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Her heart tripped. Great. They both thought something wasn’t adding up. Not a good sign.
The thought of coming face to face with Preston made her stomach turn. Saliva pooled in her mouth, and the savory smell of the baking stroganoff triggered a gag. She was going to puke.
Knowing she had to calm herself down, she inhaled, held for four counts, then exhaled slowly.
Picking up on her distress, Quinn closed his hands over hers. “Look at me, sweetheart.”
Alex stared at their joined hands for a moment, at the beautiful ring he’d given her, and her breathing evened out.
She could do this. She wasn’t alone anymore.
She exhaled again and glanced up at Quinn. His eyes were so full of love and determination that some of the tension inside her eased. She had no idea what she’d done to deserve him, but she was forever thankful he had come into her life.
“He might not come after you right away,” Quinn said. “I’m sure he knows that the feds are tailing him, so he may lie low for a while, maybe even for a long while, before coming to find you.”
She nodded. “What you’re saying is that I shouldn’t get my hopes up that this will all end soon. And that I shouldn’t let my guard down.”
“Exactly.” Quinn squeezed her hands. “That applies to all of us.”
“That’s right,” Joe agreed.
“What’s with the über-serious mood?” Roxie asked, shutting the back door behind her. “Has something happened?”
“Woodsworth is on the move,” Joe said.
She peered into the oven. “How can he be on the move when he’s still in jail?”
“Because he was released from jail this morning, Rox,” Joe snapped, his shoulders taut with frustration.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t bite my head off, jerk-wad. I just asked one simple question.”
“Enough, you two. Roxie, sit,” Quinn said. He stood from the table, and when he passed Joe, he slapped him on the side of the head. Hard.
Despite her fraying nerves and growing worry, she chuckled.
* * *
Quinn placed both hands on Roxie’s shoulders and physically steered her—while she grumbled, of course—into his vacated chair. Once she was seated, he glared at Joe in a silent message to shut the fuck up, then began updating her on the most recent developments.
Until her cell phone rang yet again.
“I swear to god, Roxanne,” Joe growled as he continued to pace the room. “If that thing rings one more time...”
Quinn leaned back against the sink, crossed his arms over his chest, and watched his friends. They were a train wreck. The most irritating fucking train wreck ever.
He could almost see the waves of annoyance radiating off Joe when Roxie disappeared into the living room with her ever-present phone glued to her ear. Of course, it didn’t help that she’d waved Joe off with a shooing motion on her way out, as if he were an annoying fly—which, Quinn had to admit, Joe kinda was.
He shook his head as his friend continued to glare at the now-empty space where Roxie had stood. “What the fuck, Buchanan?”
“What do you mean?”
He scoffed. “Come off it, man. You’ve been busting her balls ever since you got back into town.”
“Really? I’ve been busting Rox’sballs?”
His eyes rolled. “Yeah, and you know you have. What gives?”
“I don’t know.”
