Page 26 of Never Again

“Here, you mean?” Quinn asked as he leaned over and grabbed the Coke off the coffee table.

“Mmmhmm,” she murmured around a bite of steak while she watched him take a sip and grumbled when he was forced to glare at her when she moved to pluck the Coke out of his hand after he finished taking a sip.

“It wasn’t really an option,” he said as he placed the Coke back on the table and thought about that moment when the social worker broke the news that his mother was dead. Before he had a chance to wrap his mind around what she was saying, she was telling him that his grandfather was coming to get him and bring him down to Georgia to live with him as his gaze locked on his grandmother the moment that the realization that her only daughter had died hit.

“I was fine where I was,” Quinn said quietly as he thought about the way that his grandmother tried to hold it together for him and-

“You’re a good man, Quinn.”

CHAPTER14

“Jesus Christ,” Quinn muttered as she watched him rub his hands roughly down his face as she sat there, considering him for a moment before she shifted her attention back to the movie that was proving to be very informative.

She watched as Kevin Costner’s character raced across the stage in slow motion and pushed Whitney Houston’s character out of the way seconds before everything went to hell. For several minutes, Bailey sat there, enjoying the lovely bowl of popcorn that Quinn was kind enough to make for her as she finished watchingThe Bodyguard, which she’d chosen for research purposes, and when it was done…

“So, I have questions,” Bailey said as she shifted her attention back to the man who’d been glaring at her since she’d announced her movie selection.

“Don’t,” Quinn bit out as he leveled a look of warning that she chose to ignore.

Nodding as though the warning worked for her, Bailey pointed to the television as she said, “Start talking.”

“It’s a movie,” the man who’d moved on to rubbing his temples with his fingertips bit out.

“And yet, I still have questions,” Bailey said, watching him as she popped another piece of popcorn in her mouth while she waited for him to get on with it.

When he only glared at her, she decided to take pity on him and make this easier for him. “He was paid three thousand dollars a week in that movie. How much is my brother paying you to protect me?”

“More to make sure that they never find your body,” Quinn said as he dropped his hands away.

“Understandable,” Bailey murmured as she moved on with her interrogation. “How are your knife-throwing skills?”

“As much as I’d love to finish this conversation, I need to check the perimeter,” Quinn said with a heavy sigh as he stood up and-

Narrowed his eyes when she got to her feet with a murmured, “I love checking the perimeter.”

That was followed by sending him a hopeful smile as she moved to place the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, only to rethink the move when his eyes narrowed dangerously on her. Clearing her throat, Bailey murmured, “I’ll just go put this on the kitchen counter and get my shoes on.”

“You’re not going,” Quinn said firmly with a pointed look back at the couch.

“I see,” Bailey murmured as she followed his gaze as she debated the best way to handle this.

She could point out that he was supposed to be protecting her, but since they both knew that she really didn’t think that she really needed protection, he wouldn’t buy it. He had the house wired with an alarm system, security cameras in the house and around it, as well as sensors on the driveway and around the house and would know the second that anyone set foot on the property. That, and he could be back here in under two minutes, something that she found out the other day when he was doing a perimeter check and she’d decided to enjoy a lovely cup of coffee while he was gone.

Before she’d managed to take a sip, Quinn was there, plucking the cup that was giving off a delicious aroma out of her hand and taking a sip while he considered her. He didn’t say anything, but then again, he didn’t need to, not when she knew what that look in his eye meant. That had been followed by her clearing her throat, murmuring, “Excuse me,” and returning to the bed where she went with a hopeful look that quickly died away and had her grumbling as she flopped down onto her side and resigned herself to spending the rest of the day in bed.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Quinn said as he moved to grab his phone off the coffee table, only to go still at her next words.

“If you think that’s a good idea…” Bailey said, letting her words trail off as she let her gaze shift to that locked footlocker by the wall and-

“You really are a pain in the ass,” Quinn said, reaching up to pinch the ridge of his nose.

“I’ll just go grab my shoes,” Bailey said with a satisfied sigh as she made her way to the closet where she kept her things even as she debated whether she should change out of her plaid pajama pants only to decide against it since it would only give the man that was glaring at her again a chance to ditch her.

Since that wouldn’t work for her, Bailey made quick work of pulling off the comfy socks that she’d helped herself to from his bag, pulled on a pair of her socks, followed by her sneakers, and once she was done, she turned around and debated her next question. Deciding that she’d start with his knife-throwing skills, she opened her mouth and-

“No talking,” Quinn said with a look of warning as he double-checked his gun before placing it back in its holster. She opened her mouth to argue, only to close it when gray eyes narrowed on her, deciding that she probably shouldn’t push her luck.

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