Protect My Heart

Chapter 34

Warning: Might contain info about another book of mine.

Logan

The phone screen cracked when I slammed it on the counter. Her sudden disappearance wasn't a mystery. Someone had taken her. And I was going to get her back.

"Daddy!" that tiny voice squealed.

Mia held a stuffed bunny to her chest. The memory of how she'd gotten it was locked in a box in my mind. Clover was seven months pregnant with her and we were driving on the highway to visit Jane and Jamie. Suddenly, she'd screamed and told me to pull over. From her reaction, I thought she'd seen a dead body. But instead, she pointed to the road ahead of us and got out. When she returned, she was carrying a dirty stuffed brown bunny with one eye missing. When we got to Jane's, they fixed the toy and she promised to give it to our child. My wife had a hunch that day, and now that same bunny belonged to Mia. She'd named it Mr Leo.

I bent down in front of her and played with Mr Leo's ears. "Sweetie, listen. I've got to go and get Mommy. She's in trouble."

Immediately, tears brimmed her eyes.

"No, no, she's okay." Liar. "You're going to stay with Uncle Adam and Bella. How does that sound?"

"Are you leaving me again?"

A heavy rock settled in my stomach.

So, I lifted her chin with my index finger and gave my bravest smile. "No. But sometimes big people need to do things they don't always want. What I will do is provide protection for you and Mommy. But I'll come back. We'll both come back. I'm not ever leaving you again."

I held her to me while we waited for our guests to arrive. My dearest brother – not biologically, but he was a brother to me in every other way.

I ushered Mia to her bedroom when they arrived. Their child Josh following suit. He agreed to play with Mia while his parents and I talked. He was three years older than Mia.

I prepped coffee in the kitchen, as a way to soothe my nerves. They waited impatiently, especially Bella who kept looking around the room, waiting for a specific someone to arrive.

"Where is she, Logan? Last I heard, you were on the brink of a divorce." Ouch, that still stung like a bitch. And we were back to being teenagers when Bella disliked me. And for a good reason. "What did you do? Goddamnit, what did you do?"

Adam sighed, putting a hand on her knee. "Let him talk."

My best friend. My brother. The person I confessed my long-hidden secrets. The person who waited for two years for me to return, all the while hating my decisions.

"It's Jackson."

The words tasted icky on my tongue, but I had to force them out.

Bella's hand flew to her chest, Adam rushing to her side to offer her a seat. She held up a hand, an elbow braced on her knee. Her shoulders trembled while she said, "He's taken her, hasn't he?"

"Yes."

It hurt to even say those three letters.

"And you're going to get her back?"

"In a heartbeat. I'll bring her back, whatever it takes."

Bella raised her head. "He's the reason you left, right?"

Even when Bella had despised me with every part of her, I'd still liked her. She never beat around the bush. Straight to the point, always. The opposite of me, so no wonder we never got along, but I was glad to have her in my life.