Conviction (Club Destiny 1)

“Give me five and I’ll be right there.”

Damn. Logan really didn’t want to have to go into detail about the debacle in California. Offering details that would likely get Heather reprimanded wasn’t of any interest to him.

He would gladly reimburse the company for his airfare and hotel just to put it all behind him. Before he headed off for a two hour conversation with his boss, he decided to try calling Sam again.

Voicemail. Shit.

Where had she gone?

Shutting things down, Logan geared up to go to Xavier’s office for the rest of the afternoon. After advising Deanna that he’d be gone for the rest of the day, suggesting she try to cut out early, Logan took off for Xavier’s office in the next building.

The two minute walk did wonders for clearing his mind. He knew that, for the next how many ever minutes or hours that he was in the presence of his boss, Logan couldn’t think about Sam. His focus needed to be on XTX and what his boss needed from him.

When he arrived, Xavier’s admin, Veronica, smiled sweetly, then waved him by. The door to Xavier’s office was open, and the older man was sitting at his desk, the telephone cradled between his shoulder and his ear. He took a seat and waited patiently for the conversation to end.

“Yes, Mrs. Knight. I completely understand.” Xavier responded, motioning with a nod of his head for Logan to take a seat. “Yes. A company Christmas party does sound like a good idea. I’ll plant the seed in Veronica’s mind, and we’ll see where it goes. Yes. Alright. You take care now.” With the conversation apparently over, Xavier put the receiver back in the phone cradle.

Logan sat quietly, praying there was another Mrs. Knight. Not one Angelica Knight.

“That was Angelica Knight.”

So apparently there wasn’t.

“She wants a Christmas party, I caught that part.” Logan grinned, knowing how much Xavier didn’t like the public relations part of his job.

“That and she just wanted to talk.” Xavier confirmed as though he had been reading Logan’s mind.

Shit. Why in the hell did everyone in this company know everyone else? “What did she have to say?”

“She was pretty adamant that XTX should entertain the idea of a Christmas party this year. A big ‘to-do’ she said.” Xavier spoke with tremendous animation, circling his hands as though to encompass the room. “She said that she keeps mentioning it to Ron, but he doesn’t seem to pay her much attention when it comes to those things. Obviously she felt compelled to call and try to persuade me.”

“Did it work?” Logan didn’t actually care at this point, but the conversation seemed to be stalled.

“Maybe. We’ll see. I’ll mention it to Veronica and see what she does with it. Either way, it doesn’t matter much to me.”

“Will Ashleigh and Dylan be home by then?” Logan referred to Xavier’s grandchildren, who were currently not living in the Dallas area, both of them a couple of hours in different directions. Usually a point of contention with their overprotective grandfather who’d spent his life raising them after their parents’ unexpected deaths when they were young.

“Ashleigh’s been talking about coming home. Not sure about Dylan. He’s having a rough time of it right now. Since Meghan’s death, the boy hasn’t been right in his head. I’m trying to coerce him to come back home, take a position within the company. So far, he’s refused.” Xavier told Logan.

Xavier’s relationship with his grandchildren was something the two of them talked about often. The man had hoped the two of them would take an interest in the family business, but neither had ever shown any.

Ashleigh, according to what Xavier shared, was pursuing a writing career, and apparently doing well. Logan had gotten the same bit of information from Alex, although his understanding of what Ashleigh was writing and what Xavier believed were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Apparently, their sweet, innocent Ashleigh was publishing children’s books, though moonlighting as an erotic romance author in her spare time. That was the part Xavier didn’t seem to know about, and Logan wouldn’t be the one to tell the man.

As for Dylan, he and Logan had been friends for years. They’d even gone to the same high school, surprising enough. While in college, Dylan had married the love of his life at the ripe old age of twenty. They’d bought some land a couple of hours out, built Meghan’s dream house, popped out two kids, one right after the other, and built a highly successful ranching business. Then, eight years ago, Meghan passed away after a long battle with breast cancer.

Logan talked to Dylan once a month or so, checking in with his good friend. The kids were getting older, and Dylan was having a rough time of it. Stacey was now eighteen, Trevor seventeen, both of them giving Dylan a run for his money.