I felt an uncomfortable sensation knowing that Logan would be talking alone with Daniel, Jason's father and Logan's almost like a step father because Vanessa and Daniel never divorced each other. Even after knowing that Vanessa was cheating on him with Logan's dad, Daniel was still head over heels in love with her and never divorced her.

I went back to my room and took a shower. I came out and wore a brown jumpsuit, leaving my hair in a high pony tail. I came out of the room and saw Jason sitting in the hall, with a cigarette between his lips. He saw me and took out the cigarette from his mouth, leaving the smoke.

"Hey!" He murmured.

"Hey? HEY? That's what you're saying to me?" I snapped at him

"What? Why are you so angry?" He looked unaffected as usual.

"When you say you haven't lied to me before two years, how much do you mean it, Jason?" I folded my arms.

He looked at me with furrowed brows, being confused.

"You drunk?"

"No, I'm not. I'm asking you a simple question Jason, what-"

"Then stop beating around the bush." He said and smoked again.

"Why did you never tell me that Logan was your half brother?" As soon as I asked, he snapped his eyes at me being shocked. I was expecting him to say something but he didn't open his mouth. He was just staring at me.

"Jason? I'm asking you something."

"Who told you that?" He asked, still looking at me being surprised.

"Logan." I said and he closed his eyes in frustration.

"That son of a b-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" I interrupted him, not wanting to hear any bad words against Logan.

"Because it wasn't meant for you to know." He murmured.

"Wasn't meant for me to know?" I questioned and my eyes goes wide realising something. "Wait, you guys were never going to tell me, were you?"

He didn't say anything and kept smoking, looking away.

"How could you not tell me that, even after knowing what Vanessa did to us? You were okay with sending me away with her son? After everything she put me through?" I asked, looking at him in disbelief.

"I thought you trusted Logan?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I do. I've always trusted him. But I can't believe the fact that you never found it necessary to tell me this information." I fired back.

"You think it's in my hand? I would've told you long ago, but he was kept as a secret for a very long time. He's still meant to be a secret. No one knows his real name, that is Logan. Everyone still thinks you have a personal bodyguard named Morgan Tyler. So it's obviously something which I can't do anything about." He said, putting his cigarette on the ash tray.

"So I'm counted in everyone who are not supposed to know his real identity?" I asked with sarcasm. He didn't say anything.

"Jason, out of everyone, you could've told me that. Obviously dad wouldn't tell me, but you knew what Vanessa has done to us, to me. I had the right to know that she has another son, a product of her extra marital affair." I raised my tone a bit.

As soon as I said those words, I could see the discomfort in Jason's aura. He didn't like where all of this was going.

"Can we not talk about this?" He spoke with irritation. "Why did he even tell you all this?"

"Vanessa came there, the other day." I uttered.

"What? Mom was in Mexico?" He asked being surprised. I nodded.

"Why would she go there?" He asked being in deep thoughts.

"Obviously because Logan is her son, that's why."

"But by the time I came back here, she was already gone. Victor told me she went to California." He mumbled.

"California? Why-"

We both were interrupted as Daniel and Logan came out of a room, in the hall. I looked at Logan and saw him again with an unreadable expression. I've never seen him like that.

"Jason, you're here." Daniel spoke as they came to us.

"Yeah, I came here few minutes ago." He said looking at both of them with narrowed eyes. Probably wondering, why Daniel and Logan were together.

"Okay, I'm leaving. You stay here for lunch and then we all need to go for the trade." Daniel said and left, leaving only the three of us.

After knowing that they both were half brothers, I felt a bit weird having both of them in the same room. Because I could feel the unsaid tension between them.

Before we could say anything, we were called for lunch. I immediately left the hall feeling weird between the two of them, only to collide with Victor, my dear brother near the dinning table.

"Look who's back." He said being uninterested.

"At least you could show a bit happiness." I said sarcastically.

"Oh my god, Veronica, so good to see you back." He clapped with fake excitement just to show me.

"Whatever, dick." I rolled my eyes and went to take a seat. No one was there yet.

I've never bonded with Victor. Especially since our mom died when I was four and he was nine, he never thought of giving me the warmth. He was quite close to mom, to what I remember. Not being able to handle the pain, he started to observe what dad does immediately after she died. He joined mafia at such a young age that I knew, the old Victor died with mom. This Victor was the new one, someone who didn't care about anyone, not even his own sister. If dad never showed me his affection, I would've self harmed myself long ago.

Soon, dad, Jason, Logan and Victor sat on the chairs. Dad sat on the middle head one. Victor on his right while Jason on his left. Just like they are with dad, Victor and Jason has always been dad's left and right hand in everything since I ever remember. Logan sat beside Victor, opposite to me.

"So Veronica, tell me how your college is going." Dad asked.

"I haven't gone there since like ages as we moved to a different city." I murmured, focusing on my food.

"Yeah, due to the whole Rodger thing-" I interrupted my dad.

"About that, can anyone tell me what the actual hell is going on?" I kept the spoon on the plate with a wide noise and looked at dad. Everyone's attention turned to me.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Why is he chasing me? What did I do that he came out of his secret life just for me?" I pressed the last words.

All I got was silence. Silence from all the four men. I closed my eyes to control my anger which was soon starting to create a turmoil inside me.

"Dad you can't expect me to follow your rules if I don't know who and what I'm dealing with." I stated.

"Veronica, we're just trying to keep you safe-"

"You can keep me safe by telling me the reason too, right?" I quickly responded.

I looked at Logan who still wasn't giving any expression. I bet Daniel had said something to him, for him to behave like this. Dad looked at me and sighed.

"What do you wanna know?" He asked in a calm voice.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Victor asked him, nodding a no. Basically stopping dad from what he was doing.

"She deserves to know it." Dad declared and I sighed in relief.

"Why is he suddenly after me?" I asked directly.

"He isn't suddenly after you, the Theodores always wanted you. We just didn't let them have you."

"But why do they want me?" I asked in confusion.

"Simple, you're the most successful American Mafia's daughter." Victor shrugged.

"Basically Italian." Jason added.

"Yeah just because my grand-grand father was Sicilian, that's why I have Italian traits." Dad said, looking at Jason.

"And it's time for us to leave." Victor said and got up.

"Wait, I didn't complete-"

"Later, Veronica. We need to go for some important work. Logan will be here with you, always." Father spoke.

I'm glad.

"But before that, we need to give you something." Dad said and looked at Mark, who was standing there. He gave Mark a signal and he left the hall.

After a minute or so, he came back with a handheld machine type of thing, which he kept on the table.

"What is this?" I asked, looking at it.

"A tracking device; or you can say a machine but smaller version." Dad replied.

"There are high chances that you may get unknown calls. Earlier it was decided that you won't pick them up but then we realised that the unknown calls can be of our use." Jason said.

"So, whenever you get a call from an unknown number, you need to press this red button on this machine." Victor pointed out.

"Your call will be transferred to this machine and you won't be tracked by anyone through that call." Dad told me.

"But how is that gonna help us?" I asked being confused.

"Because when the call will be transmitted to this machine, it will track that unknown number's location and it will be displayed here on the screen. Plus the conversation will be recorded in dolby version." Victor replied.

"Oh, that's coooool!" I said in amusement.

"This machine will be placed in your room. You don't need to do all this though. If an unknown number calls you, just ask Logan to do it for you and that's it. Just if in case he won't be around, you can do it yourself." Victor stated.

I nodded and Victor asked someone to take the device in my room.

"Alright, we're leaving now." Dad said.

All of them dispersed and left, leaving Logan and I alone in the mansion, apart from the house workers and indoor security guards. Logan got a call abruptly, and left excusing himself in his room. I sighed and sat down on the sofa. I wanted to talk to him and know if everything was okay. So I decided to go to his room. I reached there and saw the door was open.

I entered inside and closed the door. He was sitting in the balcony, facing his back to me.

"Hey, I came because-" I stopped myself as my eyes go wide. He was smoking.

"You smoke?" I asked being shocked. I've never seen him smoking.

"Yeah, sometimes." He muttered.

"How come I never saw that?"

"Because I'm not allowed to."

"What?" I asked, completely surprised.

"I was trained for you and for this job, I didn't have any contact with alcohol or cigarette for years due to the harsh training. And I'm not supposed to smoke either on duty." He told me.

"But you drink." I said as he's been drunk before.

"I'm not that obedient." He chuckled and let the smoke escape his lips.

"Then why didn't you smoke in Mexico?" I asked as I sat beside him. We both were looking at the scenery outside.

"Just didn't feel like smoking."

"Then why now?" I questioned.

"Because I like breaking rules sometimes." He said and looked at me with a known look. I smiled and shook head, understanding that he has broken many rules, especially by sleeping with me.

We both were silent for a while when I looked at him again. His charming face looked tired. Tired of many things.

"Logan, are you okay?" I whispered, to which he just nodded. I sighed and held his tattooed wrist when he flinched a bit and removed my grip from his hand.

"What happened?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Nothing." He muttered under his breath and extended the sleeves of his T-shirt properly as if he was hiding something. I shook my head, throwing the suspicion out of my head, taking it as a result of stupid overthinking.

"What did Daniel say?" I asked in a low voice.

"Nothing, he was just asking for the updates." Logan said and smoked.

"He said he wants to have a family talk, Logan." I rolled my eyes.

He looked at me and released the smoke.

"You were eavesdropping?" He raised his eyebrows.

"No, he said that before I left, so I listened." I said. "Anyways, I don't want to force you so we won't talk about it, yeah?" I said patting his thigh.

"Thank you for understanding." He gave a small smile, while taking a long drag of the cigarette again.

I gave back a smile and took the cigarette from his hand and wrapped it around my lips, sucking strongly to feel it going down the throat. I took it out of my mouth and blowed the debris out, with closed eyes. I opened my eyes and saw Logan looking at me amusingly.

"You smoke too?" He asked.

"Used to." I took another puff and held it between my fingers. "Dad asked me to stop it and my past personal bodyguards wouldn't let me smoke. They were dad's pets so they used to tell him whenever I smoked."

He smiled looking at my sulking face.

"Then why are you smoking now?"

"Seems like breaking rules are my thing too." I smiled looking at him and he chuckled. "Are you gonna stop me too like my other bodyguards?"

"Nah!" He chuckled, and came closer to me. "I thought by now you knew I'm not like your previous personal bodyguards."

I smiled and nodded. He took out the cigarette from my mouth slowly and joined his lips with mine softly.

I smiled and reciprocated it with full amount of passion. His lips tasted like cigarette and so did mine therefore, when they met, it generated the fire between us and we deepened the kiss. His right hand caressed my hair while my hands were on his thighs, fondling it. I was feeling much better, sharing this intimacy with him.

"I miss you." Logan murmured against my lips. I could feel the sadness in his voice. Something was definitely wrong. I opened my eyes while our foreheads were united to each other.

"I'm here only, baby." I whispered and caressed his smooth, silky hair.

"Doesn't feel like it, though." He muttered and cupped my face. I furrowed my brows and looked at him.

"Hey, what is going on? Why are you sounding so low?" I asked, brushing his rough beard with my soft fingers.

"Nothing, I just miss you." He mumbled, like a baby.

I sighed and kissed him softly again. He responded back and closed his eyes. I took his hand and kept it on my heart, while continuing the kiss.

"Feel that?" I asked breaking the kiss, still staying close to him. "My heart beat?"

He looked at me and nodded slowly.

"You're always here." I said with a small smile. "That's why I never miss you."

He looked at me with a bit surprise, not expecting to hear that. He soon recovered and gave me a big grin, taking me in a hug.

I hugged him back and rested my head near his heart, only to listen his heart beat. It felt relaxing. Being in his arms, close and his hands wrapped completely around me, that's what I'd call feeling peaceful and safe. There were no words used between us and that was the best part of it. Sometimes silence is not overrated, it's just worth it.

Every part of me was telling me this is right. The feeling which I was having in my heart was right. Everything felt right at that moment when a pang of something hit me and I felt uncomfortable thinking about it.

Friends With Benefits

I opened my eyes feeling the instant pain in my heart, thinking about Logan with Melissa. What hurt me the most was he lied to me in the party that night. I knew I needed a closure on this. Therefore, I got outside of his grip and looked at him.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked with all the seriousness I had.

"Yeah, of course."

"What's your relationship with Melissa?" I asked, praying inside to get the result according to my wants.

"What do you mean?" He narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"I feel like she likes you." I tried to beat around the bush to see if he'll tell me himself.

"What?" He laughed. "Impossible. We both are very clear, there's nothing like that."

"I'm not talking about you, I know you're clear from your side. But what if she isn't?"

"As I said, I know her since years. I'd know if there's something going on." He shrugged.

"Well that's the problem, maximum times boys don't see if girls like them." I tried to made a point which was true.

Girls can easily see if any other girl is into a guy. Better than boys. Boys are half of the times blindly dumb to notice it.

"Andrew would have told me if something was there." He defended.

"Well, he'll only tell you if he noticed it too." I rolled my eyes. "And if you haven't noticed it then there's no chance he might have noticed."

He looked at me a bit suspiciously.

"What are you implying on? Stop beating around the bush, V." He said, bringing the cigarette back to his lips.

I closed my eyes and sighed.

"In that party where we played never have I ever, you....um--"

"I what?" He raised his brows, realising the smoke.

"You took a shot in the question of friends with benefits." I was a bit hesitant, not ready to know his answer. He stopped smoking and looked at me.

"Wait, this is what all of this is about? That was like ages ago."

"Well, that's not the answer to my question." I mumbled.

"Your point?" He asked and I bit my lips.

"She took a shot too, Logan."

He looked unaffected with my statement and continued smoking.

"So?" He looked at me and asked.

"So?" I asked in disbelief. He was saying everything except the main thing.

"Wait, are you thinking I had a FWB relationship with Melissa?" He asked with wide eyes. I nodded slightly.

"Jesus!" He shook his head and looked at me. "Was this the thing bothering you so much?"

"Yeah."

"God, Veronica. Melissa and I are just friends. She doesn't mean anything to me except of that. And about my shot, before being a part of mafia I was like a normal teenager doing normal stuffs like sex, drugs and rock and roll." He said normally.

It all was starting to make sense now. But I could still remember Melissa's words from the party.

"I don't care if he's your best friend. He's my bodyguard. So I don't care if he's your friend." I said.

Melissa she came in front and stopped me.

"He's not just my best friend." She said with deepness in her eyes which splashed a wave of dark secrets. She smirked and left.

"I've been sexually active a lot too. So yes, I have been friends with benefit with a one or two." Logan continued. "And Melissa has also been in multiple relationships so it's normal, isn't it?"

Maybe Melissa was talking all that shit to get under my skin. Because when I say I trust Logan, I mean it.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'm sorry." I felt stupid for doubting him and thinking about it so much.

"Sorry for what? For thinking I had a thing going on with Melissa?" He asked and I nodded.

"Even if I did, it's in the past right? Does it matter in the present?" He again asked and I nodded no.

"Then I guess there's no problem left?" He spoke and I nodded again. He smiled and took me in his arms again. "Next time, if you have any other doubt then come directly to me and ask. Don't keep it in your heart, yeah?"

"Yes." I smiled and hugged him again, feeling a weight being lifted off from my chest.

"So, before being my personal bodyguard, have you ever been to trades and deals with dad and others?" I asked, still hugging me.

There was a bit silence when I asked that question. I didn't rush it and let him take his time.

"I was the one who used to do all the trades for the last 5 years." He murmured.

"What?" I asked shockingly and parted myself with him. "Five years?"

He nodded and I looked at him unbelievably.

"You were just 16 at that time when you started." I said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I've been trained for all this since I was eight." He said.

"Eight? When your dad died?"

"Yes, after he died, I was sent to Mexico with some troops of your dad for my protection and I was trained by them. I was thirteen when the training ended. I couldn't live my life due to the training, therefore your dad let me free at that time. And that's when I started to live my life completely."

"You mean Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll?" I repeated his words. He nodded and chuckled.

"Yep. I lived my life to the fullest, feeling free from everything." He mumbled and took a puff again.

"Then why did you start again?" I asked.

He froze and didn't say anything. I sensed something.

"Um, your dad just wanted my help too. He wanted to see if I'm capable of doing this." He said with something going on in his mind.

"But he let you free, didn't he?"

"He did but, we then got to know something and he needed my help with that." He spoke.

"What did you get to know?" I asked with keen interest. He looked at me with an outlandish expression.

"Nothing, the same old mafia shit." He shrugged.

"So you started helping him with the trades?" I asked.

"-And drug deals and black money and bank robbery and kidnapping and gambling and drug trafficking and so on." He said while smoking.

"What? You've done all that?" I asked in astonishment.

"What? You thought I'm better than your dad or your brother? I'm just like them. Mafia is all about this." He let out a hollow chuckle.

"No, that's not what I meant." I covered up. "It's just, I thought you were only meant to be a bodyguard. So it's surprising that you were involved in all the mafia deals equally."

"Well, surprise then." He said with a small chuckle. Why was he finding this funny? I'll never know that.

"But you said you were kept as a secret. Then how did you do the deals?" I asked in curiosity.

"I used wear a mask. No one knew my face. No one knew I was the one behind the mask. Only your dad, Victor, Jason and Daniel knew that I was the one behind it." He said.

"No one else? Not even my dad's workers and associates?" I asked with wide eyes.

"No one." He mumbled. "What's the point of keeping me a secret if people knew me."

"Right!" I nodded in agreement. "So as you're now protecting me, you stopped going for the deals and trades?"

He again looked a bit hesitant, yet he still nodded.

"But why did he choose you for being my bodyguard? Why not someone else?"

He paused for a second and kept the cigarette on the ash tray, taking a deep breath as if he was trying to make an answer for my question.

"Because dad wanted someone very trusted, to protect you from--"

"Rodger?" I interrupted.

"Yeah, Rodger." He agreed.

"So you've never met him? Like ever?" I asked being inquisitive. We did have this conversation back when we were lost in the forest, after he did his little hollywood action scene by making the car fly. But I still didn't know anything about Rodger and wanted to know more.

I looked at Logan and saw his face with an unsettling look again as if he was disturbed by the it. His body language completely changed when I asked that question.

"Um, yeah." He cleared his throat. "I haven't."

I looked at him with my eyes full of suspicion. His uncanny behaviour was making me sense trouble.

"Why is he after me?" I asked again, hoping for an answer. He sighed hearing that.

"Veronica I-"

"You can't tell? I know that. But there were so many more things which you weren't supposed to tell but you still did, right? Therefore, I wanna know what I did that he's after me?" I asked, standing on my point.

I saw him folding his fingers in a fist and looking away. Why was my questions related to Rodger, bothering him so much.

"Logan, I'm asking something. At least you can tell me anything about it?" I asked again, observing his behaviour which kept changing.

"You did something." He repeated the same words which he said to me before.

I rolled my eyes in irritation hearing that.

"That's impossible, I've never negatively crossed paths with any member of the Theodores, let alone Rodger whom I didn't even know existed before 2 months. Dad never let me go near them. Then how is it possible?" I asked. It made no damn sense.

"I don't know that. Your dad didn't tell me." He mumbled.

"Dad might have told you something else?" I asked in hope. Hoping that he would tell me something else.

He looked at me with his jaw clenched and his fists were again folded.

"I know you know something Logan, just tell me, please." I plead genuinely.

He looked away, his face showed some kind of anger. He took a deep breath before looking straight in my eyes. 

"You snatched something which was very dear to them."

Shocker! What did Veronica do that the Theodores, especially Rodger is after her so badly? Comment down your views and I'll see you in the next update!!

And Happiest Birthday to Harryyy💚
Can't believe he's 28 already, hope this year goes great for Harold!

Love y'all. Stay safe <3
Amelia.