Page 45 of Never Again

“I’m sure groveling and humiliation will be part of it,” she said, really wishing that she could get out of it, but…

They really needed that program.

“That sounds like a fun night.”

“Doesn’t it?” Bailey asked with a sleepy mumble as she closed her eyes, only to feel her breath catch a moment later when she felt Quinn’s fingertips gently trace her jaw.

“There’s another possibility,” he murmured as she felt his fingertips trace a path down her throat.

“What’s that?” Bailey asked, swallowing hard as she opened her eyes to find him watching her as he traced a path back up to her jaw and turned his hand so that he was cupping her face.

“He wants you,” Quinn said softly as his thumb caressed her cheek while she watched him lean in as his gaze flickered to her lips and-

Kissed her forehead.

“Goodnight, Bailey,” Quinn murmured against her skin before he dropped his hand away and climbed off her bed, grabbing his gun off the nightstand and made his way to her bedroom door, leaving her lying there, wondering why it was so hard watching him go.

CHAPTER25

“Ithink I’m dying,” came the mumbled response to Nathan’s demands to open the door, followed by the saddest fucking sniffle that Quinn had ever heard while he stood there, pinching the bridge of his nose, wondering what the hell he was doing here.

“Open. The. Door,” Nathan, who’d been trying unsuccessfully to convince his sister to open the door for the past hour, bit out as he continued to glare at the locked bathroom door in a way that didn’t bode well for his sister’s ass.

“I would, I really would, but with the dying and all, I don’t believe that I’ll be able to find the strength to cross the room and do that. I think it would be for the best if I conserved my strength,” Bailey said as Quinn stood there, telling himself that he should just let Jakob go with her tonight, but…

He didn’t trust anyone else to look after her.

“And I think it would be for the best if you opened the door before I was forced to break it down and spank your ass,” Nathan bit out.

There was a slight pause, and then, “Do what you must.”

Taking a deep breath, Nathan said, “You made a deal, Bailey.”

“Are you seriously okay with whoring out your favorite sister for a program?” came the reply that had Quinn slowly exhaling as he reminded himself that this was just a job.

“When it was your idea, yes!”

There was a gasp of outrage, and then, the bathroom door was thrown open and the small woman who was making his job more difficult than it needed to be was there, glaring up at her brother as she said, “It was my idea to kidnap and beat the shit out of him until he gave us what we wanted. It wasyouridea to negotiate with him.”

“Because we need that program,” Nathan bit out. “If we don’t get it, we will lose a shit load of money, violate our contracts, and have to lay off most of our staff, which is why you said yes in the first place, you little pain in the ass!”

Narrowing her eyes up at her brother, Bailey asked, “And if he wants sex?”

“First off, as far as I’m concerned, you’re a virgin and haven’t even so much as held a man’s hand for the sake of my sanity,” Nathan said, glaring right back down at his sister, “And second, the deal only covers you going out with him tonight. He has already been told to keep his fucking hands off you. He just wants a chance to make your life a living hell. That’s it.”

Nodding slowly, Bailey said, “Okay, I’m good with that,” with a satisfied sigh as she made her way to the elevator, only pausing long enough to grab her backpack while Quinn stood there, watching her and-

“God, she really is a pain in the ass,” Nathan said as Quinn reluctantly followed the little brat absently humming to herself, onto the elevator.

“This should be quick,” she murmured absently as she pulled her phone out and-

Started playing online Scrabble, Quinn realized, deciding that he really needed a fucking drink.

“The deal was for four hours,” Nathan said as he joined them, making the little brat frown.

“But-”

“Four hours,” Nathan stressed, only to glare when Bailey opened her mouth to argue.