Chapter 40

LOGAN

The tears started falling without me even realizing it. I didn’t mean to cry in front of Maggie.

Men are conditioned to hold their tears, and that’s what I grew up learning, that tears were a form of weakness.

Even when my mother left me at the tender age of six to start a new life with another man, I was told not to take it personally and to move on. I’d learned to build these walls around my feelings, which weren’t easy to break.

Watching Maggie with Carter only made my fears turn into a reality. That wasn’t just any man, he was Maggie’s former lover and the father of her child.

The whole point of our marriage from her point of view was for Chase to have a father, and with Carter in the picture, she wouldn’t need me anymore.

The thought of my Maggie going back to Carter made it hard for me to breathe. I was able to handle the pain before, not knowing what it was like being with her, but I didn’t think I could handle it again.

I’ve known what it’s like holding her at night in bed, knowing she’s only mine. I can’t go back to being alone.

She looks at me with a curious expression on her face as she sits in my lap.

Her thumb wipes the tears off my cheek. “You think I’m going back to Carter?”

There’s guilt on her face. I hold her tighter because I don’t think I’ll be able to hear her say that she’s planning on leaving me.

I love Maggie so much, always did, but if she thinks she can find happiness elsewhere, it might kill me, but I’ll let her go.

MAGGIE

For a CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company, Logan’s got a thick head when it comes to relationships. He can’t read people outside of his workplace.

“I know that’s what you want to tell me,” he says with tears streaming down his face.

I’ve never seen him in this vulnerable state before. It breaks my heart to see him cry. “Maggie…I—”

I don’t let him finish as I claim his mouth with mine in a deliciously slow kiss. I’ve told him how I feel about him, and yet he thinks I would leave him for someone like Carter.

Carter is a boy, and no matter how old he gets, he’ll always remain a boy. Logan was far more responsible, even in his early twenties.

He’s a man I’ve always loved. He put others first before himself, and this is exactly why he’s struggled to talk about his feelings, because he doesn’t know how to.

I wanted to be that someone who he could trust his real feelings with.

He kisses me back with the same passion, his hands moving up my spine absently. I press closer to him as his tongue plunges deeper into my mouth.

My pulse quickens, and it’s like that first time we kissed back when I was a dumb teenage girl.

My heart flutters and there’s the warm fuzzies that only seem to happen when Logan’s around. I taste his salty tears, and I wish I could strip him of his pain and insecurities.

“I love you,” I whisper when I pull away from him.

He stares at me before glancing away. “You love me, but you want to leave me.”

I tilt his head up to look directly into my eyes. “I was going to tell you about my meeting with Carter.

“He told me he wants to meet Chase, said he was looking for me all these years and that he hadn’t forgotten, but I told him to fuck off.”

He looks surprised, and I don’t know why this surprises him. He should know I would never go back to that prick. “You did?”

I roll my eyes. “Did you really think I was going to get back together with him?”

He runs his fingers through his hair. “Chase is his son, and I recall how much you wanted him to take responsibility. I thought it was a given that you would want to go back.”

“Never in a million years.”

He sighs as relief crosses his features. “I’ve lived without you before, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do it again.”

“So don’t. I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper, circling my arms around his neck. “You’re Chase’s dad.”

“Baby, Carter’s a lawyer, and no matter how many strings I pull, he’s going to find a way to meet Chase, even if it’s by force. We have to see what he really wants.”

“I won’t share! He won’t have anything to do with him!”

Logan gives me his usual patient look. “I know, Maggie, but the truth is a DNA test away, and if he goes to court, it becomes messy.

“Chase will have to show up in court, and it’s more complicated than you can imagine. You don’t want to put Chase through all that.”

“Can’t we do something?”

“If Carter does anything stupid, then we can report it to the authorities, and it’s a no-brainer that he would lose all his rights, but he hasn’t done anything yet, because he knows what he’s doing.”

“So…” My voice wavers. “You want me to let him meet Chase?”

Logan nods. “I’ll come with you.”

“But how do I explain all of this to him? I never told Chase about his father.”

“We can both talk, or I will.”

I shake my head. “I’ll do it.”

Logan reaches for my phone. I can already see that he’s feeling much better since I told him I wasn’t leaving him. I unlock my phone and a smile stretches his lips.

The wallpaper on my screen is a picture of him with Chase. He’s holding Chase in his arms while he eats an ice cream, and Logan is absently wiping the ice cream dripping from his chin.

It was such an adorable father-son moment that I had to capture it secretly.

He laughs. “Funny. I’ll show you what I have on my phone.”

He hands me his phone and unlocks it for me. There’s a picture of me and Chase on it.

My eyes well up, and I look up at him and, for the first time, I voice my fears. “What if something bad happens? What if he tries to take my baby away from me?”

Logan hugs me tighter. “I won’t let him hurt you, Maggie.”

His blue eyes sear through mine. “Carter had his chance when you were with him, but he screwed up badly. Now you’re part of my family, and not his. He can’t do shit.”

He dials Carter’s number on my phone and hands it to me. “Tell him you’ll let him meet Chase, but I’ll be there as well.”

Logan gives me the strength to face my worst fears.