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“Well, let’s see. I’m locked in my house because some psycho is leaving dolls on my doorstep, and I’m not talking to my boyfriend since he thinks he can run my life but he won’t leave me alone so we just walk around the house, not speaking to each other.”

“Ali, he’s just trying to protect you,” Carly says, and I nod.

“I know that but I wish he would just cool it a little bit. If he had just talked to me about it, I probably would have agreed with him, but he didn’t. He bulldozed over me and started barking orders.”

“Sounds a little bit like you’re taking shit out on him,” Izzy says, giving me a look. “This is hard for both of you, and there is no handbook. Hell, even the cops can’t do much right now. Maybe you should just cut him some slack.”

I bite down on my lip as I mull over what she said. “Yeah, you’re right,” I whisper, and she nods, standing.

“Then, our work here is done.”

“What? You’re leaving?” I ask in a panic. I hate being cooped up in this house, and I don’t want them to leave me yet.

“Sorry, Hon. We just swung by on our lunch break and traffic was awful. We’ll stop by tonight if you want,” Carly offers, and I nod.

“She’ll be busy,” Logan says from the end of the hall, and I jump, pressing my hand over my chest as my heart pounds. Jeez, where the hell did he come from? Carly and Izzy give me sympathetic looks as they hug me and duck out of the kitchen. Logan stomps down the hallway and sits in the chair next to me. When the door closes, he holds out his hand.

“Come here, Kitten.”

After a moment of hesitation, I stand, deciding to let it all go as I grab his hand. He tugs it, pulling me into his lap, and moving me so I’m straddling his thighs. “We done with this fighting bullshit, Darlin’?”

I sigh and press my hands to his chest. “Maybe.”

“Just maybe.”

“Are you done acting like a Neanderthal and ordering me around and running my life?”

He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me closer, dropping his head back to look up at me. “Ali, I’m just trying to protect you.”

“I know that but you’ve got to talk to me, too. I’m an adult, and you’re treating me like a child. Chances are I would have agreed with you if you had just had a conversation with me before you went and called my boss. I was terrified that night, and then you just steamrolled me.”

He watches me for a moment before sighing. “I’m not going to apologize for the things I’ve done to keep you safe but I am sorry for not talking to you. This shit is so hard on me, Babe, and I get tunnel vision. I can’t stop thinking that I’m going to lose you just like I lost her, and I can’t do it. I can’t lose you, too.”

“I know,” I whisper, pressing my hand to his face.

“I don’t know what I would do if I lost you, Baby,” he whispers, his voice raw, and it reaches into my chest and squeezes my heart.

“Well, it’s a good thing you’ll never have to find out then, huh?”

He forces a smile but I can tell that he’s not buying what I’m selling. “Are we good?”

“Yeah, Logan,” I say, leaning in and hovering over his lips. “We’re good. Always.”

* * * *

“Wake up, Kitten,” he whispers in my ear, his breath fanning out across my skin as he cages me in with his arms and legs. Groaning, I turn my head into the pillow, trying to get away from him, and he laughs. “Uh-uh, Darlin’. It’s time to get up.”

“It’s Saturday,” I say, trying to roll over, but he stops me.

“Yeah, but we got somewhere to be.”

I peek open my eye and look up at him, his dark hair messy from sleep and a sly grin on his face. “Where?”

“It’s a surprise,” he says, smacking my ass, and I jump. “Come on, get up.”

Rolling over to my back, I shoot him a skeptical look but he just laughs. “What are you up to?”

“Guess you’ll just have to get up and find out.”