Free Before You Go (YA Romance) by Ella James

got out. It’s smaller. Only nine bedrooms. I saw one of their homes in New York state . It had twenty-three bedrooms.”
“Your mom’s got a lot of houses, too, right? Isn’t there a big one out in Bel Air?”
Margo remembered the feature on the Travel Channel. American Palaces , she thought it was called, and evidently Logan had seen it, too. Cindy’s Bel Air home was off Linda Flora Drive, and Logan was surely thinking it was a palace.
She let her breath out, took another one in. It wasn’t going to be weird, because she wouldn’t let it be.  
In a casual tone, she said, “Chandra. It is kind of a palace—so I hear. I’ve never been inside.” She hesitated, then plunged. “You know, I’ve only really met her twice.”
“Only met…your mother?” His voice lilted at the end.
“Like I said—we didn’t really know each other until my dad died.”
He made a soft sound, a little oh .
“It’s okay,” she lied. “And technically, I guess me and Cindy met three times. Once at birth.”
Logan’s chest shook, and he emitted sound that couldn’t really be called a laugh. It was weird.
In the silence that followed, an ice sheet settled over her—the same sensation that always came when she thought about Cindy.
“So no one here said anything about…why I was coming?”
“No,” he said quickly. Too quickly.
“Really?”
He cleared his throat. “People here are kind of busy. I’m sure Jana knew about it, but maybe no one wanted to make you uncomfortable.”
“Maybe it made everyone feel awkward.” Hurt burned through her chest, hurt and shame that she’d even brought this up.
“How so?” he asked.
She looked down at the horse’s neck. Flexed her fingers. Figured, what the hell. She wouldn’t know Logan after the next week, so why not jump off the cliff she’d climbed? “At one point, one of the big networks reported that I actually had been kidnapped. Someone called Cindy’s press person, and somehow the rumor… it got out of hand.” She bit her lip, ashamed that she’d felt the need to share something so humiliating. “Cindy thought I’d been taken and she…she offered a reward.”
“Okay…”
Margo inhaled deeply. “She offered five-hundred thousand dollars.”
Cindy was worth $25 billion, and she’d offered a measly half a million for her daughter.
“I see,” he said simply.
“Yep.”
After a moment, she felt his chin near her neck, heard his voice, soft in her ear. “She obviously doesn’t know how much you’re worth.”
Margo felt her neck burn. She shut her eyes, and for a few minutes, there was only the feel of Logan next to her, only the sound of Gamma’s hooves. She wondered what she should say to break the silence. If she should say anything…
Logan did it for her. “Just a little longer,” he said gently. “Then we’ll use the barn phone and call Jana.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, so glad he’d changed the subject. He’d changed the subject, and yet…things still felt cozy. The realization made her nervous, so she jumped into another subject. “Do you think I have a concussion?”
“Probably.”
“I’ve never had one before.”
She hadn’t meant to sound quite so pitiful, but the pain from her head got into her voice, and Logan sighed. “I’m sorry. I wish to hell that I had given you that tour.”
Maybe it was the remorse in his voice, or because she felt hurt in more ways than her concussion. Maybe it was, again, the head trauma. But for whatever reason, Margo told him exactly what was going through her mind.
“You asked where I’m from… and I’m from nowhere, really. I don’t have a home anymore. My permanent address is a dorm room.   It’s kind of funny: no home, and my mom has all those houses.”
Not funny, she thought with disgust. Pathetic. She was shocked when he said, “I feel a little like that, sometimes. I moved to Massachusetts, to go to Milton, when I was eleven, and then to MIT at sixteen. My family’s still in Georgia, but I