Logan Chapter 44

-Logan-

As my PR manager and Anna berate me for allowing this debacle to happen, I’m heartened to see Emory’s face slowly soften in my peripheral vision. At least she’s not as angry as she was. Maybe one day she can understand my actions and forgive me. I’ll have a lot of groveling to do after this whole mess is cleaned up, though.

One of the perks of my wealth and stature in the community is that the police will come to me instead of us having to go to the station to press charges. The press will be following us for awhile after this, and I can’t imagine more pictures of Emory and I in a stressful situation being a good thing. Officer Valentine arrives at my office only fifteen minutes after we call the non-emergency line. He waves off his impressive timing by explaining that he was already patrolling nearby. I explain the libel suit I’d like to open up against Cora, Hot Tea, and the general idea of paparazzi, and he promises to look over the book of paperwork my lawyer is sending with him. Next is Emory’s turn. I wish I could take care of it for her, but the police need to be confident that she isn’t being mistreated and that Cora acted against Emory’s wishes.

Valentine asks for a more private area he can talk to Emory, and I leave them in the sitting area of my office while Anna and I pretend to get work done at my actual desk. It would be far enough to have a private conversation if I had human hearing, and at this moment I’m selfishly grateful that I don’t. Valentine is much softer with Emory than he was with me. I’m torn between appreciation in his taking care of her comfort and jealousy. It helps that she doesn’t act attracted to him in any way. He’s creeping toward middle age, so I decide to interpret his care as fatherly. This fated mate stuff is exhausting.

“Ma’am, I just need to start with one question. Know that whatever you answer, I’ll make sure you’re safe. Are you here of your own free will? If he’s coercing you in any way to lie about your time together, I’ll sic the Chief on ‘em. If you feel safe here, we can continue, but if you need to get out, I’ll get you outta here.” I grind my teeth and try very hard to appreciate the gesture for what it is. Anna waves a report in my face before I point blank tell her that I will pay attention to her in a minute.

“Oh, no I’m fine, sir. Logan and I have argued, sure, but he’d never hurt me. I just can’t believe Cora would do this to me. I thought we were friends. But now my mama’s gonna see those pictures of me and all my coworkers are gonna think I tried to sleep my way to the top… I just feel so betrayed, officer. I can’t have her around me anymore, and I need those pictures gone.” I hate how torn up Emory sounds. Her accent is heavy and I hear the tears she’s holding back. I wish I could kill Cora for this, but I get the sense she’ll suffer more if she goes to prison. I also hope Emory means it when she says she knows she’s safe with me. I would never hurt her; I would protect her with my life. Hopefully, we can build on that trust and have an actual relationship with communication and truth. I can’t wait to get all of this over with so I can introduce her to Landon and the pack.

“Call me Nick, sweetheart. We’ll do everything we can to get this chick behind bars.” His accent smooths out the R at the end, and it’s almost funny to hear in counterpoint to Emory’s soft Southern accent.

“I know I should be grateful. I just don’t know what else to tell you besides what you’ve already heard. I didn’t give her permission to use those pictures, I didn’t give her permission to record me. She lied in the article about my relationship with Logan. It’s such a betrayal, sir. Nick, I mean.” I’m glad we left Emory the simplest part. She just has to speak her truth to the officer. Just using the pictures without permission is enough to get Cora arrested, as far as I can tell, and my lawyers will leverage anything else we can find to compound her punishment. I want to get this over with so Emory can start healing.

“I understand. It sounds like a pretty open and shut case to me, and your boyfriend there has some of the best lawyers in the state on his side. You’ll be just fine. Stay inside as much as possible until the press dies down and I think you’ll be golden. Stay off social media, too. I think my work here is done for the day. You feel better, ma’am.” He turns to me and doesn’t look surprised to find my gaze already on him. He raises his voice so that Anna and I will be sure to hear him. “If you don’t have anything else for me, I have some reports to file on this. We’ll get the process started and be in touch with your lawyer. He made sure I had his card. Yous guys stay safe, now.” He nods- to himself or me, it’s hard to tell- and Anna sees him out. That part is done, at least. Now to move on to Emory and Operation Forgiveness. This time I’ll start with talking to James instead of Derek or Ollie.

Unfortunately, Anna has other ideas. “Sir, are you ready to pay attention to me now, instead of reading lips? You have a month of decisions your brother pawned off.” Emory, who had just walked up, raises her eyebrows at this. Busted.

I force myself to remember that I wanted this, that companies can’t just be abandoned when it’s not convenient to run them. “Give me the most important ones first. We’ll finish up what we can in the next hour or two, and I’ll take anything else home to go over.”

Anna, ever efficient, already had the relevant information for each written up for me and piled in her arms from high to low priority. “I have the time- sensitive decisions ranked first. Also, when would you like to set a meeting with the shareholders? They’ve been antsy with your extended… absence.” She eyes Emory, who seems to be trying to blend into the wall. It doesn’t work, of course. She’s the brightest part of any room.

I heave a sigh at the thought of meeting the shareholders. “Set them for tomorrow first thing, Anna. Emory, darling, would you like to stay here with me for an hour or go back to the sitting area and stay there?” I’m betting I could be way more productive if I could get her to sit in my lap, but somehow I doubt that will happen today.

“Oh, I don’t want to be in the way. I’ll just go… sit.” Emory walks away and sits on the edge of an arm chair on the other side of the office. Anna gives me another look, but I pretend to ignore it and get back to work. I have a lot to catch up on in all areas of my life.