Page 83 of Never Again

It had to be, Bailey told herself as she paced the large bathroom. Maybe she’d misread it, she thought as she found her gaze moving back to the iPad on the bathroom counter and…

“Screw it,” Bailey said, refusing to torture herself over this.

She was being an idiot.

That was it, Bailey told herself as she forced herself to walk back over to the iPad. Within seconds, she broke through the password and was opening the messenger app just in time to see the next text message show up and-

Did she tell you yet?

Her gaze flickered to the name at the top of the text box and took in the initials KJ before moving back down to watch as Quinn responded.

Not yet, baby.

Realizing that his iPad was linked to his phone, Bailey swallowed hard as she sat down on the edge of the tub and watched as Quinn told KJ how much he missed her, how he couldn’t wait to hold her again while KJ told him how much she hated this, only to watch as Quinn promised that it was almost over and that they were going to make her pay for everything that she did to them. That was followed by watching Quinn tell her that he loved her.

Feeling numb, Bailey forced herself to scroll back through the messages until she came to the messages that started just a few months before Quinn came back into her life. She read through every text message, each one more devastating than the last, as they discussed everything from the game that she was working on to the money they were going to make selling it, their plans for the future, and a breakdown of the security at Haven Technologies. They knew about Nathan’s connection to Tristan, about just how far they needed to push her to send Nathan running to Tristan for help, and how they were going to do whatever it took to keep her away from Haven Technologies building and away from a computer so that she wouldn’t be able to stop them.

In a matter of minutes, she knew everything.

She knew that they had been planning this for years.

She knew that they hated her.

She knew that they were willing to do whatever it took to ruin her life.

She knew that someone that she trusted had screwed her over.

And she knew that this was almost over.

CHAPTER49

“She’s not going anywhere,” Quinn bit out with a look that told his best friend exactly how far he was willing to go to protect Bailey.

“That’s not really your decision to make,” Tristan said, leaning back in his chair as he watched him curiously.

“You don’t think so?” Quinn asked dryly, even as he considered his options since going back to Haven Technologies right now wasn’t an option. Then again, neither was staying here. Tristan had always been there for him and he wasn’t about to thank him by putting him in the middle of this.

“Tell me something,” Tristan said, reaching over to grab a folder off the large stack on his desk.

“What’s that?” Quinn absently asked as he debated bringing Bailey back to his cabin in Georgia, only to wonder if that was even an option anymore.

“Why does she look like she’s about to kill you?” Tristan asked, looking really fucking amused with a pointed look past him.

Frowning, Quinn turned his head and-

Wondered why Bailey was slapping her hand over his mouth. That was followed by wondering why she was narrowing her eyes on him as she placed his iPad on the desk so that she could press her finger to her lips with a softly whispered, “Shhhh.”

When Tristan went to open his mouth, she turned that glare on him until he sighed heavily and gestured lazily for her to get on with it. With a firm nod, Bailey shifted her focus back to him, and with one last look of warning, she began searching his pockets until she found his cellphone.

As soon as she had it, Bailey shot him one last warning glare before she was climbing onto Tristan’s desk and picking his iPad back up and placing it on her lap before shifting her attention back to his phone. For several minutes, she didn’t say anything as she took her time scrolling through his phone only to frown, grumble to herself, and then shift her attention back to his iPad.

Not really sure what she was doing, Quinn shared a look with Tristan to find him watching her curiously as she did whatever the hell it was that she was doing. After several more minutes, a half-dozen grumbles, and the occasional glare in his direction to make sure that he wasn’t going to say anything, Bailey reached back and helped herself to a pen and a notepad off Tristan’s desk and began making notes.

When she still didn’t say anything several minutes later, Quinn opened his mouth only to end up grunting when the little pain in the ass decided to get more comfortable by climbing off the desk and dropping down on his lap. That was followed by her pausing in what she was doing just long enough to gesture for him to move the chair closer to the desk.

Sighing heavily, Quinn wrapped one arm around her and stood up just enough so that he could grab hold of the chair and drag it closer to Tristan’s desk. When he moved to sit back down, the little brat that he adored mumbled, “Closer,” once again gesturing for him to get on with it. Narrowing his eyes on the back of her head, he pulled the chair closer and sat back down, taking her with him as he asked, “Better?”

“This will do,” Bailey said with a sniffle as she settled back against him and-

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