Chapter 11

Logan’s POV

Logan stared at Ava as she looked for a reply to give him. Ava. Her name suited her and with the look on her face when he asked for it, he almost regretted not asking her that first night. But Logan had his principles, and he stood by them, no matter what it concerned—women or business.

“You’re awfully bossy, aren’t you?” she said finally.

He smirked slowly. “You don’t even know the half of it,” Logan said to her.

Ava looked away. He took his time to observe her. She was just as beautiful as the night they had met. But the difference was, today she was wearing a lot less makeup and she was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. Logan had a feeling that Ava was much more comfortable in this.

“About the doctor, I am more comfortable with my own—”

“That was not up for argument. I trust this doctor a lot more. And you’re carrying my baby. He’s the only one I would entrust you with.”

“It’s no longer if you’re carrying my baby, huh?” she spat bitterly at him. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but you’re not going to boss me around like this. I won’t let you.”

“You will come to notice that, little Ava, with me you don’t have much of a choice. You can do whatever you like but I’m not changing my decision about the doctor.”

“You can force me to do anything,” Ava said quietly.

Logan flashed her a pearly smile. “Try me.”

He was probably being harsh, but he couldn’t help himself. He had not believed her when she told him about the baby the first time. But then, when Logan thought about everything, she had gone through the risk of coming back here to find him. And he had gone ahead and treated her like she was a criminal.

But his protective urges soared when he saw her laying on the couch, asleep. It was clear he had tired her out and he wanted to make up for it. Sure, Logan would still get a DNA test done as soon as it was possible. But for now, he was going to do his part as a father.

That meant protecting her and the baby from any danger. A lot of people were looking for ways to get to him. And if word got to the wrong people that Ava was pregnant, she was going to be caught in the crossfire. And that was the last thing Logan wanted.

“Uhm, you know I didn’t really expect you to have that much of a role in the baby’s life. I just wanted you—”

“When you came over here and told me you were pregnant, you involved me, Ava. If there’s one thing you should know about me, is that I don’t cower from my responsibilities. I will take care of that baby, and I will take care of you. That’s the last thing I want arguments about. Is that clear?”

She nodded and Logan was satisfied. She seemed stubborn but she knew when to choose her battles. That was an admirable trait. It would do for the mother of his future heir to be resilient. She would need it anyways if she was going to be saddled with him for the rest of the baby’s life.

Logan knew he was a difficult man. You couldn’t be the head of operations in the mafia and let yourself be walked all over. He had learnt it the hard way.

“Can I leave now?” she asked.

“One last thing.” Ava cocked her head. Good. She was listening. “You’re not going to try and pull a fast one on me. You will remember to do as I tell you. If not, there will be serious consequences. Is that clear?”

“Yes, master. Can I go now?”

His eye twitched at her sarcastic response, but he didn’t give her a reaction.

“Bear will see you home,” Logan said, signaling for the large man to come my way.

“I don’t need him to see me home. I can get there on my own,” she protested “That was not up for argument. You need to learn to choose your battles with me, princess.” She didn’t say anything to that. “Now, Bear will see you home.”

Ava left with Bear without giving him a backward glance or even answering him. Logan smiled a little. Roman chose that moment to come to the living room.

“You’re smiling. Guess things went according to plan huh?” he said in his usual banter style.

“Shut the hell up Roman,” Logan said without heat, standing and walking towards his brother.

“So? Was she the one?”

“I still don’t fucking know. But I doubt it,” was Logan’s answer, as he poured himself a glass of scotch. He definitely needed it after today.

“Why? And what was her motive for coming here then?” Roman asked, pouring himself a glass as well.

Logan sipped and stared into space for a while.

“She’s pregnant,” he said finally, then took another sip, Logan heard Roman choke but didn’t pay him any mind. He was probably just exaggerating as usual.

“What the fuck do you mean by she’s pregnant?” he spluttered. Logan turned a level gaze unto him.

“Exactly what I said, Roman. Or do you need a fucking biology lesson?”

“Are you sure it’s yours?”

“Everything seems to indicate so. She was a virgin. We fucked without protection. Plus, the timelines coincide.”

“And you’re okay with it.” Roman’s tone was incredulous, but Logan didn’t blame him. Logan had never put out the wrong impression of being a family man. And his brother knew it.

“I guess, brother, that means we are just going to go with the flow.” Logan clapped Roman on the back, took one last sip of the scotch, then left the room. He had more things to consider now.

***

Logan stared into space for a moment. Pregnant. Ava was pregnant with his baby. Sure. He had had people come up to him with claims of paternity. But he had never put much stock to them. He had never gotten this involved. He waited until the baby was born, compared DNA, and when that didn’t match, he went his merry way.

Too many women thought it would be a thrill to have sex with him and wanted to take advantage of him by pinning their pregnancies on him. That was part of the reason he had decided to go celibate. What were the odds that the one woman he decided to fuck would end up pregnant?

Was she lying? Logan doubted she was. But all of this could have just been a set up. She could have targeted him that night. Women knew when they were fertile anyways. He hit his desk and groaned.

What if she was just a pawn in one of his rival’s games? A way to be in the know of all operations they were carrying out? Logan wouldn’t put it past that bastard called Luciano. He could do anything, even put the life of a young woman in danger because he wanted to reach his selfish means.

Now Logan wasn’t claiming to be the poster child for honesty and uprightness. He wasn’t. He played dirty sometimes—a lot of times, he had to admit. But he would never think of sending a defenseless woman into his rival’s camp.

But was the woman truly defenceless? She had a quick tongue, and with the way she had defended herself, it showed that she was not all that inexperienced with authority like him.

This was driving him mad. Truly. He didn’t know what to think anymore. Ava looked innocent enough, with her bare face and her simple clothes. But her words, and the fire behind her eyes led him to believe that she wasn’t as innocent as he thought her. But did she have a part to play in all this? That was the real question.

Logan shook his head. Damn that woman for messing up his thoughts so much. First, she made him obsessed with her, so bad that he found it hard to concentrate. And now she came and told him about her pregnancy. Damn her.

He called up Dr. Bellamy. He trusted the man. And if there was one person who would always tell him the truth, it was him.

“Boss,” the man said when he picked up the phone.

“I’ll need you here tomorrow. I’ll convey the time to you,” Logan said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs.

“Okay.”

Logan turned off the call. Then he called Bear. “Come over as soon as you’re done with her.”

Logan might have accepted the pregnancy. He might have chosen to believe that little slip of a woman. But he wasn’t going to sit with his eyes closed. She had wanted him in the life of her baby. And she was going to get him in every way possible.

***

“So why did you call us here?” Roman asked, leaning lazily against the wall. He looked poised. He and his brother had that talent. They could look like they were in total control even if they were in pain. It had helped them a whole lot.

“Quiet down, Roman. Don’t rush me.”

Roman rolled his eyes at his brother. It wasn’t even surprising that he was doing this. Logan liked to draw things out for as long as he could.

“We’re moving into the mansion,” Logan said finally, staring at Bear and his brother.

“You’ve never wanted to move into the mansion before. What changed?” It was Roman of course. Bear would never go against Logan’s word, much to Roman’s annoyance. The man was loyal to a fault. He didn’t talk much. But Logan knew that he could count on him. He was loyal.

“What changed is that I’m about to become a father, Roman. And this right here is not the best environment for a baby,” Logan responded.

He had thought about it, and he felt it was the best thing to do. But that was not all.

“And a mansion full of the murderers would be the best environment to raise a baby?”

“In case you forget, dear brother, you are a murderer as well. So I’d drop the judgement.”

Roman rolled his eyes and straightened himself. “When do we move in, master?”

Logan ignored Roman’s sarcastic tone. “Tomorrow. You can very well decide to stay wherever you want to brother, I just thought it would be better for you to be closer to everything that will be going on.”

Logan said this in an arch tone. To an outsider, it would sound like Roman had a choice. But all three of them sitting in that room knew that Roman was going to be moving into the mansion. He had no choice. What Logan said went. He was boss after all.

“Of course, I’ll abide by your decision, oh wise one. I’ll do whatever you fucking see fit.” Roman was annoyed. He hated when Logan took that boss tone with him, and he hated the fact that, realistically, he had no choice but to comply. Refusing would be a direct insult to Logan’s authority and it would make him look like a weak leader. In as much as his brother annoyed him, that was the last thing Roman wanted.

“Don’t push it,” Logan wanted, oblivious to the war that was going on in his brother’s head. He had his own problems to take care of, and his own fate to decide.

“Bear,” Logan called.

“Boss,” Bear answered in that gravelly voice of his. It sounded like he didn’t use his voice very often. Which he probably didn’t. The man was more known for his fists and not his verbal prowess.

“You’re going to watch over that girl. Her every move, everything she does and everywhere she goes. And you’re going to report it back to me. Let’s see if she truly is as innocent as she appears to be.”

“Got it, boss.”

“Good,” Logan said, “you can leave now.”

Roman and Logan stayed in silence for a while after Bear had left. Logan knew his brother had a lot of questions. And he was waiting for him to ask them.

“Are you sure you’re doing the right thing by moving us into the mansion?” Roman asked finally, staring at his brother intently. That gaze had made weaker men cower. Logan was many things, but weak was not one of them.

“Are you questioning my decisions, brother?”

“Cut the shit, Logan. You know that’s not it.”

Logan sighed. His brother was right. Logan had asked himself long and hard of moving into the mansion was the right thing to do. He had stalled for a long while, making that decision. Everyone knew that the heirs to the mafia ‘throne’ so to say were supposed to reside in the infamous Sanders Mansion.

But he and Roman had kept it off for so long because they both thought it was much more of an easy target. And here he was, announcing to his brother that they were moving into the very place both of them had avoided for years.

“I know I should have consulted you first. But I figured you would show too much resistance to the idea. And I have to move quick for whatever I have in mind.”

Roman was silent. He wasn’t offended. Logan was older, so obviously he was the one in charge of most of the operations. But they had never made any major decision without each other. And he had to admit that this stung.

But he knew his brother was not foolish. If Logan was taking this decision, then he most probably felt it was for the best. Roman would be a fool to try and counter it. He just had to understand his brother for now.

“And what about the girl? The one who claimed she was pregnant?”

“What about her?” Logan asked sharply.

“What are you going to do about her? How are you going to keep an eye on her?”

“I have Bear for that.”

“And when Bear can’t watch over her? What are going to do to keep an eye on her in the dead of the night? Parade men at her place till she figures out what exactly you’re doing?”

Logan chuckled. “It seems you don’t give me enough credit; you must not think me smart enough.”

“Oh, I think you’re smart, brother,” Roman replied affably, “some of your decisions just need work.”

Logan laughed again. “Ask me again, Roman. Ask me what I plan to do with the girl. Go ahead.”

“What are you going to do with the girl?” Roman asked dutifully.

Logan smiled darkly. Roman knew that smile. And he knew no good would come out of it. But he listened patiently. “Why, brother, she will just have to move in with us.”