AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I hold myself back. I don’t want to snap again. Who told her this? What else did they tell her? What half-truths have fueled her fire tonight?
"I know that you tried to kill her, Adriano."
The memory of what happened earlier tonight surges through my mind, because I remember how good, how fucking good it felt to beat the shit out of that motherfucker. And I would never raise my hand to Quinn, ever. But I wish I had something to punch right now. I want to get out this pent-up aggression, I want to be cured of it.
"You only have part of the story."
"Oh, yeah?" she shoots back. "And whose fault is that?"
She paces around the room, throwing her hands up in the air. "There'sdanger," she mocks. "People areafteryou," she mocks. "I have toprotectyou." She spins around on her heel and glares at me. "Who the fuck is going to protect me fromyou?"
I flinch as if she struck me.It feels like a physical blow.
"You are not going to deflect. You are going to face the fact that you betrayed me, Quinn." I remember the night I tied her to the O-rings and punished her. My hands itch to do the same thing now. "And you know I have ways of dealing with this.”
She's getting a spanking for this. It'll put everything to rest between us. I'll feel better, she'll be turned on, we’ll make love, and then our passions will fade and we’ll fall asleep and wake up to a new day. Sometimes a good, hard fuck is the only way to mend broken bridges and soothe hurt feelings.
I'll take her to see her mother. I'll tell her everything I know. We’ll forgive each other because that's what people who love each other do. They wrestle it out, they face their demons.They don't run and hide.
But she's been through so much.
And even though I'm pissed, I'll get over it.
"It's been a long fucking night," I say wearily. "Let's go to bed."
To my surprise, she nods her head and agrees. “Yeah,” she says softly. “Let’s do that.”
Reaching for me, she places a surprising kiss on my cheek.
I take the painkillers I took before, because I want to obliterate the memory of tonight and the past that she's dredged up. I want to sleep without dreams. And I do.
I sleep so soundly, I don't hear her leave.
And when I wake up, she's done what she threatened to do from the very beginning. Disappeared, without a trace.
* * *
CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR
“THE PLAN”
Quinn
I cameup with a plan that I thought would work.
And it did, it worked like a charm. I needed to get down to see my mother. And although I'm confident it's the first place Adriano will look for me, I want a little time and space away from him.
Last night really fucked me up. When he got angry about the information Starla gave me and said that he has ways of making sure things like that don't happen again, I don’t doubt him at all after having seen him in action more than once.
He doesn't know that I spoke with Helena, after whichI couldn't get the image of him hurting someone that attacked not just us, butme, out of my mind. How could I not?
Briefly, I remind myself that I took vows to him; I knew that he was no angel when I did. I have no reason to believe he would hurt me. But still…
I laid in bed next to him, aware of the fact that he was as sound asleep as he’ll ever be, after taking that medication. It knocks him out.
So it isn’t Adriano that I have to fear at the moment, but the guards he’s put in place who would rather die than let me escape.
Starla… I need some assistance, and there’s no way I can ask Eden. First, Eden has a conscience that’s as watertight as can be. She wouldn’t step on an errant housefly. Second, she is under surveillance as strict as mine. Third, I can’t even imagine what Sergio would do if she was found helping me escape. Not toher, per se, but yeah, maybe to me. Or even Adriano. Do I care?
