Prologue

PROLOGUE

Chesterville, MA

Fifteen Years Earlier

“Let me break your legs,” Grandma said as her eyes narrowed dangerously on his legs while her grip tightened around her cane, letting him know that she was already imagining doing it.

“That’s real sweet, Grandma, but I think I’ll be fine,” Quinn assured her as he leaned down and pulled the small, feisty woman who’d raised him since he was a baby into his arms only to smile when she whispered, “I can make it look like an accident.”

“I know you can,” Quinn said with a teasing smile as he reluctantly released her and-

“Can I have your room when you die?” came the curious question that drew his attention to find his little cousin staring up at him.

Chuckling, Quinn reached over and ruffled Jaxon’s messy hair. “You can have it now,” he said, dropping his hand away so that he could grab his duffle bag and-

“It will only hurt for a minute,” Grandma promised with a solemn nod.

“It’s just boot camp, Grandma. I’ll be fine,” Quinn said as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Promise.”

For a moment, she didn’t say anything as she narrowed light grey eyes that matched his own while she considered him. “You don’t have to do this. I can find the money to pay for college.”

Biting back a sigh, Quinn murmured, “I know, Grandma,” knowing better than to remind her that he wasn’t planning on going to college. He’d learned his lesson the first time. But then again, that was his fault for not making sure that she didn’t have her cane before he broke the news to her. God, she was quick when she wanted to be, Quinn thought with a fond smile for the small, terrifying woman that he was going to miss.

“Then, let me break your legs,” Grandma said, determined to do whatever it took to stop him from going through with this.

Before he had a chance to respond, Jaxon said, “Your train’s leaving,” making Quinn frown as he glanced over his shoulder and-

Shit!

“I love you and I’ll write as soon as I can!” Quinn said, giving the small woman determined to hobble him one last kiss before he moved his ass, weaving his way through the early morning crowd and onto the train just as the last horn blew, announcing the departure of the seven-ten a.m. train to Boston.

“It will only hurt for a minute!” came the promise that had Quinn smiling as he stepped into the nearest car and looked out the window to watch his grandmother and cousin waving goodbye to him from the platform until the train slowly rounded a corner, and then, they were gone.

Swallowing hard, Quinn reminded himself that he’d see them in a couple of months as he moved to take a seat by the window when a small chime had him pulling his phone out of his pocket and-

I can make it look like an accident!

-chuckled as he moved to sit down when a flash of movement to his right had him telling himself that this wasn’t fucking happening.

Not today.

For a moment, he considered pretending that he didn’t see her only to end up sighing heavily as he watched the little girl that had been making his life a living hell for the past ten years suddenly drop out of sight. He should have known that this would happen, Quinn thought as he made his way down the aisle and tossed his bag on the overhead rack before dropping down on the bench where the little pain in the ass was currently hiding.

As he sat there waiting for her to make her next move, Quinn scrolled through his contacts, looking for someone that he could talk into coming to get her before she got herself in more trouble, only to end up sighing when a small hand blindly reached up from underneath the bench and tried to snatch his phone out of his hands. Shaking his head because this was just sad, Quinn said, “You’re getting off at the next stop, Bailey.”

There was a slight pause, and then, he heard the familiar long-suffering sigh as Bailey Smith climbed out from underneath the bench, dragging the oversized backpack that she never seemed to go anywhere without, behind her and stood up. That was followed by clearing her throat as she gestured for him to move his legs along with a murmured, “Excuse me,” that he ignored as he stretched his legs out, ensuring that she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Want to tell me why you’re running away?” Quinn drawled, not bothering to look up as he continued scrolling, debating calling her foster parents, but…

He’d rather avoid that if he could.

No matter how much she annoyed him, and god, did she fucking annoy him, he didn’t want to see her in trouble. Her foster parents were in way over their heads and had absolutely no idea what to do with her, so whenever Bailey did anything questionable, they grounded her, taking away her books, video games, and her ability to drive him crazy, which left her with one very big fucking problem.

“What did Kelly do now?” Quinn asked, quickly running his eyes over her from the hood of her sweatshirt covering her long, wavy caramel hair and fucking sighed when he reached up and pushed her hood back, revealing a rather impressive bruise marring the right side of her face.

Blinking, Bailey asked, “What makes you think that she did something?”

“That bruise, for starters,” Quinn murmured absently as he returned his attention to the problem at hand, finding someone to pick the little pain in the ass up and get her back home before her foster parents had a chance to miss her.

“Fair enough,” came the thoughtful murmur seconds before she finally gave up waiting for him to move his legs out of the way and dropped down on the bench next to him. “I’m not going back.”

“You really are, though,” Quinn drawled as he debated asking his grandmother to pick her up only to decide against it knowing that it would end with his grandmother going for her cane when one of her foster parents said something to piss her off.

That left Coach.

He hated asking for a favor, but he really didn’t have a choice, Quinn thought as he sent Coach a quick text message explaining the situation. Barely thirty seconds later, Coach responded, letting him know that he’d pick the little pain in the ass up at the next stop in an hour. Knowing better than to trust her to wait, Quinn considered waiting with her to make sure that she didn’t take off, but that wasn’t an option, not unless he wanted to miss his flight and he knew better than to miss his flight. Not after his recruiter warned him what would happen if he didn’t show up to boot camp on time.

“You need to tell your foster parents what Kelly and her little friends are doing,” Quinn said, sending one last text thanking Coach for putting up with the little pain in the ass before he slid his phone back in his pocket and focused on the small girl sitting next to him.

“You want me to tattletale?” Bailey asked, frowning at him. “Seriously? That’s your plan?”

“Do you have a better plan?” Quinn countered, even as he had to agree that telling Jennifer and Steve what their favorite foster child was doing probably wouldn’t help.

“Yes,” she said with a firm nod as she gestured around them.

“You’re not going with me,” Quinn said, deciding to put an end to this asinine plan of hers before it got out of hand.

“Why would I want to go with you?” the little girl that had been following him everywhere since he’d made the mistake of coming to her rescue the first time Kelly and her friends tied her up and stuffed her into the janitor’s closet asked.

“Because you follow me everywhere,” Quinn said, sighing heavily as he rubbed his hands down his face as the exhaustion that he’d been fighting all morning finally started to catch up with him.

Between running around trying to get everything in order for boot camp and keeping one eye open while he slept just in case Grandma decided to put her plans to keep him from joining the Marines into action, he was fucking exhausted. He’d planned on catching some sleep on the train ride to the airport, but instead, he had to babysit the little pain in the ass.

“I see,” Bailey murmured, drawing his attention to find her once again frowning in confusion. “And just out of curiosity, what are you basing this on?”

“The fact that I can’t seem to go anywhere without you following me?” Quinn said, even though he had to admit that he’d been flattered the first time that he’d realized that she was doing it. She was a cute little thing with big, bright blue eyes and a warm smile, but she was also only fourteen and a pain in his ass.

“Ummm, I live down the street from you and we both went to the same school,” Bailey pointed out with a pitying look that he chose to ignore at the moment.

“And when I’m at football practice?” he asked, watching as the conductor started making his way down the aisle, collecting tickets.

“I like to hide beneath the bleachers, counting down the minutes until I’m forced to go home so that I can avoid ending up another statistic,” Bailey said, nodding solemnly as she pulled out a twenty-dollar bill from her pocket and held it up for the conductor. “Two one-way tickets to Boston, please. My father’s in the bathroom.”

“She’s only going as far as Bridgeport and she’s traveling alone,” Quinn murmured absently as he reached for his wallet only to frown when he didn’t find it.

“He’s in the bathroom,” Bailey repeated while he searched for the wallet that should have been in his back pocket, making him shake his head in disgust if she really thought that story was going to work.

“Where are you going, son?” the conductor asked as Quinn stood up and grabbed his bag off the overhead rack, praying that it was there.

“Boston,” Quinn said, tearing his bag apart only to mumble, “Oh, god, no,” when he couldn’t find his wallet.

This wasn’t happening.

“Ten dollars,” the conductor said firmly, looking really fucking annoyed to have to stand there waiting.

“I can’t find my wallet,” Quinn said, knowing that he had bigger problems at the moment.

His airplane ticket was in his wallet.

“That’s unfortunate,” Bailey said with a heartfelt sigh and a sad shake of her head. “I’m not sure if this is the right time to mention this, but I have no idea who this man is and he keeps asking me if I like puppies,” she added with a helpless shrug that had the conductor narrowing his eyes on him.

“Wait! She’s kidding,” Quinn said as the conductor stepped out of the way and gestured for him to move his ass. “She knows who I am!”

“I have no idea who he is,” Bailey mouthed with another helpless shrug that was going to get her ass spanked as the train slowly came to a stop, letting him know that they’d reached the next stop.

“Don’t do this!” Quinn snapped as the conductor grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the door.

“Do what?” the little brat asked, blinking innocently as Quinn was shoved through the door and, in seconds, found himself shoved onto the platform with his bag in his arms, watching through the window as the little brat held up his wallet and cellphone, letting him know that he was screwed.

“You little brat,” Quinn bit out, moving to go after her when he found his path blocked.

“You’re not getting back on without a ticket,” the conductor said, gesturing for him to get out of the way.

Never taking his eyes off the little brat, Quinn absently nodded as he stepped out of the way, swearing that he would make her pay for this one day.