Chapter 360 Little Victories

Ella

Sitting alone in my hotel room, surrounded by plush furniture and golden accents that gleamed in the soft lighting, I felt a pang of homesickness. The luxuriousness of the room was stifling in an odd way, as though constantly reminding me of my charade with a mobster.

Shaking off the momentary melancholy, I decided to call Moana to calm my frayed nerves.

Taking a deep breath to compose myself, I dialed her number and waited for the ring to connect. The familiar sound of her voice, warm and comforting as always, came through within moments.

“Ella, my love! How was your flight? Did you make it to the hotel?”

“We did,” I said, faking a sense of enthusiasm in my voice. “The place is…well, it’s something.”

“Where is your fiance?” Moana asked. “I’d like to say hello, if you don’t mind.”

The word ‘fiance’ made my body stiffen. I glanced at the empty space next to me, where Logan would have been if we were an actual couple. But we weren’t. He was in a room of his own, doing his own thing.

I couldn’t quite decide if I preferred it that way or not, the logical lawyer part of me knew that it was for the best, but the sleepy, scared-of-flying Ella with the yellow stuffed duck almost missed his company already.

“He’s… in the shower,” I stammered, hoping that Moana bought my lie.

“Well,I hope you know that we’re all excited to meet him tomorrow,” Moana said, blissfully unaware of the tension her question had sparked.

“I’m looking forward to it too,” I said, though in truth, I wished that tomorrow would never come. Meeting my family, particularly my discerning father, would be the make-or-break moment for this intricate lie that Logan and I had entangled ourselves in.

through

forced a smile, even though she couldn’t see it. “Yeah, Mom, I’m just

my eyes landed on the stuffed duck perched on my bed-the gift Moana had given me when I was a little girl. I held it up in the frame, so she could see it over our video call.

that little duck would turn out to be

It’s you,” I said, my voice filled with emotion for reasons I couldn’t

wavered a bit when she spoke again. “I can’t wait to see my

eyes misting over. I cleared my throat before adding,

father. He just needed to make sure his baby girl had a nice ride to the hotel. Even if I told him it was a bit

know that was his way of

Edrick,” Moana laughed. “And this hotel you’re staying at, it’s quite over-the-

blushed, suddenly feeling self-conscious. So they had snooped, just

he must be an interesting guy,” Moana mused. “You’ve always been so down-to-earth.

was more different from me than she could ever imagine. A mobster from a world that clashed with everything I had been brought up to value. “Yeah, no

betraying my hunger. “I’ll

you too, Ella. Can’t wait to see

felt so incongruent with who I was. And in an unexpected way, despite the lavish furnishings and the plush pillows, it felt

I had unpacked the last of my travel essentials and started browsing the room service menu

smoothed down my casual clothes, thinking maybe room service was preemptively delivering something delightful. Maybe Logan had purchased some sort of package that included special treatment, which I

was Logan,

said with a

his for a brief second before darting away.

got no idea where to go

this an invitation? My wolf whined at the possibility, hopeful for any crumbs of Logan’s company. But I silenced her with a stern mental

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