“I can’t be seen leaving my own home, Quinn.”
“No, just putting your mate and children somewhere else. That says nothing!” Hands flying in an exasperated arc, she opened the closet doors and began taking out clothes. “We stay or we all go, Tobias Kahler, and don’t you dare argue with me on this.”
“Mama?”
“Quinn, calm down. It’s only for a little while. A week at most.”
“You can’t keep doing this to me,” Quinn shouted, slapping the armful of bright colored clothes on top of the dresser. Ignoring the continued clatter of plastic hangers dropping to the floor, she jerked the nearest drawer open. “I’m trying here, Tobias, I really am, but you have to stop leaving me just when I need you.”
Elise’s soft sounds of concern grew louder, building up to a distressed wail that Tobias tried to calm. His hands became uncertain as she refused him, kicking and crying as she worked herself into a true tantrum.
“Everyone leaves,” Quinn cried, voice cracking as the words shattered in her throat. Leaving her to choke on them as tears streamed down her cheeks. “No one ever stays. You think I run? That’s why. I got sick of being the one left behind.”
Slamming the drawer shut, she dropped the collection of socks and onesies to the floor in favor of scooping her daughter up. Cuddled Elise to her chest and cried into the cottony fluffs of hair though she rubbed at Elise’s back to soothe her.
“Don’t leave me,” she whispered, crumpling to the floor with her back wedged against the wall. Opened her protective huddle to bring Adam in when he came, pushing his face against her shoulder when he tried to glare at Tobias.
“All right, little bird.” Unfolding from the floor, he came to them. Gave Adam a narrow eyed look of admonishment until he averted his watery hazel gaze. Crouching before Quinn, he pulled all three of them away from the wall, into his arms and the protective circle of his presence. “We’ll all go somewhere.”
Nod jerky, Quinn snuggled against his chest. She cuddled their children close, reassuring herself they were whole and well until they squirmed out of her too tight grip. Long after they returned to their play with the easy forgetfulness of childhood, Tobias sat with her. Curled around her back, arms looped around her hips, he held her close. He even remained when Quinn collected the last fragments of her dignity and started packing the kids’ clothes, helping her fold and put away the multitude of items they wouldn’t need.
Dinner was eaten on the floor of their room, a picnic over the thick rug made up of finger foods. Even the kids were sedate, watching Quinn with concerned wariness whenever her lower lip began to tremble.
Not until she tucked them into their cribs, kissing their soft crowns just once more before Tobias pulled her from the room, was she able to let go. Sprawled over the half made nest, she sobbed into the blankets, staining them with a deluge of tears and emotion.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Quinn stammered out when Tobias finally tired of her shrugging off his hands. Pulled on top of him, forced against the rich vibrations of his purr, she gave in. Clung to him as she wrapped her body around his and buried herself in the comfort only he could offer her.
“A lot has happened, little bird,” he murmured against her hair, long strokes of his hands over her back firm and strong. “It was bound to catch up to you.”
They lay like that until Quinn had no more tears left to cry. Exhausted and wrung out, she remained listless when he arranged the blankets on top of them. Mumbled incoherent complaints when he kept her draped over his body but made no move away from the purr that had yet to stop.
“Sleep, sweetness. We have a lot to do in the morning.”
There was indeed a lot to do. Packing for two adults and two children seemed an insurmountable task to Quinn as she dragged herself from the bed with Tobias’ help. He’d left in the dark hours before dawn, arranging everything they would need, but returned before Quinn could rouse herself enough to call it anything nearing awake.
He’d even taken the time to calm her again, holding her on his lap and purring while scrubbing at her scalp when she broke down over him doing far more of the packing than she did.
“I’m a horrible mate and terrible mother,” she sobbed against his chest, fists wringing the edges of his jacket, ruining the crisp lines of the shirt beneath.
“You are none of those things, sweetness,” he said through the deep resonance.
More meaningless sounds of comfort were given until Quinn slapped at his hands and pulled away. Shaken and refusing to show it, she scrubbed her eyes raw and tried to do more.
Somewhere safe turned out to be a townhouse he used for business affairs. Small and not intended for family living, it’d taken a lot of effort to make it inhabitable. The kids thought it was grand until the gates on the stairs went up, keeping them from breaking their fool necks when they decided to traverse the steep staircase unaided.
Quinn was edgy, the space unknown. Despite the liberal use of cleansers and a wealth of laundry being done, faint hints of aggression and darkness lingered in the dark corners. Only Tobias’ adamant refusal kept her from directing the men moving furniture to put the cribs in the far smaller master bedroom. Reassurances that Rebecca would be remaining were given, a folding bed disguised as a comfy chair for her use sitting right in the middle of the kids’ room. They would not be left alone as long as they remained here.
Neither would Quinn. Two black clothed men trailed her around the house as she tried to put everything into some semblance of normal while Tobias had to tend to business. She’d seen Mr. Rey and Mr. Beaumont go into the dining room with him, their murmured conversation cut off as the door shut hard behind them. A glimmer of disappointment that Devin wasn’t with them vanished as she busied herself with making the kids’ lunches.
More people came and went throughout the day as Quinn arranged the house to her liking. Guards moving furniture were quick to lead her away from the front rooms or block her view when the doors opened. Keeping her tucked away from the dark violence that permeated the air.
It was sheer dumb luck that she managed to come down the stairs where the guards couldn’t hide her away fast enough when the woman came in. Dark and dangerous in ways that made the hair on the back of Quinn’s neck stand on end, she was imposing and beautiful. Backlit by the thick rays of a setting sun, the dusky reds and golds turned the tawny beige of her skin a glorious bronze.
The steady click of fashionable heels brought her further into the entry, the perfect dark arches of her brows rising above meticulous lined eyes as she caught sight of Quinn. A momentary flash of surprise lit up the warm cognac of her gaze before she turned towards the sound of Tobias leaving the dining room with a cluster of Beta males. The thin veneer of polite society coating them in slimy muck, slicked back hair and wheedling whines of praise for Tobias filtered up the stairs. Shuddering in disgust, Quinn held the banister in a white-knuckled gripped and prayed no one but the woman would notice she was even there.
Misfortune always biting at her heels, they all looked up. Tobias’ eyes widened by a fraction, the deep green of his gaze biting and cold as his jaw tensed. Lower lip caught between her teeth, Quinn’s hand pressed against the center of her chest. Dug the heel of her palm hard into the fractured ice that lodged under her heart as she averted her eyes to stare at the expanse of mottled gray tiles laid out in a herringbone pattern.
“That would be my mate you’re gawking at,” Tobias ground out, his imposing presence sucking the air from the small room as he crowded the males back. Forcing them to stumble towards the door as they tried to turn their eyes away far too late, he snapped orders for the guards there to see them all to their cars.
