The Moon Is Not Enough by ThePekingNoodle
AN: Okay, okay…the PN holds her hands up in surrender. Since you guys seem to want more of this strange little world that has somehow grown from what was meant to be a quick little story about a might have been Max and Logan, you're going to get it. As long as you are interested in it continuing. And as long as the possessed keyboard keeps on writing. So don't come whining to me later about it. You asked for more of this lunacy to continue.
PN
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Chapter Eleven: Marriage of Inconvenience
In which our heroine reveals what she has deduced to our hero…
Logan stared at Max. He still felt groggy from the drug, and he was having trouble processing what she had said. "You know who doesn't want us married?"
"I think so. I've been spending the time while you were sleeping reading your files."
"There's nothing in those files, Max. Just a lot of dead ends."
She smiled at him triumphantly. "Exactly. I figured that out myself. So then I started trying to think out of the box. Trying to figure out why someone wouldn't want us married."
Logan looked at her skeptically. "And you came up with what?"
"One, because they wanted to marry either you or me. If it was you, Ashley is the logical candidate but she isn't bright enough to pull this off. I'll get to me later. Two, because they knew about me and wanted me away from you, which would be Lydecker."
"I know all this, Max." Logan said.
"I don't think the Colonel knows about me, or he would have made sure to have stronger security when he grabbed me. So that rules out two. We already ruled out Ashley. So that leave someone who wants to marry me. Only I don't know anyone who would want that, and who has the resources to do what was done."
"So that leaves us where we started." Logan said patiently.
"Wait." Max gave him a mock glare. "I started thinking about why someone would be so desperate to marry me."
Logan ran his gaze over her and smiled seductively, "I can think of some reasons."
She reached over and lightly smacked him. "Original Cindy was right when she said men think of sex every five minutes, or less. But that isn't enough reason to go to all the trouble. So drag your thoughts out of bed for a minute and think with me. What else do I have that someone would want and would need to marry me to get, or at least would need to be sure I wasn't married to you?"
Logan pulled his gaze from her lips and tried to concentrate.
Max sighed. "Money, Logan. Lots and lots of money. My father left me millions. If I'm married to you that money is locked up. Even if something happened to me, you'd get the money. But if I'm single they can either marry me to get their hands on it or…"
"…they could arrange for a convenient accident to happen to you." Logan finished, looking grim. "But who?"
"Once I figured out that it had to be the money, that's what I started asking myself. No one but you knows who I really am, so it couldn't be someone who knew about my father's money."
"But the tabloids had all kinds of stuff about Princess Maxine and her fortune." Logan said. "Only thing is Princess Maxine is fictitious. There aren't any greedy relatives who'd be in line for that money."
Max grinned. "But that's exactly it, Logan. It seems there is one. Or at least someone pretending to be one."
Logan stared at her.
"I did a search of the tabloids and gossip once I figured out the money thing and guess what I found?"
Logan shook his head. "I'm waiting."
"Right after we got married, a long lost relative of Princess Maxine turned up in Europe. Seems his branch of the family had somehow gotten misplaced around the time of the Pulse. Count Ryan Von Herara."
"You're kidding me, right?" Logan said in disbelief.
"Nope. I kid you not. And the Count passed through New York immigration a month ago. He's in the country, and what do you want to bet he's the one behind it all?"
"He'd have to be a good hacker to do what he's done." Logan was starting to take it seriously.
"Wait I'm not done. Here." Max handed Logan a printout.
"Count Ryan Von Herara arrives in Seattle. The Count is a cousin to Princess Maxine whose sudden marriage to Seattle socialite, Logan Cale created fodder for scandal when it was revealed to be false," Logan read out loud. Max had handed him a picture as well and he looked it over and grunted. "Looks like a greasy con artist to me."
Max stifled a grin. The picture of the Count was of a tall, handsome man with dark hair who appeared to be in his early to mid thirties. "Oh I don't think he's that bad looking," she said offhandedly.
Logan glared at her. "Con artists specialize in seducing susceptible females you know."
"Logan, you aren't worried about him are you?" Max purred.
"Why should I be worried? You're my wife in case you've forgotten that small fact."
"Not legally. Not right now anyway." Max pointed out reasonably.
"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Logan was getting upset.
"Nothing." Max said innocently.
Suddenly Logan stood up and walked over to the closet. "Get dressed." He said curtly.
"I am dressed." Max pointed out.
"To go out." He was pulling clothes out of the closet as he spoke.
"What about the Count?" Max wanted to know, making no move to get up from where she was sitting on the edge of the bed.
"It's an interesting theory and I'm going to have Sebastian do some background checking of the Count. But right now I'd like you to get dressed." Logan's jaw was set, and Max could see that he was annoyed as he gritted out his words.
Max shrugged and went to pull some clothes out of the closet. "What am I getting dressed for?"
"You'll see." Logan was dressed in a pair of casual gray slacks and a blue dress shirt. He had a sports jacket slung over his arm.
Max pulled out a cream colored sheath and slipped it on. "Is this alright?" she wanted to know. The dress was simple but its color was perfect for her and its elegant lines emphasized the perfection of her figure.
"It's fine." Logan grabbed her hand and practically pulled her out of the room after him.
"Where are we going?" Max asked again when they were sitting in the car and Logan had started it down the drive.
"To get married. Again."
End of Chapter Eleven…TBC…