Chapter 223

Logan was about to knock this rude asshole flat on his ass. This man may have been drunk, but that was still no excuse for walking up to this table and treating Hazel like she was a prostitute. The guy deserved a good punch in the face for that alone.

With Dylan at his side, Logan was confident that he could take not only this guy, but also any buddies he had waiting in the wings. Logan gave a quick scan of the area, which was when he saw Tina sitting at the bar. Suddenly his fury entirely refocused.

He was willing to bet that Tina sent this man over here. He probably paid her fifty dollars.

That didn’t mean Logan could let him get away with it.

Fists curled, Logan was about to throw his knockout punch, when Dylan intervened. Dylan wrapped his arm around the drunk man’s shoulder and started leading him away.

“Why don’t we get another drink, pal,” Dylan said, an edge to his voice that revealed how truly pissed he really was. “While my friend goes to talk to the lady at the bar.”

Dylan saw her too, then.

Glancing back at Hazel, Logan said, “Stay here.”

“But, Logan –”

“I can handle this, Hazel.”

She seemed annoyed but stayed put. For now.

“If you take longer than five minutes,” she said, “I’m coming over.”

Logan didn’t think he would take that long so he gave a quick nod. Then he set his sights on Tina.

She must have been slumming it tonight, dressed in modest slacks and a sweater, drinking a martini at the bar. This wasn’t her usual hangout – not nearly expensive enough. And those weren’t here usual kind of clothes – not nearly flashy enough.

Either she was seeing how the other half lived… or she was following them.

Logan did not like the latter prospect even slightly.

Even as modestly dressed as she was, she still accumulated a lot of attention from the single men in the bar. Logan clocked no less than five watching his approach with a hawk-like stare.

He sighed, hoping Dylan was ready. This might still turn into a brawl after all.

Tina smirked at him as Logan came to stand at the bar beside her. Once there, he faced forward, looking toward the bartender, not at her. But he purposefully straightened his back and shoulders, making himself as intimidating as his frame would allow. He knew it allowed for a lot.

“What are you doing here, Tina?”

“I like this musician,” Tina said. “He’s one of my favorites.”

Logan detected bullshit. “What’s his name?”

Tina made a grunting noise. “What does it matter?”

“Why are you really here? How can you possibly show your face around us after the hell you’ve unleashed?”

Tina lifted her martini and sipped. “Yes, everything has turned into a spectacle, hasn’t it?”

“I doubt you are here to apologize,” Logan said.

“Oh, no. Not at all,” Tina said and laughed. “I can admit that everything has… exceeded my expectations, but that doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying the show. In fact, I’m greatly enjoying myself, watching you all flail about.”

“Is that why you sent that drunk guy over to our table?” Logan asked.

“He was bothering me,” Tina replied. “Might as well put you and Dylan to good use.”

Logan disliked this woman and the way she treated people like commodities for her personal use.

Though… he’d always known that she was that way. It was one of the reasons he picked her to be his fake girlfriend to start with. He thought she would understand the back and forth. The trading of favors.

He was wrong and still suffering for it.

“What will it take to get you to leave us alone?” Logan said.

“I’m not even doing anything anymore,” Tina said. “I’m just a spectator now. Watching the fireworks.”

Sitting at the table with Maria, I was at my wit’s end.

At one end of the bar, Dylan had led the drunk man outside on the promise of more alcohol, and then returned alone.

On the other end of the bar, Logan and Tina seemed to be at a standoff, neither giving an inch of their pride. I believed in Logan’s ability to handle this, but with each passing moment, my annoyance at the situation was growing.

Just because I trusted Logan to handle this situation, didn’t mean he should have to alone.

We were a pair now. A set. A team.

He needed to realize that.

“Are you going over there?” Maria asked.

I was already shuffling out from the back seat of the table.

“I’ll hold the table,” Maria said. As I started to walk away, she called, “Give her hell!”

Fired up, I walked right up to Tina, standing beside her on the opposite side as Logan. While Logan faced forward toward the bar, I turned right to Tina.

Logan could fight the drunkards and the guys, but he would never strike a woman.

I did not have that same hindrance.

“You should leave, Tina,” I said.

My bossy tone made her sneer at me with obvious disgust.

“I’m not done with my drink, assistant.”

“That’s my wife,” Logan replied, sharp.

“So I’ve been told,” Tina said. “But where’s the ring?”

Did she know something about the disappearance of Logan’s grandmother’s heirloom ring? Logan must have suspected as well, because immediately, his head turned, looking down at her now.

Tina didn’t notice. Instead, her eyes went to my left hand ring finger resting on the bar top.

“What the hell is that tiny thing?” she spat.

“My new wedding ring,” I said. “Perhaps not as elaborate as the other, but now less valuable in meaning and love.”

Tina glared at the ring, her upper lip curling. “He could afford to have bought you anything, and you settle for that tiny little thing…”

“It’s not the monetary value that gives my wedding ring its worth,” I said.

Tina’s eyes turned to Logan’s ring and she snapped, “A plain band?”

“Hazel doesn’t care about the monetary value of things, and neither do I,” Logan told her. “Our relationship is built on much more than that.”

Tina’s entire face shifted. Full-on disgust twisted every feature, from pulling her eyebrows together, to scrunching her nose. “How utterly repulsive,” she said. “It makes no sense.”

“Logan and I care about each other,” I said. “Maybe if you can see that, you will realize that nothing you do or say will change that. Please, Tina. I’m asking you to back off.”

Tina’s face slowly relaxed back into her typical distain. “You both were wrong to come over here tonight. You think you can convince me to join your side? Don’t make me laugh. You have no idea how much power I still wield over your every social encounter from here on out.”

“You’re full of shit,” I snapped, tired of being civil. We were just trying to have a good time tonight, and here she came, out of nowhere, with the sole intention of ruining it for us. Didn’t she have anything better to do? “I’m not letting you ruin my night anymore.”

I had every intention of turning away, returning to our table, and enjoying the rest of the night just in spite of her.

I expected her to give a cutting remark, but eventually get over it and move on.

Continually, I underestimated her.

She doesn’t get mad. She doesn’t give a cutting remark.

Instead, at the top of her lungs, she says, “How could you ask me something so revolting?!” and starts to cry.

At once, across the bar, five men stand up from their tables. All of them are angry, frowning and tense. All of them are looking right at Logan and me.