Logan (Carolina Reapers 4)

“How are we doing?” Langley asked as she came over in a long, black gown.

“Great,” Persephone answered, scanning the back of the room, which had been turned into a bar. There was more than one Rookie who’d taken a shot of liquid courage before walking the catwalk.

“Okay, who do we have up next?” Langley scanned the clipboard an assistant gave her. “Maddox Porter!”

Hudson gave his younger brother a commiserating smile as the guy walked our way.

“Reporting for duty,” the guy said with a grin.

“Thank you so much for doing this, Maddox. We really appreciate it,” Persephone told him.

“It’s really is my pleasure,” he replied as his eyes swept down and back up Sephie’s frame. “Am I up next?”

Pink rushed her cheeks. “Um. Yes. We’re starting back up in about four minutes if we remain on schedule. Your teammates are up after you.” She waved back to a group of ballplayers who were holding up the bar.

“Thank you.” He offered her a smile. “And for future reference, the Charleston Hurricanes are always at your service, Ms. Van Doren.”

Persephone blinked before looking away from the guy, but she didn’t look offended by his blatant come on. “I’m going to check the next group.” She pulled Langley to the side.

“Ouch! What the fuck was that for?” Maddox cursed at his older brother after he was smacked upside the back of the head.

“No,” Hudson warned him, shaking his head.

I laughed, but it slid away quickly. Was that the first time I’d laughed since she’d walked out? I guessed that it was a good thing. At least I was still capable.

“No what?” Maddox asked, slinging his arm over his brother’s shoulder as he blatantly stared at Persephone.

“No to that woman.”

“Why?” Maddox questioned. “She seems pretty damn perfect. Gorgeous, mannered, sweet, and any woman who can put this fundraiser on has to have her shit together, right? So you tell me why?”

Hudson turned his brother’s head physically away from the blonde and aimed it toward the wall directly to our right.

Oh shit.

Cannon stood near the shadows, nearly blending into the wall in his all-black tux, sipping on a high ball glass as he watched Maddox.

“That’s why,” Hudson muttered quietly. “Trust me. I’m doing you a solid, little brother.”

Noticing us, Cannon pushed off the wall and walked toward us.

“I didn’t know she was taken,” Maddox said, putting his hands up as Cannon approached.

“She’s not,” Cannon answered as he stopped next to me, swirling the liquid in his glass.

“Then what the—ouch! Fucking stop that!” Maddox cursed at Hudson.

“It’s for your own good.” Hudson grinned as Langley motioned for Maddox. “You’re up.”

“Why aren’t we going together? I mean, not together, I know your wife is going to buy you, and it’s not like you’re into sharing—”

“Want me to hit him?” I offered.

“Because they save the best for last, so baseball first, hockey last,” Hudson answered. “Now, off you go.” He sent his brother off with a little shove, and Maddox flipped him off in response.

Langley’s voice was muffled through the curtains as the auction started up again.

“How is it living in the same town as your brother?” I asked Hudson.

“When I’m not trying to bail him out of whatever shit he’s stirred up, it’s great,” Hudson answered. “It was the reason I was all for the trade from Seattle.”

A shot of green caught my eye in the light.

“Fuck,” I muttered as Delaney appeared through the smaller set of curtained doors. I almost swallowed my damned tongue. Her glittery, dark green dress hung off one shoulder, then hugged every luscious curve of her body before it fell to the floor. Her hair was down, pulled back from her face, and she was wearing contacts.

She almost didn’t look like my Delaney, but then again, she wasn’t. Not anymore.

“You okay?” Cannon asked quietly, following my line of sight.

“Yeah.” No, I wasn’t fucking okay. I was dying. There wasn’t enough air in this room. There wasn’t a machine that could take me back to the beginning and do it all over again. But even that wouldn’t have saved us. If she’d known who I really was in the beginning, I never would have had a chance.

The lie that killed us was what made us possible to begin with.

Cannon stole a drink off a passing waiter and put it in my hand.

I threw it back without asking what it was, then savored the burn in my throat, praying it would singe away the unwelcome emotions so I could just make it through tonight. The pain, the ache...even the love. I just wanted it gone.

She looked up from where she was talking to Persephone, and our gazes collided across the room.

My heart stuttered, then started a driving rhythm, like it needed to remind me to do simple things like breath and exist.

Her lips parted as her gaze flickered down my frame. Fuck, I could taste her from here. Then she said something to Persephone and flashed a smile that was faker than that trust-fund baby Persephone had brought with her tonight.