Chapter 18 #4
"There isn't even a speck of dust," Logan continued proudly. "I always clean the place before I leave. Every time I come here, I make sure everything's spotless. I stay for a night—maybe two—and then I'm gone."
He looked at her with an almost pleading smile.
"Come on, you're my sister." He spread his hands innocently. "Can't you let your little brother crash at your empty apartment a few nights a week? I'm not doing anything bad, am I? You can not get angry at me for this."
Logan looked at her expectantly, blinking at her with an almost painfully innocent expression, as though he genuinely believed he could hypnotize her into forgiving him simply by looking pitiful enough.
Elise remained completely unmoved.
She continued to glare at him, her eyes burning with irritation, refusing to soften even a little.
The smile on Logan's face slowly faded as he studied her more carefully. Frowning, he stepped closer and rested both hands lightly on her shoulders.
"Hang on..." he said, tilting his head as he searched her face. "What are you doing here? Are you okay? I wasn't expecting you to be here."
Elise narrowed her eyes at him.
"How is that any of your business?"
Logan stared at her for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh.
"Fine." He bent down, picked up the bags of food from the floor, then looked back at her with a small smile. "Come on. I brought dinner. Let's eat together."
Without waiting for her answer, he caught her by the wrist and practically dragged her toward the dining table, the bags hanging from his other hand.
He unpacked the containers one by one, filling the apartment with the warm, comforting aroma of freshly cooked food before arranging everything neatly across the table.
Only then did Elise realize how empty her stomach felt.
She hadn't eaten properly in the last three days. The moment the scent reached her, the hunger she had been too numb to notice suddenly came rushing back. For the first time since leaving Xavier, her thoughts drifted away from the heartbreak weighing on her chest.
It was two days later when Elise and Logan stepped out of the car and made their way toward the large restaurant overlooking the Manhattan skyline.
The evening was cool, the city alive with lights, but Logan didn't seem to notice any of it. Ever since he’d learned that she'd broken up with Xavier, he had made it his personal mission to fill every second of silence.
"I seriously don't get it," he said, walking beside her with one hand shoved into his pocket while the other moved animatedly as he spoke. "How can anyone decide to spend their whole life with one person? And a man, at that."
He glanced sideways at her before clicking his tongue.
"If you liked women, I'd understand. But a man? You were seriously going to spend your entire life with just one man?"
Elise didn't even lift her head.
She walked beside him in silence, her handbag resting against her shoulder, her fitted skirt and simple top making her look as polished as ever.
From the outside, she looked perfectly composed.
Only the faint shadows beneath her eyes and the exhaustion weighing down every step betrayed how little strength she actually had left.
Completely oblivious to her silence, Logan kept talking.
"I honestly think you're better off alone.
" He shrugged. "Look at your life. Kevin and Grace built an empire worth billions, and one day it'll all be yours.
Meanwhile, I'm over here wondering how I'm going to survive another month.
" He looked at her with complete sincerity. "What do you even need a man for?"
The elevator arrived, and they stepped inside.
Logan leaned casually against the mirrored wall, completely at ease.
"I mean, seriously," he continued. "You don't need a boyfriend to live your life. You can travel whenever you want, buy whatever you want, disappear to another country whenever you're bored. You're already living the dream."
Elise stared quietly at the changing floor numbers above the door.
For the past two days, this had been her life.
Logan talked.
She listened.
Or rather... she endured.
"And if you ever decide you do want another guy," he added with a grin, "all you'd have to do is walk outside. I guarantee you'd have a line of men waiting before you reached the end of the block."
The elevator doors slid open.
They crossed the lobby together, Logan holding the restaurant door open for her before falling into step beside her once again.
"See?" he said with an encouraging smile. "This is exactly what you need. Good food, a nice place, a normal evening. You'll feel like yourself again."
Elise remained silent, weaving through the tables while he continued beside her.
"Honestly, I still don't understand what you ever saw in that boyfriend of yours. It's not like he was particularly charming or—"
She stopped so suddenly that Logan walked straight into her shoulder.
Blinking, he looked down just as Elise slowly turned to face him. She raised one finger between them, fixed him with an exhausted glare, and said through clenched teeth—
"Logan!"
He froze.
"Hush!"