Craving Oblivion (New York Billionaires Book 3)

21| New

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Chapter 21: New (Zarah's POV)

I sat silently at the dinner table with Logan to my right, Elena right across from him, and Logan's father sitting at the head of the table. 

Right before ringing the doorbell, we both slipped our rings off, deciding at the last minute after I convinced Logan that announcing the engagement without knowing enough about each other was a huge risk. He agreed only because I threatened to leave if he didn't. 

Elena greeted us with an extra warm and welcoming hug at the front door, but all that warmth and her grins subsided once we entered the dining room and settled down, still waiting for dinner to be served. 

My eyes scanned Logan, then Elena, and even his father just hoping someone would strike up a conversation but nobody did. I cleared my throat, drawing attention to myself and instantly regretting it. To make up for that, I struck up a conversation. "I'm sorry if I'm... intruding on dinner," I chuckled softly, "I know it was just supposed to be Logan here tonight." 

"Don't be silly," Elena smiled at me, "I invited you myself." 

"Yes, Elena mentioned seeing you both together at Nova yesterday," Adrian said. 

It feels weird to call him Adrian, even in my head. But those are Logan's instructions. No matter what, call him Adrian. 

I tried arguing that it would be disrespectful unless he told me I could call him that but Logan didn't seem to care. 

"Were you both meeting for work?" he questioned, looking between us. 

I turned my body to face Logan's, expecting him to answer his father's questions, but when he simply traced the bottom of his wine glass, meeting the edge where it met the table cloth beneath it, I figured this was resting on my shoulders. "No," I answered before chuckling softly, "no, we weren't meeting for work. It was just lunch." 

"It was a date," Elena beamed. 

I smiled, "It's just been a while since Logan came to New York. I'm sure you would agree." 

"As far as I know, Logan hasn't been around for months now," Elena nodded in agreement. 

"I've been here and there," Logan said, finally opening his mouth. 

"You've been in New York since we saw you last time?" 

"Zarah met me," he responded. 

"You did?" his father asked. 

"I..." I stared at Logan before hesitantly replying, "did. I did." I nodded. "Logan flew in once in a while." 

"For work?" Adrian questioned, his eyes narrowing subconsciously. 

"For Zarah," Logan replied, meeting his father's gaze for the first time tonight. 

I took my bottom lip between my teeth and looked to Elena, hoping she would say something to ease the tension in the room, but when she simply offered me a shrug, I figured this truly was how Markov family dinners went. The hostility, the tension, the resentment were in the air. It was obvious that Logan did not want to be here and his father didn't want him here either.