Page 41 of Chasing Temptation
Chapter Eleven
“What’s wrong?” I ask the next morning when I emerge from the shower and find Quinn staring down at her phone, her forehead creased and bottom lip trembling, even though she’s trying to contain it.
She lets out a sigh but doesn’t look up. “He’s refusing to sign.”
“Fuck.” I fall down beside her and pull her into my side.
“My lawyer has booked me an appointment to see him if I want to.” I tense. The last thing I want is for her to have to look that monster in the face again.
“Do…do you want to?”
“No,” she says, a sad laugh falling from her. “I never want to see him again, but I need to move on. I need to close that chapter of my life and I can’t do that while I’m still technically Mrs. Davenport.”
I nod, unable to disagree. “Okay, so when are we going?”
“I’ve got to ring him back.”
She stands, her fingers gripping her phone in a death grip. Silently she leaves the room, and my heart breaks for her. Things had just started improving. She’s had two sessions with a therapist and a couple of peaceful nights, but I can’t help thinking that seeing him will send her back to when it first happened.
She’s only gone a few minutes at the most.
“We can go today.”
“Today?” I ask, my eyes wide with shock.
“He’ll pulled some strings for me. I want this sorted ASAP.”
“Wow, okay. Are you sure you want to do this?”
She shrugs. “You don’t have to come, I can do this alone.”
“Fuck that, Quinn.” I push myself from the edge of the bed and stand in front of her. I take her cheeks in my hands and bend slightly so I can stare into her eyes. “You never have to do anything alone again. You need to face him? Then we do it together. This is how things are now, Quinn. Us. Me and you.”
She nods, tears forming in her eyes, but she doesn’t allow them to drop.
Taking a step back, she turns toward the wardrobe. Wrapping my fingers around her wrist, I pull her back to me. “You change your mind at any point. You tell me and we’ll turn around.”
“I need to do this. I need those papers signed, but also, I think seeing him locked in there might help give me the closure I need.”
“Okay, let’s do this.”
In only thirty minutes we’re on the road. The drive to the prison is long and sadly mostly in silence as Quinn most probably relives her life with the man we’re about to see. I hate that she’s dealing with this on her own, but I’m confident that she’ll say something if she needs me.
The prison itself is a massive red brick building with huge gates topped with barbed wire. After getting through security we find a place to park and sit and stare. Dread sits heavy in my stomach, I can only imagine how Quinn’s feeling right now.
Reaching over, I take her hand. It trembles as I hold it tight in support.
“We can go back,” I offer.
She shakes her head. “No. I can do this.”
She blows out a long, slow breath before unbuckling and pushing the door open. The bitter wind immediately rushes into the car and makes me shiver. This place fills me with nothing but dread, and the dark and cold weather only makes it that much more unnerving.
Getting through to where others are waiting to meet their loved ones is harder work than getting through Heathrow, but after what feels like a year, we find ourselves a seat at a table and wait.
Glancing over at Quinn, I find her as white as a sheet as she worries the sleeve of her jumper, her eyes locked on the door a couple of the inmates have come through as she waits to see him again.
I know the second he appears because everything about her changes. The strong and confident woman I know and love almost vanishes before my eyes. I follow her stare, but if it weren’t for her reaction then I never would have recognised him.
