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“Yeah. It’s serious and it’s painful, and I didn’t want any of you to worry. I- I know I should have said something sooner but, Abby, you were dealing with the attack and coming home and Robbie was dealing with shit with dad-”
“I beg your pardon, son, I have been nothing but supportive of your brother-”
“Please,” Logan cut him off and fixed him with a glare. “You’ve done nothing but harass Robbie for not being just like you. I’ve been running around throwing rich girls into rehab and he has done nothing but make a good life for himself and try to make you proud. You treat him like he’s a fuck up, but guess what, old man? It’s not Robbie who’s the fuck up. It’s me. Which,” he turned and faced his mother, wagging a finger at her. “I’m sure makes you very happy. You were finally right about one thing, mom. I’m a secretive, pot smoking, lowlife.”
Her shoulders straightened. “I never thought you were a lowlife.”
“No, you just thought I was a junkie.”
Genevieve gasped as though he’d said the most foul word in the book. Her cheeks were red and I couldn’t tell if it was because of the wine or the tension in the room, but it was obvious that she wasn’t happy with the turn of events.
“Did you know about this?” Abby asked quietly and I turned, seeing that she was looking at me.
“Yes,” I said quietly.
I hated the anger I saw in her eyes. “You knew I was worried about Logan and you never told me.”
“Abby, it wasn’t my place.”
She was about to say something else, but Knox grabbed her by the elbow and Logan stepped in front of me. “None of this is her fault,” he said firmly. “I didn’t even want to tell Juliette what was going on, but she forced it out of me. I told her I was going to tell everyone and now I am, but don’t you dare get mad at her. She kept my secr
et because I asked her to.”
Abby didn’t look happy, but the answer sufficed as she leaned into Knox’s side and let him wrap an arm around her shoulders.
“What is this about putting rich girls in rehab? Logan, what do you do for a living?”
“Well, I don’t deal drugs like you and mom think I do. Hell, I’d probably make more doing that,” he laughed, but the sound was humorless. He delved into his next explanation and his parents looked on with rapt attention as he told them about his high profile clientele, his mother huffing and guffawing about the fact that he wasn’t being paid enough, or that it wasn’t a respectable enough profession for an Ashford.
My mind was blown. Logan was finally being honest and spilling his guts, but all Genevieve did was pick him apart and try to tear him down. It made zero sense and it made me wonder if my own mother, had she stuck around, would have been the same way. Constantly negative and drinking too much. Not loving or accepting me for the person I was.
Standing in that cold foyer, I was quite thankful that I had Gran all those years. She may have been a hard ass, but she was the most supportive, loving woman in the world.
I risked a glance toward his siblings and saw that Abby was still leaning into Knox, who was murmuring something in her ear and rubbing slow circles between her shoulders. She was staring down at the ground and the sadness on her face killed me. I couldn’t help but feel like I’d probably ruined a good chance at a solid friendship with someone, and the thought was nearly all consuming. I didn’t want to be friendless and alone anymore, I wanted to hold tight to the changes that were happening in my life.
But it was Robbie’s expression that really got me. He had a guard up as he watched his younger brother explain himself. His face was expressionless and was nearly identical to their father. I couldn’t tell if he was proud, angry, disappointed. It was like there was nothing there, but then I saw his hands clench into fists as he took a step forward and I, reflexively, put a hand on Logan’s arm.
He looked down at me and then his eyes traveled to his brother, who was moving toward him swiftly.
“Robbie, you o-”
It felt like I was watching in slow motion as Robbie pulled his arm back and then slammed it forward, his big, closed fist connecting with Logan’s nose. The crunching sound was sickening as Logan’s head slammed back, blood flowing almost immediately. He stumbled backwards and I made a grab for his arm, trying to put myself between the two of them.
“Robbie!” Abby shouted and lurched forward. Knox grabbed her and pulled her back before rushing toward the middle of the foyer as Robbie raised his arm to hit Logan again.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he shouted over my shoulder as I put my hands on his chest.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Logan shouted back and grabbed me by the collar of my jacket, hauling me back like I weighed nothing at all.
Suddenly, I was out of the way and they were on each other. Logan slammed his fist into Robbie’s jaw just as Knox jumped between them. He grabbed Logan around the neck and yanked him backwards with ease as Robert stepped in front of his oldest son, effectively blocking his path.
“You’re a fuckin’ idiot, man,” Robbie said. His face was red and he was out of breath, adrenaline clearly pumping through him. “After everything we’ve been through, after all the shit Abby went through last year, you want to put yourself in danger too? Fuck you, Logan.”
Logan, who was still struggling to get out of Knox’s grip, snarled at his brother. “This is why I didn’t want to tell anyone. Honesty gets you fucking nowhere in this family. It never has.”
“That’s not fair.” Abby jumped in with a sniffle. “We always want you to be honest with us.”
“Only if it’s what you want to fucking hear!” he shouted a response. When Abby flinched, his face softened and he stopped struggling. “I’m sorry. I swear, I didn’t mean that, Abby. I didn’t mean to lose my cool with you. I just… I came here to tell everyone the truth and all any of you have done is throw it back in my fucking face like I’m the bad guy. You want to know why I don’t come around a lot, why I disappear? This is why.”
