“We need your statement, ma’am.”

“Of course. Let’s go in the kitchen,” I said, my hand wrapped around Logan’s.

He was my strength, my rock, my everything, and I was never more confident than with him at my side. We could take on anything.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Collateral

~Natasha~

Two days—that’s how long it had been since I’d showed up at Logan’s vacation house, sneaking in the back, waiting to surprise him. To have him alone and remind him how good we once were—how we could be again.

Yet here I’d sat for two long days. Alone.

As the sun set over the snow-covered mountains, I picked up my phone and dialed.

“I figured you’d be back by now,” Jax chuckled. “Good thing you have the looks, ‘cause baby, you’re not the smartest.”

“Where is he?” I asked, anger lacing my tone.

“Logan? Oh, you know, out.” He laughed again. “Actually, he’s probably in Cassandra as we speak. You know, the pretty blonde that lives next door—the girl he actually enjoys hanging around.”

“You played me!”

“No, Logan played you. I simply got paid to make it happen. Having his ex-fiancée around on Valentine’s Day didn’t sit well with him, so I’m sure you understand. And by the way, no rush on your return.”

Rage consumed me, surging through my veins. Logan wasn’t coming. He was never going to give me a fair chance—at least, not with that woman around.

“I’ll be coming back soon, Jax. And when I do, you’re going to help me win him over.”

“And why would I do that to my own brother?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll tell him all about this past summer in Miami—every juicy detail of how you tracked me down for Oliver, only to spend the week in my bed!”

“I was out of my mind that week! Whatever you gave me—”

“I gave you exactly what you wanted. It wasn’t my fault you couldn’t handle it.” I smiled to myself.

“I went looking for you in the hopes that you’d changed—that you could be his mother. But like I told you the day I left Miami, you’re nothing to this family, and Oliver doesn’t need you. He was happy enough before I got involved and dug you up!”

“No, he wasn’t. You said so yourself. You asked me to return—”

“No, I told you to stay as far away as possible when I realized what you were into! That week is still a fucking blur to me.”

A blur to him, perhaps, but an eye-opener for me. Oliver wanted his mother, and it was the push I needed to return to him.

“I want my son, and I want Logan where we once were: heading for the altar. And you will help me!”

“Logan won’t even speak to you, and you think you can convince him to marry you?” he scoffed.

“I think, with a little persuasion, Logan will see exactly what I want him to.”

“He loves her,” Jax said, sounding a little too convinced for my taste. “He won’t screw that up again, so if you think you can break them up now, you’re too late.”

“Who said anything about me breaking them up?” I grinned as I hit the ‘End Call’ button. After surfing the web on my phone, I found the number I needed. After one ring, a man answered.

“Twenty-Four-Hour Pawn, how can I help you?”

I looked around the lavishly decorated room, smiling. “Yes, do you buy furniture?”

“If it’s in good shape, we buy just about anything.”

“Good. Send out your largest truck, because I have plenty to sell.” After giving him the address, I hung up and walked over to the window.

This wasn’t the way I wanted things to unfold. I tried to be what he wanted, what Oliver needed, but I was running out of time. If Logan wouldn’t listen to me, then I’d just have to make him see things my way.