“Heard things got crazy last night.” My sister turned away from the stove to face me. “Is it true? Was she really there?”
I snuck a sideways glance at my niece before shrugging. “You mean, your husband didn’t know? He owns the place, Rave. Shouldn’t he keep up with who is actually working for him?”
She rolled her eyes at me. “You know he doesn’t have much to do with that club. He’s too busy to keep up with who Topaz hires, and so many girls come and go, it’s hard to keep up with them, even if he did.”
I didn’t try to push her further, knowing she was right. Bash was always busy these days. Whether it was with Raven and the kids, work, or the MC, he was always running around, doing something.
Clenching my jaw, I popped my knuckles as I remembered the guy touching Quinn the night before while she continued to dance on stage for a crowd of hundreds of guys, nearly naked. “Yeah,” I gritted out. “It’s true. But she won’t be going back.”
Our choice of conversation had Flick’s eyes opening a little farther. “Why was she doing it? I mean, if Quinn needed money, all she had to do was come to us.”
I shrugged. “She wouldn’t say why, other than that she needed the money.”
“Huh,” Flick muttered and took a sip of her steaming coffee. “Well, Jet said the uncles aren’t happy about it. Figure someone’s head is about to roll over it. You know how much they love Quinn.”
Everyone loved Quinn. How could they not?
How had it taken me so long to realize that I loved her, too?
For the next half an hour, I sat there, listening to the women talking. They asked me a question every now and then, but I was too lost in my own head to do more than grunt an answer or two.
Raven made me a plate of bacon and eggs before the others started coming down to start their day. Gracie was the first to enter the kitchen, and as she moved toward the coffee pot to fill her to-go cup, I pushed to my feet.
I had found out from Aggie the night before that Quinn was supposed to work from eight to four. I wanted to be there when she got in. Even if she wouldn’t talk to me, I would be there to watch over her in case Fontana or his crew tried anything.
As I was going out the back door, I heard a hog coming at a speed that would have had Raven going apeshit on the rider if the kids had been outside. I had barely closed the door to the kitchen behind me when I saw Colt coming. His tires screeched, leaving skid marks on the recently resealed driveway just feet away from me.
I had barely pulled my keys out of my picket when he was jumping off his hog and heading my way.
“Morning, broth—”
I was cut off when he did a Superman jump and threw a punch at me all at once.
I went flying backward onto my ass at the force of his punch, my jaw throbbing like a motherfucker. I didn’t even have time to ask what the hell he was doing before he jumped on me, his fists flying in every direction, each one feeling like they packed the force of a damn jackhammer.
I struggled under his assault, fighting back. I rolled us, getting a few punches to his face along the way, until I was on top. I pinned him down with my legs, holding his shoulders against the asphalt of the driveway with my hands while my little brother struggled like a bucking horse under me.
“What the fuck?” I roared in his face. The tangy, metallic taste of blood was filling my mouth, but I was too busy trying to keep him from not starting another round to care about the source of the bleeding.
“I’m going to kill you,” Colt snarled at me like a wild animal.
I tightened my hold on his shoulders when he nearly broke free, digging my knees into his ribs when he only struggled harder. “I figured that part out. Why?”
“Quinn.”
That one word, her sweet name, was all I needed to hear to know what was going on with my brother. So, he knew. I was actually glad. I had been debating back and forth with myself for weeks about just coming out and telling him what had happened with Quinn. Fear of embarrassing her or hurting her by talking to her best friend about our night together had kept my mouth shut. That and I had figured he would go fucking ballistic. I hadn’t wanted to deal with his shit then.
The same could have been said for right then, as well, but it was what it was. He knew now, and I hoped that once he calmed down, I could explain the things I had discovered about myself—that I wanted to make Quinn mine.
She already was, though. In my eyes, in my fu
cking heart, Quinn was mine in every way that mattered.
I just had to convince her of it.
“I don’t know what to say, man.” It was the truth. I had no idea what to say to him right then. Somehow, I figured saying “So, I fucked your best friend” wasn’t going to go over too well with him.
I had let myself get a little distracted thinking about her, my hold on him easing just a fraction. It was all Colt needed to pull one arm free and punch me upside the head.