Chapter Thirty-four

LOGAN

I picked up my coffee mug from the table in my mother’s parlor. My mother and Sally Jolie sat across on the other side of the table, both of them drinking sweet tea. I’d been explaining what I’d found out from Charles at the club.

“That’s what he told me anyway,” I said after finishing a sip of my coffee.

Between the three of us, I hoped we could put all the pieces together and figure out what was going on, even if Emily didn’t seem to want any help.

“So, Lionel’s a criminal in addition to being an adulterer,” my mother said. “How very appropriate.”

“Accused criminal anyway.” I shrugged.

“We already know he can’t honor his marital vows, so it’s hardly surprising he’d do something illegal as well.” My mother nodded once, satisfied with her observation. “And that foolish girl who is dating him, I feel so sorry for her. She’s too young to know what a piece of trash Lionel is.”

I wasn’t about to challenge that characterization. I suspected insider trading, fraud, and adultery were at the tip of the iceberg when it came to Lionel Blue. Plus, at this point, he was rapidly reaching the top of my most-hated man list.

Sally frowned. “So, he gets some poor girl pregnant, then tries to get his divorced wife to take him back? That doesn’t make much sense. I don’t understand what’s playing at.”

I almost spit out my coffee. “What? Lionel’s trying to get back together with Emily?”

I prayed that I’d heard Sally wrong, but my mother’s wide-eyed expression suggested she’d heard the same thing.

“I finally got it out of Emily this morning,” Sally said with a sniff. “Lionel has been suggesting they get back together. From what she tells me, he’s downright harassing her about it, saying it’d be better for Juniper for them to be together again.”

My mother snorted. “Right after he got another girl pregnant? Lionel knows no shame. I think he can’t even spell shame. The devil has more shame, I swear.”

Sally’s expression darkened. “It’s worse than that. He’s not only trying to get her to take him back. He also threatened to take full custody of Juniper if she doesn’t.” She shot a sympathetic glance my way. “I’m guessing that’s why she pushed you away, Logan. She didn’t say as much, but it’s the only explanation that makes any sense.”

My face heated, and I gave a curt nod. I took a few deep breaths, and my blood pounded in my ears. I honestly wasn’t sure if I’d ever been angrier in my life, and that included when I’d been screwed on several multimillion-dollar deals.

I wasn’t angry at Emily. If Lionel had been there in the room, I would have punched the bastard in the face, picked him up, and tossed his ass out on the street.

“I can’t blame her,” I said calmly. “Her daughter always has to come first. I understand that. I only wish she’d come to me and told me this. I could have helped her. I could have hired investigators, lawyers, whatever she needed to deal with Lionel.”

Sally smiled. “Bless you, Logan. Bless you.” She took a deep breath. “She’s already talked to her lawyer. Lionel doesn’t have a case. They apparently have some sort of evidence they can use. Something they didn’t use during the divorce. Emily only told me that if she used it, there was no way he could get custody.”

I frowned. “Why didn’t they use it before? They should have buried that asshole when they had their chance.”

My mother nodded in agreement, a pensive expression on her face. I could tell how concerned she was over Lionel as she would have normally scolded me for cursing in front of two ladies.

Sally sighed. “I think Emily thought it’d be better to protect Juniper from missing her daddy.” She tsked. “But I agree. I knew something like this would happen. You can’t play nice with a man like that. He’ll always take advantage.” She pursed her lips. “Like he did during their marriage. That’s why you need a good man to begin with. Men don’t change just because they get married.”

I tried to push out the anger coursing through my body with a few deep breaths. Anger wasn’t helpful. It wouldn’t help Emily.

“What can I do, then?” I said. “There has to be something. I can’t sit there and let her fight this herself.”

“I don’t think there is anything you can do, dear,” Sally said. She gestured to me and then to my mother. “We don’t have anything we can use to stop Lionel, but Emily does.”

“I have a lot of important contacts around the city,” I said, my voice full of venom. “I could make sure he never works in Nashville again.”

“Well, you can’t take his livelihood away,” Sally said. “That wouldn’t be very Christian. He’s also going to be a father to a new baby. We just need him to stay away from Emily.”

“So, you expect me to sit around and do nothing? After everything he’s done to your daughter?”

A smile appeared on her face. “I think she has what she needs to win, and this is a fight I think she needs to finish herself. Lionel still has power over her. She’s let him have that hold over her, despite everything I’ve told her. Divorcing him wasn’t enough. She needs to let him know he’s done.” She picked up her tea and took a small sip before continuing. “And even if I don’t want to destroy the man, I would like to see my granddaughter less around that man. Visitation is one thing. Joint custody another.”

My mother nodded, her eyes narrowing. “I hope she kicks that man so hard he ends up in Florida.”

“I’d like him to go a lot farther than that.” I clenched my hand into a fist on the table.

“Sometimes you men need to realize women don’t always need you to fight their battles for them.” Sally reached across the table and put her hand over mine. “Logan, you don’t need to do more because you’ve already done so much. You’ve shown Emily that she’s desirable as a woman. I think she wouldn’t have been able to fight back against Lionel without that.” She squeezed my hand, tears in her eyes. “I don’t think I could have asked for anything more.” She pulled her hand away after a moment.

My mother and Sally exchanged nods.

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out, some of my fire starting to fade. “The only thing I don’t understand about all of this is why him getting another woman pregnant or being investigated for insider trading and fraud would make him want to get back together with Emily. What does he get out of it?”

My mother cleared her throat, and Sally and I both looked over at her.

“I heard the other day that as part of this investigation, a lot of his accounts have been frozen by the government.”

“Oh, my,” Sally said, a hand over her mouth. “Back to how he started, then.”

I stared at her. “I don’t understand.”

She gave me a soft smile. “You need to understand the situation, Logan. You’re probably making some incorrect assumptions because you come from old money, even if you’ve improved your situation.”

I stared at Emily’s mother for a few seconds before shaking my head. “Now I definitely don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

Sally delicately cleared her throat. “You need to understand it wasn’t an equal marriage. Lionel was the one who married into money, not the other way around. Now, not saying he was a pauper, as he was on his way to his first million before getting engaged to Emily, but she brought a fortune with her. Our fortune, really.” She shook her head lightly. “She only works because she wants to, not because she has to. I’d prefer if she joined one of my organizations, but I understand why she does what she does. Just because she works, though, doesn’t mean she’s given up her money or her inheritance once I join my husband in Heaven.”

“I knew she didn’t need to work already.” I nodded slowly, understanding finally starting to creep into my head. “The bastard needs her money.”

The two mothers exchanged glances and then looked back at me.

“I suspect so,” Sally said. “That’s the only thing that makes sense. Even when she filed for divorce, he didn’t try and convince her to stay with him. He practically said good riddance. And now he’s going on and on about getting back together with her?” She snorted. “I don’t believe it for a second.”

I let out a rueful chuckle. “It always comes down to money in the end. I should have known.”

I sighed and had to resist getting up and heading over to Lionel’s place to punch him right then and there. Everything was starting to make a lot more sense, but there wasn’t a lot I could do about it. I didn’t have any evidence to use against Lionel, certainly no more than Emily might have, and they didn’t want me to run him completely into the ground with my resources and contacts.

From what they’d said, the whole situation had turned into a complete farce. Unfortunately, the only thing I could actually offer Emily was emotional support, but she’d pushed me away.

I finished my coffee and stood. “I think I better get going. Please let me know if you hear anything else.”

“Things aren’t over with her, Logan,” Sally said. “It’s just bad timing. Don’t hold it against her. Please.”

“I don’t, but you both have to realize that when all of this is over and done, things might not be the same, no matter how much we want them to be.”

Both of the women looked down, and I turned to leave.

 

* * *

 

That night as I lay in bed, my mind raced. Was it too late? Would everything be different like I said?

Emily didn’t push me away because she didn’t care about me. She pushed me away because of Lionel, a man she was about to confront.

Anger, hope, longing. All those emotions tormented me. I’d found love after years of not really caring, maybe not even really believing in it.

Now I’d lost that chance at a true connection with someone else. I’d lost something I never knew I even needed but now missed desperately.

I shook my head and rolled over to grab my phone from my nightstand.

I sent a text to Emily.

Sorry to bother you but was curious. How is Juniper doing?

A good couple of minutes passed before I stopped staring at the phone, waiting for a surprise. I tossed it back on my nightstand.

Of course, she wouldn’t text me back. It was late, and she’d just gotten done telling me she never wanted to see me again. Until Emily had finished her business with Lionel, there was no reason to suspect she’d talk to me.

And that’s assuming she even wanted to after that. Feelings for people were situational. Whatever I felt for her and whatever she felt for me might not be enough to escape the bad memories that came with this part of her life.

It might very well be that Emily needed to leave not just Lionel behind but also me.

I lay back down and stared at the whorls in my ceiling. I’d done all I could. Now the only thing left was to believe in Emily.

I sat up. No. There was something I could do. Something more than offering emotional support.

I grabbed my phone and dialed my mother’s number.

“Logan, is everything all right? Why are you calling me so late?” she said, her breathing heavy as if she’d run to grab the phone.

A spike of guilt ran through me. “Sorry, Mother. I needed a small favor.”

“What’s that?”

“I need you to tell me the name of Emily’s lawyer.”