Page 42 of Wicked S.O.B.

I jerk around at the female voice, and my heart sinks to my feet.

Fionnella Smith.

Of course. I should’ve known she would be the bringer of the shit storm I’m currently wading through. She’s connected to Quinn through tragedy, and her loyalty to him is absolute. I can’t even blame her for throwing a giant monkey wrench into my life.

“Are you okay, dear?” the diminutive woman in drab, oversized clothes asks me. For once, her perpetual smile is missing.

I grip my arms and shake my head. “No, I’m not. Neither of us are.”

She nods, and her gaze moves to Quinn. Before she can open her mouth, his head whips around, and he spears her with penetrating eyes. “What the fuck do you mean,if it walks up to you on the street?”

I thought Fionnella was making a generalization but Quinn’s question makes everything inside me clench harder with agonizing premonition.

No.

As if she hears me, Fionnella’s eyes return to me. I see the clear sympathy in her gaze but I know she’s not going to spare me what’s coming.

“For fuck’s sake, spit it out!” Quinn’s white-knuckled grip on the edge of the counter tells me he’s on the verge of losing control.

Fionnella hesitates for a moment and then reaches into the oversized hobo purse hanging off her arm. The envelope she takes out shreds my insides.

“No…”

Fionnella sends me a pitying smile. “You should’ve told him, dear.”

“I was going to tell him tonight—”

“Were you?” Quinn finally looks at me, and the wasteland of hopelessness in his eyes flays me. “After three fucking weeks of leaving yourself exposed to this asshole, what was so special about tonight?”

“I didn’t…I was scared we weren’t strong enough to sustain another hit. I wanted to wait until I was sure—”

“You mean you weretestingme?”

“No! I washopingit was nothing.”

“Your instinct wasn’t enough? You have to wait for him to come right up to you and fucking touch you, or Jesus Christ,hurtyou before you believed it? That’s what Fionnella is saying, isn’t it? This asshole has had some sort of contact with you?” he barks at me.

“Come on, son. Calm down—”

“And you! Where the hell were you, Fionnella?” he snaps.

“I had a situation in Nevada to deal with. They approached me based on your recommendation, I believe.”

“That is no goddamn excuse. You weren’t here when I needed you.”

“Now, now, there’s enough of me to go around.”

He pushes away from the counter and stalks to Fionnella. “Yes, but do you see her, Fionnella?” He points a trembling finger at me.

Fionnella frowns. “Of course I see her—”

“There’s only one of her!”His agonized bellow threatens the very foundations of the building.

My blood threatens to curdle with fear. Fionnella doesn’t blink. “I understand, son.”

“Do you? Really? Because, right in this moment, I don’t think anyone does.” The words emerge in a tortured whisper, as if torn from the center of his being. He starts shaking again.

Fionnella lays a hand on his arm. “I do, Quinn. I really do.”

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