Stay With Me(25)

Ten minutes later, she left the hotel room and walked toward the lobby. After stopping at the desk to find out exactly where in the hotel the restaurant was located, she started back on her way.

As she walked down the corridor branching off from the lobby, she heard Logan’s angry voice. She halted abruptly outside one of the conference rooms. The door was ajar, and it was obvious that Logan was spitting mad.

She leaned in, standing as close to the door as she could without pushing it open.

“There is nothing more important to me than this deal,” Logan said tersely. “Nothing. Whatever I have to do to secure your confidence will be done.”

There was a pause.

“Yes, I’m out of town, but I can leave at a moment’s notice. No, nothing important. Just some downtime, and that’s not as important as this deal.”

She sucked in her breath. Surely he didn’t mean it. He couldn’t.

“Rhys and I will be out as soon as I can get our pilot down here. I’ll call you when we land in San Francisco, and we can set up a time to meet.”

Knowing he was about to end the call, Catherine stumbled away from the doorway and hurried toward the restaurant. She felt ill.

In a desperate attempt to calm herself, she ducked into the ladies’ room. She braced herself against the sink, her stomach in one gigantic knot.

No, she wasn’t going to get upset over this. It was business. He didn’t mean it. He couldn’t have meant it. When it came to his company, Logan was wound tighter than a watch. Whatever it was, he was reacting to it out of anger.

She looked at herself in the mirror and knew she was seriously deluding herself. A leopard didn’t change his spots, and if he did, it certainly wasn’t overnight. She was a fool to think that everything wrong in their relationship could be fixed in a week’s time.

She blew out her breath and tried to regain her composure. One thing she was sure of, no matter what Logan may have spouted on the phone, he’d never hurt her like that to her face. He’d been angry and obviously trying to salvage a business deal. She wouldn’t hold that against him. What mattered was how he planned to deal with what happened next.

After dabbing at her makeup and smoothing her hair, she walked out of the bathroom and made her way into the restaurant. She was quickly ushered to a table in the back, and when she looked up, she saw that Logan had arrived ahead of her.

He and Rhys were engaged in tense conversation, but they immediately went silent when they looked up and saw her walking toward them.

They stood as she was seated then retook their own seats.

“What is it?” she asked softly.

Logan and Rhys exchanged uneasy glances. The both looked like they’d rather be taken out and shot rather than tell her anything.

Finally Rhys broke the silence. “We have to go back, Cat.”

She flinched even though she knew it was coming. “Why?” she asked. “What happened?”

Logan looked at her, his lips tight. “Kingston wants us in San Francisco at eight a.m. tomorrow. He’s entertaining a last-minute bid and wants to meet with us to discuss our project.”

“I thought it was a done deal,” she said. “I thought that was the purpose of your trips to San Francisco and Atlanta on the night of our anniversary.”

Both men winced.

“He could tie it up in litigation forever, and he knows we can’t afford that,” Logan bit out. “We’d spend more time and money making him honor the agreement than we’d get out of the original deal. He has us by the balls, and he goddamn well knows it.”

“So you have to go meet with him,” she said quietly.

Logan sighed. “Yes, baby, we do. It’s important.”

“Cat,” Rhys said in a strained voice.

Reluctantly, she brought her gaze up to meet his. Regret burned brightly in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, and I know that’s a useless word right now. This won’t take long, I swear it. We want you to stay here and enjoy the last two days. Get a massage, pamper yourself. We’ll try to get back here so we can fly home together. If nothing else, we’ll send the jet for you and meet you in New York as soon as we can.”

Massage. Pamper. God, was she supposed to forget that until now they’d given her all her massages, that they’d done all the pampering?

Resentment billowed in her chest, rose in her throat, and she swallowed hard, holding it back, knowing they didn’t deserve her rage.

“When do you leave?” she asked calmly.

“I’ve already called the pilot,” Logan said in a low voice. “He’ll be here around midnight.”

She nodded, proud of herself for not losing her composure.

The waiter appeared, and she recited her order in a controlled voice. They only had a few hours and then she’d sleep alone. Something that she’d grown accustomed to not doing for the last week.

“Baby, look at me,” Logan said when the waiter left. “Please.”

She stared down for a long moment, trying to hold back the tears. He reached over and gently nudged at her chin, forcing her gaze upward.

“Listen to me. We’ll meet with Kingston tomorrow morning, and I’ll call you just as soon as we finish. I promise. I know you have no reason to trust what I’m saying, but Rhys and I will make this up to you.”