Built for Power (16 page)

“That’s priceless. You’ll need that spunk to handle my family tonight. I really do wish you had said no. I don’t know what they’ll do or say.”

“It’s okay. I’ll handle it. I’ll even put on my big girl panties tonight.”

“No panties would be better.”

“Who said my big girl panties were anything other than metaphorical?” With a wink, Bree got back into her car and drove home to get dressed.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Logan held Bree’s hand tightly as he walked into the upscale French restaurant. Bree had tried to keep him entertained with the story of her fitting that afternoon, but he was too nervous to fully enjoy it. For the first time, he wasn’t really worried about seeing Stacy and Brad together. No, he was happy things hadn’t worked out with her because now he had Bree and he loved her more every day he was with her.

What he was worried about was if Bree would still love him after meeting his pretentious father and brother. Would she still love him as his father repeatedly spoke on how disappointing Logan was and how superior Brad is? And would she still love him when his parents berated her “lineage” as if she were a brood mare.

“Bonjour,
étranger!
” a little man with a huge smile called out.

“Bonjour,”
Logan replied stiffly. Why was the man calling them strangers? But then the man and Bree shared a wink and Logan realized he’d just met the owner.

“You speak French, monsieur?”

“
Oui
. I spend a lot of time in France for business. Beautiful countryside and I could stay in the mountains forever.” Logan relaxed a little as Jean Blanc radiated happiness.

“Oh, Mademoiselle Bree, he is, how you say, a keeper.” Jean winked as a waiter came forward.

“This is a beautiful restaurant. You must be very proud,” Logan told him. The man puffed with pride.

“
Oui!
It is my heart. I am happy every day I come to work. It makes it no longer work, yes?” Jean smiled as Logan nodded. “Ah, table twenty-eight please,” he told the waiter.

Logan’s mind started spinning. Drake had said something similar about his job. And when he and Drake had brainstormed, it hadn’t felt like work at all. It had been fun. He felt energized and couldn’t wait to do more. He didn’t feel like that at Clarke. For all the pomp and circumstance his father insisted on, his father truly loved his work. Brad did not. Brad loved money.

Bree squeezed his hand again and stood slightly nervous by his side when they stopped at the table. The dress she wore had the table staring at her and he couldn’t blame them. It was a deep-green silk halter dress that flowed down her body. It showed off her rather favorable assets on top and tightened around her small waist before flowing down to her knees. The tantalizing glimpse of cleavage was highlighted with a gold chain that wrapped around her neck and formed a
V
down her chest.

“Hello Mother, Father,” Logan said rigidly.

“Did you forget about me already?” Stacy purred in the voice she knew he used to like.

Looking at her now, he wondered what he ever saw in her. She was a beautiful woman. Tall and willowy, but her brown hair had been turned to blonde. Her B cups had been enhanced to Ds, and her slightly large nose was now narrow with a slight upturn at the end. She was fake—simply molded to fit Brad’s vision of the perfect wife.

“This is Stacy? The Stacy you used to be engaged to?” Bree asked, slightly shocked.

“So you’ve heard of me?” Stacy asked, pleased.

“Well, sure. We laugh about it all the time.” Stacy’s smile fell to a sneer. “And Brad,” Bree cooed. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

Stacy’s eyes went so wide the end of her fake lashes came unglued. Logan coughed to hide his laugh. “Bree, these are my parents, Carolyn and Charles Ward.”

“It’s such a pleasure to meet y’all. You must be very proud to have raised a son as wonderful as Logan,” she said with such honesty that Logan wanted to kiss her right then and there. Instead, he raised her hand to his lips and placed a kiss on her knuckles.

Her father cleared his throat as Logan held out a chair for Bree and then took his place next to her, placing a protective arm over the back of the chair.

“We would be if—” his father started before Bree stared her father down.

“Yes, we are,” his mother finished. Bree relaxed and started talking to his mother about Charleston as the first course was served.

“Just what exactly did you tell her about us, Logan? Obviously, you are spewing lies since you aren’t over us. How many times do I have to tell you—I love Brad, not you,” Stacy hissed.

This time it didn’t even bother him. “I only told her the truth. And trust me, you have nothing to worry about in regards to my feelings. I stopped loving you a long time ago—the second I found you in bed with my brother, in fact. A person who does something like that isn’t worth the time or energy to love. Bree, on the other hand, I love very much.”

Logan turned in his chair to listen to Bree and his mother talking animatedly about the historic sites around Charleston. His mother sat to Bree’s left and he let his thumb trace over her bare back as he listened to them talk. He’d never seen his mother so enthusiastic. He knew she was on the Historical Board, but he thought it was for name only. Clearly, he was wrong. His mother and Bree shared a passion for history.

He looked across at his father and saw that he was just as amazed. “Why, Carolyn, I had no idea you loved history so much.”

“Oh yes, right along with my roses,” Carolyn said happily.

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those people who can actually get things to grow?” Bree asked in mock amazement, but it was enough to draw his normally timid mother into a thirty-minute discussion on gardening. She was also president of the garden club. He enjoyed watching his mom blossom under Bree’s confidence. She seemed to feed off of it, and he loved seeing it.

After the main course was cleared, it appeared his father had had enough talking about history and flowers. He smiled indulgently at his wife but then jumped in as soon as he could to change the subject.

“So, Bree, how long have you and my son been together?” he asked. Stacy and Brad stopped whispering feverishly and turned to listen. The interrogation was about to begin.

“Oh gosh, not that long. Almost three weeks, or is it four? After the explosion—and that seems like a lifetime ago,” Bree laughed.

Everyone else at the table froze. “Excuse me, did you say explosion?” his father asked in disbelief.

“Yes, your son saved my life and the life of a friend of mine. We were in a building and there was an explosion. Logan ran through fire to find us. He and another man lifted a steel beam off my friend. My friend ended up losing his leg, but not his life, thanks to Logan and Al. And when Al went to carry my friend out, Logan stayed behind and looked for me. He found me not far away and carried me out of the building through a wall of fire. Your son is my hero.”

She looked up at him with such love Logan kissed her again right there in front of his family. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips.

“I love you, too.”

“Oh my goodness, that’s so romantic. My son, the hero! I’m so proud of you, Logan,” his mother said, reaching across the table to pat his hand. Even his father seemed temporarily impressed.

Bree smiled at Logan. He was her hero and she was proud of the strong man he was. He looked out for those in trouble, even if he didn’t know them. He was a good man, a man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with . . . if only he wasn’t leaving again in a couple days.

“So, what do you do, Bree?” Charles asked, stopping her thoughts from going too far into the future.

“I work in construction,” she answered vaguely.

Stacy snorted. “Your girlfriend is a construction worker. Priceless.”

Bree really didn’t like Stacy. While it was clear Logan could care less about her, Bree felt she needed to show Stacy what she had missed out on. Logan didn’t deserve to be treated like that.

“I didn’t say that, did I?” Bree asked sweetly. “I’m more on the business side. But I can certainly use a hammer if needed. After all, I am sure the Wards didn’t get to be where they are today without putting a few bricks together. You have to get your hands dirty to learn a profession.”

“Good point. I learned to make bricks from my father and his father before him. I taught Logan, but Brad never did learn,” Charles told her. “But who are your people? We have to look out for our son. He can’t be involved with a nobody. Our family is one of the oldest and most prominent in all of Charleston.”

Bree didn’t know if she should be shocked, insulted, or just laugh. But she’d experienced this her whole life. Instead of being insulted, she just shrugged her shoulders.

“I work with my family,” she answered without giving away who her family was. Under the table, she squeezed Logan’s knee to let him know she was all right and then finished answering as vaguely as possible. “We’ve lived in Atlanta for three generations. Before that, my family were farmers in Scotland. My great-great-grandmother was known to be a very good weaver.”

“A weaver? Your family was a bunch of peasants?” Stacy asked incredulously.

“Yes. Like most people who came to America for a fresh start. I am sure the Wards have a similar story.”

“They were laborers in England,” Logan told Stacy. “Everyone starts from somewhere and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Dad loves the rags-to-riches story of the Wards.”

His father grunted. “The point Stacy is making is she’s a nobody now. While I admire her family trying to build themselves up, they haven’t done it in the three generations they’ve been here. You have to know that we are the targets of scams because of our wealth.”

Bree sucked in some air. Logan started to open his mouth, but Bree squeezed his leg to tell him to shut up. “You’re so right, Mr. Ward. You have to be careful of women who hop from one bed to another just hoping to get pregnant to secure their financial well-being. But I can assure you I don’t care about your money or your position in society.”

Logan didn’t bother hiding his laugh this time. Stacy radiated anger and even his parents looked at her with new eyes.

“Well, I’m glad we got that out of the way,” Bree said happily. “So, Brad, what were you doing downtown this afternoon?”

Bree kept her innocent smile on her face as she led a bragging Brad blindly down the path of his own destruction. B. Simpson was about to have her say.

“Well done, son,” Charles said after Brad told them about his meeting with Reid. “Too bad B. Simpson wasn’t there. I hate that we have to wait to hear back from them. He was always a tough one, but we’ll come out ahead of this battle.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but do you really think it’s a good business model to jeopardize someone’s trust just to try to scrape out a few extra dollars?”

“Bree, I don’t expect you to understand how this works, but it’s how we made our fortune—the one you’re hoping to get your hands on.”

“Charles!” Carolyn snapped. “Apologize. She has done nothing to earn that remark.”

“Don’t worry about it, Mrs. Ward. I have thick skin,” Bree said nicely. She really did like his mother. Now the rest of the family was something different. “Excuse me for a moment. I’m going to go freshen up before coffee.”

Bree stood up and gave Logan a smile and walked as calmly to the bathroom as she could. Once out of sight, she deviated to the kitchen and out the back door so she could scream for all she was worth. Letting out a deep breath, she pulled out her cell phone and called Reid.

“How far are you from Beau Monde?”

“Five minutes, why?”

“I need you to do me a favor. Remember in high school when you helped me stand up to Missy Shoemaker for spreading all those rumors about me?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’m at dinner with Logan’s family. His mother is a sweetheart, but his father just accused me of being a golddigger and his brother is bragging about taking Simpson Global for a tidy gain.”

“They would do that with you at the table?” Reid asked outraged.

“They don’t know who I am. Remember, they think B. Simpson is a man. All of my previous negotiations were done in writing or through Noah. I don’t have time to negotiate every deal.”

“Oh, sis, that’s mean. They just opened their mouth and inserted foot, huh? I’ll be there in five.”

Bree took another deep breath and hurried back inside.

“Bree?”

“Mrs. Ward! What are you doing?” Bree asked as she made her way through the kitchen. The staff all knew her and thought nothing of her being back there. They all just nodded and said hello in French.

“I was looking for you. Oh, Bree. I am so sorry. Logan has always followed his own path. Right now he’s widening that path that led him away from his family by giving a well-deserved tongue-lashing to Charles and Brad. I hope you understand my concern. I was so hoping to bring Logan closer again, and now I fear he’ll be even more alienated.”

“I don’t think your husband understands Logan’s principles.”

“I don’t think he does either. They’ve never seen eye to eye and Charles has always been too focused on turning Logan into his image instead of encouraging him to find himself. But Logan has found himself, and done it without his father's support. I’m proud of him for finding a job he loves and a woman he obviously cares for. Please accept my apology.”

“I do. I just don’t accept your husband’s and Brad’s since they never offered one. So, I’m sorry to say, they’re just going to have to learn their lesson.” Bree patted Carolyn’s hand and walked back to the table.