I watch frantically as Logan speeds through the road and takes a quick turn into a clearing, away from all the other cars. I don't have the slightest idea of what he's planning on doing or where in the world are we going and it's adding on to my anxiety.
I turn in my seat, trying to see if can spot the car, when he finally decides to not ignore me. "Open the glovebox" I do as he commands and as soon as I open it the shinny black firearm catches my attention.
"Have you ever used a gun before?" I look at him like he's grown another head. He wants me to use that? No way! I can't even hold that thing right, let alone use it!
"Come on Elle, is that a yes or no?" He grunts when I don't reply.
"You said you had it under control" I whisper, my eyes going back to the gun. "I do" That's all he says as he hits the brakes and if I hadn't been buckled in I'd have slammed my head straight into the dashboard. The wound on my forehead throbbed for a second as to remind me how much it would hurt.
"So why do I need to use this?" Logan unfastens his seatbelt as he once again decides to ignore me. "We don't have much time, here, it's a semi-automatic" He takes the gun from the dash and unlocks it, a metal plate falls into his lap and he picks it up and loads it back into the part where it came from. I watch him in complete disbelief.
"When you're ready to fire, you pull the slide with your index finger and thumb, if you need to use your palm point the gun to the ground and it'll make it easier. And do not pull back slowly or the bullet won't load into the chamber and it won't fire—"
"Why are you telling me all this? I can't shoot—" I cut him off, my voice dripping with tension and anxiety.
"You have to, as soon as I step out of the vehicle you're going to run in that direction. Find a hiding spot and stay there. Josh and Doyle will come for you, you remember them right?" He questions as he takes my hand, I nod at him while hyperventilating.
"Good, if anyone else comes to you. You shoot, got it?" I nod once again before asking, "What about you? Come with me!"
"I'll be right behind you. I promised to protect you, remember? Now, this doesn't have a safety lock, so you just aim and shoot, okay?" He says it like it's not a big deal to put his life on the line this way. Like he does this every single day.
"Don't look back" He adds as he shoves the gun in my hand and opens the door. I do the same and charge out like he had told me to. I run through the grass field, leaving the road behind, every step I take makes my body grow heavier. It feels wrong to leave him behind and yet I find myself running away from the scene, as if my feet only knew to obey his command and I couldn't stop myself from moving.
It's only when I hear gun shots being fired, that I huddle behind a tree. My heart thundering in my chest as I try to cover my ears. Looking at the gun in my hand, guilt begins to creep up to me. I shouldn't have left. I should've been there with him, although I'm certain I wouldn't have been of any help.
The air quiets down moments later and my immediate thought is to go back but my legs wouldn't support my weight anymore, not even to stand straight. I hear men yelling from the direction I came and I prayed that he was okay. He has to be okay, he has to be alive.
As much as I hate him, I need him. It would be easy for me to go back to my apartment, grab my stuff and relocate to a different place, leave this mess behind but I knew in reality the fact that I left him alone to fend for himself will come back to haunt me. Not to forget his family would come after me and I was almost certain that they will find me.
I promised to protect you, remember?
For reasons unknown to me, his words rang in my ears on repeat. I didn't understand why he would choose to stay back to buy me time so I could run away. People usually don't do that, not unless they really care about the person they're protecting and as long as I remember I am a nobody to him. Sure, he's made that promise before but I didn't really think he'd actually meant it. I have my father to blame for it, he always went back on his words leading his kids to be hurt all the time. And now I can't trust any man or the promise he makes me.
Seconds turn to minutes as I hear footsteps approaching. I tighten my grip on the gun he gave me, I never thought I'd ever have to use it but here I am going over Logan's instructions in my head and trying to enact the same. I point it to the direction of the footsteps, my brain processing the fact that it's more than one person and if it's not Josh and Doyle I have to be ready to keep shooting.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, I can do this. It's already late in the night and that coupled with the fact that there's no lights around me, I am completely depending on the moon. A shadow creeped in front of me and I couldn't tell who it was so I did what I was told to do. I pulled the slide on the gun with little struggle than what I had expected and took a shot.
The impact of it rippled through my body and the sheer pressure of the shot knocked me out and I landed on my ass. My ears blared with the boom and just when I got ready to take a second shot, I heard a familiar voice.
I pointed the gun away as Elon's face came into picture. Lucky for him, my aim sucked and he managed to dodge my earlier shot. "I'm sorry—I thought—" I sounded like a complete lunatic.
"It's okay, you didn't hit me" He said as he carefully took the gun from my hand.
"Logan, where is he? Is he okay?" I questioned as I looked behind him and found a couple of men I hadn't seen before. "He's alright and back in the car. Are you hurt? Can you walk?" He leaned above me, helping me up.
"I think so" My legs finally decided to cooperate and I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I wanted to go see Logan, make sure he's okay.
"Your feet—do you want me to carry you?" We both look down to my feet, bleeding from some scrapes and blisters. It didn't hurt as much so I waved him off. I was glad I tossed my heels away because there's no way I would've have made that run wearing them. I'd probably have snapped my ankle or broken my neck.
"Jeez, you really ran for your life there" Elon commented, his tone playful as we began walking back. I guess I ran too far because it took us a while to get to the road. The first thing I noticed were the dead bodies lying around, followed by the bullet holes in the cars. It's a shame his Lamborghini got ruined this way, maybe I should've driven it when he had offered. But that didn't matter right now as I spot Logan pacing around a car, his phone glued to his ear while he exchanged unpleasant words with the person on the other end.
I leave Elon's side and walk up to him, noticing how his shirt is covered in blood. When he catches a glimpse of me he hangs up the call.
"Are you okay?" He questions, walking up to me.
"Is that yours?" I ask him back, pointing to the red spots on his shirt. "Not all of it, they had me for a second there" My heart clenches at his words as I notice the one particular part on his shoulder which is soaked with blood, where he got hit.
"While we're on that topic, she almost got me" Elon says from behind me and Logan raises a brow at me. "I couldn't see clearly" I tried to defend my pathetic ass, to which he smiled and I mean he actually smiled.
"Let's get out of here" He grabs my hand and pulls me to a black car. I climb in without a word and he follows behind me. I sit in between the two brothers, while Doyle drives us home and Josh takes a seat next to him. My nostrils flare at the smell of blood and I try to come to terms with the fact that this is going to happen more often.
"Relax, you're okay" Logan whispers in my ears and I realize my body has been shaking all this time. He unbuttons his shirt and peels the fabric off of his body, I take the chance to peek at him, see if he was hurt anywhere else. He wasn't.
The ride back home was silent and Logan had his arm wrapped around my waist through it. Not once did I feel his grip loosen up and it made me feel safe in ways I've never felt before.
"Do you want to join me?" He asks as he heads to the bathroom and I look at him dumbfounded but follow him nonetheless. With the lighting focusing on his muscles, it's hard for me to drag my brain out of all the things we shouldn't be doing. I make my way to where he is, standing in front of him I inspect the wound on his right shoulder. It looks like a bullet grazed his skin and just the thought that he could've lost his life tonight makes me take a step back.
"Why did you do that?" I ask him as he goes to turn on the shower.
"You need to turn on the water to take a shower" He smart mouths me.
"Not that" I shake my head, "Why did you risk your life for me?"
"To protect you and they pissed me off, besides I did a quick tally and figured I could handle them myself" He speaks so casually.
"What if you were wrong?"
"Then I'd be wrong, that risk kind of comes with the business we do"
"So you just wake up everyday thinking this might be your last day?" I frown at how he didn't have any value for his own life.
"No but if it meant you get out alive, I'll take that risk" He comes back to me, his eyes drinking me in slowly. The question why comes to my brain again.
"But I'm just a means to an end for you. We have a deal. What's the point if I live and you don't?" I ask, confusion all over my brain. I wondered if there would ever be a moment between us when I didn't have a bazillion questions racing through my mind.
"You still don't get it, do you?" He says softly, reaching out to tug my hair out of its tie.
"Explain it to me then"
A smile creeps up his lips and even with the stains of blood on his body, he looked gorgeous. The urge to reach out to touch him was getting the best of me and I had to bite my lip hard to keep myself in check. "Nah, that's for you to figure out" He replies.
The bathroom starts to fog up as I shoot my next question, "Do you know who those guys were? What they wanted?"
I do not miss the way his face changes in a split second but he manages to change the topic by saying, "Has anyone told you, you talk too much?"
"No, they always tell me I don't talk enough" I roll my eyes at him.
"I'd like to see that" I would've taken offence on that but his grin and his playful tone were a rare sight so I let it slip. He takes a step closer, his arms coming around my waist and turning me around.
He drags his flattened palms from my hips up my back, slowly unzipping my dress, waking up my senses as I realize we're about to shower together. In my head I'm fighting a battle whether I want this to happen or not but the second he turns me around and our eyes meet, my decision becomes clear.
Putting the contract aside, we did get married, which means he's just as mine as I am his. With that thought, I undo his pants for the second time in the day. We undress each other with no rush at all, taking our own sweet time. We had already seen each other naked yet I felt a little strange being all exposed in front of him.
He brought me out of that quickly as he pulled me into the shower with him. We washed each other, careful of both our injuries. You'd think this would have been awkward but for some reason it wasn't, instead it was the most intimate moment I might have shared with him. Sure, there was lust and desire involved, I could read that from the way he kept looking at me and the way I my hands automatically lingered on his skin longer than necessary but neither one of us acted up on it and for that I was grateful.
When we were done I put on my pyjamas that I brought with me from my house. I was supposed to go practice for tomorrow but I was too spent to do that now. I had assumed Logan would head back to his office once he got dressed but I guess he's had one heck of a day too because he climbs in bed with me.
With a sigh, he puts an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. "You're really not going to give me any details?" I question hopelessly into the pillow. His fingers clench tightly, giving me only silence. My back was pressed up against his chest and I reminded myself that it didn't really matter if he didn't want to tell me. He's here and even though I wouldn't admit it, just that simple gesture was starting to make me feel more calm and safe.
"Good night, Elle" He rested his head on the back of my neck and I couldn't stop the smile on my lips as I whispered back,
"Good night, Logan"
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A/N:
I'm loving the way Logan and Elle are coming together :)
How about you?
Please comment, vote and share!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!