Page 183 of Broken Dreams

Morris is already untying my father to pick him up as I move out of the way, and I stand and watch as he wraps my father in plastic wrap and carries him away.

The pigs at the neighboring farms are going to eat really well today. As I’m leaving the house an hour later after checking on Quinn with my brother, I gaze at the setting sun as I get in the truck.

It’s been both the longest day as well as the shortest.

Pack Dresmond is at our back as we drive away, Christian and Linus left behind to watch over Quinn. All I can hope for is a relatively quiet night while we dismantle some of the darkness that’s been keeping us all up at night.

Please stay safe.

CHAPTER 36

QUINN

“Idon’t know how to feel,” I murmur, shivering under the covers as Linus holds me. He cleaned me up with Callum, helped me change into pajamas, and stayed with me as I laid in silence in bed.

Callum had to leave with Duncan, but I know it’s for a good reason.

“I’m getting in with you, you can yell at me later,” Christian mutters. The blankets rise for a moment and then the mattress depresses before his arms wrap around me.

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” Linus says, rolling his eyes as if he doesn’t care.

My lips twitch as he winks so only I can see.

“I’ll survive,” Christian says. “I’ve been shot before.”

“Not helping,” I say. I can’t help the yawn that escapes me. It’s as if my body is more tired than it ever has been. It’s a soul deep exhaustion.

“Life is dangerous,” he replies. “You just find reasons to keep living to the next day, Quinn.”

“Poetic,” I sigh. “Don’t be quite so charming.”

“Not everyone can be this perfect,” he purrs. Christian’s face is buried in my throat, his chest vibrating despite the bullet wound that’s only a few days healed. “I’m happy being the alpha in your life that you fight with. Growl at me, smack me upside the head, whatever you want as long as I can do this.”

“Still being too charming,” Linus grumbles, kissing my lips. “Is he at least helping?”

“How petty is it to say no and lie?” I mutter. Christian’s chuckle is light and sweet, warming places inside of me that I thought may be forever cold and dark.

“Never change, beautiful,” Christian says against my skin. Now I may be shivering for another reason. “I love the fire inside of you. It means that you may struggle, things may knock you down, but you’ll come back swinging. If you need me to keep that fire stoked, I'll be your man.”

Linus smirks, knowing damn well there are times when I enjoy fighting. Lately, it gets me fucked by him in the shower. There are different kinds of fighting and arguing. It can be delicious foreplay.

Christian inhales sharply, making me wriggle against him. Fuck, I know he can smell me perfuming as I think about shower sex with Linus and how hot it is.

“You like fighting,” he realizes, jaw dropping. “Oh,mi amor,you are full of surprises.”

“She does,” Linus says with a low chuckle. This is helping, the teasing is helping to ground me, the warmth chasing away the chill.

“Is that what I am?” I ask Christian. Over time, I’ve been looking up Spanish words to learn what he’s been saying to me.

“You and Linus are my loves, yes,” he rumbles, not pretending not to know what I mean. “I’ve made a great number of mistakes, and I know that. I wanted to be accepted by the mafia community so that I could stay while I get to know you both, show you how sorry I am. Somehow, I found myself becoming a better man for it as well. Even if it’s one you don’t know yet.”

“It feels pointless to be mad at you,” I mutter. “You hurt us, Christian. We were easily accessible and just as easily forgotten. That’s how it felt. We need you to understand that.”

“I used to make myself forget you existed as soon as you left,” Linus confesses. “Caring about anyone outside of Quinn wasn’t possible for me at the club. I knew I couldn’t keep you, so why bother?”

“In some ways, maybe it would have been better if we’d met somewhere else,” Christian says.

“But in others not,” I decide. “There were times toward the end where Bret never knew when you’d come in. I think that may have kept me alive.”

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