Chapter 224

With five angry looking guys closing in around us, I start to nervously turn away from Tina.

“She’s lying,” I said, to anyone who would listen.

We’d captured the attention of most of the bar now, even more than the musician. In fact, people were so distracted from him that he slowly stopped strumming his guitar.

Logan took a step back from the bar. His hands curled into fists.

Oh, God. What had I done? Were we going to have to fight our way out of here?

How the hell did Tina already win over so many admirers? Though, on second thought, I supposed I already knew the answer to that. She was beautiful, and had a way of making herself seem innocent and small. That likely triggered a protective instinct in men who were attracted to her.

Logan came to stand at my side.

One of the five men approached. Before he could reach us, Dylan and Maria both swooped in. Maria tugged at Logan’s arm and Dylan at my shoulders.

“Time to go!” Dylan said.

“We have to leave, darling,” Maria said, laying her lie on thick. “The babysitter called. We have to check on the twins.”

Logan’s rage shifted to confusion and he let himself be tugged away. I didn’t have as much choice. With Dylan so much larger than me, I was headed to that exit door whether I liked it or not. Fortunately, right now, that was exactly where I wanted to be.

The five men stopped in their tracks, though their eyes continued to follow us, all the way until we walked out the front door.

“I hope we paid the tab,” I realized as an afterthought. The shock of what happened was still coursing through me.

“I took care of it,” Maria said.

“I take it that didn’t go well,” Dylan said.

“It didn’t,” Logan replied, unnecessarily.

Dylan continued ushering me forward, toward the parking lot, toward the car. Only when we were inside of it did he relax slightly.

Maria and I sat in the backseat of the sedan, while Logan sat in the passenger side with Dylan driving.

“Tina is keeping tabs on us,” Logan said.

“She’s likely not the only one,” Dylan added. “I’m going to drive around for a while to lose any tails before we head back to your apartments.”

“I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” I told Maria.

She shook her head. “This is more excitement than I’ve had in months. No regrets.”

The next morning, Logan and I sit in silence at the breakfast table, quietly eating cereal and toast.

We held each other through the night, but hadn’t really talked about what happened. Maybe there wasn’t anything to say.

Midway through our quiet eating, Logan’s phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and placed it flat on the table in the space between us. Close as I was, I could read the Caller ID. It said, Mabel Fritz.

Logan glanced at me. I nodded, and he answered it.

“Hello?”

“Dylan already called me and told me what happened last night,” Mabel said. “I initially thought we’d have more time, but I should have guess Tina St. Louis wouldn’t play nice. Someone who cheats in a charity marathon shouldn’t be given the benefit of any doubt. This one is on me.”

There was a story there, but before I could ask Mabel to elaborate, she was already ten paces ahead. How long had she been awake? She talked quickly, like she was on her fourth cup of coffee.

“We’re going to release two items today. I want you to be prepared,” Mabel said. “First, your wedding certificate. It’s a miracle this hasn’t been dug out already, but I suppose Mr. Hatfield Senior likely didn’t want the world to know how deep the bond between you two really was.”

I hadn’t considered that, though it made sense. If Senior wanted us to split, he would want to keep our marriage a secret. He likely had a full plan to con me out of any potential money I would win from a divorce without a prenuptial agreement.

He didn’t realize or believe that I married Logan for more than money, and I had no intention of stealing any of it.

“Shortly after, we will release the photos we took the other day, of you two and your rings, all happily married like,” Mabel said. “It will be a one-two punch, especially when we show you’ve been married for some time now.”

I was worried. We’d kept our relationship a secret for so long, I didn’t know what to think now that it was coming to light.

Beside me, Logan was frowning, a sign he was worried as well. He’d been unnerved a lot lately. This entire war with his grandfather had been taking its toll on him.

“Then we’ll need to give our interview,” Logan said, glancing at me. “The one we talked about. Where we explain the truth about everything. Else they will believe I cheated on you by trying to date other women at the same time.”

Logan’s dating exploits were well-documented in the tabloids and social sites. If anyone sat down and lined up the dates, they would see the discrepancies.

“We’re on the same page. I already have something lined up,” Mabel said. “You will need to be brutally honest about everything. It will be embarrassing. But honestly, embarrassment is good. It will humanize you. Right now, you are enigmas, larger than life figures who aren’t real people. When they see your flaws, the public will relate with you and just like that, you’ll be human to them.”

From Mabel and Logan’s reasoning, I knew this was the right thing to do. But it was also a lot. Logan and I… Our past wasn’t always a pretty one. We’d made mistakes and misunderstandings. We’d accidentally hurt each other and others on our way to discovering our marriage and our feelings for one another.

When the truth would be revealed, it might not be just embarrassing. It was likely to be utterly humiliating.

As Mabel and Logan continued to make arrangements, I pushed my chair back and stood.

Logan stopped talking immediately. “Hazel?”

“I’m just going to stand out back for a second. I need some air,” I said.

He watched me for a moment, but eventually nodded.

Alone, I walked to the sliding glass door on the other side of the living room and stepped out onto the back patio.

The morning was chill and I was still in my pajamas. I shivered in the cold, but was also grateful for it. It helped grounded me in the moment, in the present.

No matter what happened today, I would still be alive in this moment. I would still have Logan and my marriage, the Christopher’s, Rosa, and the memories of my real mom.

There was comfort in that. So I closed my eyes, and relaxed in that good feeling.

Nearby, a twig cracked.

I snapped my eyes open, only to find two figures in dark suits suddenly closing in beside me.

I turned back toward the door, but one of the men snatched my wrist before I could move to open it again.

“Mr. Hatfield Senior requests your presence,” one of the men said. His face was a blank slate, all business and no nonsense. They were bigger and stronger than me. I didn’t really have any hope of escaping.

“I need to tell Logan where I’m going,” I said.

“He’ll figure it out,” the man snapped and pressed tape over my mouth.