Page 122 of The Professor's Possession (Crystal River Billionaire Brothers)

What a hell of a day it’s been.

Spencer is somewhere further inside the station, talking to the police. I can’t see what room exactly he’s gone into. He’s been there for a while. I’m just waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

I was seen by a paramedic on the scene after the officers managed to restrain Quinn. They were nice, even to my sorry ass in my dazed, incoherent persona. The medic told me the slap on my face was, despite being painful, pretty shallow. The bruising will pass in a few days or so. There’s no need for me to make the trip to the nearest hospital, thank God.

Quinn was in such a state, even when surrounded by police. Spencer made sure that the officers were good to her despite what she had done. Iknowit’s the woman who so unexpectedly lashed out at me and assaulted me, but something stirred in me when I realized how caring this man was to the woman who ruined his world. Their entire conversation about divorce settlements and custody of Daisy before the slap is still so totally confusing, but I’m willing to bet a lot that the person getting shafted here is Spencer Penmayne.

I’ll just have to talk to him about it before I jump to any more conclusions about who he is. Get it all straight from the horse’s mouth before I do something like confront him in a public park again.

Talking about Spencer, here he comes now. He’s walking toward me from a back door, his daughter holding his hand tight. At least she’s no longer crying. I can’t imagine how scary it must be to see your own mother slap someone at her age. Daisy must be so confused and shocked.

Well, aren’t we all?

“Spencer. Hello, Daisy.”

I still don’t really know what to say to the man. It seems like moments ago I was utterly consumed with my anger for him and his lies, but now I don’t even know if he even was lying in the first place. My head is in a scramble.

“Hi, Olivia.”

At least Daisy is polite to me. She smiles as she says my name.

“I apologize for making you wait,” Spencer says to me. “I think it’s fair to say that this has been no one’s idea of a fun afternoon.”

“No, not really.”

“You must’ve been waiting for long,” he says. Daisy stares at me. I realize I really must look like a mess sitting here. I don’t even want to imagine how my face and hair must look. I could probably walk on stage at the local theatre performance of Macbeth as one of the witches right now and fit in perfectly.

“And no copy of Wuthering Heights to keep you company,” my professor mutters. A little joke to himself there, I see. I can’t help but let out a little smile. Damn, the man still has a hold over me.

Even with all the drama, his suit fits him impeccably. No ruffled cuffs. No undone tie. He’s the epitome of classy cool.

“What happened in there?” I ask him, keeping the ice pack still against my cheek.

The professor sighs. “I’ve spent a long time trying to argue my point with the police,” he says. “Asking them to release Quinn. Well, at least in a supervised way. I don’t want them to hold her here overnight, it wouldn’t be good for her.”

“Sheattackedyou,” I reply. “And me. And, according to what I heard out there, she’s been trying to hold back your daughter from even seeing you. Why would you do so much for her?”

“Sit,” Spencer instructs Daisy, pointing at the chair next to mine. He takes his own place opposite me. “She’s staying here tonight, though. Quinn needs help, not a jail cell. She needs rehab for her alcoholism. No matter what she’s done, she is still the mother of my daughter, and I want her treated to the highest of standards.”

“You’re a good man to take care of her,” I say. “I don’t know what I would do in your position.”

“To be honest, I don’t know what I’m doing most of the time,” Spencer replies. “I only want to see my daughter. That’s all I want.”

“I really didn’t expect any happening of this when I saw you in the park,” I remark.

Spencer just sighs again. “Let’s get out of this place,” he says tiredly. “Let’s go home. Let’s put Daisy to bed. And then we can talk properly.”

* * *

We all go backto Spencer’s townhouse. The place I never thought I would step foot in again.

We take his little girl to the spare room and tuck her in. I watch as Spencer reads her a bedtime story, which she loves. She watches him read with enraptured attention. Yeah, it’s the same look I have when I watch one of his lectures.

She seems to have calmed down after witnessing what she saw this afternoon.

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