Holy shit.
“Look, I’m sorry for being…” She trails off and looks at the floor.
“A bitch?”
Peyton looks up at me, grinning. “He’s always been protective of me, and so I guess I just get protective right back.” She shrugs, just like her brother. “I kind of figured you probably had the wrong impression,” She says, grinning at me in that wholly Logan way. “He’s a dick for messing with you like that. Sorry, he’s like that sometimes.”
I choke out a laugh. “Tell me about it.”
She squeezes my hand in hers as her face takes on a softer loo.; “So, how’s the big guy doing, anyways?”
“I- I- He’s-” And right then it’s like all the pent up fear and stress and emotion of the past twelve hours just comes draining out of me at once, and I find myself collapsing into her. Peyton, of all people.
“Hey, hey now,” she’s stroking my hair and helping me to sit before she pulls out her cell phone and looks me in the eye. “Hey, just sit tight, I got this.”
And, she does.
Bryce is there within hours, and if he has any questions about what at that point is pretty obviously going on with Logan and I, he doesn’t say a word. But it’s really when Major Lawson arrives soon after and starts mentioning things like “national security” and “State Department” to the concerned-looking State Troopers and hospital staff that the whole thing sort of just gets fixed. Half an hour later, we’re all on a jet headed to New York, and for the first time in what seems like a day, I can finally breath.
Contrary to what I guess either of Logan or I thought would happen, Bryce and Hudson actually ended up taking the news about us pretty well, especially when they heard the story of my spur-of-the-moment heroics back in Florida. Actually, I believe Hudson’s exact words on the entire matter were “You know, the deal was that we protect them, not the other way around, idiot.”
As it turns out, Chelsea ended up being the most pissed about the whole situation, and that was only because I’d spilled the beans to Reagan and not her. But even she got over it pretty quick as soon as she heard about me stabbing someone in the neck.
“Holy shit, Quinn When did you get so bad-ass?”
I have no idea, but I’d like to think a certain tattooed boxer had at least something to do with it.
“You totally ruined the honeymoon, you know.”
My sister whirls and punches Hudson in the arm, scowling at him as he grins and holds his hands up. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” Logan snorts out a laugh from the bed he’s propped up in, and Hudson pats him on the shoulder.
Logan’s penthouse isn’t quite done being renovated, but it’s finished enough that he’s decided to recoup here rather than the hospital. Which, by the way, I’m still furious about, especially since everyone else seems to think this is totally acceptable as well. He did let me bring in a few old colleagues from the hospital to check him out though, which at least puts me halfway to at-ease.
“You’re an idiot, you know.” Bryce frowns, shaking his head at Logan from the foot of his bed.
“Yeah, I know.”
“You should have told us, about Javier and all of it.”
Hudson scowls. “So how long had Javier been holding this over your-”
“It doesn’t matter, it’s over.” Logan says slowly. “Except I don’t know what he’s going to say now.”
“I do.” Major Lawson’s been quiet in the corner of the room until this moment, and as he stands, we all turn to him/ “He’s going to say nothing, because his story has no evidence and no proof.” He arches a brow at all of us. “As it turns out, I’ve got an old colleague working in the records department in Blackriver, and as of this morning, you three were never employees. The three men stare at him, their jaws dropped. Bryce starts to say something, but the Major just chuckles and waves him off. “Oh, and Javier’s currently on a plane to a detention facility in Spain.”
Logan’s eyes go wide. “What?”
“Yes, apparently Javier Toro is wanted for just about every law they’ve got back in Spain, and when I realized who he was I took the liberty of alerting my contact at Centro Nacional de Inteligencia in Madrid and letting him know.”
“You- wait-”
The Major raises an eyebrow at a very shocked looking Logan. “William Archer was one of the finest men I knew, son, and I intend to do everything in my power to protect his own.” He winks at me before turning a stern eye on Logan. “Of course, you hurt this one and I’ll send you right back to Cuba, but I think you’ll find the continental breakfast at Guantanamo Bay slightly less accommodating than the one at the Hotel Nacional.”