Hi all! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I have a good excuse for that! I had a baby on October 14th! I already have a 2 year old as well, so you can imagine I've had my hands full! I'm amazed I was even able to get this chapter done. As you can understand, I don't have much time to dedicate to writing, so I don't really know when I'll have a new chapter up, so I hope you enjoy this one!
Charles Xavier was sitting at his desk in the Los Angeles high rise office building that housed his security company, double checking employee payroll and preparing to send Peter Rasputin to the D'Ancanto estate. He was racking his brain trying to figure out why Logan had quit the assignment...but couldn't imagine why his most trusted and oldest employee would ditch such an important client.
He heard a slight ruckus just outside his office door before it swung open.
Marie D'Ancanto charged in wearing dark sunglasses, closely followed by his secretary, "I'm sorry Mr. Xavier-"
Charles held up a hand to gently quiet his secretary, "It's alright Andrea. We're fine." He waited until his secretary exited the room and closed the door before offering Marie a seat. She sat down and crossed her legs as he circled his desk and took a seat in his own chair, "What can I do for you?"
"I signed a contract with your company. The terms of that contract name Logan Howlett as my primary security and personal bodyguard. Now I'm here because, if you don't give me information on where to find my wayward bodyguard, I'll have to sue your company for breech of contract and name him as the primary litigant. Would you like to provide me with a primary home address for Mr. Howlett or shall I have my lawyer request it for me?"
Charles raised both eyebrows briefly before tearing off a post-it and jotting down a few addresses and names, "This is the apartment he was renting in Studio City and this is the name of the bar he frequents. If you can't find him here, there's a chance he's taken a quick jaunt to Las Vegas, but if you give him a week, I will personally ensure he reports directly to you when he returns."
Marie favored him with a polite smile, "Thank you Mr. Xavier. You've been so helpful...as usual."
She stood up and walked out, leaving Charles looking a little nervous. As soon as she was gone, he dialed Logan's number. The usually stoic Englishman angrily spat into the phone when it went straight to voicemail, "Logan Howlett, I don't know what you did to Marie D'Ancanto, but if you don't get your hairy hide back to this city to explain yourself, I'll hunt you down myself. Call me back, ASAP!"
An hour later, in a dark apartment in Studio City, Logan sat nursing a bottle of whiskey. He was listening as Charles left yet another message on his home answering machine.
Logan heard a brief knock on the door and rolled his eyes, "Go away, Chuck. I'm not ready to participate in one of your therapy sessions."
He groaned and stood when the knocking persisted. He staggered over to the door and grumbled, "Fine...fine...but I'm finishing this bottle whether you like or not."
As soon as the door opened, he was punched just hard enough to send his drunken frame sprawling to the ground.
Marie hissed and shook her hand gingerly as pain radiated through it. Logan was one hardheaded bastard.
She quickly turned her attention from her hand to the man who was barely conscious, moaning and writhing on the floor as he fought to hang onto his consciousness. Briefly ignoring the throb in her hand, she pulled an envelope out of her purse and tossed it onto Logan's chest before turning to walk out of his apartment.
Marie was sure to slam the door on her way out for good measure.
Meanwhile, Logan gave up on attempting to get up and just laid there, falling into a drunken sleep. A couple of hours later, he woke up with the envelope still on his stomach and the spilled whiskey bottle still clutched in his fist.
His head swam as he sat up and rubbed a hand down his weary face, trying to remember if what he thought happened really happened...or did he dream it all? Did Marie D'Ancanto actually show up at his apartment and punch him in the face?
He grabbed the envelope and opened it to find a sizable wad of cash attached to a note that read:
Dear Logan,
While I appreciate your ill-timed letter of resignation, I would like to inform you that I am rejecting it. Enclosed in this envelope, you will find a pay advance totaling twenty thousand dollars in cash. This should be enough to cover any lawyers fees you may incur concerning the situation we discussed prior to your attempted resignation.
Due to our extenuating circumstances, you can take two days off to get your personal affairs in order. After those days are up, I expect for you to return to your duties as my head of security.
If the conditions of the contract I signed with your company are not fulfilled, you and Xavier Security Company will be named as litigants in a lawsuit.
I look forward to continuing our work together.
Marie D'Ancanto
"Holy fuck."
Before that moment, he was sure that all of Xavier's messages concerning being sued and Marie's anger was overblown. But now, as he laid on his living room floor with a sore jaw and twenty thousand in cold, hard cash, he realized how angry she was...and how big of a mistake he'd made.
Two days later, Logan showed up at Marie's estate. He'd spent the last 48 hours working up the nerve to face her. When he entered the house, he found a maid dressed in a traditional uniform.
He quirked an eyebrow at the woman and looked around, almost as if he wanted to make sure he hadn't entered the wrong house.
"Hello sir, you must be Logan...Miss Marie said you would be back today. I'm Trina, her new maid."
Logan furrowed his eyebrows yet again, "Trina...right. I'll need a full-"
The woman cut him off by producing a stack of folded papers, "My full background check, references, and Miss Marie's contact at the agency." He eyed the woman as he took the papers from her. She smiled warmly, "Miss Marie said you were thorough. It's standard for the type of clients I work for to have professional bodyguards who require this type of information."
Before Logan could say anymore to the woman, Marie walked down the stairs. Her hair and make up were already done and she wore dark sunglasses. A woman talking a mile a minute while scrolling through an iPad followed her, spouting off the details of her schedule.
Marie spared him a glance (or he thinks she did...he couldn't see much past her dark sunglasses), then looked in Trina's direction, "I see you've met Logan. Sara, this is Logan. Logan, this is Sara. My new personal assistant."
"You have a personal assistant now?"
Marie's mouth briefly twisted into a half smirk before she turned back to Sara, "Would you check to see if the car is out front?"
Trina had made herself busy cleaning in the kitchen, so after Sara exited out the front door, Logan and Marie were left alone in the foyer.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and awkwardly rocked on his heels a bit as Marie crossed her arms, "You look like you have something on your mind Logan."
"Look...Marie...I never meant to-"
"Save the bull shit, Logan. I have a well-penned note that outlines everything you 'meant' to do. When you left me in bed that morning, you knew exactly what you were doing, but you know what? I'm fine. I know exactly who you are now. The only thing I want from you now is for you to keep me alive."
She rudely brushed past him as she walked toward the door, but he stopped her, "Marie...you could have had any one of the bodyguards from Xavier's company...why did you need me if you hated me so much?"
Marie stopped and turned around, "Because, despite the fact that you're a giant asshole...I can't imagine feeling safer with anyone else."
She exited the house, thankful for the big dark sunglasses that hid her tear-rimmed eyes.
For days, he watched her turn from the woman he knew and loved to the woman he knew and hated.
The assistant that followed her around like she was her personal minion...the new, live-in maid...the multiple, carefully orchestrated public appearances. It was as if she had started acting more like Jean just to spite him.
In truth, that was only part of it. Marie was now keeping herself hidden behind make up and an entourage because of how deeply she had been hurt.
In her years as a starlet, she'd dated few and loved none...until Logan. When he hurt her, the pain ran deep and the only way she knew how to cope was through anger and becoming distant.
She'd become so removed from the person she once was that she now had her assistant coordinating with Logan concerning her schedule. As Logan plugged the latest happenings into his iPhone, he realized just how much Marie had changed...and how much he must have hurt her.
Sara busily tapped the screen of her iPad as she droned on about Marie's schedule, "Tuesday, there's a photoshoot and interview for Elle...Wednesday, an interview with Anne Curry, Thursday, she reports on set at 7am. At 6pm that same day, she has dinner with the girls. Friday, she's needed on set at 5am, and on Saturday night, she's going to the opening of a club in West Hollywood."
Logan looked up, "Club opening? There's gotta be some mistake...she doesn't-"
He stopped himself from saying that Marie didn't go to clubs...she was a home body who enjoyed watching football and dinner at home with her friends. Instead, he shook his head as Sara raised a brow, "She doesn't-what?"
Logan shook his head again, "Nothing."
Sara continued rambling as he monotonously plugged information into his phone, but he couldn't get over the fact that low-key, private, homebody Marie was giving multiple interviews a week and attending a club opening.
That was so unlike her...
When Thursday rolled around, he accompanied her to dinner with the girls to Geisha House sushi lounge, a notorious hot spot for the young Hollywood elite and obvious paparazzi hang out.
He almost dislocated her shoulder trying to pull her through the over eager throng of photogs that had gathered while she ate and mingled.
Saturday night, he found himself escorting her to the red carpet opening of Club Aqua. He watched her flash her dazzling smile as she walked the red carpet in a metallic silver mini dress she'd paired with a cropped leather jacket and silver stiletto "come fuck me" heels.
He shuddered at how amazing she looked.
She posed graciously for the photographers, and even favored them with an over the shoulder "check out my ass" shot that made Logan weak in the knees.
Suddenly, Scott Summers walked onto the red carpet. Marie smiled widely and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. They said a few words to each other, then Logan watched in horror as Scott snaked his arm around Marie's waist and pulled her close to pose for some pictures.
Even more horrifying was that Marie smiled, pressed her cheek against his and posed for the camera. Logan thought he was about to lose it when he watched her favor Scott with a posed kiss on the cheek.
No doubt the tabloids would eat that up...the young Hollywood starlet and her hunky director falling for each other on the set of his latest movie...
As they made their way inside the club, Logan was careful to note that Scott's arm never left Marie's waist.
Inside the club, he watched over her as she ordered drink after drink. She sat next to Scott in the VIP section, letting him whisper in her ear, touch her leg and brush her hair off of her neck.
Logan was busy trying to prevent fans from taking cell phone pictures of the two, but he knew it was no use. The obvious, disgusting display she was putting on with the boy scout would be splattered across the internet before they got home tonight.
He took his eyes off of her for a brief moment when a drunk woman (and her drink) crashed into him. By the time he helped peel her off of the ground, Marie and Scott were gone...
Meanwhile, Scott had pulled a tipsy Marie down a dark hallway to a storage room. The two fumbled around, drunkenly laughing in the dark closet as they fell into each others arms. He kissed her hungrily as he backed her up against the shelves behind her.
Marie returned the kiss, but as he moved his lips from hers to her collar bone, she shook her head and pushed at his shoulders, "Scott...wait...I can't."
The kisses stopped before he stood straight up to look into her face. He gently cupped her cheek and smiled, "Come on, beautiful...there's nothing wrong with some fun."
Just as she was about to allow him to kiss her again, the storage closet door flew open. Logan growled as he snatched Scott out of the closet by his collar and shoved him down the hallway.
Scott stumbled, but recovered quickly, "What the fuck, man?"
Logan turned pointed at Scott, "Leave her the fuck alone. She's drunk and you're trying to take advantage of her, now fuck off!"
Marie beat Logan in the chest with her fists and shoved him, "What the hell are you doing?"
"You're drunk, Marie."
"I'm not!" He gave her a matter-of-fact look which made her roll her eyes and throw her hands up, "Fine! Maybe a little...but who I'm fooling around with in dark closets is none of your goddamn business, you jackass!"
Before he could retort, Marie rushed away and made a beeline toward the exit of the club. He rushed after her, calling her name and pushing through the large crowd of people on the dance floor.
When Marie burst out the doors, she was met by a throng of paparazzi who eagerly snapped her picture. The flash of the bulbs, combined with the affect of the alcohol caused her to lose her footing and stumble to the ground as photographers eagerly took her picture.
Logan arrived and rushed to help her, quickly picking her up off the ground. He led her to one of the awaiting town cars parked on the curb and placed her inside.
Forty five minutes later, Logan was holding Marie's leg on his lap, gently cleaning her skinned knee with peroxide. She hissed in pain, prompting him to gently blow on her wound before gingerly bandaging it with gauze.
She rubbed her head and sighed as he finished and gently lowered her leg to the floor, "Thanks."
He watched her walk up the stairs, "You're welcome."
She was halfway up the stairs when he called her name. Marie turned around and raised her eyebrows, "What is it Logan?"
He didn't speak. He simply walked up the stairs and looked into her eyes. He took her face in his hands and kissed her hungrily. Marie returned the kiss as he eagerly backed her up against the wall, pressing his body against hers.
The kiss went on for forever...but not long enough by the time she screamed "no" and pushed away from him before running up the stairs.
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