I’m blinking, soaking in everything he’s saying, and fighting the urge to pinch myself, just to make sure that I’m not dreaming.
“Oh my.”
My fingers find the key at my neck and fiddle with it. My God, he has the key to my heart.
“Are you okay?” he asks gently.
“I love you too,” I blurt out, looking up through my eyelashes, suddenly feeling shy. “And I’m just so grateful, Quinn. Truly.”
He tugs me into a fierce hug, and when he pulls away, I hurry around him to his bedroom.
“Where are you going?”
“I need clothes. I have some painting to do!”
Chapter Fourteen
~Quinn~
“God, I hate that guy,” Carter mutters as we jog down the steps of the courthouse, headed back to our office after a morning of courtroom work. “He’s such a prick.”
“And your client,” I remind him with a laugh, patting him on the shoulder. “You handled him great. Not taking any shit is the way to go, every time.”
“There’s no other way to go, and the fucker can fire me if he doesn’t like it,” he grumbles as we climb into his car to drive back to the office. Before he starts the car, he checks his phone and scowls. “Jesus, this has been blowing up. The school and Nora.”
Nora is Carter’s assistant and has been with him for many years. She’s been a huge help to him since Darcy died, especially where Gabby’s concerned.
With the phone piped through the Bluetooth system of the car, I can hear the messages as they play.
“Hello, Mr. Shaw, this is Judy at Gabby’s school. She’s in my office and I need to talk to you as soon as possible.”
“Shit,” Carter mutters as the next message plays.
“It’s Nora. The school called, and they want to see you. I know you’re in court, so I’m headed there now.”
“Thank God for Nora,” I say.
“There are two more messages,” Carter replies.
“Me again,” Nora says, her voice more hurried. “I have Gabby. Will tell you more when I see you, but she’s not hurt.”
“I guess that’s good news,” he murmurs.
“Hey,” Nora says through the speakers, “we’re back at the office. See you soon.”
“When did all this happen?” I ask as we pull into the garage.
“More than an hour ago,” he replies. We hurry up to the office, and I stick with him as he walks briskly to his own office. Nora is sitting at her desk just outside of Carter’s office door.
“The preteen drama queen is in your office,” Nora says with a grin. “She’s been suspended until Monday, and I already have her phone in my desk. But Carter.”
He stops and looks down at the pretty blond woman. I see the look in his eyes. I’m not blind or stupid.
He has the hots for Nora.
But my guess would be that he doesn’t want to blur the lines between personal and professional, which I totally understand.
“You really need to listen to her before you fly off the handle.”
“I don’t fly off the handle,” Carter replies, to which Nora just rolls her eyes.
“Of course. You’re completely calm at all times.”
“Thanks for taking care of things, Nora,” Carter says as he walks to his door, then turns to me. “You don’t have to be here for this.”
“Oh yeah, I do.” I smile widely. “I don’t have anything more pressing to do, and I want to know what’s going on.”
“Fine.” Carter marches into his office, and there’s Gabby, sitting in her father’s chair, her arms crossed over her chest, and a scowl on her pretty little face.
“Hey, munchkin,” Carter says. She doesn’t look up from whatever she’s glaring at on Carter’s desk.
“Hi.”
We both sit across from her, as if we’re the ones who have been called into the principal’s office.
“Wanna talk about it?” I ask.
Gabby shakes her head. “No. It doesn’t matter.”
“Pretty sure it matters,” Carter replies. “Since you’ve been suspended and all, sounds like it definitely matters.”
“No, it doesn’t,” she says, her eyes spitting anger as she turns them to her father. “I didn’t even do anything wrong, and I got kicked out of school. I don’t want to go back. I just want to be homeschooled.”
“You know that isn’t possible,” Carter replies, and I’m happy that he does sound perfectly calm and reasonable. “Gabby, explain what happened, and maybe we can help.”
She chews on her lip, then sighs and leans her head back on the chair.
“There’s this girl named Lily at school, and she’s not really very pretty, but that’s not a big deal because she’s super nice and really funny.”
I can already tell where this is going.
“I like her, and I always invite her to have lunch with us even though Claire can sometimes be a witch, except with the B instead of the W.”
“Yes, I’m following you,” Carter says dryly.
“So Claire is the B-word,” Gabby reiterates and I have to hide my smile behind my hand. Gabby’s trying to grow up so quickly, and she’s just dying to curse. “And we’re sitting at lunch, and everything is totally fine. We were talking about this new movie on Netflix, and how the guy is cute, and Lily said she thought he was so cute, and then Claire rolled her eyes and told Lily that a hot guy like that would never be interested in someone as ugly as her.”
Gabby’s eyes well with tears, and my smile is immediately gone.
“Claire does sound like a bitch,” I whisper, and Carter frowns at me, giving me the silent, universal signal that says don’t egg her on.
“She is,” Gabby agrees. “And she’s just plain mean. I mean, why does she have to say stuff like that?”
“So what did you do?” Carter asks, and now Gabby chews her lip again and shrugs one shoulder.
“Nothing.”
“No way,” Carter replies, sitting forward in his chair. “They didn’t suspend you for glaring at Claire the B.”
“Well, I was sitting next to her, across from Lily, and I sort of—”
We wait, literally on the edge of our seats, for her to continue, but now she’s gone all shy.
“Tell me you kicked her bratty little ass,” I say, earning another glare from Carter.
“I threw applesauce in her face,” Gabby says. “And then she pulled my hair, so I might have pulled her earring out of her ear.”
Jesus. Gabby’s a scrapper.
“You might have?” Carter asks incredulously. “Jesus, Gabby, you made her bleed.”
“She deserved it,” Gabby replies with big crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks. “She was so mean, and this isn’t the first time. I just couldn’t stand it anymore. Lily didn’t deserve it. She didn’t say anything bad to Claire.”
“Good girl,” I whisper, but she doesn’t hear me as she sniffles through her tears.
“But I’m the one who got punished because Claire lied and said she didn’t do anything to me first.”
“And they believed that?” I ask.
“It was my word against hers, and she was the one bleeding.”
God, she sounds so grown up right now. Where is the chubby toddler that I swear she was just four minutes ago?
“Violence isn’t the way to handle the situation,” Carter says, sitting back in his chair. “And you will apologize for hurting her.”
“Dad!”
“I’m not finished speaking.”
She closes her lips, frowning again.
“I am proud of you for standing up for your friend. Being loyal is an excellent trait, and I want you to always do that. But the answer isn’t to act out physically.”
“What was I supposed to do?” she demands.
“Walk away,” Carter suggests. “Tell Claire that she’s mean and you don’t want to be her friend, gather your lunches, and go sit somewhere else.”
“She would just lau
gh at us,” Gabby murmurs.
“Let her laugh,” I say. “Seriously, who cares what Claire the B thinks? Let her laugh, but you won’t have to sit with her anymore, and you’ll be with your true friend.”
“On Monday, you will apologize to Claire. Let’s hope that Claire tells her parents the truth, and that we don’t get sued for any medical bills that come out of this.”
“They can’t do that,” Gabby says.
“Yes, they can,” Carter and I say at the same time.
“And if they do,” I continue, “we’ll deal with it. Because just like you have Lily’s back, we have your back.”
Gabby nods. “Since I was helping a friend, can I have my phone back?”
“On Monday,” Carter replies. “You’re suspended from that for now too.”
“This sucks,” she grumbles.
“We’re going home early today,” Carter says as I stand to go to my own office now. “What do you have tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow’s Friday,” I murmur, thinking. “I have my meeting with Bruce in the morning, and then I think Sienna and I are having dinner with Finn and London tomorrow evening. You should join us.”
And bring Nora.
“Not this time,” Carter says, shaking his head. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I walk down toward my office, pausing at the conference room that Sienna’s working in. The door is open, and Matt is leaning over Sienna’s shoulder, reading.
His hand is on her.
And that doesn’t fly with me.
“How’s it going in here?” I ask, leaning against the doorjamb.
“I found a journal,” Sienna says with a smile. “This is my great-grandmother’s journal from when she was dating my great-grandfather.”
“And it’s explicit,” Matt adds with a grin. “Great-Grandpa was a bit of a freak.”
Sienna laughs, but my eyes are pinned to Matt’s hand on Sienna’s arm, which he immediately moves away.
“I think it’s time for lunch,” I announce, and all four of the clerks stand, ready to get something to eat.
“See you in a bit,” Christy says to Sienna. “Do you want anything?”
“No, I’m good. Thanks.”
They leave and I close the door, then lock it.
“Seriously, this woman should have written romance novels,” Sienna says, still reading the book in her hands. “She was way before her time. She could have given Fifty Shades a run for its money.”
“He was touching you,” I say, sitting next to her. She looks up with a frown, confusion on her face.
“Who was?”
“Matt.”
She blinks quickly. “When?”
“Just now.” I rub my hands over my face, pissed at myself for being jealous, but unable to stop it. “And I didn’t like it.”
“We were reading this journal,” she says, holding it up to show me. “We were laughing, and he touched me.”
“And he didn’t take his hand away until I gave him the stink eye.”
Sienna closes the book and sits back in her chair, watching me. “You’re jealous.”
“Fuck yes, I am.”
“Quinn, you have no reason to be jealous.”
“Doesn’t make it any less of a thing.”
She sighs and moves from her chair to my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me long and deep.
“Trust me when I say, I have zero urge to do that to Matt.”
“I’d kill him otherwise.”
“You’re awfully violent.”
“When it comes to you? Yes.” I kiss her again, but my muscles are relaxing now. “I won’t apologize for feeling territorial. That’s what being in love with you does to me.”
She smiles, her whole face lighting up. “I don’t mind. Just don’t beat anyone up.”
“I’m not Gabby.”
She tilts her head in confusion, and I tell her all about my niece’s suspension from school.
“She was doing what she thought was right,” Sienna says. “And that Claire sounds like a bitch.”
I laugh and hug her close. “That’s what Gabby calls her. Claire the B.”
“Good name for her. I got a call from my mom the other day and forgot to tell you. She invited us to dinner on Sunday.”
“Both of us?”
She nods and bites her lip. “Seems Lou told her we’re dating.”
“What time?”
“Six. But you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“Of course I want to. And as much as I want to stay here with you all day, I have to go to my office for a while. I have my weekly meeting with Bruce House tomorrow morning and I need to prepare.”
“Is he coming here?” she asks.
“Yes.”
“Can I speak to him?”
“What would you like to say?”
“I want to ask him to drop the case,” she says with a shrug. “I know it’s a long shot, but I want to try.”
“I’ll arrange for the meeting.”
“This is unexpected,” Bruce says the next morning when I show Sienna into my office.
“I asked Quinn if I could have a minute of your time,” she begins and sits at the table across from him. “I wanted to update you. I’ve found three-quarters of the money that was loaned. I have receipts with the same handwriting of the letter in your possession that say the money was paid back.”
“But not all of it,” Bruce says.
“No.” Sienna crosses her hands over her folder, not looking away from Bruce. “But we still have a lot of boxes to look through, and I’m confident that we will find it. Because of this, I’d like to ask you to drop the case.”
Bruce looks to me, but I don’t say anything, waiting for his response. I want him to drop the case. I also want him to tell her that it’s her uncle who gave him the letter in the first place, so Sienna is no longer in the dark, and I don’t feel like a massive douchebag for keeping it from her.
I’m sorely disappointed.
“I’m not dropping the case,” Bruce says, and before Sienna can reply, he holds his hand up. “I’m not trying to be a jerk here. I’m a businessman, plain and simple. You have proof that part of the money was paid back.”
“Most of the money.”
“But not all of it. Which means that at this moment, I still own it.”
“What do you want?” Sienna asks. “I’ll gladly pay you the five thousand dollars right now.”
“We both know that it’s worth much more than that.”
“That was the loan amount,” she counters, but then nods. “Okay, I’ll pay you twenty-five thousand.”
“Five million,” Bruce replies, and Sienna’s eyes widen, her jaw clenches, and she drops her fisted hands under the table in her lap.
“Bruce, it might be best to settle out of court. We don’t know that the judge would rule in your favor, especially given that the majority of the money has been found. It’s likely that the rest was paid as well.”
“Yet, if the proof of that isn’t found, I still legally own it,” he counters. “Like I said, I’m a businessman, and I know what that property is worth. I’m not willing to give up on it. We have more than a week until court, so that gives you time to find the rest of your proof.”
Sienna sighs, then nods and stands to walk out of the room. But before she can shut the door, Bruce calls her back.
“Good luck to you, Miss Hendricks.”
Her eyes flick to mine, and then she shuts the door behind her.
“She’s a beautiful woman,” Bruce says casually. “I wonder if I signed the property over to her if she’d go to bed with me.”
“I wonder if you could find another attorney who would take you on in time for the court date,” I reply, my blood boiling over. I want to punch him in his smarmy face. I want to have him thrown out of my building.
But until this case is finished, I won’t sever ties.
The moment the gavel falls, however, Bruce will need t
o find new counsel. I don’t care how much money I make from him.
He glances at me in surprise. “You’re interested in her.” He sits back, his hands steepled in front of him, thinking. His eyes are too full of mirth for my liking. “I hope that interest won’t influence you in how you handle this case.”
“I dislike men who are disrespectful to women, especially in professional settings,” I say as I stand. “I’ll see you next week.”
Bruce doesn’t put up a fight as he leaves my office. I send a text to Finn and Carter.
We’ll no longer be working with Bruce when this case is done.
It’s for the best.
“It’s been a crazy week,” Sienna says as we join Finn and London for dinner later in the evening at my condo. Sienna is cooking, and the condo smells amazing.
“Tell me about it,” London says with a nod as Sienna sets a tray of bread in the oven. “I think we’re all a little stressed right now, but I have something to talk about to take our minds off the tough stuff.”
“What’s that?” Sienna asks. I pour her a glass of wine and she kisses my bicep in thanks.
“You guys are seriously so cute together. Okay, engagement party,” London replies with an excited little shimmy. “We need to plan.”
“We do?” I ask.
“Yes,” London says with a nod. “I need your input. I don’t want it to get too out of hand. Quinn planned Finn’s fortieth birthday party last year, and it was so great.”
“Aside from how you almost got killed that night, it was a great party,” I agree.
“Wait. You almost got killed?”
“That’s a different story for another day,” London says, shaking her head. “My point is, Quinn is good at this, and I want his input. And yours, Sienna.”
“Hire a party planner,” I suggest. “They can handle all the details and take it off your plate.”
“I thought of that.” London nods. “And I will absolutely do that for the wedding, but I want this party to be more intimate.”
“I can help,” Sienna announces, wiping her hands on the towel that she’s thrown over her shoulder. She looks fucking amazing in my kitchen. “Actually, Louise can. My sister throws an awesome party. And I’m not talking your run-of-the-mill birthday party. I’ll show you photos.”
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