Chapter 40
Logan
“Go! Go!” Rodrick yells as we climb the steps as fast as possible.
Ava is on top of Petra, her hands coming down so fast I can barely grab her, and even when I do, she continues swinging as I wrap my arms around her shaking body.
“Ava baby, calm down,” I say, never having seen this side of her.
I thought her fit in the car was the worst of it, but she’s got an even colder side to her. I needed her to be mad at me so she would look out the window, not paying any attention to me. Pissing her off seemed like a good idea at the time, but after I planted the recording device on her purse, I realized she was really hurt by my words, although I never meant any of it. I even cursed at her, but I didn’t think it would upset her so much. She’s such a good girl, her heart couldn’t stand so much betrayal and devastation in one day.
“Logan?” she says, confused as her eyes come into focus. “What are you doing here?”
“Petra Morgan, you’re under arrest for grand larceny, wire fraud, mail fraud, and extortion. Anything you say…” The police officer escorts Petra out of the room as Ava looks on in confusion.
“I’m sorry, it was the only way.”
“What was the only way?”
“Rodrick found the connection between me and Petra, and we knew she had perpetrated the theft at the party. She was working with a valet and one of my guys in security, who tripped the surveillance system so she wouldn’t be on camera going in or out of the area, but from process of elimination, we knew it was her.” I struggle to simplify such a complicated investigation.
“Logan, I didn’t know anything about it. I swear, I didn’t. I would never steal from you, I don’t even care about your money,” she says, and I smile at her sweet little voice returning, after having to say goodbye to a side of her I never want to bring out again.
“I know, baby, I always knew you had nothing to do with it,” I say. My grin spreads, watching her nose scrunch up as she tries to understand.
“So why did you say those things and get so mad at me?”
“When Rodrick called with the alert that the check I sent you had just been cashed, I had this idea for you to get Petra to confess. We’d discussed it before, but Rodrick thought you were too nice. I felt like you could do it, but knew you’d get too anxious if it was staged. I was mean to you because I wanted you to shut down and move away from me. It hurt to see you like that, but I planted a recording device on your purse while you weren’t looking. We’ve been outside listening to this whole thing.” I swallow hard, knowing this is what I feared about the entire idea, whether she could forgive me again for manipulating her, and taking advantage of her kind nature.
Petra was right, I wasn’t a nice person. I was an asshole, and it made me successful in business, but not so much with people. In the short time I’d known Ava, she taught me how much further kindness would get you.
It didn’t matter who you were when it came to Ava, she treated the janitor just as she did the boss. And it wasn’t just about money. She never threw money around, even when I begged her to. She thanked people and showed her appreciation with her time and her beautiful smile.
“You listened to all of that?”
“After all that I just said, that’s what you have to say?” I chuckle at her blushing.
“No, I also want to tell you to watch your mouth, especially when you talk to me!” She points her finger at me as I wrap my arms around her.
“I’m so sorry, baby. I guess I didn’t really think it through. I got blinded by vengeance and just wanted to get the brooch back. I took advantage of your love for me, trusting that our bond would be strong enough to overcome something like this, after all I’ve already done,” I say as shake my head.
“So, you didn’t mean those things you said?”
“Of course not. I’m in love with you.” I pull her close to me, happy when she doesn’t pull away, but still fearful she won’t forgive me.
“You’re in love with me?” Her words are soft, and my stomach clenches to hear her talk in that tone again.
“Ava baby, I love you more than anything in this world. I just want you to forgive me. I need you to forgive me. I swear, I’ll spend the rest of my life making this up to you,” I beg her, my eyes peering into hers as she looks back with the blankest of expressions.
It’s not normal for me not to be able to read her, and that makes me nervous, knowing I cannot lose her. This has been the longest hour of my life, waiting for this moment, in hopes I could repair what was always broken.
“You’re serious, Logan?”
“What do you mean?”
“You knew it was Petra this whole time?”
She completely ignores my plea and I fear my deception may be too much for her to bear.
“Not the whole time, no. Rodrick discovered it for sure the night you stayed at my house. He called me with the details that morning.”
“I knew it! You were so closed off, hiding things on the computer and rushing off the phone,” she recalls. I hadn’t even picked up on her noticing those things.
“I’ll never keep secrets from you again, Ava. I was just trying to figure out how best to go about it,” I promise, trying to explain the logic behind my decision.
“You let me go all this time, and you knew?” Her eyes go wide as she pokes me in the chest.
“Were you stressing?” I ask.
“Logan, I couldn’t sleep!” she yells so loud everyone still roaming through her house pauses and looks in our direction.
It never occurred to me the predicament she was in, caught between me and Petra, having to choose who to be loyal to. I wasn’t even sure she knew about the crime, but I knew that even if she was aware, she didn’t have anything to do with it.
“I can make that up to you.” I lean down, rubbing my nose against hers to test the waters.
“I love you,” she says looking directly at me, and my heart skips knowing that I haven’t ruined what we had. I don’t care what I have to do or say, I’ll make sure she forgives me and forgets all about this crazy situation.
“I love you more,” I whisper before pressing my lips to hers. She deepens the kiss quickly, and I pull her flush against me as I close my eyes, reveling in the taste of her after fearing I’d never have the privilege of kissing her again.
“What about your grandma’s brooch?” she asks, pulling away from me.
“Yeah, baby, the police recovered it two days ago when Petra mailed it to her sister’s house,” I say. I smile, amused that after all of this, she’s still more worried about me than her. “I’m going to make it all up to you, Ava. I promise.”
“And just how do you plan on doing that, Mr. Draper?” she challenges with a hand on her hip.
“Well, I was hoping you would do me the honor of accompanying me on another trip, but this time I’m all yours – no work.”
“Like Fiji?”
“Just like Fiji,” I recall what was easily the best two days of my life, spent doing nothing but loving her.
“I would like that very much.”
“Good, because we’re leaving now.” I wrap my arms around her.
“Now? Logan, I have to figure my life out. Everything happening with Petra, I have to find a smaller place, and my business…” she begins processing the thoughts lined up in her mind.
While I respect her ambition and independence, she’s crazy if she thinks I’m going to let something so trivial come between me having her all to myself.
“Ava baby, you’re moving in with me.”
I’d decided she was going to live with me while we were in Fiji, I just didn’t know how to convince her.
She looks at me with shock, before a smile spreads across her face.
“In which property? Because I’m not the type of girl who can live just anywhere, you know,” she jokes.
“You can pick the place, and we’ll figure out what to do about your practice together on the jet.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I’m dead serious.”
“Okay, well, let me pack,” she rolls her eyes.
“No, no, no,” I grab her tightly as she struggles to free from my grip.
“Logan, I need clothes,” she says, pulling me to her closet.
“This time you’re doing things my way. They’ll have your clothes when you get there,” I whisper before lifting her off her feet.
“Logan!” she screeches as I carry her down the stairs, but I just laugh as I make my way to the Bentley.
“Hello, Ava, sorry for the confusion. It was all Mr. Draper’s fault,” Rodrick greets her at the car.
“I’ll handle you later,” she playfully wags her finger at Rodrick before turning to me.
“Logan, there are still people all in my house,” she points to the police officers still collecting evidence.
“You don’t live here anymore.”
I smile down at her, and she smiles back.
Leaning down, I kiss her one last time before climbing into the backseat together, happy to finally leave all this madness behind us.