Page 51 of Logan

I hope she’ll be convincing in our pretense today because the future of the deal depends on it.

“We’re late.”

“You’re exaggerating. I’m righton time.”

I exit the apartment and press the elevator button. Sloane locks the apartment door and joins me.

“Do I look okay? You said nothing.”

“We don’t have time for you to change clothes,” I growl.

She doesn’t look okay. She looks fucking amazing, and I’m not in the mood for anyone but me to see her like this, but I have to control myself.

She lowers her gaze. “I’m sorry you don’t like it.”

I step closer to her, and she reverses a step until her back is pressed against the elevator wall.

I bring my lips to her ear and whisper, “If you were mine, you’d know how good you look. You wouldn’t have to ask me.” I straighten and stare down at her.

Her lips part, and her breathing quickens. “Why are you saying things like that to me?”

Because I haven’t felt like this in a long time. Fizzy, my nerve endings tingling. I’m crossing the line with her, again and again. And it doesn’t seem like I’m able to stop.

“I just wanted to see if you could be convincing,” I lie. “Come on. We have a deal to close.”

My driver takes us to the club, and Sloane sits beside me, looking as tense as a coiled spring. I shouldn’t have whispered in her ear earlier. Now she’s uncomfortable, and it shows. It’s not like me to act on desires. I have to stop.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“Did you know we’re thirty times more likely to be killed by a falling coconut than by a shark?”

I stare at her.

“Sorry. I’m nervous. What if he realizes we’re not a couple? I could go to jail.”

“Jail?” I stifle a chuckle. “For what? For saying you’re dating me? That’s not a crime, Sloane. The worst that will happen is that he finds out and never does business with Valeur again. Nothing will happen to you, as I promised.”

Her eyes widen. “And what will happen to you?”

“In the worst case, he’ll make it public, and I’ll become someone not worth doing business with.”

“Because of me.”

I tilt my head. “But that won’t happen because he won’t find out. Relax.”

The car stops, and I take her hand. She’s completely frozen. “Relax, Sloane. You look tense, and there’s no reason to be.”

“No reason? How can you say that? I have plenty of reasons,” she whispers.

We enter the crowded club. The dance floor is packed with people, and the music seems to throb. It bursts from the floor, from the walls, creating vibrations that sink down to my bones. The flashing lights don’t particularly agree with me, and I fear a headache is only minutes away.

I find the seating area at the back of the club, tables with black couches, and I head toward them, my eyes scanning the surroundings until I spot Wolfson at one of the back tables in the VIP area. I pull Sloane along behind me.

“Logan,” he greets me as we approach. “Meet my wife, Valentina.”

I bend down and kiss her cheek. She’s young and beautiful, dressed in an ultra-short dress with a generous neckline.

“And this is Sloane,” I introduce her, nudging her forward a bit. She smiles, and her hand tightens in mine.