7. Logan
Logan
“I’m not agreeing to anything until my brothers hear it.”
Quinn doesn’t react to that.
Doesn’t argue.
Just leans back slightly against the kitchen counter like she expected it.
Probably did.
Everything with her feels three moves ahead.
I hate that I respect it.
“Fine,” she says calmly.
Too calm.
Always too damn calm.
I push away from the counter and stalk toward the front door, grabbing my phone off the entry table on the way.
One group text.
Main house. Now.
Cole responds first.
What happened?
Grayson next.
Coming.
Luke just sends:
This about Vegas?
Yeah.
That’s exactly what this is about.
And somehow it already feels bigger than that.
I glance back toward the kitchen.
Quinn’s standing exactly where I left her, one hip against the counter, arms crossed loosely now. Composed. Controlled. Looking more like a woman negotiating a business merger than the one I had spread across my bed in Vegas.
That memory hits too fast.
Too hot.
I shut it down immediately.
Problem is—
my body doesn’t.
Her gaze catches mine.
Sharp enough to know exactly where my head just went.
Damn it.
A knock sounds fifteen minutes later.
Cole walks in first like he’s ready for a fight.
Grayson follows slower, assessing before reacting.
Luke closes the door behind them and immediately spots Quinn in the kitchen.
Silence drops hard.
Cole laughs once.
Short. Dangerous.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Quinn doesn’t flinch.
Interesting.
“There’s still a Mercer into the house?” Cole asks me.
“Temporary,” I reply.
“That’s not an answer.”
“No,” Quinn cuts in calmly. “It’s strategy.”
Cole’s head snaps toward her. “You don’t get to talk strategy in our house.”
“She already is,” Luke says quietly.
That lands.
Because it’s true.
Grayson steps farther into the room, eyes moving between me and Quinn.
“The headlines aren’t slowing down,” he says. “Town’s already talking.”
“Yeah,” I mutter. “We noticed.”
Cole folds his arms. “So what? We deny it and move on.”
“That won’t work,” Quinn says immediately.
Cole’s expression darkens. “Didn’t ask you.”
“No,” she replies evenly. “But you should still listen.”
Jesus Christ.
She says things like she enjoys provoking people.
Maybe she does.
“Evan’s already shaping the story,” she continues. “If Logan backs away now, it confirms exactly what your enemies want everyone to believe.”
“And what’s that?” Grayson asks.
“That he’s reckless. Unstable. Weak enough to become a liability to the ranch.”
Silence.
Because she’s right.
Because everyone in this room knows she’s right.
Cole swears under his breath.
Luke leans back against the wall, studying Quinn carefully. “So your solution is what?”
Quinn finally pushes away from the counter.
“Control the narrative before Evan does,” she says.
“And how exactly do we do that?” Cole asks.
Her eyes flick toward me.
Then back to them.
“By making the relationship intentional.”
The room stills.
Even the air feels tighter.
Cole stares at her like she lost her damn mind.
“You want him to fake-date a Mercer?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“No.”
The word leaves him instantly.
Hard.
Final.
Quinn barely reacts.
“It solves multiple problems at once,” she says.
“It creates new ones,” Cole fires back.
“Only if you lose control of it.”
Cole laughs again. “And you think we trust you with that?”
“No,” she replies smoothly. “I think you trust outcomes.”
That—
that almost gets me.
Because it sounds exactly like something I’d say.
Grayson steps in before Cole escalates further.
“You think Evan planned this?” he asks Quinn.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
No uncertainty.
That gets everyone’s attention.
“He moves through pressure first,” she continues. “Exposure second. Destabilization third. This isn’t about Vegas. It’s about weakening perception around Silver Spur.”
Luke’s eyes narrow slightly. “And you know this because?”
“Because I’ve watched him do it my entire life.”
That lands differently.
Quieter.
Heavier.
Cole still doesn’t buy it.
I can see it all over his face.
“She’s still a Mercer,” he says to me. “That doesn’t magically disappear because she talks pretty.”
Quinn’s expression hardens slightly at that.
First real crack I’ve seen tonight.
Interesting.
“She’s also standing in our kitchen instead of her brother’s,” Luke points out.
Cole looks at me. “And you trust that?”
No.
That’s the problem.
I don’t.
But I believe she’s telling the truth about Evan.
And worse—
I think she’s right.
I drag a hand down my jaw and look back at Quinn.
“You said this helps both sides,” I say.
“Yes.”
“Then say it clean for everyone.”
She holds my gaze.
“You get control of the narrative,” she says. “The town stops seeing you as the reckless brother who screwed up in Vegas. The ranch stabilizes.”
Clear.
Direct.
“And you?” Grayson asks.
“I get proximity,” she replies. “To the ranch. To Logan. To anything that tells me what Evan’s planning before he moves.”
No pretending.
No softening it.
Cole mutters another curse.
“She admits she’s using you and somehow this sounds better?”
“It sounds honest,” Luke says.
That shuts Cole up for half a second.
I look between all of them.
The ranch.
The headlines.
Evan Mercer circling closer already.
Then Quinn.
Standing in my house like she belongs here.
Like she’s dangerous enough to burn my life down—
or save it.
Hell of a gamble.
But the alternative?
Let Evan control the story.
Control the pressure.
Control us.
No.
Not happening.
Decision made.
“If we all agree to do this,” I say slowly, “it happens our way.”
Quinn’s eyes sharpen immediately.
“There it is,” she murmurs.
I ignore that.
“She won’t move without me knowing,” I continue. “You all will know every part of the deal. And if this turns into something that hurts the ranch—”
“You end it,” she finishes.
“Fast.”
A beat passes.
Then she nods once.
“Fine on my side. Is the Wilder team onboard?”
Cole looks at me like I’ve completely lost my mind.
“You serious right now?”
“Yeah,” I say.
“The hell happened to ‘Mercers can’t be trusted’?”
I glance toward Quinn again.
Toward the woman who walked into my house with strategy in one hand and temptation in the other.
“Didn’t say I trusted her,” I reply.
Quinn’s gaze catches mine.
Heat flashes there instantly.
Sharp.
Real.
God.
That’s the other problem.
This fake relationship?
The attraction isn’t fake.
Not even close.
Grayson exhales slowly. “Then if we’re doing this, we control it immediately.”
“Agreed,” Quinn says.
Cole shakes his head. “This is a disaster.”
“Probably,” I mutter.
Luke smirks slightly. “Yeah. But it’s gonna be one hell of a show.”