Chapter 162

After Logan’s call with Tina, the mood around us seemed to sour somewhat. I wouldn’t mind Logan staying longer. Heck, he could stay all day if he wanted.

“I’ve already wasted too much of the day,” he said, when I suggested he could stay.

Wasted. That hurt. He likely didn’t mean that as harshly as it sounded, but that term still seemed unnecessarily harsh.

So fixated on the day ahead of him now, he didn’t even seem to notice what he said or how it hurt me. He just continued to change.

When he was fully dressed, he walked to me and gave me a quick, absent-minded kiss on the lips. Then he walked toward my front door. Once there, he paused.

He stood at the corner of the door and very slowly opened it, as if he was scoping out the hallway.

I’d never seen him being so careful before. My already agitated nerves sharped further. Was Logan hiding something from me?

“Logan…”

He paused, closing the door, and looked back at me.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“What makes you think something is going on?” he asked me.

I motion toward him at the door. “You’re acting like there could be a monster outside the door.”

“There very well could be,” Logan grumbled.

“What are you talking about?” I asked as I walked closer to him at the door.

Logan hesitated for a moment, clearly lost in thought. Whatever internal debate he was having lasted for several long seconds, before he made up his mind and refocused on me.

“Did you know Cameron lives in your building?” he asked me.

“Cameron from work?”

“Yes.”

“No.” I truly had no idea, though I worked so much that I didn’t often see many of my neighbors. I didn’t even know who lived next door to me.

For Logan to know…

I gasped. “Did she see you?”

“She did,” Logan said. “And… she attempted to blackmail me.”

The words shock through me like I’m a lightning rod. “Tell me you didn’t give into her.”

“I didn’t,” Logan said. “But it’s one more reason we need to be careful.”

“When did this happen?” I asked.

“Last week…”

“And you didn’t tell me? You didn’t say a word until now.” Even now, he was only telling me because I caught him being strange. “Did you ever intend to tell me?”

His answering silence spoke volumes.

“Logan, how can we have a healthy relationship if you keep me in the dark about things like this?” I asked.

In truth, our relationship was far from healthy. Yes, we cared about each other and supported each other in our own ways. But having to keep things secret, forcing us to hide in the shadows, made for a breeding ground of suspicion and resentment.

“I know we need to keep secrets from everyone else, but I didn’t think we were also keeping secrets from each other…” That hurt the worst. He was my husband. We were supposed to trust one another.

“I didn’t want to bother you with it,” Logan said. “It’s nothing. You don’t need to worry about it at all.”

“You can trust me with these things,” I said. “I’m not going to crumple up into some anxiety ball whenever anything bad happens. I want to stand beside you.”

He shook his head. “You need to trust me, Hazel. I can take care of these things on my own. Your support is nice, but not necessary in this case. Allow me to handle these foolish attempts to hurt us.”

We were at odds in this, then. I wanted to be included to help support him, Logan was willing to keep me in the dark to protect me.

We both had good intentions, but which one of us was right?

“I wish you would have told me sooner,” I said. At the very least, I could have been more careful myself. If I could keep an eye out for Cameron, maybe I could discover where she lived so we could learn to avoid that section of the building from now on.

Logan didn’t answer with words. Instead, he leaned in and kissed me lightly. It was a nice little kiss, but it made me even more frustrated. It almost felt patronizing.

“I’ll call you,” he said, pulling back. He opened the door again, like he did before. After scoping out the hallway, he disappeared through the door, leaving me alone in my apartment.

My emotions swirled within me, fighting. I didn’t know how to feel.

Such a beautiful morning… I didn’t want to tarnish the memory of it with these feelings of annoyance and mild betrayal. But I just couldn’t help it.

A husband and wife weren’t supposed to keep secrets from each other. If Logan was keeping secret that Cameron had tried blackmailing him, who knew what else he could be hiding?

I wanted to trust Logan, but he was making it hard.

The thoughts bothered me for the rest of the day. Even when Logan called me later, it was hard to shake the feeling of distrust.

Only by remembering that Logan had promised to reveal the truth to Tina was I finally able to shake away the harsh feelings.

Logan cared about me. He wasn’t hiding things from me to hurt me, but to protect me.

I needed to trust in that, and in him.

Easier said than done.

The next day, I dragged myself back to work, still a prisoner of my own conflicting thoughts. At least at work, I was able to bury myself in my duties. For a couple of hours, I was in blessed distraction, making calls and sending emails.

At my morning break, I headed down to the bathroom. In the hallway just outside the door, Cameron called out from behind me, “Hazel!”

I thought of continuing to walk, ignoring her, but she’d likely follow me right into the bathroom. I’d rather have this conversation in the hall. So I stopped and turned to face her.

“What is it?” I asked.

Cameron looked pissed, her face all scrunched up, her brow furrowed. She walked right up into my space, her body tense.

She might have been trying to be threatening, but I wasn’t all that intimidated. In a fight, Cameron and I would be evenly matched. If she wanted to take a swing at me or something, I’d be more than happy to take one right back.

“Logan can deny it all he wants,” Cameron said. “But I know the two of you are having an affair.”

I tried to school my expression even as the blood drained from my face. This wasn’t news, I reminded myself. Logan had already told me that she knew. But to hear her say it so candidly still sent a cold chill through my veins.

“He was unreasonable, but I suspect you might have more sense,” Cameron continued. “I have a video, and I’m done playing around. I’m sure so many news networks would love to hear how the boss is boning his assistant.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I told her, proud of how confident my voice sounded, even as I was shaking on the inside.

“Don’t be an idiot,” Cameron snapped. “If you want to keep your little secret, and your little fling, you’ll tell your lover that he needs to pay up. And fast. I’m growing impatient.”