Chapter 3

CHAPTER3

“Start talking,” Quinn said, his gaze flickering to the other man as he carefully laid Bailey down on the couch before he returned his attention to the text message that was going to save him from this bullshit.

Find someone else.

“You never answered my question,” Nathan said, grabbing a blanket off the back of the couch and laid it over Bailey before he began tucking her in, making sure to shove the blanket between the couch and the cushions that she was lying on, ensuring that she wouldn’t be able to move.

At Quinn’s questioning look, he said, “Trust me.”

Not really caring, Quinn said, “We grew up together,” as he made his way to the windows and closed them, absently noting that whoever took over for him was going to have to upgrade the security system on the entire building.

“That really doesn’t explain why you looked like you were debating throttling her,” Nathan pointed out as a chime drew Quinn’s attention back down to his phone and-

There is no one else.

“That’s because I was,” Quinn said, slipping his phone back into his pocket as he focused his attention on the man that was going to have to find someone else to deal with the little brat. “Why am I here?” he repeated, in no fucking mood to keep playing this game.

“I think it might be better if I showed you,” Nathan said, gesturing to the freight elevator as the gate was slowly pushed open and the softly mumbled, “I can do this,” drew his attention to find Pam standing there, shifting nervously as she wrung her hands together only to go still when she saw him and mumbled, “I can do this,” one last time as she noticeably swallowed.

“She’s still out,” Nathan said, giving the small woman who was in way over her head a warm smile.

“H-How long before she wakes up?” Pam asked, forcing the words out as she shifted her attention to the couch.

“God only knows,” Nathan said, sighing heavily as he moved past her and made his way onto the elevator. With a jerky nod, Pam mumbled, “I can do this,” even as her shoulders slumped in defeat as she stood there, staring helplessly at the couch.

“You need to replace her,” Quinn said as he closed the gate.

Sighing heavily, Nathan said, “Trust me, I know.”

“Why did you hire a woman who’s afraid of her own shadow as security?” Quinn asked, quickly coming to the conclusion that they were absolutely full of shit.

It wouldn’t be the first time that some rich asshole wasted their time, deciding that they needed a personal bodyguard as their latest accessory to make sure that everyone knew just how fucking rich they were. The problem was, they didn’t want a rent-a-cop, they wanted the best, which meant that they were willing to do whatever it took to hire them, and sometimes, that meant selling them a line of bullshit. Tristan was normally good at spotting bullshit tales, which made Quinn wonder what line of bullshit they’d used to get him here.

“Bailey’s a pushover,” Nathan said with a helpless shrug as he pressed the call button for the second floor.

“Meaning?” Quinn asked, pushing the gate open a moment later when they reached their floor.

“She takes in strays. She thinks it’s her job to rescue people,” Nathan said as they walked off the elevator and back onto the busy floor.

“And they’re taking advantage of her?” Quinn guessed, watching as Nathan frowned in confusion as they headed to the back of the large room.

“God, no, they adore her. They’re extremely loyal and would do anything for her,” Nathan said, gesturing absently around them. “She does her best to find them jobs, and if she can’t find a good fit for them, she’ll find them something to do until she does.”

“Which still doesn’t explain what I’m doing here,” Quinn pointed out as they walked into an office sectioned off from the rest of the large room by a glass wall and bookshelves.

“This is why,” Nathan said, grabbing a file off the desk and tossed it to him.

“And what’s this?” Quinn asked, opening the file and-

“Something that Bailey doesn’t need to know about.”

* * *

“I’m never drinking coffee again,”Bailey mumbled hollowly as she lay there, unable to help but wonder when she’d started to hallucinate.

It was probably something that she should look into, Bailey thought as she watched Quinn Jackson, the man that she hadn’t seen since she’d been forced to take matters into her own hands, carry another bag into the bedroom that Nathan used on those nights when he was too tired to drive home. Not really sure why this was happening, Bailey moved to sit up only to realize that she was trapped.

Sighing heavily, she wiggled, grunted, and groaned until she was finally able to kick the blanket away and sit up and watch the man who really didn’t look happy to see her move his things into her guest room. There was probably a logical explanation for this, but at the moment, she couldn’t think of one.

For a moment, she considered asking him, but…

She would probably be better off asking Nathan instead, Bailey decided as she grabbed her cellphone off the coffee table and sent her best friend a text message.

Why is the angry man set on revenge moving into my apartment?

There was a heavy sigh, and then, “Why are you texting me? I’m sitting across from you.”

“I know, but I’m not talking to you at the moment,” Bailey said, sending another text.

I’m no longer speaking with you!

There was another sigh, and then, her phone was plucked from her hand and Nathan was sitting on the coffee table in front of her. “We need to talk.”

“I figured that out on my own,” Bailey mumbled absently as she found herself watching the very large man who looked a lot bigger than he had the last time that she saw him level a glare on her as he made his way back to the elevator to grab a box and-

Was that a gun? Bailey found herself wondering when he leaned over and she saw what looked like a holster.

“Look, I need a favor,” Nathan said, drawing her attention to find him sitting there, slowly exhaling as he watched her, looking as though he was trying to figure out how to proceed from here.

“Would you like to share with the rest of the class?” Bailey asked, blinking at him as she waited for a good reason why he thought moving the man who was most likely going to kill her one day into her apartment.

“I need a favor,” Nathan finally said, clearly trying to buy time.

“You said that already,” Bailey pointed out as her attention shifted to the stack of napkins on the coffee table next to him.

“I need you to give him a job,” Nathan said as she picked up the napkins she’d made notes on earlier.

“And why would I do that?” Bailey asked as she frowned down at her notes.

“Because he’s my cousin,” Nathan said with a heartfelt sigh that had her slowly looking up from the notes on the napkins to look at him, taking in everything from his black hair, dark tanned skin, dark brown, almost black eyes before she looked at Quinn and noted his black hair, golden tan, and grey eyes and said, “You’re Native American.”

“And?” Nathan demanded, not quite able to meet her eyes as he shifted nervously, something that he’d been doing since they were kids and he didn’t want to tell her something.

“He’s not,” Bailey pointed out, unable to help but wonder what he was trying to hide from her.

Frowning, Nathan said, “You don’t know that.”

“I really do,” Bailey assured him, not bothering to mention that she grew up with Quinn and knew his family since it would only distract the man that was lying to her.

Nodding, Nathan said, “He’s my cousin on my father’s side.”

“He’s Native American, too,” Bailey said, watching as he moved to rub the back of his neck before he realized what he was doing and immediately dropped his arm, knowing that it would give him away.

“You don’t know everyone in my family,” Nathan said evenly as he moved onto the glaring phase, no doubt hoping that she would let this go.

She wouldn’t, but then again, he already knew that.

“You’re my brother, dumbass. Your parents adopted me when I was fourteen,” Bailey pointed out, matching his glare because now she knew without a doubt that he was hiding something from her.

“Which is why you owe me,” Nathan said with a heartfelt sigh and a helpless shrug that had her rolling her eyes.

“You already used that today to get the last donut,” Bailey said with a sad shake of her head as she returned her attention back to her notes, debating the best way to test this code.

“And it was delicious, but now, I’m using it again. I need you to give him a job.”

“We don’t have any openings right now,” she said, knowing that had never stopped her from hiring someone before, but she was more than willing to use that excuse if it saved her now.

More than willing.

“Security,” Nathan said, making her frown.

“We already have someone working in security,” Bailey pointed out, shoving the blankets aside as she stood up and moved to head to the elevator so that she could get back to work only to go still when Quinn, who hadn’t stopped glaring at her since she woke up, stopped what he was doing and moved to do the same.

Throwing Nathan a questioning look, her brother cleared his throat and said, “Pam’s not working out.”

Swallowing hard, she watched the way that Quinn’s cold eyes watched her and…

Decided that it was time to get answers.