Page 66 of No First Kisses

He’s the one who lets me drive away, and he doesn’t come looking for me. Not when I go to Taco Bell and order half the menu. Not when I go home and eat every bit of it while sitting in the nursery.

He doesn’t come looking for me when I write him a letter.

Or when I pack some clothes for the weekend.

Logan doesn’t call me when I drive my car to my brother’s house.

And he doesn’t bother trying to talk to me.

At all.

24

LOGAN

I don’t follow her because I can’t breathe. Not only do I have to explain to every single man whom I trust with my life why I haven’t trusted them with the truth, but I also have to see the look on Poppy’s face when she realizes that I really am the reason she was shot.

I can’t force my feet to move in her direction. Even when I hear the sound of her starting my truck. Or when I listen to her drive away.

Instead, I do the only thing I’m good at.

I plan my revenge.

“He came to the hospital,” I tell the men who will have my back no matter what. “During Poppy’s OB appointment. He had to have been there before I got there. Maybe he followed Sam when he dropped her off. Maybe he has someone working with him, but I doubt it. No one is going to cross Dean or his club.” I run a hand though my hair, trying to keep a tight grip on my control.

“Did he threaten her or you?” Dom watches his wife standing on the other side of the sliding glass door and pulls out his phone. “I’m ordering pizza to have it delivered. That woman is gonna murder me because we’ve been out here for a half hour and she was already hungry when we left the house.”

“Better order a BBQ pizza, too.” Remy sighs deeply. “Parker was really looking forward to it, if her texts are anything to go by.”

“He said that he wanted to get Poppy in bed, phrased in a cruder way. And he made the insinuation that he sexually assaulted Lettie before she died.” I hold up a hand when I can see that the guys are about to lose their shit. “No, he didn’t. I know he didn’t because I’ve seen all of Lettie’s case. I saw the autopsy report from the medical examiner. There was no sign of sexual activity, let alone sexual assault.”

That works to deflate their anger, at least for the moment.

“He told me that he didn’t get what he wanted the first time. Obviously, he meant that he wanted to kill Poppy. I just have to stop him before he can make a move.”

“Do you really think anyone would care if we let Dean get rid of him and dispose of the body?” Linc crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m pretty sick and tired of psychos and dumbasses coming after us through our women. At this point, we might as well build a fuckin’ compound so we can keep them all safe.”

“Right?” Remy looks over at the sliding glass door where Parker and Chloe have joined Emma at the window. The only one missing is Kennedy, who is working.

“I can’t believe Kennedy’s still working,” I tell Linc. “How’d she get that out of you?”

He shrugs. “She sits in the most secure building in the county for work, with her feet up, surrounded by the Birch County sheriff and all his deputies. How was I going to tell her that she couldn’t go to work?”

He has a point. If Poppy hadn’t been put on bed rest, I know for a fact she’d have gone to work until she popped.

“Well, shit.” Dom gets off his phone. “At least Poppy got the paperwork protecting her from Ortega harassing her.”

“Yeah,” I answer sarcastically. “Because a piece of paper stops the bad shit from happening.”

While they continue to talk around me, I pull out my phone and send a text to Dean.

Logan: Poppy left. In my truck. One of your guys on her?

Dean: Yup. He already told me you fucked up.

Logan: Keep her safe.

Dean: I told you. You hurt her this time, I’m gonna handle it.