Page 49 of Scotch & Shortbread

Quinn had to hold back tears that threatened to fall at how forcefully he defended her like he truly cared. Like she mattered to him.

“Thank you,” she said tentatively. “I’m… It’s okay,” she began to explain but didn’t want to change the subject away from Alex. It wasn’t her intent to bring the focus to her own life. “I’m good now. I’ve put those demons to rest. That was a long time ago. I only brought it up because I feel like I can relate to what you were saying about wanting to please Kate.” Her voice went a little softer. “I assume you loved her.”

Alex shook his head. “It wasnae love. It was never love. Just lust and a bloody sick obsession.” He scraped a hand over his five o’clock shadow. “We had an affair for close to six months. If I’m being honest, at first, it felt fun and exciting. It's like I couldnae see past the rush of it all. I even had myself convinced that we had something real as if it wasn’t built on a stack of secrecy. It was doomed from the start though. She was my boss. She was everyone’s boss. Nothing good was ever going to come of it. But I had no idea how far off the rails things would go.”

Alex stood up and added another log to the fireplace and stood watching as flames licked at it. “After a few months, she somehow convinced me to do her dirty work.” He shook his head as if still not believing it had happened. “She wanted me to report back to her on details of the other members in my squadron. She wanted to ken about the wee’est transgressions. She wanted to ken if her name was so much as uttered behind her back. Anything and everything, I was to find out and report back to her. I didnae like it, but I felt I was beholden to her somehow. I wanted to make her happy, to bask in the praise she’d give me and in the reward of it all, the power of it, so I did her dirty bidding,” he said bitterly. “I was becoming a person I didn’t recognize. I hated it, but I felt stuck in it.”

Quinn couldn’t imagine this strong man compromising his values for anyone. From what she knew of him, Alex was a man of honour and integrity.

Running a hand through his hair, he sat back down in his chair and blew out a breath as if readying himself for his next words. “Eventually, she wanted me to make formal complaints against certain members of the team with nothing to back it.” He shook his head as if he still couldn’t handle the thought.

“That’s so not you. You wouldn’t do that,” Quinn snapped with conviction.

Alex’s stormy blue eyes landed on her as if he was looking at an angel, and she had to swallow back emotion, sure no one had ever looked at her that way before.

“Ye’re right lass. ‘Tis not me at all. I couldnae do it. I wouldnae. I didnae realize it at the time, but Kate had targeted specific members because she’d slept with them too. She was worried they would talk and her job would be in jeopardy. She wanted them gone. Off the force.”

Quinn sucked in a breath. “Holy shit.”

“Aye. I was close with these guys, and the trust we shared went beyond the job. We had each other’s backs no matter what. As much as I wanted to please her, I couldn’t turn against my team.” Alex paused. There was a crease between his brows and his look was distant. If he gripped his whisky glass any tighter, it might shatter. As if noticing tension building in him, he ran a hand through his hair and took a quick sip of his whisky.

“When I didnae do what she wanted though, he continued, things got strained between us. At first, I couldnae understand it.” He stared into his nearly empty glass reliving the memories. “Christ, I was so naive.” His voice was a bitter whisper. “I had thought we had a good thing going. I thought that things would blow over and we’d get back to normal, but Kate began lashing out at me when I saw her. I realized pretty quickly that whatever fun we’d had, it was definitively over. It became obvious that we needed to break up. I needed some space from her, but it was almost impossible as she was my boss.”

“God, that’s crazy. I can’t imagine. At least you knew you had to get out. So many people get stuck in situations like that, always hoping that things will get better.”

“There was no doubt in my mind. Things wouldnae be getting better. In fact, things got way worse.” Alex looked edgy just remembering the hell Kate Cameron had put him through.

Quinn shot back the remainder of her scotch and picked up the bottle to refill. Alex lips tugged up in the corners. She’d brought him back to the here and now. As she leaned over to top up his glass, it occurred to him just how much it meant to him to be able to tell her everything and to have her listen without judgment. It was more than he could ask for really.

“Thank ye,” he said, picking up his glass.

“So things got worse,” she said, encouraging him to continue.

“Honestly, Quinn, the woman went aff her heid, utterly mental. She ended up going to my parents.”

“She went to your parents? Why?” she asked dumbfounded.

A bitter laugh escaped him. “She told them that I had got her pregnant and had dumped her.”

“Holy shit!”

“Aye,” he said soberly detesting the memory of it.

“Was she pregnant?” Quinn asked gently.

“Naw.” He scoffed. “Thank Christ.”

“Did your parents believe her?” Quinn’s eyes were wide.

“At the time, they didnae ken if she was pregnant or no’, but they could see her desperation. And they also sensed that things werenae as they seemed. They ken something was amiss. It was awful though. I hate that they had to deal with her at all. I hate that she involved them.”

“I don’t blame you,” Quinn said, taking it all in. “Thank God you have some pretty great parents.”

“Aye.” Alex said lightly. “I am fortunate. My parents were amazing through it all. They never stopped supporting me, but it was hard on them.” There was a long pause before he added, “And then things only got worse.”

“Oh my God, how could it possibly get worse?” Quinn was astounded.

“To start, she got me sacked.”

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