Chapter 34
34
LOGAN
BATTLE OF THE FRIENDS? Fighting breaks out at the Sin and Sand! Are CRIMINAL RECORDS out of order for good?
I scroll through the Gossipa article on my phone. A month ago, I might’ve smiled at photos like these. Knox’s bruised eye, Jonah’s busted mouth. A video of Knox Benton getting punched in the face would’ve been on an endless loop.
But today? None of it hits right.
Not with Katrina’s devastated eyes seared into my memory.
I trusted you.
I’m about to toss the phone onto the bedside table when it vibrates in my hand. A new text flashes across the screen.
Unknown
That’s more like it, Logan.
I throw the phone in frustration. It bounces off the mattress and slides to the floor. I don’t bother retrieving it. Let it rot down there. Let everything rot.
The door to my suite bursts open. Tesla storms inside, fury etched into every line of her face.
“What the hell happened back there?” she asks, her voice sharp and urgent.
I shrug, too tired to spin it. “You saw the same thing I did, Tessie.”
“No, you—” She stops, breath hitching as her hands land firmly on her hips. “You need to tell me what that was. Right now.”
“It just slipped out.”
“ Bullshit , Logan. I know you. That didn’t just slip out. You meant to say it. Why?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“No.” She drops to her knees beside the bed, forcing herself into my line of sight. “I am gonna worry. I’m worried about you. I’m worried about Katrina.” Her voice trembles with anger. “Talk to me, Logan. I know there’s something more going on, so don’t lie to me. Just tell me why.”
I look at her. At Tesla. At Silvia.
At the girl Goldie and I stumbled on in Atlanta, strumming her guitar on the sidewalk. Not for money, not to survive. Simply because she loved doing it.
I made a vow that day. To give her a shot at the life she deserved, no matter what it cost.
“I did it to save you,” I answer.
Tesla frowns. “From what?”
“Monroe.”
“Monroe’s gone, Logan.”
“No, he’s not,” I say. “He’s here. And he knows .”
“Knows what?”
“Tessie,” I whisper, meeting her eyes. “ He knows. ”
Her expression stills. The truth settles into her eyes, her breath going shallow.
“Who you were,” I say. “What you did. He knows.”
She looks down, her hands falling limp at her sides.
“He came to me,” I go on. “Said if I didn’t break up Criminal Records before the Battle of the Bands, he’d expose you.”
Tesla breathes slowly. “Oh.”
“I couldn’t let that happen,” I say. “Not to you. Not to Goldie. Not after everything you’ve worked so fucking hard for.”
She lifts her gaze, blue bangs falling into her eyes. “But…” Her voice cracks. “What about Katrina?”
“What about her?”
“She’s our friend! ” Tesla shakes her head, wounded. “You didn’t get close to her just to hurt her. You wouldn’t do that.”
“Well, I did.” I look away, dropping my eyes to the floor between us. “What’s done is done.”
“No, you didn’t. Logan…” Her voice softens, like she’s trying to reach me. The real me. “You love her. You’ve always loved her. Don’t deny it. I could see it every time you looked at her.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does! You love her, and she loves you.”
“It doesn’t matter, Tesla.” My voice is steel now, hollow and final.
“It does matter! What the hell are we even doing on this planet if it doesn’t?”
I lift my head. “You’re my family, Tesla. I’m never going to stop taking care of you, so don’t ask me not to.”
She blinks twice. Her anger has burned away, replaced by something sadder, something heavier. “It’s that simple, huh?”
“Yes,” I say. “Maybe I did love her. Maybe I’ll hate myself every day for the rest of my life for what I did to her. I can carry that. But I can’t lose you.”
Tesla swallows hard, her eyes lost somewhere between us. “You should’ve told me,” she says after a minute.
“You would’ve stopped me,” I say.
“Well, duh. ”
I hang my shaking head. “It’s done, Tesla,” I say. “It’s done.”
She doesn’t argue anymore. Just sighs.
Then, gently, she reaches for my hand. I let her have it, allowing our calloused fingers to coil together.
She rests her head on my knee. “You should have told me,” she says again.
I don’t reply.