This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are

products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and are not to be
construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, businesses,
or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

be reproduced, scanned, distributed, or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written
permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing, 2013

ASIN:

Kindle Direct Publishing

kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing

Acknowledgements

First, I want to say thank you to my husband and my girls, who have been nothing but supportive

of me. Second, I want to give a shout out to my friend, Jessica Carroll, who started me on this crazy

journey; without her and her blog, no one would have ever heard about the Beck Brothers. And last

but not least, to my editor, Megan Hershenson, who worked tirelessly, to make my work sound better

and more professional. And of course, thanks to all my fans, I love you all!!!

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Quinn sighed heavily as he stared down at the invitation in front of him. He hoped Sebastian

forgot about their little conversation a few months ago, but no, of course he didn’t. He even put
her damn name on the invitation. Fucker. Quinn read the envelope again.

Mr. Quinn Beck & Ms. Margot Leclair

Dammit! He was so freaking screwed. Quinn took a deep breath and got up from his drafting

table. Margot was sitting at her desk designing a hotel room on her computer. He walked over
and stopped in front of her. She had her chin resting in her palm as she clicked away on her
mouse. He tapped the invitation against his leg nervously. He really didn’t want to do this.

“Margot?” Quinn murmured quietly.

Margot clicked a few more times before looking up at him, a small smile on her pretty face.

“Oui?” she replied. ‘Oui’ was one of the few French words that Quinn actually knew.

Quinn cleared his throat. “I...uh...my brother’s wedding is coming up and...uh...well...” he

stammered, like a fool. Quinn sighed heavily and held out the envelope with the invitation in it
toward her.

Margot gave him a quizzical look and took the envelope. She looked at it in confusion at

first, before smiling wide. She covered her mouth with her hand as she started giggling. Quinn
scowled down at her, as her amused gaze lifted to meet his.

“Your brother is...how do you say? Messing with you, non?” Margot grinned.

Quinn nodded. “He told me the night that he met you that I better bring you or I wasn’t

invited.”

Margot laughed and bit her bottom lip, trying to stop herself. “I am sorry. I do not mean to

laugh. It is very comical, though,” she said.

Quinn rolled his eyes. He was going to kill Sebastian for this.

She looked at the invitation then back up at him, her smile fading. “You do not want to take

me,” she said, sounding more like a statement rather than a question.

Quinn watched her for a moment. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking. She had closed off

her face, impassive even. It was so unlike her, that he knew it was an act. Could she possibly be
upset? Did she seriously want to go with him?

“Do not worry, Quinn. I will decline to attend,” Margot said quietly. She handed back the

invitation and went back to her work.

Great! Now he felt like a dickhead. “I don’t have anyone else to go with,” he found himself

blurting out. He was so going to regret this.

Margot’s hazel eyes lifted again to meet his. He caught the flash of hurt in her eyes before she

covered it up. “It is okay, Quinn. I am sure you would much rather go by yourself, rather than
bring me with you. I understand,” she said neutrally.

Dammit! She was really going to make him say it, wasn’t she? Quinn had just opened his

mouth to say that he did want her to go, but Peter’s voice interrupted him.

“Oh good! You’re both here!” Peter said cheerfully as he walked into the office.

Quinn spun to look at Peter. His boss and good friend strolled in with his hands in his gray

pants pockets. His shirt was white, and he was wearing his signature bow tie and black framed
glasses. He was super skinny and was a good five or so inches shorter than Quinn, who was six
feet three inches. Peter was an okay-looking guy, very nondescript. If it wasn’t for his bow tie
and glasses, he’d be practically invisible.

“Bonjour, Peter,” Margot said. The pep was back in her voice.

Quinn glanced back at her, but she avoided looking at him. He sighed in irritation and turned

back toward Peter. “Hey, Peter. What’s up?” Quinn grumbled.

“Well, I just registered you two to attend the World Architectural Seminar in London.” Peter

smiled proudly.

Quinn gaped at him. “You did what?” he asked dryly.

“The two of you are going to London on Monday so that you can attend the World

Architectural Seminar,” Peter repeated himself.

“How long will we be gone for?” Margot asked.

“Five days. It’s a three day seminar - you’ll fly in on Monday, the seminar is Tuesday,

Wednesday, and Thursday, and you’ll come home on Friday,” Peter explained, “All expenses
are paid for. The only problem is that the hotel was book up tight, so you will have to share a
room.”

Quinn closed his eyes. He needed to block out Peter’s face before he punched him in it. What

the fuck was going on here? Why the hell did it seem like everyone was trying to force Margot
on him? First, Sebastian, and now, Peter. It was most likely all in his head, but he still felt that
way.

“You guys will have the weekend to pack. Stop by my office before leaving and I should

have your plane tickets printed out and ready to go, along with your itineraries,” Peter said
before walking out of the office.

Quinn took a few deep breaths to try to calm himself down. He was practically vibrating

with anger. He could not believe Peter did this without even asking him first. As if it wasn’t bad
enough that he had to spend five full days with Margot, but he had to share a room with her, too?
That was insane! Did Peter want him to go crazy? Not only from Margot’s fidgeting, but also
with lust. His body didn’t care that she was annoying; all it cared about was how sexy she was.
He was seriously going to reconsider his friendship with Peter for this stunt.

~~~~~

Margot sat quietly as she absorbed the news that Peter just gave them. She could tell that

Quinn was livid. His face was blank but his body was wound up tight. She did not mind going; in
fact, she thought it would be a great opportunity to learn something new possibly. Her only
hesitation was Quinn - he did not care for her. She knew she irritated him with her fidgeting, but
she just was not the type of person to sit still. Quinn was a quirky guy, and he had many pet
peeves that she apparently touched on.

Margot considered herself a complete fool because she liked him anyway. He was complex,

like a puzzle she needed to figure out. It definitely did not hurt that he was extremely handsome
with his medium-brown hair and chocolate eyes that were framed with long dark lashes. His lips
were full and firm looking, making her wonder what they would feel like against hers. She
caught herself many times just staring at him.

From what Margot could see, considering he always wore a shirt and tie, was that he had an

amazing body. His shirts were fairly form fitting and showed off his broad chest and back. He
would sometimes roll his sleeves up to reveal his muscled forearms. He had a delicious
derrière, too. Every pair of pants he owned hugged his firm tush, making Margot want to drool.
She could only imagine what he looked like underneath his clothes.

“I have never been to London, have you?” Margot asked Quinn, who was still standing in

front of her desk.

Quinn opened his eyes and looked down at her. “No,” he said shortly.

“Maybe we can do some sightseeing if we have time, yes?” Margot asked hopefully. She

would love to get the chance to look around London. Go see some of the sights.

Quinn gave her a sharp nod before moving back over to his drafting table. Margot had hopes

of possibly getting on his good side on this trip. Maybe if he got to know her outside of work, he

would come to like her better. Margot was not used to people not liking her. Usually everyone
liked her bubbly attitude and openness. She normally did not care about what people thought of
her, she was who she was and she would change for no one. Something about Quinn not liking
her rubbed her the wrong way, though. It was her new mission in life to get him to like her, even
if it was only as a friend.

“You’re going with me to my brother’s wedding,” Quinn told her as he sat down.

Margot blinked at him. “I do not want to go if you do not want me there, Quinn.”

Quinn lifted his eyes to meet hers. She could see that there was going to be no arguing with

him. “You’re going,” he said with finality.

Margot pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him. “Fine,” she said after a moment.

Margot was sure there was something wrong with her. Was she really going to let him tell

her what to do? There was something extremely sexy about him when he was being domineering
though. Oui, there was definitely something wrong with her.

“When is the wedding?” Margot asked.

“The first Saturday in March,” Quinn replied.

Margot nodded and added it to the calendar on her computer. She really did want to go. His

brothers seemed really friendly and charming when she met them a few months ago. She could
not remember ever being in the presence of such a handsome group of men. Every one of them
was good-looking and built. They were all tall and broad, and were all blonde, except for
Quinn, who had brown hair. There was no mistaking that they were brothers since the
resemblance between the four of them was apparent.

Even in the short amount of time that she spent with them, she realized that Quinn was very

different from his brothers. The rest of them seemed fairly outgoing, while he was quiet and
reserved. His one brother, Christian, seemed a little shy. There was a difference between being
mildly shy and being intentionally reticent though. Margot has worked with Quinn for close to a
year now, and he never said one word about having brothers. Really, she knew nothing about
him. He never talked about himself. Maybe this little trip will open him up a bit.

~~~~~

Quinn was not a morning person, so getting up at 5:00 am to catch a plane made him

extraordinarily cranky. It definitely didn’t help that Margot was her bright chirpy self. She was
wide-eyed and full of smiles. Jesus Christ. Quinn could barely keep his eyes open and they had
only gotten to the check-in desk.

They checked their bags, making their way through Philadelphia International Airport to their

gate. First stop was the security check. Quinn was only carrying on his laptop. Margot had her
purse and one other small bag. They both checked in a suitcase and garment bag that carried their
dress clothes. Quinn was glad she wasn’t one of those women who needed to bring their whole
closet when they went on a trip. He had an ex-girlfriend once who brought four bags on a three-
day trip to New York. Four. Bags. That’s insane! Shortly after they got home from New York,
he dumped her. He didn’t do high-maintenance women.

Margot went through the metal detector first. She cleared it and went to the end of the

conveyor belt to grab her stuff. Quinn walked through next without a problem. He was just
grabbing his laptop bag when a TSA member approached him.

“Sir, we need you to step aside for a random pat down,” said the man who looked like

freaking Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Quinn stared at him. At least they were about the same height. Stone Cold had probably about

fifty more pounds of muscle over Quinn, though, and Quinn wasn’t a small guy by any means. He
was a bit of a fitness and health nut and liked to keep his body in shape.

“Seriously? Do I look like a terrorist to you?” Quinn snapped before he could think better of

it.

Stone Cold’s eyes narrowed threateningly. “Sir, come with me please,” he said firmly.

“Man, I’m not going anywhere. I have a plane to catch, I don’t need this shit,” Quinn

grumbled, slipping back on his shoes.

Margot came over and touched his arm. “Quinn, just do as the man says,” she pleaded, her

hazel eyes darting cautiously between him and Stone Cold.

“Sir, if you don’t follow me, I will make sure you miss your flight,” Stone Cold threatened.

Quinn gritted his teeth and glared at the man for a minute. “Fine,” he ground out. The only

reason he gave in so easily was that Margot was with him. If he had been by himself, he would
have argued more.

“Ma’am, please grab your bags and follow us,” Stone Cold said to Margot then took Quinn’s

elbow in his beefy grasp.

Quinn glared down at the hand holding his elbow. “You better get your damn hand off me,”

he growled.

Quinn could not believe this was happening. He was blaming Peter for this. Stone Cold

tugged Quinn forward, obviously not giving a shit about his threat. Beefy-beeferson led Margot

and him through a coded door and down a short hallway. He opened a door on the right and led
them inside. The room was small with bright overhead lights. There was a metal table pushed up
against the back wall, with a plastic folding chair against the wall, next to the table.

“Ma’am, have a seat please,” said Beefcake.

Margot did as she was told. Just as she sat, another male agent entered the room and shut the

door behind him.

“Sir, please place your bag on the table, empty your pockets and step back,” the new guy

said. This one was older and had an air of superiority about him. He must be a supervisor or
something.

Quinn did as he was told. When he was finished, he stepped back and let them search his

things. He crossed his arms over his chest and cocked a hip while he waited. He glanced at
Margot who was looking anxiously between him and the agents. This pissed Quinn off even
more. Neither of them should have to be subjected to this. After the agents finished tearing his
shit apart, they moved to stand in front of him.

“Sir, we’re going to ask you to remove your clothing,” the new guy said.

Quinn heard Margot gasp while his jaw dropped. “What? You’re fucking kidding me, right?

I thought you were just doing a pat down!” he choked in disbelief.

“We have reason to believe you’re hiding something on your person,” Stone Cold said

seriously.

“Excuse me?” Quinn blinked in utter shock.

“Sir, you might want to just comply if you want to make your flight,” the older man added.

Quinn laughed bitterly and shook his head. “Un-fucking-believable,” he muttered. He took off

his coat and dropped it to the floor, and yanked his red and black striped polo shirt over his
head.

~~~~~

Margot’s eyes widened as Quinn angrily yanked his shirt over his head and tossed it to the

floor. One of the agents picked up his coat and shirt and started feeling through them. She stared
at Quinn’s broad back. She could see his muscles rippling under his lightly bronzed skin. He had
a tattoo on his back in between his shoulder blades at the base of his neck. It looked like a
Chinese symbol of some sort. She would have to ask him about it later.

Next, Quinn removed his shoes and socks then shed his jeans, which left him standing in

black boxer-briefs. The agents went through each article of clothing, feeling around to see if
there was anything in them that shouldn’t be. Margot’s eyes wandered down his broad back,
over his tight rear end, thickly muscled thighs, and nicely shaped calves. Her heart thumped in
her chest; in her entire life, she has never seen such a finer specimen in person. Her body
thrummed with awareness, wondering what all that hard ropey muscle would feel like under her
hands or against her own body.

“Underwear, too, Sir,” said the older man that had come in later.

“Seriously? You want me to get completely naked in front of my coworker?” Quinn muttered

dryly.

Quinn might have sounded calm and collected but Margot knew better. She saw the way his

shoulders bunched, and the way his fists kept opening and closing. She might not know much
about his life outside of work, but she knew from the set of his body, that he was absolutely
livid.

“I’m sure she can avert her eyes,” said the younger agent as he glanced at her.

Quinn peeked over his shoulder at her. Margot will never forget the humiliated look in his

eyes. His jaw clenched tight, and his normally lush mouth was a thin angry line. Margot stood;
her eyes locked on his, and turned the chair to face the wall before sitting back down in it. She
stared at the wall. She was tempted to peek when she heard him remove his underwear, but she
did not dare. She silently gave her word that she would not look.

“Lift your scrotum. Alright. Now turn, bend over and spread your buttocks.” Margot heard

the older man say.

Margot had to stifle a groan. She covered her face with her hands and shook her head. How

degrading! Poor Quinn! What a horrible way to start a trip. No doubt, Peter would be getting an
earful about this and Margot would not blame Quinn for chewing Peter’s ear off. They did not
ask to go on this trip.

“Are you fucking satisfied now?” Quinn growled.

“Yes, you may get dressed and go to your gate.”

“Thanks a-fucking-lot,” Quinn snarled.

Margot listened to Quinn’s hasty movements to put his clothes and gray pea coat back on.

Margot started when he suddenly appeared at the table to grab his things. He shoved his wallet
and phone into his back pockets, and grabbed his laptop bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

“Let’s go, Margot,” he said quietly.

Margot got up and followed him to the door. The younger agent led them back out to the

security check where he let them go. Quinn pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the
time. After he shoved it back into his pocket, he reached over and grabbed her hand.

“We have ten minutes to get to the gate,” he muttered, pulling her along quickly.

Thankfully, she wore flats today; otherwise, it would have been very difficult to keep up

with his long strides. They made it to the gate with a minute to spare. Once onboard, they found
their seats and settled in. Quinn put Margot’s carryon in the overhead compartment before sitting
down next to her. She took the middle seat, while he had the aisle.

Margot glanced over at Quinn, who has not looked at her since they left that room. She hated

that he went through that, and even more so, she hated that he went through that in front of her. If
it were just him, he probably would not have been so humiliated because there would have been
no one to witness it. Quinn was sitting with his arms crossed over his chest and his head back
against the headrest with his eyes closed.

“Quinn...” Margot started softly.

“Don’t, Margot. Just don’t,” he rasped without moving, effectively cutting her off.

Margot sighed and kept her mouth shut. They had a seven-hour flight, and she did not want to

upset him any more than he already was. If he did not want to talk about it, then fine, she would
just let it go. This trip was not starting out well at all. She hoped that the rest would go better.

Chapter 2

Quinn has never been so humiliated and degraded in his life. No, that was a lie. He

absolutely was humiliated and degraded once before. He was much younger and unable to
defend himself. Quinn remembered that day as if it was yesterday...

Quinn lay crying silently on his bed. His face was being pressed against his pillow by a

big heavy hand. His pants and underwear tangled around his ankles and his arms were locked
behind his back, being held by the other big hand. The pain was like a searing hot knife. He’d
never felt anything like it before, not even when he broke his arm last summer.

“You’re not going to tell anyone about this, are you Quinn?”

Quinn whimpered.

“No one would ever believe you even if you did.”

Finally, it was over. Quinn squeezed his eyes shut and prayed that he would just leave.

Quinn just wanted him to leave and never come back.

“I’m telling you now, Quinn. You try to tell anyone about this, I will come back for you

and I won’t be as nice the second time around. Do you understand me?”

Quinn nodded. He would never tell a soul. Never.

“Good boy.”

The big hand patted him on the head, gave his rear end a sharp smack, and then was gone.

Quinn waited. He had no idea how long. As soon as he felt it was safe, he sat up. He winced at
the pain that shot up his back and felt something wet. Quinn reached behind him to touch the
raw sensitive skin. He let out a little cry of pain before he brought his hand back around to
look at it. Blood and white stuff. Quinn barely made it to the bathroom before throwing up.

Quinn spent the next hour cleaning his puke off the floor and toilet. He then went back to

his room, yanked the sheets off his bed and changed his underwear before putting both in a
bag and tossing them outside in the trash can. No one ever found out. No. One.

He hasn’t thought about that day in a few months. This new incident, though, brought it

roaring back into the front of his mind. Jesus, that was twenty years ago, only ten at the time.

Quinn started when a soft hand touched his left arm. His eyes flew open and his heart

pounded as he whipped his head around to see who was touching him. A flight attendant was
standing next to him with the drink cart.

“Would you like a drink, sir?” she asked with a pleasant smile.

Quinn cleared his throat. “Just water, thanks.”

“And you, Miss?”

“Water, also,” Margot answered.

The woman handed them each a bottle of water and Margot handed her money before Quinn

could even dig his wallet out. The woman smiled and moved on. He looked over at Margot for
the first time since the strip search. She gave him a hesitant smile.

“Thanks,” Quinn muttered and opened his water.

Margot shrugged nonchalantly and took a sip of her water. Quinn took a sip of his water, still

looking at her over the end of the bottle. She was holding a Nook in her lap, and he looked down
at what she was reading. As he started reading a paragraph, he almost choked on his water,
slapping a hand over his mouth before he spit it all over the place. Margot looked at him,
startled.

“Are you alright?” she asked, concerned.

Quinn nodded. “Fine,” he wheezed. “What the hell are you reading?”

Margot grinned. “It is a romance novel,” she said, completely unashamed.

“A romance novel has graphic sex in it?” he asked, bewildered.

Margot laughed. “Some of them do.” She shrugged.

He frowned. “Why are you reading that?”

“It is a good book.” She grinned and wagged her eyebrows at him.

Quinn’s lips twitched. Dammit. He didn’t want to laugh, but she was seriously cute when she

wagged her eyebrows at him.

“Would you like me to read some to you?” she asked in a low sultry voice, while giving him

a suggestive little wink.

Quinn swallowed hard. “No. That’s okay,” he croaked. If she read that book to him in her

sexy French accent, he would be sporting a tent, and he doubted the rest of the people on the
plane would appreciate that.

“No? The woman in it is very sexy,” Margot purred, giving him a naughty smirk.

Quinn narrowed his eyes at her. Was she trying to get him worked up? Well, two could play

that game. He leaned in closer to her so that his lips brushed the shell of her ear when he spoke.

“Unless you want to take care of the hard-on that I will soon be sporting, I suggest you stop

talking about your naughty little book,” he whispered huskily.

Margot gasped and turned her head to look at him. Their lips brushed and their noses bumped

with how close she was. Quinn’s heart skipped a beat. Screw the ‘will soon be’ comment. He
now was sporting a hard-on. Her hazel eyes were wide as she stared into his. He never realized
how good she smelled. Whatever perfume she had on, he liked it - a lot. Jesus Christ! He was
seriously tempted to kiss this shit out of her. The fact that she wasn’t moving away made him
think that she wanted him to kiss her, too.

Quinn forced himself to back up. It wasn’t the time or place to kiss her. He kept his eyes

locked on hers as he moved away. Disappointment flashed across her face before she covered it
up. Ah, so she did want him to kiss her. Interesting. He didn’t know she was attracted to him
that way. Quinn reached down and shifted his cock in his jeans to get some much-needed relief.
Her eyes flicked down to watch him as he did it. She sucked in a sharp breath and flipped her
eyes back up to his. Fuuuuck. They were now dark with desire.

“Margot,” he warned hoarsely. He could see in her face that she was thinking about kissing

him, as her eyes kept dropping to his mouth.

Never in a million years did he think he would be in this position with her. Yeah, he was

attracted to her. What warm-blooded man wouldn’t be attracted to a beautiful woman? He
thought that the annoyance he felt for her would void out the attraction. Apparently, not. He was
ready to join the Mile High Club with her in one of those tiny bathrooms. With everything he has
been through today, he could use the release. God dammit!

Quinn cursed under his breath and got up. “I’ll be back,” he grunted and started down the

aisle toward the bathroom.

He needed to get away from her. He needed to calm down. Quinn shut himself in the tiny

bathroom and leaned his palms against the tiny sink. He willed his erection to go away. These
next five days were going to be torture. He hung his head. They had to share a hotel room! Fuck
him! He was never going to make it. Quinn would kill Peter for this! He couldn’t wait to land so
he could call that fucker up and rip him a new one!

~~~~~

They made it to the hotel at around 8:00 pm London time. It has been a long day and Margot

was really tired and really hungry. They checked into the hotel and headed right up to their room.

Quinn carried their bags up. She opened the door to their room and walked in, holding the door
open for Quinn. He walked past her with their bags. She flipped the lights on and ended up
bumping into his back since he stopped dead right in front of her.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Quinn muttered dryly.

Margot peeked around Quinn to see what he was talking about. She had to stifle a laugh when

she saw what he was looking at. Quinn dropped their bags and yanked his phone out of his back
pocket. He hit a few things on it then put it to his ear.

“I am so kicking your ass when I get home!” Quinn snarled into the phone. “First - I get

fucking strip searched at the airport. Strip-searched, Peter! Now, I get to the hotel room and
there is one queen-sized bed in it! ONE! Oh, that’s all they had? Fuck you, Peter!” Quinn
practically shouted and hung up on Peter.

Margot rolled her lips in to try to stop herself from laughing; she really found this whole

thing amusing. No doubt, Quinn did not see the humor. He just cursed out their boss for goodness
sake. He spun around to look at her, and she quickly schooled her features so he would not see
her laughing.

“I’m gonna go see if they have a room with two beds,” he muttered.

“It is really not that big of a deal, Quinn. I’m sure we will both fit fine in the bed,” Margot

said, hoping to diffuse a little bit of his anger.

Quinn stared at her for a minute. She wished she knew what was going on in his head but his

face was blank, as usual. “You’re gonna try to take advantage of me, aren’t you?”

Margot’s mouth dropped open. Before she knew it, she was laughing hysterically. Quinn just

cracked a joke! It was incredible! Margot covered her mouth with one hand and slapped his
chest with the other. Quinn chuckled low. The small smile curling his lips changed his whole
face. He was breathtaking, so handsome when he smiled. She loved the way the corners of his
eyes crinkled. His teeth were straight and white. Even though he had a short, neatly trimmed
beard and mustache, she could still see the creases that framed his mouth. Gorgeous. He was
just...gorgeous.

“Are you sure?” Quinn asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

Margot nodded. “It is fine.”

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay. Do you want to go grab something to eat

then?”

“Oui, I am starving,” Margot said, placing a hand to her stomach.

Quinn agreed and suggested they go downstairs to ask the front desk where a good place to

eat was. They ended up walking a block and a half to a small intimate restaurant that was
supposed to have fantastic food. They were seated right away at a small two-seater table by the
front window. Margot could not help but notice how romantic the whole scene was. The lighting
was dimmed, there was a candle burning in a votive on the red and white checkered tablecloth,
and there was soft music playing in the background. She wondered if Quinn noticed. The girl at
the front desk must have thought they were a couple to send them to a place like this. Margot
snuck a glance at Quinn to find him looking at the wine list.

“Do you prefer red or white wine?” he asked quietly.

“Red,” Margot answered.

Quinn just nodded as he continued to peruse the list. When the waiter came, Quinn ordered

them a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. Margot smiled.

“What?” he asked her when the waiter walked away.

“That is my favorite wine,” she said with a shrug.

“Me, too,” he said softly before picking up his menu.

Margot wondered what other things they had in common. Then she remembered that she

wanted to ask him about his tattoo. “Quinn, I have a question,” Margot said, setting her menu
down, she knew what she was getting already.

Quinn lifted his eyes from the menu to look at her. He raised an eyebrow in question. Her

heart fluttered and her stomach flipped whenever he looked at her like that. There was something
so provocative and suggestive about the way he cocked one eyebrow sometimes.

“You have a tattoo on your back...what does it mean?” Margot asked.

Quinn pursed his lips and looked back down at his menu. She thought he was going to ignore

her question, but he eventually took a deep breath and said, “It’s the Chinese symbol for
‘Strength,’” he murmured quietly.

Margot studied him for a moment. She was very surprised that he told her. She also noticed

the way he stiffened when she asked, and he was still tense even after answering. This must be
something very personal to him. It made her even more curious.

“It means something to you?” she asked.

Quinn pressed his lips together and nodded. He was still looking down at the menu.

“Will you tell me about it?” she asked softly.

He smiled bitterly and lifted his dark eyes to pin her with an intense gaze. “No, and don’t

ever ask again,” he said sharply.

Margot flinched. “I am sorry.”

Quinn shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shit. No...I am. I didn’t mean to

snap. It’s just really personal,” he grumbled.

Margot frowned and nodded. “Okay. I will not ask again,” she said sincerely.

He swallowed hard and nodded. They sat in silence until the waiter returned with the wine.

He poured them each a glass and took their orders. Margot watched Quinn sip his wine. She
really had a hard time taking her eyes off him, period. Everything from the stray strand of dark
hair that hung down over his forehead that he kept smoothing back into place, to the way he sat
with his knees wide but his big body poised in his chair. He was all Alpha male and he
fascinated Margot.

Quinn was not much of a talker, so Margot ended up chatting most of the time through dinner.

She was not too sure if he was fully listening or not, but it was better than eating in complete
silence. By the end of dinner, they had polished off the bottle of wine between the two of them,
and she was feeling warm and fuzzy. When they stood to leave, the wine really hit her and she
swayed, bumping into Quinn as he shrugged into his pea coat.

Quinn grabbed her arm to steady her. “You okay?” he asked with a frown.

“I think I drank too much,” she giggled.

Quinn did not reply. He grabbed her coat and helped her put it on. He bent down and picked

her purse up off the floor where she set it, tucked her under his arm, and walked her out of the
restaurant. Instead of letting her look like a drunken fool, Quinn covered it up by making it look
like he was being a gentleman to his date.

Margot leaned into him and slipped her arm around his lower back as they walked down the

street. His body was warm and hard, which helped fight off the chill in the air. She drew in a
deep breath through her nose, pulling in his masculine scent. He smelled like body wash, and
whatever it was, it smelled amazing. Margot had to fight the urge to burrow her face into his
chest. She was sure he would not appreciate that.

~~~~~

Quinn was surprised that the wine hit Margot like that. She seemed fine all through dinner,

and then...BAM...she’s hammered. Quinn was even more surprised by how good she felt tucked

up against him while they walked back to the hotel. He has had a huge problem with physical
contact, not liking people to touch him. He could probably let Margot go, but he found that he
didn’t want to. She had one arm around his back, her hand hanging onto his belt. Her other hand
was pressed flat against the left side of his stomach, which was the side she was on.

Normally, he didn’t do anything other than shake peoples’ hands. There were a select few

that he would allow to hug him - his parents, Claire, and the kids. They were the only
exceptions. His brothers knew not to hug him, and Raelynn hasn’t tried. Sebastian might have
warned her but she was fairly perceptive, so she might have picked up on Quinn’s aversion all
on her own. No one ever questioned it either. They just figured it was his quirk and they
accepted it.

After the incident when he was ten, he started having massive fits when people would touch

him in any way. No one could understand what was going on, so they just stopped touching him.
He could remember becoming just completely overwhelmed with fear when anyone touched him.
He didn’t necessarily feel fear anymore when someone touched him; it was just that the
abhorrence of touch had stuck with him. Now, when he looked back on it, it had been just stupid
not to tell anyone, not to get help. He was young and didn’t know any better, but the damage was
done, and there was no fixing it now. God, if he ever saw that fucker again, he would kill him.

Quinn got Margot back to their hotel room without any problems. As long as he held her

close, she didn’t even look drunk when she walked. Once inside their room, he let her go and
she stumbled over to the bed, where she flopped down onto it on her stomach, and started
giggling. Quinn locked the door, sat on the end of the bed next to Margot, and took off his shoes
and socks. He pushed himself further up the bed and leaned against the headboard. Quinn
grabbed the remote off the nightstand and turned the TV on. He was starting to get tired, but
wanted to watch a bit of TV to wind down a little.

The bed shifted as Margot got to her hands and knees. Her long dark hair was hanging over

her shoulders to frame her lovely face. It was so long that it grazed the comforter as she started
to crawl up toward him. Why the hell was she crawling toward him? Quinn watched her. She
looked like a sexy little cat prowling toward him. His pulse quickened and he licked his lips. He
could see right down her shirt. All he could say to that was...God damn! Her ample breasts
pushed together, almost popping out of her pink lace bra. What the hell was she doing?

Margot crawled up to him. Her breasts brushed against his chest as her mouth came down on

his. Her lips claimed his with a searing hot kiss. The effects were immediate; as soon as her lips
met his, he was hard. That has never happened to him before. Usually it took a little more
coaxing...not with Margot. With her, it was instantaneous. She nipped at his bottom lip until he
opened for her. Her tongue darted inside and slid along his and he groaned. He has spent so
many nights dreaming about what it would be like to kiss her. Reality was so much better.
Whether he liked her or not, his body wanted her...so badly.

“What...are you...doing?” Quinn panted between kisses.

“Mmm, I want you,” Margot purred in reply.

While continuing to kiss him, Margot straddled his lap and slipped her hands up the front of

his shirt. As soon as her hands touched his skin, Quinn just reacted. In the next instant, he had
them flipped over with her hands pinned above her head. He panted above her, his lips still
brushing against hers.

“You can’t touch me,” he rasped. His voice was even lower and more gravelly than normal.

Margot frowned and searched his eyes but said, “Okay.”

“Okay?” he clarified.

“Okay,” she said, tilting her face up to kiss him again.

Quinn sucked in a sharp breath through his nose as their tongues met again. He had a fleeting

thought about her being drunk, but he found that hard to hang onto when she wrapped her legs
around his waist and ground herself against him. Quinn moaned into her mouth. He hasn’t had
sex in...Jesus, he couldn’t remember. There was no way he could say no to her now; he was
already too far-gone. His fantasy was becoming reality, and he was going to take full advantage
of it.

Quinn shifted her arms so that he could hold both of her wrists in one hand. He tore his mouth

away from hers then used his one free hand to pull the top of her shirt down to expose her bra.
He tucked each cup under her breasts, which pushed them up like an offering just for him.

“Fuck. You’re perfect,” Quinn breathed as he lightly ran a finger over her dark pink nipple.

Margot murmured something in French and arched under his teasing touch. He bent over her,

took one nipple into his mouth, and sucked hard. Margot cried out. She tried to move her arms
but his firm grasp held her down. She moaned something else in French that had his balls pulling
up tight, she was fucking sexy as all hell when she spoke French in that husky bedroom voice of
hers. She sure as hell wasn’t irritating him now.

After torturing her nipples to the point that she was begging, Quinn decided it was time to

give her more. He stripped her of her clothes before getting rid of his own. He stopped for a
moment just to look at her. She was breathtaking. She was soft and rounded in all the right places
even though she was still thin. She wasn’t disgustingly thin, thank god. Her skin was flawless,
smooth and soft, the hair between her legs was trimmed short and neat. It was kind of porn-star-
ish. He liked it.

Margot’s dark hair fanned out around her head on the pillow. Her arms were lying above her

head, just as he left them. She was biting her bottom lip and squirming. Her eyes roamed all over
his naked body, taking in every inch. Quinn’s whole body was on fire just from her appraisal.

“Please, Quinn. I need you,” she panted, her accent a bit thicker than normal.

Quinn almost came right then and there. He leaned over the bed and grabbed his wallet out of

his jeans. He always kept a condom in there, just in case. He pulled it out, tore it open, and
rolled it on, all while moving back between her legs and leaning over her. He held her wrists
again as he used his other hand to dip between her legs. He kissed her languidly as he slipped a
finger inside of her. A strangled cry escaped her. Quinn pulled his finger out and slid it up to her
clit. Margot whimpered when he started tracing circles around her clit.

“Quinn,” she pleaded, arching under him.

Quinn obliged her. He used the hand torturing her clit to position himself at her core. “Is this

what you want?” he murmured against her lips.

“Oui! Yes! Please!”

Quinn slowly pushed into her and her breath caught. He used his free hand to grab the back of

her thigh and hike her leg up a little higher. He was shaking from the intensity of how good
Margot felt...she felt so fucking good. Once fully sheathed, Quinn pulled back and thrust forward
a bit faster and more forceful than before. She cried out and dug her head back into the pillow.
Quinn eventually found a rhythm that was good for both of them.

He released her wrists but threaded his fingers in hers. He dropped down so that his body

was actually touching hers - a first for him. He usually kept a little space between him and his
bed partner. With Margot though, he found himself wanting to touch her. He may not be
completely comfortable with letting her touch him yet, but maybe eventually. Shit, he didn’t
know. This was all new to him. He didn’t understand what it was about her, but touching her felt
right. It rather freaked him the hell out.

Quinn’s mouth hovered over Margot’s as he thrust into her. Her eyes closed and her lips

parted. Her beautiful face flushed and she panted hard. Something shifted in Quinn as he stared
down at her. Something that he didn’t want to think about or even acknowledge. He pushed all
thoughts aside so he could focus on the exquisite feeling that was Margot. Her body started to
coil tighter and he knew she was getting close.

“Look at me, Margot. I want to see your eyes when you come,” Quinn whispered huskily.

Margot dragged her eyes open to peer into his. Her breath hitched and her hands squeezed

his tighter. He could see that she was struggling to keep her eyes open. She murmured something
in French then let out a strangled cry. He felt her body seize around him. Quinn couldn’t look
away from her even if he wanted to. She was magnificent in her ecstasy. He had never seen
anything like it. Quinn was lost in her. He dropped his mouth to hers, kissing her hard as he came
like never before. His whole body shuttered and twitched as he cried out against her mouth. He
swore he has never made so much noise during sex before. Reality came crashing down on him a
few moments later. Holy shit! He just had sex with Margot!

Chapter 3

Margot laid there panting as Quinn rolled off her. He flipped over onto his back with a

groan. Did Margot seriously just have sex with Quinn? Had she really been the one to come onto
him? She knew she wanted him and being drunk just made it worse. He looked so sexy sitting
against the headboard that Margot just couldn’t help herself. Did that make her a whore?
Whatever, what woman wouldn’t want to have sex with Quinn? A blind one maybe.

“Did we seriously just do that?” Quinn rumbled next to her.

Margot rolled onto her side to face him, tucking her hands under her face. He was staring at

the ceiling, one hand resting on his chest, the other tossed over his head. “Oui,” Margot
answered quietly.

“I thought so,” he murmured and nodded.

“It was wonderful. You definitely know what you are doing.” Margot smirked. She went to

slide her hand over his chest but then remembered his earlier words, ‘You can’t touch me.’

Quinn chuckled low then turned his head to look at her. His brown eyes were heavy lidded

and his cheeks were flushed slightly. His lips were darker and plumper than normal, most likely
from all the kissing they did. He looked stunning in post coital bliss.

“Can I ask why I had to refrain from touching you?” Margot asked softly.

Quinn’s small smile fell and he turned his head away to stare back at the ceiling. He

remained quiet for so long that she again thought he was not going to answer her question.

“I have this...thing...about people touching me. I don’t...it’s hard to explain,” he rasped.

She frowned. “But I was touching you when we were walking back here, and I have touched

you many times at the office.”

He sighed. “I may not like it, but can handle little touches here and there. When we were

walking...I was more holding you up. You were just hanging on for balance. At least, that’s how
I justify it in my head.”

“Have you always been this way?” she asked quietly.

“For most of my life, yes,” he replied.

Margot’s mind worked. Something had to have happen to him to make him this way.

Touching was something that humans naturally craved and sought out. It wasn’t normal for one to
shy away from touch.

“Are there certain places that you do not like to be touched or is it all over?”

“All over,” Quinn said tightly.

“You do not share this with many people, do you?” she asked gently. She could tell he was

struggling to answer her questions. She was positive he just wanted to remain quiet like he
usually did.

Quinn shook his head.

“What have all the other women you have been with thought?”

He snorted then smiled. “They all thought I was into bondage.”

Margot couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled out of her. Quinn into bondage? That was

funny. Quinn turned his head to look at her again. He looked hesitant and a bit self-conscious. It
broke her heart.

“I didn’t hurt your wrists, did I?” Quinn frowned.

She looked at him as if he was crazy. “Non! Definitely not!”

He swallowed hard and nodded. “Good.”

“Thank you for answering my question,” Margot said sincerely.

Quinn pursed his lips and nodded without looking at her.

Silence fell between them. After a minute, Quinn got up and walked into the bathroom naked,

and Margot watched him. He had a beautiful derrière. She loved the way he walked, too; he just
had a sexy, laid-back kind of gait that looked even better when he was naked. Margot slipped off
the bed so that she could turn down the comforter and slip under the sheet. She snuggled down
into the pillow and waited for Quinn to come back. She heard the toilet flush and the water run
for a moment before he came out.

His body was exquisite. He had big broad shoulders that tapered down to a trim waist. His

chest and abs were defined, corded with muscle, and had a dusting of dark hair. His biceps had
to be the size of her head. Okay, she might have been exaggerating a little, but they were still big.
She could see the muscles move in his legs when he walked. To top it all off, he was a very well
endowed man - long and thick, magnificent, glorious, incredible. Need she say more? Maybe
later, but right now she was exhausted and could not keep her eyes open for another second.

~~~~~~

Christian sang softly while taking a shower before work. He owned his own art gallery.

Well, it was a studio and gallery. During the week, Christian taught painting and drawing classes
to anyone who was interested. He even had classes for children. On the weekends, he would
display his art and his students’ art. He would sell his art, but his students’ works were for
display only. He would also host birthday parties on the weekends in the afternoons. Christian
absolutely loved what he did. He was the only one in his family who was artistic. It was his
passion and the only thing that he ever wanted to do with his life. So with his brother’s help, he
got his studio up and running, making enough money to pay his bills and feed his clothes fetish.

The shower curtain suddenly yanked back and a pitcher of ice-cold water was thrown at his

back. Christian screamed and tried to get out of the way, which was impossible in such a small
space, as the freezing cold water hit his back. The culprit started laughing hysterically. Christian
shoved the other side of the curtain aside to glare angrily at his best friend, Shea Dempsey, who
was filming the whole thing with his phone.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Christian snapped.

“Oh come on, that shit was funny!” Shea laughed.

“I hate you,” he snarled and yanked the shower curtain back in place.

“Aw, you love me and you know it,” Shea chuckled.

“What are you doing here anyway?” he asked.

Christian has been friends with Shea for as long as he could remember. They did everything

together. They went to grade school and high school together, even went to college together. The
only time that they were apart was when Shea went to Europe with his family a couple of years
ago. He was gone for about six months, and it was torturous for Christian. He was sure that Shea
had a hard time with it, also.

“Eh, I was on my way to work. Figured I’d stop by and fuck with you a little bit,” Shea said

nonchalantly.

“Gee thanks,” Christian said dryly.

Shea was always playing jokes and pranks on him. Christian has gotten him good a time or

two, but Shea was constantly coming up with something new. It was one of the things that he
loved most about Shea; there was never a dull moment.

“How’s your heart? You okay? Did it give out? Are you gonna puke?” Shea teased.

He was also always making fun of Christian’s anxiety problem, too. Christian thought he did

it to try to distract him from whatever was making him anxious. Sometimes it actually worked,
other times it pissed Christian off, especially when he was anxious about something serious.

“Screw you, dickhead,” Christian muttered.

“No thanks, that’s your thing,” Shea chuckled.

He rolled his eyes. “Ha ha, you’re so funny.”

“I’ll go make some coffee,” Shea said, his voice still tinged with amusement.

Christian muttered to himself as he finished his shower. Shea was crazy. Christian got out of

the shower and dried off. He wrapped the towel around his waist and went into his bedroom,
which was right next door to the bathroom. He got dressed in a pair of dark gray slacks and a
white button down shirt that he tucked into his pants. He put on a black belt and black dress
shoes. Christian did his hair, checked himself out in the mirror, and headed downstairs.

Shea was lounging at the table sipping at a cup of coffee while reading the newspaper. He

was in his work clothes, which consisted of tattered jeans, a beat up long sleeved T-shirt that
used to be white, and tan work boots. He was a licensed contractor; it was pointless for him to
wear nice clothes since he would be dirty by the end of the day. If Christian was honest with
himself, Shea looked damn fine in his work clothes.

Christian was gay, and Shea was the only one who knew. Christian just hasn’t had the guts to

tell his family. He has three older brothers who are the epitome of everything male. They are all
big, buff, and loved women. Not that Christian was small, but he was smaller than they were. He
was scared to death at how they would react. He loved his brothers and he wouldn’t be able to
stand it if they couldn’t accept him for being gay.

Christian was also in love with Shea - his best friend who...was not gay. He didn’t know

how it happened or when, but he was. He realized it when Shea went to Europe. It was slowly
killing Christian, too. It was extremely hard being in love with someone who would never fall in
love with you back. Christian figured if wanted to keep his friendship with Shea, he needed to
keep his mouth shut about his feelings because he didn’t know what Shea would do if he ever
found out.

Shea Dempsey was a ruggedly handsome man; he was a bit shorter than Christian at six feet

two inches. Shea was thin and toned like Christian, and didn’t need to work out because his job
was physically demanding enough to keep him in shape. His dark hair was cropped short and
he’s had the same goatee on his face since he was able to grow facial hair. He kept it short and
neat. He also has warm, laughing dark brown eyes that Christian swore he could stare into all

day and night.

“There’s an open mic night at The Raven Lounge on Wednesday at 9:45 pm,” Shea

murmured, sipping his coffee.

Christian groaned and hung his head. “Dude, I’ve told you a million times already. I’m not

singing at an open mic night.”

“Why the hell not? You’re wasting your voice by not sharing it with the world,” Shea argued,

setting the paper down on the table.

“Shea, I can barely sing in front of you, let alone a bar full of people,” Christian muttered as

he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Which I don’t understand. You have an incredible voice, and I could listen to you sing for

hours,” Shea said.

“I appreciate that, Shea. I really do. But you and I both know that as soon as I step onto that

stage, I’d be puking all over the front row.” Christian sighed.

Shea chuckled low. “Yeah, probably.”

Alright, so Christian had another secret that he hid from everyone except Shea. He could

sing, and sing really well. He went to a vocal coach for years that no one in his family knew
about. Shea once said he sounded like a mixture of Bruno Mars and Jason Mraz - a little raspy, a
little jazzy, a little poppy, and a whole lot of incredible. Christian also played the guitar, but his
family did know about the guitar since he started playing when he was eight.

Shea hung around for a few more minutes before having to head to work. Christian sighed

heavily. He felt like he had a billion pounds on his shoulders. He was keeping so many things
inside that sometimes he just felt like he was drowning. Some days, he just wanted to blurt it all
out, but the fear of losing his family was greater. So he kept it all inside, and prayed that he
wouldn’t explode.

~~~~~

Margot stared down at the still sleeping Quinn. She was going to have to wake him, but she

just wanted to look at him for a moment longer. He was sleeping on his stomach, clutching a
pillow to his chest. His hair flattened to his forehead, and the sheet covered one leg and part of
his derrière. The leg that was bare was pulled up so that his knee was almost level with his hip.
It was a beautiful view. She hated to have to wake him, but he needed to get ready for the
seminar.

“Quinn?” Margot called.

Nothing. He did not even twitch.

“Quinn,” she tried again, and got nothing, again.

Okay, so he was obviously a heavy sleeper.

Margot smoothed her hand over his soft hair. “Quinn,” she said a little louder.

Quinn sucked in a deep breath and shifted. He rolled his hips against the bed, making the

muscles in his behind flex. Margot bit her lip and fought the urge to smack his tush, or pinch it.
She would love to bite it. She knew without a doubt that Quinn would not like that.

“Quinn,” she said again, this time placing her hand on his shoulder.

Quinn’s head popped up. “Huh? What?” he grunted and looked around with one eye cracked

open.

“Quinn, you need to get up and get ready,” Margot said, taking her hand back before he

noticed that she was touching him.

“For what?” Quinn grumbled, dropping his head back down to the pillow.

“The seminar? We need to leave in an hour.”

“God dammit.” He sighed.

Quinn pushed up to his elbows and rubbed his face roughly with his hands. She stood there

and admired the way his muscles moved under his skin. Quinn yawned loudly as he pushed
himself up to sit on the edge of the bed. Of course, the first thing hers eyes saw was his very
large erection jutting up from between his legs. When Margot lifted her gaze to his face, he was
watching her with sleepy eyes. Margot smirked and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Happens every morning,” Quinn rumbled and shrugged slightly. Margot loved his voice. It

was deep and raspy and it sent shivers of pleasure down her spine.

Margot rolled her eyes as she turned and went to the other side of the room where her bag

was. Quinn got up and got into the shower, while Margot did her makeup. He emerged from the
bathroom about fifteen minutes later with a towel wrapped low around his hips. She could not
help but ogle his impressive physique. When Margot looked up, Quinn was eyeing her warily.
He growled low and tore his eyes away from hers. He went to the closet where he hung up his
garment bag. He pulled out his suit and laid it on the bed. Then he went to his suitcase and pulled
out a pair of underwear and an undershirt. Quinn kept his eyes averted from her, as he got
dressed. Margot frowned. She wondered what was on his mind. She seriously doubted that he

would tell her if she asked.

Quinn looked very handsome in his suit. Margot never saw him with the jacket on; he looked

good in it. The suit was a charcoal gray color, his shirt was a medium blue, and his tie was a
light gray and blue paisley pattern. After fixing his hair, Quinn turned toward her.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Oui. Can we grab something to eat first?” she asked, grabbing her purse.

“Definitely. I need coffee,” he grumbled and started for the door.

Margot followed him out of the room. It was somewhat odd how he pretty much acted as if

they had not slept together last night. If he hadn’t been naked this morning, Margot would have
thought it was a dream. He has not given her one touch this morning. No kiss, no kind of
acknowledgment about what they shared last night. Not that Margot thought that it meant anything.
It was just sex and she was drunk, but a kiss good morning would have been nice. Margot has
never been in this situation. She did not know how to feel about it. At first, she was a bit hurt and
upset, but she did not want to be that kind of woman. Now she was just baffled and confused.
She understood that he was not big on contact, but was it so hard to have at least said something
or given her a small kiss? Just when Margot thought she fit together a piece of the puzzle that
was Quinn, another piece fell away to leave a big gaping hole.

~~~~~

The seminar was long and boring and Quinn was seriously cranky. He did not want to go

through another two days of sitting through watching some stick-up-his-ass talk about shit he
already knew. Margot paid attention for the first half of it, but she started to get bored, also. And
when Margot gets bored, she fidgets. Quinn almost strangled her today. He thought about many
creative ways to end her fidgeting, many of them involved duct tape. Duct tape was a man’s best
friend after all...no wait, that was dogs.

Once back at the hotel room, they decided to get room service since neither of them felt like

going back out. He changed into sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a zip-up hoodie. He sat on the bed
with his laptop and went through his emails. Margot called room service with their dinner order
while he was changed. He watched her as she hung up the phone and moved around the room.

She might have gotten on his nerves today, but he definitely felt differently about her since

they started this trip. He appreciated what she did when he was strip-searched. It was
humiliating enough to have to do it and it would have been even worse if she had watched while
he showed a couple of dudes his asshole. Fucking TSA. He was glad that she understood and
turned around.

Then she came onto him last night and they ended up sleeping together, and she was

incredible. He couldn’t remember sex ever being that good. She kept saying things in French, as
if she couldn’t think straight enough to speak in English. It was seriously sexy. Just thinking about
how her voice dropped to that husky murmur made him hard. When they talked afterward, she
was compassionate and understanding yet again. She didn’t ask a million and one questions. She
only asked the most important, and accepted the answers he gave her.

So, now what? Did he want to pursue this to see where it went? Should he just leave it alone

and go back to being just coworkers? Quinn really didn’t think that was possible. He wanted her
too much, even when she was getting on his nerves today. He caught a whiff of her perfume at
one point and was ready to shove her against the wall and take her in front of everyone. He’s
never had a woman affect him like this...ever.

The longest relationship Quinn has ever had was two months. After a while, women got tired

of having their questions ignored or brushed off. Quinn wasn’t a big talker. He didn’t want
someone he really didn’t care that much about knowing his whole life story. He had a hard time
trusting people in general and most women had a hard time understanding why he didn’t trust
them enough to share his secrets. They also got tired of not knowing how he felt. Quinn did not
share his emotions. He wasn’t one to tell a woman how he felt about her. His thought process
was that if he was with her he obviously liked her.

Margot bent over to grab something out of her suitcase, her ass facing his direction. Quinn

couldn’t help but stare, she had a fine ass. He scrubbed a hand over his mouth to make sure he
wasn’t drooling. He was just about to act on the perfect opportunity when he remembered that he
didn’t have any more condoms. Dammit. He bet the little convenient store in the lobby had some.
He could run down there and probably be back before their food arrived. Quinn set his laptop on
the bedside table and grabbed his wallet, phone, and room key. He stood, shoved everything in
the pockets of his hoodie, slipped his sneakers on, and started for the door.

“I’ll be back,” he said and walked out the door without waiting for Margot’s response. He

pulled out his phone and called Sebastian. Most likely, a mistake, but whatever, he needed to
talk to someone.

“Ribbit, ribbit.” Sebastian answered after the third ring.

Quinn laughed. “You are such a dick.”

Sebastian chuckled. “What’s up, little brother?”

Quinn rubbed the side of his face as he walked toward the elevator. “Swear you won’t make

fun of me?” he asked.

“Man, you know I can’t promise that.” Sebastian snorted.

“I slept with Margot,” Quinn blurted.

“What?” Sebastian squawked.

“Last night. She was drunk and came onto me. I couldn’t resist.”

“Oh, you naughty, naughty boy, you! Your balls are bigger than I thought. Doesn’t she get on

your nerves though?”

“Not last night,” Quinn snorted.

Sebastian laughed. “Nice. You planning to make this a common occurrence?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. I’m on my way to pick up more condoms anyway,” Quinn murmured.

“Awesome. Give it to her good. I heard French women like to get freaky-deaky. She doesn’t

have any whips in her suitcase does she?” Sebastian asked. He was obviously getting a kick out
of this.

“I should have called Chris or Henry. I don’t know what I was thinking calling you.” Quinn

sighed.

Sebastian chuckled. “Oh come on! You called me because you needed some comic relief. I

gotcha back, bro.”

“Stop being an ass,” Quinn muttered and hit the down button on the elevator.

“Alright, fine.” Sebastian huffed.

Quinn and Sebastian talked for a few more minutes before Quinn hung up with him. Sebastian

was insane. He definitely made the right choice in calling him. He did need a laugh after
everything that happened to him in the past couple of days. Quinn walked into the little shop in
the lobby and found the condoms. They only had a few to pick from. No biggie. They had ultra-
sensitive ones that would work just fine. He grabbed two 3-pack boxes and went to pay.

He returned to his room to find Margot sitting on the bed, eating her dinner while watching

TV. Quinn’s food was on the table. His stomach rumbled loud enough that she glanced over at
him with a surprised look on her face. He scowled at her and walked over to the table. He
decided to sit there and eat since he got a burger and didn’t want to make a mess on the bed.
After eating and placing the tray with the empty plates outside the door, Quinn and Margot
settled on the bed together to watch TV before going to sleep. Margot forfeited the remote to him
after he held his hand out for it for a good five minutes. He had to stifle a smile when she had
muttered something in French, most likely a curse, and slapped the remote into his hand. Quinn
flipped through the channels until he found a movie that he thought both of them could enjoy,
Lethal Weapon 4.

Half an hour into the movie, Margot started giggling, but it wasn’t a funny part or anything.

When Quinn looked over at her, she was covering her mouth and nose with one hand while
waving the other in front of her. He couldn’t hide his shock. No fucking way!

“Margot! You did not just fart!” Quinn exclaimed. He was absolutely dumbfounded. No

woman has ever farted in front of him, not even his mom.

“I am sorry!” She laughed. “You would have never known if it did not smell!”

Quinn burst out laughing. He caught a whiff and laughed harder as he clapped a hand over his

nose. It wasn’t that bad, but he decided to play along. He was laughing so hard that he had tears
running down his face. He couldn’t remember the last time he laughed until he cried. Margot too
was laughing so hard that she had tears running down her face. She gave him a playful shove,
which only made it harder for him to breathe.

He just couldn’t believe that Margot farted. It was true that he never would have known if it

did not smell, and it’s not like she could have blamed it on anyone else because it was just the
two of them in the room. Margot was completely unashamed though. She didn’t look
embarrassed at all. She just thought it was funny. He absolutely loved that about her. People
farted, it happened, no reason to be ashamed about it. Quinn would bet his savings account that if
any other woman did that in front of him, they would have balled their eyes out in mortification.

As their laughter slowly died, they both wiped tears from their faces. Quinn looked over at

Margot as she continued to snicker. He couldn’t help himself; he reached over, threaded his
fingers through the silky hair at the base of her skull, and pulled her into a hungry kiss. Margot
sucked in a sharp breath through her nose as she melted against him. Her hands tentatively settled
on his shoulders. Quinn waited for his usual feeling of unease to force him to remove her hands,
but it never came. He kissed her with renewed fervor.

“I guess I should fart more often if this is the reaction I will get,” Margot murmured when

they broke apart for air.

Quinn laughed, and then went back to kissing her. She moaned as her fingers moved to tease

the hair at the back of his head. Quinn growled low. Her touch felt so good, so right, and he
wanted more. He used his body to push her down onto the bed, and wedged his hips between
hers, as he covered her body with his. He was so caught up in the kiss that he didn’t realize that
her hand trailed down to his ass until it was too late. She gave one cheek a squeeze and that was
it, full-blown panic consumed him.

Quinn tore his mouth away from hers and let out a hoarse cry that sounded terrified even to

his own ears. He scrambled off her so fast that he fell off the bed, landing on his ass. He scurried
back until his back slammed into the wall. He sat there panting for a moment before he pulled his
knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. Quinn dropped his forehead to his
knees as he tried to slow his breathing and pounding heart.

“Quinn! Mon dieu! I am so sorry!” Margot cried.

Quinn squeezed his eyes shut. Christ. He felt like a fool. He heard her feet hit the floor in

front of him as she climbed off the bed. He couldn’t believe he just freaked out like that. He was
so embarrassed. He thought that since she was able to touch his shoulders and head that he was
doing okay. He was wrong. So wrong! The last time he had such a strong reaction was back
when he was in high school on the baseball team. One of his teammates gave his ass a pat after
he got a home run. Quinn turned around and socked the kid in the face, kicked off the team for
that.

“Quinn?” Margot murmured quietly. He could hear the anguish in her voice and he hated it.

“It was too much, non? I am sorry. I feel horrible,” she whispered.

Quinn swallowed hard and lifted his head. Margot crouched down in front of him with tears

streaming down her rosy cheeks, her hazel eyes filled with sorrow, shame, and guilt. It broke his
heart to see her so upset over something that she had no control over. He knew she didn’t mean
to do it, that she was just acting in the heat of the moment. Just as he had no control over how he
reacted.

“It wasn’t your fault, Margot. Don’t cry,” Quinn rasped as he reached out with one hand to

brush the tears off her cheeks. She turned her face against his hand so that she could kiss his
palm.

Quinn sighed. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this anymore, Margot.”

Margot frowned. “Quinn...” she started to argue but Quinn cut her off.

“Margot, I’m just too screwed up for this. It’s better just to let it go now,” he muttered,

letting his hand and eyes drop from her face.

Margot shook her head. “I do not believe that,” she said tightly.

“It doesn’t matter what you believe.” He snorted softly. “Just leave me alone, okay?”

Quinn thunked his head back against the wall and shut his eyes. He didn’t want to see the hurt

in her eyes. He was so humiliated and pissed off at himself. He was just starting to think he
might have found a woman worth pursuing further, and then he went and fucked it up. He was
going to be alone forever. No woman would want to be with a man they couldn’t touch for fuck’s
sake. He was a fucking mess. He wished he could just go the hell home.

Quinn sagged in relief when he heard the hotel room door open and snick shut. Margot was

giving him the space he desperately needed. It was odd how she always seemed to know exactly
what he needed. It was a shame that he couldn’t be with her anymore. He was really starting to
like her, as crazy as that sounded.

Quinn opened his eyes and glanced around the room. What a fucking nightmare. He shut his

eyes again and his cousin’s face flashed through his mind, along with the searing pain that Quinn
associated with him. Dammit. He shoved the heels of his palms into his eyes and took a couple
of deep breaths. He felt like his ten-year-old self all of a sudden, frightened and panicked, with
no one to turn to. Fuck! Quinn got up off the floor and grabbed a pillow off the bed, and lay
down on the floor. There will be no sleeping in the bed with Margot tonight; he needed plenty of
space, and he certainly couldn’t handle any more touching right now.

Chapter 4

Margot gave Quinn an hour to calm down and collect himself. She hung out in the lobby and

called her mother before heading back up to the room. She still had so many emotions running
through her. She was convinced now that Quinn was abused in some way when he was a child.
The way he freaked out when she touched his rear end made her think it was sexual. It was going
to kill her when she found out for sure. No one should ever have to go through something like
that, and definitely not a child.

When Margot walked into the room, it was dark. She felt her way over to the lamp on the

dresser and turned it on. She became instantly furious to see Quinn curled up on his side with a
pillow on the floor next to the bed, with no blanket or sheet. Margot marched over to him and
shoved her hands onto her hips.

“Quinn!” she barked and kicked the bottom of his foot.

Quinn jolted awake. His head lifted from the pillow and he squinted against the light to look

at her. “What?” he asked, disgruntled.

“Get your derrière on that bed right now! I will not have you sleeping on the floor!” Margot

said angrily, glaring down at him.

“I’m fine on the floor,” he mumbled and adjusted his pillow, laying his head back down.

“Quinn Beck!”

“Go away, Margot,” he grumbled in exasperation.

Margot ground out a frustrated noise before reaching down and grabbing his wrist. She

pulled with everything she had but he didn’t budge. Mon dieu, he was heavy! She should have
known, the man was all muscle and muscle was heavier than fat.

“You might as well let me go, Margot. You don’t have a chance in hell at moving me,” he

snorted.

“I will start touching you all over then.” Margot bluffed, hoping he didn’t call her on it. She

did not think she could really do that to him. She was not that mean.

Quinn’s eyes flew open and pinned her with an angry stare. “You won’t like what happens if

you do,” he snarled.

Margot’s heart fluttered wildly at his threat. She did not think that he would hurt her, but he

was still scary at the moment. Now what? Did she push it? He looked like was ready for a fight.
His body was coiled tight and ready to defend against attack. Better not to push it.

“Please, Quinn, sleep on the bed. I do not like seeing you on the floor,” Margot tried gently.

Quinn jaw bulged on one side as he clenched his teeth. He just shook his head before

dropping it back down to the pillow and closed his eyes.

Margot stomped her foot. “Merde! Why are you being so difficult?” She snapped irritably.

“I promise I will not touch you again. You do not have to worry about that!”

Quinn groaned and scrubbed his face roughly with his hands. “This is not about you,

Margot!” he said angrily and sat up.

“Then what is it about if it is not you being afraid that I will touch you?” Margot demanded.

“It’s none of your goddamn business!” Quinn shouted at her. “Just leave me the fuck alone,

dammit!”

Margot flinched as the harshness of his tone at first but then she bristled. “Fine, Quinn, do not

tell me what your problem is, but you will not speak to me that way, it is unacceptable and
unnecessary. I do not care that you do not like me, I do not deserve to be yelled at like that.”

Without waiting for him to reply, Margot went and turned out the lamp, stomped around to

the other side of the bed, and climbed in. She did not have to deal with him being a jerk to her. If
he wanted to spend the rest of their trip on the floor, that was his prerogative. Margot was so
angry that she wanted to scream. He was so bullheaded!

“I’m sorry, Margot,” he murmured into the dark after a few minutes of silence.

Margot did not even bother answering. If she opened her mouth, something snarky would

come out, and they would end of fighting some more. She really did not want to fight with him.
What she wanted was him in the bed with her, touching her, making her feel good, but that was
not going to happen anytime soon, if ever again. Margot had no idea how long she stayed awake,
but she found it hard to fall to sleep being as mad and irritated as she was.

The next morning, Margot awoke to Quinn crying out. She sat up and moved to the side of the

bed where she could look over the edge at him. He was lying on his back, his head thrashing
back and forth on his pillow. He kept whispering ‘No’ over and over. His skin glistened with
sweat and his breathing was quick. He must have been having a nightmare. Margot was about to
wake him up but she never got the chance because he ended up waking up on his own. His eyes
flew open and he pulled in a sharp breath. After a moment, he sat up and rubbed his face roughly
before shoving his hands into his hair. He propped his elbows on his bent knees and just sat
there.

“Why will you not tell me what the problem is?” Margot asked quietly.

Quinn let out a startled gasp as his head whipped around to look at her. He obviously thought

he was the only one awake.

Quinn cleared his throat before answering. “My family doesn’t even know what my problem

is, so do you really think I would tell you?” he said, a nasty note to his tone.

Margot tried not to bristle but it was hard. “Maybe if you told someone it would not haunt

you like it does,” she bit out harshly.

He laughed bitterly. “It will forever haunt me, whether I tell someone or not.”

“Then what does it matter? Just tell me what it is.” Margot sighed in exasperation.

“No, dammit! Stop fucking badgering me about it. I’m not telling you shit about my life!”

Quinn snapped angrily as he got to his feet. He stormed off to the bathroom and slammed the
door shut behind him.

Margot sighed heavily and dropped her face into her hands. This trip was not going the way

she hoped. Instead of getting closer to Quinn, she seemed to be pushing him away. She raked her
hands through her hair then got out of bed. As she was rummaging through her bag for something
to wear, Quinn came out of the bathroom. He went to his bag and pulled out what looked like
gym shorts and a wife-beater.

“Are you not going to the seminar?” she asked with a frown.

“No. I’m not,” he muttered.

“Where are you going to go?”

“To the gym, I didn’t get to work out yesterday and I need to go,” Quinn insisted, yanking his

T-shirt over his head, revealing his magnificent torso before he pulled on the gray wife-beater.

Quinn pushed his sweatpants off, kicked them aside and pulled on his black gym shorts. He

went over to his laptop bag and pulled out an iPod Touch, an armband holder, and ear buds. He
finished up by putting on his socks and sneakers. Then without a word, he started for the door.
He was just going to leave without a word to her?

“Quinn?” Margot called after him.

Quinn stopped with his hand on the doorknob. He turned his head slightly giving her his

profile to let her know he was listening. Margot opened her mouth to apologize about last night
but something else entirely came out.

“How long will you be gone for?” she asked, feeling stupid.

“Probably a few hours,” he replied. He pulled open the door and walked out, letting it snick

shut on its own momentum.

A few hours at the gym? What could he possibly do in the gym for a few hours? Margot

huffed and sat down on the end of the bed, crossing her arms over her chest. If Quinn was not
going to the seminar, neither was she. Margot decided to go do some sightseeing since she
doubted he would want to go with her now that they did not seem to be on friendly terms. Margot
took a quick shower, blew dry her hair, got dressed, and headed out onto the streets of London.

~~~~~

Quinn was coming up on his fifth mile on the treadmill, running at a decent clip. He already

lifted weights and now he was doing his cardio. The weights helped relieve some of the anger
and stress he was holding, and he had Stupified by Disturbed, blasting in his ears. That band
always seemed to help, and at the moment, he was trying to run away the rest of his emotions.

Damn Margot. Why did she have to keep pushing his buttons? Why did she want to know

about his past so badly? Was she looking for some kind of hold over him or was she just
genuinely concerned and curious? Quinn would say the latter. Margot didn’t seem to have a
mean bone in her body. Why the hell did she care anyway? He wasn’t anything to her. They only
slept together once, he wasn’t her boyfriend.

Quinn’s beater was soaked with sweat, as was his hair. When he was done here, he was

calling Peter and telling him to get him a plane ticket home. He wasn’t staying another three
days. This trip just kept getting worse and worse, and he really didn’t want to stick around for it
to go really down the shitter. Quinn hit five miles, and a two-minute cool down, before hopping
off the treadmill. He pulled his beater off and wiped his face and chest with it before slinging it
over his shoulder and heading back up to the room.

Quinn just got out of the shower when his cell phone rang. He walked out of the bathroom

and over to the bed where he tossed his phone when he walked in. He looked down at the screen
and saw that it was Margot. Ugh! He almost didn’t answer but something told him that he should.

“Hello?” Quinn answered.

“Quinn! Dieu merci!” Margot breathed in relief.

“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked, his whole body tensing at the frightened tone in her voice.

“There have been two men following me for about fifteen minutes. I have a bad feeling; I

think they might want to...” Margot said quietly, trailing off at the end.

“Where are you?” Quinn asked and started hastily pulling on clothes.

Margot told him where she was. She wasn’t too far from the hotel, which was good.

“Keep heading towards the hotel and stay on the main road, I’ll meet you as fast as I can,”

Quinn said quickly and hung up.

He pulled on his shoes without socks, grabbed his room key and wallet, and shoved them

both into one of the pockets of his jeans. He grabbed his coat and ran out the door. Quinn went
for the stairs as he pulled his pea coat on. He raced down the stairs and through the lobby,
something in the pit of his stomach telling him he had to hurry. He asked a bellhop where was the
street that Margot had said she was on; the boy gave him directions and then Quinn was out the
door. Once outside, he headed as fast as he could to get to Margot.

Quinn ran down the sidewalk, brushing past tourists as he scanned the opposite side of the

street. He had maybe gone about a mile when he stopped and looked around. He should have
seen her by now. He spun in a circle, eyes scanning. That’s when he heard a muffled scream, and
his head whirled around. He didn’t see anything, but he knew that he heard her. Quinn moved
forward, scanning the little alleys between the buildings. That’s when he saw her…Margot was
down a shadowed alley with two large men; one was pinning her against the wall, with one
large hand covering her mouth. Margot’s terrified gaze met his and Quinn saw red.

“HEY! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Quinn shouted as he started toward them.

The two men swung their heads in Quinn’s direction, shocked expressions on their faces. The

guy holding Margot immediately let her go and backed away. She let out a ragged sob and
started for Quinn. His heart pounded furiously as he looked her over. As he got closer, the more
he could see that her mouth was a bit swollen, as if they had been kissing her hard and rough.
Her coat was gone, and her shirt was ripped open down the front, which she was trying to hold
together as she limped toward him. Jesus Christ! He almost didn’t make it in time.

Quinn pulled Margot into his arms when he reached her. When he looked back to where the

men were standing, they were already gone, probably ran out the other end of the alley. Quinn
was too focused on Margot to notice. He didn’t even realized he was shaking until he cupped her
face in his hands and tilted her it up so he could look at her.

“Jesus, Margot...” he breathed. God, he has never been so scared in his life.

Margot’s whole body trembled. Quinn immediately shrugged out of his coat and wrapped it

around her shoulders. She tried to zip it up but her hands were shaking too badly. Quinn gently
brushed her hands aside and zipped it up for her.

“Are you hurt?” Quinn asked.

“I twisted my ankle trying to fight them off,” she croaked.

Without a word, Quinn scooped Margot up into his arms and headed back toward the

entrance of the alley. She clung to his neck and cried softly against his chest. As he walked with
her in his arms, they got a few odd looks from people, but Quinn ignored them. The only thing he
cared about at the moment was Margot. She had almost been raped! Could this trip get any
worse?

Back at the hotel room, Quinn set Margot down on the bed. She was still shaking, but at least

she stopped crying. He helped her take off his coat and her torn shirt. He went over to her bag
and found a T-shirt for her to put on. While Margot was pulling the shirt on, Quinn looked at her
ankle.

Margot pointed to her right ankle, so Quinn rolled up the bottom of her jeans, gently

removing her shoe and sock. She hissed in pain, her ankle and top of her foot already started to
swell.

“You might have done more than just twist your ankle, I think you sprained it,” Quinn

murmured. “We need to put ice on it. I’ll go get some, be right back.”

Margot just nodded as he grabbed the ice bucket and left the room. Five minutes later, Quinn

had the ice in a bag and on Margot’s ankle. She rested back against the headboard and closed her
eyes. Quinn watched her for a moment, his mind going back to when his eyes had first met hers
in that alley. She had been so scared - absolutely terrified. At least someone was there to save
her, unlike for him.

“What were you thinking going out by yourself?” Quinn asked, trying to keep the anger he

was feeling about the whole situation out of his voice.

“I wanted to see London. You were so caught up in your own problems that I figured you

would not want to come, so I went by myself, I thought it was safe.” Margot sighed without
opening her eyes.

Quinn frowned. He knew that she didn’t mean to, but she almost made it sound as if it was

his fault. She went out on her own, almost raped, because he acted like an asshole. Great job,
dickhead! Quinn hung his head. He was such an ass.

“I’m going to call Peter. We need to go home,” he muttered as he pulled out his phone.

Margot opened her hazel eyes and nodded. “Oui. We do,” she agreed.

~~~~~

Margot sat on the bed and watched TV while Quinn went out into the hall to call Peter. Her

ankle was throbbing so badly. She did not think she has ever injured herself like this before, but

she panicked, and those men were much stronger than she was. She did whatever she could to
get away. Never in a million years did she think that could have happened while walking the
tourist-filled streets of London, but she guess it could happen anywhere. The sun started to go
down and they grabbed her so fast. She didn’t even have the chance to scream; she tried once
they were in the alley, but the big oaf smashed his disgusting lips against hers. Brut! She really
needed to brush her teeth and scrub the skin off her lips.

Thank all that was holy that Quinn showed up when he did because there was no way she

was going to get away from those two men. She for sure would have been raped, if not worse.
Margot shivered, she could not even think about it. Quinn returned a moment later looking more
sullen than normal.

“Did you talk to Peter?” she asked.

“I did, he is getting tickets for us as we speak,” he murmured.

Margot sighed in relief. “Good.”

Quinn nodded and checked the ice on her ankle, before he climbed onto the bed next to her

and settled against the headboard. After watching a few shows, and half of a movie, Quinn
decided he was going to go to sleep. First, he removed the ice and put it in the bathroom sink,
and then he grabbed the extra blanket from the closet and lay on the floor again. She didn’t even
bother arguing with him because she knew there was no point; he would not listen to her.

Margot turned the light out, settled down, and tried to fall asleep. It was not easy, but

eventually exhaustion took over and pulled her under. She had no idea how long she had been
asleep before she started having a horrible nightmare, and she just could not seem to wake up.
She was back in the alley with the two men, they tore all of her clothes off, she was screaming
and fighting, but her arms and legs were so heavy that she could barely move them.

“Margot!” Quinn’s voice came from somewhere, but she could not see him. “Margot,

sweetheart, wake up.”

Margot’s eyes flew open but it was dark in the room and she could not see who was

hovering over her. She screamed and tried to fight off whoever it was. Strong hands clasp the
sides of her head.

“Margot, calm down, it’s me,” Quinn said sharply.

Margot panted as she forced herself to relax. She grabbed onto Quinn’s wrists to make sure

that he was real and she was not still dreaming. His concerned gaze raked over her face.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Oui, sorry, I was having a nightmare,” she whispered in return.

He nodded. “I know, you were screaming and thrashing in your sleep.”

Quinn released her head and laid his body out next to hers.

“I am sorry for waking you,” Margot said. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing

heart.

“It’s okay,” he murmured. He wrapped his arm around her waist, snuggling his face into the

pillow he laid down.

“What are you doing?” asked Margot curiously.

“Going back to sleep?”

“You do not have to stay here with me if you do not want to.”

“Shh, go back to sleep,” was his reply.

Margot shrugged to herself then turned so that she could press her back against his front.

Quinn tugged her closer and nuzzled his face into the back of her neck. She sighed and relaxed
even further. It felt so good to be in Quinn’s arms again; hopefully, having him close would help
her sleep better and ward off further nightmares.

~~~~~

Christian and Shea were sitting at the bar in their favorite hangout spot, Mac’s Tavern. It was

pretty dead in there since it was a Wednesday night. They liked it that way, though. Shea came
right from work and looked like it. His clothes were dusty and stained, but at least he washed his
hands and face in the bathroom. Christian wanted so badly to shove his nose against his neck and
take a big whiff. He loved how Shea smelled after a day of hard work.

They were talking quietly about their day when someone bumped into Christian’s side. He

glanced over to see who it was, and man sat down on his other side. The man was cute and
obviously gay. Christian could tell right away just by the way the guy sat and carried himself. He
would be what some people would call flamboyant. The guy smiled seductively at Christian.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bump into you, handsome,” the guy said with an effeminate

lisp.

Christian smirked and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’m Blake,” the guy said and held out his hand.

“Christian,” he replied and shook Blake’s hand.

“Can I buy you a drink, Christian?” Blake asked, his eyelids lowering as his voice dropped

to a sultry purr.

Blake made no attempt to hide his reasons for why he came over. Christian looked him over.

Blake was attractive with reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes. He had a very slight build and was
somewhat short. He was definitely not the kind of guy Christian went after. He wanted a guy who
could actually manhandle him a bit, and that guy was not Blake. That guy is Shea.

“No thanks,” Christian murmured, giving Blake an apologetic look.

Blake pouted. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

Blake sighed. “Alright. I’ll be hanging around for a little while in case you change your

mind.”

He nodded and Blake got up and walked away.

“Did you just get hit on?” Shea snorted in disbelief.

Christian turned to find him smirking with an amused twinkle in his eye.

“Yes,” Christian muttered.

“Well, what the hell man, why don’t you hit that? He was kinda okay-looking,” Shea said,

giving Christian a nudge with his elbow.

Christian shook his head. “No, he’s not my type.” Which was true, but he also had other

reasons. Reasons like the fact that he was in love with Shea. He just couldn’t bring himself to
sleep with anyone else yet. He knew that he was going to have to get over that if he ever wanted
to have sex again, but at the moment, he couldn’t do it.

“You have a type?” Shea asked, dumbfounded.

Christian sent him an incredulous look. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” he

snapped. That comment really rubbed him the wrong way. Shea had no filter sometimes.

Shea opened and closed his mouth a few times before he answered. “Sorry, that came out

wrong. I’ve just never seen you with a dude, so I don’t know what kind of guys you like.”

It was true; Christian never introduced Shea to any of his previous boyfriends. Not that he

really ever had all that many but he still kept his love life hidden from Shea. He really didn’t
know why he did it. Maybe he didn’t want Shea to get weirded-out or something. He shook his
head to himself. It was just one more pound to add to the weight already on his shoulders.

Shea was silent for a moment, and then turned on his stool to face Christian. “So what kind of

guys do you like?” he asked curiously.

Christian narrowed his eyes at him. “You seriously want to know?” he asked dubiously.

Shea grinned. “Yeah, I want to know.”

“I like the tall, dark and handsome type, nice body, about my height, sexy smile, and funny.”

Christian shrugged.

Shea’s dark eyes shimmered with humor. “You know you just described me, right?”

Christian flushed and dropped his eyes to his beer bottle. Shea chuckled and put his hand on

Christian’s shoulder.

“I’m just fuckin’ with ya, Chris. Don’t get all bent out of shape.” Shea laughed, giving

Christian’s shoulder a squeeze.

Christian’s stomach flipped from both Shea’s comment and his touch. God, what he would

give to be in his arms in an entirely different way.

“If it makes you feel any better, bro, you’re the only guy I’ve ever thought is hot, so we’re

even.” Shea grinned and winked at Christian before taking a sip of his beer.

Christian rolled his eyes. Shea - always the kidder. If he only knew how those words were

like a knife to Christian’s heart. Maybe he could pretend that Shea meant the words he just
spoke. Just for a little while before reality crashed back down on him. Christian really loathed
his life sometimes, and hated himself for being such a pussy about everything.

Chapter 5

Margot hobbled out of the elevator on her crutches. She and Quinn caught the first flight back

to the States, and Peter insisted that they take the rest of the week off after the trip from Hell.
Margot also went to the doctor when she got home. Quinn took her since she could not drive and
she really had no one else, all her family and friends were in Paris. She occasionally hung out
with a few of the other women in the office; they were not friends she could call on, though. The
doctor concluded that she did have a serious sprain and needed to keep off it for a couple of
weeks. Insert crutches.

Quinn has been acting strange since they returned. He was very subdued and introverted.

Okay, Quinn was always like that, but it was more than what was normal for him. He has maybe
said all of ten words to her since they got back home, and more than half of them were ‘Yeah, I
can take you to the doctor.’ Margot was starting to worry about him.

Quinn stepped out of the elevator behind her. He drove her into work and said that he would

do so until her ankle was better. It would have been really sweet of him if Margot did not felt
like he was doing it out of guilt for some reason. She caught the guilt in his eyes a few times
when he looked at her. He tried to cover it up quickly, but he was not fast enough.

Quinn stayed close as they walked to their office. A couple of coworkers stopped them to

ask what happened. She just gave them a smile and dismissive wave, telling them that she
tripped and sprained her ankle. She did not need the whole office gossiping about her, and that
would definitely happen if she told them what really happened. As they passed Peter’s office, he
rushed out from behind his desk and stepped out into the hall.

“Quinn, can I speak with you in my office for a moment?” Peter asked.

Quinn glanced back at him. Margot could see his whole body tense. “Let me get Margot

settled in first,” he said.

Margot glanced at Peter who was frowning hard at Quinn’s back. She wondered what Peter

wanted to speak about with Quinn. She would try to ask him afterwards. Once in their office,
Margot went to sit at her desk. She leaned her crutches against the wall next to her desk and
turned on her computer. Quinn took her empty trashcan, flipped it upside down, and stuck it
under her desk.

“Put your foot up,” Quinn murmured. “Do you need anything else before I go talk to Peter?”

Margot propped her foot up on the trashcan then lifted her gaze to Quinn, who was standing

beside her. She gave him a small smile and shook her head. He hesitated a moment before
cupping her face with one of his big hands. He ran his thumb over her bottom lip as he bent
down and lightly replaced his thumb with his lips. Margot’s eyes slid closed and her pulse sped
up. She hated to admit that she has been missing his kiss. She only kissed him while they were

making love, but he ruined other men for her. She doubted she would find another man who
kissed her the way Quinn kissed her. Then there was this...this tender, gentle kiss filled with
emotion. She did not understand it, but loved it just the same.

Quinn pulled back much too soon in Margot’s opinion. He did not go far, only backing up

enough that he could look into her eyes. His hand still cupped her face and his thumb repeatedly
stroked her cheekbone.

“I’m sorry,” Quinn whispered, his dark chocolate eyes swirling with emotion.

Margot frowned in confusion. “For what, Quinn?” she asked gently. Margot tentatively

brought her hand up to cover his. When he did not pull away, she settled her hand more firmly
over his.

Quinn swallowed hard. “Everything in London. I feel like it was my fault,” he rasped. “I

acted like a complete ass and I couldn’t even come up with the courage to apologize to you until
now.”

Margot sighed heavily before grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him down for

another, more thorough kiss. He moaned low in his throat when their tongues met, and her whole
body responded to the noise and the kiss. She couldn’t help it; Quinn just turned her on...big
time.

Quinn once again pulled back first, giving her a couple of smaller pecks at the corner of her

mouth before straightening up. She grabbed the hand that was falling away from her face, kissing
his knuckles, and then looked up at him.

“You do not need to apologize, Quinn. Nothing was your fault,” Margot said.

He rolled his lips in and nodded. Margot was not sure if he believed her or not, but at least

he was not arguing. “I’ll be back.”

Margot nodded and let him go, and he walked out of their office without a backwards glance.

What was Margot supposed to think now? What did that kiss mean, if anything? Did he want to
be with her? That was the kind of kiss Margot would expect a man to give to a woman he cared
about. Could Quinn possibly care about her? She hoped so because she was really starting to
care about him.

~~~~~

Quinn walked into Peter’s office and shut the door behind him. Peter motioned toward the

chair sitting in front of his desk. Quinn took a seat and waited. Peter watched him for a moment
from behind his black framed glasses, steepling his fingers in front of his mouth.

“You doing alright, Quinn?” Peter asked cautiously.

“Never better,” he replied dryly. Peter knew damn well he wasn’t alright. What an ass.

“Do you know why I wanted to talk to you?” Peter asked.

Quinn just gave him a bored look. He had a few ideas.

Peter sighed. “Quinn, the way you yelled at me on the phone when you got to London is

unacceptable, especially since you did it in front of Margot.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow. “What does Margot have to do with it?”

“Well, I don’t want her to think that it’s okay to talk to me like that, because it’s not,” Peter

said giving Quinn a pointed look. “And between you and me, I want to ask her out, so I don’t
want her to think I’m a jerk.”

Quinn fought the urge to assert his dominance and tell Peter to stay away from his woman,

but it wasn’t his place to say anything. Margot and he were not together, even though they had
sex - that was none of Peter’s business. It was also none of Quinn’s business if Peter wanted to
ask Margot out, he wouldn’t stop him. He knew that Margot would most likely say no, but he
wasn’t going to tell Peter that.

“I didn’t know you liked her,” Quinn muttered, hopefully giving off the vibe that he didn’t

really give a shit.

“Yeah, I mean she’s gorgeous and smart and funny, what’s not to like?” Peter smirked.

Quinn hummed and nodded. He couldn’t agree more. Do not assert dominance, do not

assert dominance...

“I was thinking about taking her to La Veranda. Something a little upscale and romantic. I

think she would like it,” Peter said thoughtfully.

“That’s great, are we done here?” he asked shortly and stood.

“Oh, yeah, right. I forgot that you don’t like Margot,” Peter said with a dismissive wave. Oh,

if he only knew. “Anyway, I’m giving you a warning, Quinn, next time you step out of line I’m
going to be forced to let you go.”

Quinn held his temper in check. There were so many things that he wanted to say to Peter at

that moment, but he just got a warning, and would definitely be fired if he opened his mouth. So,
Quinn gave Peter a nod before walking out and back to his office where Margot sat waiting.

“Is everything okay?” she asked anxiously when he walked into the office.

“Everything is fine,” Quinn answered and went to his drafting table.

“What did Peter want to talk to you about?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowed in worry.

“Nothing really, don’t worry about it,” he said, giving her a tight smile.

“Quinn...”

“Margot, really, don’t worry about it,” he said, cutting her off.

Margot sighed and nodded before turning back to her computer to do some work. Quinn

watched her for a moment. She was definitely stealing his heart and he had no way of stopping it.
She was so beautiful sitting there, tapping her damn pencil as she poked at her keyboard with
one finger. Quinn scrubbed his hand over his mouth to hide his smile. He still couldn’t believe
after all of the annoying shit he’s dealt with from her, that he slept with her, and is now having
feelings for her. He must be going insane.

~~~~~

The day seemed to drag on, and by five o’clock, Margot was ready to go home. Quinn helped

her out to his car and drove her home. She lived in a condo she bought on the waterfront, with a
beautiful view of the Delaware River and the Ben Franklin Bridge. It did not come cheap, but it
was so worth it. Quinn parked in her visitor parking spot and helped her out of the car. He
followed her to her condo, carrying her purse and portfolio that she wanted to bring home and
look through. All the while, Quinn was quiet. He never said a word about their earlier kiss, and
he refused to speak about what he and Peter talked about.

Margot unlocked her door and walked into her condo. Quinn followed, shutting the door

behind him. They moved past the small entry hallway and into the main living area, which
combined the living room and kitchen into one great room. He went over and put her purse and
portfolio on the dining room table then glanced around.

“This is nice,” were the first words out of his mouth in hours.

Margot smiled tightly. “Thank you.”

This morning, Quinn picked her up in the lobby so he did not see her condo yet. “You may go

look around if you like,” Margot said and crutched her way into the kitchen.

Quinn sent her a wary glance. “Are you sure?” he asked.

She nodded. “Oui. I am sure, everything is clean and tidy.”

Quinn rolled his eyes. “I don’t care about that,” he muttered as he started toward the hallway

where the two bedrooms, bathroom, and the laundry room were.

Margot went to the fridge to pull out the chicken that she was going to cook for dinner. She

placed it on the island counter next to the stove, grabbing the rest of the stuff she needed to make
chicken parmesan. She was just about to tear open the chicken package when Quinn returned.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Margot looked up to find him strolling into the kitchen with a disapproving frown on his

face. “I was going to make dinner. Would you like to stay?” she asked.

“I’ll stay, but you need to go sit. I’ll cook,” Quinn said as he came around the island counter

to stand next to her.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You know how to make chicken parm?”

“I do, now go sit. Your foot should be elevated,” he said.

Margot pouted. “But I have been sitting all day, I am tired of it.”

Quinn moved so that he was standing behind her. He was so close that Margot could feel the

heat from his body on her back. One arm slid around her waist while he used the other hand to
sweep her hair away from the sight side of her neck. She closed her eyes when she felt his warm
breath on her now bare neck.

“Would you rather I take you to bed?” Quinn whispered, his lips brushing against her neck.

Margot stifled a shiver of pleasure. Oh, oui…she wanted him to take her to bed, but...

“Is that all you want from me?” she asked quietly in return.

Quinn stiffened behind her but he did not pull away. She was not sure if it was a good sign or

bad.

“I...no…it’s not, but I really don’t know what I can offer you in a relationship,” he rasped

and dropped his forehead to her shoulder.

Margot’s heart broke for him. “Why would you say that? You have plenty to offer a woman,”

she murmured, nuzzling her face against his.

Quinn shook his head on her shoulder and took a deep breath. He then straightened up and let

her go. “No, I don’t. You can’t touch me, I have secrets that I’m not willing to share, and I have

trust issues. Most women can’t deal with all of that so I doubt you can,” Quinn said and started
for the front door.

“Quinn! Where are you going?” Margot called after him. She was not really in the position to

chase him.

Quinn shook his head. He turned around but kept backing up. “You deserve better than me,

Margot. I shouldn’t have kissed you earlier and I shouldn’t have come onto you just now. I’ll see
you in the morning,” he said tightly then left without giving her a chance to respond.

Merde! Stupid pigheaded American man! Margot was so frustrated. What could she do to

make him understand that she wanted to be with him? He was good enough for her. She did not
care that she could not touch him, she was sure they could work on that. Margot was not going to
let him go without a fight. Quinn deserved to have someone fight for him.

Margot finished making her dinner and ate it alone. It turned out fairly good in her opinion.

She was not the most magnificent cook in the world, but she could definitely fend for herself.
She put the dishes in the dishwasher then sat on the couch to watch some TV. She put her foot up,
as Quinn wanted her to. Maybe five minutes passed when her cell phone started ringing. Margot
picked it up off the couch next to her, hoping that it would possibly be Quinn calling to say he
changed his mind, but no, it was her sister, Colette, who was in France.

Margot answered the phone in French. “Bonjour?”

“Margot,” her sister sobbed into the phone.

Margot sat straight up, dread spoiling the food in her stomach. “Colette? What is it? What is

wrong?” she asked rapidly in French.

“It is papa…he…he has passed away…” Colette choked.

NO! No, no, no!

“What? I do not…how?” Margot croaked, her eyes started to well up with tears.

“The medical examiner suspects a heart attack…”

Colette explained how they were eating dinner like always when their father suddenly got a

surprised look of his face, then fell forward, face in his food. He was dead instantly. Margot
was in shock. Not her papa! Why did this have to happen when she was not home? She had not
spoken to him in a week, but now she would never have the chance again. Margot wanted to
scream. She hung up with Colette because there was really nothing else to say. She would try to
get home as soon as she could, but right now, she was overcome by her grief, and she could do
nothing but sob.

~~~~~

Quinn walked into his brother, Christian’s, house after giving the customary double knock.

Christian’s head popped over the railing of the second floor hallway. He gave Quinn a nod and
said he would be right down. Quinn went into Christian’s living room and plopped down onto
the tan suede couch. He came right here from Margot’s, and was in need of someone to unload
his thoughts on.

Christian walked in a moment later. He was wearing dark jeans and a crisp pale pink dress

shirt that was tucked into his jeans. Quinn smirked. The man never dressed down. He didn’t
understand it. Didn’t Christian ever get uncomfortable and just want to wear sweatpants and a T-
shirt?

“Hey Quinn, what’s going on?” Christian said, clapping Quinn on the shoulder as he skirted

the couch to sit down next to him.

Quinn sighed and dropped his head onto the back of the couch. “I needed to talk to someone

who will take me seriously and not fuck around with me,” he murmured.

The small smile on Christian’s face faded. “Well, you know you can talk to me. I’ll take you

seriously,” he said.

Quinn smiled warmly at his younger brother. Christian was twenty-seven, three years

younger than Quinn, but he was extremely mature for his age. Sometimes Quinn forgot that
Christian was the youngest of all of them, especially with the way Henry and Sebastian
sometimes fucked around as they did. Christian was blessed with the trademark Beck blonde
hair, but he acquired the brown eyes like Quinn. Christian had that boyishly handsome look
about him with that clean shaven face of his, but with his height and muscular build, there was no
way anyone could mistake him for a boy. Quinn patted Christian’s knee.

“I know, that’s why I came to you,” Quinn said.

“So what’s the problem?” Christian asked, looking slightly concerned.

“Shit, I don’t even know where to start,” he huffed. He scrubbed his face with his hand as he

tried to gather his thoughts. “You know the woman, Margot, which I work with?”

“The one you just went to London with? Yeah, what about her?”

“I’m starting to really like her.” Quinn sighed heavily.

Christian barked out a laugh, slapping a hand over his mouth when Quinn glared at him.

“Sorry. It’s just that you practically hated her a couple of months ago,” he smirked.

“Yeah, I know. I don’t know what happened. We ended up sleeping together while we were

in London and now I’ve been taking her to and from work because she sprained her ankle while
we were away and she can’t drive.”

“So you’ve been spending some time with her outside of work then?” Christian asked

thoughtfully.

“Yeah, and I guess I’m just seeing a different side to her. Don’t get me wrong, the shit she

does at work still irks me, but I don’t seem to be getting as pissed off about it like I did before.”

“Have you been with her since London? In a sexual way, I mean,” Christian asked and

settled back against the couch, arms crossed over his chest.

“No and that’s where my problem comes in. While we were in London, we were messing

around a second time; she touched me in a way I couldn’t handle, and I just freaked. I just can’t
seem to get past this whole ‘no touching’ thing. It’s like my body wants her to touch me, but my
brain is against it and makes me just react,” Quinn grunted, shaking his head.

“You’ve been this way for as long as I can remember. Did something happen that I don’t

know about?” Christian asked.

Quinn shrugged. “Not that I can think of.” He lied.

“Huh.” Quinn muttered, stumped by the situation. “Maybe you can try to slowly introduce her

touching you. Like let her touch your chest one time, then move on to your stomach the next time,
then legs, and so on. What about your junk? Do you let women touch you there?”

“That’s iffy. I handle blow jobs better than getting jerked off.”

Christian nodded and turned his gaze to the coffee table while he thought about everything.

“Do you think you should talk to a therapist? I’m sure Jared would see you,” he said after a
moment of silence.

Quinn thought about going to Jared before, especially since he got home from London. He

wanted so badly to change the way he was. He wanted to be normal. He wanted Margot’s hands
all over him. Quinn could not stand to be like this for the rest of his life. He wanted a normal
fucking relationship for once. He wanted to be good enough for Margot.

“Maybe. I’ll get his number off of Sebastian tomorrow.”

“I think it’s for the best,” Christian said sincerely and glanced at Quinn.

Quinn nodded. “So how you doing?” he asked, wanting to change the subject.

Christian shrugged and looked back at the coffee table in front of them. “Nothing new,” he

said tightly.

Christian’s knee started bouncing. That was something he always did when he had something

on his mind. Quinn studied his little brother for a moment - he looked weary and run down, his
shoulders were slumped, and he looked a bit paler than normal. Something big was bothering
him. Quinn reached over and put his hand on Christian shoulder.

“Chris, what’s going on? I’m here for you, too, you know,” he said with a frown.

He stared at Quinn as if trying to weigh the pros and cons of telling him. Christian

swallowed hard before speaking. “It’s nothing really, don’t worry about it.”

Quinn narrowed his eyes at his brother. “I know that’s bullshit, but I won’t bug you about it.”

He had secrets, too, so he understood if Christian didn’t want to talk about it.

Christian nodded. “Thanks.”

Quinn was about to reply but his cell phone started ringing. Quinn lifted his hip and pulled it

out of his back pocket. He looked at the screen and saw it was Margot calling. He was instantly
concerned. Did she fall and hurt herself further? Quinn hit the answer button and put the phone to
his ear.

“Margot? Are you alright?” he asked.

“Non,” she sniffed into the phone.

Quinn stomach dropped. “What is it? Did you hurt yourself?”

“Non...my...my papa. He is dead,” Margot choked out and started sobbing.

Quinn cursed under his breath, not what he expected her to say. His heart broke for her. He

couldn’t imagine the pain she was feeling at the moment, and it had to be ten times worse since
she was so far away from her family.

“I’ll be right there, Margot,” Quinn said as he stood. He wasn’t sure if she heard him over

her crying. “Sweetheart, did you hear me?” he asked to make sure.

“Oui,” Margot managed to get out.

“Okay, see you soon,” Quinn said and hung up.

Christian raised an eyebrow in question.

“Her father, who lives in France, just died,” Quinn said and started for the door.

“She has no family here?” Christian frowned, following him to the door.

“No, no family or friends. I can’t let her be alone through this,” Quinn rasped, his chest

aching at the mere thought of her being so upset all by herself.

Christian nodded. “I understand. Go, be with your woman.”

Quinn snorted. “She’s not my woman.”

Christian laughed. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

“Fuck you, dude,” he muttered and walked out the door.

“Love you too, brother!” Christian called after him.

Quinn flipped him the bird over his shoulder as he walked down the sidewalk to his car. He

heard Christian chuckle some more then shut the front door. Quinn got into his car and headed
back to Margot’s. It only took him about twenty minutes since there was no traffic. He parked in
the same visitor parking spot and headed up to her condo, which was on the eighteenth floor. He
had to knock on her door when he got there since he didn’t have a key.

It took Margot a good three to four minutes to get to the door because of her foot. When she

opened it, his heart broke for her all over again. Her eyes were red and swollen, her nose was
running, her hair was a mess, and she could barely work the crutches because she was crying so
hard.

“Shit, Margot. I’m so sorry,” Quinn murmured as he stepped into her condo, shutting the door

behind him.

Margot sagged against the wall next to her and squeezed her eyes shut. Quinn went over and

scooped her up. When the crutches clattered to the floor, he just stepped over them and headed
for the couch. He sat down with her sideways on his lap. Margot clutched his shirt and tucked
her face against his chest as she continued to cry. Quinn wrapped his arms around her and
dropped his chin to the top of her head. He felt so bad for her; he just couldn’t imagine what she
was going through because he’s never lost anyone close to him.

Quinn stroked her tangled hair back from her face. “Shh, I’ve got you,” he soothed, hoping to

calm her down some. Her whole body was shaking from the force of her sobs.

Quinn slowly rocked her back and forth. He was surprised that he was doing okay holding

her. She was even clutching fistfuls of his shirt. Quinn guessed her sorrow far outweighed his
dislike of being touched. He couldn’t imagine her being anywhere but in his arms at this moment,

even after the way he left earlier. He wanted to put some space between them, but now he
wanted to be there for her when she had no one else. Margot touched something in his heart
when they were in London, because ever since then, he found himself caring for her more and
more every day. Quinn promised himself that he would get a hold of Jared as soon as he could.
He was going to better himself, and try to mend everything that that fucker broke twenty years
ago, when he dared to place his hands on Quinn - done letting that asshole win. For the past
twenty years, Quinn has been letting that motherfucker win! How the hell has he not realized that
until now? Didn’t matter, he was done with it. He was taking his life back.

Margot finally quieted down. It didn’t take Quinn long to realize that she fell asleep on him.

Poor thing. He slowly got up from the couch, trying not to jostle her too much, and headed for
her bedroom. He placed her on her bed and covered her up, staying an extra minute to watch her.
She was so beautiful. Quinn moved back out into the living room, shutting her door slightly
behind him.

He walked down the hall where Margot’s office was. He found it earlier when he was over

and went looking around her condo. He sat down in front of her computer and pulled up the
internet. He checked a couple of websites for plane tickets, trying to find the cheapest one. Once
he found a good deal, he used his credit card to buy two round trip tickets to Paris, France. Next
on the list of things to do was to call Peter.

“Hello?” Peter answered his cell phone.

“Peter, it’s Quinn.”

“Quinn, hey...what’s up?” Peter asked.

“Listen, Margot’s father just died. She is an absolute mess right now. I just booked us tickets

to fly to France in the morning. We’ll be gone for a week.” Quinn informed him. He wasn’t
asking because he was doing this no matter what.

“Wait, you’re going, too? Why?” Peter asked, confused with a trace of suspicion.

“She needs someone to go with her. First, she’s on crutches and I can help with her bags, and

second, she’s distraught and needs a friend right now.”

“A friend? But I thought you didn’t like her?” Peter said slowly.

“We’re friends,” Quinn replied simply.

Peter hesitated, but said, “Alright, then. Will you still be able to do some work while you’re

away?”

“I will bring my laptop, yes.”

“Okay, I guess keep me updated and give Margot my condolences,” Peter said, a hint of

something in his voice. Quinn couldn’t tell if he was pissed off or jealous or both.

“I will. Talk to you later,” he muttered, hanging up before Peter could reply.

His friendship with Peter was slowly deteriorating. They were just not getting along

anymore. Additionally, Peter threatened to fire him for the way Quinn spoke to him on the phone
while he was in London. Quinn made a decision after their little discussion that he was going to
find another job anyway. He would finish this Trump contract, then quit. He could either work as
a free agent, or find another corporation for work. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do yet;
maybe he could even start his own business.

After printing out their tickets, Quinn wrote Margot a quick note. He quietly placed it on the

pillow next to her then left. He needed to go pack for their trip, and then he could come back and
spend the night with her. He would comfort her as much and as best as he could.

~~~~~

Margot woke up not realizing that she even fell asleep. Her room was dark. Her room? How

did she get in here? Then she remembered that Quinn came over, and she cried in his arms until
she fell asleep. She was so glad that he was there. She was shattered, with no one to hold her
together. Margot stretched, and her hand hit a piece of paper on the pillow next to her. She sat up
and turned on the lamp next to her bed. She picked up the paper and read the note scrawled out
in Quinn’s elegant handwriting:

Margot,

I bought us plane tickets to Paris. We leave in the morning. I just ran home to pack a bag. I

will be back shortly.

Quinn

Margot’s bottom lip quivered as she tried to fight off the tears that threatened to fall. Quinn

was taking her home to her family. He bought plane tickets for both of them. She didn’t want to
go to Paris alone, there was no way she could carry bags while on crutches. She was sure she
could get someone at the airport to help her, but it would just be easier with Quinn there. She
could also use the support he would offer.

Her sister called shortly after Quinn had left earlier. Their father had a massive heart attack

at the dinner table. He slumped forward, and as soon as his face hit the table, he was dead. Her
father has always had heart problems, he even had a few minor heart attacks in the past, but she
never expected him to pass away when she was not there. Her sister, Colette, said that their
mother was a mess, and has not stopped crying since it happened. Margot was just devastated.

Her father was a great man. She was going to miss him terribly.

“Margot,” Quinn’s deep voice said from the doorway.

Margot’s head shot up and she let out a startled gasp. She was so lost in her thoughts that she

didn’t even hear him come in. Margot pressed a hand to her racing heart and used the other to
wipe away the couple of tears that slipped from her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he murmured as he moved toward the bed. He sat

down next to her hip. “Did you just wake up?”

Margot nodded and held up his note. “Oui, I just read your note.”

Quinn’s gaze was soft and sympathetic. He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her

ear. “Is that alright? If I go to Paris with you?”

“Of course it is! I did not want to go alone and I could use the help.” Margot sniffed, trying to

hold back the new flow of tears that wanted out. “I do not know how I will thank you for this.”

Quinn shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. You would do this for me if it was the other

way around.”

She smiled slightly. “Oui, I would.”

The corner of Quinn’s mouth lifted. “Let’s just hope I don’t get strip searched this time.”

Margot snickered causing Quinn to narrow his eyes at her teasingly. She reached up to cup

his jaw as she leaned forward to kiss him softly on the lips. His eyes slid closed as his arm
slipped around her waist to tug her closer. She nipped at his bottom lip, making him groan.
Quinn then pulled back, his dark brown eyes searching hers.

“You sure?”

“Oui, I need you,” she breathed, leaning forward to kiss his neck lightly.

Quinn sucked in a sharp breath but didn’t pull away. She slipped her hand behind his head

and cupped the back of it as she licked a line up over his Adam’s apple to the base of his chin.
Quinn’s breathing quickened and a low growl rumbled against her lips. He pulled out of her
grasp and shifted to kneel on the bed next to her. He yanked his shirt over his head and tossed it
to the floor. Margot’s hands itched to touch his hard chest with its dusting of dark hair. He
crawled over her, forcing her to lie back, kissing her as he wrapped an arm around her waist to
pull her down the bed a bit, letting his weight settle against her. Merde! He felt so good. His
body seemed to fit perfectly against hers, as if they were made for each other.

Quinn rolled them over so that Margot was on top. She gasped and planted her hands on the

bed just above his shoulders so she would not touch him.

“Quinn! What are you doing?” Margot asked.

Quinn stared up at her with determination in his eyes, and her heart skipped a beat. “I know

you have got to be feeling somewhat vulnerable right now, and I don’t want you to be the only
one feeling that way.”

He grabbed Margot’s wrists and lifted her hands to place them on his chest, all the while

staring into her eyes. Margot’s eyes widened, she could not believe that he was doing this!
Quinn let her wrists go and tucked his hands behind his head. Margot slowly smoothed her hands
over his wide chest. She let her fingers run over his flat nipples before moving back up to run
her hands over his powerful shoulders.

“Quinn, you must tell me when you have had enough,” Margot whispered as she stared into

the dark eyes that have yet to leave her face.

“I will,” he breathed.

Margot leaned over him to press a kiss to his luscious lips before kissing her way down his

neck, over his collarbone, and down his chest. She flicked her tongue over one nipple causing
Quinn to hiss. He did not stop her, though, so she moved over to the other one and did the same.
He squirmed under her, his hips rolling forward to press his ever-growing erection against her.

“Can I take your pants off?” Margot asked.

Quinn swallowed hard but nodded. She shimmied down his body until she was kneeling

between his legs. She undid his fly and started yanking his pants down. With Quinn’s help, she
finally tossed them to the floor, and his underwear went next. Margot let her gaze rake over his
beautiful body. He was built so perfect.

“You need to get naked too,” Quinn rasped.

Margot complied. She only then realized that she was still in her work clothes, never

changed. Well, she was now. After she tossed all of her clothes off the bed, she climbed back on
top of Quinn, straddling his hips. She started kissing his chest again, working her way down.
Margot’s hands flattened on his lower abs, and that is when Quinn stopped her.

“Wait!” he croaked.

Margot immediately straightened up and removed her hands. Quinn laid there panting, his

hands covering his face.

“Too much?” she asked gently.

He nodded behind his hands.

“Okay,” Margot said and moved to lie down on her side next to him. “I will not touch any

lower than your chest, okay?”

Quinn took a deep breath and lowered his hands. “Okay,” he said hoarsely and looked over

at her. She hated the dejected look in his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Margot frowned. “Do not be sorry. I am not sorry.”

Quinn turned on his side to face her. He threaded one hand through her hair and pulled her in

for a passionate kiss that left her breathless. Margot rolled onto her back, urging Quinn to
follow, which he did. He covered her body with his as they continued to kiss, dragging his
mouth down over her jaw to her neck. Margot tossed her hands over her head and arched under
him.

Margot shivered as his beard scraped against her skin. He continued to work his way down

until he got to her breasts. She moaned when he took one nipple into his mouth and swirled his
tongue around it. He tortured both nipples before continuing to kiss his way down her body.
Margot panted and squirmed just knowing where he was going.

Margot gripped the pillow under her head as Quinn pushed her legs apart, his big hands

palming the inside of her thighs. The first lick had her crying out in French because she could not
think of the translation for English. He really knew how to use his tongue because he had her
coming within a minute.

“Merde.” Margot breathed as Quinn chuckled against the inside of her thigh.

Margot directed Quinn to the box of condoms that were in her bedside table. After tearing

one open and rolling it on, he got into position between her legs. He stayed up on his knees as he
pushed into her; his big hands practically engulfed her hips. He looked magnificent poised over
her and Margot could not get over how stunning he was.

Quinn watched as he entered her, his nostrils flared, and his jaw clenched tight. Margot

moaned, and the feeling was exquisite. He was not a small man and he filled her so completely.
Sex never felt so good. His thrusts started out long and languid before turning fast and frantic. He
dropped his body to hers and his mouth captured hers with a frenzied kiss, and his mouth muffled
her strangled cry. Quinn’s hands found hers; he intertwined their fingers and gripped her tight.
He tore his mouth away from hers and tucked his face into her neck, cursing long and low as he
came hard, as his hips locked against hers. Margot came right along with him.

Quinn sagged on top of her, both breathing heavy, and their bodies were slick with sweat. He

lifted his head to peer down at her, and her heart fluttered at the affection showing in them. He
kissed her softly on the lips a couple of times before kissing her more languorously.

After they cleaned up, they both got back into bed. Quinn set an alarm on his phone, giving

them enough time in the morning to get Margot packed and get to the airport. As they settled into
bed, he snuggled up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He tucked his face into the
back of her neck and sighed heavily. Margot was surprised by his actions, but she was not going
to complain. If he wanted to hold her, she was going to let him. He seemed to do just fine when
he was the one doing the touching. However, tonight was progress in Margot’s opinion. He tried
really hard to let her touch him, and she was proud of him. He was trying, and in Margot’s
opinion, if he was trying to change for her, he must feel something for her. Right?

Chapter 6

Sebastian’s wedding was in two months. Henry was his best man, of course, while Quinn

and he were groomsmen. Today was the day they were picking up their tuxes. Well, everyone
except Quinn, who had to fly to Paris this morning. Lucky bastard.

Raelynn’s parents were paying for the wedding, and it was costing them a pretty penny, too;

therefore, Henry insisted that he was getting all of the guys their tuxes, which were not cheap.
Henry also insisted on buying them instead of renting them, so that they could keep them to use
on another occasion. Whatever, Christian wasn’t arguing. His tux was F.I.N.E. - FINE! He
always loved adding something new to his closet, and it was even better when he didn’t have to
pay for it. His older brother was amazing and loaded. Christian stepped out of the dressing room
and stopped in front of the mirror. They had to try the tuxes on before they left to make sure all of
the alterations were correct.

“Damn, little brother. You look sharp!” said Sebastian with an approving nod.

“He almost wears it better than me,” Henry chimed in from where he stood next to Sebastian.

Both of them were in their tuxes as well.

Christian sent him a dirty look over his shoulder that had both of his brothers chuckling.

“Now all you need is a date,” said Shea, who tagged along for shits and giggles.

Christian glared at him through the mirror. Shea winked at him. Asshole.

“You’re one to talk, loser. I didn’t see a ‘plus one’ on your RSVP,” Sebastian said, giving

Shea a playful shove.

Shea laughed and gave Sebastian a punch in the shoulder. “That’s because I’m hoping to find

a hook-up at your wedding.”

Sebastian threw his head back and laughed. Henry, too, thought that was amusing. Christian?

Not so much. He did not need to see Shea hooking up with one of his or Raelynn’s family
members, or anyone else for that matter. It was hard enough knowing that Shea was currently
seeing someone. He said she was just a friend with benefits, but still, it hurt Christian’s heart.
Not that Shea had any idea of how Christian felt about him.

“Our cousins are not that good looking,” Christian mumbled.

“True, but Raelynn’s got a couple of cute ones on her side,” Sebastian said.

“How can your cousins not be good looking? You are all studs and you don’t have one

decent looking family member?” Shea asked incredulously.

“We were the lucky ones,” Sebastian said grimly.

“You could say that again.” Henry snorted. “I think Whitney has that wolf man’s disease. I

swear she’s got a full beard.”

“What?” Shea asked dryly, glancing at Christian.

Christian winced but nodded, it was sad but true. Their cousin Whitney was in her late

thirties and had more hair on her face than he did. Christian always wondered why she didn’t do
something about it, she could be pretty if she would just shave or get laser hair removal.

“Then there’s Gretchen,” Sebastian said. “She’s got a mole on her cheek.”

“So?” Shea frowned.

“I’m talking like Austin Powers, poke it with a stick while saying, ‘Moley, moley, moley.’

It’s the size of a quarter.” Sebastian made a circle with his thumb and forefinger and put it up to
his cheek. “Bam! Right there. It wouldn’t be too bad if she plucked those monster black hairs
from the center of it.”

Shea visibly shuddered while Henry snickered. Christian smirked and shook his head. Only

Sebastian.

“What about Amber?” Henry asked. “She’s not too bad,” he said, fixing his tie in the small

oval mirror that sat on the counter next to him.

Sebastian shook his head. “Her name is now Adam.”

“What? When did that happen?” Henry squawked, whirling around to gawk at Sebastian.

“Just recently. Mom told me when we were sending out invitations that she...I mean he...I

mean...shit! Amber is now Adam. That’s all I fucking know!” Sebastian huffed, throwing his
arms up.

Henry turned to look at Christian with wide eyes. “Did you know?”

Christian shook his head. “This is news to me.”

“Did she get the whole…you know…sex change?” Henry whispered so the other customers

in the store didn’t overhear him.

“Yep, mom gave me all the gruesome details, which may have completely scarred me for

life. I will never be able to look Amber…shit, I mean Adam, in the eyes ever again,” Sebastian
said.

Henry grimaced. “Well, Shea, looks like you’re screwed. The rest of our cousins are guys,”

Henry said sympathetically and patted his shoulder.

“Meh, maybe I’ll just get drunk enough to make one of them look good.” Shea shrugged.

Henry and Sebastian started laughing while Christian just rolled his eyes. Sebastian’s

wedding was going to be a party to remember, that was for sure, and Christian couldn’t wait. He
was thinking that maybe he’d get drunk enough to tell Shea how he really felt, just to get it off his
chest, and then he would pray to god that Shea was too drunk to remember it.

~~~~~

Quinn and Margot made it to Paris with no problems. He was tired and hungry, not a good

combination for him. Margot was unusually quiet and depressed. He understood why, but it
freaked him out. She was always the happy-go-lucky one; she always had a smile on her face,
but not now, not since finding out that her father died. Quinn was a bit nervous about meeting her
family. It’s not like they were together. How would she introduce him? As a friend? Co-worker,
maybe?

They took a taxi to her parents’ home, where they would be staying. On the plane, Margot

taught Quinn a few basic expressions in French. Things like, hello, goodbye, and I’m sorry for
your loss, which was extremely hard, but he eventually got it. She also explained some of their
culture to him, which was surprisingly interesting. She explained that it is perfectly acceptable
for him just to shake hands. For the most part, only friends and family kiss each other on the
cheeks, but TV makes it seem like they do it to everyone. It also depended on the person, and
how outgoing or comfortable with other people they were - like when Margot kissed his brothers
because she said they were handsome. She finally cracked a smile when Quinn sent her a dirty
look.

The taxi pulled up out front of the Leclair household and the driver helped Quinn get their

bags out of the trunk. Margot tipped the man, starting for the front door of a beautiful townhouse.
He shouldered their bags and followed. Margot used her key to open the door, and they walked
into the foyer where she told him to set the bags down. Quinn set them down against the wall
next to the door, and followed Margot as she headed into what looked like a living room.

Sitting on one of the couches was a man, probably about the same age as Quinn, and a

younger girl who was probably about nineteen or twenty. Both looked remarkably like Margot.
They had the same dark hair and hazel eyes. The younger girl was extremely cute, and the guy
was okay looking, he guessed. Quinn has never made it a point to check out other guys. Margot
never mentioned that she had siblings, but he suspected that’s who these two were.

“Margot!” the young girl cried as she jumped up off the couch and ran for her.

Margot hugged the girl as best she could with her crutches and spoke to her in French. They

went back a forth a moment as the man got up and joined them. He gave Margot a hug and kisses
on her cheeks. As Margot continued to speak with the girl, the man turned his attention to Quinn.

“I am Remi, Margot’s older brother,” he said and held out his hand.

Quinn shook it. “I’m Quinn.”

Remi smirked. “Ah, yes, Margot has told us about you.”

“Remi,” Margot hissed and slapped his arm.

Quinn raised an eyebrow at her. Margot blushed and smiled sheepishly at him. “Nothing

bad.”

Quinn hummed. He wasn’t quite sure he believed her. Then the younger girl stepped in front

of him, holding out her hand. “I am Colette, Margot’s sister.”

Quinn shook her hand, also. “Quinn.”

Colette looked Quinn up and down, murmuring something to Margot in French that had

Margot blushing harder, and her brother rolling his eyes. Quinn hated being left out, but he
probably didn’t want to know what she said.

“Where is Maman?” Margot asked.

“She is upstairs with papa’s things,” Colette sniffed.

A female voice said something in French from behind him. Quinn turned to see an attractive

older woman with short dark hair coming down the stairs; he could see who Margot and her
siblings looked like now. Margot told him on the plane that her mother spoke very little English,
so she would have to translate for her. She handed Quinn her crutches and hopped on one foot
the couple of feet to reach her mother. They hugged each other tightly and spoke quietly to each
other. Margot turned and held out her hand for her crutches.

Quinn stepped forward and handed them to her. She stuffed them under her arms, took

Quinn’s hand, and tugged him forward. She introduced him to her mother in French. The only
thing Quinn understood was his first and last name. The older woman’s eyes flicked to him. She
blatantly looked him over and Quinn tried not to shift uncomfortably under her shrewd gaze. She
then held out her hand.

“Bonjour, Monsieur Beck,” she said.

Quinn took her hand and gently shook it. “Bonjour, Madame Leclair...” he said, then repeated

what Margot had taught him, the ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ in French.

Margot’s mother smiled sadly and nodded. “Merci,” she said gratefully.

Margot had Remi show Quinn the bedroom that they would be staying in, while she stayed

behind with her mother and sister. When Quinn walked into the small room, he couldn’t help but
smile. It was Margot’s old bedroom and it was sooo Margot. The walls were a bright florescent
pink, with lime green accents all over the room. Obviously, her mother never touched anything.
There were pictures still tacked to the walls of a young smiling Margot with friends. A couple of
posters were still on the walls of young men that Quinn couldn’t name. They were probably
actors or musicians who were famous in France. Then Quinn saw the bed and almost groaned
aloud. It was only a double - Margot would have to sleep on top of him, or he was going to have
to sleep on the floor. He wasn’t sure if he could handle Margot sleeping on top of him, yet.
Quinn glanced at Remi who was standing by the door with his arms crossed over his chest and a
smirk on his face.

“Would you like me to get some extra blankets for the floor?” Remi asked knowingly.

Damn Margot. She must have told her brother about his issues with touching. “Yeah, sure.”

Quinn sighed in resignation and dropped the bags in front of the closet door.

Remi chuckled and left the room. Quinn took the opportunity to look at some of the pictures

scattered around the room. On one section of the wall, there was a bunch of pictures from what
looked like high school. Margot looked cute and a bit nerdy, but had a huge smile on her lovely
face in each one. On her nightstand was a picture of her with her arms around the neck of an
older man. The love and adoration in Margot’s eyes for the man she was with was apparent.

Remi returned with a stack of blankets and an extra pillow. He set them on the bed and

turned to Quinn. He held up the picture. “Is this your father?” he asked Remi.

Remi nodded. “Oui,” he said.

“Margot said he was a great guy,” Quinn murmured quietly and looked back down at the

picture.

“Oui, he was. I think he would have liked you,” Remi said with a small smile.

Quinn glanced at him and frowned. “How can you say that when you barely know me?”

“One trait that I share with my father is that he knew a good man when he saw one. I can see

that you are a good man, Quinn, and my father would have seen that, too,” Remi said sincerely
then turned and left the room.

Quinn stared at the now empty doorway. Wow. He didn’t expect that. Quinn returned the

picture frame to the nightstand and headed downstairs. He found everyone in the kitchen, sitting

at the table. Feeling like an intruder, Quinn shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped into the
kitchen. Margot waved him over, pulling out the chair next to her for him to sit in. She gave him
a small tired smile that had a tinge of pain in it. That’s when Quinn remembered that she hasn’t
had her foot propped up at all today. It would start to swell and become more painful as the day
went on if she didn’t prop it up at all. Quinn reached over and turned her and her chair so that
she was facing him. He reached down and grabbed her calf, brought her leg up, and propped her
wrapped ankle in his lap.

Margot gave him a grateful look, and his heart fluttered in his chest. He couldn’t remember

ever caring so much about a woman. He’s never been the kind of guy to take care of a woman if
she was sick or hurt, but something about Margot brought that out in him. He wanted to make
sure that she was comfortable; he didn’t like when she was in pain, and it just tore at his heart
when she would cry. Any other woman could cry and he wouldn’t really give a shit. Well,
except for his mother and sister-in-laws. Oh, and Adalyn, that little girl has her father and uncles
wrapped around her little finger.

Quinn sat in silence as Margot and her family spoke in French. He didn’t understand a word,

but by the somber tone, he was guessing that they were talking about Margot’s father. After a
little while, Margot and her sister made dinner, with Margot mostly sitting at the table chopping
up vegetables. While the women cooked, Remi took Quinn out to get a bottle of wine for dinner.
They walked, since it wasn’t too far to the local liquor store.

“So has my sister driven you crazy yet?” Remi asked as they walked.

Quinn laughed. “She must drive a lot of people crazy if you’re asking that.”

Remi chuckled. “Oui, she does.”

Quinn shrugged. “She did in the beginning when we first met, but now that I know her better,

she’s not that bad,” he said quietly.

“You are fond her, yes?” Remi asked curiously.

Quinn nodded. “I am,” he said, a little surprised by how quickly he answered.

“Margot is a wonderful woman. She is kind, loving, and understanding. You will not find a

better woman,” Remi said confidently.

Quinn smirked. “I’m starting to see that.”

Remi studied him for a moment before saying, “I want my sister to be happy. I can see in her

eyes that you make her happy.”

Quinn snorted. “I don’t know how that’s possible,” he muttered, shaking his head.

Remi cocked his head and frowned. “Non? Margot has told me all that you have done for

her. She thinks you are special, plus, she said that you are the best kisser,” Remi said, trying to
fight the smile that curled his lips.

Quinn groaned and hung his head. “Does she tell you everything?”

Remi laughed. “We are very close, so yes, she tells me most things. That was the only detail

she gave me, thankfully. She tells Colette the details, though.”

Quinn rolled his eyes. “No wonder Colette keeps looking at my crotch.”

Remi burst out laughing. A few people passing them smiled at his outburst. Quinn smiled,

too. He liked Margot’s brother; he seemed like a really great guy. Quinn was glad he was
getting along with Margot’s family; it would make this trip a whole lot easier.

~~~~~

Margot watched Quinn, something she constantly found herself doing more and more often.

They were sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner, and Quinn was sitting across from her and
next to Remi, who seemed to have become fast friends. This made Margot ridiculously happy
because Quinn did not take to people easily, so for him to get along so well with her brother was
something close to a miracle.

Quinn was so handsome - his brown eyes were warm and soft as he listened to her sister tell

a story about when Margot was younger, a small smile playing across his beautiful mouth. Quinn
was so sweet to her earlier when he propped her foot up on his lap, as she and her family talked
about funeral plans in French. Margot did not think that he was aware that he was doing it, but he
had sat there massaging her calf the entire time.

Quinn’s deep chuckle pulled Margot out of her thoughts. She was looking at his mouth, not

realizing it. When Margot brought her eyes up to his, she found that he was looking at her, and
what she saw in them shocked her. Her breath caught, and her heart fluttered frantically, because
what she saw looked a lot like love and adoration. Maybe she was just seeing what she wanted
to see, but Margot hoped not, she was quickly falling for him, and she would be devastated if the
feelings were not returned.

Quinn’s smile faded and he dropped his gaze away from hers, and Margot sighed quietly.

Even if he was feeling that way toward her, he still thought that he was not good enough for her,
and he would probably never admit to it anyway. She wished she could change his mind, but she
had no idea how or where to begin.

After dinner, Quinn helped Remi clean up. Margot’s mother went to be alone in her

bedroom; Colette also went to her room to call one of her friends. Margot went into the living

room and lay on the couch, tucked a pillow under her bad ankle, and sighed heavily. She was so
tired; it was a very long day. Her ankle was throbbing, and so was her head. Her father’s
viewing was tomorrow night, and his funeral was the next morning. She still could not believe
that he was gone. She didn’t have any idea how long she was laying there thinking about her dad,
but Quinn’s voice startled her when he spoke.

“Hey,” he said softly.

Margot gasped, her eyes flying open as she pressed her hand to her pounding heart.

Quinn winced. “Sorry.”

“It is okay,” she breathed.

Quinn came around the couch and lifted the pillow and her foot, sat down, and put the pillow

and her foot in his lap. “How you doin’?” he asked as his eyes raked over her face.

Margot shrugged helplessly. “I do not know,” she whispered. She has been fighting off tears

all day, and now that she and Quinn were basically alone, she could not hold them back
anymore. She covered her face with her hands as she broke down.

“Shit...Margot,” Quinn murmured as he gathered her up and pulled her onto his lap. “I’m

sorry, sweetheart, I shouldn’t have even asked. It was a stupid question,” he rasped into her hair
before kissing the top of her head.

Margot buried her face in his neck and just let him hold her. Quinn leaned his cheek on her

head and rubbed her back while she cried. Did he have any idea how sweet he was? Probably
not, and he would most likely deny it if she pointed it out, too. Margot got herself under control
fairly quickly and lifted her head to look at him.

Quinn frowned at her and brushed her hair out of her face. “I hate it when you cry,” he

muttered softly.

Margot leaned forward and kissed him. He let out a surprised grunt but kissed her back. She

threaded her fingers into the hair at the back of his neck and deepened the kiss. Quinn slipped his
fingers into her hair to cup the back of her head. He moaned low causing things down low to
clench. It was crazy the way he affected her, no other man has ever had this strong of an effect on
her. He did not even do anything and she was ready to take him to bed.

“Zut! At least go to your room,” Remi groaned from somewhere behind them.

Quinn and Margot smiled but continued to kiss. She felt the hand that he had on her back

disappear, and Remi laughed. She could only guess that Quinn made some kind of rude gesture.

“Do not forget that Colette could come down at any minute,” Remi said in a singsong voice.

Now that made Quinn pull back from their kiss. “That reminds me! What the hell have you

been telling your sister about us?” Quinn asked her, his eyes shimmering with amusement even
though his face was serious.

“Annnd that is my cue to leave...” Remi chuckled and walked out the front door.

Margot would get him later. Margot blushed and grimaced as she answered. “All of it.”

Quinn’s mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. “What do you mean by all of it?”

Margot shrugged. “I do not know. We talk about everything, I tell her everything.”

Quinn’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he found whatever words he was

looking for. “The strip search?”

Margot winced and nodded.

The humor quickly fled from Quinn’s eyes. “Did you tell her how I freaked in bed when we

were in London?” he asked tightly.

Margot nodded.

“You told Remi, too, didn’t you?” he asked, more of a bite to his words this time. He was

getting upset.

Margot cursed her big mouth as she nodded. Quinn picked Margot up, moved her off his lap

and stood. He glared down at her for a moment before heading for the front door.

“Quinn! Where are you going?” Margot called after him since she could not chase him.

Quinn whirled around, his fists clenched at his sides. “Dammit, Margot! That’s not the kind

of shit you tell everyone and their mother! That was embarrassing shit that I thought would stay
just between us!” he snapped then let out a bitter laugh. “And you want me to tell you my biggest
secret? You’re out of your fucking mind if you think that’s going to happen now. Jesus
Christ...how can I be with you if I can’t trust you?”

Margot flinched as if slapped. Before she even had a chance to explain herself, Quinn was

out the door. She stared at the closed door. What just happened? They were kissing one minute,
and then the next, Quinn was storming out. Margot never really thought about it when she told her
brother and sister everything. They always told each other everything. She did not realize that
Quinn might eventually find out that she told other people about what went on between them,
otherwise, she would have kept her mouth shut. She knew how to keep secrets. She has kept
many secrets from her siblings. Margot cursed herself for being so stupid. Once again, she took a
step forward with Quinn, but has now gone about four steps back. Merde!

Chapter 7

Quinn was beyond furious with Margot. He was done with her; she had completely betrayed

his trust. How could she do that to him? She knew him well enough to know that he didn’t want
his business shared with anyone. Fuck! Just when he was starting to let himself really care about
her, she had to go and do something like this. He could never trust her again. What pissed him off
even more was that he seriously considered telling Margot about what happened to him...many
times. He wanted to tell her because he thought she would understand and be accepting about it.
Well, she could fucking forget it now. She would tell the whole world that his cousin raped him.

Quinn tapped his shot glass on the bar. He found a quiet little place about five blocks away

from Margot’s house. The bartender filled his glass up for the fifth time. He banged back the
whiskey with no problem. He was feeling damn good now; the liquor was starting to kick in.
Quinn had no idea how much time passed, or what shot he was on, when Remi sat down next to
him.

“I have been looking all over for you, my friend,” Remi said, concerned.

“Did your sister tell you to come find me?” Quinn sneered, his words slurred.

“No. All she said was that you two argued and you left. I felt the need to look for you,” Remi

said.

“Well, you found me, so now you can leave.”

“I will not,” Remi said evenly.

“Listen, dude, nothing you say is going to change anything. Margot fucked up big time,”

Quinn muttered and threw back his latest shot.

“What did she do?” Remi asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Quinn narrowed his eyes at Remi. Did he really not know, or was he playing dumb? “You

can’t tell me that Margot didn’t tell you what we fought about.”

“She did not. She said that she was not telling Colette or me anything else about what goes

on between you two,” Remi said sincerely.

“She’s got that right because there is no ‘us two’ anymore; never really was, we were never

together. She’s not my girlfriend and she sure as shit made that permanent,” Quinn mumbled
drunkenly.

Remi frowned. “What did she do?” he asked again.

“She doesn’t know how to keep her goddamn mouth shut! That’s what she did! What

happened between us should have stayed between us! I don’t want the whole world knowing my
fucking business and I espesh...espeshially...dammit, you know what I’m sayin. I don’t want her
family knowing about what goes on behind closed doors.”

“I understand. You are a very private man.”

“Yes, I am!”

“Margot did not mean to hurt you. This I am sure of,” Remi said with certainty.

“Good for you. You want a fucking cookie or something? Cause I really don’t give a shit if

you’re sure or not.” Quinn snorted and caught the bartender for another shot.

Remi said something to the man in French after he poured the shot. Quinn wasn’t stupid; he

knew what Remi just did.

“Did you just fucking cut me off?” Quinn snapped.

“Yes, you have had plenty to drink, my friend,” Remi said grimly.

Quinn glared at Remi as he tossed the shot back. He shoved off the stool and immediately

stumbled into an empty table. Shit, he was seriously trashed. Remi’s hand closed around his
bicep but Quinn wrenched out of his grasp.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” he shouted belligerently, getting wary glances from other people

in the bar.

Quinn somehow made his way over to the wall where the coat hooks were. He grabbed his

coat and slipped into it with much difficulty. He swayed and shifted on his feet as the room spun.
Shit, he couldn’t remember the last time he has gotten this drunk. Damn Margot. This was her
fault! Quinn staggered to the door and out onto the sidewalk. He would have fallen flat on his
face, but Remi was right behind him, and caught him around the waist. Didn’t matter, he would
have rather fallen on his face than have another man grab him from behind.

Quinn lashed out; he shoved away from Remi and turned to face him. Touch me again, my

man, and I’m going to rearrange your face,” Quinn growled low and pointed at him.

Remi rolled his eyes. “If you say so.”

“I mean it. Don’t fucking touch me again.”

Remi gave him a nod. “Fine, I will let you fall next time.”

Quinn’s lip curled in a sneer as he turned back around and started down the sidewalk. Jesus,

he was seeing double he was so hammered. How many shots did he do? Fifteen maybe? He had
no idea. Quinn paused and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping the world would stop tilting. Nope,
didn’t work. He opened his eyes and kept going, Remi staying close behind him the whole way
back to the house.

Quinn stumbled noisily in the front door and dropped his coat on the floor. The house was

dark, so he was guessing that everyone was in bed. He had no idea what time it was, nor did he
really care, he was going to give Margot a piece of his mind. Quinn crawled up the stairs with
Remi in tow. When he got to the top, he pulled himself to his feet with the banister, and then
practically hugged the wall until he made it to her room. He opened the door and stepped into the
darkened room, immediately walked into what he suspected was a dresser, and bit out a vicious
curse. That’s when the lamp by the bed flicked on and Margot sat up. Her hair was piled on top
of her head in a messy ponytail, and her face was free of makeup. She looked so beautiful and it
just pissed him off even more.

“Quinn, are you okay?” she asked in a sleepy voice.

“He is very drunk, Margot,” Remi said from behind him.

“Oh my god, will you go away already?” Quinn snarled at him.

“It is fine, Remi, you can go,” Margot said softly.

Remi said something to Margot in French before walking out and shutting the door behind

him. Quinn stayed standing next to the dresser and leaned on it for support, it was sort of helping
to slow the spinning. He tried to focus on her, but it was really hard when there were two of her.

“Quinn?” Margot’s sweet voice questioned.

“Shut up,” he snapped. “Just shut up and listen.”

Margot frowned hard at him but kept her mouth closed.

“I am so fucking mad at you right now, Margot. I just can’t believe that you told your brother

and sister things that I had conshidered...fuck, I can’t talk right...that shit was private, dammit! I
just...I wanted to trust you so badly because I’m falling for you. That’s done with now, though,
you ruined it. I can’t ever trust you again. Ever.” Quinn sighed heavily, his heart aching.

Margot was sitting on the bed, tears streaming down her face. God dammit! Why did she

have to cry? That was his one weakness with her, his kryptonite. If anything was going to make

him break down and tell her, it was her tears.

“I swear, Quinn, you can trust me. I will never tell anyone anything ever again, I promise!”

Margot pleaded.

Quinn made his way over to the end of the bed and crawled up onto it. He crawled over her

until they were face to face. His eyes wandered over her face for a moment. “You’re going to
have to prove it then,” he murmured softly. Idiot! He was an idiot.

“I will do anything you want, Quinn, just please do not say that it is over between us,”

Margot cried softly and cupped his face in her soft hands.

Quinn closed his eyes, his heart pounded, and his stomach flipped. He knew that he was

making a huge mistake by telling her, but he wanted to be able to trust her so fucking bad. He
wanted to be with her. If she could keep his secret, then she would prove to him that she was
trustworthy. If she didn’t, then he would deal with it. “I was raped by my cousin when I was ten.
That’s why I am so fucked up, that’s why you can’t touch me,” he rasped, his stomach churning,
making him want to puke.

Margot gasped. “Oh, Quinn. I am so sorry,” Margot whispered, her eyes welling up again.

Quinn pinned her with a hard stare. “If you repeat that to anyone, I will never speak to you

again. Do you understand?”

Margot nodded fervently. “I will tell no one, I swear.”

Quinn stared at her for a moment before he attacked her mouth. He pushed her back onto the

bed and kissed her roughly. Margot just let him do what he wanted, which turned him on big
time. He was surprised that he was even able to get hard with how drunk he was. He figured that
he could be on his deathbed and still get hard for Margot, that’s how much he wanted her all the
time.

Quinn tore his mouth away from hers and pushed up to his knees. He flipped her over onto

her stomach, and yanked her pajama pants and underwear down. It took Quinn a minute to get his
jeans undone, but when he did, he pushed them down just enough to free himself. He grabbed her
hips and pulled her up to her knees. He entered her in one quick thrust that had her yelping in
surprise. He groaned as he pulled back slowly, savoring the feel of her. He realized then that he
didn’t have a condom on, but he was a little too drunk to care, he would just pull out.

He gripped her hips tight as he pounded into her, not their normal round of sex. He was still

pissed off and wanted to take it out on her a little bit. He pushed her down so that she was flat to
the bed. Quinn covered her with his body and swiftly entered her again. Margot cried out in
pleasure and clutched the sheets. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and tugged her head back so
that he could kiss her - it was a sloppy kiss but it was still hot in Quinn’s opinion.

He pushed back up to his knees and continued to slam into her, making the bed squeak with

how rough he was being. Margot was panting and moaning, so he knew she was enjoying it. His
hands encircled her hips and he watched as his cock repeatedly disappears inside of her. He felt
his balls pull tight and almost forgot to pull out. He quickly pulled out and took himself in his
hand, barely pumping once before he was coming all over the small of her back. Quinn moaned
low as his body jerked and twitched in time with his release. He had no idea if she came or not,
and he really didn’t care at the moment. He found it really hard to care about anything at moment.

Quinn grabbed some tissues out of the box on the night stand and cleaned off Margot’s back

before cleaning himself up a bit. He righted his jeans, stumbling over to the pallet of blankets on
the floor and collapsed. He grabbed the pillow and half hugged it as he lay on his stomach.

“Quinn, will you not come lay on the bed with me?” Margot asked quietly.

“No,an stylew Quinn grumbled. The room was seriously spinning and he couldn’t handle

sleeping with someone all over him right now.

Margot sighed heavily and turned off the light. Quinn was glad she didn’t argue because he

didn’t want to argue with her anymore. The room didn’t spin for too long because Quinn passed
the hell out a couple of minutes later.

~~~~~

Margot sat at the kitchen table staring at her breakfast; she was not hungry at all, not after last

night. Quinn was raped when he was ten by his cousin. Someone he trusted. She knew something
like that had to have happened to him for him loathe being touched so severely. Margot just hated
that she was right, but it really helped her understand his issues a lot better now that she knew
for sure.

“Margot?” Remi’s voice came from her right, bringing her out of her thoughts.

Margot glanced at her brother and gave him a small smile. “Oui?”

“How was Quinn after I left last night?” he asked, concerned.

Margot waved her hand dismissively. “He was fine. We talked and then he passed out.”

“You did not just talk. You forget I share a wall with you,” Remi muttered and stabbed at his

eggs.

Margot blushed and averted her eyes. Magnifique! Her brother heard Quinn and her having

sex last night. Speak of the devil, Quinn walked into the kitchen looking like complete shit - his
hair was the messiest Margot has ever seen it, his beard was longer than normal, he had dark

circles under his eyes, and he was still in his clothes from yesterday. Yet, he was still utterly
attractive in a rugged sort of way.

“Why don’t you just shut your mouth, man,” Quinn said, glaring at Remi.

Remi rolled his eyes and continued to eat his food. It seemed like Remi really did not take

Quinn’s crankiness to heart, which was good, because she did not want them to argue and fight.
Quinn went over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. He brought it over to the table and
sat down next to Margot, shocking her by laying his head on her shoulder. She did not expect that
at all. It seemed as though Quinn was always full of surprises.

“I think I’m dying,” he groaned painfully.

Remi rolled his lips in to hide his smile.

“Maybe you should not have had so much to drink last night,” Remi offered.

“Screw you, dude,” Quinn huffed.

Remi chuckled.

Quinn lifted his head and sipped his black coffee. He always drank his coffee black, Margot

thought it was gross. He squeezed the bridge of his nose and groaned again. Remi took pity on
him and got up to grab the bottle of aspirin; he placed it in front of Quinn, and then went back to
eating his breakfast. Quinn muttered a ‘thanks’ and took a few of the pills. Remi finished eating,
took his plate to the sink, and left them to be alone together. Quinn glanced over at Margot, a
combination of things going on in his dark eyes - sorrow, hesitation, guilt, and anger, among
other things.

“I’m sorry about last night. I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Quinn asked quietly.

“Non. I am fine,” Margot replied.

“Do you still want to be with me now that you know?” he asked. The apprehension in his

eyes broke Margot’s heart.

“Of course I do. Knowing that has changed nothing, other than now, I also know your secret.

I am surprised you even remember telling me.”

“So am I.” He snorted.

“It really does not change a thing, though,” Margot assured him.

Quinn nodded but still looked hesitant.

“Can I ask you one thing?” she asked.

He nodded. “Sure.”

“Why did you not tell anyone after it happened?”

Quinn sighed and scratched his head. “I was young and stupid. He threatened to come back if

I told anyone and I believed him. He was moving out to Texas the next day, but I didn’t realize
that he wouldn’t come back for me. He and his family only visited a couple of times since
moving, and I always made sure I wasn’t anywhere near when they came, so I haven’t seen him
in twenty years.”

Margot nodded in understanding.

“I swear, Margot, if you tell anyone...”

“I will not. I promise,” she said seriously, cutting him off.

Quinn looked at her, his face hard. “Promises have been broken before.”

“Not mine,” Margot said, looking him in the eye. She took her promises seriously.

Quinn pursed his lips and nodded as he looked down at the table. “I want to be with you,

Margot.”

“I want to be with you, too, Quinn,” Margot replied.

“If we do this, you know it’s not going to be a hearts and flowers kind of relationship, right?”

Margot smirked. “Oui, I do know.”

“I can be a real ass sometimes,” he warned.

“Oui, I know that, too.”

Quinn smirked. “Yeah, I guess you do.”

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“Mon dieu, Quinn. You reek of alcohol,” Margot said, waving her hand in front of her face.

He snorted. “No surprise there. I’ll go take a shower.”

“Please do.”

Quinn got up from the table, gave her a kiss on the top of her head, then went to take a

shower. Margot smiled to herself, they were finally together! Officially! She could not be
happier; she just prayed that Quinn did not change his mind. She knew this relationship was not
going to be easy, especially with all of his hang-ups. She was going to try her hardest to make it
work, though. She was falling in love with Quinn, and she would do whatever she needed to
keep him with her.

~~~~~

Quinn went over last night in his head as he stood under the shower spray, he was surprised

that it wasn’t one big black hole. He couldn’t believe he did what he did to Margot. He told her
his secret, and then fucked her. He didn’t make love to her, or even have sex with her. He
fucked her as if she didn’t mean anything to him then went and slept on the floor. What. The.
Fuck. He was such an asshole. He treated her like absolute shit, yet she still wanted to be with
him. He swore he would make it up to her; he would do whatever he had to do, to make this
relationship work.

He was stunned last night that he admitted to Margot that he was falling for her. He never in

his life told a woman how he felt about her, but everything was so different with her - he wanted
her to know exactly how he felt about her. He definitely found himself being more open with her,
he told her his secret for Christ’s sake, and he couldn’t get any more open than that. He needed to
get Jared’s number off Sebastian; he needed to work out his problems once and for all.

Quinn finished up in the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist, and walked down the

hall to Margot’s room. She was sitting on her bed looking at her unwrapped ankle. She glanced
up at him, her eyes roaming over his naked chest and abs, and then she held her foot out to him.

“What do you think? Does it look better?” she asked.

Quinn moved to the end of the bed and took her foot in his hand. He nodded. “The swelling

has definitely gone down. Does it hurt to move it?”

Margot shrugged. “A little.”

“Well, you should still keep it wrapped and use the crutches until the doctor gives you the

okay not to.”

Margot nodded. “I know. It is very irritating though,” she huffed.

Quinn gave her a sympathetic smile. “I understand. I’ve had sprained ankles before.”

Quinn moved his hand up to her calf and gave it a squeeze. She leaned back on her elbows

and smiled, as she leaned her head on her shoulder. She brought her other foot up and rubbed his
cock through the towel. Quinn smirked.

“Didn’t you have enough last night?” Quinn teased.

Margot shook her head. “I will never have enough of you,” she murmured sincerely.

Quinn’s heart pounded furiously in his chest. He slid his hand higher up her leg as he

climbed onto the bed. Margot spread her legs so that he could kneel between them. She reached
forward and pulled the knot of his towel so that it fell away. Her eyes locked onto his erection
and she went to reach out to touch him, but caught herself. Her eyes flipped up to his.

“Can I touch you?”

Quinn took a deep breath and nodded. Margot smiled and shifted so that she was on her

knees, too. She tilted her head back to look up at him with her big hazel eyes. “Kiss me,” she
whispered.

Quinn settled his hands on her hips and brought his face down so that he could kiss her. He

kissed her slowly, savoring every brush of her lips, every stroke of her tongue. Quinn slipped his
arms around her and pulled her closer. He was momentarily stunned when her hand closed
around his cock. He tore his mouth away from her, and was about to tell her to stop because he
was becoming overwhelmed, but then she started to stroke him. His breath caught when she
reached the head, his eyes fluttered shut, and his head fell back. Margot kissed his chest as her
hand continued to move. Quinn moaned at how good it felt to have her touch him.

Quinn felt the bed move, but he was too lost in her touch to bother looking at what she was

doing. A moment later her mouth closed over the head of his cock and he let out a strangled cry
that he has never heard come out of him before. His eyes flew open and looked down at her.
Margot had one hand still wrapped around his shaft while she took as much of him into her
mouth as she could. He swore he died and went to heaven. Quinn couldn’t take his eyes off of
her; it was the sexiest thing he has ever seen. He has only let one or two women go down on him,
but never let them stay there long. He was going to let Margot stay as long as she wanted to, that
was for sure.

Quinn panted as his hips thrust slightly on their own accord. Margot didn’t seem to mind, she

seemed to be enjoying it just as much as he was. He laced his fingers into her hair and held her
head. She hummed her approval and Quinn almost lost it. He felt the tingle at the base of his
spine and he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer.

“Margot...” Quinn breathed in warning.

Her response was to take him in deeper and use her other hand to cup his balls. Quinn

cursed, his hands tightening in her hair. His head fell back again as he came, and a long, low
moan escaped him as Margot sucked him dry. Quinn shuddered and had to push her away

because he couldn’t take it anymore. She giggled and fell back onto the bed, as he collapsed onto
his back next to her, with one hand on his chest, the other arm covering his eyes, trying to slow
his breathing and heart rate.

“It was good, non?” Margot giggled.

Quinn smiled and removed his arm so that he could look over at her. “Very good.”

“I am happy that I pleased you,” she purred.

“You definitely pleased me,” he murmured, rolling onto his side to face her.

Margot smiled sweetly. She reached out and ran her fingers down his bearded jaw, but her

smile faded, and she looked apprehensive all of a sudden.

“What is it, sweetheart?” Quinn asked, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

“Did you mean what you said last night when you said you were falling in love with me?”

Margot asked quietly, her eyes watching her fingers as they trailed over his beard.

Quinn stared at her lovely face and knew he could not lie to her, and he couldn’t not answer

her. She deserved to hear how he felt. This was going to be his first step in being a better man
for her. He would tell her how he felt about her because she needed to know. He could see it on
her face.

“I did mean it, yes,” Quinn said.

Margot’s eyes widened slightly in shock as they snapped up to meet his. She either didn’t

expect him to answer or thought he would have blamed it on the booze.

“I am falling for you, too, Quinn,” she whispered.

Quinn’s eyebrows shot up. He was expecting that. “Really?”

“How could I not?” She responded.

He shrugged. “I just didn’t think...I thought I was too screwed up for anyone to fall in love

with.”

“You are a wonderful man, Quinn. I wish you could see what I see.”

Quinn sighed and nodded. He hoped that with help he could eventually see what Margot saw

in him. As of right now, though, he still considered himself fucked up, and hoped that this
relationship with Margot would work out. He never pictured himself getting married, always
figured he was too messed up for any woman to want to stay with him long enough; but now,

when he looked at Margot, he could see her as his wife. That totally blew his mind. He now had
a goal that he desperately wanted to reach, and he would do whatever he had to do to get there.

Quinn pulled Margot into his arms and kissed her. Tonight was her father’s viewing and

tomorrow was the funeral; he was not looking forward to either. After a couple of minutes of
cuddling, they got dress and ready to go to the viewing.

Chapter 8

After returning from Paris, Quinn and Margot fell into a regular routine. They went to work,

had dinner together every night, and would watch some shows together; after an amazing and
exhausting round of sex, they would go home to their separate places to sleep. Margot’s ankle
healed up fairly quickly, but they continued to drive to work together. Quinn was slowly getting
better with letting her touch him. In addition, he has been working with Jared Walsh, Sebastian’s
soon to be brother-in-law and therapist. Quinn called him the day after they got back from
France. Things were going good with him, and he was definitely making progress.

He and Margot had been together a little over a month when Quinn’s mother invited them

over for a family dinner. He has yet to introduce Margot to his parents, so he figured dinner
would be the perfect time. They were going to be shocked since Margot would be the first
woman Quinn has ever brought home to meet his parents. He always refrained before because
his mother was a bit crazy when it came to her sons and other women, but she has completely
reformed herself.

When he spoke to his mother on the phone, she said that she had a surprise for Quinn and his

brothers; he had no idea what it could be. They were about a week away from Sebastian’s
wedding, so maybe it had something to do with that. Quinn was definitely curious.

Quinn and Margot pulled into his parents’ driveway, got out of the car, and started up the

walkway. She slipped her hand in his, and he glanced down at her, giving her a small smile.
Margot reached up and kissed him on the lips as they walked. God, he was so in love with her.
He couldn’t believe how fast it happened, never expecting to fall in love with the one woman
who annoyed the shit out of him when they first met and started working together.

When they got to the front door, Quinn opened it and walked in as he usually did. Never in a

million years would he have expected to see the person who was standing in his parents’ living
room, talking to Christian. Time stopped as Quinn froze just inside the doorway.

He hasn’t seen his cousin Johnny in twenty years, not since that day he held Quinn down on

his bed and raped him. Johnny was twenty at the time, and much stronger than Quinn. The only
reason Johnny was at their house was to say goodbye. He and his family were moving to Texas
because his dad, Quinn’s Uncle Jack, took a job out there. Uncle Jack was his father’s brother.

While everyone was out back for a barbecue that day, Quinn went to his room to grab his toy

gun. Before he even had a chance to leave his room, Johnny walked in, and shut and locked the

door. Quinn was confused at first, and he couldn’t understand why Johnny would lock the door.
Then as Johnny advanced on him, his confusion turned to terror. The whole thing lasted only ten
minutes - the longest ten minutes of his life - but seemed like hours for Quinn. No one even
realized that he was gone.

As Quinn stood frozen in the doorway, the whole world fell away until it was just Johnny

and him. He distantly heard Margot call his name. Johnny chose that moment to look over at
Quinn, his smug smile that curled his mouth was a punch to the gut, as if he knew that Quinn
never said a word, and he held all the power. Something inside of Quinn snapped. All of the
these years that he held this disgusting secret inside of him, all of the anger he felt over not being
able to do anything about it, all of the nightmares he had - everything boiled up to the surface
and finally spilled over.

Quinn didn’t even realize his feet were moving until Johnny’s cocky smile faded and he was

closer than he was before. Without a word, Quinn shoved Christian aside and started wailing on
him. Johnny, who was now shorter than Quinn, was also now forty, and a bit overweight. He had
no chance in defending himself against Quinn’s wrath. The second punch to his face knocked him
to the ground, and Quinn followed with more, continuing his assault. As Johnny lay bleeding
under him, Quinn wrapped his hands around the man’s neck. He previously swore to himself that
if he ever saw Johnny again, he would kill him, fuck the consequences. Quinn heard screams and
shouts in the background, but nothing really registered. He was on a single-minded mission, and
nothing short of severe physical harm was going to stop him.

Quinn felt hands grab him and try to pull him away, but he wasn’t going to let go until this

piece of shit wasn’t breathing. Johnny clawed at Quinn’s wrists, his eyes were wide and bugging
out, his mouth was gaping open, and his lips were starting to turn blue, as he tried to draw in a
nonexistent breath. Quinn stared down at him, his face void of all emotions; he was going to
watch the man who ruined his life die.

A thick muscled arm wrapped around Quinn’s neck and pulled. He lost his advantage and

had no choice but to let go of Johnny’s neck. Quinn grunted and fought mercilessly against
whoever was pulling him. He swung an elbow back and cracked whoever it was in the face. The
arm around his neck fell away and he vaguely heard Sebastian bite out a very vicious,
“Motherfucker!”

Quinn dove back toward Johnny; he just got his hands back around his neck when someone

else grabbed him, wrapping their arms around him from behind. They actually lifted Quinn off
his feet as they hauled him back. Whoever it was had smartly pinned Quinn’s arms down to his
sides, rendering them immobile. Quinn fought hard to get away so he could finish what he
started, kicked and bucked, but the strong hold on him wouldn’t budge. Margot suddenly
appeared in front of him; she roughly grabbed his face and forced him to look at her. Quinn
blinked at her for a moment as reality slammed back into place. He stopped struggling against
the arms that held him.

“What the hell has gotten into you, Quinn!” his father exclaimed from where he was, kneeling

down next to Johnny.

“Are you cool? Can I let you go?” Henry’s voice asked from behind him.

Quinn jerkily shook his head because if Henry let him go, he was going after Johnny again,

no doubt about it. Margot’s hands moved down to his chest as if she could hold him back if
Henry did let go, but Henry kept his arms around Quinn and backed up slowly. Margot’s hands
fell away as she let Henry back them up.

Christian appeared in front of him and followed. Sebastian, who was holding the bottom of

his t-shirt up to his bleeding nose, also followed. Henry took them out the front door. Christian
and Sebastian went with them, and Sebastian shut the door behind them. It was now only the four
brothers standing out on the walkway. With Christian and Sebastian blocking the door, Henry
slowly released Quinn.

“Wanna tell me why you bloodied my nose?” Sebastian asked with an eyebrow cocked in

question, blood running down over his lips and chin.

“I’m sorry,” Quinn rasped.

Sebastian waved his hand dismissively. “What’s going on?” he asked as he pulled his t-shirt

off, balled it up, and pressed it more firmly to his nose to stem the bleeding.

Henry placed his hand on Quinn’s shoulder and squeezed. “You can tell us, Quinn.”

For the first time, Quinn didn’t flinch and pull away. He needed the comfort, welcomed it

even. Quinn pulled in a deep breath then blew it out shakily; he swallowed hard and looked at
each of his brothers’ faces. They were all concerned, but there for him. Did he have the courage
to tell them the secret he gas kept inside for most of his life? What would they think of him once
they found out?

“Quinn, what is it?” Christian asked, placing his hand on Quinn’s arm.

Quinn hesitated for a moment before speaking the words he has never wanted or expected to

say to his brothers. “When I was ten...Johnny...he...he raped me before moving to Texas,” Quinn
said, his throat tight.

Christian and Henry both sucked in a sharp breath and Sebastian just stared at him, his face

eerily blank.

“What?” Sebastian asked low and deadly, lowering his now bloody shirt from his face.

Quinn grimaced. “Please don’t make me repeat myself,” he whispered.

“Quinn,” Christian breathed, his face was a mask of pain and anguish as he rubbed his chest

with the heel of his palm.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Henry asked hoarsely.

“I was ten and he made me promise not to. I didn’t know any better,” Quinn croaked.

All the emotion that he forced himself not to feel all of these years exploded out of him. A

ragged sob burst out of him. He slapped a hand over his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut. He
held it in for so long that now that it was coming out, he couldn’t stop it. Christian was the first
to act, practically slamming into Quinn, wrapping his arms around him. Quinn tucked his face in
Christian’s neck and just sobbed, clutching the front of his brother’s shirt for dear life. Henry
and Sebastian moved in and wrapped their arms around both Christian and him.

Quinn had no idea how long the four of them stayed like that because they didn’t let Quinn go

until he stopped crying. When they finally broke apart, Sebastian slammed his shirt to the ground
and started for the door.

“Sebastian? Where are you going?” Christian called after him.

“I’m going to kill that motherfucker,” he growled and tore open the front door.

“Shit!” Henry said and started after him.

Christian looked at Quinn. “I wish you would have told us sooner,” he said softly.

“I...I couldn’t,” Quinn said, his voice pained and he shook his head.

Christian nodded in understanding. Before either of them could say anything else, they heard

Sebastian screaming viciously, “YOU SICK BASTARD! I’LL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU
DID TO MY BROTHER!”

Quinn groaned. Dammit! Now everyone was going to know. Christian placed a hand on his

shoulder. “It’s okay, Quinn. It’s not going to matter. We love you and we’re here for you. Mom
and Dad, too. You know that,” Christian murmured gently. “Now let me go help Henry restrain
Sebastian.” He sighed and trotted into the house.

Quinn watched through the open door. Sebastian was standing over Johnny, his hand

wrapped up in Johnny’s shirt, pulling him up slightly so that he could smash his face with his
other fist. Henry shoved Sebastian away so he could get in a couple of good shots. Even
Christian went over and got in a hit.

His mother, Anne, was repeatedly screaming, “What’s going on?” His father was arguing

with his Uncle Jack. His Aunt Marie was standing off to the side, staring in horror. Claire and
Raelynn went out back with the kids to keep them out of the way. Margot slipped past everyone
and came out the front door.

Margot had tears running down her face and she broke into a little jog to reach him. Once she

did, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him fiercely. Quinn wrapped his arms around
her and held her close. God, how he needed her; he needed her like he needed air; she has
become everything to him. Margot pulled back and cupped his face in her hands.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Quinn shook his head.

“What can I do? Is there anything?” she asked, her voice and face tortured.

Quinn shook his head again. He reached up and removed Margot’s hands from his face. “I

need to be alone for a while,” he said. He turned and started walking down the sidewalk.

Margot didn’t argue or even call after him. She understood, and he knew she did - just one of

the things that he loved about her. She seemed to understand when he needed space, and right
now, he needed it, badly; otherwise, he was going to freak out again. Quinn walked until it was
dark. He didn’t pay attention to where he was going, although when he looked around, he knew
exactly where he was; however, inside he was lost- so very lost.

~~~~~

Margot stared at Quinn’s back as he walked away. She understood that he needed some

space after what just happened. She was still in shock, too. When they walked in the door and
Quinn froze as he did, staring at the heavyset man talking to Christian, she knew. Margot knew
that he was the man who abused Quinn when he was ten.

Then Quinn went into a rage. Margot has never seen anything like it, and it had scared the

ever-living crap out of her. What freaked her out the most was how silent Quinn was through the
whole thing. He did not utter one word, and the only sound he made was when Sebastian put him
in a headlock - even then, it was only a grunt. Scary… Quinn had been seriously scary in those
few moments while he was attacking his cousin.

Margot saw the looks on his brothers’ faces when he was strangling Johnny. They were

stunned, so dumbfounded that they just stood there and watched for what seemed like forever.
Finally, Sebastian snapped out of it and grabbed Quinn before he could kill the man. Sebastian
really used his muscle, too, because Quinn did not want to let go.

Margot turned and walked back into the house. Christian was trying to hold back both Henry

and Sebastian as they argued with Johnny and his father. Johnny screamed that he was going to
call the police and press charges. Henry Sr., who had been silently watching, burst into action;
he gripped Johnny up by his shirt collar and got right in his broken and bloody face.

“If you think for one second that you are going to threaten my family after what you did to my

son, you have another thing coming. I will shove a broomstick so far up your ass that you will
have splinters on your tongue. Do you hear me, boy?” he snarled.

Henry, Sebastian, and Christian all turned slowly and gaped at their father. Apparently, they

have never heard anything like that ever come out of their father’s mouth. Margot had to agree
that it was extremely impressive.

“Yes…yes, sir, I changed my mind…I won’t press charges…” Johnny sputtered.

“Take your son, Jack, and get the hell out of my house. I never want to see his disgusting face

again. You and I will talk later,” Henry Sr. said to his brother as he shoved Johnny backwards
into his father’s arms.

Margot and the Becks watched in silence as Johnny and his parents left the house. As soon as

the front door closed behind them, everyone turned to look at Henry Sr. He glanced at everyone
and shrugged.

“What?”

“What? Dad! That was totally badass!” Sebastian exclaimed. “You told Johnny that ‘you

would shove a broomstick so far up his ass that he was going to have splinters on his tongue!’
Where the hell did that come from? It was fucking awesome!”

Henry Sr. shrugged again. “That little prick hurt my son,” he said as if that explained it all,

which basically it did.

“What did he do to Quinn?” Anne asked from where she stood by the couch.

Henry Sr. and his sons turned sympathetic gazes on her; she must not have picked up on what

Johnny did to Quinn. She looked between all of them nervously. Maybe she did get it and just
did not want to believe it. Margot did not blame her, she could not imagine how she would feel
if something like that happened to her child.

“Mom,” Henry said gently. “Mom, Johnny raped Quinn when he was ten.”

Anne’s eyes widened and she started shaking her head furiously as she repeated, “No,” over

and over. She dropped down onto the couch and just stared off into space. Henry Sr. went over
and sat down next to her; he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. He
whispered quietly in her ear, but Margot was too far away to catch any of it; she was sure he
was trying to console her.

“Margot?” she heard Henry’s voice ask.

Margot tore her eyes away from Anne and Henry Sr. to look at Henry Jr. “Oui?” she replied

quietly.

“Where is Quinn?” he asked, concern furrowing his brow.

“He said he needed to be alone for a while then started walking down the street.”

“Did he say where he was going?” Christian asked.

“Non, I do not think he even knew, he just wanted to be alone,” Margot answered.

“Alright, let’s give him some time, and if he’s not back in fifteen minutes, we’ll go look for

him,” Henry said.

Everyone agreed. Margot took a seat on the smaller of the two couches. She could not

imagine how Quinn must be feeling right now; he had to be an absolute mess. She wished that he
wanted to be with her instead of alone, but that was who Quinn was. He would pick being alone
over being coddled any day, so all she could do now was to wait for him to return.

~~~~~

Christian’s cell phone rang about thirty minutes after Henry and Sebastian went out looking

for Quinn; Henry found him and was bringing him back. Johnny and his parents left with Johnny
cradling a bag of ice to his face. That asshole had the nerve to say that he was going to call the
cops and press charges. Christian’s father, Henry Sr., threatened Johnny, saying that if he called
the cops then he would ‘shove a broom handle so far up his ass that he’d have splinters on his
tongue.’ Johnny’s reaction was comical; he immediately paled, and said that he changed his
mind about pressing charges.

Christian still couldn’t believe that Quinn kept something like that a secret for twenty years!

Not that Christian had any room to talk; he has been keeping his secret for about twelve years or
so. He was also the biggest hypocrite ever, telling Quinn that his family was going to love him
no matter what. Shit, Christian needed to heed his own words. He was just waiting for his balls
to make an appearance.

Christian paced in his parents’ living room. His mother, Anne, was sitting on the couch,

staring into space. Henry was the one to tell her what happened, and she has been out of it ever
since. His father was sitting on the couch next to her, rubbing her back. Quinn’s girlfriend,
Margot, was sitting on the love seat, her elbows on her knees with her chin resting on her palms.
Claire and Raelynn were in the kitchen feeding the kids, but Christian knew that they were both
very upset.

Christian heard a car door slam outside and turned to face the door. Sebastian walked in, his

nose a bit swollen, and both of his eyes were turning black and blue. Christian hoped he healed
fast because his wedding was in a week, and black eyes would not look good for pictures.

“Babe? Can you get me some ice?” he called before sitting on the love seat next to Margot.

Margot turned to look at Sebastian’s face. “Quinn got you good, non?”

Sebastian snorted then groaned and touched his nose delicately. “Hell yeah, he did,” he

grumbled.

Raelynn emerged from the kitchen a couple of minutes later with a bag of frozen peas and a

rag. Sebastian laid his head back on the couch and Raelynn gingerly placed the rag and the peas
on his nose. He hissed and cursed but held it in place with one hand while giving Raelynn’s
hand a squeeze with the other.

“Thanks, sweet cheeks.”

“You’re welcome,” she said and stroked his hair with her hand.

Five minutes later, two more car doors slammed outside and Henry came walking in the front

door, followed by Quinn. Christian’s heart broke for his brother. He looked horrible - his
shoulders hunched and his face was completely and utterly blank, which really freaked Christian
out. Quinn usually hid his emotions well, but this was extreme, even for him. Margot got up and
took his hand. She led him over to the love seat where she had been sitting, and sat him down
next to Sebastian.

“Is it broken?” Quinn asked Sebastian, his voice hollow and emotionless. Quinn was staring

down at his own busted up knuckles, which were resting in his lap.

“I don’t think so,” Sebastian answered.

“That’s good,” Quinn said quietly.

Margot glanced back at Christian, worry creasing her brow. She turned back to Quinn and

asked if he wanted anything to drink. He just shook his head, his eyes downcast. He hasn’t
looked at anyone since walking in. Christian was becoming increasingly concerned for his
mental health.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Anne whispered.

“Mom, now is not a good time,” Henry said softly from where he was standing near the door.

His blonde hair was sticking out in all directions, most likely from him constantly running his
hand through it.

Anne’s eyes flicked up to look at Henry. She opened her mouth to argue but Henry cut her off

before she could start. “He can’t talk about it right now, mom. Please just let it go for the
moment,” Henry pleaded softly.

Anne glanced at Quinn, her eyes looking him over before she sighed and nodded. Christian

blew out a breath he didn’t even realize that he was holding. He was afraid his mother would
push it like she used to, and Christian didn’t think that Quinn could handle it if she did. She let it
go, thankfully.

“Margot?” Henry said, “Why don’t you take Quinn home.”

Margot nodded. “Okay.”

Sebastian removed the peas from his face and leaned in toward Quinn. “Had I known what

he did, I would have let you kill him and then helped you bury his body in the backyard.”

Christian watched in shock as one side of Quinn’s mouth curled up just a hair. Sebastian

smiled and patted Quinn’s thigh before putting the peas back on his nose. Quinn stood and
headed for the door without saying anything to anyone. Margot went over and said goodbye to
their parents before giving Henry, Sebastian and him a kiss on the cheek. She went into the
kitchen and said goodbye to Claire, Raelynn, and the kids before heading out after Quinn, who
was most likely already in the car. God, he hoped Quinn was going to be okay.

~~~~~

Margot took Quinn back to his studio apartment; he went right to his bed, which was hidden

behind a decorative screen. His apartment has a total of four doors - the entrance, the bathroom,
his efficiency washer and dryer, and his walk-in closet. Margot thought his apartment was
beautiful, with the perfect amount of space for one - or even two - people to live comfortably.

Quinn sat on the end of his bed, his head hanging down. She was still in shock about what

happened today, so she could not imagine what was going on in his mind. Quinn almost killed a
man today, almost strangled his cousin to death. If Sebastian had not pulled him away, he would
have succeeded.

Margot sat down next to him, no idea what to do for him. He has not said one word since

leaving his parents’ house. “Quinn, do you need anything?” Margot asked.

“Can you just go? I just want to be alone,” he whispered.

“Really, Quinn? Are you sure?” Margot asked with a frown.

Quinn nodded.

Margot did not like it, but she would do as he asked. She stood, kissed him on the head, then

left. She went home, hoping that he just needed some space, and not something more permanent.
Their relationship was new and still somewhat fragile. She hoped that this did not change the
way he felt about her, but she had no idea what was going on in that head of his.

Margot barely slept that night because all she could think about was what happened, and how

Quinn was handling it. She got up when her alarm went off the next morning and got ready for
work. She waited for Quinn to show up to bring her to work, but he never did. Margot called
him multiple times, but it kept going right to voicemail, which meant that either his phone was
off, or dead. She ended up driving herself to work, thinking that maybe he just needed a day to
himself. She walked into her office, sat down at her desk, and turned on her computer. Peter
showed up a couple of minutes later.

“Morning, Margot,” he said, smiling at her. He looked around, a quizzical expression on his

face. “Where’s Quinn?”

Margot raised an eyebrow at him. “Did he not call out?”

Peter frowned. “No, he didn’t.”

She frowned harder.

“Don’t you two usually drive together?” Peter asked tightly.

“Yes, but something very serious and personal happened yesterday. He did not come to pick

me up this morning, and he has not been answering his phone. I thought maybe he needed some
time, but I figured he would have called out if he was not coming in today.”

Peter shook his head. “No, he didn’t call.” He frowned in concern. “What happened?”

Margot shook her head. “It is not my place to say, but I will try to get a hold of one of his

brothers to see if they can check on him.”

Peter nodded. “Keep me updated.”

Margot nodded and turned toward her computer. She did not have any of Quinn’s brothers’

phone numbers, but she knew the advertising company where Henry was CEO. She looked up
the company’s phone number and called it. The receptionist transferred her to Claire, Henry’s
wife.

“This is Claire Beck, can I help you?”

“Claire, this is Margot Leclair, Quinn’s girlfriend,” Margot said.

“Oh, Margot! Hi! How is Quinn doing?” Claire asked, concern coloring her tone.

“I do not know. He asked to be alone last night when I took him home, and I have not heard

from him since. His phone is shut off, and he has not shown up to work,” Margot said, feeling
her panic rising.

“Crap. Alright, let me get Henry on the line,” Claire said.

Margot heard a couple of beeps, then a ring. Henry picked up a second later. “Yes, Claire,”

he answered in his deep raspy voice, that was so much like Quinn’s.

“Henry, Margot is on the line saying that Quinn is MIA.”

“MIA? What do you mean MIA?” Henry asked grimly.

“I took him home last night and he asked to be alone, so I left. He did not pick me up for

work this morning, and his phone is shut off. He also did not call out of work. I do not know
where he is,” Margot said.

“Dammit,” Henry breathed. “Let me call Christian. I will see if he can go over to Quinn’s

place to see if he is there. Margot, give me your number so I can call you when I hear
something.”

Margot left her number with Henry then hung up. She was so worried, and there was no way

she was going to get any work done today. So many things were running through her mind. What
if he hurt himself? That was her main concern. She could not handle it if he did something so
stupid. She would never be able to forgive herself either for leaving him alone last night, she
should have stayed and made sure that he was okay.

Henry called her back half an hour later to tell her that Christian went by Quinn’s place, but

he was not there. It looked like he packed a bag and left. His wallet was gone, along with his
cell phone and laptop; chargers were all missing as well. Margot headed to Peter’s office after
she got off the phone with Henry. She knocked on the doorframe of Peter’s open door, and he
glanced up from his computer and waved her in.

“Did you hear from Quinn?” he asked, peering at her over the top of his glasses.

“Non. His brother went by his apartment and said that it looks like he packed up some things

and left,” Margot replied quietly, as she sat in the chair that sat across from Peter’s desk.

Peter frowned and shook his head. “What is going on with him? He’s really putting me in a

bad spot.”

Margot blinked at Peter in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I have already given Quinn a warning about his behavior. And now he is a no call, no

show? I can’t keep him on after this latest stunt,” Peter said.

Margot was utterly dumbfounded. “Stunt? Peter! You have no idea what he is going through

right now. You cannot fire him! He is having very serious personal issues!”

“Then he should at least have the decency to call me and tell me!” Peter snapped.

“He did not even tell me, and I am his girlfriend!” she exclaimed angrily.

Peter’s mouth dropped open. “You two are together?” he asked as if he did not believe it.

“Oui,” Margot snapped.

Peter’s mouth thinned and his eyes flashed angrily. She could not understand why he was

getting so angry. “But he doesn’t even like you,” he bit out.

“Well, apparently he does if he is with me!” Margot said incredulously.

A muscled ticked in Peter’s jaw as he stared at Margot. “He must not care too much for you

if he just up and left without telling you. What kind of boyfriend is that? I know I would never
treat you that way, if you were my girlfriend.”

That is when Margot got it; he liked her, but Quinn got to her first, and he was pissed off

about it. Margot shot to her feet, outraged. “I will never be your girlfriend, so you do not have to
worry about that,” Margot hissed, then stormed out of his office.

Margot was so mad at Peter right now! What a jerk! No wonder Quinn’s friendship with him

was falling apart. Peter was jealous of what Quinn had, and he was letting that come between
them. She wondered if Quinn knew that Peter liked her. It did not matter now anyway because
Quinn was not going to have a job when he came back. That was more important. What was
Quinn thinking? Just leaving without a word to anyone!

Margot dropped down into her chair and put her head in her hands. God, she hoped he was

alright. She could not bear the thought of something happening to him. Margot realized in that
moment that she was completely and totally in love with Quinn. He was everything to her and
she wanted to be with him for the rest of her life - to marry him and have kids with him. She was
going to smack him for putting her through this! Zut!

Chapter 9

Margot sat at Henry and Claire’s kitchen table along with the rest of Quinn’s family. Quinn

has been missing for two days now. Anne Beck was a complete mess, doing nothing but cry
since she showed up. Margot was extremely distraught herself, feeling like it was her fault; if
she would have just stayed with him, then he would not be missing now.

“It’s time to get the police involved,” Henry Sr. said from where he sat at the head of the

table.

“I agree,” Raelynn chimed in. “Since he took his car, wallet, and phone, and there was no

sign of a struggle, we can assume that he left on his own accord. The police can at least try to
track him down by seeing if he used any of his credit or debit cards.”

“I just can’t believe he would do this to us!” Anne cried.

Henry Sr. placed his hand over Anne’s to try to comfort her.

“Mom, he’s messed up right now. He’s not thinking clearly,” Henry murmured from where he

sat at the other end of the table, his head in his hands. Margot noticed that Henry was taking this
whole situation very hard, and she wondered if it had anything to do with what was said
between them when Henry drove Quinn back to their parents’ house the other day.

“Should we postpone the wedding?” Raelynn asked quietly and wrapped her arms around

Sebastian’s waist.

“No, we’re not postponing anything. He’ll show, he knows how important this is to me,”

Sebastian said firmly.

“Where could he have gone?” Christian asked, shaking his head.

“Maybe he’s just driving around aimlessly,” Sebastian suggested.

“Then why wouldn’t he call us?” Anne snapped.

Margot jumped along with everyone else when Henry slammed his hands on the table, as he

shoved up out of his chair. “BECAUSE HE WAS RAPED!” Henry bellowed.

“Henry,” Claire said a bit startled, her eyes wide from her husband’s outburst.

“The one thing he said to me in the car after I picked him up was that he was lost and he

didn’t know what to do with himself. He just needs time to pull himself back together, dammit,”
Henry said more calmly before stalking out of the room. Claire went after him.

“I agree with Henry, but I still think we should see call the police, and at least try to track

him,” Sebastian said.

Everyone agreed. Raelynn was the one who called since a friend of hers worked in the

missing persons department. They said to give them a few hours to come up with something.
Everyone decided it was best to go home and wait, and Raelynn promised to call when she
found something out.

Margot went back to her condo and crawled into bed. She was so exhausted since she has

not slept well since realizing that Quinn was missing. She could not stop the tears that streamed
down her face. What if something has happened to him? What if he got drunk like he did when
they were in France and got alcohol poisoning? He could be dead in a ditch somewhere for all
they knew! Eventually the crying and exhaustion pulled Margot into a fitful sleep.

~~~~~

Quinn sat in the main living area of the bed and breakfast that he checked into three nights

ago. He sat in an extremely comfy leather armchair by the bay window that looked out toward
the lake that was behind the large Victorian house. He sipped his black coffee and just stared,
his mind racing with over a million different things.

He left a few nights ago shortly after Margot left his apartment. He didn’t plan on it; it was

just a split second decision. He didn’t leave a note or call anyone because he knew what they
would do if he did, they would try to talk him out of going, or someone would want to come with
him. After what just happened, he couldn’t blame them, they probably thought he would try to
kill himself or something. Quinn just needed to get away for a while so he could get his head
back on straight. He wanted to move on with his life, he just couldn’t figure out how. He has
been living with this burden, this torment, for so long that he wasn’t sure how to live without it.

Helen, the wife of the owner - who had to be in her late seventies or early eighties - sat

down in the matching leather chair next to him. She sighed heavily as she sunk down into the
chair.

“Oof! You are probably going to have to help me, Quinn, when I decide to get back up. I

forgot how soft these chairs were.” She chuckled.

Quinn smiled softly and nodded. “Of course.”

Quinn could tell that Helen had been a beautiful woman at one time, not that she wasn’t

beautiful now, because she was, but she was probably a knockout when she was younger. Her
hair was pure white and just a wild mass of short curls on her head, she wore tortoise shell
glasses that were too big for her slightly rounded and wrinkled face, and every day she was
wearing a different sweatshirt, all with pictures of kittens on them. She was the cutest damn old

lady he’s ever seen.

“You know, I am still trying to figure out what a handsome man such as yourself is doing in

my bed and breakfast all by himself,” Helen asked, peeking at him over the top of her glasses.

Quinn sighed and scrubbed his beard, which was in much need of a trim. For whatever

reason, he felt compelled to talk to Helen. “It’s complicated. I just needed to get away by myself,
without anyone I know bothering me.”

“Why did you need to run from your family and friends? Would they not have helped you?”

“They wouldn’t know how to help me. Like I said, it’s complicated.” Quinn sighed.

“Define complicated,” Helen said.

Quinn glanced over to find her watching him shrewdly. He opened his mouth to tell her but

snapped it shut and shook his head. He didn’t want to taint her lightness with his darkness.

“Honey, nothing you say is going to shock me. I’ve seen and heard everything in my old age,

believe me.”

Quinn took a deep breath, about to tell a complete stranger his secret that wasn’t so secret

anymore. “I…uh…I was raped by my cousin when I was ten. I just saw him for the first time in
twenty years a few days ago; I almost strangled him to death. My family had no idea it happened
so they were finding out for the first time what screwed me up for life…I just couldn’t stay there
and listen to them talk about it or ask me questions.”

“Screwed you up how? You seem like a very sweet man.”

“I don’t like anyone touching me,” Quinn admitted quietly.

“Ah, I see.” Helen nodded in understanding. “Do you have a girlfriend, Quinn?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Did she know about your secret?”

“Yeah, I told her one night when I was drunk.” He snorted.

Helen smiled. “How is she about your situation?”

“She’s extremely understanding and patient. We have been trying to work on it, but it hasn’t

been easy.”

“Nothing ever worth it is. Let me give you some advice, Quinn. If you want to have a future,

then you must let go of your past. Make peace with it. Yes, it happened, and I’m sure it was
horrible because it shaped how you are as a person, but you cannot let it rule you. You are an
adult now; no one will ever hurt you like that again because you are strong enough to defend
yourself. You understand? You saw the man that abused you, proved that you were stronger than
he is, so now it’s time to put it to rest. Let it go, Quinn. Let it go so you can be happy,” Helen
said, reaching over to pat his forearm. “You deserve to be happy.”

Quinn swallowed hard and nodded. “Thank you, Helen.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie. Now, help an old lady up,” Helen murmured.

Quinn chuckled and stood. He put his coffee on the side table, took both of Helen’s hands,

and helped pull her out of the chair. She grunted as she stood. “Whoa, you are a strong one. That
girlfriend of yours is one lucky girl, mmm hmm, so handsome…” she murmured as she shuffled
away.

Quinn smiled and shook his head. He sat back down to finish his coffee. Helen was right.

He needed to put his past to rest and move on. No one was going to hurt him ever again. A
weight that Quinn didn’t even know that he has been carrying lifted, leaving him feeling lighter.
No one was going to hurt him ever again, he repeated to himself. Damn, that felt good to say
even if it was only in his head. Quinn wasn’t a little ten-year-old boy anymore, he was a thirty-
year-old man, and no one was going to hurt him ever again. Those were the words that he needed
to hear, and they came from a least likely source – a complete stranger. He knew he came here
for a reason. Her name was Helen.

~~~~~

Christian groaned as he flushed the toilet and dropped his ass to the floor. He has been

throwing up for the past hour, with his anxiety through the roof from this whole Quinn being
missing thing. The police found nothing, other than a three thousand dollars withdrawal from the
bank around the corner from his apartment. It was from the night that Margot took him home. He
had left only half an hour after she did.

They were going on four days now with no word from Quinn. Tonight was the rehearsal

dinner and tomorrow was Sebastian and Raelynn’s wedding. Quinn’s disappearance was ruining
what was supposed to be a joyous occasion. Instead, everyone was upset and angry and getting a
bit testy with each other. There have been so many arguments between everyone in the past few
days that Christian couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Hey, man,” came Shea’s voice from the bathroom doorway.

Christian glanced up at his best friend’s concerned face. “Hey,” he rasped, his throat raw

from throwing his guts up.

“Not doing too good, huh?” Shea sighed and leaned his shoulder against the doorframe.

“No.”

“Has there been any news?” Shea asked.

“Nope, Quinn is still missing.” Christian sighed.

Shea hung his head. “Shit.”

“I’m just...I don’t know what to feel. I’m worried, of course, but I’m also pissed off. Why

did he have to do this right before Sebastian’s wedding?” Christian muttered, shaking his head.

Shea hummed in understanding. He pushed away from the doorframe and took a seat on the

floor next to Christian. He draped his arm around Christian’s shoulders and gave him a squeeze.

“Everything will be okay,” Shea said, trying to be reassuring.

“I hope so,” Christian replied, dropping his head to Shea’s shoulder.

After a few minutes of sitting on the bathroom floor, Shea helped Christian up so he could

take a shower and get ready to go to the rehearsal and dinner. Shea was also going, which
Christian was glad for, definitely needing Shea’s support right now. Shea waited downstairs
while Christian got ready. They drove together to the hall where the wedding and reception were
being held. Everyone was already there and waiting. Christian knew he was running late, but he
couldn’t help it, he couldn’t stop throwing up.

Everyone was standing in the lobby looking somber. Sebastian and Raelynn invited Margot,

wanting her to be with the family so she didn’t have to worry and suffer all alone, which
Christian thought was really nice of them. Margot looked horrible - not horrible as in ugly -
horrible as in upset, tired, worried, and devastated. She was wearing a lovely hunter green dress
and pretty little gold flats. Her hair was down and straight with a matching green flowered
headband holding it back from her face. She only looked like she put on a small amount of
makeup, but she didn’t need it anyway; she was a beautiful woman.

Christian and Shea said hello to everyone and they got started with the rehearsal. Shea stood

in Quinn’s place, and would tomorrow if he didn’t show up. The rehearsal was over quickly
since no one was really fooling around, or actually paying attention. After the rehearsal, they all
headed over to the restaurant where they had reservations. They had a really large group since it
was both Sebastian’s side and Raelynn’s side. When they got to the restaurant, they sat, and
Christian ended up with Shea on one side and Margot on the other. Christian looked her over;
she has barely said a word the whole night.

“Margot, are you okay?” Christian asked quietly.

Margot’s big hazel eyes lifted to meet his. “I miss him,” she whispered. “And I am so afraid

that something has happened to him.”

Christian nodded in understanding.

“I feel like I am never going to see him again,” Margot rasped, her eyes welling up with

tears.

Christian wished there was something he could say to reassure her, but he had nothing. He

reached over and squeezed her hand where it rested on the table. Margot quickly regained her
composure and swiped away the tears that were falling.

“Let’s not talk about Quinn right now, tonight is about Sebastian and Raelynn,” Margot said

quietly and picked up her menu.

Christian followed her lead and tried to put Quinn out of his mind. It wasn’t too hard when

he had Shea’s hard thigh brushing against his own. Oh what he would give for one night with
Shea. Even if it was just to hold him while they slept. They’ve shared a bed many times over the
years for various reasons, but they always stayed on their respective sides. Shea leaned in
toward Christian, breaking his thoughts.

“Share an appetizer with me?” Shea asked.

Christian caught a whiff of his cologne and had to stifle a groan. Damn, he smelled good.

“Yeah, sure,” Christian replied.

Christian was living in Hell, he was sure of it.

~~~~~

Quinn stepped out of his car and into the rain. It was pouring, but he didn’t care, he needed to

see his family. He knew that they had to be furious with him, but he had to get away; away from
everything and everyone so that he could pull himself back together. That bed and breakfast was
exactly what he needed, and he needed to hear what Helen said, also. He was able to think and
make decisions without anyone there constantly asking if he was okay.

Quinn wove his way through the cars in the parking lot as he started towards the restaurant

where the rehearsal dinner was taking place. He was sure everyone was still there because he
caught sight of Henry’s car and Sebastian’s truck. Quinn just stepped out from between the cars
and into the driving lane of the parking lot when the restaurant door opened and his family and
Raelynn’s family poured out. He froze when he saw Margot among them. He didn’t expect her to
be here, but his family must have not wanted her to be alone. He stood there in the pouring rain

staring at the love of his life.

Margot just happened to be the first one to spot him, too. She did a double take before taking

a couple of hesitant steps out from under the awning that covered the front door. The rain
immediately drenched her, but she didn’t seem to notice. She burst into tears and ran for him.
Quinn stayed where he was and waited for her to reach him. She threw herself into his arms,
wrapping her arms and legs around him. Quinn held her, tucking his face in her neck. Shit, he
missed her so much, and being away from her made him realize just how much he loved her and
needed her in his life.

Margot relinquished her hold on him and stared up at him for a moment, her mascara running

in streaks of black down her cheeks from her tears and the rain. Then out of nowhere, she
slapped him hard across the face and started screaming at him. “HOW DARE YOU LEAVE
AND NOT TELL ANYONE!” Another slap. ” AnooHOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME? I
THOUGHT THAT SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU!” Another slap, which was even
harder than the first.

Quinn was so shocked that Margot was hitting him that he didn’t even trying to stop her. She

continued her yelling in French because she was obviously too upset to think in English. She
started pounding her fists on his chest and shoved him a couple of times. Quinn didn’t know what
to do, so he just let her go. He let her take her frustrations out on him because he deserved it -
every smack, punch and shove. She was soaked to the bone, her hair was plastered to her head
and shoulders, and her dress clung to her curves; she was the most beautiful woman he’s ever
laid eyes on.

Christian came up and grabbed her. “Margot! Margot, calm down,” he soothed and pulled

her into his arms. She completely broke down and started sobbing as she clung to his shirt.

Quinn tore his eyes away from her just in time to see Henry’s fist coming at him. He didn’t

have time to duck or block it as it connected with his cheek. Pain exploded through Quinn’s face
as his head snapped back. He stumbled and fell to the ground, landing on his ass in a puddle.
Holy shit, Henry hit hard! Quinn saw stars as he rolled to his hands and knees. He blinked a few
times and shook his head to try to clear it. A hand firmly grabbed his bicep and yanked him back
to his feet. He was suddenly face to face with a very livid Henry. He expected Sebastian to be
the one to hit him, not Henry!

“Don’t you ever fucking pull that shit again. You hear me, asshole? If you need to get away,

you fucking tell somebody,” he snarled, his green eyes flashing furiously.

“I’m sorry,” Quinn said hoarsely.

“Hey! Shit-for-brains! We have the goddamn police out looking for you!” Sebastian yelled as

he stormed over.

“Please don’t hit me again,” Quinn said, holding his hands up in front of him to ward

Sebastian off.

“If you didn’t have to look half decent for my wedding tomorrow I would definitely be

punching you in your fucking mouth,” Sebastian snapped and shoved Quinn in the shoulder.

“You really scared the shit out of us, Quinn,” Christian said tightly as he rubbed Margot’s

trembling back. Quinn didn’t like seeing Margot in Christian’s arms but he knew she was too
upset to be in his right now.

“Quinn! Oh my god, where have you been?” came his mother’s frantic voice as she

shouldered his brothers out of the way.

Anne hugged him and kissed him, and hugged him again. His father was next to hug him, but

he also threatened him before they all decided to move out of the rain. They all walked over to
the front of the restaurant where the large awning was. Quinn got a few more hugs, and some
handshakes, before his mother asked her question again.

“Where have you been?”

“I was in Lancaster staying at a bed and breakfast. I needed to be alone to get my head back

on straight,” Quinn replied quietly.

“You couldn’t have let someone know?” Claire snapped. Yeah, she was angry, too.

“If I would have told you guys that I was leaving and I didn’t know where I was going or

when I was coming back, do you really think you would have let me go without a fight?” Quinn
asked.

No one replied, instead they all looked somewhat guilty, and that was all the answer Quinn

needed. They would have argued with him and wouldn’t have let him go. He really needed to go,
and he felt like a different person now - a better person.

“I’m really sorry for everything I put you all through,” Quinn said sincerely.

Quinn looked to Margot, who was now standing on her own, arms hugging herself. The hurt

in her eyes as she looked at him turned his stomach. He never meant to hurt her; he was only
trying to save himself from losing his mind. He needed to figure out how to go on with his life
now that he no longer had to hide what happened to him from everyone. He also wanted to make
certain that he was with Margot for the right reasons, and he was. He loved her with his whole
heart and soul; she has done so much for him without even trying. Quinn never understood the
love that his older brothers felt for their women, but now he got it...he absolutely got it, and this
love he has for Margot has helped change him. The time away gave him some perspective with
what happened to him, and time to come to terms with the new person that he was becoming.

After a few minutes of Quinn answering some questions, the crowd started to disperse.

Everyone left but Margot. She stood a few feet away from him, her arms still wrapped around
herself, but now she was shivering slightly. He wanted to pull her into his arms and never let go,
but he didn’t know how she would react at the moment. He hoped that she wasn’t thinking about
ending things with him because of this. Please, god, don’t let her be thinking about leaving him.
That was one thing he hadn’t thought about.

“Margot? Sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” Quinn rasped, stepping toward her.

Margot brought her eyes up to look at him. What he saw in them made him freeze...agony and

regret...Quinn’s heart stopped beating and he found that he couldn’t breathe. Please, no!

“I thought that something horrible happened to you,” she whispered. “Do you have any idea

how scared and worried I have been? I have not slept in days because I could not stop thinking
about all the terrible things that could have happened to you.”

“I’m so…” He started to apologize, but she cut him off.

“I do not want to hear that you are sorry!” Margot snapped angrily, cutting him off.

“Margot, please...”

“No, Quinn! You had your time to think, and now I will have mine. Please tell Sebastian and

Raelynn that I am sorry, but I will not be coming to their wedding tomorrow,” Margot said
tightly and started for her car.

Quinn started after her...no, no, no... “Baby, please don’t do this! Margot! Come on, can’t we

just talk about it? I understand you’re upset...”

Margot whirled around, her hair sending water flying in an arch behind her. “Upset? I am

more than upset! I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere! Do you really expect me to just
accept your apology and go on as if you never left me? Non! That is not how I operate,” she said,
shaking her head furiously, her cheeks still streaked with black from her makeup.

“I don’t expect you to just go on like it never happened, but you don’t have to leave me.”

“I am not the one who is doing the leaving, you left me when you disappeared last week,”

Margot said, poking him hard in the chest. “Do not call me, Quinn. If I want to talk to you, I will
call,” she said sadly, turning to get into her car.

Quinn watched her drive off completely dumbfounded. Holy shit, Margot just dumped him!

This couldn’t be happening! The pain was so sharp that it doubled Quinn over; he put one hand
on his knee while the other rubbed at his aching chest. Jesus Christ, what was he going to do
now? He couldn’t just let her go; he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her!
Time - he would give her some time, let her calm down, and then he would talk to her and tell
her how he felt. He could not lose her, not like this! Dammit, he was such an idiot! How could

he have thought that he could go away without even leaving a note and come back with his life
still waiting for him? He probably didn’t have a job either. So he got closure about his past, but
lost his girlfriend and his job. Wow, what a loser.

Quinn trudged back to his car. He was soaking wet but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

Just a few months ago he didn’t even want to take Margot to Sebastian’s wedding, now he was
dreading going without her. She had to go tomorrow; he wanted her with him at the wedding, not
only as his date, but as his girlfriend, too. He had to get her to talk to him tonight. She didn’t
want him to call? Fine, he wouldn’t call. She didn’t say anything about showing up at her door,
though. Quinn smiled to himself; fuck time, he was going to get his woman back tonight, and he
was not taking no for an answer. He would do whatever it took to get Margot back. He would
camp outside her door if he had to, but she will talk to him tonight, he had no doubt about that.

Chapter 10

Margot was so angry with Quinn. She could not believe he just showed up like that and

expected everything to be fine between them. She stomped into her bathroom and started yanked
her dress off. The sound of fabric tearing made her even angrier; Margot screamed in frustration
as she finally got out of the dress and slammed it to the tile floor. She turned on the shower, took
off her bra and panties, tossed her headband into the sink, and stepped around the curtain and
into the tub. She stepped into the warm spray, letting the water beat down on her.

Every time Margot closed her eyes, she saw Quinn’s face as she drove away. She saw

disbelief and devastation, and she hated it. She completely let her anger take over, and she
probably did the dumbest thing ever, but she was so furious with him over what he did, and the
way he made her worry. He hurt her, leaving her as he did, not caring about her at all, and
Margot felt that he deserved to be hurt in return. That is why she left him, she needed him to hurt
as she did; she wanted him to understand what he did to her.

Margot quickly washed up and got out, wanting to get into something comfy and watch TV

for a little while before climbing into bed and getting some much needed rest. Since she was no
longer going to the wedding, she decided that she would call up a few of the girls from work
later to see if they would want to go out for drinks tomorrow night. Oui. That is what she would
do because she needed to forget about Quinn for a little while.

Margot put on a pair of flannel pajama pants and a tank top before going out to her living

room where she plopped down on the couch. She just picked up the remote to turn on the TV
when someone started banging on her door. Margot rolled her eyes. She could only think of one
person who would be banging on her door right now.

“Margot! Open up!” Quinn’s deep raspy voice called.

Margot ignored him and turned on the TV. She flipped through the channels as the banging

continued.

“Margot! I know you are in there. Your car is here, and I can hear the TV. Open the door!”

Margot snorted to herself and continued to flip until she came to a show she liked. Quinn

kept banging and telling her to open the door, but she kept ignoring him. An hour went by and he
was still out there, pounding on her door. She even heard him snap at a couple of her neighbors
who wanted to know what the hell he was doing.

“Margot, if you don’t open this door right now, I’m going to break it the hell down! I’m not

leaving until you let me in so that we can talk, so you might as well just come open the damn
door,” Quinn called.

Margot sighed and got up. She went over to the door and peeked out of the peephole. Quinn’s

distorted figure was standing there with his hands on his hips looking determined. Magnifique!
He really was not going to leave until she talked to him.

“I do not want to talk to you, Quinn,” Margot called through the door.

“I don’t care. I’m not letting you break up with me.”

“You do not have a choice.”

“Yes, I do. I will stand out here all night banging on your door until you take me back,” he in

return.

Margot sighed in exasperation; her neighbors would kill her if she let him do that. Zut! She

unlocked the door and pulled it open. Quinn stood there with one hand leaning on the doorframe
while the other fist was up and poised to pound on her door again. His dark hair plastered to his
forehead, and a bruise marred his cheek where Henry punched him. He was still soaking wet,
and his gray T-shirt, which was already snug fitting, was glued to his torso, showing off every
ripple of muscle he had. His jeans hung low on his lean hips and hugged his hard thighs with
their dampness. Damn him for being so sexy when all Margot wanted to be was mad at him.

Quinn pushed off the doorframe and stepped inside, making Margot back up as he shut the

door. Margot had no time to react because Quinn was on her in the next second. He grabbed and
crushed her against his hard body as his mouth came down to ravage hers. Quinn backed them up
until her back hit a wall. She gasped against his mouth, completely powerless against his
frenzied onslaught. She loved him too much and missed him too much not to respond to his
kisses. Her anger slowly pushed to the back of her mind; the more her kissed and touched her,
the farther back it went.

Quinn dragged his mouth down to her neck, his beard scrapping her skin deliciously. “Fuck, I

missed you...so badly,” he whispered hoarsely just under her ear.

His hands shoved her pajama pants and panties down her hips. Margot helped by kicking

them away when they made it past her knees. Quinn quickly undid his jeans and rolled on a
condom. She had no idea where it came from; she didn’t even see him take it out. Then he lifted
her, making her wrap her legs around his waist as he pressed her against the wall with his chest.
Margot let out a strangled cry when he swiftly entered her. She shoved her fingers into his hair
and held on. He moaned, attacking her mouth again, as he started pumping his hips.

“Margot...” he breathed, his lips brushing hers. “You can’t...break up with me.”

“Why not?” She panted, nipping at his bottom lip.

“Because I...oh, god...I love you,” he moaned, his brown eyes opening to meet hers.

“What?” Margot asked, blinking stupidly, sex momentarily forgotten.

Quinn smiled slightly at her reaction. “I love you,” he repeated.

Margot’s eyes immediately teared up, and she smashed her lips to his so hard that their teeth

bumped, but she didn’t care, she just needed to kiss him. Quinn somehow got out of his wet jeans
and shoes, and carried her over to the couch while still inside of her. He laid her down then tore
his mouth away from hers, so that he could straighten and yank off his shirt. Margot heard it
soggily plop to the floor; he pulled her shirt and bra off and covered her with his body again.

“Touch me,” Quinn murmured as he nuzzled his face against her neck, his hips rolling

forward.

Margot tentatively slid her hands under his arm and around to his back. He gathered her up in

his strong arms, making it so they were touching from chest to hip. Margot ran her hands over the
muscles of his upper back before slowly making her way down. Mon dieu! She loved the way
his skin and muscles felt under her hands. This was a completely different experience, being
able to touch him like this. She got bolder and raked her nails lightly down his back, making him
hiss and arch, but he did not stop her. Margot decided to take it one-step further and run her
hands down over his tight derrière.

“Shit,” Quinn rasped against her neck.

She immediately lifted her hands, thinking that it was too much for him. He lifted his head

and looked down at her.

“No, it’s okay, you don’t have to stop,” he said softly, his eyes raking over her face.

“Really?” Margot asked dubiously.

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Quinn assured her.

While Quinn held her gaze, Margot placed her hands back on his rear end. She loved feeling

the way the muscles flexed with each thrust of his hips. She moaned, her eyes fluttering closed as
she felt her orgasm building. Quinn growled low, vibrating through her chest since they were
pressed so close together. She tightened her grip, pulling him deeper, and he gasped and
dropped his forehead to hers.

“Your touch feels so good,” he moaned.

Annnd...that was it for Margot. She cried out as her orgasm took over her whole body.

Quinn bit out a curse as he followed her with his own orgasm. They laid there panting, wrapped
in each other’s arms for who knows how long. He finally groaned and lifted his head from where
it was resting on her shoulder.

Margot dragged her eyes open to look up at him. Quinn smiled softly and she could not help

but return it. She reached up and brushed his wet hair off his forehead. “Je t’aime aussi,” Margot
murmured quietly.

“I love it when you speak French, it’s so sexy, but I have no idea what you just said,” Quinn

chuckled.

Margot smiled wider and cupped his bearded jaw. “I said that I love you, too,” she said

sweetly then kissed him.

He grinned. “Well, I definitely like the sound of that.”

She nodded and kissed him again.

“How about we get cleaned up so we can talk?” Quinn asked solemnly after their kiss.

“Okay.”

“Do you have anything I can wear besides a towel? There is no way I can get back into those

jeans,” Quinn asked as he got up off Margot.

“I do have a pair of men’s boxers in the top right hand drawer of my dresser,” she replied.

Quinn narrowed his eyes at her. “Why do you have men’s boxers?”

She shrugged. “They are comfy to sleep in sometimes.”

“Mmm hmm.” He grunted as he headed for the bathroom.

Margot sighed and pressed her hand to her racing heart. Quinn loved her and he let her touch

him! He did not freak out, or ask her to stop. It was incredible! It obviously really did do him
good to leave as he did. How could she stay mad at him now? Non, it was impossible.

Margot put her panties and pajama pants back on, and just put her bra back on, when Quinn

stepped into the living room in her boxers. She could not help but laugh. He gave her a dirty look
and planted his hands on his hips.

“Really, Margot? This is your idea of a punishment isn’t it?”

Margot snickered as she looked at her big buff boyfriend wearing Bugs Bunny boxer shorts,

one size too small. They were red with a big picture of Bugs Bunny on the front holding his
carrot and saying, ‘What’s up, Doc?’

“Non, they look cute on you,” she giggled.

“Cute?” Quinn squawked. “I’ll give you cute!”

Quinn started toward her, and Margot squealed and ran around the couch. A mischievous

grin curled his beautiful lips and she swore her that heart stopped. She has never seen him smile
like that and, mon dieu, was it glorious! Quinn chased her around the couch a few times before
hopping over it to try to catch her. Margot ran down the hall and into her bedroom with him hot
on her heels. She was laughing so hard that she could barely breathe. Quinn ended up tackling
her onto the bed and tickling her until she screamed. Margot absolutely loved this rarely seen
playful side of him, even if she hated being tickled. The last time he had been somewhat playful
with her had been when they were in London and she farted.

Quinn let her go after she accidentally kneed him in the groin. He lay on her bed face down,

his hands tucked under him where he was cupping himself. Margot was lying on her back next to
him trying to catch her breath and not laugh.

“I am sorry! I did not mean to knee you there!” Margot swore.

“Yeah right, this is all part of your plan to get back at me for leaving,” he teased, his voice

muffled by the comforter.

“Non!” Margot giggled breathily.

Quinn grunted. Margot rolled onto her side and slid her hand across his back so that she

could trace the tattoo between his shoulder blades with her fingers. She remembered that Quinn
said that it was the Chinese symbol for ‘Strength.’ The tattoo made more sense now that she
knew why exactly he needed strength. He turned his head so he could look at her, his eyes warm
and full of the love and affection he felt for her.

“I am glad you were able to find the strength to break free of the chains holding you down,”

Margot said.

Quinn’s eyebrows shot up and he pushed up to his elbows. “That is a very accurate analogy,”

he said, impressed. He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. “You should thank yourself for
that, it was thoughts of you that did it,” he murmured sincerely.

Margot smiled. “You are so sweet, Quinn Beck, do you know that?”

Margot got the shock of her life when Quinn actually blushed and rolled his eyes. She just

could not help herself; she reached over and pinched his cheek. Quinn bristled and slapped her
hand away, making Margot laugh. She felt like this was the most fun they have ever had together.
He was relaxed and happy, and she hoped that this was just the start of a better, more laid back
kind of relationship with him, because she really could not imagine her life without him in it.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, do I still have a job?” Quinn asked, changing the subject.

Margot frowned. “Non, I do not think so.”

He nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

“Did you know that Peter likes me?” she asked.

He frowned hard. “Yeah, why? Did he ask you out or something?”

“Non, but we were arguing about you leaving and he said that if I were his girlfriend he

would never treat me like that...”

“Ouch,” Quinn groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

“Why did you not tell me that he liked me?” she demanded.

Quinn lifted his head and looked at her. “Would it really have made a difference? Would

knowing he liked you have changed anything?”

She shook her head. “Definitely not.”

Quinn shrugged. “There ya go. He would have never found the balls to ask you out anyway.”

Margot snickered. “Probably not.”

He watched her for a moment before asking, “Will you still go to the wedding with me

tomorrow?”

Margot pretended to think about it, tapping her chin with her finger and all.

“Ha ha, very funny,” Quinn muttered dryly.

She smiled sweetly. “Of course I will go with you.”

“Thank you.”

“But only because I want to see if Christian will go out with me...”

“Margot!”

Margot laughed as she pushed him onto his back and climbed on top of him. “I am kidding,

Monsieur Beck, do not get your panties in a bunch.”

“Oh Jesus,” he groaned, raking a hand down his face. “I’m going to burn these boxers, you

know that right?”

Margot chuckled as she leaned down and kissed him. Quinn’s arms snaked around her as

their kiss turned more passionate. “Je t’aime, Quinn,” Margot breathed.

“I love you, too, Margot.”

Chapter 11

Margot awoke the next morning to find Quinn practically lying on top of her. His head was

on her chest, one arm slung around her waist and one leg wedged between hers. She knew he
was still sleeping because his breathing was deep and even. They were both naked from their
little adventures last night. Quinn had been absolutely amazing and not once stopped Margot
from touching him, she had become quite fond of touching and grabbing his firm derrière.

Margot jumped when her cell phone on the nightstand started ringing. She glanced over at the

clock and saw that it was 9:00 am. She reached for her phone, but Quinn was too heavy and she
was unable to get to it without wiggling out from under him. She squirmed and stretched until she
was able to grab her phone with two fingers.

“What are you doing?” Quinn mumbled against her chest.

“I am trying to get my phone…hello?”

“Margot, it’s Claire, did I wake you?” Claire asked.

“Non, I was awake,” Margot replied.

“Oh okay, good. Listen, Raelynn asked me to keep an eye on the guys today to make sure they

are ready in time, did you want to help me?”

“Oui, of course,” Margot said without hesitation, she was very fond of both Claire and

Raelynn, and they were nothing but supportive and so sweet while Quinn was gone.

“Great, I’ll come pick you up at around 12:00 pm.”

“Okay, I will be ready.”

“Awesome, see you then,” Claire said before saying goodbye and hanging up.

Margot ended the call and put her phone back on the nightstand. Quinn moved over her,

tucking his face in her neck while he rubbed his morning erection between her legs.

“Mmm…what did Claire want?” he asked, his voice lower and more gravelly than normal

from just waking up. Heat pooled between her legs just from his voice, one of the main things
about him that turned her on.

“She wants me to help make sure you guys get ready and to the ceremony on time,” she

replied, running her hands over his broad back.

Quinn chuckled, his breath tickling her neck. “Probably a good idea.”

“Mmm hmm.”

“You’re on birth control, right?” he murmured.

“Oui,” she replied breathily.

Quinn growled low and rolled them over so that Margot was on top. They tried this position

for the first time last night and both really liked it. She sat up and reached back to lift Quinn’s
cock off his belly, slowly lowering herself down onto him. He hissed, and his eyes locked on
where their bodies were connected, gripping her hips tightly.

Margot rested her hands on his chest as she started to move her hips. She moaned and dug

her nails into his pecs. Quinn’s hands wandered up her body until they reached her breasts, his
eyes following his hands. He pinched her nipples, giving them both a tug that made Margot gasp.

Quinn suddenly sat up, and his dark eyes met hers as he quickly wrapped her hair around his

fist. He yanked her head back, forcing her to arch her back and clutch his thighs. His free arm
went around her lower back to help support her. Mon dieu! She loved it when Quinn got
aggressive with her in bed. He lowered his head, pulling one of her nipples into his mouth, and
sucked. Margot gasped, moaned, and rocked her hips against him.

“Margot,” Quinn panted, “Jesus Christ…”

Quinn let go of her hair and shifted to his knees with her still in his lap. He laid her down on

her back so that he could take over. Margot liked this way, too, because now she could grab his
rear end and pull him deeper. Quinn covered her body with his as he started pumping his hips.
He captured her lips, kissing her languidly, and moaned into her mouth. Margot was lost in the
ecstasy, she could think of nothing but how amazing he felt inside of her.

The tingling started in her toes and worked its way up; her stomach clenched and her clit

throbbed. The buildup was almost intolerable, and she felt ready to explode. She teetered on the
edge for a moment before she fell into complete oblivion, a guttural cry burst from her, forcing
her to tear her mouth away from his. Quinn growled through gritted teeth as he followed her with
his own intense orgasm. He collapsed on top of her a moment later, both of them panting and
sweaty.

“Damn, that was good,” Quinn said, breathlessly.

“Oui, it was,” Margot agree.

“We should do this every morning,” he murmured.

She giggled. “Oui, we should.”

Quinn sighed and lifted his head so he could look at her. He brushed the hair out of her face

and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. “Je t’aime, Margot.”

“Je t’aime aussi, Quinn.”

~~~~~

“So what happened after we left you and Margot at the restaurant?” Christian asked, using

his putter as a walking stick as they made their way to the first hole.

Sebastian wanted to go play a couple of rounds of miniature golf, just the four of them,

before the wedding later today. Quinn thought it was a horrible idea because every time they
played miniature golf together, Sebastian would quote Happy Gilmore the entire time and really,
Quinn was tired of hearing it. But he was here anyway because he loved his brothers, and…he
didn’t have a choice.

“She dumped me and left,” Quinn said.

“What?” Sebastian squawked, his eyes wide.

“Wait, so that’s it? You two aren’t together anymore?” Christian frowned.

“Oh no, we’re together. I went over there and we made up,” Quinn smirked.

“You fucked her good, didn’t you? You sly dog you,” Sebastian grinned, poking Quinn in the

stomach with his putter.

Quinn shook his head. “Dude, there is something seriously wrong with you.”

Henry barked out a laugh. “Isn’t that the truth!”

“You people know that shit already, it’s nothing new!” Sebastian exclaimed.

They all laughed.

“Seriously though, tell me make up sex is not the best thing ever. I really don’t think you

can,” Sebastian smirked and elbowed Quinn in the side.

Quinn smiled. “Oh no, it is definitely the best thing ever, that’s for sure. And so were the

three other times after that.”

“Awww shit!” Sebastian laughed and gave Quinn a few playful punches in the shoulder.

Henry and Christian just rolled their eyes and shook their heads. Sebastian was crazy, but

that’s why they all loved him so much. At the first hole, Sebastian insisted that he be the first to
go since he was the groom. He lined up his shot, trying to act as if he was a professional golfer
before finally taking the shot. Annnd…of course the fucker gets a hole in one. God dammit! They
were never going to hear the end of it. Sebastian hooted, hollered, and made a big scene before
pretending he was Shooter McGavin; he made a gun with his hand and acted like he shot at the
hole as he said ‘Shoota.’ Jesus Christ, this was going to be a long morning.

Quinn was ready to kill Adam Sandler by the time they finished the course, swearing that

Sebastian said every line in the damn movie at least once if not twice. At least Quinn wasn’t the
only one who had enough; Henry told Sebastian to shut the hell up, but Sebastian replied with
‘It’s my wedding day, I do what I want!’ in his best Eric Cartman impression, making Henry
crack up and forget that he was annoyed.

After leaving the golf course, they headed over to the hotel room where they were going to

get ready. It was right down the street from the wedding and reception. When they walked into
the lobby, Claire and Margot were already there waiting for them. Raelynn wanted someone to
watch over them to make sure they were doing what they were supposed to be doing. Raelynn
was a smart girl, she asked Claire to do the job, and she recruited Margot this morning to help.

Margot looked stunning in a black and purple dress. The top half of the dress was black, with

a sweetheart neckline that plunged deep showing off her very lovely cleavage. The sash around
her ribs was covered in shiny silver beads and sequins, and the bottom half of the dress was a
pretty lilac color, which puffed out like a prom dress. It was short, though, stopping about mid-
thigh, and she had on seriously high black peep toe pumps that made her legs look fan-freaking-
tastic. Her hair parted from right side but pulled to the left where it draped dramatically over her
shoulder and curled into soft looking spirals. A purple flower behind her left ear added an
elegant touch to the rest of her ensemble. With the addition of her beautifully done makeup and
jewelry, she might just be the most gorgeous woman at the wedding...at least in Quinn’s eyes.

Quinn smiled wide as he approached Margot. Just as he pulled her into his arms and was

about to kiss her, Sebastian’s voice interrupted him.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the fuck is wrong with your face, Quinn?”

He turned slightly to face his crazy ass brother and raised an eyebrow. “What the hell are

you talking about?”

“There is something wrong with your mouth, I swear for a second there you were smiling,

but I wasn’t sure. It kinda freaked me out,” he said deadpan.

Quinn shook his head as everyone started laughing. “You’re such an ass.”

Sebastian grinned and winked at him. “Looks good on ya, brother,” he said and clapped

Quinn on the back.

Quinn snorted. “Thanks, I guess.”

He turned back to Margot and bent to give her a kiss, but she turned her face, giving him her

cheek. “You will mess up my lipstick and get it all over you.”

Quinn scowled and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I will get a real kiss later, lipstick or not.”

She smiled. “Oui, eventually.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, quickly stealing a kiss on the lips. Margot gasped and smacked

his arm before using her thumb to get the glossy pink lipstick off his lips while she cursed at him
in French.

“Je t’aime,” Quinn murmured when she was finished getting the lipstick off him.

Margot smiled lovingly up at him. “Je t’aime aussi.”

“Hey! No speaking French to each other when no one else knows what you’re saying!”

Sebastian complained as they all started for the elevators.

Christian cleared his throat before saying with a shit-eating grin, “They just said that they

loved each other.”

Sebastian and Henry’s heads whirled around to stare at Quinn in shock and awe.

“Thanks a lot, Chris,” Quinn sneered.

“You are most welcome,” Christian replied with a satisfied smirk.

“Aw, that’s so cute, saying I wuv you to each other in French,” Henry teased, making a kiss-y

face as he spoke.

“I swear to god, if one more person calls me cute...” Quinn muttered as they all piled into the

elevator.

Margot snickered, earning her a hand up the back of her short dress and a pinch on her ass.

She let out a little squeal and spun around to put her back against a wall, her hands holding the
back of her dress down. “Quinn!” she hissed.

Quinn wagged his eyebrows at her.

“Dude, stop that, you are really starting to scare me with all these facial expressions,”

Sebastian said seriously.

Christian scrubbed a hand over his mouth as he fought not to smile. Quinn gave him a shove,

which only caused him to laugh aloud. “I’m sorry, but that was really funny!” Christian
apologized.

“Will you three leave Quinn alone? For Christ’s sake, the man is allowed to tell his

girlfriend that he loves her,” Claire huffed.

“Nope, this is all part of the initiation ceremony into the Beck Brothers Pussy Whipped

Association, also known as the BBPWA,” Sebastian said.

How Sebastian kept a straight face through that, Quinn will never know. Everyone, even

Quinn, burst out laughing at that.

“I am so telling Raelynn on you,” Claire threatened as she swiped tears from her eyes.

“Oh-no-please-don’t-I-am-so-scared,” he replied in a dry robotic kind of voice.

Claire punched Sebastian in the stomach. “Jerk!”

Sebastian ‘Oof-ed,’ and practically fell into Christian, who was luckily paying attention and

caught him under his arms, otherwise he would have fallen on his ass. What a fucking nut!
Sebastian must be super nervous if he was goofing around this much. The more nervous
Sebastian got, the goofier he would get, and has been like that his whole life. No wonder
Raelynn wanted Claire and Margot here. The four of them would be too busy fucking around to
get dressed if left to their own devices. As soon as they got to the room, Claire started barking
out orders. She told Sebastian to take a shower and the rest of them to get dressed.

“Oh, Sebastian? Raelynn told me to remind you to wash your balls!” Claire shouted through

the bathroom door.

“That bitch!” Sebastian’s muffled reply had everyone laughing again.

Quinn, Christian, and Henry started stripping out of their clothes so that they could put on

their tuxes. Quinn glanced at Margot, who was sitting at the little table in the corner, checking
out Henry’s ass as he bent over to pull his dress pants on.

“Hey!” Quinn snapped at her.

Margot’s eyes flew up to meet his, wide and innocent. “What?”

“What?” he repeated incredulously. “Keep your eyes off my brothers’ asses.”

Margot grinned and bit her bottom lip. “I cannot help it if they are all so nice.”

Claire giggled from behind him. Quinn whipped his head around to glare at her. “Shut up,

Claire.”

“Hey now, don’t talk to my wife like that,” Henry scolded, wagging his finger at Quinn.

“Seriously? She’s egging on another woman to look at your ass.” Quinn snorted.

Henry shrugged. “She can look...she just can’t touch.” He smirked naughtily and winked at

Margot, who chuckled.

Quinn threw his arms up. “I give up, you’re all insane.”

“None of them are as fabulous as yours, mon amour,” Margot purred.

Quinn tried to stifle the shutter that her sexy bedroom voice always elicited from him. He

turned back to her. “You got that right.” He growled, giving her a pointed look.

Quinn watched as Margot’s eyes darkened with desire. Dammit! Why did everyone else

have to be here right now? He quickly pulled his pants on before Claire and his brothers got an
eyeful of his growing erection. Margot’s sexy smile went right to the wrong head. He took a few
steps toward her as he pulled his undershirt on.

“You better stop it,” he whispered to her.

“I am not doing anything,” she replied innocently, big hazel eyes blinking up at him.

“Mmm hmm, just stop.”

Margot raised an eyebrow in challenge. “If I do not?”

“You’ll be in for it later,” Quinn promised.

“Do you think I will not like it or something?” She scoffed and waved a dismissive hand.

Quinn closed the distance between them and propped his hands on the arms of the chair she

was sitting in, bringing his face level with hers. “I don’t know. I was thinking maybe I‘d tie you
to my bed and fuck you until you can’t speak a coherent word. What do you think about that?”
Quinn whispered, and their gazes locked.

Margot didn’t even flinch; a slow seductive smile curled her lips. “I think I might let you,”

she breathed.

“Jesus Christ, do you two need a cold shower?” Henry asked. “I can feel the sexual tension

all the way over here.”

Quinn glanced over his shoulder to find Henry, Claire, and Christian watching them with

amused expressions on their faces. Quinn scowled at them as he straightened up and went to grab

his dress shirt. He kept his eyes on Margot as he slipped into it, buttoned it up, and tucked it in.
She just kept on playing innocent. Oh, she was so going to get it later! He put on his vest and tie
then pulled on his jacket; he checked himself out in the mirror and thought he looked pretty damn
good, except for the reddish-brown bruise on his cheek.

“Margot, do you think you can cover up that bruise on Quinn’s face?” Claire asked, looking

at Quinn through the mirror.

“Oui,” Margot said and got up from her chair. She went to her purse on the dresser and

pulled out her little cover-up compact.

“Whoa, hold on a sec,” Quinn said, holding his hands out in front of him to ward her off. “I

never agreed to have makeup put on my face.”

“Shut up, pussy, and do it. Raelynn doesn’t want our pictures being messed up because of

your busted up face.” Sebastian grunted as he came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped
around his waist.

“It’s Henry’s fault!” Quinn exclaimed.

“You deserved it.” Henry shrugged.

“It’s not that big of a deal Quinn, just do it for Raelynn and Sebastian. It’s a special day, and

they want it to be perfect,” Claire said.

Quinn groaned. “Damn you, Claire. Why do you always have to be right?” Quinn huffed and

sat on the end of one of the two beds in the room.

“It is because she is a woman, mon amour, get used to it,” Margot smiled.

Quinn glared at Margot as she stepped in between his spread knees. She tilted his chin up

with her fingers so that he was looking up at her, opened the compact, and took out the little
spongy thing and dabbed it in the makeup. Margot went to work on covering up the bruise on
Quinn’s face.

“Voilà,” Margot said after a minute of dabbing at his face.

Quinn got up and went to the mirror. “Shit, nice job,” Quinn muttered as he looked at himself

in the mirror. He couldn’t even see the makeup, and it covered the bruise perfectly.

Margot smiled smugly as she put the compact back in her purse. “Luckily we are about the

same skin tone, so it covered much better than I expected.”

Once they were all dressed and ready to go, a limo took them over to the hall. The wedding

ceremony was going to be in one room, while the cocktail hour and reception were going to be

in another. Christian gave Quinn a rundown of what he was supposed to do. It wasn’t exactly
hard; he pretty much had to stand there, then escort Raelynn’s sister up the aisle after the
ceremony, and into the reception for the introductions. Quinn hated being up in front of a crowd,
but he would suffer through it again for Sebastian. He did it the first time Sebastian was married,
too. Henry had such a small wedding that they only had a Maid-of-Honor and a Best Man.

When they got to the hall, Claire told them which room they were supposed to be in, kissed

Henry, and made her way up the stairs to where the bridal suite was, since she was part of the
bridal party. Henry put his arm around Sebastian’s shoulders as they headed into the room that
was starting to fill up with guests for both sides. Christian followed them. Quinn turned to
Margot and held out his elbow. Margot smirked and slid her arm through his, and he escorted her
down the center aisle. She sat in the empty seat next to Shea in the second row on the groom’s
side. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before heading up onto the dais to stand between Henry
and Christian.

Chapter 12

Christian stopped to say ‘hi’ to a couple of family members as he made his way down the

center aisle toward the dais, where the ceremony was going to take place. He just turned away
from one of his cousins when he spotted Shea standing by the front row, talking to Christian’s
dad. His breath caught, Shea looked incredible in his navy blue pinstriped suit. The last time
Christian saw Shea in a suit was at his parents’ and sister’s funeral a couple of years ago. They
all perished in a house fire one night. Shea didn’t live with them, so he didn’t know what
happened until the police called him after they were already dead. It was only a week after they
got home from Europe. Shea was now left with no family; both of his parents were only children
- all four of his grandparents passed away when he was younger - and his only sibling was his
sister.

Christian moved toward his best friend. Dammit, why did he have to be in love with the one

man he couldn’t have? Life was so unfair. Christian plastered on a smile as he sidled up next to
Shea, clapping him on the back.

“It was nice of you to dress up,” Christian teased.

“I hate suits. I only wear them when I have to.” Shea grunted, tugging at the collar of his

shirt.

Christian huffed and brushed Shea’s hand away. “Stop fiddling, you’re messing up your tie,”

he muttered as he turned Shea to face him.

Christian fixed Shea’s askew tie, smoothing his hands down his lapels to make sure they

were flat. “There, now don’t touch it.”

“Thank you, honey.” Shea smirked.

Christian gave him a dirty look that made Shea chuckle. Meanwhile, his stomach twisted

with the ‘honey’ remark.

“Go sit down, we’re going to start soon,” Christian muttered.

“Yes, sir,” Shea said with an exaggerated salute.

“Ass.” Christian snorted and shook his head before walking away from him.

Christian stopped to give his mom a kiss and his dad a hug before he stood on the dais with

Sebastian and Henry, who were both looking at him funny.

“What?” Christian asked.

Both of them shook their heads vigorously and muttered, “Nothing.”

Christian narrowed his eyes at them. What the hell was up with them? Christian decided to

let it go. Knowing his brothers, it was something stupid anyway. Christian glanced in Shea’s
direction. Margot was now sitting next to him, and Quinn was making his way up to them.
Christian sighed with a heavy heart; he would probably be doing this again in the near future for
Quinn and Margot. First Henry, then Sebastian, and now Quinn - they all found the one person
that they wanted to spend the rest of their life with. Christian has, too, but that was never going to
happen. He was never going to get married because he would never find someone he would love
more than Shea - it just wasn’t possible. Shit, weddings were so depressing; he couldn’t wait for
the ceremony to be over so he could drink away his sorrows.

~~~~~

Everyone stood as the music started playing. Margot turned to see the double doors in the

back of the room open to reveal Raelynn and her father. Margot’s breath caught, Raelynn looked
absolutely exquisite in her wedding gown. It was an A-line style ivory strapless dress with a
sweetheart neckline, and a beautiful lace overlay. Her blonde hair was half up with her veil at
the back of her head. She looked elegant and graceful, and Margot hoped that she would look
half as stunning when it was her turn to get married.

Margot glanced at the dais to check out the guys. Sebastian looked like he was fighting off

tears, and Henry and Quinn were smiling as they watched Raelynn come down the aisle;
however, Christian was frowning with his head bowed slightly. Margot wondered what could
possibly be bothering him now. She elbowed Shea and nodded in Christian direction.

“What is his problem?” she whispered.

Shea’s smile faded as he looked over at his best friend. “I don’t know, maybe his anxiety is

up.”

As if Christian knew they were talking about him, he lifted his head and looked right at them.

Shea mouthed to him, asking if he was okay. Christian gave him a tight smile and nod before
turning to look at Raelynn, who just stepped onto the dais. Sebastian met her, shook her father’s
hand, took Raelynn’s hand, and led her up to the center where the minister was waiting.

The ceremony was short, sweet, and to the point, maybe all of fifteen minutes. The bridal

party exited first and went to go take pictures, while the rest of the guests headed for the cocktail
hour. Margot got a glass of champagne off a passing waiter and made her way over to the hors
d’oeuvre tables.

“Margot, there you are,” said Anne Beck, who was behind her.

Margot turned to see Quinn’s mother standing behind her looking lovely in a burgundy

colored gown that really brought out her light green eyes. Margot smiled. “Bonjour, Mrs. Beck.”

“Oh please, call me Anne,” she said, waving dismissively. “I wanted to ask you how Quinn

is doing. He said very little last night. Does he seem to be doing okay?” she asked, a hint of
concern in her tone.

“Très bien.” She nodded. “He is doing very well,” Margot assured her.

Anne sighed in relief. “Thank you, dear; I have been a mess over this whole situation with

him. I just feel like it’s my fault. I should have done something when he started having those fits
when he was a little boy. I thought it was just a phase he was going through; I never could have
imagined that something like that happened.”

“Non, Anne, do not blame yourself. How could you have known?” Margot said, taking her

hand and squeezing it.

Anne nodded. “I guess. I am just so glad that he’s found such a wonderful, understanding

woman,” Anne said warmly.

Margot smiled. “Merci.”

Anne chuckled and patted Margot’s hand. “I just love when you speak French!”

Margot spoke with Anne for a little longer before her husband dragged her away to speak

with other guests. Margot sipped her champagne and looked around at the crowd, everyone
seemed to be mingling and having a good time. She was dying to see Quinn, though. He looked
so handsome in that tux of his and she just wanted to stare at him all night.

Finally, everyone was ushered to their tables so that the reception could begin. Margot found

her place card and went to table number two. It appeared that she would be sitting with the
bridal party since Sebastian and Raelynn had their own little sweetheart table. Shea was already
sitting at the table. Margot sat down next to him.

“Bonjour, Shea.” Margot greeted him.

“Bonjour, Margot,” he replied with a cute little side smirk.

Shea was a very handsome man. He fit right in with the Beck brothers, that was for sure.

Shea had a warm, heartfelt smile and dark brown eyes that seemed to be always shimmering
with amusement. His dark hair cropped close to his head and he had a short neatly trimmed
goatee. Margot has never seen him dressed up before, and he definitely cleaned up well.

“I have been wondering, how long have you and Christian been friends?” Margot asked as

they waited for the other guests to find their seats. She did not know much about Shea other than
that he and Christian were best friends.

“Jesus, forever. I think we became friends in pre-school and have been practically glued at

the hip ever since,” Shea said, a fond smile on his face.

“You two are very close then.” She surmised.

“Christian’s my boy; I don’t know what I’d do without him.” He nodded.

“You are very lucky to have such a wonderful lifelong friend.”

Shea smiled. “I am very lucky. Christian is awesome.”

She nodded in agreement. They chit chatted for a couple of minutes before the DJ got on the

microphone, starting the music and the introductions. The song that came on had Margot and
Shea laughing; it was, I’m Too Sexy, by Right Said Fred.

“If everyone can please turn your attention to the dance floor, we are going to introduce your

bridal party!” The DJ said. “First up, we have Christian and Bianna!”

Christian and Raelynn’s sister, Bianna, came strutting in like they were runway models.

Christian had his jacket tossed over his shoulder and a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses on his
face. Bianna flipped her hair over her shoulder in a very diva-like manner.

“Next, give it up for Quinn and Claire!”

Quinn and Claire walked in. Quinn also had the sunglasses on, his jacket was open and he

had his free hand in his front pocket. Claire was sucking her cheeks in and had her free hand on
her hip as they swaggered in. Margot couldn’t get over how sexy Quinn looked; she always
loved the way he walked.

“Alright now, here’s your Best Man and Matron-of-honor, Henry and Elise!”

Henry and Elise strutted in, again Henry had on sunglasses, but he wore an arrogant smile on

his face along with them. He slid his sunglasses down his nose, pointed at someone and blew a
kiss before pushing his sunglasses back up with one finger. Elise did her best runway walk and
posed just before they split apart.

“And now… your couple of the night… Mr. and Mrs. Sebastian Beck!”

The music changed to Sexy and I Know It by LMFAO right before Sebastian and Raelynn

walked out. Everyone stood to watch them, and honestly, Margot has never seen anything like it.
They had a dance put together and they were both awesome dancers. They were in sync with
each other and were doing all kinds of crazy moves. It was hilarious. Margot knew at that

moment, this was going to be a night to remember.

~~~~~

Quinn laughed and clapped to the music as he watched Raelynn and Sebastian dance. It was

so them. After that, the bridal party went to their seats and they danced to a slower song with
their son Michael, now eight months old, held in between them. Quinn sat next to Margot and put
his arm around the back of her chair as they watched them sway to the music.

After the song ended, Sebastian handed Michael back to Raelynn’s mom, and the two of them

went to their table. Then Henry got up to make his Best Man speech. The DJ handed him the mic,
and Henry made his way to the dance floor, which was in the center of the room.

“Good evening everyone. If you have no idea who I am, I am Sebastian’s older brother and

Best Man, Henry Beck. This is my second time around as Sebastian’s Best Man, and hopefully
the last,” Henry said, turning to give Sebastian a pointed look. Sebastian smirked and nodded.
“Anyway…it takes a special kind of woman to be able to put up with Sebastian day in and day
out. He’s a nightmare to live with, I know this personally, and God knows he’s the only one on
this earth who could annoy the crap out of even the most patient of souls.” The crowd laughed as
Sebastian scratched his nose with his middle finger. “Raelynn is definitely special; she is an
amazing woman, who has become the center of my brother’s world. It is very easy to see that
they are completely in love with each other and their son. I could not ask for a better sister-in-
law, and I pray that she can put up with all of Sebastian’s flaws for the rest of their lives.” Henry
finished with a wink at Raelynn. The crowd clapped and cheered as Henry went over and gave
Sebastian and Raelynn both a hug and a kiss before taking a seat.

Dinner came next, buffet style, and it was delicious. After dinner, the real drinking started.

The women went to the dance floor, while the men headed for the bar. Quinn, his brothers, and
some friends did about five shots before grabbing a beer each. An hour in and Quinn was feeling
pretty good. He took his bottle of beer and went to find Margot, who was on the dance floor in a
group of women dancing to Don’t Stop the Party by Pitbull. Quinn sidled up behind her and
slipped an arm around her waist. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled when she saw it was
him. Margot turned in his arms and grabbed his loosened tie, tugging him down for a kiss.

“Are you drunk already, mon amour?” Margot asked, as her eyebrows rose in surprise.

Quinn shrugged. “I figured you would want me to dance with you. Well, drunk is the only

way that’s gonna happen.”

She laughed. “Oh, so you got drunk for me?”

He nodded and smiled lazily. “Exactly.”

Margot laughed again. “Alright, then let’s dance.”

Margot yanked his tie, making him step closer to her. She then turned, tie still in hand, as she

put her ass right against his groin and started grinding against him. Quinn fought to keep his eyes
from rolling into the back of his head. He was a decent dancer; he just didn’t have the balls to do
it unless he was drunk. Right now, he couldn’t give a shit either way. Margot was the sexiest
dancer he has ever seen, and he would dance with her sober if she ever asked. Henry and Claire
suddenly appeared in front of Margot. Henry swung Claire around, pushed her back up against
Margot’s front, and started dancing in front of Claire.

“It’s a double stuffed Beck man-sandwich!” Henry shouted over the music.

Margot and Claire started cracking up. Henry turned and started backing his ass up into

Claire. Jesus Christ, his brothers were totally insane. Quinn couldn’t help but laugh, especially
when Claire and Margot started spanking Henry’s ass. His jealousy was nil and void when he
was drunk, plus Henry was married and his wife was involved in the spanking. He could not
wait to see what this wedding video was going to look like.

Three hours in and Quinn was surprised he was still standing. He was still dancing with

Margot when the song Apache by Sugarhill Gang, came on. Sebastian grabbed him and yanked
him to the middle of the dance floor where the crowd was making a circle. Quinn lost his vest
and tie, and his shirt was open, revealing his undershirt, still miraculously tucked in. Quinn
stood across from Christian, while Henry and Sebastian stood across from each other, so they
looked like a square. Beck Squared, ha! Holy shit, he was really drunk. Someone took his beer
bottle out of his hand, no idea who did it, but he would need both his hands free for what was
about to happen. This was totally unrehearsed and never discussed, but he knew exactly what
Sebastian wanted him to do, and Quinn was blaming Will Smith for this.

Everyone knows what happened next… hands went on the hips, which were then thrust

forward, side to side, and to the back, with serious expressions on their faces, before one hand
went up as they giddy-upped around in a circle with ridiculous grins taking over. Annnd repeat!
Quinn could hear the crowd whistling, laughing, and hollering.

He stared hard at Christian, who was fighting to keep a straight face, as he thrust his hips.

Quinn swore this was the most fun he has ever had in his entire life. As he goofily did his circle,
he caught a glimpse of Margot standing with Claire and Raelynn; she was laughing and holding
her stomach. She was so beautiful and Quinn loved her so much. She turned him into the man he
was at this moment; well, along with the alcohol, but it was mostly her.

After the song, Quinn went to her, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her soundly. Someone

smacked his ass and said, “Go get her, tiger.” He was pretty sure it was Sebastian. Quinn
couldn’t care less at the moment; his only focus right now was Margot. He pulled back from
their kiss and rubbed his nose against hers.

“Marry me, Margot?” he said, his lips brushing hers.

Margot tsked. “You are too drunk to ask that question.”

“Maybe, but I know what I want and that is you, forever,” he murmured, nipping at her

bottom lip.

“If you remember this tomorrow, then my answer is ‘yes,’” she said, her hazel eyes lifting to

meet his.

“Be ready to go ring shopping tomorrow.” Quinn smirked.

She snorted. “It will be a miracle if you remember this tomorrow.”

“I will remember because I’ve wanted to ask you for a while now,” he admitted.

“So why now? Why when you are so drunk?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“Because I’m a pussy who needed liquid courage?”

Margot chuckled. “Like I said, if you remember this conversation tomorrow, then the answer

is ‘yes, I will marry you.’”

“Do you have a pen?” he asked.

She burst out laughing and pinched his side. “You are not allowed to write it down!”

Quinn laughed and kissed her again. Oh, he was going to write it down, alright. He had to

remember this tomorrow. He wanted her to be his wife. Then he had an idea; he tore his mouth
away from Margot and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“No text messages either!” she exclaimed and made a grab for his phone.

Quinn lifted it up higher than she could reach. He laughed as he tried to text himself while

holding his phone over her head. She jumped a couple of times to try to reach it, but she was too
short. He whooped in triumph when he hit send. Margot planted her hands on her hips and just
smiled, shaking her head at him. Hell yeah, she was going to be his wife, and she knew it.

“Je t’aime, mon amour,” Quinn said as sweetly and as innocently as he could.

“Je t’aime aussi, mon amour,” Margot replied with a loving smile.

Quinn pulled Margot back into his arms, dipped her, and kissed the shit out of her.

Epilogue

Christian was hammered. He had a great time dancing and laughing with his family, but he

hadn’t seen Shea in about an hour, so he went looking for him. Christian found him at the bar,
talking to Jared Walsh, Sebastian’s new brother-in-law. He went over and slung his arm around
Shea’s shoulders.

“Hey, guys.” Christian greeted them.

“Hey, Chris,” Jared smiled.

“Hey, buddy,” Shea said, turning his glazed brown eyes toward Christian.

“Listen, I gotta piss. I’ll see you guys later,” Jared said and left them to find the bathroom.

Christian took a deep breath, he had something he wanted to tell Shea, and it was now or

never. “Shea, can we go somewhere quiet to talk?”

“Yeah, sure, man.”

Shea pushed away from the bar and Christian dropped his arm. They headed out into the

lobby and out the front doors. Christian led them over to the little grassy area where the gazebo
was. It was dark and quiet in the gazebo, no one else was outside - perfect for what he needed to
tell Shea. He stepped into the gazebo then turned and waited for Shea, who ended up tripping as
he stepped into the gazebo. Christian caught him, but since they were both drunk, they stumbled
until his back bumped against one of the poles, and Shea was pressed against his front.
Christian’s eyes slid closed. Jesus, he couldn’t remember what they even came out here for. He
has been dreaming about Shea being in his arms like this for too long.

“You know, I have always wondered what it would be like to kiss you,” Shea murmured

huskily into the dark, his mouth mere inches from Christian’s.

Christian’s eyes flew open. He was about to ask Shea what the hell he was talking about, but

instead Shea kissed him. Christian sucked in a sharp breath through his nose, his eyes fluttering
shut. Holy shitballs! Shea was kissing him! Christian fisted his hands in the back of Shea’s shirt
and kissed him back, all his pent up desires bursting forth. Their tongues met and Christian
thought he was going to come in his pants. He moaned into Shea’s mouth, and he responded with
his own moan, as he pressed Christian more firmly against the pole.

The kiss was urgent and messy. Shea’s goatee scraped Christian’s skin and he loved every

minute of it, never wanting it to end; but of course, it had to. Shea pulled back only enough to
press their foreheads together as they both sucked in much needed air. Christian could feel Shea
trembling against him. Yeah, he was just as affected as Christian was.

“Damn.” Shea breathed.

“What was that about?” Christian asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” he said, swallowing hard.

“Was it just the alcohol?” Christian asked.

“I...I don’t know,” Shea murmured.

Christian sighed heavily, his heart shattering into pieces. He gently pushed Shea back. “Well,

when you figure it out, I’ll be here,” he said and started to leave the gazebo.

Shea grabbed his arm. “Hold up! What did you want to talk about?”

Christian hung his head for a moment before he glanced back at Shea. “I was going to tell you

that I’m in love with you.”

Shea flinched as if Christian just slapped him across the face. “But...but...”

“Yeah, I know, you’re straight. You don’t have to remind me,” Christian muttered and pulled

his arm out of Shea’s grasp. “I’m going back inside.”

Christian left Shea standing stunned in the gazebo. He didn’t know what he expected when he

first went out there, but that was not it. He now had a taste of Shea, and nothing was ever going
to be the same between them. He didn’t think he could go on just being friends with him
anymore, it was too painful. Christian’s stomach protested and he ran for the bathroom. He
locked himself in a stall and puked his ever-loving guts up. Thank god, no one else was around.

Christian pretty much avoided Shea for the remainder of the night. However, when the limo

stopped to drop Christian off at home, Shea got out, too. Shea followed him into his house before
shutting the door and locking it behind him.

“Chris, we have to talk about this,” Shea murmured as he followed Christian up the stairs.

“Talk about what? I’m gay, you’re not. I’m in love with you, but the feelings aren’t mutual.

There is really nothing else to talk about,” Christian muttered, dragging a hand through his hair
as he walked into his room.

“What about our friendship?” Shea demanded.

Christian sighed and dropped down to sit on the end of his bed. “I don’t know what to do

about that, Shea. All I know is that I can’t go on like this anymore, it hurts too much.”

Christian glanced up at Shea where he was standing just inside the door, the look of pure

agony on his face. “You...I...we can’t just throw away decades of friendship over a kiss,” he
whispered.

“Shea, this isn’t about the kiss. This is about me looking at you every day, knowing that we

will never be anything more than friends. I don’t know how I fell in love with you, but I did, and
it hurts so fucking badly to look at you and know that you will never feel the same way about
me,” Christian said hoarsely. He was practically sober again, throwing up definitely had a part
in that.

“So you’re saying that the only way to keep you in my life is to be in a relationship with

you?” Shea asked, taking a step forward.

Christian frowned as he thought about it. “I guess, I don’t see any other way,” he answered,

shaking his head.

Shea got scary quiet, deep in thought. He took a deep breath and said the one thing that

Christian NEVER expected to hear. “Then let’s do it. If that is the only way that you want me in
your life, then I’m going to take it. You are the only family I have, and I can’t lose you, Christian.
So, if you want me to be your boyfriend, then that’s what I’m going to be,” he said firmly.

Christian sputtered and blinked rapidly. What the fuck was going on here? “Excuse me?”

“I’m game, Chris. If it’s a relationship that you want, then it’s a relationship you’re gonna

get,” Shea said seriously.

Christian eyed him warily. “Sex?”

“Sex included,” Shea agreed.

“But...I don’t understand. Why would you do this? You’re not attracted to me like that.”

Christian scoffed. “You can’t just wake up one day and decide to be gay.”

“Did I not tell you once that you were the only guy I have ever found attractive?” Shea

reminded him.

“I thought you were fucking with me!”

“Well, I wasn’t.” Shea shrugged.

“Listen, Shea, if you are serious about this, there will be no more women for you. I don’t

share,” Christian said.

“I don’t want any women if it means not having you. I do love you, you know.”

“But you’re not in love with me,” Christian said with a pointed look.

“I don’t think it would be hard to fall in love with you, Christian,” Shea murmured softly,

taking another step forward, which put him right in front of him.

Christian looked up at the man he was so in love with, offering him everything he has always

wanted. Did he take the chance and agree to this? It could end horribly with not just Christian’s
heart broken, but Shea’s, too. Could Shea actually be in a sexual relationship with another guy?
Christian didn’t know, and he wouldn’t unless he put himself out there and gave this thing a try.
The first real burst of excitement hit him square in the gut; this might be his one and only chance
to be with Shea, so he was going to take it.

“Are you sure? You’re not just doin’ this out of guilt or pity? Or because you are afraid of

losing our friendship?” Christian asked.

“More like terrified,” Shea murmured softly. “But I am absolutely positive that this is what I

want.” Shea finished firmly and nodded.

Christian eyed him warily but nodded in return. “Okay, but I’m warning you, there is no

going back after this.”

“I know.”

Christian held out his hand, and Shea instantly threaded their fingers together. Christian’s

heart fluttered. “God, Shea, are you really sure? You have to be...”

“Chris, just stop! If I wasn’t sure I never would have offered, so stop doubting me,” Shea

said, squeezing Christian’s fingers.

“I’m just afraid you are going to change your mind tomorrow.” Christian sighed.

Shea shook his head. “I will not change my mind, I swear.”

“But you’re not gay.”

“I will be for you. I would do anything for you, you should know that by now, Chris,” Shea

said with a small smile. “I will not lose my best friend because I’m not gay, fuck that, consider
me gay from now on.”

Christian couldn’t help but chuckle. He hoped this wasn’t a huge mistake. Can you really just

decide to be gay? Just like that?

Shea sat down next to Christian and looked down at their intertwined hands. “I’m not going

to lie and say that being with a dude doesn’t freak me out a little bit, but I liked our kiss earlier.
I think if we just take it a step at a time, I’ll be fine. I have been curious about what you are like
in bed.”

Christian took a deep breath and blew it out. “Okay,” he agreed.

“How’s your anxiety? Is your heart okay? Did it give out? You gonna puke?”

Christian laughed and nudged Shea with his shoulder. “You’re a dick.”

Shea suddenly yawned but nodded in agreement. “I know...damn, I’m beat, are we done

talking? Cause I’d really like to go to sleep now.”

“Yeah, yeah, we can go to sleep.” Christian smirked.

Shea turned and crawled up the bed on his hands and knees. Christian smacked his ass,

causing him to yelp in surprise. Shea glared over his shoulder at him before plopping down on
his stomach and snuggling up with a pillow.

“Dude, you still have your shoes on.” Christian snickered.

“Don’t care, too tired,” Shea mumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow.

Christian huffed as he grabbed Shea’s shoes and pulled them off, taking off his socks, too,

because he knew that Shea hated sleeping with socks on. Christian then got himself undressed. In
some ways, this relationship with Shea was going to be a piece of cake because they already
knew each other inside out; however, in other ways, it was going to be a struggle. But Christian
knew that they could do it, as long as they were both committed to making it work.

“So what should I call you now? Sweetie, pumpkin or kitten? Oh, oh, I know! How about

cocksucker?” Shea teased, lifting his head to grin evilly over his shoulder at Christian.

“I might be gay, but I can totally kick your ass,” Christian warned.

“I would say that you’re more likely to fuck my ass than kick it.” Shea snorted, dropping his

head back to his pillow.

Christian threw his head back and laughed. He finished getting undressed, leaving only his

black boxer/briefs on. He climbed onto the bed next to Shea and collapsed; Christian rolled onto
his side facing Shea and stroked a hand over his short hair. Shea hummed softly and snuggled his
face closer to his.

“What are you going to tell that girl you’re seeing?” Christian asked.

“The truth,” Shea muttered sleepily.

“You’re going to tell her that you’ve suddenly decided to start a relationship with your gay

best friend?”

Shea shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

Christian seriously doubted that Shea was going to tell the girl the truth, but he wasn’t going

to argue with him now. Christian put his arm around his waist and pulled him closer. Shea
shifted and rolled so that his back pressed against Christian’s front. Christian hummed his
approval and wrapped his arm around Shea. Christian tucked his face into the back of his neck
and sighed heavily. This felt so right. God, he hoped this relationship worked.

THE END

Coming Soon…

Christian (The Beck Brothers Series)

Nothing scared Christian Beck more than his brothers finding out that he was gay. How could

he ever tell his three big, buff, women-loving brothers that he was into dudes? What if they
thought it was disgusting? What if they disowned him? He loved his brothers so much and
couldn’t bear to lose them.

His only problem? He was in love with his best friend, who was now his boyfriend. He

wanted to spend the rest of his life with this man. He hated having to hide their relationship, but
what choice did he have? It was either hide his relationship or risk lose his family.

Shea Dempsey’s life has been turned upside down and inside out. First, his parents and sister

were killed a couple years back, leaving him without any blood relatives. Now, the one person
who he considered his only family told him that he was in love with him. The only issue? It was
his best friend Christian, who’s gay. So when Christian told him that they could no longer be
friends, Shea made a decision that would forever change him. He decided to become Christian’s
boyfriend, because honestly, he would do anything to keep his best friend, even if that meant
switching teams.

As their relationship became more involved, Shea realized that he really enjoyed being with

men…okay, maybe not all men, but definitely Christian. But he didn’t want to hide what they had
together. The only problem was that Christian would not budge on the subject and refused to tell
his family about them. Shea didn’t know how long he could live in secret. Will their years of
friendship and love for each other be enough? Or will the ultimatum that Shea gives Christian
end everything for good?

You can find all of Andria Large’s books on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=la_B00CD9UZM4_sr?sort=relevance&search-alias=books&field-

author=Andria+Large

Document Outline

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue

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