her waist, before he shoves the beribboned package over to Aurora.
“What that?” she questions.
“A present. Haven’t you ever gotten one before?”
His laughing eyes turn serious when he sees Aurora start to play with the wrapped object. “Huh. Guess you haven’t. You’re supposed to take the paper off, kid. The present is underneath.”
Aurora claps her hands in excitement when I tear off the wrapping paper, revealing a set of wooden animals.
“You’re gonna have to step up your game, man,” yawns Damien, settling back on his bench. “Imagine being two years old and not knowing what a present is.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the now-familiar look of guilt surge in Lia’s eyes, and they make me resent Damien’s words.
“I managed to survive my entire life without getting one, so I’m sure she’ll be fine,” I grumble.
But Lia’s guilt only increases.
“You’ve never had a present?” she asks incredulously.
“And I’ve survived just fine. See?”
“Four cups of coffee,” says Damien as the server comes near, “and milk and pancakes for the kid. Well, you know,” he continues, turning back to us, “Father’s Day is coming up…”
I glare at him, before adding to the server, “And for the other kid, too.”
“The other kid?” questions the server politely, looking around the table.
“I’m not a kid,” huffs out Lia, sounding exactly like one. “And I’m not hungry anyway!”
“Two plates of pancakes,” concludes Damien, waving him away. Then he leans in to us. “Okay, let’s cut the bullshit. There’s a plane leaving in an hour, and you’re going to be on it.”
“Do you have the tickets?” I ask.
“No tickets. A private plane.”
“You got us a private plane,” I echo. “How the hell did you do that? I know you’re in good with the family, Damien, but you’re not a made man. None of us are, and most of those assholes still see us as kids. So what the fuck—”
“Never heard anyone complain so much about getting their ass saved,” grumbles Damien.
“You’re my best friend,” I hiss. “Since when do we keep secrets from each other?”
His mocking expression makes me redden. “Okay, fine. I haven’t exactly been forthcoming this past month,” I admit.
“But you’ve clearly been keeping something to yourself since high school, because fifteen-year-olds don’t just become best friends with the don’s son overnight.
Especially when there’s not a drop of Italian blood in them! ”
“I may be in good with the family, as you say,” says Damien breezily, adroitly switching the subject, “but that doesn’t mean I’m planning to stick around. Ah, pancakes.”
He grabs a cup of coffee and takes a loud gulp to keep from answering the question that’s burning my tongue.
Gritting my teeth in frustration, I turn first to Aurora, cutting up her syrup-covered pancakes before she can get the sticky food all over her face—though that doesn’t stop her—then do the same for Lia, much to Damien’s amusement.
“Logan!” she complains. “I’m not even hungry!”
“Remember what you said yesterday,” I tease her. “Prisoners are supposed to get regular meals. Just doing my job as a jailor.”
“Jailor, huh?” smirks Damien.
“Well, isn’t that what I am?” I turn my attention back to him. “Isn’t that what Moretti expects of me?”
Lia tenses beside me, and I place a soothing hand on her back.
“It sure is,” Damien agrees, taking another gulp of coffee. “He expects you to keep her from running this time. So you’d better not let her out of your sight again.”
“Not planning to,” I murmur, wrapping my arm back around her waist. “But how do I know they won’t come find us?”
“They don’t know where you are. I insisted on that.”
I frown in suspicion. “And they trust you?”
“The don does. The don trusts that I’m not going anywhere, and the minute he tells me to go fetch your girl, he trusts that I will. Carmelo’s being a whiny little bitch, but he has no real power. He has to do what his daddy says, if he doesn’t want to end up like his mommy.”
I open my mouth to speak, but before I can, Lia snaps, “His mother died in a car accident.”
“Uh huh.” Another loud gulp of coffee.
“I know that,” she insists. “Anna Moretti died when we were in high school. My father was in the car right behind her. He witnessed it. I went to her funeral. You’re full of shit.”
“Lia!” I growl, as Damien’s eyes flit over to her in amusement.
“Your girl’s got a real foul mouth,” he chuckles. “Sorry—what is it you call her? Your prisoner?”
“My girl,” I mutter, taking a sip from my coffee to avoid looking at Lia. Though I can just make out her surprised, happy expression in my peripheral vision.
“Your girl. Right.” Damien turns appraising eyes toward Lia. “D’you see that trash can in the corner, Lia? Hmm? Reminds me of you.”
Her happiness dies down at once, replaced by fury, edged with more than a little anxiety, judging by the way she swallows audibly.
But that anxiety doesn’t prevent her from lashing out, “Fuck you, asshole.”
He lets out a bark of laughter. “You got a real brat on your hands, Logan, don’t you?” He leans toward her, all humor gone from his eyes, and whispers, “You know, Lia, we may all be three years older, but I still have it in me to make you eat trash.”
She edges back in her seat, visibly shaking. Though by the sight of her two balled-up fists, I can tell she really hasn’t changed all that much since high school.
She’s not one to go down without a fight.
I guess I’ve changed though, because I stand up abruptly, anger flaring in my throat.
“Get the fuck up, Damien,” I growl.
“What? I’m just saying…”
“Get up.”
Shrugging, he stands up, facing me. “What now? You gonna punch me? Just last month you were happily bringing her back to her abusive husband, and now, you’re gonna hit me for mentioning Lia and trash in the same sentence?”
SLAM.
Before I even realize what I’m doing, my fist cracks into his face, sending him careening backward. I stare at my hand, then at him, realizing I’ve just punched him for the first time in my life.
I’ve been in hundreds of fights, but I’ve never once raised a hand against Damien.
In slow motion, it seems, I hear Lia’s gasp, Aurora’s confused babble, and the surprised curse Everest lets out under his breath. Damien slowly stands up, blood trickling from his nose to his chin.
What the fuck did I just do?
I bite down on the urge to run over to him and apologize. He deserved it. And yet it feels horribly strange to stand back and watch the guy I’ve worshiped and loved all my life wipe away the blood from the injury I’ve caused.
At the same time, I realize I’d do a lot more than punch Damien for Lia.
Still, the relief I feel when his lips twist up into a smile is immeasurable.
“Nice punch, man,” he comments.
“Damien…” I start, my voice thick as it pushes through my constricted throat.
“Don’t mention it.” He slides back into the booth. “I deserved it.”
“I, well… yeah, you did.”
His smile deepens as he drains the last of his coffee. “My apologies, Lia,” he says smoothly. “You never need to fear another trash can again.”
She scowls but doesn’t say a word, instead stuffing a piece of pancake into her mouth. I wonder if she realizes just how much it took for me to defend her like that.
Damien turns back to me. “Anyway. The plane leaves in less than an hour now, so we’d better hit the road. You two lovebirds, get in the back seat with Aurora. I’ll drive.”
Before I can get my wallet, he tosses a few folded bills on the table, then stands up and stalks out.
Lia turns to pick up Aurora, but I get to her first, and the toddler chirps contentedly as I fold her to my chest. Then I slip my arm around Lia’s waist to lead her outside, leaving Everest to pick up the toys and follow us out.
“I know where the exit is.” Lia grumbles a version of her usual refrain, but doesn’t look half as annoyed as her voice might indicate. She even lets me buckle her seatbelt without complaining, after I’ve settled Aurora in her car seat.
“I was wrong before,” chuckles Damien as he turns the key in the ignition. “You don’t have a kid. You have two.”
“It’s called chivalry,” I mutter.
“Chivalry would be letting me sit by the window instead of in the middle,” huffs Lia. “The seatbelt buckle is digging into my butt.”
“Behave,” I whisper in her ear, “or I’ll dig something else into your butt.”
“That doesn’t even make sense,” she snaps, but her mouth twitches into the shadow of a smile.
“Allow me to interrupt your little lovers’ squabble,” drawls Damien as he merges onto the highway. “I do have a few more things to say.”
“You always do.” I’m still struggling to believe anything that comes out of Damien’s mouth, and yet, I’m feeling much happier than I have since I can remember.
Holding Lia’s hand in mine, listening to her voice, which is just sharp enough—not the kind of sharpness that hurts, but not so soft that I’m worried she’s hurt—all of it tells me she’s mine, really mine, and it feels like heaven.
The kind of heaven that can’t possibly last.
But I’m set on enjoying this little slice of happiness for as long as I can.
“Things like,” continues Damien, “make sure to turn off the lights when you don’t use them. Watch out for those electric plugs. It’s a gas oven, so try not to burn down the house or die of carbon monoxide poisoning, okay? Now, I know Everest has found his new calling as a babysitter—”
“I’m not a babysitter,” cuts in Everest furiously. “Not that I don’t love Aurora,” he adds, “but I’m a gangster at heart, Damien. I am not staying away from the action.”
I snort loudly, and even Lia lets out a little giggle. But Damien merely nods, as if Everest describing himself as a gangster isn’t laughable.
“Right. That’s what I figured, Everest. And the truth is, the family doesn’t stand a chance without you. Which is why, Logan, your live-in babysitter isn’t going along with you to Wyoming. But I figured you’d be too busy fucking like rabbits—”
“Damien!” gasps Lia, quickly covering Aurora’s ears.
“I’m also pretty sure neither of you knows your way around a vacuum cleaner,” he says, completely unbothered by Lia’s dagger-like expression.
“So I got you guys a helper. Her name is Dolores, and she comes highly recommended. Anyway, what was I saying already? There’s a river nearby and paddleboards, but make sure to use life jackets.
Lia, I have a feeling you’re going to have to teach the idiot to swim.
Keep those screen windows down, because the mosquitoes out there are no joke.
Also, sit tight, so that when Moretti calls for you—”
For the past few minutes, I’ve been playing with Lia’s fingers in my lap and drowning out Damien’s monologue.
But at those last words, she whips her hand away and I sit up straight, feeling like I’ve been electrocuted.
“Oh, yeah? That’s your big plan, Damien?
Are you fucking kidding me? Teasing me with heaven, and then—”
“Oh my fucking god,” he cuts in. “Anyone ever tell you, Lia, that your boyfriend is an insufferable little drama queen?”
Lia crosses her arms, regarding him with such dislike that I’m actually tempted to defend him. Even though that’s the last thing I want to do right now.
“You really think I went through all that shit just to give you a few weeks with your girl, Logan? Don’t you trust me?”
“I do,” I lash out. “I have no fucking clue why, but I do. And yet, so does the don, apparently. Want to tell me what that means?”
“It means I’m a very trustworthy person, I guess,” he smirks.
“Fuck, Damien.” I clench my fists, overcome by a new urge to punch him.
“Just stop talking in riddles, okay? You’ve got the don trusting you so much—for whatever reason—that you can convince him to let me bring his daughter-in-law to some unknown location, and hand her back when he wants me to.
Meanwhile, I’m supposed to trust you to know that you’ll convince the don later on to let me keep her and—”
“Hold on. I didn’t say that.”
Lia tenses once more beside me, while I sit back against the seat, feeling deflated.
“The don would never let you just keep his daughter-in-law, Logan. Are you nuts?”
I stare at him in confusion. “So what exactly is the big plan?”
“Well, maybe if you stopped thinking for one second with your dick, you would’ve figured it out.”
“Okay.” I take a deep breath, trying to calm down.
“You told me I was supposed to bring Lia to a house in Wyoming,” I recall.
“On a private plane. Somehow the don accepted this because of some mysterious thing you did for him when you were fifteen. Meanwhile, Carmelo is pissed but just gonna have to sit tight until you guys have figured out who’s behind the mutiny, and at that point, theoretically, they’ll make me give Lia back.
You know I would never accept that. So what exactly is the plan, Damien? What is the motherfucking plan?”
He lets out a low laugh. “That’s just it, Logan.”
“What’s just it?” I growl in exasperation. “What’s the fucking plan?
“Well, believe it or not,” he chuckles, “I don’t have one.”