Page 25 of Cruel Titan

“Fine.” Her attitude deflates as she slams her door shut. “Mom really should’ve had that sister I begged her for.”

“Did Quinn go shopping with you?”

“Yep. And she looks gorgeous in her dress.”

“Good for her.”

“And good for Connor,” Victoria says, swinging the garment bag over her shoulder as she walks towards the house.

“No, it’s not.”

“He’s her date. This event is really important to her. She’s been working hard to help plan and make sure it’s a success. Don’t mess it up for her. Just leave her alone, please.”

“I’ll try.”

“Yeah, sure. So, you have a date lined up for the night?”

“Yep.”

“Who?”

“Elliot.”

She rolls her eyes, “Point proven.”

“Did you have a point because I must’ve missed it?”

“Whatever. Just stay away from her at least for one night. Can you do that for me, please?”

“Sure.” Dropping into the car, I see the exasperated look on her face. She knows I’m full of shit. There’s no way I can leave Quinn be, even when I know I should. And I really should this time, but I know I won’t. Victoria would have an easier time getting the sister she wished for.

19

Quinn

“Sweetie, you have a guest here to see you,” Sophie says as she peeks her head in the conference room that is serving as my makeshift workspace at Vast Perception.

“Someone to see me?” My heart races as she smiles, unaware of my panic.

“Yes. A very handsome young man that I’m told will be your date this weekend?” She pushes the door open, waving behind her before Connor appears in the doorway.

Standing, I’m not sure what to think as I watch Sophie give him a smile before closing the conference room door as he steps into the room. It doesn’t allow much privacy, as she glances back through the glass wall while walking down the hall back to her desk.

Holding out a familiar Java Knox coffee cup, Connor motions around the room. “Practice ended early, so I figured I’d grab you some go-go juice.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” I accept the coffee from him, grateful that he did when the warm liquid hits my tongue.

“I know … but I wanted to see you.” He looks down at his feet before looking back to me. “You’ve been busy all week, so I figured this would give me a chance to hang out with you for a little while. If that’s all right?”

“Sure. If you don’t mind being bored out of your mind.” I laugh, resuming my seat as I set the coffee next to the laptop.

“I don’t think I could ever be bored around you,” he says, sitting in the chair beside me as he leans over looking at the screen. “What are you working on?”

“A slideshow. I thought it’d be a good idea for the donors to see the effect their money has when they donate to the foundation.” And it was a good reason to dig through the system files without drawing suspicion. So far, I haven’t found anything that seems out of place or even remotely fishy. I’m relieved and disappointed at the same time. No matter how hard I try, I don’t want to look at Nathan as the guilty party.

“That’s cool. The Bennetts have helped out the football team a few times. Are we in there?”

“No, I didn’t see anything about donations to Golden Olympus.” Hm. It would make sense that a lot of funds were distributed to the school, being that there’s an eight-foot shrine of Barker Bennett in the hallway. However, according to Elliot, he donated the money to build the south wing. I’m sure that will get your portrait on the wall, too, but maybe I overlooked something.