Page 18 of Under Their Watch

“He’s a puny little fucker. It wouldn’t take long,” Quinn says with a deep frown.

“Quinny…” I say as I cup his face. “I have to handle this. I am not technically divorced yet, so if I piss them off, then he can contest having the conservatorship removed. If that happens, he will put me in a facility.”

“I filed everything,” Emma says. “I have a friend who is a judge. She’s going to look at it today and sign off on it. We all saw Marvin choking you, so I should be able to get you an immediate divorce based on domestic violence.”

“Will I even be allowed to get my stuff?” I ask.

“Yeah,” she says. “There is a lot that we need to handle, but we can start by getting your stuff. He will be served an emergency protection order at the same time.”

“Alright,” I sigh. “I… need clothes. Although this T-shirt is comfortable, I will get shit immediately from Marvin.”

“Marvin is a little bitch,” Rowan says. “Trust me when I say he won’t mess with you while we are there.”

“I don’t picture him going against Quinn, Jace, Rowan, Max, Theo, Mia, Emma, and me,” Anika says. “Oh! That reminds me. I have something for you.”

“Me?” I ask.

“Yeah,” she says as she stands up. She leaves the living room and goes into the kitchen. When she returns, she hands me a laptop. “It’s my old one. I figured you could type on this until Quinn and Jace inevitably get you a new one.”

“That’s sweet, but you don’t have to do that,” I say. “I have no way of paying-”

“It’s a gift, Rhea,” she says. “How about this? You can pay me by being a brat to Quinn.”

“I don’t know if I’m… bratty enough,” I shrug.

“You literally said, 'make me' in the middle of him fucking you,” Max laughs. “I’m gonna need for you to keep doing that because that is prime entertainment.”

“See? Be a brat to him, and we are even,” Anika says. “You can say make me and run from him if you want to pay up all at once.”

“Are you trying to get her cervix blown out?” Mia asks.

“He wouldn’t do anything,” I say.

“Wanna bet?” Quinn says, narrowing his eyes at me. A blush heats my cheeks.

“My belly hurts right now. Maybe later,” I say with a sheepish smile.

“Mhmm,” he says.

“I have a dress you can wear,” Mia says. “You would look great in it.”

“Uh… okay,” I say. “Thank you.”

Mia smiles and gestures for me to walk with her. I hesitate at first but get up and walk with her. Anika walks with us and we go into one of the bedrooms. “Quinn and Jace talked about you all of the time, ya know?” Anika says. “They never told us your name because… well, because they are protective.”

“Good things, I hope,” I say.

“Yeah. They said that you were smart, funny, and beautiful. I think they fell in love with you from far away. I’ve never seen Quinn react like that, even when I had bruises, and my idiot ex was basically stalking me. Jace is normally calm, but he was very willing to let Quinn shoot him.”

“I always thought I’d be with them some day,” I say. “I thought when I was a teenager that it was just a stupid crush. I didn’t think they’d ever see me that way.”

“As weird as this may sound, I think Quinn and Jace probably did have feelings for you, but they didn’t know it. Why spend their whole lives taking care of you, so I feel like this is a normal progression,” Mia says.

“They were never inappropriate. I thought I was just like a little sister to them,” I say.

“I’m pretty sure Quinn would rather cut off his own leg with a rusty spoon than hurt someone undeserving, especially you,” Anika says. “Also, what we saw and heard them do to you is definitely not something you do to a little sister.”

“How could they have feelings for me back then but not want to be inappropriate?” I ask.

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