Chapter 129: Control

Dawn’s Point of View

“You have no right to control who I talk to or who I don’t,” I told him sternly. I didn’t care that he had just threatened to kill Jasper. I didn’t care whether he meant it or not. I couldn’t afford to let myself think about that right now.

The call came again and this time, I answered.

Because if I let him dictate who I could speak to, then I was still afraid of him. And if I was still afraid of him, then maybe I hadn’t taken back control of my life the way I thought I had.

“Don’t answer that,” he warned.

“It’s not your decision to make.” I lifted the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

A broken, incoherent sound came from the other end almost immediately. My brows furrowed as I tried to understand what I was hearing.

“Hello?” I repeated, my voice firmer this time.

Nothing.

“If this is some kind of prank call, I’m going to be very pissed off.” I gritted my teeth, already imagining the embarrassment of having made such a fuss with Logan over nothing.

Then I heard it.

Sniffling.

A shaky breath.

And then a pained moan.

My heart stopped.

The sounds coming through the phone were so broken, so agonizing, that something inside my chest twisted painfully.

My eyes darted toward Logan.

His jaw was clenched so tightly I thought his teeth might crack. His hands remained fixed on the steering wheel, his expression hard and unreadable.

And for some reason, I felt guilty.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

No.

Right now, the only person who deserved my pity was Jasper.

I had no idea what he was going through, but judging by the sounds coming from the other end of the phone, it was bad.

“Hey,” I called softly.

Logan’s eyes flicked toward me at the sound of my voice, but I ignored him.

“Are you okay?” I asked, my voice gentler now. “Why are you crying?”

Logan’s gaze snapped back to the road. His fingers tightened around the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.

“Dawn…” Jasper’s voice finally came through clearly, my heart clenched. “You were right.”

My eyes widened, right about what? I waited, barely breathing. Jasper sniffled loudly, and another broken sob escaped him.

“Right about what?” I finally muttered, confusion creeping into my voice. I was doing my best to choose my words carefully because Logan looked like he was one bad sentence away from driving us straight into another car.

“I caught them…” He let out a bitter laugh. “Morgana was with my cousin.”

“Shit.” The word slipped quietly from my lips as my fingers threaded through my hair.

“I saw it with my own fucking eyes.” His voice dropped into a growl, raw with disbelief and hurt. “And to think I was foolish enough to believe she would never do that to me.”

He laughed again, but there was nothing amused about it.

“Dawn… I loved her.”

I knew that ugly feeling far too well. I still woke up in the middle of the night sometimes, wondering if there was something I could have done differently. Something I could have changed about myself that might have made Felix choose me.

Something that could have stopped him from cheating on me.

But there wasn't.

It wasn't my fault, I'd learned that eventually, and, more importantly, I'd accepted it.

“Where are you?” I asked, my voice softening. “I'll come meet you. You shouldn't be alone right now.”

“Don't worry about me.” His voice came through the phone heavy with pain, and somehow, that pain cut straight through the distance between us and lodged itself inside my chest.

“No,” I insisted. “You're my friend.”

Beside me, Logan let out a quiet, humorless laugh.

There was something underneath it—something dark and bitter.

I couldn't care less what he thought.

“Just text me your location.” My gaze flickered toward Logan because the car had begun moving faster.

“Stop here,” I blurted.

His eyes darted toward me for half a second before returning to the road.

He pretended not to hear me.

“Logan…” I turned toward him. “I'm getting off here.”

“So you can go meet with your lover?” he asked, his voice deceptively calm. “No.”

My jaw tightened. “It's none of your business what I choose to do.”

“Isn't it?” He drawled.

“Just stop the fucking car.”

“No.” I gripped the door handle, and Logan’s head snapped toward me.

“I will jump out of this car if you don’t open the door,” I threatened.

Logan laughed, and almost immediately, I heard the unmistakable click of the locks. He had locked me in. I knew then that the hardest part wouldn't be getting away from Logan.

It would be getting Logan to willingly let me go.

“Jasper needs me.” I tried a different approach.

“I need you.” His response came without hesitation. “I need you to stop talking about that bastard for one fucking second.”

“He’s heartbroken, Logan. He needs a friend right now.” I turned toward him. “And I need to be there for him.”

“Why not me?” His voice was quieter this time, but he still didn't look at me. “Why can't you choose me?”

My brows pulled together. “I need you too. I might not be heartbroken, but leaving me for that loser is going to break my heart.”

“I don't know how many times I have to reject you—”

“I've already told you.” He cut me off, his voice hardening. “I won't accept your rejection.”

My stomach twisted. “I don't want you to go.”

“There is nothing you can do to stop me.”

“You're wrong.” He leaned back against his seat, completely calm. “I can drive you to the cabin, tie you up, and keep you there for as long as I need to. There's nothing you can do to stop me.” His eyes finally met mine. “You're in my car, and I'm stronger than you.”

Threatening people came so naturally to this sadistic, psychopathic bastard that sometimes I wondered if he even understood how terrifying he sounded.

And despite everything I had told myself, my heart skipped a beat. Because Logan was capable of doing exactly what he had just threatened.

“And then you wonder why I hate you so much?” I turned my face toward the window, refusing to let him see the fear his words had stirred inside me.

“You cannot force someone to love you.” My voice dropped. “And in my case, I'll never love you.”

“Don't go.” The words came so quietly that for a second, I wasn't sure I'd heard him correctly. My gaze slowly shifted toward him.

Logan was staring ahead, his jaw tense. “Please.”

My breath caught.

Please?

Logan didn't plead.

He threatened. He demanded. He took.

But now, he was asking.

“Don't go to him,” he whispered, his voice strained. “Just come home with me.”

“No, Logan.” This time, my voice was firm. “Nothing you say is going to stop me. I need to see Jasper.”

For a moment, I waited for him to carry out his threat.

But instead, the car slowed and pulled over to the side of the road.

A second later, I heard the locks click open.

I stared at him in surprise, Logan refused to meet my eyes, his gaze fixed stubbornly on the road ahead.

“Just go.”