Chapter 20

CHAPTER20

“I’m fine,” Bailey said, slowly exhaling as she continued staring down at her laptop when she heard the telltale click of the storage door lock opening.

When she didn’t hear anything else, she looked up from her computer and-

Wow, did he look pissed, Bailey thought, swallowing hard as she glanced from the large man taking a knee in front of her to the closed storage door behind him and couldn’t help but wonder if this was going to end with Nathan being forced to identify her body later. Swallowing hard, she shifted her attention back to Quinn and was actually impressed by his ability to take that terrifying glare to the next level.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Quinn bit out between clenched teeth as she sat there, wondering how she should answer that.

“Possibly?” Bailey asked with a hopeful smile that she really hoped would appease the clearly pissed-off man in front of her.

“Tell me that you really didn’t hire the woman that made your life a living hell,” Quinn said evenly while she sat there, frowning in confusion.

“Kelly,” he said when it became clear that she had no idea what he was talking about.

“What about her?” Bailey asked, frowning as she watched Quinn reach over and slowly closed her laptop, his glare never leaving hers as he took it off her lap and set it aside.

“Tell me that you really didn’t hire her,” he bit out.

Blinking at the very large and clearly very angry man in front of her, she said, “Okay?”

Closing his eyes with a heavy sigh, Quinn reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose as he said, “What the hell were you thinking?”

“That everyone deserves a second chance?” Bailey said, hoping that would be enough to save her.

Dropping his hand away, he said, “She made your life a living hell, Bailey.”

“She was a kid,” Bailey said with a helpless shrug, having no idea how else to explain it.

“It doesn’t take away from the fact that she made your life a living hell,” Quinn said as he reached over and cupped her face in his hand, startling her. “God, you’re too fucking kind,” he said softly as he caressed her cheek.

Before she could respond, he was dropping his hand away and rubbing the back of his neck as he stood up and paced the small room. For a moment, all she could do was sit there and watch him as she found herself thinking about just how much she liked the way he touched her and-

She was clearly losing her mind.

“You don’t know what it was like in that house, Quinn,” Bailey said as she pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs.

“I know that she made it worse,” he said, sighing heavily as he finally stopped pacing and leaned back against the door.

“Yes, she did,” she admitted because there was no denying that Kelly and her friends had made her life a living hell, but…

“She deserved a second chance,” Bailey said, not sure that she would ever be able to explain this.

“When I was coming down here, I wrote a letter to my social worker’s boss, letting him know what was happening in that house. I kept that letter in my bag for a year because I was terrified that they’d be able to track me down if I sent it. That was an entire year that she was stuck in that house with no one to help her, Quinn. It wasn’t until after my adoption was finalized that I felt safe sending that letter.”

“You were a child, Bailey,” Quinn pointed out with a sympathetic look that had her nodding.

“So was she,” Bailey said, sighing heavily as she propped her chin on her knees. “I had plenty of chances to say something. When my parents contacted social services to get answers and start the process, everyone from my new case manager to the police asked me why I ran away and the only thing that I could tell them was that I didn’t want to go back. I should have told them what was going on in that house and protected her, but I was too afraid to say anything, and because of me, they didn’t have a reason to take a closer look.”

“She could have done the same thing, Bailey. She was sixteen years old. She should have been looking out for you instead of making your life a living hell,” Quinn said, sighing as he dropped his head back against the door.

“Yes, she could have, you’re right, but she would have been risking being placed in a house that was even worse,” Bailey said, knowing that he would never understand. She grew up in foster care and while most of the parents were really good people trying to help, some of them weren’t.

“I wish you had told me, Bailey,” Quinn said quietly.

“There’s nothing that you could have done,” she said, shrugging it off, knowing how useless it was to wonder about all the “what ifs.” She’d spent a long time being angry, wishing that things had been different, but in the end, she knew that it was pointless. She-

“I could have saved you.”

* * *

“Always trying to save me,”Bailey murmured with a fond smile.

“Always,” Quinn promised as he watched her for another moment, wondering if she had any idea how strong she was. He’d seen full-grown men break under less and here she was, little Bailey coming out on top.

Christ, she floored him.

“How did Kelly come to work for you?” he asked, deciding that a change in topic was needed before he let himself think about all those things that he wished he knew, only to narrow his eyes on the little pain in the ass when she went still.

“I would rather not tell you that,” she said, clearing her throat uncomfortably as she shifted, cleared her throat again, and gave him a hopeful smile.

Closing his eyes, Quinn said, “You’re going to drive me to drink.”

“I’ve heard that before,” came the response that had him opening his eyes to find her still giving him that hopeful smile.

“Start talking.”

Nodding, Bailey said, “I suppose I can do that.” Clearing her throat, she opened her mouth and-

“She broke into our office!” Nathan supplied, making his sister grumble as she pushed to her feet, stormed over to the door, and after she gestured for him to move out of the way, she threw the door open and-

“I was being helpful!” came the outraged response as Quinn watched Bailey try to take her brother down with a headlock.

God, this was just fucking sad, Quinn thought as he reached over and plucked the small woman that couldn’t seem to get the basics of a headlock down off her brother and threw her over his shoulder. Ignoring her squirms and demands to be released so that she could finish kicking her brother’s ass, Quinn looked at Nathan for answers.

“You were saying?” Quinn asked, wondering why she was making his life difficult.

“In my defense, it was two o’clock in the morning and there was a thunderstorm going on,” Kelly said, only to follow that up with a wince as she added, “I don’t think that helped.”

“Probably not,” Quinn murmured in agreement as he glanced back at Nathan expectantly.

“She saw my picture in a magazine and came to apologize,” Bailey said, sighing heavily only to add, “I’m ready to get down now.”

“Are you going to try to kick your brother’s ass again?”

“Maybe,” came the answer that had his lips twitching.

“I’m gonna need you to just go ahead and throw her back in the storage room,” Nathan said, nodding.

“So that you can keep running your big mouth?” Bailey snapped.

“Yes!” her brother snapped back.

“Snitches get stitches,” Bailey bit out, making Quinn sigh heavily because this honestly couldn’t get any sadder.