And that’s how he found us; washed out, beaten up, drunk, and clawing at the last shreds of what made us men, and somehow, he saw promise in us. Don’t ask me how.
So now that we’re whole new men, worth more than we’d ever even dreamed we’d be and running William’s company after his death, why the underground fights? Goddamn secrets, that’s why. Because something followed us back from that hell. Someone, I should say, with a knowledge of a truth that I thought we’d buried back in the jungle. Someone with a knowledge about who we really are.
But you don’t stop fighting, ever.
You never stop fighting.
“Earth to Logan?”
Bryce’s words shake me from my thoughts, and I frown at him. “This is a bad idea.”
“Yeah, uh, probably the worst thing you could say at a wedding, bud,” he says, rolling his eyes.
“Funny. You know what I mean though. Quinn on the team for the medical program. It just seems- I dunno, it seems like a conflict of interests is all.”
“What are you talking about?” Bryce shakes his head as he straightens his bowtie in the mirror. “It’s a healthcare outreach program through Archer Holdings. She’s a doctor, and her last name is Archer. I mean how much more perfect for the job can she get, man? You want her to be physically on-site, project managing the hospital constructions? Cause I bet she can do that too, she is the Old Man’s daughter, after all.”
Yeah, like I need to be reminded.
“Look I just don’t think it’s a good idea, that’s all.”
“Why on Earth not?”
Uh, because I know how she tastes riding my tongue? Because I know how she feels when she comes? Yeah, no fucking way can I say that to Bryce or Hudson, they’d kill me. Shit, I’d kill me.
“I just- I don’t think we’d get along personally.”
He glances at his watch. “Well, get personal, because in half an hour she’s going to be part of the family.”
I wince at that word, but then Hudson pokes his head into the room. “Hey, assholes, I’m getting married in twenty fucking minutes Think you could finish putting those ties on and get up to the altar with me?” He frowns and shakes his head at me. “Have I mentioned your face looks like shit by the way?” Bryce snorts from the other side of the room, and I glare at the both of them. “Oh and thanks for having a fight right before the wedding, buddy. Reagan’s going to love looking at your Goddamn black eye in the pictures later.” Hudson shakes his head, looking more amused than actually pissed at me. “I mean I thought you guys wore fucking masks at the gym.”
“Uh, yeah-” I can’t exactly tell them about the fights. Not these, which are most certainly not held at the gym.
The ones where there aren’t any gloves.
The ones where I bleed to forget.
“Yeah I guess I caught a bad hook or something.” I mumble out, trying to deflect the subject.
“You got hit?” Bryce grins at me from his spot by the window of the room. “Wish I’d been there to see that.”
Hudson snorts out a laugh. “You know, you could let me hit you, for once,” he says, referring to our sparring bouts where I basically wipe the floor with him every time. “It’d be a hell of a wedding gift you know.” He steps towards me and brings his hands up to straighten my bowtie. “So, what do you think about Quinn on the new-”
“Bad idea.”
Bryce growls at me from the other side of the room. “Logan, what is your fucking problem with it, man?”
My problem is I can’t stop thinking of that night. My problem is that I can’t stop picturing her naked body as she rides on top of me, her breasts swaying with her breathing, her lips trembling, and her fingertips raking my shoulders and my back as she explodes around me. Hell, I couldn’t stop thinking about that whole night before I knew who she was, but now it’s like pouring gasoline on a fire, and it’s about to blow up in my face. On top of that, the fact that she’s William’s daughter - my brother’s new sister-in-law, or whatever - and the fact that she’s so off limits isn't turning me off like it should be.
It’s making it worse.
I mumble something under my breath and push Hudson’s hands away as I move towards the window.
“Well, whatever problem you’ve got with Quinn, get over it, man.” Hudson says, and I turn to look at him. “You just have to work with her, Logan, not take her out or something.”
I can feel my gut seize up as I stare at Hudson standing there grinning at me.
He knows, he must know, and he’s fucking with me.