Loving Quinn Novel by North Rose

(Annora)

Breakfast with Grace the next morning was much smoother than Monday. I am grateful for Quinn helping me make her lunch while I did her hair for school. It is so nice having his help in the mornings. For far too long, it was just the two of us in a battle of wills each morning.

Grace is normally an easy-going child. However, temperamental in the mornings. Thankfully, she do we moved in with Quinn, she has been with her tonight to discuss what is going on with her throw one today. I plan to sit down.

Once we dropped her off at school, Quinn and I drive to the police station. Vincent is meeting us there. Not because I need one, but so he can speak to the police about the charges against Lana. I am nervous about talking to her.

There is so much anger brewing in me over what she tried to do..

“Hey, you have nothing to be afraid of. She is behind bars. Vincent will do all that he can make sure she stays there for a while.”

I glance over at Quinn as he pulls into the parking lot at the police station. His face is calm, but his eyes show the storm brewing within him, I understand he is fighting his need to protect me. We fought last night because he wanted to hire a bodyguard for me.

His concern comes from a place of love, which I understand completely. However, I think having a bodyguard for me is a bit much. For Grace, not at all. Her life is far more precious to me than my own. Quinn argued that both our lives are precious to him, and he wants to keep us both safe.

That was a valid point, but I still denied needing a bodyguard.

Now that we are here at the police station, I feel the need to assure him I will be fine. All I want to know is why she did it. What did she hope to gain by killing me? Her plan wouldn’t have gotten Kyle out of a prison a sentence if she succeeded.

She has nothing at all to gain by my death.

“I just want to look her in the eyes and know why she did this. Then I will make my statement to the police and ensure that I want to press charges against her for this. Kyle and Lana have done enough to me, and I am done letting either of them affect my life.”

He nods his head, gives my hand a squeeze, then opens his door and exits the car. I take a deep breath, then join him. We walk into the police station hand in hand. I am glad he is here with me. I am confident that I can handle anything Lana has to say to me but knowing that I am not alone anymore makes me feel stronger.

“How can I help you?” An office at the front desk asks.

“They are with me,” Vincent says.

He walks to us with confidence, then leads us back towards an office, who is waiting next to a set of sealed doors. The officer scans his identification, then the doors open, and he leads the three of us further into the building.

Detective Morris meets us outside the interview room. His expression shows mild annoyance as he glace at us. Is he irritated that I wanted to talk to Lana?Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“Ah, Ms. Winters, Mr. Greyson. Welcome to the s**it show. That is one angry woman in

there.”

“Angry?” Vincent asks.

“You will see when we go in there. I want to assure you both that we have enough to charge her and the driver with attempted murder, attempted vehicular homicide, bribery, and a few other crimes. We also found another interesting bit of information in her cellphone records.”

Now this has my attention.

“What else has she done?”

‘She hired a private investigator to follow you and Greyson. His notes are all on record now, but it was the why she hired him that was interesting.”

I frown at him the glance up at Quinn. He is staring at Morris with an expression that clearly says, ‘get to the point already.’ I agree with him,

hy did she hire the investigator?”

“To get dirt on Greyson. Her plan was to prove he was unfit to be a parent so she could help her husband try for custody of his daughter again.”

“Grace is not Kyle’s daughter, and that we proved in court.” Quinn says.

“Tell them the really interesting part.” Detective Anson says as he walks up to us.

I glance at him as he stops next to his partner.

“Do you know a Dionne Masters?” Morris asks.

What the f**k? How the f**k do Lana and Dionne know each other? When and where would

they have had the chance to bump into each other? What is going on?

“I do. Which I am sure you know that by now.” Quinn says.

Now there is anger in his voice. I am right there with him. However, it isn’t the detectives” fault, so I squeeze his hand to get his attention. When he glances down at me, I just look into his eyes. I try to convey without words for him to calm down.

“How does this investigator relate to both women?” Vincent asks.

“They both hired him within days for each other. There is no solid link between them other than him. The interesting thing is that they both hired him to follow Greyson. So, we had to dig to find out why, but since you both are here now, you can answer those questions.”

Vincent looks at Quinn, who nods his head.

“Lead us to an interview room and my client will tell you how he knows Ms. Masters, also

known as Mrs. Ethan McAllister.”

Anson nods, then leads us further down the hall. After Quinn filled them in on the mess with Dionne, thou

then brought us back to stand outside the room Lana was in. I have hated no one in my life, but I am feeling something close to that for both the women trying to ruin our lives.

I look at her through the two-way mirror as I wait for Detective Morris to join me. Her hair. is a mess, clothes are disheveled, and her make-up is ruined. Miss perfectly dressed and polished has fallen far. I bet she never expected to get caught.

“How did you catch the guy she hired?” I ask as Morris walks up beside me and Quinn.

“His prints weren’t on file here in the Bay area, but we widened the search and got a hit. When we went to his house he panicked, tried to run, bun Anson here used to be a track star, so he didn’t get far. The man confessed right there on the spot.”

“Who is he? How did she hire him?”

“That is the funny thing. He is her brother.”

That I did not see coming.

“You ready?”

I nod my head, give Quinn a hug, then follow Morris and Vincent into the room. I almost laugh out loud when Lana looks at me. Shock, anger, then defeat cross her face in rapid fire. then the anger settles over her pale features. I watch as she clenches then unclenches her Ests. They cuffed her hands to the table, so that gives me some satisfaction.

Vincent pulls out a chair for me, so I sit. He stands behind me when Morris sits next to me. No one says anything for a few minutes. Lana’s rapid breathing fills the room as she tries to control her anger.

“Why, Lana? What did I do to you that was so bad for you to want to kill me?”

She ignores me.

“You have been jealous of me since you and Kyle got married. Longer, in fact. I mean, you

ept with my husband. We both know he isn’t worth it.”

Rage flashed through her eyes when I mention Kyle. Good, this is what I want. Maybe if I p** her off enough, she will tell me what I want to know.

“Were you jealous because he beat me? Did you want that for yourself?”

“He never hurt you! That is all the lies you told the judge!” Lana screams.

I hold my arms out to show her the scars I got when he threw me through the glass window. Her eyes drop to the table. She knows what he is capable of.

“When was the first time he hit you, Lana?”

Her eyes fly up to mine.

I know Kyle, I will guess it was not long after their honeymoon. That was when his abuse

ith me. A slap across the face when I wore a dress that was too revealing for him. He cried crocodile tears and said he would never hit me again.

starter

That was a lie I learned as time went on.

“He has never hit me. Those are your lies.”

I can tell by the way her eyes shift to look anywhere but at me I am on the right track. Kyle

beat her, too. It doesn’t surprise me. It sickens me.

“Why be jealous of me, then? He treated me the same way he treats you. What did I do to you, Lana? Why cling to a man like that? A man who keeps chasing his ex-wife. A man who beats you for anything you do that displeases him. What did I do to you, Lana?”

“YOU DIDN’T WARN ME THAT HE WAS LIKE THAT!!”

Tears slip from her eyes as she screams at me. My eyes widen in shock he raw pain in her eyes

Why would she fight for him like this? It is not my fault that she stayed with him this long. I warned her.

“I warned you, Lana. The day I caught you in my bed with my husband, again on the day your two got married, then again when you came to the hospital after he tried to kill me. You didn’t listen to me.”

“I thought you were just saying that because you were a bitter woman who had her mad stolen by me.” 1

“I celebrated my luck the day I caught you two.”

Her face pales when she looks at me.

“Not because he would now do all of that to you, but because I know had a reason to set myself free from his abuse. Well, I had reasons before, but this reason gave me an opportunity to make it lasting. Your sleeping with Kyle gave me my life back.”

I stand up.

“I am sorry that you didn’t listen to my warnings, that you ignored all the police reports, all the evidence proving he is a monster. Should I have tried harder to save you? Maybe. However, you can’t save someone who won’t acknowledge that they are in danger and need saving. I will help you now.”

With that, I walk out of the room. Vincent follows behind me. Quinn opens his arms for me, and I take the comfort he is offering. We stand like that for a few moments before he clears. his throat.

“What do you want to do?” Vincent asks.

“I want her and her brother to pay for what they did. However, I want to make a plea to the judge that she be examined by a psychiatrist and a doctor that knows the signs of domestic

violence. She is a victim of Kyle Wells. It doesn’t excuse what she did, but she needs help.”

“I will put both requests in with the prosecuting attorney on her behalf. I admire your restraint and your compassion.”

Vincent leaves us in the hall as he walks away to do his job. Morris closes the interview. room door as he joins us. His face is pale, and he looks a little shaken.

“We are having her moved back to her cell. If we need anything more from either of, u, we will call.”

I watch him walk away until he is out of sight. When I glance up at Quinn, there is sadness. and anger in his eyes. We haven’t really talked about Kyle’s abusive ways. He has asked some questions about the night Kyle tried to kill me, but other than that, he has kept quiet about my past with my ex-husband.

From the look in his eyes, I know we need to talk about it soon.

“Can we go home? I cleared my schedule today. I just want to go home.”

The drive home is silent as I am lost in my thoughts. I don’t want to taint my relationship with Quinn by sharing the ugly abuse I lived through. However, he has been open and honest about his past so I will share mine with him.

I am going to need wine, chocolate, and my fuzzy slippers for this.

By the time we enter the penthouse, I can feel his anger like a living thing pulsing between us. I say nothing to him as I head to our room to change back into my nightclothes. When I walk back downstairs, Quinn isn’t in the living room or the kitchen.

I search his office, the library, and the guest room. Not sure why I looked in there, but I did. Then a thought crosses my mind. I know where to find him. I make my way through the penthouse until I am outside the door to his personal gym.

The sound of fists striking leather greets me as I open the door.

Quinn is in a pair of sport shorts, boxing gloves, and covered in sweat. I can’t help the painful spear of lust that flares through me at the sight of him like this. However, the storm of emotions in his eyes swiftly chase away my thoughts of letting have his way with me right.

here on the floor.

know what he is doing by being in here. He is beating the s**t out of the punching bag

while hang it as Kyle’s face. I can’t say I blame him and wouldn’t mind giving it a shot

myself. I think I would really enjoy it.

Could be cathartic.

Got a spare pair of gloves so I can beat the s** out of Kyle with you?”

Quinn stops mid-punch, then turns around to look at me. A smile tugs at the c lips as he looks me over from head to toe. He nudges his head to the right.

er of his

“There should be a pair that fit you in the cabinet over there. However, you are not dressed for boxing.”

The smirk he gives me makes me laugh. Soon I am standing in front of the heavy bag in a sports bra and jogging shorts. Quinn is standing behind me adjusting my footing, hip stance, then he shows me how to hold my hands to strike the bag.

After a few hits, I get the hang of it and just go to town.

I was right about this being cathartic.

Kyle Wells is a monster that will no longer take up space in my head after today. I will help Lana find peace after I make her face the consequences of trying to have me killed.

I am just lucky her brother failed at his job.

Quinn spends the rest of the afternoon teaching me boxing moves, then he peels me out of my clothes and does what I wanted to do when I saw his sweaty body.

One hurdle down, one more to go.