Page 49 of Forget Me Not

“Have you told her yet?” King’s voice pulls my attention as he walks into the room, a serious look on his face. He closes the door behind him and leans against it, crossing his arms over his chest.

“No.” I sigh, running my hands through my hair. “I haven’t.”

“God fucking dammit, Kade. What the fuck are you doing?” His expression is a mixture of concern and disappointment.

“I know I have to tell her, King. The fact that I haven’t is fucking eating me alive every time I’m with her. I’m just waiting for the right time.”

“There’s never going to be a right fucking time, Kade. If there was, it would’ve been right when you figured out who she was.” He shakes his head. “Come on, kid. You’re better than this.”

“Am I? Because, from where I’m standing, the thought of telling her now and watching her leave me feels a whole lot fucking worse than not telling her.”

“Don’t do that shit. You know you can’t keep this from her forever. I like Lo and it’s damn obvious that you love her. The longer you lie to her, the worse you’ll hurt her. And you’ll end up hurting yourself too.”

“Fuck.” I drop my head into my hands, pulling at my hair to stop myself from punching something. “It all leads back to her, you know?” I stand up from the couch and start pacing. “This started with her, my mother. I only started talking to L, or I guess I should call her Lennox now, because of that stupid app on her phone. Then Lennox had to give me, a guy she doesn’t even fucking know, the stupid responsibility of finding and taking care of her sister. I avoid it for years, then Lo shows up in front of me, and of course she has to be the best fucking person I’ve ever known. And now here I am, keeping all sorts of fucked-up secrets from her. It all fucking started with her.”

“Grow the fuck up, Kaden.” King grabs my shoulders, forcing me to stop my pacing and look at him. “Your mother was ill. None of this leads back to her. It may have been her conversation to begin with, but you were the one who chose to continue it. Maybe none of that happened and you still found Logan. Or maybe all of that is what led to you finding her. Who the fuck knows. What I do know is that this is your situation now, and you can’t hide this from her forever.”

“I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me.” I sit back down on the couch and King moves to sit down where Asher was before.

“Nothing is wrong with you. You love her. You’re scared of losing her. I know the feeling.”

“Jillian didn’t deserve you, King. You did nothing but try to make her happy. You gave her everything she ever wanted. The fact that it wasn’t enough for her is on her, not you.”

“She wanted an abortion, you know?” I didn’t. “When she got pregnant with Ellie. I begged her not to, asked her to marry me. She said yes. I don’t regret it for a second, not if it led to me having my girls. But I knew it wasn’t what she wanted, and I asked for it anyway. She didn’t want to be a mother, and I tried to force her to be one. I still fucking hate her for staying long enough to know them before she left, but I also can’t say it wasn’t partially my fault.”

“She could’ve told you no,” I say. He laughs, but it lacks any substance.

“I didn’t give her much of a choice.” He shakes his head. “My point is, we all make mistakes, Kade. Your mom made them, Lo’s sister made them, you’ve made them, and hell, I’m sure Lo has made plenty too. Tell her the truth, fix this one before you don’t have the chance to.”

He stands up, walks back over to the door, and opens it. He turns over his shoulder to look at me before stepping out of the room. “Your appointment starts in two minutes if they’re not already here. Take a minute and then get out there.”

“King?” I call as he starts to walk out the door. He pauses, turning around to look at me. “Thank you.”

He nods his head before turning back around and walking out, leaving me alone in the room. I know everything King said is right. I have to tell her, and there’s never going to be a right time to do it. I also know that when I do tell her, there’s a good chance that I’ll lose her, and I’m not ready for that. Not yet. Not ever. I stand up and walk to the lobby to meet my client but find it empty aside from Darla.

“Hey, hon. He just called. He’s running late, should be here in about fifteen. That alright with you?” Darla says, only lookingup long enough to see that it’s me before going back to whatever she’s doing on her computer.

“Yeah, no problem. Just send him back when he gets here if you can,” I respond.

“You got it, sugar.”

“Thanks, Darla.” I nod at her before walking back to my room in the shop. I leave the door open behind me, sit down on my stool and grab my sketchbook. I open it to Lo’s tattoo.

It’s almost done. I just need to add the finishing touches and then it will be ready to show her and hopefully ink onto her if she loves it as much as I do. I’ve been working on it tirelessly to make it everything she wanted, and I think I’ve finally done it.

No, not think. Know. I know this is exactly what she’s been wanting. Fuck. If she does leave me, the thought of someone else tattooing her, someone else having their hands on her skin, is probably enough to drive me to murder. It may be selfish, but I want my mark on her. It may be everything she asked for, but it’s also a reminder of me to her. The person who created it for her. Fuck knows I’m taking advantage of that.

With that in mind, I know that I can’t tell her until it’s inked. It’ll be ready by tomorrow and I’ll ink it on her as soon as she lets me. It’s only a couple more days that at this point won’t make any difference. I can hear King’s voice in my head, hell, I can hear my own inner conscience telling me this is wrong. But with Lo, I can’t seem to stop myself from making wrong decisions.

Maybe it’s love, or maybe it’s obsession, but she’s never fucking getting rid of me. With my ink on her skin, I’m hoping it’ll be harder for her to forget that. Harder for her to forget me. Logan Hart is mine and in this moment, I promise myself that she always fucking will be.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-EIGHT

Logan

“So, tell me all the details.” Theo rests his chin in his hands, leaning forward with his elbows resting on the coffee table in front of him. All of his attention pointed directly at me.

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