A Debt To Pay

41

LOGAN'S POV:

Time froze for a moment as she looked back at me. "Me?" she choked, eyes filling with tears.

I reached for her, pulling her closer to me, wanting to comfort her. "They worked for the man that ambushed you at the hospital," I explained, itching to get my hands on them, "they knew you betrayed them and that I was willing to protect you so came after you."

She gritted her teeth, taking a couple of steady breaths. "Is that all of them?" she asked me.

I nodded. I'd sent a handful of soldiers to track down any remaining men that may have been working for this guy and planned to enjoy myself as I ripped them all apart. They were a small group, low down in the rankings, not strong enough or resourceful enough to take me down. And yet they'd tried anyway and I wanted them to suffer for it.

Seeing one of them with their grubby hands all over Mia made me so angry and I'd never felt so trapped in my life. My father always told me that caring for someone made you weak. It was a lesson I came to learn myself and I needed to remember it. Cracks had started to show in my defence and people who would never have dared to go up against me were trying to exploit a weakness.

"How did he get into the room?" I asked her. I hadn't expected to see him with a gun to her head. I'd made sure to lock the door and bring the key with me and the door was bullet proof. I'd ensured she was safe.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I found another key in the table by the door."

"What?"

Her eyes widened a little at my annoyance. "What's wrong?"

I couldn't help but scoff. "What's wrong? You let him in?"

She shook her head, quelling the rage for a moment. "No, of course not, I came to see what was going on. He must've been waiting outside the door."

I stared at her for a moment, clenching my fists. "Did I not tell you to stay?" I barked. I didn't mean to lose my temper but the image of her, suffocating and hanging limp in the man's arms flashed across the forefront of my mind.

She looked taken aback for a moment before she scoffed. "And I'm just supposed to do whatever you say?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes, Mia! You handed yourself over to him!"

She shook her head. "How the hell was I supposed to know they were after me?"

I couldn't believe her stupidity. "It shouldn't have mattered!" I yelled, unable to hold back my anger. All I could see was her tears dripping down her cheeks as he pressed the barrel of the gun into her forehead. "Do you think if they were after me, they would've just let you walk?" I stepped towards her. "I told you to stay for a fucking reason."

"I'm not a fucking dog Logan," she snapped back, throwing her arms in the air, "you don't just get to snap your fingers and tell me what to do."

I couldn't stop myself as I shoved her backwards, pinning her to the wall and grasping her chin so she would look at me. "You belong to me," I reminded her, "you're my property and when I tell you to do something, you do it!"

She shoved me off her and it only enraged me more. "I'm not yours!"

I snapped, diving forward and grabbing her throat. "You are," I growled, "until I say otherwise, you do exactly as you're told. You're mine until I decide otherwise."

Her lip curled as she looked up at me. "Get off me," she snarled, slapping at my chest. "Let go of me Logan, I'm not some rag doll you fling around." She shoved me again, this time harder, and I dropped her throat, stepping backwards.

"You are whatever I want you to be and I can do whatever I want with you," I told her.

She laughed humourlessly and I ground my jaw, trying to hold onto whatever slither of control I had left. "Just shut up," she spat at me, shaking her head.

"Darling, you do not tell me what to do," I said, each word perfectly clear. I stepped back towards her, her short bursts of breath fanning over my face.

"And what are you going to do about it, Logan?" she asked me, her gaze strong. "Kill me? Sell me? What Logan?"

"Mia," I warned her, my breathing laboured and my jaw tight. I knew if she continued to push, I would snap. I turned my back to her, starting towards the door to the office. I needed to leave. I needed to cool off.

"If you were going to hurt me, you would've done it already!" She continued, following me towards the door. "You can be as mad as you want but you won't hurt me."

I shot around to glare at her, needing her to shut up. "You need to stop talking," I growled, clenching my fists.

"Or what!" She yelled and before I could even register what I was doing, my hand collided with the side of her face. She stumbled backwards a couple of steps, eyes wide and filling with tears. My mind could hardly register what had happened but I watched her hand raise to her lip and pull away to reveal a smear of blood.

I'd hit her.

I'd hurt her.

I'd actually fucking hurt her.

I stepped back, needing to put some distance between us. Her tears started to fall and I felt a stabbing pain in my chest. I turned and rammed my fist into the wall, watching the blood stain my knuckles immediately, but I felt nothing except the burn in my chest. I punched again, needing to feel any kind of pain. I deserved to feel pain.

Mia sobbed behind me and I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to look at her as she ran out of the room, as far from me as she could get.