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Quinn twirls a piece of hair in her fingers, examining it. Her voice is so soft, it's almost as if she's talking to herself. I lean in closer, so I can hear.
"Just when I feel like I've turned over a new leaf. Just when I feel like I finally started a new life of my own, I get dragged back… but I can't leave her alone." Sighing, she shakes her head. “It’s partly why I travel. I need to be able to go see her from wherever I am…”
She sighs. "Look, I understand with a past like yours, that there are things that probably trigger you." She drops her gaze, then, almost guiltily.
I've told her about my past, but I wonder if she knows something more.
"What do you mean?"
She meets my eyes.
Pausing, as if to gather her courage, Quinn continues. "I talked to Starla. She asked Tosca and Nonna about you, and they told her everything they knew. I found out about your childhood, a lot more detail than you've given me." She looks away again, and my temperature starts to rise.
I lift my phone and shoot Sergio a text. I rewrite it four times before I send it.
Do me a favor, tell your little sister-in-law to mind her own damn business.
"What did I tell you about snooping?"
Her brows snap together, and she glares at me. "Snooping? I'm yourfuckingwife."
"On paper," I snap. Immediately regretting it.
"Howdareyou after what you've done?" She pushes the covers off and gets out of bed, pacing the room.
"Me? You ask me how I dare? I wanted to tell you on my terms, on my timeline. I didn't want you finding out secondhand about my past. I wanted to tell you in my own way, when I decided it was time for you to know.” I close my eyes and breathe in slowly, keeping myself calm. I speak through gritted teeth. “This feels like betrayal, Quinn.” Jesus, she deserves a good spanking.
Shaking her head, she walks over to the dresser and begins to pull some clothes out.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going?"
She turns around and looks at me, steel in her voice and eyes. "I'm going to see my mother. And don't you dare try to stop me."
My mind races, even as I'm so furious, I want to break something. But after tonight's display, I don't want to scare her again.
"I'm not going to stop you, but I am going to go with you."
"No. I don't need you to go with me."
She does. She fucking does. Does she really think I'm going to let her cross state lines and go to her mom's place of residence alone, knowing what I know about the dangers out there, knowing what I know about her mother? No fucking way.
"Like one minute ago you were telling me that I just betrayed you. And now you're telling me that you want to come with me?"
"You should've left my past alone.”
She laughs. "Oh, like you did mine?Youwere the one that knew about my mother.Youwere the one that knew everything about me."
What is she talking about? Yeah, I knew about her mother, but there's no way Sergio would ever let me get involved with anyone whose past we didn’t research.
She closes her eyes and shakes her head. "I don't know. I just don't know."
She doesn't know what?
"Why don't you tell me what they told you, then." I don’t know how much she knows, and if she knows just enough to piece together a picture of my past that scares her.
"I know that you were abused. That you were blacklisted on the streets of Italy, and no one would feed you or take care of you." It feels like a punch to the gut, hearing her say these words out loud. I stand stock-still, allowing her to continue.
"I know that you had to steal so that you could eat. I know that you tried to seek help and you didn't get any. I know that you watched people brutally murdered, friends betrayed. I know that you became the loyal person you are, because of what happened to you." When she blinks, a tear rolls down her face. I notice that she's trembling. "I also know that you killed the people that came between you and the woman that you loved."
