Page 119 of Logan

“I slept?—”

“Was it consensual?” Dad cuts me off, his gaze piercing.

“Dad!” I burst out, indignation momentarily overwhelming my shame and fear. That he would even ask me such a question, that he would think I was capable of...

“Was it a one-time thing? Is she planning to go public, to smear you, smear the company? I need to understand what we’re up against here, Logan.” Dad’s tone is cold, clinical. The consummate entrepreneur, assessing the threat to his bottom line.

I close my eyes, bracing myself to drop the second bombshell. “We were filmed. There’s a video.”

“What?” The color drains from Dad’s face. He’s as pale as the wall behind him.

He hasn’t seen the video. The realization hits me. “Someone, it’s still unclear who, recorded us and sent it to some of the executive team. The video is in your email. I assume you haven’t watched it yet.”

Dad surges to his feet, sending his chair skidding back with a screech. He paces the room.

“For God’s sake,” he snarls, whirling to face me. “So you’re telling me everyone saw you fucking this woman? They all got a front-row seat to you throwing away your career, your reputation, everything we’ve built?”

I swallow hard, a muscle ticking in my jaw. “I’m sorry?—”

“What good does sorry do now?” Dad roars, slamming his hand on his desk. I flinch at the sound, at the raw fury and disappointment in his voice. “Has the board heard about this yet?”

I shake my head. “Not yet. There will be a meeting next week, and Liam will update them if the video doesn’t leak to the press first.” I can’t bring myself to meet his eyes, to see the disgust, the contempt I know I’ll find there.

“They’re going to demand your resignation, you realize that?” Dad’s voice is glacial. “You won’t be able to weather this, to keep your position after a scandal of this magnitude. What the hell were you thinking, Logan? Did you have to fuck an employee? Couldn’t you keep it in your goddamn pants, find some discreet escort to slake your needs?”

“She—”

“Damn it, Logan.” Dad scrubs a handover his face, looking exhausted. “If she comes forward, if she spins this as some kind of abuse of power, you could face legal action. Criminal charges, even.”

“She won’t say anything.”

“You can’t possibly know that,” Dad scoffs. “Everyone has a price. And even if she keeps quiet, there’s still the video to contend with.”

The video. God. To think of those sacred, precious moments splashed across the screens of the men who hold my fate in their hands...

“How explicit is the video? Are we talking full-frontal, X-rated material here?” Dad’s clinical tone belies the dread in his eyes.

I huff out a breath. “No. Not my face, either. I’m not identifiable in the video. Only the woman is.”

Dad latches onto this like a drowning man to a life raft. “So, there’s no definitive proof it’s you? Just the word of this mystery woman? Maybe we can control the narrative. Paint her as a scorned woman, an opportunist looking for a payday. I’ve got dirt on most of the board members that would make this little indiscretion look like a Sunday picnic. They’ll fall in line to save their own skins.”

Gorge rises in my throat at the implications. “You want to throw Sloane under the bus? Destroy her credibility, her career, to save mine?” I’m on my feet before I realize I’ve moved, my hands clenched into fists at my sides.

Dad blinks, flustered by my outburst. “To save the company, Logan. That has to be our priority. You know that.” His voice is unforgiving, the voice of a man who’s built an empire on the bones of countless sacrificed pawns.

But Sloane isn’t a pawn. She’s...everything.

“No.” The word feels leaden on my tongue, but I force it out. “No, I won’t do that to her. I won’t let her twist in the wind to save my own sorry ass.”

Dad stares at me, a vein throbbing in his temple. “Logan, think about what you’re saying. Think about what you’re throwing away, what you’re risking?—”

“I have.” I cut him off, my voice gaining strength and conviction. “I’ve thought of nothing else since. I’m done putting Valeur first, Dad. I’m done being a good little soldier. If the cost of keeping my throne is letting Sloane be raked over the coals, then I don’t want it.”

I half expect Dad to lash out, to roar at me for my insolence. But he just stares at me, something like surprise flickering in his gaze.

“You love her.” It’s not a question but a statement. “This woman. You’re in love with her.”

I open my mouth. Close it. I want to deny it, to scoff at the very notion. Logan Valeur doesn’t fall in love. He doesn’t lose his head over a pair of pretty eyes and a clever tongue.