Chapter 1
The gate clicked shut behind Logan as he walked up the narrow path toward the townhouse. A month away — thirty-six days — and the place still felt unreal to him. Natalia had picked it, moved into it, made it theirs… all while he’d been gone.
The porch light glowed like a beacon, warm and steady. Her car sat in the driveway. The curtains were drawn. Everything looked quiet, safe — but that meant nothing after weeks of hearing about the black sedan parked across her street.
He knocked once. Twice.
The door flew open before he finished the third.
Natalia stood there in soft leggings and one of his hoodies, drowned in fabric, hair messy, eyes wide and shining. She looked smaller than he remembered, but stronger too. And showing — just a little curve beneath the hoodie. A reminder of why he’d come home the second Matt called him.
Her breath hitched.
“Logan.”
He stepped inside and pulled her to him instantly, arms tightening around her as she melted into his chest. She clutched his shirt like she was afraid he might disappear again. Logan lowered his face into the curve of her neck, breathing her in, his eyes closing as tension bled out of him in slow, painful waves.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured against her temple.
She nodded, but her fingers didn’t loosen.
When she finally leaned back, she kept her hands on him, fingertips brushing his jaw like she needed the contact. She blinked fast, holding back tears.
“You’re really home.”
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Not going anywhere again unless you’re with me.”
Her lips trembled with a startled laugh. “You can’t say stuff like that right away. I’m already emotional.”
His gaze drifted down to the tiny swell of her stomach. “You and the baby doing okay?”
She softened at once. “We’re good. Better now.”
She took his hand and tugged him inside fully. “Come on. Let me show you the house. Matt and Jace helped so much while you were gone. They were like—” she hesitated, cheeks warming “—like the brothers I never had.”
Logan huffed a low snort, but she shot him a look before he could argue.
“They were sweet,” she insisted. “They took turns checking for that car. Made sure I was never alone too long.”
His jaw tightened, but she squeezed his hand gently, grounding him.
“It hasn’t come back in over a week,” she added. “And the guys made sure everything stayed secure.”
Logan didn’t agree that it was good enough — not even close — but he let it go for her sake. She deserved peace after weeks of sleepless nights.
Natalia walked him through the townhouse room by room. The place looked nothing like the cramped apartment they used to share with half the garage tools: soft lighting, clean walls, furniture she clearly chose with care. A framed photo of them sat on the coffee table — she was laughing in it, he was pretending not to smile.
“This place is… nice,” he said, surprised.
Her smile stretched, proud and a little shy. “Matt and Jace did the heavy lifting. And the ‘Natalia, get off the counter, you’re pregnant’ part.”
That earned a real grin from him.
She kept his hand in hers as they climbed the stairs. Every few steps, her fingers tightened, like she was making sure he was still there. Every few steps, he brushed his thumb over her knuckles, reassuring himself the same thing.
When they reached the bedroom, she stopped. Her expression shifted — hopeful, emotional, unsure.
“I missed you,” she whispered.
He reached up, cupping her cheek, and traced his thumb along her skin. “I missed you too.”
Natalia leaned into his touch, then reached up to kiss him — slow, deep, full of the weeks they’d lost. Logan kissed her back carefully, one arm sliding around her waist, the other rising to cradle the back of her head. She pressed closer, her hands slipping under his jacket like she needed proof he was really standing there.
Her lips trembled when she finally broke the kiss, letting her forehead rest against his.
“You’re home,” she whispered again, as if she still needed to hear it aloud.
He closed his eyes. “Yeah. I’m home.”
The tension that had been living under her skin finally eased. She exhaled shakily and leaned into him, his arms wrapping around her as though they’d been made to.
The world outside — the car, the danger, the unfinished business — could wait.
Tonight, he was home.
With her.
Later, when the tour of the townhouse was over and the adrenaline of the reunion had settled into a quieter thrum beneath the skin, Logan and Natalia ended up on the couch together. She sat sideways, one leg tucked under her, his hoodie falling off one shoulder. Logan sat close — closer than he meant to — knees turned toward her, hands resting on his thighs like he was afraid to touch her without permission.
It wasn’t awkward.
Just… new.
Or new again.
Natalia stared at her fingers twisting in the hem of his hoodie.
He noticed instantly. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, but her voice betrayed her. “I just… you left.”
Logan’s shoulders stiffened. He looked away, jaw flexing. “I know.”
“I understood why,” she added quickly. “I did. And I know you only stayed away because it was safer for me. And for the baby.” Her hand drifted to the small bump, unconsciously protective. “But I still woke up every day and you weren’t here. I still had to see that car. And I didn’t know if you were safe either.”
Her voice cracked on the last word.
Logan finally looked at her again. His gaze softened, something pained flickering behind it.
“I hated being gone,” he said quietly. “Every damn minute. I thought staying away would keep you safe. But all it did was make you deal with everything alone, and that’s not—” He stopped, frustrated with himself before finishing, “—that’s not the kind of man I want to be for you.”
Her throat tightened. “You came back.”
“Yeah,” he murmured, reaching out slowly. “And I’m not going anywhere again.”
Natalia hesitated before taking his hand, threading her fingers through his. That tiny bit of space between them disappeared.
After a moment, she asked, “Do you know who’s been watching?”
Logan’s expression darkened. “Not yet. Vargas is gone, and the people he owed are scrambling. Carmen’s pissed at all of us. And there are a couple of other players who might want revenge.” His thumb brushed her knuckles, absently gentle. “I’ll figure it out. Whoever it is… I’ll handle it.”
She didn’t doubt him.
But she still shivered.
He noticed, pulling her closer until her legs draped over his and her back rested against his chest. One of his hands slid over the curve of her stomach carefully — and that was the moment it really hit him. The moment everything changed again.
Natalia watched his hand settle there, his touch tentative but reverent.
“She missed you too,” she whispered.
He swallowed hard. “She?”
“I think so.” She smiled, soft and shy. “Just a feeling.”
Logan’s chest squeezed. The smallest bump in the world — but it felt monumental in his hands.
He let out a shaky breath. “Can we… stay like this for a minute?”
She leaned back against him. “As long as you want.”
When the house had gone quiet and the world outside faded, they moved to the bedroom. The hesitancy followed them — not uncertainty, but reverence.
Natalia stood by the edge of the bed, lifting her eyes to him. “It’s been a long time.”
Logan stepped close enough that their bodies almost touched, but not quite. “Yeah. Too long.”
She reached for the hem of his shirt, fingers brushing the skin beneath, and he shivered. But instead of pulling her in like he used to, he paused, searching her face.
“Tell me if anything feels wrong,” he murmured. “Or if it’s too much. Or if you’re tired. Or—”
“Logan.” She cupped his jaw, smiling faintly. “I’m pregnant. Not breakable.”
“You’re both,” he said simply. “To me.”
Emotion flickered in her eyes — the kind that made her chest tighten and her breath catch.
She guided his hands to her waist, then slid them upward until his palms rested over the gentle curve of her belly. “This is still me,” she whispered. “I still want you.”
That broke whatever restraint he had left.
He kissed her — slow, deep, careful. His hands roamed, learning her all over again, adjusting to new curves, new softness, new tenderness. She wasn’t the same, and he wasn’t either. But the connection burned just as fiercely as before, if not more.
Natalia pulled him onto the bed with her, guiding him above her. He moved with reverence, with new caution, with something close to awe every time his fingers traced the small rise of her stomach.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered against her skin.
She exhaled shakily, arching into him. “And you’re mine.”
They fell back into each other slowly, rediscovering rhythm and closeness, finding new ways to fit together that didn’t strain her or overwhelm her. His movements were careful, tender. Hers were reassuring, anchoring him, telling him without words that losing him hadn’t broken her — it had only shown her how much he meant.
Afterward, she curled into his chest, fingers drifting over his still warm skin, breathing him in like she’d been starving for it.
Logan held her close, his hand resting protectively over her belly.
“Not leaving again,” he whispered into her hair.
Her eyes drifted shut, a small, relieved smile forming.
“Good,” she murmured. “Because I don’t think I’d survive it twice.”
