he’s driven at least one man to suicide.”
“And now that I’m a billionaire, I’m good enough to be with his daughter?”
Why was the idea so disgusting to him? Hadn’t that been his goal all along when he’d set his mind to acquiring wealth? And hadn’t he worked out every day and honed his body, all to prove Allegra had made a mistake? His end goal was accomplished. His five-year dream was unfolding before his eyes. Yet it sat in his stomach like sour milk.
“I didn’t hear it from him, but that’s what Chester told me. Dad and I haven’t been on speaking terms since he forced me to break up with you.” Her voice cracked, her gaze dropping to her lap where her hands twisted together. “I never forgave him.”
This time her act failed to win his pity. After all, she’d been given a choice between being with Logan and pleasing her father, and Logan had lost. Obviously, she hadn’t cared as much as Logan had.
“He didn’t force you to do anything, Allegra.” His tone was dry and emotionless. Dead. The way he felt inside. “You could’ve stayed with me. Whatever kind of threats he made, surely you don’t think he would’ve carried through. He wouldn’t destroy the life of his own daughter.”
“You’re right. I know he would never hurt me… not like that. It would’ve made him look bad. And he never threatened to destroy me.” Her lips quivered as she lifted soulful, red-rimmed eyes, her voice dropping to a whisper. “His threats were aimed at you.”
It seemed Logan had just closed his eyes when the signal went off at his front gate. He grumbled as he climbed out of bed and padded down the hall while the annoying beeper continued to chime.
He hadn’t fallen asleep until early morning. Allegra’s revelation had set his mind spinning—reevaluating everything that had happened. He wasn’t quite sure he bought her story. Had she really sacrificed herself to save Logan? If she’d truly cared about him, wouldn’t she have found a way to be with him?
But as he’d tossed and turned in his bed, he suddenly realized none of it mattered. It was time to let go of the past. To stop fostering bitterness. As if blinders had fallen from his eyes, he finally saw his life in context… the whole picture. As his anger dissipated, the surprising emotion left behind was gratitude. Maybe God didn’t hate him after all. Maybe everything had happened because of some greater plan.
Logan squinted at the monitor, trying to focus his scratchy eyes on the man on the screen. Chester! “It’s seven thirty in the morning. Why are you at my gate?”
He’d decided to forgive the man, as his mother had years ago. But deciding to do it and actually doing it were two different things. At the moment, he still despised his stepfather with every fiber of his being.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“I was awake until three a.m.” Logan yawned. “Go away.”
“I’ve got chocolate iced donuts.” Chester held the box out the car window, a smile stretching across his face like a hungry shark. “Your favorite.”
Logan tasted bile in his throat. Not once in his childhood had the man brought home donuts unless they were left over from his office. How he knew what variety Logan preferred was a mystery.
“Just talk to me now and you can leave.”
Chester’s smile faded. “I can’t. I need to speak to you privately. It’s a matter of life and death.”
“Whose death?” Logan asked.
“Mine,” he choked.
Logan was considering whether he should tell his stepfather he didn’t care. But Chester’s next words chilled his stomach into a ball of ice.
“Also yours. And your mother’s.”
With wooden fingers, Logan pushed the button to open the gate.
Chapter 22
“Hold on,” Cole said, his video call image obviously moving to a different room in his house, probably seeking more privacy. “Let me get this straight. You think you need to back out of the Phantom partnership to protect us from some mafia-type guy with a vendetta against your stepfather?”
“I know it sounds crazy, but for once Chester wasn’t lying. I could see it in his eyes.”
“What did Chester do to make that kind of enemy?”
“He went to the Central African Republic to make a direct deal on some diamonds.”
“Blood diamonds?” Cole’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes,” Logan said. “A few months ago, he purchased ten million dollars’ worth of diamonds. In the process, he cut this Russian guy, Dimitri, out of the deal. Turns out Dimitri didn’t take kindly