Page 27 of Sultry Nights

He chuckled and rocked back on his heels. "That's fantastic. Thank you so much for working your magic."

She laughed out loud. "Not sure how much magic there was. But to hear from them so soon tells me they are extremely motivated. Therefore, let's not miss our deadline. Will you be ready by Wednesday to close?"

"I'll be ready. I'll call my financial guy right after we hang up and make sure he has the ball rolling."

"Perfect. Congratulations, Quinn. I'll get you copies of the paperwork and the Army will have someone begin drafting the closing documents. As soon as I get them, we can close and exchange keys for funds."

His heart raced. He couldn't wait to tell Jared and Hanna. They'd celebrate tonight and have something fun to chat about. Which made him snap back to the present. "Can I grab those keys again to show someone the barracks?"

Margo chuckled. "Sure. I have some errands today, but just drop by the office and I'll have them up front for you."

"Thanks, Margo. I appreciate all you've done."

She laughed again. The sound filled him with promise and happiness. This was indeed a great day.

Quinn left the construction trailer and hopped into his truck. He couldn't wait to spread the news. He couldn't wait to start on the barracks. And he couldn't wait to develop the plan that Hanna had suggested in turning his barracks into housing for former military members who came to work for him.

As well as those who came to work for Sid and Jace. They'd have places for their new workers to go, and they'd be comfortable, and affordable for them until they got on their feet.

It would be perfect.

So many of these people suffered from things, including PTSD from their military lives. Now they'd have a comfortable place to live, and he would be there to help them deal with things. Maybe he'd even get a doctor to stop by and offer group therapy or some other types of therapies that would help them out.

This was his mission. He finally had a clear path. His mission was to help these men and women not only survive getting out of the service, but thrive. They'd have employment, housing, and therapy. It seemed perfect.

Oh, he couldn't wait to tell Hanna. As he started to drive toward home to change his clothes, his phone rang again.

He chuckled without even looking at who was calling. He tapped the button on his steering wheel.

"Hello, Quinn Kurtz."

Silence met him and then a clipped voice, one that sent a chill down his spine, responded. "Well, you certainly seem happy."

His ex-wife.

Buzzkill. With a capital B.

He didn't hide his exasperation. "What do you want now?"

She sniffed slightly. "Well, now I'm wondering what you were so happy about."

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. What do you want?"

Silence again for a moment and he started to get irritated. She was quickly killing his buzz. That was a fact.

"Well, I wanted to let you know that I found a new attorney today and we are taking you back to court. I am entitled to a percentage of your business since I'm the one that allowed you the time and energy to build that business while I took care of everything else. The house, the bills, the kids, everything."

His neck stiffened, and his shoulders went back. "I'll have you know I took care of all the bills. Without me out there busting my ass, there would have been no money to pay for those bills."

"Nevertheless, I'm the one who took care of getting them paid. If you'll also remember, in the very beginning, I was the one who helped you send out your invoicing. So I was part of the business even though you like to ignore, or forget, that fact."

He was silent for a moment. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Do whatever you're going to do. I don't really care anymore. I'm finished paying you."

He tapped the phone button on his steering wheel to end the call. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Swinging the truck around toward Margo Price's office, he cleared his throat and rotated his head. Moving his shoulders back and forth, he then decided he'd deal with this on a different day.

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