Chapter 20

**Logan**

The elevator comes to a stop, and the two silver doors open, revealing the front door to Megan’s apartment. It’s open; by the look of things, it has been kicked open. Most likely from Lionel. I make my way to Megan’s bedroom to see she’s not there; her balcony doors are open, and Max is standing at them, keeping guard. She’s right; he is a perfect guard dog. When I left five years ago, I told him that morning to look after her, and by the look of things, he’s done just that.

Max turns and trots over to me as I walk in. I hear movement in the closet, and I know it’s Megan getting dressed because I can hear her muttering to herself. I sit on her bed as I stroke Max. Looking around her room, I notice smudges on her dresser mirror. I frown and see the draw beneath it open, and her underwear is peeking through.

“You’re here,” Megan says, catching my attention. I look at her to see her in some black leggings and one of my old t-shirts. I smile a little and stand up from her bed. “I should call the police, shouldn’t I? She asks. I pull her towards me and hug her. Her arms wrap around me, and I feel her relax in my arms.

“It’s already done. David called them for me when I set off,” I tell her.

“I don’t even know how he got in or even left,” she tells me. “And can you imagine if Ella was here? I froze up. If Ella was here, he could have-”

“Shh...shh, she wasn’t, and it’s ok,” I soothe as I rub her back.

“I’m just so annoyed with myself,” she states.

“All clear,” I hear Lionel say as he walks in from the balcony. “If anyone was out there, they aren’t now,” he tells us.

“The police are on their way,” I inform him. He nods and shuts the balcony doors.

“Are you sure someone was in here?” Lionel asks.

“She showed me,” I tell him.

“I’m not saying I don’t believe you, it’s just I’ve not seen anyone on the CCTV come in, and no one but residents has passed through the lobby,” he explains. “I don’t know how else someone would get into the building and leave by the balcony. There’s nowhere to go from out there,”

“What about the roof?” I ask. He frowns at that.

“There’s no access to the roof from the balcony or terrace, but I’ll check the roof,” he says and walks back through the apartment.

“He doesn’t believe me,” Megan says and pulls away from me. I sigh at the defeated look on her face.

“I believe you,” I say. She smiles a little and then looks towards the door. I look too to see two officers ready to knock. A black female officer with her hair pulled back from her face and a white male officer, both roughly the same size. The female officer smiles at us both.

“Security let us in,” she says and walks in. I watch them both look around, their attention turning to the dresser with Megan’s underwear spilling out. “I’m officer Jacobs, and this is officer Daniels. What happened? We got a call about a break-in,” she adds.

“I was in the bath, and because I was home alone, I tend to keep the doors open,” Megan starts. While she tells the officers what happened, I look around her bedroom. I notice her necklace is hooked around the frame of her dresser mirror, and there are smudges on the mirror itself. I stand and walk towards it, moving side to side to see that the streaks spell something out.

‘Hello Megs,’ is what it says. I frown and take my phone out of my pocket. The male officer that isn’t taking her statement looks at me.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” I ask him. He nods, and we both walk out onto the balcony.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“I want you to get forensics down here and do a sweep of the apartment,” I state.

“For a break-in?” he asks.

“No, this is much more than a break-in. I’m sure you’ve heard of Jonathon Wright,” I tell him. He nods. “On her mirror, there is a message to her from him; she can’t know about it. I’ll get her out of the apartment and stop the girls from coming back here tonight, but I need you to realise this isn’t a normal break-in,” I explain.

“Wait, is she that Megan Wright?” he asks. I nod. He frowns and looks at her.

“He’s connected to this,”

“If he’s connected, then she needs to know,” he states.

“No, it’ll scare her even more; I’ll tell her just not right now,” I explain.

“Jonathon Wright is in Cali correctional institute,” he tells me.

“I know he is, but only he calls her Megs, and that is what is written on that mirror,” I sigh as he doesn’t look like he wants to take this seriously. “For the past two weeks, she’s been saying things have been going missing in her bedroom. The necklace on her mirror has been missing for the best part of a week. It’s suddenly back, and I bet you will find the same residue on that necklace that is on that mirror. Also, by the look of things, that guy wasn’t just sniffing her underwear. You’re bound to find some DNA in there too,” I tell him, hinting to him that the guy was probably jacking himself off.

“Fine, I’ll get a team,” he tells me.

“Check for any bugs too. If this guy is in connection with Jonathon, he’s probably as smart as him too,” I tell him.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because, if it was me, that’s what I’d do in a place like this. It’s not like he could look in through her kitchen window. Cameras and bugs would be the way to go,” I tell them.

He raises an eyebrow. “I have an IQ of 180, and Jonathon has an IQ of 145. With today’s technology, it’s a lot easier to stalk someone,” I tell him. “We should go back inside,” I tell him and walk back in. Megan looks at me and gives me a relieved smile.

“Is everything ok?” she asks. I nod and move my hand to hers.

“Yeah, do you want to pack some clothes and stay at mine?” I ask. She nods and walks back into her closet. The male police officer looks at the mirror, and realisation covers his features once he sees the message. He turns to his partner and pulls her to the side to tell her what we’ve discussed.

After about half an hour, Megan had packed a suitcase full of her clothes, Yasmin’s and Courtneys. I told her to pack for as many days as she wanted and not worry about Ella as she has clothes at mine. The police officers explained they’d get a forensic team to check her apartment for fingerprints or DNA. Megan looked like she was going to be sick when they said that.

It looks to me like she’d seen the mirror because her eyes landed on her mothers necklace when she was packing. Then when she saw the marks on the mirror, she went pale. She tried to brush it off when I asked her if she was ok, but I saw her fear.

“It’s Jonathon,” she suddenly says when we’re in the elevator. Max is stood next to her on the lead.

“Megan,”

“I saw the message on the mirror, and I know you did too,” she cuts in. I sigh and look down. So much for trying to protect her.

“He’s still in prison,” I tell her.

“How do you know?” she asks.

“Because I know a guy on the inside, and every week he tells me about him,” I tell her. She frowns at me, and the elevator doors open to my condo.

“What do you mean you have a guy inside?” she asks. I take her suitcase and wheel it inside. David gets up from the white couch as we walk in and looks at Megan. He walks straight up to her and hugs her. I raise an eyebrow, and Megan looks stunned. She looks at me and slowly moves her arms around him.

“You’re ok,” he says to her. This is so out of character for him. He shows his worry, but I’ve never seen him physically show it. I don’t think he’s ever hugged me. David pulls away and holds Megan at arm’s length. He looks her up and down, and once he’s satisfied, he nods and steps back.

“Thanks,” Megan says awkwardly. I smile a little at her and David. “Is Ella still in bed?” she asks.

“Yeah. She’s out like a light,” he tells her. She smiles and nods.

“I’ll show you her room,” I tell Megan as I place the suitcase next to the stairs. I watch her look around a little as she follows me up the stairs.

This will be the first time she’s been here, and this is the first time I’ve had a woman here apart from Lorraine. When I decorated, I didn’t think about how it looked, mostly because I didn’t think I’d be staying here long. My home in California has more of my personality because I bought it for Megan and me. I tried to make it as homely as possible. Boy, did I get a shock when she wasn’t in California anymore? Even when I moved here, I still thought she was somewhere in California. “This place doesn’t look like the place that was in Good Housekeeping,” she states.

“You read that?” I ask, surprised she’d give anything about me the time of day.

“Courtney has a subscription. Sometimes I have a flick through,” she tells me.

“That was my other apartment, the one I usually use for one night stands,” I honestly tell her. She stops and looks at me.

“You have a place dedicated to one night stands?” she asks.

“When you put it like that, you make me sound weird. It’s to keep my personal and home life secret. Rival companies want secrets and will often use any means to get them,” I explain.

“I see,” she tells me and walks down the white corridor with me. She stops at a picture. I look to see it’s the picture of Ella and me in the park, only this time it has her face.

Megan smiles a little, and I can’t help but feel pleased that she approves the picture. “There’s a lot of white,” she says as we walk towards Ella’s room.

“I’ve not decorated it, that’s why. It’s how it was when I bought it. The only room that is personally decorated is Ella’s, and that’s because she picked the colours.

“She wouldn’t tell me what colours,” she says.

“Yeah, she told me she wanted it to be a surprise for you. I think she wanted to show you once it’s done,”

“Is it done?” she asks.

“Yeah, she picked out her rug yesterday, and we finished her bed today,” I tell her and stop outside Ella’s bedroom. In gold, writing is her name with stars around it.

Quietly as I can, I open Ella’s bedroom door. Megan and I both look in to see Ella asleep in her white four-poster bed starfished across it. Her night light is casting a warm, soft glow into the room. Megan sighs in relief and puts her hands to her chest, and I can’t help but smile at them both and then slowly shut the door.

“I’ll show you the room you can stay in,” I say and then point to the door opposite Ella’s. “This is my room, and I have three other guest rooms. I’m going to guess you want to sleep in the one closest to Ella?” I ask. She nods, and I direct her back to the door we passed. “The other two rooms are upstairs along with a balcony. Lorraine’s probably up there sorting them out for Courtney and Yasmin,” I tell her.

I open the door to the room she’ll be staying in and watch her walk in. Megan sits on the bed. I can see the worry on her face. She knows it’s not Jonathon, but she knows he’s connected somehow. All I can do at the minute is admire her strength.

“I should have done something,” she suddenly says. I frown and move into the room.

This room is nice, but it’s obviously never used with the crisp white bedding and the impeccably made bed. The only sign that someone has been in here recently is the freshly lit candle on each bedside table, letting off a faint lavender and sage scent. The room almost looks like a hotel room. All that’s missing is the mini-fridge and coffee maker. It’s not like this purposefully; I have no use for any of these rooms.

“What if Ella had been home with me?” she asks me, now turning to look at me. Tears gloss over her eyes.

“She wasn’t, and that’s why you didn’t do anything,” I tell her.

“I should have attacked him,”

“And then what? What if he had a weapon? Or he overpowered you? You wouldn’t be sat in this room, that’s what,” I snap at her. How can she think to do something so stupid? “You did the right thing,” I say more softly and sit down next to her. I’m not going to express my fears; I’m just glad she was on the phone with me when she saw him.

“You’re right, and I know you are. I just,” she sighs as she blinks back her tears. “I froze. I’m supposed to be stronger than this,” she confesses. I sigh and wipe the tear that’s fallen.

“Who says? You thought on your feet. Do you think anyone else would have thought to text while on a video call? Many would have said it, which would have then alerted the bastard,” I explain to her. “You’re stronger than you think. Strength isn’t just physical, it’s emotional and intellectual, and you’re all three,” I pause. “And I know if Ella were there, you would have been just as quick thinking.”

“Thanks,” she says and quickly wipes her cheeks.

“You should get some sleep. I’ll bring your suitcase up,” I say as I stand up.

“Thanks for letting me stay,”

“You’re always welcome in my home,” I tell her. “I’m not going to lie, when I called, and you were naked and wet, I thought of something totally different happening,” I joke. She chuckles and pushes me.

“Shut up,” she says with a small smile.

“Good night Megan,” I say as I leave.

“Night, Logan,” she replies as I walk out of her room.

**\---**

I walk out of my bathroom and climb back into bed. After Megan went to sleep, I stayed up waiting for David to collect Courtney and Yasmin. When they arrived, I’d explained to them what happened; they were shocked more than anything. I explained to them I’d look into the security at their place and get onto a locksmith to change all the locks and install some more CCTV.

Courtney came into my apartment very worried about Megan. David had told them briefly what had happened. Once I’d told them my version, Courtney left and said she’d sleep in the same room as Megan. Yasmin chose to do the same. Lorraine found it sweet even though she spent the time tidying the guest rooms. Courtney had changed from how she was when I left. She was more self-centred when I left, but now she seems to care for Megan and Ella, almost like they’re related. It’s nice to see.

All I can say I’ve never had so many people staying in my home. It’s unsettling.

The police called me about two hours after Megan went to sleep, telling me they didn’t find anything on the current CCTV they had of anyone coming or going apart from security when he arrived. Lionel had found evidence of someone been on the roof as the roof access door was wedged open. The weird thing was that the CCTV in the stairwells hadn’t picked anyone up. The forensic team had found cameras in the apartment also; two in Megan’s room, two in the living room and one in Ella’s. It’s no coincidence the guy showed up when Ella wasn’t there. He must have known that she wouldn’t be there.

I’m not sure if I should be happy about that. It means he has no interest in Ella, just Megan. That could mean he’s not a threat to Ella but could mean Ella is a threat to him, so he could end up hurting her if he needs to. When Megan showed me him on the camera, I’d taken a quick screenshot and sent it to the police when I gave my statement at Megan’s apartment. From that, they were able to guess it’s a man given his build.

The man had upped his game. He’s obviously been watching Megan for a while but only now made himself known. He purposefully wanted her to know that she is being stalked with the message on her mirror.

Looking at the floor to ceiling windows, I see that the sun is nearly up; it’s only around 4:30, I’d gotten a bit of sleep, but my body had other ideas. It’s what I get for drinking whiskey before going to sleep.

After about ten minutes, I decide to get up. I pull on a pair of bottoms and make my way out of my room. I might as well start my day. I can get a quick workout in before everyone wakes up. The last thing I need is Courtney to see me. If memory serves me right, she’s a female version of Carl.

The sound of the piano in my office catches my attention. I make my way to my office to see Megan sat at the piano playing a soft melody with one of her hands. The other hand has the bottle of whiskey I’d opened last night. It’s not far from empty now. She’s still wearing the leggings and t-shirt she came in. Her head is laid on top of the piano facing me. I lean against the door frame and wait for her to notice me.

Megan looks at me. She stops playing and pats the space on the bench next to her. I smile a little and walk over to sit down next to her. I watch as she pours some of the whiskey in the glass she had taken. She’d also picked up two coasters as well, which was nice of her. This piano belonged to my grandmother. I don’t want marks on it.

“Could you not sleep?” I ask.

“Nope,” she says, popping the ‘p’ making me frown. Why is she up then? “I had a nightmare,” she answers my unasked question.

“I see,”

“Do you?” she asks. Her tone tells me that was rhetorical, and I better not answer her. “Do you know what I see?” she asks. Again rhetorical, I should probably take the alcohol off her, but she already seems angry. “I see that Jonathon is going to be a part of my life continuously. He won’t ever leave me alone,”

I don’t know what to say to that. The man is a psychopath, and he’s obsessed with her. If this stalker is linked to him, then there’s no telling what could happen. It just seems strange that Jonathon would get someone else to do his dirty work. He has to have some control somehow. People like him prey on weaker minds.

“I don’t even know what to do. The last time I had a nightmare about him was three years ago when he sent me a letter,” she tells me and then looks at me, her forest-green eyes glossed with tears. “Nothing since moving here, and now because of this, I had one of my worse ones,”

“This won’t happen again,” I tell her.

“You don’t know that,” she says with a tilt of her head. “If I could move, I would, but I have Ella to think about,” she says.

“You can move in with me, live here. David is always here,” I say to her. She smiles a little and shakes her head.

“That’s nice of you but not ideal. I can’t keep running from my problems. It’s not healthy for Ella or me,” she says and then finishes the remnants of the whiskey in the bottle.

“That glass is for you, by the way,” she says as she places the bottle back down and lays her head back on the piano.

“Ok, maybe I should take you to bed,” I say and lift her, cradling her to my body. She wraps her arms around my neck before looking me straight in the eyes. I stop at the bottom of the stairs. “What?” I ask. Then her lips press against mine. My eyes widen in shock. I slowly let her legs down and pull her away from me. “You’re drunk,” I say.

“So,” she says with a frown.

“I’m not,” I tell her.

“I’m not wearing underwear,” she says. I tilt my head a little and work out a crack in my neck before replying to that statement of all the things to tell me.

“Ok, why?” I frown.

“That man had touched my underwear. I won’t be wearing any when I get changed either,” she tells me.

“Ok, let us just get you to bed,” I say and move towards her. Her hands move up my bare chest, leaving a trail of heat wherever she touches. Her hands move up around my neck, and she jumps up to wrap her legs around my waist. “Megan, I’m serious,” I tell her as she kisses my neck.

“I thought you wanted to see my piercings,” she says against my ear. Is this a test? It must be. This is not fair. “By the feel of things you want to,” she says as her body presses against me and her hips grind against mine, rubbing against my erection. There’s only one thing to do.

I move my hands down to her butt and carry her towards my bedroom. “On one condition,” I say. Her lips press against my neck, and I feel her nibble at my neck. She slowly releases my skin with her teeth and then looks at me.

“What?” she asks with a small smile.

“I get to tie you up,” I suggest. Her smile widens, and god, is it brilliant.

“Sure,” she says and presses her lips against mine. I kiss her back this time and carry her to my draw with the ties. Pulling away from her, I open the drawer and look at her as I show her the ties.

“Pick one,” I tell her. She looks down, and I watch as she bites her bottom lip as she peruses the different colours. Slowly her teeth let her bottom lip go when she finally picks one. It’s a deep burgundy, and I haven’t worn this one in a little while. Megan holds the tie up to me and dangles it in between us. “Pick another,” I say as I take it. She picks a very similar one.

“I thought you’d have handcuffs,” she says.

“I do, but not here,” I tell her. “I’ll get some for next time,” I tell her and lift her. Her arms wrap around my neck as I kiss her.

Once on the bed, I lay her down and move on top of her. I’m not going to lie, she feels perfect in my arms, and I’ve dreamt of having her in my bed for a very long time but not like this. I’d prefer her to be sober. I move her arms above her head and then pull away. Laying like this, I can see the outline of her erect nipples, and it seems she has both nipples pierced. Fuck, that’s hot.

I move up her body, so I’m straddling her waist. I do quick work in typing her arms to my bed frame. Then I move off her body and step away from the bed. She looks hot as hell tied to my bed like that, but nothing can happen. I watch as she slowly realises that I’m not going to touch her, and anger starts to form on her face. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?” she snaps. I smile and sit in the chair in my room and kick my legs up onto the bed.

“You’re drunk; I’m not taking advantage of you,” I tell her.

“How the hell is it taking advantage if I’m coming onto you?”

“Because I know you’ll regret it in the morning. You’re upset and drunk. You just want comforting,”

“Exactly, you’re un-fucking-believable,” she snaps and pulls on the ties. “Let me go,”

“No,”

“I’ll scream,”

“And you’ll wake everyone up, and they’ll come in here and see what’s happening here. That you’re drunk, horny, and I tied you to the bed to stop you from touching me any further,” I state. “Ella might not get that, but Courtney and Yasmin will.

“You’re a dick,” she tells me and tries to sit herself up. She sighs and looks up at the ceiling. I can tell she’s trying to calm herself down.

“Just get some sleep,” I say to her.

“Can you at least untie one of my arms?” she asks. I frown, “Please, I won’t touch you,” she says with a roll of her eyes. I nod and get up to untie one arm. She turns onto her side so she’ll be facing me when I sit back in the chair. “I’m not sleeping,” she says.

“I’ll make sure you don’t have a nightmare,” I tell her. Megan looks away from me, and silence laces over us. It’s not awkward but not comfortable either. She may think I’m an arsehole, but she doesn’t seem to realise how difficult it is for me to say no to her. She’s my world. I’d do anything she asked, but I can’t do something I know she doesn’t genuinely want.

Tonight she feels vulnerable and as hurtful as it is, she doesn’t want me like that right now. If we were both drunk, this would be different, but I’d rather she didn’t hold me at arm’s length. I want to know that it will mean more to her than just sex because it will mean more to me.

“I’m sorry,” she suddenly says. I open my eyes as I’d closed them to rest them hoping she would fall asleep with the silence. I look at her to see she’s sat on the edge of the bed. “Is this water?” she asks me, gesturing to the glass of water I’d brought up with me when I came to bed.

“Yes,” I reply and watch her pick it up and take a sip. I watch her place it back on the coaster and then look at me. She sighs and looks away from me.

“You broke my heart,” she says after a couple of minutes. “When I found you unresponsive and then again when you left,” It’s then I notice the tears in her eyes. I don’t say anything because there’s nothing I can say. “When you left, I realised that I’m not supposed to be happy. Sure, Ella makes me happy, and you were able to at least leave me with something that could heal me. I try to tell myself that I’m ok and I’m happy, but I’m not. I’m alive for Ella, and that’s it,” she says, and I watch as the tears fall. She wipes her cheek with her free hand.

“I’ve not had a boyfriend since you. I never introduced anyone to Ella because I wanted the first man I ever introduced her to to be you. A part of me always knew you’d come back in my life at some point. Courtney would constantly tell me to give certain men a chance. Mark was the most recent one. I think she thought that you were never coming back. I couldn’t, not when no one makes me feel the way you do. I don’t trust anyone as much as I trust you.” she pauses and lets out a shaky breath. “It’s pathetic of me, but I still love you, and that angers me more than anything,” she then turns to me.

“I should hate you, but I can’t, so when I do let you back in, please don’t hurt me,” I get up and kneel in front of her.

“I won’t. You’re everything to me, I prom-” she cuts me off.

“Don’t promise, I’m just asking you not to because if you are, spare me the heartache and stop everything, be in Ella’s life and not mine,” she says. I shake my head and pull her into a hug. I know that she wouldn’t have said any of this if it weren’t for the alcohol. This is her letting me in; she’s pulling down the first of many walls around her that she built because of me. She doesn’t want me to promise because she doesn’t trust my promises, and that’s fair.

I lean over and untie her hand from the bed. I move both of my arms around her to pull her into bed with me. Every part of me feels ashamed. I shouldn’t have left. I should have tried to get help over here. I should have tried harder.

“I’m sorry,” I say quietly to her as she cries into my chest. It isn’t long before she’s asleep, and I can’t help but hold her until I hear Ella wake up.

At around 8:00 am, Ella sneaks into my room. She stops when she sees Megan lying next to me. I carefully get out of bed to not disturb Megan. Ella tilts her head and climbs on the bed. I hold my finger to my lips.

“Why is mommy here?” she whispers.

“She’s coming with us to the beach,” I whisper. I watch as her face fills with excitement. “But she’s tired. She came over in the middle of the night, so we could all set off together,” I add. “So we have to be extra quiet,” I tell her.

“Ok,” she whispers.

“Will you keep mommy company while I go to the gym?” I ask her. She nods and gets into bed next to Megan. She lays herself in the small space available to make her the little spoon. I smile a little and walk out of the room.

Working out has been my therapy for a long time. Whenever I’m angry, upset, frustrated, bored, worried or just feel, I work out. It helps me clear my head and think through what’s bothering me.