Chapter 35
“Her mom did what?” Gabe leaned forward in his chair, and his expression could only be described as incredulous as his hands flattened on the desk. “No fucking way. And I thought my ma was a piece of work. Damn. That’s cold. Did Flynn call the cops?”
Marcus shook his head, his hands clamped on the leather arms of the chair across from his best friend.
“No, she hasn’t done anything yet. She’s waiting for the loss prevention department of the firm to contact her today. I told her I’d be right back. She’s packing her apartment.”
Gabe’s dark blond eyebrows shot up. “She’s moving because of this shit?”
“She’s moving in with me.”
Shock widened Gabe’s gaze. “What kind of present did you give her for her birthday? That’s some quick work, Q. Especially for you.”
“Once you knew Scarlett was the one, did you want to waste time? I’m just taking a shitty situation and turning it into a win for both of us.”
His buddy grinned. “I knew it. All those years you tried not to notice her. Good for you, bro. You look good together. She looked happy on Tuesday night. I like it for both of you. Take care of her and treat her right.”
“Who are you talking to? I’m not breaking her heart. She’s awesome, man. I fucking love her.”
“Wow …” Gabe breathed. “I never thought I’d see the day. I’m happy for you, man.”
“So, yeah, that’s what’s going on with me.”
“I had no idea what I was asking, did I?”
“No, but I do need a favor.”
“Anything. You know that.”
“I need to have someone look into her mom and where she went. Just for peace of mind and to know what we’re dealing with here.”
“I thought you had a guy.”
“I do. But since you became buddies with a certain billionaire, your contacts leveled up.”
“You want a reference from Karas?”
“He’s your buddy. Your wives are friends.”
“Yeah, I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime … take care of that girl, yeah?”
“Of course. Now, I gotta run. I’m taking the van so we can move Flynn’s stuff.”
Gabe chuckled. “That van … glad we didn’t sell it.”
Q knew he was thinking about how he’d met his wife.
“Yeah, me too. I’ll catch you later, brother. Call me if you get any answers.”
“Will do.”
Did she have to move out of her apartment? Especially right now? No. She could’ve found a way to stay … but her lease was coming up for renewal in a month anyway, and Fifth Avenue didn’t have as much charm as Marcus Quinterro’s little white house.
Was she a little crazy to be moving in with him this fast? Maybe. But after four years of wishing and hoping and praying … Flynn was not going to miss this opportunity. As a matter of fact, she was grateful for it.
Never in a gazillion years would Flynn have believed she’d be grateful that her mom had defrauded her out of a cool thirty-four million dollars, but here she was, smiling as she filled the wardrobe boxes she’d had delivered this morning.
Who would’ve ever thought smiling this morning would’ve even been possible?
But here she was. Flynn wouldn’t believe it if she wasn’t living it, but it was happening.
I’m moving in with Marcus Quinterro.
That meant the possibility of a life beyond her wildest dreams. Like falling asleep after those earth-shattering orgasms he delivered and waking up in all sorts of amazing ways.
It wasn’t the direction she had thought life would take after she turned twenty-five, but she couldn’t have planned things better herself.
Letting go of the hurt, anger, grief, and myriad of emotions her mom’s actions had brought up had taken all night, and she still wasn’t quite all the way done with letting this whole mess go.
But lying in her bed with Marcus’s arms around her, she had felt some sense of peace before she finally drifted off this morning.
She’d awoken with a clear mission—cut her expenses to buy herself time to figure out what she was going to do for money and hopefully be able to survive for a few years on the nest egg she had accumulated.
Without the rent of the apartment, her biggest bills were car storage and insurance.
If she could keep her could-not-sell collection at the scrapyard, then she only had to cover insurance.
She was sure she would find a way to contribute so she didn’t feel like a mooch, living off her man if she decided not to get a job anytime soon.
Although, to be honest, she knew he would never think that about her.
Still, Flynn really didn’t know what came after this, but moving sounded like the best idea possible.
And, she reminded herself, she didn’t need a plan.
She just needed the next step. Everything else would work itself out, and what came next would be clear when it needed to be clear.
As Flynn well knew from spending so many nights street racing, life could change in an instant. One moment, you thought you had it in the bag. The next, you were limping away from a crumpled wreck, grateful to be alive and moving under your own steam.
Everything is going to be all right.
She looked around her box-filled apartment, amazed that she had been able to pack up most of her life so quickly. Sure, she wasn’t totally done. But almost. And that was when she realized something vitally important.
This stuff isn’t my life.
It was just her stuff.
Her life was so much more than the things she was packing.
She couldn’t put her relationships, the love, the laughter, the fun, the joy, or anything that really mattered into one of these boxes.
And thirty-four million dollars couldn’t buy any of that.
Her knees went weak with the truth, and she hit the floor.
Her mother might have gotten away with the money, but Flynn had everything that mattered.
She might not have the trust fund, but she had happiness and love—something her mother had never had, and maybe never would. The money sure wouldn’t buy it for her.
Tears fell from Flynn’s eyes as she dropped her forehead to the floor. They weren’t tears of sadness. They were tears of gratitude.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
She might’ve lost out on a millions, but she was still the luckiest girl alive. And tonight, she’d be falling asleep in the arms of her fantasy man—except he was real, and he loved her, and he’d said she was the one for him.
Could life get any better than that?
Flynn started laughing as she rose, ready to finish packing. She had a whole new life ahead of her, and she couldn’t wait for whatever came next.