Jennifer Probst - Heart of Steel

     Chandler laughed. They studied each other for a few moments. “Tell me what happened with Logan.”

     Alexander gave a deep sigh. “I was worried about you. Pushing thirty and still no grandchildren. I heard you started working with Grant and you seemed to get along. I decided I’d give him a little incentive by offering him the business. He was perfect for you.”

     “You thought Michael was perfect for me.”

     He snorted. “Big mistake. He was a wimp. Logan has character. He passed the real test.”

     “What real test?” Chandler asked suspiciously.

     Her father laughed. “He told me to go to hell. Said he needed no help with you, he had everything under control. Said he had enough power with the Weatherall contract and didn’t need my company. Then he gave me a lecture on the way I treated you.”

     Chandler watched him in disbelief. “He didn’t want the contract, didn’t want your company?”

     He shook his head. “Wanted no part of it. So naturally I got pissed because he was disobeying a direct order from his future father-in-law, so I started yelling. Then you walked in.”

     “I didn’t believe him.” Her heart filled with horror. “Oh God, I told him to get out and that I wanted nothing more to do with him.”

     “Hmmm, figured you did. You always were stubborn.” He ignored his daughter’s glare and puffed furiously. “But you had your reasons. The man is completely crazy about you. Smart business man, too. You did well, girl.”

     “What about Richard Thorne?”

     A thunderous expression crossed her father’s face. “He wanted the money. I approached him before Logan, thought the kid might have some character. A little competition is good for the soul.”

     She shook her head in disgust. “You wanted them both fighting over me like some sort of prize?”

     “No. I wanted to see which one would choose you. And I got my answer. Now stop back talking. Did it for your own good.”

     Despair shot through her at his confirmation. Logan was innocent. The entire time Richard had been playing a game, and she’d believed him over Logan. Chandler squeezed her eyes shut. Somehow, she had to find a way to make it up to Logan.

     “I have to fix it.” Her chin tilted upward in determination. “I have to find a way to give Logan what he wanted. This time with no strings attached.”

     “What are you talking about?”

     She stared at her father and felt a degree of ruthlessness surge in her. Her father looked at her warily. “You’re going to give Logan your company. With no conditions. He doesn’t have to marry me, he never has to see me again if he doesn’t want to. But he can have his contract.”

     “Are you crazy?” he shouted. His voice rumbled and crashed through the office. He stood up from the desk and waved his hands in the air. A ferocious frown marred his features. Chandler never moved, never blinked, knowing this was part of her father’s normal temper tantrum when he couldn’t control the situation. “There’s no way in hell I’m going to give my company away lock, stock, and barrel with no guarantee it will be kept in the family! That yoga and meditation has warped your mind, girl!”

     She fought a smile and eased back in the chair. “Oh, yes, Dad, you will do this. I never wanted the company to begin with. At least Logan will take good care of it and make sure your profits skyrocket. You can’t do much better. But there’s one more reason you’re going to get Logan to sign those contracts.”

     “And what’s that?” he bellowed ominously.

     Chandler smiled. “Because you owe me.”

     Silence descended. Alexander cursed fluently under his breath. His fingers raked back the silver strands of his hair. He glared at her with glittering green eyes that matched her own.

     “Oh, hell.”

     “Do we have a deal?”

     He reached again for his cigar and drew the smoke into his mouth. “Do I have a choice?”

     “No.”

     “Then we have a deal.”

     She rose from the chair. “Pleasure doing business with you, Dad. Oh, by the way, don’t tell him I had anything to do with this. I don’t want him coming back to me out of a misplaced feeling of guilt. I can handle my own personal life.”

     “Then where are my grandchildren?”

     She ignored his last remark and walked toward the door. When she turned to face him again there was a softness in her tone and in her eyes she had not felt since the day she walked out of his office. “You weren’t to blame for Mom’s death. I never thought that. She just got sick.”

     His eyes echoed a deep grief he rarely expressed. Slowly, he nodded. “I loved her. I loved you both.”

     Their eyes met and locked, and she felt a frisson of understanding connecting them, a start for something that could be more in the future.

     Now all she had to do was get the man she loved to forgive her for not believing in him.

     Logan replaced the receiver and swivelled his chair around. Darkness had settled over the city. Twinkling lights of the skyscrapers glittered against the dark moonless background.

     Alexander Santell’s remark played in his mind like a mantra, and the full impact of the older man’s speech slammed through him.

     The contract was his.

     Santell was signing his company over to Logan for nothing. Zero. Nada. Logan didn’t have to do a thing except sign on the dotted line.

     That’s when he knew Chandler was behind the whole thing.

     He half closed his eyes and for the first time in three weeks, let himself really feel. After he lost her, he’d reverted to the same son of a bitch he’d been before. Except this time it was different. She had taught him how to be alive. Love. Trust. And when she walked out of his life, she taught him about real pain. Logan realized she’d changed him. He was no longer safe from emotion, and he didn’t know what to do.

     He knew Thorne had asked her to marry him. He knew she still believed he’d lied to her, and that Thorne was the white knight. The knowledge twisted in his gut like a knife, keeping him from eating or sleeping, driving him to cut down the pain by work. But nothing helped. She had sworn to never believe in him again. Now her father was signing over his company.

     Logan’s hands trembled slightly as he reached for his pen and tapped it against the arm of his chair. Santell must have told her the truth, and she had listened. This was her way of showing him she was wrong. A way to show she believed in him.

     In a final light of blinding realization, Logan decided he didn’t want Alexander Santell’s company. He wanted Chandler. Her heart and soul. He wanted her to know he would choose her every time, no matter how many millions were at stake.

     Logan made the decision, then turned to the next problem at hand. He hit the intercom buzzer and barked a few words to Connie. Minutes later, Richard Thorne walked in.

     His attorney looked at ease and quite smug as he strolled into the office. Logan felt a brief flash of regret before it quickly flickered out. He’d used Chandler, lied to her, and would have happily trapped her into a loveless marriage.

     So Richard Thorne would have to pay.

     The two men nodded at each other. “You wanted to see me,” Richard said.

     “Yes.”

     “What’s up?”

     “You’re fired.”

     Richard blinked. Then smiled. “Hmmm. Sure about that, boss? I would have thought you liked keeping your enemies close.”

     “Only when they have use. You’ve now outlived yours.”

     The smile turned to ice. “You lost, Grant. You lost the woman and the contract. Do you think I care about your pathetic job? I’m about to take over a company to rival yours, and I’ll have the woman you want on my arm. Guess the Japanese were wrong. Too much waiting around and you lose your chance.”

     Logan shook his head. His lip lifted upward. “Game’s over. Chandler found out her father offered you money to marry her. She knows everything.”

     Rage shot from chestnut eyes. His face transformed into a mask of hate. “You’re lying.”

     Logan shook his head. “Just got off the phone with Santell. He’s signing over his company with no provisions. You see, Thorne, it was a test, and you failed. Her father was looking for the man to pick her over the money. You played into his hands, therefore, you lost. I doubt Chandler will ever talk to you again, let alone marry you.” He chuckled. “And you sure as hell won’t be invited to our wedding.”

     The attorney looked somewhat desperate. “I’ll convince her you’re both lying. She’ll believe me.”

     Logan’s eyes narrowed. “You will never see her again. If you do, I can promise you won’t ever find work in Manhattan. There’s a small computer firm I contacted, who I think you’ll be perfect for. Cause any trouble and I’ll call in my favors.” He paused. “You’re finished, Thorne.”

     “You son of a—”

     Logan buzzed the intercom. “Connie, get security to escort Mr. Thorne back to his office. This is his last day.”

     “Yes, sir.”

     Logan switched off. “Get your belongings. Then get out.”

     He turned back around in his chair as he heard a snarl of rage. Then the attorney was personally escorted out of the office by two burly guards. As the door slammed, Logan allowed himself to feel relief.

     Game over.

     Time to claim his lady.

     She was dreaming.

     A part of her knew the scene unveiling before her was just a misty image of her sub consciousness, but the rush of pleasure and happiness that surged in her blood made her go along with the fantasy.