Suits & Aces (#3)

17 // Mess

The tension in the house was unbearable, Antonina was not speaking to him and she did not even touch the food he prepared for her that morning.

He should have known that Montana's return would only bring him problems. He was sure that she did this to force him back home. The last thing he needed was to find himself under the same roof as his siblings, especially with all the troubles they brought into his life.

He wished Cameron was back overseas while Montana was still stuck in a loony bin like she deserved to be.

The moment he received a call from Koki when he left the hospital, he knew something bad had happened, and when she told him that his sister came to see Antonina, he knew she had ruined everything he had worked hard to contain since the day started.

He did not know how to face her when he discovered that his sister had most likely told her the truth, and now he was forced to endure her silent treatment throughout the day.

He had everything under control, he was paying for the entire funeral and he planned to compensate the families once everything had settled down. However, he did not want to attend the funeral, it was not his kind of scene. All those people wailing, the sermons, and graves... he hated it.

His initial plan was to attend the service at the church and then leave, but it was impossible to do so with journalists in every corner. Things would look bad for him if he left.

On the other hand, Mrs dos Santos was in an emotional turmoil. Logan knew she loathed herself for everything that happened. He had no words to comfort her, and what was worse, she wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

After the funeral, she took a lift from one of her church mates and left without him.

His bags were already packed, and she took her keys from him before they left her house. Whatever relationship they had, had come to a standstill, and now Logan did not know what to do with himself, she was his pillar, and he did not realise how much he needed her until he lost her.

"If I did not know better, I'd say you and your business partner buried parts of yourselves with all the victims," Zoe said as she came to stand next to him on the side road.

He was standing there and watching as cars left the graveyard. Logan slipped his hands into his pockets and sighed. "What do you want now, Zoe?" He asked.

"I came to tell you that you look great in black of course."

Logan glared at her, unimpressed with her sarcasm. "I'm really not in the mood for you today."

She scoffed. "Are you ever? You don't seem like you want to be here, why force it? Scared that the media might rip your reputation apart tomorrow morning?"

"I only came here for Mrs dos Santos' sake," he muttered.

"That's funny, she didn't seem like she needed you. Poor thing, if only she could have seen the look on your face when you thought she was dead." Logan tensed and gulped, refusing to entertain her. He was just waiting for the road to open up so that he could leave. "You know what I find strange? The media has been very quiet about this, and what's even stranger is that they have been lenient on you. I didn't understand until I realised that there's only ever been one person who could stand up against you, but she has been missing for quite some time."

"Is there a reason you are telling me all this?"

"I wonder, what happened to Sasha-Lee Van der Merwe? I mean, Jorge is shot, Kyle is poisoned, and people are killed at your restaurant, and the one person who could make the world aware of what is really going on, goes missing?"

Logan felt his blood boil and he turned to look at her, annoyed. "Tell me something, do you have wet dreams about me?" He asked.

Zoe stared at him in shock before it turned to embarrassment. "Excuse me?"

"Every time something bad happens in this town, your mind just goes, 'Logan.'" He wiggled his fingers mockingly. "If it is s*x you want, just say it and stop f*****g with my life."

"Logan–" she gritted, her face red.

"f**k you." He gave her a once-over and clicked his tongue, and then he got into his car and sped out of there.

It felt like his heart was pumping blood at the speed of his car. It was a miracle that he reached his destination without any accident on the way.

He was not sure where to go, he just found himself parked outside Kyle's gate. There was no turning back now. He hooted a few times, and then the gate opened. He pulled into the driveway and got out of the car, slamming the door in his left, and then he entered through the front door and jogged up the stairs to the one-floor studio apartment.

He was not feeling great, he did not even see the need to greet Kyle as he walked past him and threw himself on the couch, laying on his back and facing the ceiling.

Kyle did not say anything, he stood there for a while and watched him, until he decided to go to the kitchen and get them drinks.

Logan tilted his head when he heart the sound of glass on glass as Kyle placed the bottle of whiskey and glasses on the coffee table. "Are you trying to get me drunk?" He asked.

Kyle poured himself a drink and stood on the side. "That sounds like something MJ would say," he finally retorted.

Logan sighed and stared back at the ceiling. He had no idea how he got here, but he knew there was no other place he would rather be at the moment. He could not handle being in a crowd more than he was today.

"She's a damn b***h," he said aloud, thinking about how MJ was the last person he could ever go to for support.

"Too bad you love her."

He tried to brush off Kyle's words, but the damage was already done. "Unfortunately." He felt like he was in love with a version of MJ that did not exist. "I envied you, you know?"

Kyle snorted. "Me? Why would you envy me?"

Logan gave a small smile. "Because you always had everything; money and parents who love you," he admitted sadly, bitterness filling his heart. "Of all three of us, you were the perfect lamb, you were so annoying at times because you would always say: 'my mom this, my dad that, my parents'...all the fucken time." He groaned as if it just happened yesterday. "I always dreaded going home, not knowing what hell Lorena had planned for me. I just never belonged. Everytime my dad tried to do something nice for me, she always found a way to ruin it."

"But look where you are now, look how far you've come, you are stronger than you ever were."

Logan shook his head. "Every person, no matter how old they are... everyone needs their parents. I didn't even realise until I met her." He smiled, remembering Antonina's kind eyes. "She..." No words could ever explain how much she meant to him.

"Logan, did you stop looking for your real parents?" Kyle asked.

"What's the point? It feels like I've been searching all my life. At least Caleb tried to be a good father to me, there are people who never had that privilege." He sat up abruptly and poured himself a drink. "Where's my key?" He asked Kyle who responded with a bright smile.

"Dude, just admit that you love me."

Logan snorted. "Never."

Kyle chuckled. "Okay, but you are not staying here. You need to go home and face whatever issues you have in that house."

"Dude, are you kicking me out? I nearly died for you!"

"Whoa! Technically, I almost died because of you!"

Logan smiled. "Okay, Barbie, no need to be hysterical about it. Jeez!" He laughed at the annoyed look on Kyle's face. "Oh, Kyle! I think you and I are about to be the best of friends." He got up and gulped the rest of his drink.

Kyle rolled his eyes and pushed him out of the room. "In your dreams, now get out of my house."

He smiled. They were definitely going to be good friends.