Page 136 of Dust to Dust

I furiously shook my head back and forth. “No,” I gritted out.

He smiled maniacally at me. “Pity. You’d make an intriguing mistress for me.”

I bit down on my lip to keep from spitting in his face. “Just take me home, please.”

At the prick on my arm, I winced. Then the world around me grew as dark as my emotions.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Quinn

In the hours after finding out about Isla’s kidnapping, I spent the majority of the time pacing around our home office with my phone in my hand. Stationed at other places in the office, my brothers and Seamus did the same. We’d reached out to all of our allies for information about where Mikita could be harboring Isla. With each minute that passed with no answers, my hope began to wane.

Dr. Feeny arrived to check on Brooke. He gave her a sedative to keep her calm. Caterina remained at her side, having her meals brought to the bedroom.

When Henry woke up from his nap, he was inconsolable in Kellan’s arms. Since Seamus was the only one of us who had any experience as a father, he went to fix his bottle. When I took him from Kellan, he still screamed.

When Seamus returned with the bottle, he eyed Henry with sadness. “Wains are very perceptive about traumatic events. He knows something is wrong.”

“I know, Little Man. I want your auntie back, too,” I said, as I rubbed wide circles on his back.

Seamus’s phone rang, and he handed me the bottle before stepping out of the office to answer it. Before I could pop the bottle in Henry’s waiting mouth, my phone rang.

Since Dare was closest to me and Henry had wailed with Kellan, I handed Henry off to Dare. His eyes bulged in horror. “Wait, no, I don’t–”

“Just take him,” I commanded.

To my utter surprise, Henry stared wide-eyed at Dare. His cries waned into snubs. Turning away from them, I answered the call. “Hey Gianni, do you have anything for me?”

At his ragged sigh, my chest clenched. “I’m sorry, Quinn. I’m doing everything I can to hack into his system, but the fucker is locked up tight.”

“Thanks for trying.”

“I’m not giving up. I will break this.”

“I appreciate it, G.”

“I’ll call you back when I have something. Not if, but when.”

“Thanks,” I choked off.

When I hung up, I turned around to see Dare feeding Henry. At the way he held him like a bomb about to go off, I barked out a laugh. “He’s not an incendiary device,” I mused.

“Bullshit. He has the ability to explode at any moment.”

But Henry seemed content with Dare just as he had been with Kellan before. I leaned down and kissed his head, my eyes closing at the intoxicatingly sweet smell of his baby shampoo.

“I never thought I’d see the day you’d love a wain who didn’t belong to you,” Dare mused. He shook his head. “Frankly, I’d be just as surprised to see the love in your eyes if he was yours.”

“I’m not an anti-wain bastard like you are.” I brushed my finger over Henry’s forehead. “Besides, he does belong to me. He’s part of Isla, and in turn, he’s part of me.”

Dare eyed me in disbelief. But then his expression softened. “You’ll be a good father someday, Quinn.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Somehow I think you’ll be even more whipped than Callum.”

“Is that right?”

“Aye. The harder the person, the harder the fall.”

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