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Logan nervously glances at me from across the cab of the truck, and I turn to face him, studying him as his gaze remains firmly on the road. He’s been antsy since we packed up and left the clubhouse but I can’t figure out why. He should be happy right now.

“Are you sure we’re safe?” I ask, watching his reaction closely. When he looks at me, I can see the certainty in his gaze.

“Yeah, Baby. You never have to worry about this again.”

His grip tightens around the steering wheel as we pull up in front of my house and he throws the truck in park. “Then why are you agitated?”

“Let’s go inside,” he says, opening his door and avoiding my gaze.

“No. Tell me what’s wrong.” Anxiousness descends over me, and my mind works in overdrive, trying to figure out what is bothering him so much. Why isn’t he happy that we’re finally free?

He runs a hand over his face, fear filling his eyes. “Kitten, we’ve got a lot of talkin’ to do tonight. Please, can we just go inside?”

Eyeing him warily, I scoot across the seat and hop down. He grabs our bag out of the bed and grabs my hand, lacing our fingers as we walk up to the house. I can’t help but glance around, looking for any hidden threat that may be lurking in the shadows, and I don’t think that habit will go away anytime soon. How could it? I’m a completely different person than I was before. It’s a lot like how I changed when Adam cheated on me. Before this whole mess started, I walked around with this naïve sense of optimism but not anymore.

Now, I know what kinds of things lurk in the shadows.

Logan unlocks the door and steps aside, motioning for me to go in first, and he steps in behind me, shutting and locking the door behind him. Looking around my house, everything looks the same but it feels so different – tainted by the memories of someone stalking me.

“Do you want to sit?” he asks, and I peek over my shoulder just as he runs his hand over his hair.

“Why don’t you tell me what you want since you look like you’re about to fall apart?”

He looks down the hall before his gaze flicks to the living room. “In here is fine.”

I nod and march into the living room, ready to get this conversation started because he’s driving me crazy with his nervous tics. Sitting down on the couch, I fold my legs underneath me, and turn to face Logan as he sits next to me.

“I haven’t been completely honest with you,” he whispers, clearing his throat as he looks up at me.

“You lied to me?” My heart beats a little faster, the pain poised on the edge and ready to invade my body as I wait for his answer.

“No. I never lied to you. I just never told you the whole truth. Maybe you would have understood me better through this whole thing but I’ve done things, and the thought of losing you because of that…well, I couldn’t stand it.”

I nod. “I’m listening.”

He glances up at me and the uncertainty in his eyes breaks my heart. What could he possibly have to tell me that would make him so scared? Reaching out, I grab his hand and pull it into my lap, giving it a squeeze to encourage him.

“I met Sophia about a year after I was discharged from the Army. When she found me, I was in a dark place, Baby. I had lost friends over there and seen things that I thought would haunt me forever. I blamed myself for the death of my best friend, and she made it easier. She helped me work through it and deal with it all. I guess we needed each other because she had gotten out of an abusive relationship, and we helped each other heal.”

I nod, my eyes watering. I hate hearing about his pain, and if I could do anything to take it away, I would.

“Her ex, Ian – he was a nasty son of a bitch but his family came from old southern money, and he could put on a show better than anyone else I’ve ever met. She tried to get help but no one would believe her because he was just that good of an actor. One night, he beat her so bad that she could barely stand but somehow she stumbled out of their house and ran to a gas station that was just down the road. She barely made it in the door before she passed out in Blaze’s arms.”

I nod, the entire picture starting to come together in my mind.

“Blaze took one look at her face and carried her out to his truck. He knew he had to save her. Ian pulled up to the gas station and when he got out, not a hair was out of place but he had hit her so hard that his knuckles were bruised and swollen. Blaze told him that if he ever came around her again, he would put a bullet between his eyes, and believe me, back then he would have without a second thought.”

“I can’t even picture him like that,” I say, trying to imagine Blaze the way Logan is describing him.

“Yeah, he’s definitely changed a lot. That was close to when he decided to turn things around, and it’s because of the fact that he wouldn’t have hesitated to take a man’s life.”

“Is that how you met her?”

He shakes his head. “No, I met her about seven months later. I was working in the motorcycle shop owned by the club, and she came in to talk to Blaze. As soon as I saw her, that was it. We moved fast and soon I was living with her, and I was planning our future. What I didn’t know at the time was that Ian had been keeping an eye on her. He watched her, watched us together, and waited for the right moment.”

“Oh,” I whisper, suddenly understanding some of Logan’s reactions as we dealt with the same issue.