Chapter 25

CHAPTER25

“Ithink I’m dying,” came the mumbled response to Nathan’s demands to open the door, followed by the saddest fucking sniffle that Quinn had ever heard while he stood there, pinching the bridge of his nose, wondering what the hell he was doing here.

“Open. The. Door,” Nathan, who’d been trying unsuccessfully to convince his sister to open the door for the past hour, bit out as he continued to glare at the locked bathroom door in a way that didn’t bode well for his sister’s ass.

“I would, I really would, but with the dying and all, I don’t believe that I’ll be able to find the strength to cross the room and do that. I think it would be for the best if I conserved my strength,” Bailey said as Quinn stood there, telling himself that he should just let Jakob go with her tonight, but…

He didn’t trust anyone else to look after her.

“And I think it would be for the best if you opened the door before I was forced to break it down and spank your ass,” Nathan bit out.

There was a slight pause, and then, “Do what you must.”

Taking a deep breath, Nathan said, “You made a deal, Bailey.”

“Are you seriously okay with whoring out your favorite sister for a program?” came the reply that had Quinn slowly exhaling as he reminded himself that this was just a job.

“When it was your idea, yes!”

There was a gasp of outrage, and then, the bathroom door was thrown open and the small woman who was making his job more difficult than it needed to be was there, glaring up at her brother as she said, “It was my idea to kidnap and beat the shit out of him until he gave us what we wanted. It was your idea to negotiate with him.”

“Because we need that program,” Nathan bit out. “If we don’t get it, we will lose a shit load of money, violate our contracts, and have to lay off most of our staff, which is why you said yes in the first place, you little pain in the ass!”

Narrowing her eyes up at her brother, Bailey asked, “And if he wants sex?”

“First off, as far as I’m concerned, you’re a virgin and haven’t even so much as held a man’s hand for the sake of my sanity,” Nathan said, glaring right back down at his sister, “And second, the deal only covers you going out with him tonight. He has already been told to keep his fucking hands off you. He just wants a chance to make your life a living hell. That’s it.”

Nodding slowly, Bailey said, “Okay, I’m good with that,” with a satisfied sigh as she made her way to the elevator, only pausing long enough to grab her backpack while Quinn stood there, watching her and-

“God, she really is a pain in the ass,” Nathan said as Quinn reluctantly followed the little brat absently humming to herself, onto the elevator.

“This should be quick,” she murmured absently as she pulled her phone out and-

Started playing online Scrabble, Quinn realized, deciding that he really needed a fucking drink.

“The deal was for four hours,” Nathan said as he joined them, making the little brat frown.

“But-”

“Four hours,” Nathan stressed, only to glare when Bailey opened her mouth to argue.

Clearing her throat, Bailey said, “Four hours is acceptable.”

“Please try not to piss him off,” Nathan said, plucking the phone out of his sister’s hands and changed out the word that she was trying to add.

“Why are you trying to mess with my triple-word score?” she asked, blinking up at her brother.

“Because you suck at this,” Nathan murmured with a sad shake of his head that was quickly followed by a grumble when she saw his score.

“Cheater,” Bailey muttered sadly, only to sigh heavily as she placed her phone back in her pocket just as the elevator came to a stop.

Quinn waited for her to step off the elevator before he moved to follow her and-

“Keep my sister safe,” Nathan said, stopping him with a look that told him everything that he needed to know.

He didn’t like this any more than Quinn did.

* * *

“How much longer are youplanning on ignoring me?” Bailey asked the large man standing against the wall behind her as she found herself glancing around the small bar that she’d been waiting at for the past three hours and wondered why she hadn’t considered being stood up as an option.

It made sense in a disturbingly sad way, Bailey thought as she bit back a sigh and popped a fry in her mouth even as she resigned herself to spending another hour waiting here before she could leave. The deal was for four hours, so she was going to stick it out no matter how bored she was, and God, was she bored. He better hand over the program after this, Bailey decided as she glanced over her shoulder to find Quinn standing behind her, that intense gaze of his taking in everything around them and-

He still wasn’t talking to her.

Great, Bailey thought, taking a sip of the watery fruit punch that she’d been forced to order after Nathan made her promise that she would stay away from anything with caffeine tonight to ensure that she didn’t do anything that would risk this deal. Then again, since it didn’t appear as though Jonathan was actually planning on showing up anytime soon…

“Excuse me. Can I get a Coke, please?” Bailey asked a passing waitress.

“Of course,” came the warm reply as the really nice waitress who was about to make this night better made her way back to the bar just as the heavy sigh came from behind her.

A few seconds later, the chair next to her was pulled out and the man who’d been avoiding her as much as any man who watched her every move could, sat down. “Please don’t make me kill you, Bailey.”

“I’m pretty sure that would defeat the purpose of protecting me,” Bailey pointed out as she once again scanned the room and…nothing.

All that worry over nothing, Bailey thought as she murmured, “Thank you,” when the really nice waitress placed a large glass of Coke in front of her, which, of course, was followed by a grumble, a pout, and a glare when Quinn reached over and helped himself to the only thing that was going to make this next hour tolerable.

“Not happening,” Quinn said, taking a sip of her Coke before placing it back down on the table, only to sigh, and move it out of her reach as her greedy eyes followed the move.

“Will you at least tell me why you’ve been ignoring me,” Bailey said as she gestured for their waitress, only to frown when a shirley temple with a bright red umbrella and extra cherries was placed on the table in front of her.

At her questioning look, the waitress said, “With Mr. Parkins’ compliments,” confirming her suspicions that Jonathan was playing with her and making her bite back a sigh as she murmured, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” the waitress said as she quickly made her way back to the bar while Bailey took a sip of the surprisingly delicious drink.

“Looks like he’s not coming,” Quinn murmured, sounding thoughtful.

“Looks like,” Bailey said in agreement before adding, “And it also looks like you’re not going to answer me.”

“There’s nothing to say,” Quinn said, drumming his fingertips against the tabletop as he took in the rest of the bar, looking anywhere but at her. “This is a job and I keep forgetting that.”

“So, we can’t be friends,” Bailey guessed correctly, judging by the way that muscle in his jaw clenched.

“It’s not a good idea,” he said, still not looking at her.

“I see,” she said, taking another sip as she told herself that was fine.

They weren’t friends. Never had been and never would be, and that was fine, more than fine, because she had plenty of friends. She was just a job, one that he’d taken as a favor for one of Nathan’s oldest friends and as soon as he realized that there was no reason for him to be here, he’d move on to the next job, and that was…

Fine.

“Excuse me,” Bailey said, deciding that this was a good time to use the bathroom as she stood up, ignoring Quinn when he said her name and took a step towards the bathroom, only to mumble another, “Excuse me,” when she nearly ran into their waitress. She moved to step out of the way as a large man made his way past them and-

Felt her stomach drop when she saw the knife in his hand.