Page 52 of Frequency of Attraction

Hadrian stretched back on the stack of pillows and sighed. He studied the IV in his arm and looked to the sunlit window before bringing his green eyes back to her. “She left me. I’m not good enough for her. She doesn’t approve of my lifestyle.”

Quinn couldn’t entirely blame her.

“The sky has truly fallen this time.”

“It was one week, Hadrian.”

He glared at her. “We spent every moment together for eleven days. We barely slept. I talked more, shared more, with her than all the women I’ve fucked in the last decade put together. I love her, Quinn.”

She had no response to that uncharacteristic outburst from her easygoing cousin.

“The time doesn’t matter. Only the timing does,” he continued. “Our stars were aligned. I know it. So does Federica. I told her I’d start looking for a role within Geier Group, or even her company. I want to be where she is. I want to know why she really walked away from me.”

Quinn had a suspicion. “If what you say is true, Hadrian, then maybe she’s just scared. Not everyone can let themselves fall as willingly as you do. Most of us see only the risks. And you,mon chéri, are a risk.”

“I was a risk,” he muttered, his voice giving out. “But she makes me want to be a better version of myself.”

“Then stop drinking anytime something goes wrong,” Quinn harped. “You need to learn to sit with heartbreak. What if you go too far next time? This is serious, Hadrian.”

“You think I don’t know that?” He raised the arm full of tubes, then gestured at the hospital gown. “My perfect physique is totally wasted in here.”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “Quit fucking drinking.”

“I’ll work on that. I promise.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t think I didn’t hear the ‘us’ in that statement about love and risk. Did you finally break the curse, too? The ‘no love for the Geiers’ nonsense you and Tate were so sure about?”

Quinn’s stomach tumbled. She had never said the word “love” aloud. She’d barely let herself think it. “Too soon to tell.”

“The perfect time to tell me, then.”

With a sigh, Quinn unburdened her heart to Hadrian in a hospital room overlooking the sea. She explained how the atoms in her body had rearranged and oriented toward Vadim the moment they’d met, how his patience had unlocked doors that had always been closed, his silent ways of saying thanks, his quiet drive, how she’d witnessed the softening of someone hardened by circumstance. All the things Quinn admired about Vadim came pouring out in a torrent of praise.

She kept all thebutsto herself. In that moment, thousands of miles away from him, Quinn let herself love Vadim.

Hadrian was smiling when she finished. “You did break the curse. I hope you tell him.”

“Didn’t work out so well for you.”

Hadrian sighed. “I don’t regret trying. Worth it.”

“A hole in the stomach is worth it?”

He chuckled. “Yes, actually. For many reasons. One is that you’re here. I miss you,ma poulette.”

“Just invite me next time, okay?”

“Like you’d ever take a vacation,” he chided. “Most beautiful city in France and you’ll go right back to your hotel room to work.”

Quinn’s defeated sigh matched his from moments ago. “I’m trying to be better, too. I’m going to furnish my house in Boston and try to spend more time there. I’m going to let Shannon take over a lot of the travel. I…I have an idea.” For some reason, sharing about the position she wanted to create for Geier Group was even harder to talk about than Vadim. “I’m not sure PR is where my heart is anymore.”

“Sounds like your heart is with a pilot and his offspring.”

“I want to help our people, Hadrian. Not our family, but the people who carry this company on their backs. The garment workers, farmers, tanners, the salespeople. They need a champion.”

He smiled. “You’re the best champion anyone could hope for. Do it.”

An answering grin made its way onto Quinn’s face. “I want to. I’m going to.” What was stopping her? Nothing. Maybe it truly was time to make a change for herself.

A light knock sounded on the door. Hadrian groaned. “These nurses are all hags. Is it too much to ask to—”

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