Page 6 of Under Their Watch

Quinn grits his teeth and finally breaks his stare to look down at me. “He hurt you.” Quinn growls. “He hurt you, Rhea.”

“I know, Quinny. I know. Please. I am begging you. Don’t do this,” I say, trying to push him back. He is a huge man, so there is no way I actually can, but I’ll do anything to prevent him from getting himself put in jail for the rest of his life. My dad would fucking jump at the chance to put him and Jace in jail.

“You’re coming with me,” Quinn says, leaving no room for argument.

“I’ll come with you. I swear to God, I will. Please, Quinny. Don’t do this,” I beg. Quinn lets Jace take the gun from him before pulling me out from between them. Quinn grabs Marvin by the throat and slams him against the wall beside the sink and pushes him up the wall, making sure his feet aren’t touching the ground.

“If you ever come near her again, I’ll fucking gut you. Understand, bitch?” Quinn says with a near snarl.

Marvin nods rapidly, and Quinn drops him to the floor. I grab Jace and pull him out of the bathroom to go back to David. He has that paperwork, and I want a copy. Marvin could have me locked in a facility if he destroys the paper.

“What’s going on?” Jace asks.

“Paperwork,” I say, shoving David. “Give me a copy. Now.”

“What paper…” David starts to say. Jace grabs him by the throat, not even knowing what I’m talking about, and drags him so they are nose to nose.

“What the fuck did she just tell you?” Jace asks with a low growl.

“F-Fine,” David says. Jace lets go of him, and David pulls the stack of papers out of his briefcase. I snatch them from him and look them over.

“Sign it,” I say, handing him the paper that releases me from a conservatorship under Marvin. “Now!”

“You’ll regret this,” he says, carefully taking the paper from me.

“Shut the fuck up and sign it,” I snap. I don’t know if it's Jace and Quinn finally finding me, but something has snapped in my head, and I refuse to back down. David signs the paper, and I take it back.

“Get the fuck out,” Jace says to David. “And don’t come back.”

David practically runs away, and I turn to see two men walking Marvin out. Marvin stops to look at me and one of them smacks the back of his head before shoving him toward the door. Quinn walks over to me and wraps me in a hug. A sudden wave of relief hits me and I fall apart in his arms. When he picks me up, I cling to him as he takes me somewhere. Quinn sits with me, and I can feel Jace rubbing my back as I sob into Quinn’s chest.

“I am so confused,” Emma says.

“Give them a second,” a man says.

“You’re going to have to give us something here, Quinn,” another man says. Quinn pulls me up and I am straddling his lap as he sits on a couch. He has tears in his eyes as he gently takes the collar off of me. He is ignoring his friends and stays focused on me. Jace isn’t speaking as he continues to rub my back.

“Oh, Rhea,” Quinn says softly as he gently touches the bruise on my throat. “What did he do to you, Little Star?”

“A lot,” I admit. “I tried to leave once a long time ago, but… I’m sorry, Quinn. I’m sorry I disappeared.”

“Alright,” a girl says as she sits beside Quinn to talk to me. “Can you explain what’s happening?”

“Anika,” Quinn says softly.

“No, sir. I just watched you almost blow his brains out, and I’m sad you didn’t. Now, I’ve known Marvin for a long time and never knew the dumbass was married. How do you know her? You hardly know Marvin.”

“Jace and I grew up with Rhea,” Quinn says. “Kinda. We were nine when she and her family moved into town. My mom used to clean for her parents. Jace and I would take care of Rhea because her parents didn’t. She disappeared when she was eighteen. The last time I talked to her, she called me from the hospitalwhen she was twenty, begging me to come get her because her boyfriend beat the fuck out of her. When I got there, she was gone.”

“What happened?” Jace asks me. “When you were eighteen?”

“Uh… Well… Dad wanted something published. He gave me to Marvin as payment,” I say. “Marvin convinced me to sign paperwork to be under a conservatorship. I disappeared because Marvin had me put in a facility for about six months.”

“Sounds like my parents,” Anika says.

“Your parents are saints compared,” Quinn says vaguely.

“Well, shit. No wonder you almost shot Marvin,” Anika says.

---