“I’ve been watching them all this time.”
Quinn’s lips parted, a coarse remark lingering on her tongue before she snapped her mouth shut with an audible click. No denying Meghan’s words cut to the core, but when had that begun? Quinn was on her way to better, able to interact and take care of the kids more and more. Small lapses in judgment notwithstanding. Turning on her heel, she made her way out of the nursery and down the hall to the stairs. Ignored the black suited men that fell in behind her and the Alpha woman Rebecca sliding into the nursery.
More guards still milled around the foyer as she came down to the lower level, all of them tense and watchful until she passed them by. Acting meek as a lamb, giving them no cause to question what had allowed her to get past a whole bevy of them before. Scurrying through the dim shadows, she made her way to Tobias’ office. Came to a hard stop when his hand came up as soon as she entered.
“I don’t care. We promised them today, and it needs to get there today.” He paused, listening to the voice on the other end of his call. “Then you get her back. Find a new one. I don’t give a fuck, but there better be ten of them when they arrive.”
Wide eyes caught and held his. Dark brows snapping together, he held a single finger up to warn her against speaking. He turned away from where Quinn stood static with disbelief to face the windows as he went on.
“Yes, yes, a Beta is fine. Just make sure it’s clean and quick. This better not happen again, Tom.” Dropping the cellphone from his ear, Tobias’ lip curled as the other man continued to chatter on. Thumb sliding across the screen, he listened to none of it. Grabbing hold of the heavy chair behind his desk, Tobias turned it with a hard jerk and sat down. Peered at Quinn with raised brows and frozen gaze that invited no argument or questions.
“I… I wasn’t…” Quinn coughed, trying to dislodge the words that tangled up and choked her. Gave up when the threat of tears began to burn her eyes and rushed his desk, slapping the laptop down in front of him.
“What’s this? I told you to get what you wanted.”
“It’s just that… I mean, I can go without, but their stuff is…”
“Ah, sweetness.” Tobias’ laugh was more a groan, his hand darting out to catch hold of her waist. Dragging her over to perch on his thigh as he flipped open the laptop to view what all she’d accumulated.
“Like I said, I don’t need all that stuff for me. Just the one set of sheets, maybe?” Quinn cleared her throat again, restless shifting turning to anxious fidgeting as he continued to scroll and move through the tabs. “The kids’ stuff—”
“There, done. All you had to do was click the button, sweetness. It knows my card number.”
“Wait… All of it?”
“Yes.”
“That was an obscene amount of money,” Quinn hissed in a whisper, leaning away from the laptop and all its unfounded terrors. As if it alone were responsible for having spent more money than she’d seen at any one time in her life.
“Is that what you were worried about?” Tobias gave a true laugh then, tucking her head beneath his chin so he could wrap her in his arms. Nuzzling her hair, he chuckled again. “Quinn, unless you manage to spend millions, we’ll be fine.”
“Because you sell women.”
“Enough. You shouldn’t be in here while I’m working.” Though he didn’t shove her away, his nod towards the door and the tap to her shoulder were as good as one.
“What else do you do?” Refusing to be dismissed, she turned to sling her legs over both of his, arm sliding between his back and the chair.
“We’re not doing this, little bird.”
“I know you have something to do with guns.” Feeling his surprise like a static jolt zapping the base of her spine, she took a slow breath and tried not to let her voice tremble. “Mr. Rey and Mr. Beaumont. They own some of the warehouses down by the docks. You work with them. They sell guns, sometimes drugs. Is that what you do, too?”
“How do you know what Rey and Beau do?”
“The apartments by the docks. I thought about living there for a little while, when things got rough.”
His answer was proof enough that she’d been right to be wary of the housing. Possessive and painful, he pawed at her to drag her somehow closer. Shielding her, proving his claim.
“Did they ever…?”
“What? No! Be serious.”
“That still doesn’t answer how you think you know.”
“I know a run when I see one. Unbranded trucks, bunch of shifty guys lingering around.”
“And how do you know what a run looks like?” Tobias eased her back, fingers under her chin bringing her eyes to his. Letting him scrutinize her.
“I used to do runs for… I delivered, picked up. Got money from people.”
