The Billion Dollar Brute [#4]

Chapter 3

"Theodore," Nicholas called from across the living room, "come meet someone."

Logan bit her lip when she caught sight of the man approaching them along with the beautiful woman on his arm.

Nicholas pulled her lip free and offered her a smile. "He's just my brother, love."

"Why are you introducing us?"

"Just smile and say hello," he said just as Theodore stopped in front of him. "Is this Serena?"

The woman smiled and lifted her son to settle on her hip. "That's me. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Likewise," the older brother said. "And this little guy is Ky. He and I are already pretty good buddies."

Logan smiled and jerked forward when she felt Nicholas' hand on the small of her back.

"This is Logan," he said, making small circles in her skin with his thumb. "She's gorgeous, isn't she?"

Theo gave his brother a skeptical look. "Can we talk, Nick?"

Nicholas placed a soft kiss on Logan's forehead before following his brother away from the two women.

"Who is she?" Theo asked, jerking his head toward a dazed Logan.

"Someone I wanted you to meet."

Theo's eyebrows knitted together in doubt. "I haven't heard from you in ten years, but I see you in the tabloids. When have you ever showed a woman off in public?"

"This isn't public," Nicholas said, completely unfazed by his brother's words. "It's a private party."

"The press is still all over the place. You're risking a lot."

"Not very much," Nicholas said before returning to the two women who had started their own conversation. "Come on, love. Let's introduce you to a few people."

Logan opened her mouth to protest, but Nicholas was already pulling her into the sea of guests.

"There's someone I would love for you to meet," he said, tugging her closer to the dining room.

Logan yanked her arm away from his strong grip and quickly turned into an unoccupied hall. She took deep breaths to calm her racing heart and dragged her hands down her face.

"I'm assuming you aren't ready," Nicholas said, sliding down the wall beside her.

"Why am I out here like I'm one of your guests? I'm supposed to be serving them."

Nicholas deeply sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It took me awhile, but I know who you are. Genevieve Logan, the heiress of Century Essentials. Your father runs half of New York's electricity."

"That's not me anymore. I'm not my father's prize or a company's heiress," she said, wiping the tears that had formed in her eyes. "I just want to get out of this dress and forget about tonight."

"I thought that if I saw you out there, you'd want to go back to your old life. I have to be honest, Logan, I was afraid of losing you." He kissed her forehead when she opened her mouth to speak and shook his head. "Get out of the dress and go to bed. Forget this happened if you must."

"You're afraid of losing me?" she asked, shocked.

"Yes," he admitted. "You're not too horrible at your job, so I wouldn't want to lose a good employee."

She pressed her lips together and mentally cursed herself. For a moment she felt special to Nicholas, but the feeling was gone just as quickly.

"Don't overthink," he whispered, as if he had peered into her mind to read her thoughts. "Get upstairs and rest. You and I have a long morning ahead of us."