“I’ve been working late. I have a big case,” Brad defended.
“She does, too.”
“I don’t have to prance around naked for mine.”
“This attitude only shows that you know squat about working undercover. Solving crime and stopping bad shit is more important than modesty or your tight-ass idea of morality.”
Tara jumped into the fray before Logan and Brad started dismantling one another. “Please, Brad . . . You’re asking me to give up the opportunity to nail a guy who kidnaps ten-year-old girls, then sells them to perverts in brothels. So what if someone sees my boobs? I’m an adult; I can handle it. What about these poor girls? Who is going to fight for them? Should I apologize to them because my fiancé is squeamish?”
“You’re being obtuse. I’m not objecting to the case; I’m objecting to him.” Brad pointed.
Logan smiled. “From the FBI’s perspective, we’re a package deal.”
“He could be anyone else, and you still wouldn’t want another man touching me this way,” Tara pointed out.
One look at Brad’s face told her that rationale wasn’t going to cut it for him. Anxiety clawed through her, along with a fear of letting go of her status quo. What would she do without his anchoring influence? And what about her stepfather? He’d be so disappointed, then disapproving if he found out Logan was back in her life. No, she wasn’t a teenager anymore, could choose who she wanted to be with, but Adam was all the family she had left. She hated letting him down after he’d all but raised her.
Even so, the big question loomed: What did she want? In the end, she was going to have to battle her natural inclination to please everyone and decide what she wanted.
“Maybe not,” Brad conceded. “But he makes it worse. It took years to exorcise his ghost from between us. Last year, when I finally thought you’d overcome him, I proposed. Now he’s back, and this time it’ll be worse. Just to inflate his ego, he’ll make sure you won’t forget him, even as he’s ripping your heart to shreds.”
“Brad—”
“Choose, Tara. Come with me or give me the ring.”
She didn’t dare look at Logan. She didn’t want to look at Brad. A million thoughts swirled in her head. The need to help Darcy. The crusading spirit in her chest to stop the abduction of these poor young girls sold into sex. The fire in her belly to be a good agent. The ache Logan stirred in her warred with the fear of losing Brad’s stability. If Logan knew she was no longer engaged, he’d ruthlessly go after her body. And her heart would follow.
If she was that worried about Logan stealing her heart, how in love with Brad could she be? The too-honest question made her flinch. But there was no taking it back. The risk in losing Brad wasn’t in losing the love of her life, but the man who made her feel like she’d finally have the family she wanted. After losing her mother young and being bounced around between her grandparents and an aunt until Adam stepped in and adopted her, she craved having one roof and one man to come home to. She wanted to know that her children would never wonder where they’d live tomorrow. Brad could give that to her.
But was it fair to hang on to someone who’d been nothing but patient and kind to her when that family was off in the future and she wasn’t sure that she loved him now?
Without looking at either man, she made her way to Logan’s little cabinet on the far side of the room. She doffed the socks and the robe, feeling both men’s eyes searing her bare backside. Then she donned her suit, buttoned her blouse, adjusted the lapels of her coat, stepped into her heels.
She grabbed the ring in her hand, then crossed the room again, focusing on Brad. “Shall we go?”
Astonishment flashed across Brad’s face, then an exultant smile that had Tara wincing.
“Tara.” Logan grabbed her hand, his dark brows bunched over his stunned gaze.
God, every time he touched her, her body flared hot. She didn’t want to leave him.
“Get your hand off her,” Brad growled, placing his arm around her waist.
It was one of the few times he’d ever been possessive.
“I can’t do this, Logan. Not now.” Tara squelched her guilt, then eased away from them both before addressing Brad. “Let’s go.”
“Gladly,” Brad said as he shot Logan a triumphant glare.
Then he slammed the dungeon door behind them, and the last thing Tara saw was shock and agony ripping across Logan’s face. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest.
With a kiss at her temple, Brad threw his arm around her again and drew her close as they walked down the hall. “Thank you. I was so afraid I was going to lose you.”
In a few minutes, he’d hate her so much that he wouldn’t care. But for everything he’d done for her, been for her, for the past three years, he deserved the respect of privacy for this conversation. “Where can we talk?”
Ten minutes later, they were back at the house they shared. It had been investment property for Brad, but when the previous tenants had moved out and she’d accepted Brad’s proposal, he’d given up his studio apartment and asked her to move in here with him. As he opened the front door, into the living room, Tara was struck by the fact that this place had never felt like home.
“Do you want to eat first, then talk?” he asked gently.
“I’m not—” Tara shook her head. “No.” She drew in a long breath and held the engagement ring out to Brad. “I’m sorry but I can’t marry you.”
Shock blanched his face as he stared, frozen. When she pressed the ring into his hand, his fingers curled slowly around it. “You’re picking him over me?”
“This isn’t about Logan. It’s about making the right choices for me.”
Brad’s anger took over. “Tell yourself that all you want. I know the truth. He will, too.”
“It’s about my case and my friend and the duty I swore to upheld when I joined the FBI. It’s about what I want to accomplish. I won’t quit.” And I won’t continue pretending that I love you as much as you want me to.
Brad shook his head as he pocketed the ring. “I wonder if he knew when he staged that demonstration for me earlier that he’d break us apart.”
Demonstration? “What d-do you mean?”
“He must have known that my watching you with him would tear me apart inside.”
Shock turned the blood in her veins to ice. Logan had known that Brad was watching him go down on her? Horror washed over Tara. And certainty. Of course Logan had known. Brad had been the “someone unpleasant” he’d had to deal with.
That son of a bitch. Betrayal scalded her. And fury. She’d trusted him enough to submit, so she could feel for herself the connection that Jason and Greta shared. He’d used the scene as a way to rub her desire in Brad’s face.
“He’s a fucking bastard, Tara,” Brad spat. “Enjoy the hell out of your life, especially after he makes you miserable again. Screaming orgasms aside, you know that day is coming. And I won’t be around to pick up the pieces. Leave your key on the kitchen counter.”
Brad stormed through the front door—and out of her life.
Just like that, her perfect picket-fence future was gone. How the hell had that happened so quickly?
Tara braced herself on the back of the sofa with shaking hands. She needed a few minutes to process the fact that she was no longer engaged to an up-and-coming ADA who’d sworn he’d love her forever—and that her first lover had done his level best to break them up. And why? Just to see if she’d be gullible enough to fall for him twice? All the bullshit earlier about him caring for her and wanting to protect her . . . She suspected all he’d really wanted was to strip Brad from her life so he could have her back at his mercy. No way was she going to give him the satisfaction.
Club Dominion—Friday afternoon
Two hours later, Tara walked back into the dungeon. Logan felt his entire body go rubbery with relief. He’d feared that when she’d left with Brad, she’d never return, that she’d marry the schmuck and leave Logan alone and fucking miserable for the rest of his crappy life.
“You’re back?” God, even his voice wobbled nervously.
When she stepped closer, he looked under that furious glare to see that she’d been crying. Something in his chest seized up. Her expression told him that she hadn’t shed all her tears yet. Was she that miserable being here with him?
Logan raked a hand through his hair. If she stayed, he’d train her. But damn it, he wanted to do everything possible to make her happy. He couldn’t stand that anguished face. He hoped like hell that he could make her fall in love with him again, not only because he’d told Thorpe he was going to collar and marry her, but because he didn’t think his god damn sanity would last without her.
But if, after her training, he only made her miserable, he’d let her go.
“I’m back.” She raised her chin proudly. “Don’t gloat. If it weren’t for my job, I swear to God, I’d never come within ten feet of you again.”
Without another word, she took off her clothes, folded them at his feet, then assumed the slave position. Despite being posed in a way meant to communicate her desire to serve, her body shook with fury, complete with a “fuck off” vibe.
Shit. She looked so lovely, and it was all he could do to keep his hands off. But he had to figure out what was in her heart first. So the bad news he’d received while she’d been gone would have to wait.
“Cherry, tell me what happened.”
Tara glared at him with the fire of a thousand suns. “I ended my engagement to Brad.”
Hope and triumph spiked inside him. She’d left the asshole? Thank God. Not only was Brad a distraction Tara didn’t need right now, he was completely wrong for her. He’d been standing squarely in Logan’s way. It was a relief to have that obstacle removed.
“But then, I suppose you manipulated the situation—and me— as always.” She tossed him a bitter glare. “Why else would you go down on me and force me to beg for orgasm, unless you knew he was watching.”
Shit. She’d totally mistaken his utter need to fight for her as a betrayal. “I’d be happy to do that every day. Brad watching was merely a bonus. I told him to leave, but I suspected he’d be stupid enough to stay and watch. Did I want to piss him off? I didn’t really care how he felt. Did I hope to come between the two of you? He and I had already covered that. He knew the score. But I didn’t do it for him; I did it because I couldn’t stay away from you for another god damned minute. I needed to touch you.”
She hesitated. “What did you cover with Brad?”
Tara didn’t want to listen to him. Frustration gnawed at his stomach. He’d been right to put the decision to hear him out in her hands. He wasn’t going to be able to force her to believe him, especially a few minutes after breaking up with her fiancé. Unlike her behavior in the dungeon, this had to be her choice. She’d been through a lot already today, and it was barely after noon.
“Tell you what, Cherry. We’ll talk about it when we’re both in a better place.”
Tara was silent for such a long moment, her face so angry and full of hurt. Dread wound its way through Logan’s system. “You manipulated my future. I started to trust you and . . . you hurt me.”
He winced. Every word was true. He was used to being ruthless; fighting terrorist thugs required it, and sometimes, he forgot to turn that off.
“Baby, I didn’t mean . . .” To come between Tara and Brad? Yeah, he had. Or at least he’d hoped to make her think about where her heart truly lay. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
Logan couldn’t say that he was sorry for the result—but he was sorry for her pain.
She wouldn’t even look at him. “What you did was despicable, but I shouldn’t have expected any different. It doesn’t matter. I won’t let you matter. Physically, you’ll teach me and keep me safe, and that’s all I need. So let’s get back to business. Strictly business. The sooner I learn what I need to know, the sooner I’ll be away from you.”
Ouch. He probably deserved that. He still had plenty to say on this topic, but he’d play it her way for now. Forcing her to talk before she was ready wasn’t going to make her feel any better or get him what he wanted.
“All right, work it is,” he conceded. “But we will revisit the subject later.”
“You’ve just stabbed me in the back and exploded my personal life all to hell. From now on, it’s off-limits to you.”
“You really think that your breakup with Brad had nothing to do with me?” Logan knew he should shut up, but if Tara imagined that to be true for a second, then she’d lied to her former fiancé—and herself. “The way I see it, you responded to my hands on your body, my mouth on your clit so completely that there’s no way you don’t have feelings for me. You’ve never been the kind of girl to get off with a guy she doesn’t care for. I’m guessing that was your problem with Brad.”
