Lily didn’t answer. Instead she held up her phone, a text message glowing on the screen: No extra time. One day gone. One left. Pay it or else.
Shit. Given everything happening between Lily and himself, he’d utterly forgotten the whole reason they were even here together in the first place.
“I texted them before we left Lone Star,” Lily said. “Asking for extra time. But I guess that’s a no.”
Quinn stared down at the text glowing on the screen, thinking. “Could be a bluff. Wanting to make you sweat first.”
“So, what?” She glanced up at him. “Do we call it?”
It was a gamble and they both knew that. Then again, it was a calculated one. If Duchess’s mental anguish was the point and not the money, then texting them to say she couldn’t pay could very well earn them a few more days, regardless of the threat. Because once that footage was released, that would be the blackmailers leverage gone.
Quinn was very tempted to tell her to do exactly that, but things were different between them now. She’d told him she felt safe with him and that’s what he wanted to keep doing, making her feel safe.
“I don’t like the idea of calling it,” he said, being totally honest. “Because I don’t like the idea of you risking yourself.”
“Sure, but have you got a better idea for getting this guy out in the open?”
Quinn frowned, but they both knew there was no other option. “Fine,” he said. “But I don t like it.”
“Noted.” Her mouth curved and she lifted a hand, touching his cheek. “Don’t worry, hotshot. I’ll be fine. And don’t forget, it’s not only the infamous Quinn Redmond I’ve got on my side, but his two brothers, too.”
That was true. She wasn’t alone in this.
Neither are you.
The thought wound through him, unexpected and strangely reassuring. Strange, because he’d never thought of himself as being alone. And yet he’d felt it all the same. Now though, it was different. Now, he had his brothers.
Now, you have her.
He wasn’t sure what else to do with the feeling gripping him tight, so he turned and kissed her fingertips. “Damn straight.”
“Okay,” Lily said decisively. “Let’s call it. I’ll tell him there’s no way I can pay and please, please give me another couple of days.” Quickly, she typed in the message and hit send.
There was a moment of silence and then the three dots came up signifying that whoever was on the end of the text was typing a reply.
Tension coiled inside him and he found he was holding onto her rather tightly, though there was no immediate physical threat.
Another text came onto the screen: Are you alone?
The tension inside Quinn tripled. “Tell them yes.”
Lily nodded, typed in a brief yes then hit send.
And then her phone began to ring.
She tensed in his arms, but by that time he knew what to do, going straight into military mode. “Answer it,” he ordered quietly, shifting her onto the couch and reaching into his back pocket. “Keep whoever it is on the line as long as possible. I’ll call Rose to see if we can pinpoint where that call is coming from.”
Lily didn’t protest or ask questions, she only nodded and hit accept, raising the phone to her ear. “Hello? Yes….no, I can’t. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” Her voice was cool, but she’d injected a hint of unsteadiness into it, the sound of a woman trying to hold it together. Man, she was good.
He shifted and grabbed his own phone, getting up off the couch and heading into the hall so his voice wouldn’t be heard, keeping an ear out on the conversation happening in the living area.
“No,” Lily was saying. “You’ve cleaned me out. You’re going to have to give me a few more days to get the money….Quinn? No, of course not. I haven’t told him a thing.”
Quinn hit Rose’s contact number and she answered within seconds. “Rose,” he said curtly. “I need you to track the call Lily’s dealing with right now.”
“Sure,” she said and disconnected immediately.
Good. She knew there was no time to piss around with small talk.
Quinn pocketed his phone and went back out into the living area. Lily was sitting on the couch, her expression fixed, but as he approached her gaze came to his instantly. “No, he won’t know,” she said. “Yes….I went to them for help but they don’t know anything. I didn’t tell them why… What? No, wait. Just tell me why you’re doing this.” Against there was the slightest quiver in her voice. “Please. What do you want from me?” There was a silence, then she slowly shook her head at Quinn. “No, okay. I won’t. I understand.”
Another silence and then Lily blinked and lowered the phone. “The voice was disguised, so I don’t know whether it’s a man or a woman. But basically they were adamant that I was not to give you any more information. And that the footage would be released the second they discovered you knew the real reason for the blackmail.”
Quinn scanned her face, searching for any signs of distress or fear, but she seemed calm. “Okay, so the fact that whoever it was called you to tell you that, tells me they’re not gonna release that footage until they actually have to, because once they do, they lose their leverage. So we pretty much know that money isn’t the aim of the game. This is personal. This is about you.”
“Apparently so.” She threw the phone down on the coffee table. “Did you get Rose on the call?”
“Yeah, with any luck she’ll have been able to trace it.” He moved over to the couch and sat down on it, pulling her back where she belonged, in his arms. “You okay?”
“Yes. Oddly enough, now I am.” She sighed, snuggling back against him. “They didn’t say why they were doing this. Only that they’d give me one more day to get the money together and once I had, I was to text them and let them know. Then I’d receive further instructions.”
Okay, he could deal with that. “Let’s see what Rose managed to get. If she can get a lock on a location, we should be able to go from there.”
Right on cue, his phone vibrated and he adjusted his hold on Lily, pulling it out and glancing down. Sure enough, it was Rose.
“Managed to pull the number,” Rose said without any preamble as he answered it. “And then found the location. It’s somewhere in LA. I’ll text you the details.”
“LA?” he echoed, puzzled since he’d been expecting somewhere more local. “You sure that’s legit?”
“Yeah,” Rose said. “I’m sure. I thought it might be either a spoofed number or location, but when I searched on the number itself, it’s real. The phone is registered to a Jack Montoya and location…well, look at your text.”
For a second the name meant absolutely nothing to him.
Then shock hit like a blow from a hammer.
“Jack Montoya?” His voice had gone very hoarse and that Lily must have heard it, because she looked up at him sharply. He ignored her. “Are you sure?”
“Uh, yeah,” Rose repeated. “That’s what came up. Why?”
But Quinn had stopped listening. He hit disconnect and looked down at his phone’s screen, at the location that Rose had texted him.
Not that he needed to see it to know where it was. He’d had it memorized for years.
“Quinn?” Lily asked, her voice cool and calm and very clear. “What’s the matter?”
Wordlessly he handed her the phone with the text from Rose on it and then, because he couldn’t sit still any longer, he shifted her from his arms to the couch and pushed himself up. He was still shirtless, but he didn’t care.
“Quinn?” Lily’s voice was still calm.
The decision was made instantly. Without thought. Without analysis. An instinctive and basic need that drove him to head for the door, because he had to leave and he had to leave now.
Nothing was going to stop him from getting to LA. Nothing.
“Quinn,” Lily said again from behind. “What’s going on? Who’s Jack Montoya?”
Quinn put hi
s hand on the front door and pulled it open.
“Jack Montoya is my son,” he said.
Then he strode through the doorway and let the door slam shut behind him.
Thirteen
It didn’t make any sense, but Lily didn’t have time to think about it. Quinn was off out of her apartment and of course she knew exactly where he’d be headed — to the location that Rose had texted him.
Instinct kicked in at that point, and she ran out of the apartment after him, completely ignoring the fact that she was dressed only in his T-shirt. All she was aware of was that he wasn’t going anywhere without her.
She caught up with him halfway down the hall and put herself in front of him, her palms coming out and slapping against his broad and very bare chest.
“Stop,” she said flatly. “Stop and tell me what the hell is going on.”
His eyes glittered emerald with absolute and unstoppable determination. “Get out of my way, Lily.”
“No.” She injected as much ice as she could into her voice, hoping that would cool whatever was burning inside him. “Not until you tell me where you’re going and why.”
“I don’t have time for that bullshit,” he snarled.
“Make time,” she snarled back. “You can’t go charging into a situation you know nothing about by yourself and with no back up.”
“Fucking watch me.” He took a step, forcing her back.
Okay, so she got it. Quinn Redmond had a long line of perceived failures in his past, and now it looked like his son was involved with this, and all he wanted to do was protect him. But still, the fact remained that they had to figure out what was going on before they took action, especially if a kid was involved.
She pressed hard against his chest. “Think, Quinn. Get your head out of your ass and think.”
His burning gaze abruptly focused on her and he made a deep growling noise in his chest, his mouth twisting. But she didn’t back away. “Tell me what this is about,” she went on. “You said your son was involved. How?”
“The call came from an LA number.” He sounded like he was forcing the words through a mouthful of gravel. “And that number is registered to a Jack Montoya. Who is my fucking son.”
Lily blinked in shock. Why would Quinn’s son be calling her? Was he the blackmailer? But no, how old was he? A teenager Quinn said, so possible, but…not in any way likely. How would he have got that footage for a start and why would he anyway? And if it was his son, then why was the kid targeting Lily?
“And the location is—”
“Jack’s fucking house.” Quinn made another growling sound. “Get out of my way.”
But she didn’t. She stepped right up to him and wrapped her arms around him instead and held on tight. “Not yet. We need to call your brothers, tell them what’s going on. They’ll—”
His hands were on her and he pulled her away, and despite the savage light in his eyes, he was very gentle, handling her with care. “No,” he said. “We will not be calling anyone. I’m going to LA and I’m going now.”
And before she could move, he’d gone past her down the hallway, and this time she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop him. She didn’t have the physical mass or the strength.
Damn fucking man.
Turning instead for her apartment, she raced back inside and called Zane since he was already at Lone Star.
“Duchess?” Zane’s cool voice was a welcome relief when he answered. “What’s up?”
She took a breath, trying to calm her frantically beating heart. “It’s Quinn. We found something out about the blackmailer and now he’s heading to LA, and I can’t stop him.”
There was a moment’s shocked silence.
“What?” Zane asked blankly.
Lily went straight into leadership mode. “I don’t have time to explain the details. What we need is to stop Quinn getting into a situation he knows nothing about and with no backup. He’s going to LA after his son and someone needs—”
“Wait.” Zane’s voice was sharp as a blade. “What son?”
Oh shit. She’d forgotten Quinn had mentioned that he hadn’t told anyone about Jack.
Still holding her phone, she rushed into the bedroom and began pulling open drawers, trying to find some clothes to change into. “Zane,” she said calmly into the shattering silence. “That’s not important right now. What’s important is that Quinn isn’t thinking straight and we need to stop him before he makes this situation worse, okay?”
Luckily this time Zane didn’t comment. “I’m on it,” he snapped and disconnected the call.
Lily found a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt and dressed quickly, before grabbing her purse and heading downstairs.
There was no sign of Quinn on the street, which meant he must have gotten an Uber or something since she’d driven him here. Likely he was heading to Lone Star first, because most of his firepower was there and he’d certainly want to bring that. Which meant that going there herself was the most logical thing. Zane and Rush were there anyway and if Quinn wasn’t, they could strategize together.
She carefully didn’t let herself think about how the hell whoever was blackmailing her had some connection to Quinn’s child.
Fifteen minutes later, she was pulling up outside Lone Star, her heartbeat racing out of control no matter how hard she tried to control it, and it only slowed once she got out of the car and heard the distinctive sound of male voices shouting at each other, one of which was was definitely Quinn’s.
Moving quickly, she pushed through Lone Star’s double doors and strode into the foyer to find Quinn trying to shove Zane — who was standing in front of him — out of the way, while Rush, who was trying to protect Zane, shouted at him to stand the fuck still and tell them what was going on.
Just as Lily came in, Rush, clearly losing patience as Zane was shoved roughly to one side, suddenly lunged, wrapping his arms around Quinn’s muscled torso and holding on tight.
Quinn gave a roar of rage and there was a brief moment of struggle as Rush tried to hold into him and he tried to break his brother’s hold, then Zane joined in, trying to help Rush wrestle a by now enraged Quinn down onto the ground.
Lily’s heartbeat thundered in her head, the urge to go to him and help overwhelming. She’d never seen him like this, all control completely gone, driven entirely by desperation. It made her ache. Because she knew where it was all coming from. Except she’d thought he’d go cold. She hadn’t thought that he’d explode like a volcano. Then again, she kept making that mistake with him. He burned like a bonfire deep down inside.
So? He needs ice to cool him down.
Yes. He did.
She went quickly over to where Rush and Zane were wrestling with him, and said, “Quinn,” in a very cold, very clear voice. “Stop struggling. You need to tell us what’s going on.”
With Zane’s help, Rush had managed to flip Quinn onto his front and had wrenched his brother’s hands behind his back, desperately holding them there as Quinn struggled to pull them away. But at the sound of Lily’s voice he went froze, his labored breathing loud in the silence of the foyer.
Rush glanced at her, clearly impressed, though for once he didn’t say anything.
Zane was standing beside Quinn’s recumbent figure, staring down at him as if he didn’t want to take his eyes off him, not even for a second.
Lily started to move, only to have Zane suddenly come to stand in front of her, blocking her. “Hey,” she said, annoyed. “Don’t—”
“I wouldn’t get anywhere near him if I were you.” Zane interrupted, his tall, lean form between her and Quinn.
“But I—” she stopped all of a sudden as a commotion came from behind Zane.
Rush gave a savage curse as Quinn twisted like an eel, throwing his brother to the side and surging to his feet, all six foot four of furious, muscled ex Navy SEAL. Zane spun around, sheltering Lily, much to her extreme annoyance.
But Quinn ignored them both, heading toward the
stairs. Rush was behind him and this time he didn’t bother with wrestling. He launched himself at his brother, pulling on one of Quinn’s massive shoulders and jerking him around. Then he punched him hard in the face. Quinn roared, starting to defend himself, so Rush punched him again, and this time Quinn was knocked out cold.
There was a crash as Quinn fell to the floor and then a silence as all three of them stood there, breathing hard and staring at his unconscious body.
Lily was the first to move, rushing over to him and crouching down, turning his roughly handsome face toward her. An ache gathered in her chest, a tight grief contracting in her throat. He wanted to protect his boy. Regardless of how he felt about responsibilities or otherwise, that’s all he wanted to do.
“Rush, fuck’s sake,” Zane muttered from behind her. “How hard did you hit him?”
“Hey, someone had to stop him.” Rush sounded grumpy. “Jesus, he must have an iron jaw or something. Feels like I’ve broken my fucking hand.”
Lily paid no attention to them, looking at the bruise starting to flower on Quinn’s hard jaw and skimming her fingers over it. His beard was soft against her fingertips. “Oh Quinn,” she whispered.
“Duchess,” Zane said quietly. “We’ll get him into the bar and wake him up.”
She took a breath, forcing away the ridiculous urge to weep at how vulnerable he looked unconscious without his habitual scowl, or that insanely sexy smile that she loved so much. When the years of life experience had been wiped away and she could see how he must have looked when he was a boy. A boy whose passionate, protective nature had been been manipulated by his father and turned in on itself. Bad blood, he’d told her, yet she knew that wasn’t true. Even now, even in the grip of his rage and even though Rush had had to knock him out cold to stop him, Quinn himself hadn’t hurt any of them.
Lily shifted so his brothers could get to him. Somehow they managed to heave him up and drag him into the bar, where they deposited him in a booth seat so he was lying along the cushions.
Then they all stood there a moment, staring down at him.
“Fuck,” said Rush at last. “I’m getting a drink. Anyone else?”
Black Sheep Bounty Hunter Page 24