Chapter 14 #2
We continue our walk, until we reach the end.
One of the great things about the hotel is that it backs up to the boardwalk and ocean.
I watch Nevaeh as she glances around, wide-eyed, taking it all in.
There are several restaurants lining the edges.
Rides, for both adults and kids, all sorts of games, and there’s even a huge Ferris wheel. I haven’t been here in years. Since…
“I’ve heard about this place, but I’ve never been here,” Nevaeh says.
“You hungry?” I ask, focusing my attention on her, while trying to push the past aside.
“Yes!” she groans.
We spend the next couple hours on the boardwalk, eating and playing several games. Nevaeh says she’s not dressed to go on the rides, but before we leave, I convince her to at least ride the Ferris wheel.
“In the romance books I read, the guy always kisses the girl at the top of the Ferris wheel,” she says with a laugh. “But it’s usually the one that’s open.”
We’re sitting next to each other in the temperature-controlled gondola.
The walls are glass, giving us an aerial view, and I paid the guy extra not to put us with anyone else.
Nevaeh is sitting next to me, and we’re holding hands.
I’ve given up on questioning what I’m doing at this point, and just simply enjoying her company.
Nevaeh turns to look at me, and when her lips curve into a beautiful smile, I have no choice but to lean in and kiss her.
Her body sinks into mine, and her arms wrap around my neck.
The kiss starts out slow and gentle, until Nevaeh takes over, her tongue delving into my mouth.
She climbs onto my lap, and we continue to kiss, our tongues now moving frantically against each other.
Until my phone rings. The noise seems to clear the fog from her brain, and she scrambles off me.
“Sorry,” she breathes. “I think I…kind of attacked you.”
My phone rings again, so I pull it out of my pocket and, seeing it’s my dad, answer it. “Yeah.”
“One of my guys spotted Logan at the hotel.”
After I told my dad about Nevaeh, he said he would tell his men to keep an eye out for him.
“Thanks.”
We hang up, and when I glance over at Nevaeh. She’s looking at me with wide eyes. She must’ve heard what he said through the phone.
“He’s here?” she asks, her voice shaky.
“He’s never going to get to you,” I tell her, pulling her into my side. “I won’t let it happen.”
After we exit the Ferris wheel, since the mood has been ruined by Logan, we decide to call it a night. The entire walk back to the hotel, Nevaeh holds my hand tightly. I texted Rosco to meet us, so he’s walking behind us up the sidewalk. After the valet brings my car around, we head home.
As we pull into the gated neighborhood, I get a text from Rosco letting me know we’re being followed.
I consider driving elsewhere, but it’s pointless.
I knew it was only a matter of time until Logan found us.
It doesn’t matter that he knows where we’re staying, he’ll never get close enough to Nevaeh to ever touch her, let alone take her.
I text him back that I want round-the-clock guards on the house, and he tells me he’ll handle it.
We pull into the driveway, and I press the button to raise the garage door. Once we’re in, I lower it.
“I saw him behind us,” Nevaeh says.
“Yeah. I’m going to go outside to talk to him.”
“What if he shoots you?” she asks, her eyes filling with tears.
“He wouldn’t be that stupid. Go inside and shower, and I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
I can tell she wants to argue, but she nods. Once I see she’s safely inside with my parents, I head around the front to meet with Logan.
“Thought maybe you dropped off the face of the earth.” I step up to him, my fists clenched at my sides. I would like nothing more than to deck him in the face, but hitting him won’t get me anywhere. I need to be smart about this. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“I’ve been hiding, trying to figure shit out,” Logan says. His eyes meet mine and it’s then I notice they’re bloodshot like he’s on something.
“Trying to figure what out?” I ask carefully, trying to make it sound like I give a shit about him.
“I-I need her, man,” he stammers, glancing around me at the house. “Felix found me, and this guy… he doesn’t fuck around, E. He’s going to kill me and then he’ll come after her.”
“Who’s Felix?”
“The guy I was telling you about before. He runs a sex trafficking operation up and down the eastern coast.”
“The guy you’ve been working with?”
Logan nods, his entire body shaking from whatever he’s on.
“I didn’t plan for this shit to happen. It was only a couple times.
I owed him some money, a deal gone bad, and he told me I could pay him…
And then that fucking cop found out and…
” He stops talking and his eyes widen, as if his brain is finally catching up to his mouth, and he realizes he’s oversharing.
And now it all makes sense. Why Stephen was blackmailing Logan. It wasn’t because of my underground fights, or because of the gambling. He found out Logan was selling women to Felix and he wasn’t going to let it continue. So, Logan put a bullet through his chest.
“Look, man, we go back to elementary school, and that broad”—he points to the house—“she’s fucking nothing to you.
Just hand her over and everything will go back to the way it was.
” He raises his hand to scrub the side of his face and I notice his hands are trembling.
The guy is high as a damn kite. There’s no getting any information out of him.
He’s not thinking clearly. In all the years we’ve been friends, I’ve never seen Logan such a mess.
“I can’t do that,” I tell him simply. “We might go way back, but you went behind my back. You lied to my face over and over again. You put my business at risk. You killed a man to cover your shit. You and me, we’re done.
” I take a step back, done with this conversation.
Logan is high and desperate, and whatever he says will only be half-truths.
I now know more than ever Nevaeh needs to stay right where she is, because the second she’s not protected, Logan is going to swoop in and take her.
“Ethan!” Logan barks, losing the little bit of resolve he was hanging on to.
“You don’t understand! Felix doesn’t fuck around, and Nevaeh’s been promised to him, and he won’t stop until he has her.
He’s going to kill me!” He tries to shove past me, but I push him, and he stumbles backward a couple feet before he lands on his ass.
“If you step foot on this property again, my men have been ordered to shoot you without question.”
“What the fuck?” Logan cries. “You’re willing to risk all of our lives for some virgin piece of pussy?”
His words set me off, and before I can stop myself, I’m grabbing him by his collar and picking him up off the ground.
“Don’t you ever speak about her like that,” I bark.
“Ever!” Holding him by his shirt with one hand, I punch him with the other.
His face swings to the side and blood gushes from his mouth.
“Ethan,” a voice says, stopping me from taking another hit.
My dad.
“He’s not worth it,” he says. Then to Logan he adds, “Leave now, or I will kill you.”
I let go of Logan’s shirt and he scrambles down the driveway back to his car.
The guy shouldn’t be driving in his state, but there’s no way I’m going to stop him.
So instead I text Rosco to follow him to make sure he doesn’t kill anyone on his way to wherever he’s going.
I also want to know if he goes straight to that guy Felix.
Once Logan’s gone, my dad speaks. “I heard everything.”
I turn to face him. “I’m going to have to kill him.”
My dad releases a harsh breath, but doesn’t say anything.
“I can’t take the chance,” I add, remembering the last time I made a grave error in judgement. “Not again.”
Twelve Years Ago
“I feel like a hippo,” Kelsi whines, rubbing her protruding belly as we walk out of Dad’s casino so we can head home.
Well, home, as in my dad’s place. We’ve started looking at places of our own, but Mom said Kelsi will need help and asked us to stay for at least a few months, saying she can be there to help.
Kelsi, who has never had a real family of her own, agreed.
“Well, if it’s any consolation, you look beautiful.” She’s eight months pregnant and complains every day about how big and uncomfortable she is.
She, of course, scoffs. “I don’t feel like it.”
“Only a few more weeks and our little princess will be here.”
“I can’t wait.”
We step outside and the lights hit Kelsi’s face, showing her beaming smile. Taking her hand in mine, I lead us around the side, toward my car. It’s late and quiet outside, but in the distance you can hear the noise coming from the boardwalk.
“Want to take a walk?” I ask her, nodding toward the pier.
“Nah.” She shakes her head. “I’m really tired.”
“Okay.” I bend slightly and kiss her forehead. “How about when we get home I’ll run you a bath and massage your feet?”
“Now, that I can get onboard with,” Kelsi says, reaching on her tiptoes to kiss me. “I love you.”
I hit the key fob on my door, and it beeps.
As I’m reaching for the door, a man calls out my name.
When he steps closer, I notice he’s dressed in an expensive suit, but it’s rumpled like he’s been wearing it for days instead of hours.
“I was looking for your father, but you will do,” he slurs, putting me on high alert.
I move slightly to my left to stand in front of Kelsi. I would tell her to get in the car, but I don’t want to draw more attention to her than necessary.
The man stumbles forward and Kelsi pushes herself into my back. She’s scared.