Club Destiny 1 Conviction (29 page)

His expectations weren’t high, so
he hoped that once the chance to explain presented itself, Sam would
understand.

Misunderstandings were common,
especially when only part of the conversation was overheard, and ultimately,
Sam had been the reason he had wanted to get back home so quickly. Had he
known, or even had the slightest hint, that he was being set up to see Heather
again, he would have never agreed to go out there.

If nothing else, he needed to
make sure Sam didn’t consider leaving XTX. The company couldn’t afford to lose
her now.

“Sonuvabitch.” He almost screamed
the curse, as Sam’s voicemail picked up. No reason to leave a message. What
could he say?
I’m sorry I had dinner with my ex-girlfriend and that you
overheard a conversation where I was admitting to it.
 

That sounded stupid even to his
own ears.

No, he needed to see Sam in
person, reassure her that seeing Heather meant nothing to him. That
Heather
meant nothing to him. How had this situation gotten so out of control?

Stumbling upon Samantha Kielty
was the last thing he had expected, or so he thought. Falling in love with her
had been even farther down the list, yet here he was –trying to figure out what
he could do to fix something that he wasn’t sure how to fix. Wasn’t even sure
why it was broken.

The logical part of his brain
told him Sam’s reaction to what she heard was overdramatic. Though fiercely
guarded, Sam was both strong and independent, not taking shit from anyone. She
was supposed to call him on it. Have it out with him. Hell, hold him
accountable.

Instead, she’d run from him, her
feelings on display for the world to see. She never would have wanted Alex or
Deanna to figure out what was going on, but her feelings had been too easily
seen.

To think he’d been trying to come
up with a way to pierce her heart, to get her to feel some of what he was
feeling. Penetrating those well-built walls she’d erected over the years wasn’t
supposed to result in this.

While he wasn’t looking, or maybe
while he was, something serious had developed between them. Something on a much
deeper level than he ever dreamed and that scared him. Or maybe the very real
possibility of losing Sam was what really scared him.

After his attempt to chase Sam
from the office, Logan had returned to his desk to find Deanna staring at him
like he was a complete stranger. His calendar had been cleared like he’d
instructed, leaving him free to try and catch up on a few things that he had
been putting off.

Little good the extra time did,
because he didn’t want to focus on anything but consoling Sam and getting her
to understand he didn’t care about Heather any longer. He did care about Sam.

The problem was that he didn’t
know how to express that to her without sounding as though he were trying to
save face. At this point, that is what it would sound like regardless.

Leaving the office at this point
to go after her wouldn’t work. Glancing at the clock, he noted it was only two.
His phone rang, almost jolting Logan from his chair. Seeing that the caller was
none other than his boss, Xavier Thomas, Logan knew his afternoon plans had
just been thwarted. Other than to get details on the California trip, what
could Xavier be calling him for?

“Good afternoon, Xavier. How’s it
going?” Logan said, trying his best to sound professional.

“It’s going well. And you?”

“Not too bad. Just got back into
Dallas this morning. I managed to get things straightened out with At Last.”

“I heard. Why don’t you stop by
my office for a few minutes?”

“Give me five and I’ll be right
there.”

Damn.
Logan really didn’t want to have
to go into detail about the debacle in California. Offering details that would
likely get Heather reprimanded wasn’t of any interest to him.

He would gladly reimburse the
company for his airfare and hotel just to put it all behind him. Before he
headed off for a two hour conversation with his boss, he decided to try calling
Sam again.

Voicemail.
Shit
.

Where had she gone?

Shutting things down, Logan
geared up to go to Xavier’s office for the rest of the afternoon. After
advising Deanna that he’d be gone for the rest of the day, suggesting she try
to cut out early, Logan took off for Xavier’s office in the next building.

The two minute walk did wonders
for clearing his mind. He knew that, for the next how many ever minutes or
hours that he was in the presence of his boss, Logan couldn’t think about Sam.
His focus needed to be on XTX and what his boss needed from him.

When he arrived, Xavier’s admin,
Veronica, smiled sweetly, then waved him by. The door to Xavier’s office was
open, and the older man was sitting at his desk, the telephone cradled between
his shoulder and his ear. He took a seat and waited patiently for the
conversation to end.

“Yes, Mrs. Knight. I completely
understand.” Xavier responded, motioning with a nod of his head for Logan to
take a seat. “Yes. A company Christmas party does sound like a good idea. I’ll
plant the seed in Veronica’s mind, and we’ll see where it goes. Yes. Alright.
You take care now.” With the conversation apparently over, Xavier put the
receiver back in the phone cradle.

Logan sat quietly, praying there
was another Mrs. Knight. Not one Angelica Knight.

“That was Angelica Knight.”

So apparently there wasn’t.

“She wants a Christmas party, I
caught that part.” Logan grinned, knowing how much Xavier didn’t like the
public relations part of his job.

“That and she just wanted to
talk.” Xavier confirmed as though he had been reading Logan’s mind.

Shit
. Why in the hell did everyone in
this company know everyone else? “What did she have to say?”

“She was pretty adamant that XTX
should entertain the idea of a Christmas party this year. A big ‘to-do’ she
said.” Xavier spoke with tremendous animation, circling his hands as though to
encompass the room. “She said that she keeps mentioning it to Ron, but he
doesn’t seem to pay her much attention when it comes to those things. Obviously
she felt compelled to call and try to persuade me.”

“Did it work?” Logan didn’t
actually care at this point, but the conversation seemed to be stalled.

“Maybe. We’ll see. I’ll mention
it to Veronica and see what she does with it. Either way, it doesn’t matter
much to me.”

“Will Ashleigh and Dylan be home
by then?” Logan referred to Xavier’s grandchildren, who were currently not
living in the Dallas area, both of them a couple of hours in different
directions. Usually a point of contention with their overprotective grandfather
who’d spent his life raising them after their parents’ unexpected deaths when
they were young.

“Ashleigh’s been talking about
coming home. Not sure about Dylan. He’s having a rough time of it right now.
Since Meghan’s death, the boy hasn’t been right in his head. I’m trying to
coerce him to come back home, take a position within the company. So far, he’s
refused.” Xavier told Logan.

Xavier’s relationship with his
grandchildren was something the two of them talked about often. The man had
hoped the two of them would take an interest in the family business, but
neither had ever shown any.

Ashleigh, according to what Xavier
shared, was pursuing a writing career, and apparently doing well. Logan had
gotten the same bit of information from Alex, although his understanding of
what Ashleigh was writing and what Xavier believed were on opposite ends of the
spectrum. Apparently, their sweet, innocent Ashleigh was publishing children’s
books, though moonlighting as an erotic romance author in her spare time. That
was the part Xavier didn’t seem to know about, and Logan wouldn’t be the one to
tell the man.

As for Dylan, he and Logan had
been friends for years. They’d even gone to the same high school, surprising
enough. While in college, Dylan had married the love of his life at the ripe
old age of twenty. They’d bought some land a couple of hours out, built
Meghan’s dream house, popped out two kids, one right after the other, and built
a highly successful ranching business. Then, eight years ago, Meghan passed
away after a long battle with breast cancer.

Logan talked to Dylan once a
month or so, checking in with his good friend. The kids were getting older, and
Dylan was having a rough time of it. Stacey was now eighteen, Trevor seventeen,
both of them giving Dylan a run for his money.

With Stacey ready to go off to
college, Dylan was beside himself with grief, feeling as though he were losing
his daughter.

Trevor was a good natured boy,
who apparently had just come out with the news that he was gay. Both Alex and
Logan had long conversations with Dylan, advising him that there wasn’t
anything wrong with that, as long as the boy was comfortable with his
sexuality, which was the most important part. To their surprise, Dylan agreed,
but as the boys’ father, he still worried. The world was a hateful place, and
he only wanted to keep his kids safe.

“Is Stacey still considering
going to UTD?” Logan asked.

“That’s the only good part of
this whole thing. Stacey’s got her heart set on it and Dylan doesn’t want her
to be that far away.”

“That far away? Hell, he’s only
two hours out.” Logan knew Dylan was overprotective, but two hours?

“That’s what I told him. She’s
asked if she can come stay at the house, and of course, I can’t refuse that
girl anything.”

Logan smiled at the way Xavier
referred to his ten thousand square foot mansion as a ‘house’. With more rooms
than some hotels, Xavier had more than enough room for Stacey and anyone else
who wanted to visit.

“You think that will get him back
here?”

“He’s mentioned it. Talked about
selling the ranch.” Xavier said, leaning forward, his arms resting on his desk.
Logan noticed the sorrow that filled his boss’s eyes. “I think living in that
house brings back too many memories of Meghan. It might be time for Dylan to
move on.”

Logan knew that wasn’t easy for
Xavier to talk about. Knowing Dylan as well as he did, Logan didn’t disagree.
At thirty-nine years old, Dylan had a lot of life left, but no one could tell
him that.

“Everything will work out for the
best.” It had to. “Is that why you called me down here?” Logan changed the
subject.

“Of course not. I wanted to talk
to you about the California fiasco.” Xavier replied, once again relaxed, the
sadness in his eyes a few moments ago just a memory.

“I take it you’ve heard.”

“I did. I’m sorry you had to
endure that. Honestly, I had no idea. If I had, I would have called Ron myself
and had a long talk with him about his daughter.” Xavier referred to Heather’s
father, a man Xavier had been in business with for the better part of the last
four decades.

“It was fine. Apparently there
are some rumors going around and Heather must have gotten wind of them. Not
sure how that could have happened.” Logan said as he leaned back and crossed
one leg over his knee.

Wanting to sound as nonchalant as
possible, Logan knew Xavier could read him like an open book. The rumors he
referred to must have been about him and Sam, and Logan worried what Xavier’s
reaction would be once he figured it all out, if he hadn’t already.

“Well, you know Angelica. As for
those rumors, have you heard what they’re saying?” Xavier asked, his expression
serious.

“You know I try to ignore those
things. They run rampant around this office.”

“Yes, well, most of them are
certainly insignificant. However, this one did get my attention. Apparently
there’s a rumor about an intra-office romance involving you and a very
attractive V.P. of project operations.”

Logan wondered who started that
rumor. Since Heather had apparently heard of it before today, he knew Deanna
wasn’t likely the source. Possibly Alex, but since the two of them were
friends, he didn’t think Alex would run off at the mouth about something he
wasn’t sure of. Unless it could possibly interfere with XTX.

In a desperate attempt to save
face, Logan’s first inclination was to deny the rumor. “Well, I assure that
those rumors…” Logan didn’t get a chance to finish his statement.

“Don’t you dare bullshit me,
boy.” Xavier’s voice was raised, and he pounded his fist on the desk.

Logan had been privy to a number
of heart to hearts with Xavier Thomas, but he’d never been on the receiving end
of his disapproval. Based on his reaction, Logan knew he’d crossed the line.

“Xavier, I –”

Standing from his chair and
walking around to perch on the edge of the desk, a few feet from where Logan
sat, Xavier’s hard glare made Logan want to squirm for the first time in as
long as he could remember.

“If you want to lie to yourself,
so be it. But, you won’t sit here and tell me that something hasn’t changed in
your life. Quite frankly, I’m not surprised that it’s a woman.” Xavier stated.