They were holding hands, and Sam shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I get it.”
“Sam.”
“I mean it.” Her voice softened. “I really do, Logan.”
The understanding in her voice had me gritting my teeth. It was like she saw something for the first time, and it all made sense to her. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Something dark in me wanted to lash out again. I didn’t want anyone to see inside of me, or understand me. Not unless I gave them that right. I felt stripped bare. No fucking way.
“Can we discuss this and get it over with?” I asked.
Mason nodded. “Sure.” After shutting the door, he turned and leaned against it, his hands tucked behind him.
He was waiting for me. So was Sam. Both remained quiet, and somehow that irritated me, too.
I growled at them. “What?”
Mason shook his head. His mouth remained shut.
“That’s your girl out there,” Sam said.
I cut my eyes to her. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Her top lip quivered, like she was fighting a smile. She made a concerted effort to control her features and schooled them so they were blank. “Nothing.”
“What?”
“Look, whatever happened out there, for whatever reason, it happened,” Mason finally said. “We could have a serious problem on our hands.”
“Because of Delray.”
“Because of you.”
I looked at my brother. “What?”
“What were you doing there in the first place?”
I lifted a shoulder. “We were going for a drive, ended up there somehow.”
“You were going for a drive?” Sam narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe that.”
“I don’t care.”
She looked like I slapped her, but she continued to study me. “Are you this upset because of how you feel about Taylor? I mean—”
“Look, they were there,” Mason said. “It doesn’t matter why.” He cast me a look. I got a feeling he knew exactly why I was there. “You drove out of the amusement park. That guy, whoever he is, could do some digging and make a guess who we are. I don’t think a lot of people have keys to an abandoned park unless they know the owner.”
“Shit,” Sam murmured. “Did he see your face?”
“It was dark,” I said. “I think I lit three cars on fire. He probably wasn’t seeing so well. He could’ve yanked Taylor out in a second, but he didn’t. He was pulling at her leg, not reaching in and getting a better hold on her. So maybe he couldn’t see.”
“Maybe.” Mason frowned. “What about the guy out there? Her friend. He’ll give up our names.”
Sam groaned. “These guys are involved with some bad stuff?”
“Yeah, someone was trying to collect a debt—the hard way, if necessary,” I explained. “Delray is Taylor’s friend, so I was trying to buy him some time. I was also trying to minimize the contact we had with him, but we couldn’t leave him there.”
“Delray...” Sam frowned. “Why does that sound familiar?”
“He’s the gambling guy I talked to Blaze about the other week.”
“Oh, yeah. He was connected to Sebastian last year.”
I nodded. “Blaze said this guy’s new connections are worse. He’s into some serious bad shit, and after tonight, we know that’s true.” Delray needed to stay away from Taylor. No matter what I should or shouldn’t do, I knew I was going to have a good, long one-on-one with him. The fucker didn’t like me being around Taylor? He was the dipshit who could be bringing guys like this around her. His priorities needed to be corrected, and fast.
Mason straightened. “We can’t do much, but that guy needs to stay away from Taylor.”
“He will.” I’d make sure of that.
Mason nodded. “It’d be smart if he could leave town for a while. You think you could persuade him to do that?”
“Sure going to fucking try.”
Sam snorted. “You don’t even know it.” She gestured to my face. “But you have this whole cocky, dark smirk on your face. You look dangerous, Logan.”
Dangerous was good. It was very, very good, and I planned to use it. I turned to Mason. “If we need to get at that Rankin guy somehow, we could—”
“I’ll reach out to that company I hired last year or if we have to, you know Dad will take care of this for us.” He glanced at Sam for a moment. “I’m sure we could figure something out to handle this guy if he becomes a problem.” His gaze came back to mine, and I had a feeling the dark and dangerous expression on my face was the one I saw on my brother’s. “We won’t let this guy become a danger to us.” He cast Sam one more look. “No way in hell.”
I couldn’t have agreed more. Delray had brought this Rankin guy into our world, a world Taylor was in, and one where she could be used against him. The guy had already tried to get her. If he did it once, he’d do it again. Delray was the bridge that led from Rankin to Taylor, and that was a bridge I needed to splinter.
I turned and left Mason and Sam in the room. As I returned to the living room, I felt Taylor’s eyes on me and looked over to see stark need on her face—need for me. I felt the same need rise up in me, and I reached for her. My hand tangled in her hair as she stood from her chair. Her head came to my chest. My arm wrapped around her, holding her in place, and I took a moment to breathe her in.