Winning over their daughter when he hadn’t paid a moment’s pain for her wasn’t fair. Nowhere near fair.
“Will you be here tomorrow?” Zoe asked.
“That depends on whether your mother will let me stay,” he answered.
“Mummy?” A look of appeal from Zoe.
“We mustn’t count on it,” she warned her daughter before shooting a fuming look at Quin. “Your father might have to go back to his other world.”
“Do you have to, Daddy?” Zoe asked directly.
“Not if I can help it, but your mother and I need to talk about how we can be together. If I’m not here tomorrow, I promise I’ll be back very soon. Okay?”
He smiled at her.
She smiled back, believing him. “Okay.”
“Back to sleep now,” Nicole commanded, unable to bear any more togetherness between Quin and her daughter. She lifted Zoe into bed and tucked her up tightly, wanting to shield her precious child from the man who could make a terrible mess of their lives.
“Good night, darling,” she murmured, pressing a fervent kiss on her forehead—a kiss of love that spanned years, not a few minutes.
“’Night, Mummy. Is my Daddy going to kiss me goodnight, too?”
“Yes, he is,” Quin asserted before Nicole could reply, and she had to stand back and let him do it, fighting a mountain of fierce resentment at his assumption of a role he hadn’t earned.
She closed her ears to the all too intimate murmurs between them and walked to the door, impatient to usher Quin out, get him away from her daughter.
He came promptly enough not to stir her anger any higher, glancing at the butterfly tree before he passed out of the room. She switched off the light, closed the door, and led off to the kitchen which was far enough away from Zoe for a private conversation to be held without any risk of disturbing her.
The smell of newly made hot chocolate—a comfort drink—indicated that her mother was still up, anxiously waiting to be cued about what to do next. She burst into fearful speech the moment Nicole entered the kitchen.
“I didn’t tell him, Nicole. He guessed.”
“It’s not your fault, Mum. It’s mine for not agreeing to a postponement. He came to claim his night.” Acutely aware of the man just behind her, she turned to shoot him a derisive look. “Right, Quin?”
“Right!” he agreed ironically.
“But it is my fault!” her mother cried, looking hopelessly wretched about the situation. “If I hadn’t got so deeply in debt, you would never have gone to him, never…”
“Wrong, Mrs. Ellis,” Quin cut in strongly, moving up to stand beside Nicole. “The moment I saw Nicole again, I was determined to get her back in my life one way or another. Your debt was simply a means to the end I wanted.”
The ruthless purpose in his voice sent a convulsive shiver down Nicole’s spine. Would he now use Zoe to keep her sexually tied to him?
Her mother looked distractedly at Quin, not understanding the strict parameters attached to his idea of a relationship. “Why? It’s not fair!” she cried. “You didn’t want my daughter enough to marry her when it counted.”
“At the time, I didn’t know how much it counted, Mrs. Ellis,” he replied in a tone of quiet gravity.
Didn’t want to know, Nicole thought.
“You carry no blame for anything to do with me and Zoe, Mum,” she quickly asserted. “You’ve been wonderfully supportive all along. So please don’t fret over this. It’s up to me to sort it out with Quin. If you’ll just leave us alone…”
Her mother heaved a ragged sigh, rubbed her forehead in agitation, then picked up her mug of hot chocolate and moved to leave the kitchen, looking totally dispirited.
Quin spoke. “This probably won’t mean much to you, Mrs. Ellis, but I’m sorry I wasn’t here for Nicole and Zoe, and I thank you very sincerely for supporting them throughout my absence.”
She stopped beside him, looked sharply into his eyes, shook her head as though the situation was completely beyond her, then walked off without another word, heading for her bedroom.
Nicole moved briskly to the refrigerator, intending to get out the milk to make a hot comfort drink for herself and gain some fighting distance from Quin. When her mother’s bedroom door closed loudly enough to punctuate their privacy in the kitchen she turned on him, spitting mad.