Risqué Business (Club Risqué #8)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

“ D ad…” Danny paused, looking conflicted, and Logan wondered what else was upsetting the boy.

“Logan…” he corrected himself, even though he’d been calling Logan Dad - his own choice and something Logan cherished - since he and Luanna had gotten married. That Danny took it away caused a deep pang in Logan’s chest, but he kept his expression neutral.

“What is it, son?” he asked, subtly reminding Danny that he’d always be there for him, no matter what. “Tell me what’s troubling you. I can tell it’s more than just your grandad pressuring you.”

Frowning, Danny bit his lip and looked away. He’d always been so mature - modelling himself as the man of the house before Logan and Luanna got together - that it was easy to forget how young he was. And right now, he looked every inch the uncertain teenager he really was. Finally, he rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. “Did something happen between Mum and Dad… James?”

Ah, so that’s why he’d made the distinction of calling Logan by his name. Must be awkward sometimes, having two dads. Especially when he’d spent most of his life with none. Logan brushed the thought aside and concentrated on Danny. “How do you mean, exactly?” he asked, shifting himself to a more comfortable position.

Danny shrugged. “I dunno. Just something Grandad said. It didn’t sit right with me, somehow, and it’s been bugging me ever since.”

Logan narrowed his eyes, his instincts and intuition roaring to life. “Tell me what he said that disturbed you so much,” he replied, forcing his voice to remain even. There was certainly stuff Danny wasn’t privy to. But he and Luanna had both agreed Danny didn’t need to know about it.

“He said something about how if Dad - James - had done his job, then none of this would be an issue...” He paused, then added. “This being the situation with me not wanting to be involved in the business.”

Logan considered his options. “I think, perhaps, this is a conversation your mother needs to be involved in. Will you come down and discuss it with us both?”

Danny scowled. “So, there is something then.”

It wasn’t a question.

Realising Logan wasn’t going to say anything else without Luanna’s consent, Danny dutifully followed him back to the living room.

Luanna looked tense as the two of them sat down on the plush suite in their massive home, and he knew she was picking up on their tension.

“Danny has some questions about you and James,” Logan explained. “I told him it was a conversation you needed to be involved in.”

His wife rubbed her seven-month pregnant belly and seemed to deflate before him. He didn’t like that. Luanna was always so calm and unflappable. The fact that the mere mention of her son’s father did that to her had a familiar anger stirring in Logan’s veins.

The three of them settled, and Danny repeated his question. Logan didn’t know what he expected, but it wasn’t the immediate guilt he witnessed spreading across his wife’s face and the way she refused to look at him.

He clenched his fists. Son of a bitch! He knew something more had happened after her and Danny’s initial visit than she had told him. A more specific reason why she’d taken the action she had… or attempted to, anyway.

She drew in a deep breath, facing her son, and Logan sat back so she could explain. Maybe he’d find out a bit more himself. But if not, he was definitely getting to the bottom of this today.

“After the first visit we made to introduce you to James’ family, I didn’t feel like I’d made the right decision in allowing them to be a part of your life,” Luanna admitted to her son, looking supremely uncomfortable.

“That was my choice,” Danny reminded her sullenly. “I wanted to know my sisters, and you said it was up to me.”

She held up a hand so she could continue. “Danny, it wasn’t a decision I made lightly. I didn’t do it because I wanted to deny you a relationship with your father and your sisters. That absolutely was not my intention, ever.”

He could see a myriad of thoughts running through the young man’s expression. Every one of them clearly showed on his face. Finally, Danny picked the first thing he wanted to follow up on.

“But you didn’t stop me from seeing them. That carried on, and I never knew there was ever a time when you didn’t want it to happen.”

Luanna sighed and nodded. Logan could tell she was feeling vulnerable, so he leaned across and took her hand, squeezing it supportively. “You’re right,” she told her son. “But not because I didn’t try.”

She pressed her lips together, and he could see the guilt getting to her again. “Your mother was upset when she returned from that visit.” He took up the story himself. “She told James she wanted to…” he chose his words carefully. “…postpone your visits until you finish school. That she didn’t want the emotional upheaval to impact on your schoolwork.”

“It didn’t do that, though,” Danny denied, and Luanna raised a questioning eyebrow. The boy hunched in on himself and looked away. “Well, not much, and only recently,” he finally admitted.

Luanna hummed quietly, her features rigid.

“Well, either way,” Logan continued. “It was enough for your father’s family to take legal action.”

“What!?” Danny popped up from his chair, clearly confused. “What do you mean? What did they do?”

Glancing at Luanna, Logan could see her clenched jaw and flinty expression and knew she didn’t want to badmouth his father. Regardless of the circumstances.

He sighed and tried to take the burden off her. “They got a court order to force your mother’s hand. One that allowed your father visitation rights. Your grandfather knows enough people to make that happen.”

Danny scowled. “What? They couldn’t discuss it like normal people?” he demanded, switching his gaze to his mother. “And why would you decide that anyway? You told me it was my choice. Why would you say that and then go back on your word? I don’t buy it being just about my grades.”

“Fuck!” Luanna swore viciously, and both Logan and Danny turned to stare at the uncharacteristic outburst. She ran shaky fingers through her long, red hair and glanced at each of them in turn. “You’re right. I did have my reasons, and it wasn’t something I wanted you to know about your father.”

She swallowed and blinked her eyes, clearly upset, and Logan put his arm around her, pulling her close. “When your father came to visit me that day, while you were still with your grandfather, he tried to persuade me to marry him. At your grandfather’s insistence, he was prepared to divorce Kimberly in order to marry me and make you his legitimate heir.” She shook her head. “He wanted to change your name and everything.”

Danny’s eyes opened wide in shock, and Logan could feel the familiar anger rising within him all over again. Just like it had when she’d told him after it had happened.

Motherfucker!

“Your father wouldn’t take no for an answer when I told him I’d changed my mind about visitation, so he took me to court to force my hand. I tried to use his actions as grounds for my case, but James denied it, and Kimberley chose to back him up, even though I told her what happened. She didn’t believe me. Said James would never do such a thing to her.”

Danny scowled and turned on Logan. “And where were you in all this?” he demanded. “You’re the hotshot lawyer, wasn’t there anything you could do to support Mum?”

Logan gritted his teeth, the same feeling of impotence coming over him as it had back then. “Unfortunately, there were no witnesses and no evidence. So, it was Luanna’s word against theirs. James convinced the judge your mother was deliberately trying to keep you from him, and your grandparents’ actions in cutting all ties to the Fulfords when Luanna was pregnant, backed up that conjecture. The court found in their favour.”