Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Quinlan
A fter Martha brought me a sandwich, soup and water, I didn’t see anyone for a long time. Then all of a sudden there’s a commotion outside my door and Vincent comes in.
“Are you ready to meet your future husband?” he smiles at me.
This can’t be happening. He has two goons with him, who untie my hands and feet and make me walk between them.
“You can’t do this,” I snap at Vincent.
“Of course I can. You’re my granddaughter and also my property.” He laughs.
“I am neither.”
Vincent laughs even more. “You wanna deny your heritage? Go right ahead. After today, you’ll be someone else’s problem. And I will have my territory back.”
I won’t lose hope that my family will find me. They would never give up. Never.
Vincent leads me into a grand ballroom. There are ten other men in the room, and each one looks meaner than the next.
“Vincent,” a man with a heavy Russian accent says.
“Ivan, it’s good to see you. I’m sorry to hear about what happened to your father.”
Holy fuck. That’s where I’ve heard the Koslov name. They came after the Mancini family and the Cimaruta MC helped them take care of it.
“Thank you. I assume our deal for Dimitri is still good? I know you made the deal with my father. But I am in charge now.”
“Yes, the deal is still good. This is Quinn, she will be Dimitri’s wife.”
Goon number one shoves me forward. And I get my first good look at Ivan and Dimitri. I wish I could say Dimitri is hideous. He’s not, but that doesn’t mean I would ever want to be with him. The only man I want is Jagger.
“She looks good, she will make a good wife for my brother.”
Dimitri steps forward and takes me from Goon number two. There’s something dark in his eyes that I don’t like.
“We will sit down tomorrow and discuss your territory,” Ivan says to Vincent.
“Thank you, we can meet here at 10 am.”
“We will be here.”
Now I’m starting to panic. I can’t leave with these people. Right as I’m about to break down, I hear a crash from somewhere in the house. Dimitri yanks me to the side as they head to the door. As Ivan yanks the door open, I see a familiar face. Before Dimitri can grab me again, I run towards Salvatore and launch myself at him. He grabs me, then Celestino Bastianini steps in and points a gun at Ivan.
Ivan puts his hands up.
“Take the girl and let us go.” Ivan stares at Celestino.
“Did they hurt you?” Salvatore asks.
“No. I’m okay. No one hurt me,” I say to him.
Salvatore nods and steps in front of me.
“If you come after Quinn again, there will be no second chance,” Sal says to him.
“Understood,” Ivan says to him.
Everyone steps back and lets Ivan, Dimitri and their men walk past us. We look inside and see some of the Mancini men preventing Vincent from running. He’s the one that needs to go away.
“He was trading me for his territory,” I say to Celestino.
“Oh fuck that. Vincent is going to pay for this.”
“Let’s get you home,” Salvatore says. “Celestino, you guys take Quinn home. My partner, Mack, is on his way so we can take Vincent in. My guys will stay and help me.”
“Okay. We’ll see you back at Jagger’s place when you’re done.”
I hug Salvatore. “Thank you for saving me. All of you.”
“You’re family, Quinn. Don’t ever doubt that.”
Jagger
“Sal, tell me you found my girl,” I blurt out as I answer my phone.
“We found her, Jagger. She’s safe and on her way to you. We’re taking Vincent in to book him, then we’ll meet you at your place.”
“Sounds good. Thank you for bringing her back to me.”
“There’s no need to thank me, we’re family.”
Waiting for Quinn to get here is torture. When I finally hear the car in the driveway, I feel like my heart is about to leap out of my chest.
I open the door and Quinn jumps into my arms. I hold her as tightly as I can. I can feel her shaking as she sobs.
“I love you, Quinn. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I had lost you.”
“You’re why I’m okay. I kept thinking of you and getting back to you. It kept me calm and helped me focus on not showing them how scared I was.”
“My parents are headed to the airport to pick up your parents. I didn’t tell them anything, I was hoping you’d be home before they got here. And if you weren’t, then I would figure out how to tell them.”
“Thank you. I don’t ever want to be away from you again.”
Veronica comes into the room.
“Are you okay?” she asks Quinn.
“Thanks to you, I am. Celestino told me that you helped them find me.”
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“No, he didn’t hurt me. He was trying to trade me to the Russian Bratva to get his territory back in Oregon.”
“My father has never been a good man. I’m sorry you were pulled into this. When I figured out that he’d found you, I came straight here. I wish I could’ve prevented everything.”
“I’m okay. It was scary waking up and seeing Vincent. But he didn’t do anything that I can’t get over.”
“I think your parents are here,” I say to Quinn as I give her a kiss.
As soon as the door opens, Quinn launches herself into her dad’s arms. He laughs as catches her.
Quinn
All the anger that I held onto growing up is gone. I couldn’t wait another minute to talk to my mom and dad. I asked everyone if they could excuse us for a moment so we could have some privacy. The only person I asked to stay is my Jagger. I want him with me for every moment of my life, from now till forever.
“Is everything okay, sweetheart?” my mom asks as I lead them to the living room.
“Come and sit with me, please. First off, this is Jagger, he is the love of my life. Jagger, these are my parents, Silas and Mary Mendonca.”
“It’s really nice to meet you both.” Jagger smiles as he shakes both their hands.
“I need to say something. Growing up, I was an ass to you both. I was always so angry at the fact that I was abandoned. Even though I knew you loved me and it didn’t matter that I wasn’t your blood. You never treated me differently from the other kid. But in my head, I could never get over the fact that my birth parents just left me. I’m so sorry I did that to you. I realize now how lucky I am to have you as my parents. Can you forgive me for treating you the way I did?”
My dad reaches out for my hands and kisses them.
“Quinn, you never have to apologize. Your mom and I never felt like you meant the things you said. We understood your feelings and loved you no matter what. You are our daughter.”
“I couldn’t love you more. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t give birth to you. You’re my daughter. Our daughter. Our baby. You completed our family, and we knew the moment we saw you that you were ours,” my mom says, tears streaming down her face.
I grab both of my parents and hold them tight.
“I love you both. Thank you for choosing me.”
Jagger hands us a box of tissues. I look at him and smile.
“Could you ask Veronica to come in her?” I ask him.
“Sure, I’ll be right back.”
“Veronica is my birth mother and I want you to meet her. I’m not asking you to like her, I just want you to meet her. Her story of why she left me is nothing like I thought it would be. She’ll never be my mom, I already have a mom. You’re my mom. I would like her to have a place in my life. But I want you to be okay with that. And if you’re not? Then that’s okay too.”
“Thank you, baby. She’s the woman who gave you life. If it wasn’t for her? You wouldn’t be our daughter. So because of that, I’d like to meet her and thank her. And if she’s willing, I would like to hear her story.”
My mom is the best woman I know. We turn and see Veronica walk into the room. I pat the couch next to me for her to sit. Jagger sits on the other side of me.
“This is Veronica Burrows. Veronica, my parents, Silas and Mary Mendonca. I’d like you to tell them your story, if you’re comfortable doing that.”
They all shake hands, my mom even stands and hugs Veronica. Then we all listen as Veronica tells my parents what she went through and why she left me on the church steps. After she was done telling her story, I told my parents what happened these last twenty-four hours. The anger on my dad’s face is visible.
“Are you okay?” my dad asks me.
I nod. “I’m okay, Dad. Veronica is the one who helped them find me. And nothing happened that I can’t get past.”
My parents stand and hug me together.
“It’s okay if you’re not okay,” my mom whispers to me.
I sniffle and hold her tighter. “Thank you.”