Chapter 0326
At Mr. Hatfield Senior’s command, one of the men standing at my side grabbed the tape and ripped it away from my mouth.
I winced at the sudden shock of pain.
“I want to be able to hear your answer,” Senior said.
He wasn’t going to like what I had to say, but I didn’t let that stop me. This man had me kidnapped from my own back patio and dragged to him so he could tell me his sad backstory, I was still in my pajamas!! hadn’t even put on a bra yet. And I was, what? Supposed to sympathize?
Get bent.
“I appreciate that you built something from nothing.” I said, “But you and Logan are not the same person. You cannot reasonably expect him to have the same wishes and desires as you. He has ambition, certainly, but he also has a desire to help people. To do good. And to love.”
“Love,” Senior scoffed. He leaned back in his chair. Tilting his head back, he stared at me down the bridge. of his nose. “I’ve seen your marriage certificate. Tell me what love is involved in a quickie Vegas marriage.”
“Our past might have included challenges,” I continued, confident in this if nothing else. “But together, Logan and I have pushed forward. Our marriage is not hor has ever been based on money. I love your grandson, Mr. Hatfield. If I thought he wanted me gone, I would leave. I don’t want your money.”
“So easy for you to say that while you are here at my mercy,” Senior said. “You will have to do a better job
than this to convince me.”
“I don’t need to convince you,” I snapped. “I married your grandson, not you.”
“You married my money.”
I
“That’s not the same,” I insisted.
“It is,” he said with a glare.
Hazel was taking an extra long breather outside, it seemed. Logan waited five minutes after hist conversation with Mabel before he started to grow concerned. He wanted to give Hazel her space, but things were precarious right now. It wasn’t a good idea for them to be out of each other’s sight for too long.
Standing, Logan headed to the sliding glass door he had seen Hazel disappear through and opened it. Stepping outside, he looked to his left and to his right.
No one else was out there.
“Hazel?” he called. She didn’t answer.
Logan’s blood ran cold. For one, terrible minute, he thought she left him. Maybe it was all too much and she sneaked away..
But, no. She’d come out here in her pajamas. She didn’t even have shoes or a coat. She wouldn’t just run like that, would she?
Chader 0326
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Glancing around, Logan looked for clues as to what might have happened.
In the damp grass, he saw footprints. More than one pair.
Hazel had not left him on her own.
Logan curled his hands into fists. His fingers dug in so tightly that his skin started to bleed.
“So you will not divorce him,” Mr. Hatfield Senior said. “No matter what I say, or how much I offer.”
“No,” I replied coolly. “The only thing that could make me leave Logan is Logan asking me to himself.”
Frustrated, Mr. Hatfield pushed himself to his feet. He began pacing the back length of the office, from one window to the other.
“There must be something you want,” Senior grumbled, more to himself than to me.
Still, I answered him. “I love your grandson. He’s the only thing I want,”
“Ridiculous,” Senior sneered. “Think of it. Cash. Stock options. More money than you could ever dream, and all you have to do is go away.
“I don’t care about money.” I said, not for the first time
He shook his head, not believing me now just as he hadn’t before. “Everyone cares about money.”
“Not as much as you do.”
“Bah!” he growled, throwing his hands up. He started toward the door. “Leave her in here alone for a while. Let her get hungry and tired, and then we’ll see how she feels.”
The two soldiers behind me reached down and taped my wrists to the arms of the chair beneath them.
“Hey!”
“Don’t make me gag you again,” one of the goons threatened. I zipped my mouth closed, not wanting to feel the pain of that tape removal again,
With that, Mr. Hatfield Senior and his three goons stepped out into the hall.
With the door closed behind them, I was suddenly alone. Just as quickly, I began my struggle in loosening. the tape at my wrists.
For all of Senior’s billions of dollars in the bank, he invested in very flimsy tape. It took me some time, but with enough tugs and twists, the tape loosened enough for me to slip out of it. It still stung, as much of
arm hair stuck to the sticky side.
my
Even so, I was now free. I turned toward the door first, but hearing voices on the other side, I knew that wasn’t a good exit strategy. If they discovered I was free, they would just tie me better to that chair.
Instead, I started snooping around the office.
First I went for the phone on the desk. Senior couldn’t possibly have every police officer in his pocket But when I picked up the phone, the line was dead. Even smashing every button, hoping one would lead to an outbound call, did not accomplish anything.
Lowering the phone, I tried to open the desk drawers, but they were all locked.
Chapter 0326
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I looked out the window, but it was at least ten stories down to the ground.
Walking around the office, searching for secret doors, happened by a glass case filled with awards and honors. A small ring sat on a shelf beside an old picture of a classically beautiful woman. Senior’s wife?
The ring was the one Logan had initially given me. The one that had been stolen from my apartment in Russford.
Senior was responsible for the break–in, then. The revelation wasn’t terribly shocking, but it still hurt. This man thought himself akin to a god, above the law and everyone around him.
His ambition might have carried him out of poverty but it lifted him way too far.
My heart ached for the ring that had meant so much to Logan for so long, that he had gifted to me as a symbol of our union. But then I dropped my gaze down to the ring now sitting on my finger. It wasn’t as flashy, but it was still perfect.
We didn’t need this other ring. We didn’t need Senior’s legacy at all.
Logan knew only two people would have the means and motive to kidnap Hazel.
Tina or his grandfather.
And this felt too underhanded for Tina. She liked to make a show.
That left only one possible culprit.
Logan knew calling the police on his grandfather would never work. Even if he didn’t have any of them in his pocket, they would be stonewalled by Grandfather’s slew of lawyers. They were always prepped and ready to hand out lawsuits for the slightest infringement.
That might stop the police from investigating the tower.
But it wouldn’t stop Logan.
Not when his wife was possibly in danger.
She was the only thing he couldn’t afford to lose.
