A Debt To Pay

25

I completely froze up at the cold glare on Jonesy's face as he eyed the girls. "I...um," the girl closest to him stuttered, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she sobbed.

The guilt stirred in my stomach and I cleared the lump in my throat. "I gave it to her," I admitted quietly, not wanting to draw attention to us.

"You did, did you?" He sneered, his cold eyes settling on me, "and what exactly made you think you could ignore my instructions and do whatever the fuck you wanted."

"There's more than enough food," I replied, forcing myself to look away from his cold glare.

"Logan!" He suddenly snapped and I flinched. Logan turned from his conversation on my opposite side, annoyance flashing in his eyes. "Sort your pet out! She's taken it upon herself to feed my girls without my permission."

Logan shifted his attention to me and the annoyance in his eyes intensified. "Let's find somewhere private," he finally growled, looking back at Jonesy who nodded his head. He ordered the girls to stay before rising from his seat. Logan followed suit and scowled at me, pulling me to my feet and practically dragging me from the room. I could feel eyes on us as we made our way to the door and my cheeks burned from embarrassment.

We followed Jonesy through the entrance hall of the manor and down a small hallway until we reached an office. The navy-blue walls were decorated with framed paintings and photographs of women in underwear and I cringed at the sight. This was clearly Jonesy's office. "What were you thinking?" Logan snapped at me when Jonesy left us to talk for a moment.

"They're clearly starving Logan!" I argued immediately, "I couldn't sit there and do nothing when there was more than enough food."

"It isn't your place to make those kind of decisions Mia!" he bellowed, "I warned you to behave yourself and now you've probably put those girls in more danger than they were already in!" He took a step towards me and I flinched as his words sunk in.

I started to shake my head. "No. He wouldn't hurt them for this, would he?" I asked, looking at Logan with pleading eyes despite the fact I knew the truth. Of course, he would hurt them. He was a monster. "He can't. They didn't do anything wrong," I sobbed, "I just wanted to help."

My tears started to fall and Logan's shoulders deflated a little. "You need to apologise to him," he muttered, "we're guests in his house and this was supposed to be a peaceful meal, this can't escalate." He stepped towards me as I wiped the tears from my cheeks and nodded. "If he calms down, he might spare them."

He squeezed my shoulder before leaving the room and I took a long, steady breath and tried to compose myself. Although, I had a feeling seeing me crying would only please Jonesy. I startled when the door opened and he came storming in, followed closely by Logan who leant against the wall near the door and stayed quiet.

I panicked when his hand reached out and curled around my throat, backing me up until my legs hit the back of his desk. He squeezed enough for the breath to get trapped in my lungs. "What do you have to say for yourself?" He demanded, raising an eyebrow.

"Jonesy," Logan warned behind him.

My lungs squeezed in my chest and I hung my head, batting my eyelashes at him. "I'm so sorry," I forced out, "I was completely out of line."

"Yes, you were," he stated.

I looked up with blurry eyes. "I really am sorry."

He watched me carefully for a moment and I bowed my head once again. "Apology accepted," he eventually said and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Now for your punishment."

His words took a moment to register in my mind and by the time they did, I was being hauled across the room and turned around before Jonesy slammed me against the wall, my back to him. My head bounced against the brick and I cried at the pain, my vision blurring and head spinning.

Sickness rose up in the back of my throat and my eyes burned with the tears threatening to fall. "Enough!" Logan's voice bellowed before Jonesy's body was ripped away from mine. My lungs flooded with oxygen now his hands weren't wrapped around my throat. "I thought I was clear when I told you to keep your hands to yourself!"

Jonesy simply cackled. "Come on Logan," he coaxed, "don't you want to teach that little whore a lesson?" I heard the punch before I saw it. When I turned, I saw Logan pinning him to the wall, his forearm resting threateningly against his throat while blood dripped from his nose. "What the hell!" He growled.

"I warned you," Logan hissed, his voice low.

"Nobody disrespects me Logan," he chuckled, his eyes sparkling, "you know that!"

Logan growled lowly and pressed his forearm further into his throat. "And nobody disobeys me!" he roared, leaning down so he was glaring into his eyes, "you know that."

A tense silence passed between them before suddenly, Jonesy straightened and nodded. "You're right," he said, brushing Logan off of him. "Take your little slut and get out of my house before I go and speak to my father."

Logan scoffed. "Go ahead and see what he does. He wouldn't dare jeopardise his alliance with me and you know it," Logan spat, "if you lay a hand on what's mine again, I will ruin your family." He turned back to me and I looked at him through blurred eyes, my head pounding violently. "Come on," he called.