Whether Lauren did recognize him or not, Logan knew that he was in total control of the situation.
‘The name’s Logan Rain, and we need a serious talk about Stella,’ Logan said, his voice gruff and firm. ‘I don’t like how you’ve been treating Stella. You need to wise up, and wise up pretty fucking fast.’
Logan could tell that Lauren was panicking.
‘I…um… who the hell are you again?’ Lauren said, clearly trying to worm her way out. ‘Stella?Um… I don’t think I know a Stella?’
Logan was seeing how much of a sneak Lauren was.
Of courseLauren knew who Stella was.
But before Lauren could answer, Logan felt a hand on his shoulder.
The hand however wasn’t a EcoPlay security officer, it was in fact Stella’s…
‘It’s okay, I’ve got this from here,’ Stella said, a look of steely determination on her normally so sweet and angelic face. ‘As thenewVP For Stuffies, Toys, & Games, I want to have a real serious chat with one of my employees.’
‘W-w-w-what?’ Lauren said, a look of shock and horror on her face. ‘But…’
‘Of course, I welcome you onto my team wholeheartedly,’ Stella said, a cold, calm control in her voice. ‘But I’d understand it if you wanted to consider your future too, Lauren. Whatever you choose, I’m cool with. Just know that I’m here to stay and I’m not going to tolerate any negativity or selfish behavior from my staff. We’re in this to help the world, not look after our own interests. Why don’t you take the morning off to have a think about what you want to do Lauren?’
Logan stood with a big smile on his face.
It was impressive to hear Stella talking with so much authority and confidence – so much so that it was clear that Stella was born for this role.
‘Screw you!’ Lauren blurted out, prompting both Logan and Stella to chuckle. ‘You can take that as my formal resignation letter!’
With that, a seething Lauren turned and ran back to her scooter, never to be seen at EcoPlay again.
It was no loss.
And it meant that Stella would be able to bring in a new hire whocaredabout the work over their own career ambitions.
‘Thank you, Daddy,’ Stella said, turning to Logan.
‘Hey, you did that all by yourself, Miss Vice President,’ Logan smiled, bringing Stella in close and kissing her softly on her forehead.
‘Okay, sure. But thank you for being there for me and giving me the belief that I could do this,’ Stella said. ‘Not just confronting Lauren, but making my voice truly heard at work. I love yousomuch, Daddy! So much that my heart feels like it might explode and shoot out rainbows!’
‘And I love you,’ Logan replied, planting a kiss on Stella’s soft lips. ‘Now, tell me something…’
‘Yes, Daddy?’ Stella replied, curiosity in his voice.
‘As VP, does that mean you can duck out of work for an hour or two?’ Logan said, more than a hint of intrigue in his voice. ‘I’ve got a special surprise in store for you that I think you might just love.’
‘Well, it is my first day as VP,’ Stella said, a little uncertain. ‘But, yes, of course I can!’
As the pair of them walked away from the office, Logan felt a warmth inside him that he hadn’t known in many, many years.
Without doubt, he had become the Daddy that deep down he always knew he was.
All that was left was to show Stella exactly what this surprise was.
And if Logan knew Stella as well as he thought he did, there was no way that Stella was going to be anything less than incredibly excited about what was in store for the both of them…
Chapter 19
‘Okay, so feel free to see what this bad boy can do,’ Stella giggled, the sight of Logan sitting in the driver’s seat of her new VP Tesla proving too good to not take a photo of. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t show this to any of your drag racing friends!’
