Page 56 of Lost the Handle

I don’t want to. I’d rather throw her into the wall a few times, but then I hear my name and it’s not Quinn doing the speaking. It’s my dad. I tense up as he closes the distance to me in three strides before snaking his arm around my waist and pulling me to his chest. “Quinn, get your fiancée out of here. I’m tired of this bullshit.”

“Dad, he didn’t do anything wrong,” I say, but Dad shakes his head. “She put her hands on him,” I explain.

Dad whips his gaze back to where they stand. With the way he’s holding me, I’m unable to see who he is really looking at. “The hell? What is wrong with you?”

Ava fixes her scrubs as Quinn says, “It was a misunderstanding. Everything is fine.”

I gawk at him. “What the hell!” I roar. “She put her hands on you. Don’t accept that behavior, Quinn!”

“I am going to handle it,” he insists, his eyes urging mine to calm down. “Everything is fine.”

“Nothing is fine!” I yell, my eyes clouding with tears. “You’re marrying someone who puts her hands on you, Quinn. What is wrong with you? You are better than this.”

“Enough!” Dad yells, shaking me a bit. His eyes cut to Quinn’s. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but figure out what you want or leave my daughter alone.”

“Dad, no. Stop!”

Remorse and pain fill Quinn’s face as he slowly nods. He looks down at the floor, like a kicked fucking dog, and it makes me ragey. “Yes, sir.”

“This isn’t you!” I yell, shaking my head. “Don’t you see she is ruining you?”

“Em, please,” he asks, his blue eyes lifeless as they meet mine. “You don’t understand.”

“Then make me understand,” I say, pulling free of my dad’s grip. He can’t contain all this crazy, and I almost fall into Quinn. I take hold of his hands, squeezing them. “What is happening to you? Let me help.”

He swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat as he holds my gaze. “Everything is fine.”

“No—”

He squeezes my hand, stroking his thumb over mine. “Trust me.”

His command is like being dunked in an icy lake. I feel his words everywhere. They take my breath away and leave me frozen. Because I do trust him. I trust him with my whole heart, but I don’t trust her—or the hold she has over him.

I knew something wasn’t right the moment he told me he was marrying her. I don’t believe for a second he loves her or even wants her. She has to be blackmailing him, and I don’t care if I have to sell my left foot, a kidney, and my pinkie on the black market—or, better yet, cross the line I have drawn for myself and steal all her family’s money to help him out of it—but I will.

I’ll do anything for him.

Because no one can convince me otherwise. I know Quinn Adler loves me.

Even as he stands there, staring down at me, caressing my thumb with his, I know he wants no one but me. Our connection is too damn strong, and no matter what, he is a part of me. My eyes burn into his as I whisper, “Please.”

He clenches his jaw, his throat working as he looks down at me. “Trust me.”

I shake my head. “Quinn?—”

But then he lets go of my hand and nods at me like I know what the hell he is about to do. Ava takes his hand in hers, and he goes with her, leaving me wholly confused. What just happened? Did he just choose her over me? Again?

Am I truly that surprised? I chose a life without him; why the hell would he choose me?

Because he fucking loves me.

Damn it.

I have to fix this. I have to figure this out. I can’t do life without him. I tried, and it was a clusterfuck. I need him. I start to follow after them, ready to go for round two, when Dad takes hold of my arm, stopping me. I watch as our families part like the Red Sea and let Quinn and Ava through. Everyone looks uncomfortable, confused, and angry.

Which is everything I’m feeling.

Tears explode out of me, streaming down my face as I turn on my dad. “I had it under control!”

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