Page 39 of One Night Seduction (ONS #1)

Arianna

Relief. Bliss. Pure unfiltered joy.

I can’t even begin to come up with all the emotions that describe how I feel.

The terror that was wreaking havoc inside me from the moment Logan left to run the test until the moment we read those results was agonizing.

Of course I didn’t eat all day, how could I when my stomach was in such tight knots?

Logan and I fell asleep wrapped around each other, him practically smothering me, per usual, and it was so fucking welcomed. I can’t believe that nightmare is behind us. This leaves one huge burning question though, who is the father? Like Ty said, it really could be anyone, knowing my mother.

I hope for my Aunt Marissa’s sake that it’s not Tom’s.

She still hasn’t spoken to me. I’ve reached out a few times and have been met with radio silence.

I know she’s not mad at me, per se. She’s grieving, struggling with one of the worst betrayals a person could suffer through.

She’s allowed to not be okay. I miss her, though.

This morning, we woke up early and went straight to the police station where we filed restraining orders against my mother.

Mainly because an hour after the test results came in, Logan’s phone began blowing up.

Calls, voicemails, texts, each one more unhinged than the next.

She sounded psychotic as she began to spiral, demanding there was a mistake, how no man could fill her the way he could.

How this is all my fault, and she would make me pay for this.

I knew she was just being desperate and delusional, but Logan was not accepting it.

The emergency restraining order was put into place based on the text messages alone.

We’re on our way home to forget about this mess when he gets a call from the office.

“Hello? Yeah. What? Are you kidding? You’re fucking kidding,” he groans through the phone, wiping a hand down his face as he listens to the person on the other line.

“No! Fuck no. Hold him there, do not let him leave.”

He hangs up shaking his head.

“FUCK!”

I frown, reaching a hand out to rest on his thigh. The muscle instantly relaxes at my touch, and he looks at me, swallowing down his irritation as one of his hands covers my own.

“Sorry, Sparrow. I have to go into the office.”

I raise one shoulder as we pull up to the house. “It’s okay. Everything alright?”

“Yeah, just a client trying to go rogue before his trial next week.”

Nodding my head, he gives me an apologetic smile.

“Forgive me?”

“It’s fine, Logan.” I laugh. “Go handle work. I have a little more homework to take care of.”

“Alright, but tonight we’re celebrating,” he says as he gets out of the car just to get my door for me.

“Yeah? What are we celebrating?” I laugh as he cups my face with both of his hands, bending himself over so we’re nose to nose.

“Our new beginning.”

I smile at that before he presses his lips to mine. I’ll never not melt at this man’s touch. His soft lips pull at mine as my tongue tangles with his. He pulls away too soon for my liking, which he seems to echo if his frustrated growl is anything to go by.

“I’ll be back in a few hours, max, okay?”

“Okay,” I agree, making my way to the front door. I pause before going inside, waving to him. He returns the gesture, turning around before heading down the driveway.

I punch in my code into the keypad and the lock releases with a whir.

I step inside the house, closing the door behind me as I drop my purse on the entry table.

I’m kind of hungry, so I head for the kitchen to get a snack.

At least I intended to. My feet pause, an unsettling feeling causing goosebumps to race down my spine as my head turns. I thought I just saw…

“Hello, Arianna,” my mother says with a sinister grin.

She’s sitting in the formal living room right off the entryway. Her legs are crossed, stiletto heels on her feet and a red dress that is far too revealing to be something she wears to work. She lifts the bottle of vodka in her hand to her mouth, taking two large gulps while keeping her eyes on me.

“What are you doing here?”

My mom doesn’t respond, pushing herself to her feet before she staggers a few steps. I look down at the bottle to notice it’s well over half gone. She’s absolutely shit tanked.

“Aren’t you pregnant? Not sure you should be drinking.”

“Fuck offff,” she snarls. “I drank plenty with you, although, you turned out to be a backstabbing little bitch, so maybe you’re onto something.” She cackles, taking another healthy swig as she stares at me, only one eye open as she continues .

“You ruined everythingss, you knows that? That I hate youz. That you costed me the first love of my life and now the second,” she says with a disbelieving laugh. “Who does that?”

I shake my head at the sad drunk excuse of a mother before me.

“I didn’t do anything to you. I’m sorry you fucked a dude that was such a loser he skipped town the moment responsibility came knocking. I’m sorry you’re such a whore you can’t stay faithful to one man and lost the only good one that ever looked your way.”

I shrug like there is nothing else to say. She closes the distance between us faster than I’d have thought possible, her free hand cracking against my face, whipping my head to the side before snarling.

“You don’t know how sorry you should be, little girl. You’re about to find out, though,” she says with a smile so evil it chills me to the bone. I barely have time to wince before she lifts up the bottle, smashing it over my head.

Blinding pain radiates from my head before I feel myself falling. A hard thump to the ground is the last thing I feel before darkness overtakes me.