Page 47 of Keeping Kasey
“There’s nothing wrong with my outfit,” I say and cross my arms over my chest.
“Didn’t say there was.”
I glare at him, but he barely acknowledges it.
I place both hands on the table and push my chair back. I never should’ve come to this stupid meeting in the first place.
Just as my chair begins to move, the double doors open, and Logan, James, and Matteo walk into the room. The voices of every soldier cease at their entrance, and there’s a shuffling as everyone straightens in their chairs.
They stride to the platform with an air of untouchability—like kings ascending their thrones.
But only one of them is therealking.
Logan walks a step in front of his brother and cousin, but he doesn’t need to. Even if they walked side by side, there’d be no doubt who was in charge.
There’s something magnetic about Logan.
Whether you’re for him or against him, you’re drawn to him.
And though I rarely know if I’m for or against Logan, I’m undeniably drawn to him.
It’s been two days since Logan and I set the terms of our arrangement, and so far, it’s been surprisingly pleasant.
We agreed to three conditions.
1. No one can know.
2. No sleepovers.
3. The fling ends with my contract.
I couldn’t care less about the first condition, but it seemed important to Logan. I’m sure it has to do with his reputation,so I didn’t fight him on it. Elise already knows—which means Moreno likely does, too—and I’d be shocked if James and Damon haven’t figured it out by now, but whatever.
The arrangement has also made my life here more bearable.
My interactions with Logan include very little conversation, which means—aside from snarky comments we can’t help but throw at each other—we haven’t fought. Once he leaves my room, I spend my nights in blissful solitude.
Logan seems to be in a better mood, too. I’ve caught a real smile from him a few times, always directed at either James or Elise. He’s opted to ignore Damon rather than glare at him, and I even heard him speak civilly to Moreno before he and Elise left yesterday morning.
Despite his initial hesitation, Moreno agreed to let me give Elise a full-on digital resurrection. She argued that the rumors about her are already widespread, and a public outing before their wedding would give them more control over the narrative of the alliance between the Morenos and Consolis. In addition to this agreement, Moreno added that the strongest allies of the Consoli family should be invited to the wedding to witness the alliance firsthand.
I couldn’t care less about their reasoning. The only reason I know it at all is because Moreno and Elise wouldn’t stop fighting about it the entire time they were in town.
It was annoying as hell.
As the three men pass in front of our table, Logan glances my way. His passive, regal expression cracks when he meets my gaze, and his eye twitches the slightest bit.
He looks away just as quickly, but I didn’t miss the tick; he’s angry.
So much for his improved mood.
Logan, James, and Matteo prattle on for an hour about things that have absolutely nothing to do with me. Changes inprocedure, new policies, and updates on matters that I don’t care about.
I tune them out, and it is the longest, most boring hour of my life.
“Lastly,” Logan says, stepping up to the podium as Matteo steps back. “We’re upgrading each base’s security system to ensure the power outage from last week does not repeat itself. To do this, we’ve contracted Kasey, who will be at the base until the job is done.”
The change is subtle—a slight narrowing of his eyes and tight pull of his lips—but the sharpened edge to Logan’s expression conveys a severity that can be felt from every corner of the room.
