Chapter 61
Chapter 61
+25 BONUS
He studied me for a long beat, his expression unreadable. Then he held out his jacket for me, refusing to take no for an answer. “Thank you, Logan.” I said, slipping my arms into it and turning away before he could catch the flush in my cheeks.
When I turned back, he offered me a folder–plain, thick, sealed. didn’t take it right away.
“What is it?” I asked.
The heat in his gaze cooled and his tone was back to business. Calm and direct. “It’s an offer, if you want it.”
My fingers closed around it slowly. It was heavier than I expected,ke the weight of what it represented had soaked through the paper itself.
“For what?”
“To oversee Titanfang’s trade negotiation network,” he said. “Not just assist. Lead.”
The words didn’t register at first. Not fully.
“You already have a head of trade,” I said cautiously.
“I did,” Logan said. “He resigned this morning. Or rather–he was given the chance to.”
blinked. “Because of me?”
“Because of negligence. You just happened to prove it before I did.
I glanced down at the folder again, then back up at him. “Is this another move for appearances?”
“No.” Logan shook his head to emphasize his point.
“Then why me?”
His gaze didn’t waver. “Because they respect you.”
That made my breath hitch–but only a little.
He stepped closer. “And because I do too.”
I looked away. Because if I didn’t, I might’ve done something reckless. Like believe him. Like kiss him senseless.
He added, softer, “You’ve been doing half the work already. Quietly. Competently. Without recognition or support. I can’t fix what I didn’t do—but I can offer you something that’s yours. Without the contract. Without the press. Without me.”
Those last words hit harder than the rest. Without me. Was he drawing a line? Or offering freedom?
Maybe both.
I ran my fingers along the edge of the folder, grounding myself in the texture of it. It was real. The kind of real I used to dream about–before all of this. Before Logan. Before pretending to be part of something just to survive.
“I don’t want this if it’s just a distraction,” I said y
“It’s not.”
I meant to accept, but I couldn’t keep the next words from spewing out of me, “I don’t want to be given power just to keep me quiet.”
“Then don’t be quiet,” he said. “Take it and make some noise.”
That caught me off guard. I met Logan’s eyes again. This time, I held his stare. He wasn’t lying. There was no calculation in his expression. Just something quieter. More dangerous.
Chapter 61
Respect. And maybe… something close to regret.
Tdidn’t say yes. Not yet. I just nodded once and tucked the folder against my
“I’ll think about it.”
“You’ll accept it,” he said, not arrogantly–but with certainty.
I let out a breath that wasn’t quite a laugh. “Always so sure of yourself.”
“Not always,” he murmured. “Not lately.”
chest.
The quiet stretched between us again until Logan stepped back, the distance measured. “Goodnight, Emily.”
+25 BONUS
I turned as he walked past me, but his footsteps slowed just before the door. He didn’t look back, but his voice found me anyway. “You’re not the same woman who walked into that hotel lobby, thinking silence was her safest weapon.”
I swallowed hard.
“No,” I said quietly. “I’m not.”
And I wasn’t.
I carried the folder back home to my room with steady hands. I set it gently on the dresser and stared at it for a long while, the Hight catching on the edge of Logan’s signature embossed in silver.
He hadn’t offered me a consolation. He’d handed me a small olive branch. Not the Luna title. Not the mate bond. Not a crown carved by someone else’s hand.
He offered me a future of my own.
Somewhere between whispered rumors and buried evidence, I’d stopped pretending to belong. And started to feel like I could.
