The sheet bundled around Grace’s waist as the first rays of sun poked through the window. Logan took a moment to study the scar on her chest. The cut had been deep, running from between her breasts, down her ribs.
Blood boiled in his veins at the sight.
Where was the asshole who’d done this? If he had the means to remain hidden for over eight years, then the guy had significant resources.
Reaching out, Logan lightly touched the old wound.
Grace’s breathing shifted from long, deep breaths to shorter ones. Her eyes scrunched once, twice, before slowly sliding open.
God, he could just get lost in her eyes.
When she looked at him, a flurry of emotions crossed her features. Surprise. Desire. Hesitation. And finally, when she looked down at her chest, at his finger on her scar, uncertainty.
She didn’t pull away though.
“For a long time, I couldn’t bear to look at it,” she said quietly.
He switched from forefinger to thumb, grazing over the mark. “It’s a reminder of your strength. A reminder that you’re a survivor.” She was so strong. So much stronger than she even knew.
She nodded slowly. “That’s what I’ve spent years retraining my brain to believe.”
His hand shifted to her waist, caressing her silky-smooth skin. “I need to tell you something, Grace.”
The change in her was subtle. The slightest tightening of her muscles. The little hitch of her breath. “Okay.”
“When you first got to town, I asked Wyatt to do a background check on you.”
No reaction. She’d probably expected it, but she also knew how airtight her carefully constructed identity was.
What she didn’t know was the extent to which he’d gone to learn her story.
“Then yesterday, I sent him video surveillance footage of you from Blue Halo to run through facial-recognition software.”
Grace shot up into a sitting position, dragging the sheet with her. “You what?”
Logan sat up slowly. “I know your real last name is McKenna. That your father is a US marshal, and probably the person who set up your new identity.”
Her eyes widened. Real fear washed out every other emotion. Because she didn’t trust him with that information?
“Who else knows?”
“No one. I asked Wyatt to keep it to himself and I haven’t told my team.” Yet.
She was shaking now. “If it became public knowledge, my father would go to jail.”
He would. There was no doubt about it.
Reaching out, he touched her cheek, relieved when she didn’t pull away. “I need to tell my team. They can help find Kieran—”
She was on her feet in seconds, sheet pulled from the bed, covering her body. “No.”
“Grace—”
“I need him to be safe!”
“He will be.”
Her brows dipped. “I don’t know your team. I don’t trust them enough.”
“Then trust me.”
He held her gaze, watching as she bit her bottom lip, indecision flickering over her face. Trust me, honey.
He almost repeated those words, but she needed a moment to think. She needed to come to this decision alone.
She wet her lips. Gaze dipping to the floor then shooting back up again. “Barret knew.”
Logan nodded, not surprised. He’d started to suspect as much. “How?”
“He’d been working as a reporter in my hometown eight years ago, when it happened. He’d even researched and written an article about my abduction. So, when he saw me in Marble Falls, he recognized my face. He also knew I’d been declared dead. Knowing who my father was, he pieced it together immediately.”
The asshole.
She shook her head, a mix of anger and sorrow on her face. “He said if I didn’t tell him everything I knew about Project Arma, about what Evie and Samantha had divulged, that he’d expose me.” Tears began to fill her eyes. “It went against everything in me to do what I did, Logan. If it was just me, I would have chosen to remain silent and run.”
His muscles tensed at her admission.
“But my dad is involved. I couldn’t let him pay the price for protecting me.” A tear spilled over her cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
Rising to his feet, Logan tugged her into his arms. Her body still trembled. “Barret was scum for putting you in that position.” If he was alive, Logan would have beaten the shit out of him. “You protected your dad because you love him. You were put into a terrible position.”
“When they couldn’t find Kieran, I knew my days were numbered. Kieran has money. And my dad didn’t trust the system any more than I did…so he made sure no one would find me.”
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Logan tugged her down onto his lap. Her hand went to his chest.
“He made sure my new identity was bulletproof. I dyed my hair and ran.”
Logan studied her long hair, reaching up to stroke a soft tendril. “What’s your natural hair color, honey?”
“Red.”
His hand stopped mid-stroke, unease settling like a rock in his gut, slithering up his stomach to his throat.
The sex trafficking ring, the red hair…
The man who took her couldn’t be connected to the trafficking ring they were trying to destroy…could he? Surely, the world wasn’t that small.
Grace’s phone began to ring, cutting through Logan’s thoughts.
She leaned to the side to grab her cell, answering the call. “Hello, Grace speaking.”
“Grace, this is Nurse Kelly. One of your patients, Lizzie Bodes, is having a panic attack. We need you to come in as quickly as you can.”
Grace was on her feet immediately. “I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”
