Beaten and Bruised

Chapter 4: Riley Smith

     I watched the clock tick by minute by minute. I was so excited for my date with Logan tonight. I wanted this to be good. I needed the chance to change my life around. When I left the coffee shop I drove straight home to pick out my outfit. I wasn't much of a shopper, I never had the money to really do that. I did have one of my Mom's old dresses though. It was a silk red dress that hugged my body perfectly. I was happy to wear it. I felt close to my Mom when I wore it.
    I throw on the dress and some black heels. I look good, but this hair needed to be tamed. I was running out of time and decided on a messy bun up-do. I didn't do much in the way of make up. I always thought natural beauty was best. 
   I look up at the clock and see it is almost time for Logan to be here. I could feel the nervousness building up in my stomach. This was the first date I had went on since Tucker. He was my toxic ex. Tucker would always belittle me and constantly compare me to other women. I would always ask myself when I would be enough. Nobody should ever feel that way. It took me a long time to build my confidence back up. I'm broken from my thoughts when I hear the doorbell ring. The butterflies flared up as I walked toward the door. 
"Wow.." I hear as I open the door. 
"Thanks?" I question. I hope wow is a good thing.
"What I mean't was, you look beautiful" Logan smiles and places his hand in front of me. 
"You don't look bad yourself" I say as I take his hand and he leads me to the car. 
Logan was so attractive. I watched his every move as he opened the car door and waited for me to get in. I'm sure he caught me staring because his eyes found mine a few times in that moment. I was embarrassed, but how could I not stare at him. He walks around to the driver side and gets in. The rumble of the engine sounds and I hear City in Colour playing lowly. 
"You like City in Colour?" I ask and turn the volume a little louder. 
"Yes! I don't know many people who like them" he smiles. 
"I love them" I say.
"I'm going to take you to dinner and then I figured we could go to a movie" he says in hopes he is doing okay. I could tell he was a little nervous, but he was doing just fine in my opinion. 
"That sounds great" I smile back at him. 
    He asks me to talk about myself, but I didn't know what to say. I didn't want him to know about my broken family. I didn't want him to feel sorry for me, I wanted him to like me. I dodge his questions and decide to ask him about his family. His parents were still married, and he had a little sister that he adored. I liked hearing about his life. I asked him what he did for a living, but we pulled up to the restaurant before he could answer.
"I hope you like this place" he says as he gets out of the car and hands his keys to the valet. 
Before I can even reach for my door another valet is opening it. Logan is standing at the side of the car waiting to take my hand. I can't believe a man could treat a woman this way. My Dad was always good with my but they were always fighting. I follow Logan up to the doors and I stare in awe at this place. I had never eaten at a place like this before. I'm glad that I dressed my best.
"Reservation sir?" the host says. 
"Logan Lake" he says confidently. 
"Yes'sir. I have your table available away from the noise" he says and walks us to our table. 
I look down at the table and see all kinds of silverware. I had no idea how or what I would use every utensil for. Crystal wine glasses accompanied the fine china laying on the table. I was more nervous that I was going to break something than I was for this date. 
"Your waiter will be with you shortly" the host says as he bows and walks away from the table. "Have you ever been here?" I ask Logan. 
"No. This is my first time here. I wanted to take you somewhere special" he says. 
"Oh" I say back. I was out of my comfort zone but I appreciated the gesture. 
"Is it to much?" he asks and I can hear the disappointment in his voice. 
"It's wonderful, I've just never been to a place this classy before" I say trying not to upset him.
"We can go anywhere you want. I just want you to have a good time" he says through his intoxicating grin. 
"I honestly don't feel like we fit in here" I laugh. 
"let's go" he says and pulls my chair out for me. 
    We make our way for the door and wait on the valet to bring the car around. I was already having a good time just being around Logan. He  brought out a side of me I didn't know I had. For a moment I had forgot about my life and what it had become. Sadness and anger had seemed to become a theme in my life. All of that seemed to disappear when I was around Logan. 
"We are going to have to pick up our food and head over to the theater before the movie starts" Logan says as he pulls in a drive through. 
"I'm fine just eating popcorn" I laugh at him.
"I'm not going to let you eat popcorn for dinner. This is one of my favorite places. They know me here" he says with excitement. 
I listen to his order and the sweet old lady greeting him at the window. She knew exactly who he was and promptly handed him our bag of food. It smelt wonderful. We drive to the theater with our food and park. Logan starts pulling all of the contents out of the bag. 
" I know it's just a cheeseburger, but it is the best cheeseburger you will ever eat" he says as he hands me the burger. I felt heavy and it was huge. I probably could have split one with him. I open up the wrapper and take a bite. He was right this was the best greasiest hamburger I had ever had. 
"This is so good. You've been holding out on me" I joke with him. 
"I told you it was good" he says and takes a big bite of his burger. Ketchup squishes out of the burger and onto the corner of his face. It was honestly kind of cute. 
"You have a little.." I try to say.
"What?" he asks.
I reach my hand out and wipe the mess with my finger. Logan grabs my hand sweetly and I feel some kind of connection. He had to have felt it to with the way he continued to hold my hand and stare at me. 
"I'm sorry..." I say and pull my hand away gently. 
"It's okay. I need to learn not to be such a slob" he laughs. 
    We continue to talk and I tell him a little bit about myself. Not the bad parts of course, but I did tell him about my Mom. We laugh and joke and the night was perfect with him. I could sit in this car for hours with him. I found myself wanting to let him in on my life, but I couldn't decide how much of it would push him away. 
"So, anyway my little sister's birthday is coming up and..." Logan is cut off by his ringtone. He picks it up and seems a little irritated. 
"Boss? Are you really calling me right now?" he says angrily. I watched Logan and saw his face turn from anger to panic. Something was wrong and I knew this date was about to be cut short. 
"We have to go" he says as he throws his phone down and pushes on the gas. We speed out of the parking lot and I'm scared. 
"What is going on?" I ask holding on to the handle bar. 
"I mean this in the nicest way Riley, please don't ask questions right now" he says as he speeds around downtown. 
"fine" I say feeling a little regret. 
"I promise I will make this up to you" he says as we pull into the parking lot of a night club. It didn't look very busy tonight. Only a few cars were in the parking lot, including a nice Chevy Impala. 
"Stay in the car, don't move. I have to keep you safe, and this is not a safe place" he says pleading with me to stay in the car. 
"What is going on, Logan?" I ask sternly. 
"Just stay in the car. I'll be right back" he says as he slams the car door shut. 
     I want to know why his "Boss" has so much power over him. Logan seemed like he was always at his beck and call. I never could get the chance to ask Logan what his career was, but every time I tried something happened. I knew this was all to good to be true. 
   I waited for what seemed like hours. I was tired of waiting, so I got out of the car and was ready to walk home. This date went from great to a disaster and I wasn't about to deal with much more of it. I could call an Uber, my house wasn't to far so it wouldn't cost much. I close the door of the Chevelle behind me and I hear what sounds like gun shots. I know I shouldn't let my curiosity get the best of me but I can't leave Logan in there. I am still so upset with him, but I wasn't a person to leave someone when they needed help. 
     I walk up to the club doors and walk in. What I see from the door is horrifying. Gun shots are still ringing and I get low to the floor. I look over the edge of a flipped over bar table and see Logan holding that stupid jerk in the suit. 
    I was in panic mode and my fight or flight was ready to engage. I see a gun lying in the floor just a few steps away. I reach as far as I can without being noticed and grab the gun. I peek back over the table and see a man aiming for the boy I had been so happy to meet. I can feel my adrenaline fueling through me and I aim toward the man looking to take out Logan. I take a deep breath and pull the trigger.
       When I back in Logan's direction and see his flabbergasted look. He makes his way over to me holding his boss up as best as he could. He was unconscious and sadly, I kind of liked him better that way. 
"Help me, we need to get him out of here" Logan says as I grab his bosses other arm and lead him out of the chaotic club. When we reach the car we set him in the back and I take a seat next to him and hold pressure on his bleeding wound. 
"This wasn't my intentions for our date, Riley...I am so sorry" Logan says.
"It's okay, Logan. You can make it up to me another time" I smile at him in the rearview.
"Nice shot by the way...But honestly how are you not shaken up about that?" he questions. 
I stay silent for a moment and try to think about that question. Why am I not freaking out? I just shot somebody and I didn't even blink an eye. 
"I don't know. I don't really feel anything" I say back to Logan, pressing down a little more on the wound that was beneath my hand. 
Logan gives me a weird glance and presses down on the gas. I'm sure he is worried about his boss. I don't even know this mans name and here I am holding his wound. I shouldn't even be helping him after how big of a jerk is towards me. If anything, I was doing this for Logan. 
When we arrive at the hospital the nurses are waiting with a wheel chair. They help us unload this giraffe of a man and we follow him up to his room. 
"I can take you home if you want, Riley" Logan says in guilt. I know he didn't mean for our date to go this way. 
"I'll stay with you, Logan. I don't want to leave you here alone" I say. 
"You should probably go home" he says and now I realize he is trying to get rid of me. 
"Why are you pushing so hard?" I challenge back. 
"Riley, there are just some things you don't need to know about me right now" he says as he reaches for the keys in his pocket. 
"Why? Does this have to do with why you were parked in the ally behind the pharmacy?" I ask. I'm not sure when I became so brave, but I wasn't going to back down with Logan. I liked him, and I knew nothing about him. 
"Riley, I can't tell you the truth. It can put you and I both in danger, and that is the last thing I want to do. I shouldn't have taken you with me to that club; this date was a bad idea" the words leave his lips and I know I have to get out of this stupid hospital. It's the last place that I want to be right now. 
"You know what, Logan, you're right. I can get a cab home" I say as I turn on my heels and head for the elevator doors. When they open I push the close elevator button as fast as I can because Logan is running toward me. I reach the 1st floor and sit down to call my cab.
"Riley, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said" I hear coming from behind me. It was the boy I thought was going to be different. 
"I don't know how that could have mean't anything else, I just want to go home" I say fixing my eyes on the busy street in front of me. 
"Riley..." he says softly.
"Logan, I thought you were different. I wanted to know everything about you, and I thought this date would allow that to happen. You have been nothing but secretive since I met you,and I don't want to try and start a relationship with someone who can'e even be honest with me. So tell me, am I wasting my time?" I ask him calmly. 
"Riley, what I am about to tell you can go no where, do you understand me?" he says with all seriousness. 
"Why?" I ask. 
"Just promise me? This can do a lot of damage in both of our lives and I don't want you to ever be in harms way" he says. I think about the answer I'm about to give him and I start to wonder if I even want to know. This was exactly what I was talking about though. I need to take this risk. 
"I promise" I say firmly. I watch Logan swallow hard and look towards the hospital doors and back at me. 
"My boss...the man you just helped, hes a huge mob boss in Los Angeles. We do a lot of illegal things and a lot of charitable things. I'm his right hand man and it is my responsibility to keep him safe" he looks at me and tries to understand what I'm thinking. 
I sit silence and now I understand. My anxiety is now swelling up and I think about the damage I did today. I shot someone and now I am mixed up in all of this. What am I going to do now? 
"Riley?" he says pulling me back into reality.
"I'm going to jail" I say without hesitation.
"Why would you go to jail?" he asks. 
"I shot someone, Logan! I can't just get away with that! I'm never going to make it. I'm just a coffee shop owner. I never wanted to be apart of something like this!" I yell at Logan in panic.
"Calm down, Riley. Everything  is going to be okay" Logan reaches for me and pulls me into his chest. I could feel the anxiety slowly settling. I felt a sense of home when Logan held me. I felt calm. I believed him when he said everything was going to be okay. I pull my tear stained face away from his shirt and he pushes my hair away from my face. 
"I won't let anything happen to you" he assures me.
"I believe you" I say back.
"I do have to tell you one more thing..." he says. What else could it be? He has already told me my life was now in danger.
"Okay" I say hoping it isn't anything worse than he has already told me. 
"Maddox has this code...and one of the rules is we can't let outside people into the business...I have to tell him.." he says. 
"What does that mean for me?" I ask him not wanting to know his answer.
"A threat if anything. The consequence is far worse for me" he says. 
I think about his words and the reality I am facing is that bad people do exist. Logan's boss was one of those people. I didn't want to be apart of this bad world that was brought into my boring one, but I did want to be apart of Logan's. 
"Okay" I say.
"I'm sorry I brought you into all of this. I will make this up to you" he apologizes once more. 
"I'm staying here with you...I don't care if you want me to go home. I can see that he means a lot to you" I attempt to argue. 
"Fine, but I don't want you in the room when I tell him" he demands of me. 
"Okay, I'll stay in the waiting area" I agree. 
    We sit for hours waiting on Maddox to wake up. This strange, awful man somehow made me feel bad for him. I now knew his name and Maddox would have never come to my mind. It really didn't fit him. 
"He's awake..." Logan says with a nervous look on his face. 
"Okay, I'll let you have some time with him" I say and sink back into the waiting room chair that is beneath me. 
   I didn't know what to make of all this. I did things tonight that I am not proud of, but the sad thing was I felt more alive tonight than I ever had. Logan said I shot a bad guy, and I didn't feel so bad about it. It felt like all the anger I had been holding was suddenly gone. I didn't know if this made me a terrible person, but I liked who I was becoming. Maybe this is the new and improved Riley Smith.