Tomorrow would be here soon enough, so tonight, he had plans. Another thing to look forward to.
He was pulling out of the parking garage and onto the dark narrow road that would take him to the highway when his cell phone rang.
His car’s Bluetooth read off the number and he hit the talk button as soon as he recognized it. “Hello,” he greeted.
“I got your message,” Logan McCoy said, forgoing any pleasantries. Elijah was quite used to the American custom of getting right to the point by now, so it didn’t bother him.
“Thanks for calling me back,” Elijah said, his attention on the road in front of him. “Apologizing to your voicemail had seemed inappropriate.”
“Apologize?”
“Yeah. For disappearing on you last night,” Elijah stated bluntly. There was no need to beat around the bush; Elijah knew as well as Logan that his disappearance after that scene had been rude.
“What the fuck happened?” Logan asked, just as brusquely.
He’d lost his nerve, that’s what had happened. He had seen Samantha McCoy for the very first time and he’d been at a loss. It had nothing to do with the fact that she’d been restrained in a swing, being fucked into oblivion by her husband either. It had been what he’d seen in her eyes that had blindsided him.
“I fucked up,” he told Logan now, going for the truth.
“I took your disappearance to mean you weren’t interested.”
“Oh, I’m interested,” Elijah sighed heavily. A little too much.
“Funny way of showing it.”
“Again, I apologize. I just… I hadn’t expected that.”
“What? To find me fucking my wife?”
Elijah laughed, without an ounce of humor. There had been nothing remotely funny about what he’d witnessed last night. It had been intense, but not at all humorous.
“Explain it to me, Penn. The last thing I’m interested in is having my wife hurt. Do you understand me?”
“Loud and clear,” Elijah answered candidly. “I have no excuse. I… panicked. But I’d like to apologize to Samantha. Tonight.”
Logan’s heavy sigh gave Elijah a smidgen of hope. He was the first to admit that second chances were tough to come by.
“Yeah, you mentioned you were going to Devotion tonight,” Logan retorted.
Elijah had mentioned it on the voicemail he’d left Logan early that morning. It was an attempt to make amends for being a coward last night.
“Does this mean that I’ll see you and Samantha tonight?” Elijah asked.
“You will.” Logan’s voice was firm and confident, but Elijah heard something else in the man’s tone.
“But?” he encouraged, waiting patiently for what was to come.
“I’m not putting her through that again. You need to figure out if this is what you want before you show up.” There was a brief pause before Logan continued. “As it was, Sam asked about you. She’d seen us talking earlier in the evening. She’s not stupid, Elijah. She knew I had something planned.”
Elijah had met Logan last week during his first visit to X-hale, an upscale cigar bar owned by Xander Boone. An off the cuff invitation from Trent Ramsey, a man Elijah had known for many years after having met him in a hotel bar of all places, had sparked Elijah’s interest. It went without saying that Elijah had been curious enough to attend.
“Understood. I’d very much like to meet her,” Elijah said through clenched teeth. He could own up to his mistakes and even handle a dressing down when necessary, but it wasn’t easy. He had to remind himself that Logan had a damn good reason for being pissed off.
“We’ll be heading that direction in about an hour and a half,” Logan finally said. “I’ll need to give Sam time to get ready.”
“I’ll find you when I get there,” Elijah informed him casually. “If you’re busy, I’ll wait.”
“I’ll keep my eye out for you. Oh, and Elijah,” Logan lowered his voice, “don’t fuck this up again.”
With that, the call ended.
Although they had never met face to face until last week, Elijah had heard of Logan McCoy. According to Logan, the rumor mill ran both ways, especially in their industry. In fact, XTX was a very loyal customer and Logan’s name was mentioned frequently when it came to their business. However, Elijah had not been privy to the sort of information he had learned about the highly respected man after their first introduction. And the info he had obtained wasn’t just rumor or speculation.
It came straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.