Because of how distraught Logan was, he stayed with Hazel and Ranon. He occupied one of the guest rooms and had been staying there all day.
"Where are you going?" Even though Hazel asked the question, she knew the answer. He approached Ranon from behind and hugged him. "You will take soone with you, right?" She was not sure what Daniel was capable of doing, but he was not as helpless as he looked. He could walk.
"Dalton will be there. There is no need for to alarm him by taking a few n with ." Ranon brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I will be back later."
Hazel glanced at the dark sky outside. It was already night, and if Ranon left now, it would be too late for a visit.
But then, they could not postpone sothing like this.
"Okay." Hazel kissed his back.
Ranon turned around and cupped her face between his palms. He said nothing, but he stared at her deeply, as if he was looking straight into her soul.
"What?" Hazel felt uncomfortable because Ranon looked at her that way.
"Nothing." He leaned over and kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, and then her lips. "Feeling lucky to have you," he said against her lips.
Hazel giggled. She tiptoed and kissed him back when he pulled away. She grabbed the collar of his jacket so he could bend over to accommodate her height.
Ranon smiled softly when Hazel nibbled on his lips. "Should I go tomorrow?"
"No. Go now. You are only looking for an excuse not to go."
Ranon raised his brows questioningly, since it was Hazel who was clinging to him.
In the end, Hazel let him go, and she walked him to the front door. "I will call Dalton to check on you. If I can’t reach him, I will co there myself."
Ranon chuckled. "I will make sure Dalton knows about that." He leaned over and kissed Hazel’s forehead. "Sleep. Don’t wait for ."
Even though that was what Ranon said, Hazel couldn’t sleep. She didn’t even co to her bedroom, because it felt very empty without Ranon there.
Instead, she went to Logan’s room. She knocked on the door, and he opened it almost imdiately.
"Do you have a plan now?" Logan stepped aside to let Hazel in.
"The people who will help us in this matter will be here in the early morning. We will co up with the plan by then."
"That’s not good. That’s not good." Logan started pacing back and forth in the room again, and this made Hazel dizzy, so she grabbed his hand and forced him to sit down.
"I know you are worried, but this is not a smart decision if you rush things."
"What if they hurt my son?!" Logan snapped again. Ranon was not there, so he started being aggressive again with Hazel.
However, Hazel didn’t need her husband to cover for her. She could handle her brother just fine.
"They will not hurt your son, because they will need him alive and well to get to Ranon."
"They want you," Logan corrected her.
"Yes, they want because they want to hurt Ranon."
"Then why did they involve my son in this?! Why?!"
Hazel smacked the back of his head. "I don’t like to be yelled at. If you want our help, stop stressing out. I am here to help you. You co here to ask for my help, so mind the way you talk to ."
Logan was shocked because Hazel hit him, but he said nothing and lowered his head. He pulled at his hair; Hazel had never seen him this distressed.
Not even in the real Hazel’s mories of him. He was always a bully, soone who would laugh at her misery, but now, he was nothing but a shell of himself.
For a long mont, neither of them said anything, and Hazel didn’t have any intention to leave, because both of them would have a long night without sleep, so why not be miserable together?
But after so ti, Hazel finally asked the question that had been in her mind.
"How old is she? How old is the girl that you impregnated?" This fact was particularly weird because there was no way the girl’s parents didn’t demand Logan’s responsibility, especially knowing the baby would be part of the Rose family.
It would make sense if Greyson knew about it and he shut them up with money, but the thing was that Greyson also didn’t have any idea about it.
"Don’t ask that." Logan still lowered his head.
"Why? Is this woman soone that we know?" Hazel frowned.
"Don’t ask that," Logan repeated the sa statent.
"We are going to have a miserable night, so why not open up? There is no harm in it. Do you want to keep your son hidden forever?"
Logan didn’t answer that.
"So, who is this woman?"
Logan didn’t answer that, either, but this ti Hazel didn’t push further; she waited for him, and when she thought he would be mute for the rest of the night, Logan finally spoke.
"It was Grace," Logan said.
"Grace?" Hazel furrowed her brows. She tried to look into her mories, but the only Grace that she knew was their forr babysitter. "Grace who?" Hazel asked carefully.
Logan leaned his body back; he stared at the ceiling. He looked defeated. There was a trace of sha on his face.
"The babysitter."
"What the fuck, Logan!" Hazel jumped to her feet. "She was..." She tried to rember how old the babysitter was, but Hazel’s mories of it were a little bit blurry.
"She was fifteen years older than , yes."
Hazel had a headache. She felt as if she had opened a can of worms, a Pandora’s box. But she was quick to regain her composure and then sat down again.
"How did it happen?"
In her fuzzy mories, Hazel rembered that Grace worked for the Roses when Hazel was only five and Logan was seven, which made Grace twenty-two years old at that ti.
That woman worked for several years before she quit, but Hazel didn’t rember the reason. So, it could be said she quit the job because she was pregnant with Logan’s baby?
Hazel did so quick math in her head.
"When exactly did she do that to you?"
No matter how troubleso Logan was, she knew he wouldn’t be the one who initiated it first. He was too young for that. Moreover, he was a prankster, not the intimidating type.
Logan covered his face with both of his palms, as if by doing so, he could hide himself. "When I was ten. She ca to . She told that she had an interesting ga to play."
And when Logan recalled what happened, it sounded like he was reading from a magazine. He didn’t sound like himself, as if he were telling soone else’s story.
Hazel was familiar with it. When she was in so much pain, she would pretend it was not her who had to endure it, as if she watched soone else’s pain instead of hers.
"We did it for the first ti when I was twelve." Logan had put down his hands and stared at the ceiling. His eyes were empty. "She got pregnant twice, but she aborted the babies. But, when she was pregnant with Archie, she wanted to keep him."
Hazel sat down next to him now.
"Later on, I learned that she married soone who is ten years older than her and passed my baby off as his. I went to her house once and t that man for the first ti... but I was too scared to confront him."
Of course, he was. How old would Logan be? Fifteen years old? And that man would be as old as their father.
"Grace said that I was the boy that she used to babysit, and I ca because I miss her. A boy. She called a boy." Logan chuckled. "It may sound ridiculous, but I thought I loved her; she said she loved . She wanted to be with , and she couldn’t wait for to grow up quickly."
Sick.
The way Logan spoke about Grace was... unsettling. He talked about her as if she were so kind of goddess, as if he were confessing his undying love for her, but there was also a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Her husband is sick now. She says she will be with once he dies. She is only with him because she wants Archie to have a father figure, since I was too young for that."
"You are not serious, right?"
Logan let out a bitter laugh. "It sounds pathetic when I say that I want to believe that, right?" Logan tilted his head and gave Hazel a sad look. "I saw them together, Hazel. I know she loves him. I am not that stupid. She only strung along to get money out of ."
"So?" Hazel raised her brows. She was speechless.
"I don’t know. I thought what we had was real. That’s the first ti soone paid attention to , you know, and I like it."
Logan had previously ntioned during their earlier conversation that he craved attention from their father, even if it was negative. That was the reason he acted out.
And then Grace gave him exactly what he was craving for, and said it was love.
"This is so fucked up," Hazel groaned.
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