Chapter 13 - Quinn
THIRTEEN - Quinn
“We appreciate everyone’s cooperation. You all have a nice day.”
Two uniformed officers from the Wilmington Police Department say their goodbyes to everyone in the office, nodding their heads with half-smiles as they clutch notebooks in their hands and head for the doors.
The notebooks contain pages that are filled with varying versions of the assault that took place in the conference room today, and all of it will be used to press charges against Jon Reid for theft, fraud, assault, and probably a few other things related to financial manipulation.
The officers spoke to everyone who attended the meeting this morning, which made for a very long, tiring day.
But it's finally over, and I don't mean just the portion where we all had to give statements to the police. I mean everything. All of the issues with the breaches have come to an end as well—a door finally being slammed shut to protect us from the danger outside. We’re safe in our home now. It’s done, and I'm the one who finished it.
After we all watched Jon being dragged out of here, there was no more talk about me breaking the law in order to catch him.
In fact, I received pats on the back from everyone except Stephen and Nick, who stood in the background and watched their friend get arrested before silently slithering back into their offices and closing their doors.
Everybody else thanked me for what I did.
It’s funny. Breaking the law made me a hero. Olivia, however, didn't thank me.
I step back into my office as the cops leave and my coworkers shut down for the evening.
We’re an hour past the time we usually leave, so everyone is scurrying around, trying to get out as quickly as they can like they’re worried the next business day will start before this one ends.
I’m exhausted myself, so I waste no time turning off my computer and killing the lights in my office so I can get home and have a shower to wash off today’s ridiculousness.
My temper flared and I hit someone. Thank goodness the cops said it was self defense.
My fists still throb as I step over my threshold and turn toward the double doors, but I notice Olivia’s light still on.
Unlike the rest of us, she is sitting at her desk, leaning all the way back in her chair with her eyes glued to the ceiling.
I'm confused by her demeanor as I stand in the hall, watching her sway back and forth. I figured she would be thrilled by the way things turned out. While it’s true that we’re going to have work to do to replace the clients who abandoned ship after the breaches, at least we know that we never had a weak spot in our security system.
Obsidian isn't outdated or falling apart at the seams. We’re not struggling to protect the clients we serve.
We had a mole in our camp, and he has been removed.
Going forward, we don't have to try to sell clients on an anemic system. We’re built on strength and now we get to prove it.
But if all of that is true, then why is she so despondent?
Instead of heading for the exit, I turn around and walk back to Olivia’s office.
“Hey,” I say, leaning against the jamb. “You alright?”
She stops swaying in the chair and looks at me, and I can tell from the expression in her gaze that this isn't the CEO version of Olivia Lucero.
She doesn't look nearly as intimidating or focused as she usually does when she strides into meetings and owns the room.
I see vulnerability now, like the hardened shell usually on display has suddenly been removed to reveal a softer center.
She sighs when she sees me, then says, “I got the final report back about the Judge Knight DAV. After Rob’s team scrubbed Jon’s devices, they were able to verify that the proxy server that sent the email to the judge was created on his laptop.
He was the one behind all of this. All of it.
Attacking us from the inside like a cancer cell just so he could try to become CEO.
It’s such an idiotic plan, I'm not even sure he thought it all the way through.”
“He didn't,” I reply as I step into the office and take a seat in the chair in front of her desk.
“That’s why he got caught. He was lazy and skipped steps, probably hoping that your inexperience would keep you from seeing it.
Any seasoned technician would've known that using your office admin account to change the threat analysis would leave a trail. As smart as he thought he was, he was actually an idiot.”
She lets out a subdued chuckle. “Yeah, but not you though. You figured out everything. Now we’re even investigating Nick and Stephen to see if they had a hand in this, and it’s all because of you.
Truth be told, Quinn, I think you saved my father's company.
Who knows how much damage Jon would've done if you didn't put a stop to it.”
I grin. “I did what I could.”
“You're brilliant, you know that?” she says.
The compliment makes me look up, and I find Olivia’s eye on me, unmoving and unashamed. There's something new in them that gives me pause, and I bite my lip as the onslaught of inappropriate thoughts comes rushing in like a raging river of depravity. My dark devil awakens from just her glance.
“Don't look so surprised,” she says, confusing my look of growing desire with astonishment.
“I recognized it from the first meeting we had together.
Not only are you brilliant, you're not afraid to fight for what you believe in. You risked everything by going against Jon’s crusade, and I have to ask—why did you fight so hard for me?
You would've fit right in with the boys if you'd joined his team instead of mine.”
“Fuck his team, and fuck the boys,” I answer after a sigh.
“I never liked Jon’s vibe. I can sense an asshole from a mile away, and being in this corporate life has taught me a lot about people’s intentions versus their expressions.
Smiling in your face means nothing. He couldn't hide his desire to oust you, and he recruited his friends to join in on the schoolyard shit. Rumors, whispers, and gossip aren't my thing. Talking shit behind someone’s back isn't my thing either. If I have a problem with someone, I’ll address them like a man. No fears. No waiting until they’re not around to air my grievances. I wasn't raised that way.”
Olivia adjusts herself in her seat. “Oh, that’s right.
You said your father raised you by himself before he went to prison.
After teaching you how to break the law, of course.
When I said you risked everything, I really meant everything, Quinn.
You know I could've had you arrested for breaking into my account, right?”
“Of course I do. I knew it when I did it.”
She scoffs, but it’s diluted by a giggle. “Yet you still did it.”
“Yeah, and I’d do it again if it meant protecting you from them. So if you're looking for shame for hacking the system, you won't find it here.”
Hot prickles scatter across my body. I don't even know why I'm so pressed out of nowhere. I'm interested in this woman, and it suddenly feels dangerous. The way she ignites the darkness in me makes my heart hum. That’s what it is. She brings out the best in me, and my best is my worst. Fuck. I’m all over the place, losing control of myself as the shadows creep in—as the dark devil takes over.
“Wow, you're an arrogant one, aren't you? You were that confident that your scheme would work out? You didn't think I’d be pissed enough to press charges?”
“Yes, I was that confident, and I knew you wouldn't press charges if I figured it all out.”
She scoffs again, sitting up in her seat as she grows more and more annoyed by my responses. “Oh? And what made you so sure?”
“Because that’s why you asked me to help you,” I reply, matching her energy and leaning forward in my chair.
“Illegal shit was happening, and it took some illegal shit to stop it, and whether you admit it or not, you knew I would be the one to do whatever it took.
So don't get all bent out of shape over how I chose to help. Just be thankful that I did it.”
“Be thankful?” she snaps. “You do realize that you're talking to your boss right now, right?”
“Of course I know you're my boss, but you came to me for help, and I delivered. You needed me. Not the other way around. So, yeah, you're the boss in this situation, but let’s face it, I'm the one who’s in control.”
“You're in control? How the hell do you figure that?”
“You gave control to me when you asked me to solve your problem,” I snip, completely ignoring the voices in my head telling me to back down.
The singular dark voice is the one in control now.
“I know you're used to the people around here backing down to you, cowering when you come around the corner, doing that silly shit Jon and his boys did when they talked about you without you in the room but went silent when you entered, but I'm not doing that. Your title gave you control over me, but when you asked me to take control and fix what was broken, I took it and handled it for you. And I’ll do it again when you ask again. I think it’s simple.
You need my help. You need my protection.
You need me to shield you … and I want to do it.
I want to keep you safe, and to keep your father's company safe because I know you care about it.
I want to be everything you need me to be.
I want to take care of you … and you want to be taken care of. Don't you?”
I finish talking and find myself in awe of my own words.
Yes, this is what I really want to say, but I know better than to say it.
I’ve always known better than to let this side of me out.
It’s supposed to always be hidden. Olivia is my boss and we’re in her office.
It may be after hours, but this is still Obsidian.
I work here. I'm professional here. But being with her, looking at her, listening to her, feeling the presence of the darkness she said was in her—it all pulls at the blackness inside of me, and I feel like a passenger inside my own mind.
I should stop and apologize, but I'm too far gone. The truth keeps spilling out, and it’s too late to clean it up now.
Olivia’s eyes widen as she freezes like a buffering webpage. When she finally breaks the trance, she shakes her head, but her eyes remain wide. “God, you're full of yourself.”
“Yeah? Then tell me I'm wrong. Tell me you don't want me to take care of you.”
She buffers again, her mouth dropping open this time as she breathes heavily through it. She doesn't have to say a word for me to know that her mind is racing. It’s obvious even when she’s sitting still. Her energy is vibrating. She can't hide it, try as she might.
Suddenly, she stands up and points at the door behind me. “I need you to get out of my office.”
My brows raise as I smile. “Oh, is this you trying to take control back, Miss Lucero?”
“This isn't a fucking joke, Quinn,” she snaps. “Thanks for all of your help, but I don't take kindly to being disrespected. So get the fuck out. Now.”
I keep smiling, but Olivia doesn't reciprocate, so my smile slowly melts away. I nod my head, accepting my fate and that I just crossed a line. So, in the name of trying to regain my professionalism, I stand up and turn to leave. All I have to do is get out of the room, push the darkness back into its cage, and regain control of myself before I lose my fucking job. I’ll have plenty of time to think about how I need to avoid letting this part of me get out again once I’m gone.
I just need to get out. But as I take my first step, my legs falter.
My dark devil refuses to be subdued and steps to the forefront.
Fuck being professional. I don't want to be professional. I want her.
I spin back around. Olivia is still standing there, panting as she points at the door with a furrowed brow. She's clearly pissed, but if I'm wrong about this, she can fire me. It’s a risk I'm willing to take.
“No,” I say, turning all the way back around.
Olivia flinches. “What?”
“I don't believe you,” I reply. “If you want me out, then fire me. Either that … or admit that you want me to take care of you.”
Olivia’s hand slowly drops back down to her side, but her eyes never leave mine.
She keeps staring at me, and I see her swallow hard between ragged breaths.
I don't move a muscle, keeping my gaze trained on her because I know it’s not what she's used to.
Men are afraid of women who own themselves and are bosses.
Those are weak men, and I am anything but a weak man.
Olivia knows that now, and I see her take a final breath, sighing like she's giving into her fate.
“Okay,” she says in a completely different tone.
“Okay what?” I ask, not yet satisfied.
“Okay,” she says again. “I want you to take care of me.”
My dark devil roars to life, and there's nothing I can do to stop him now that he has been set free. My legs that once faltered, now move in a hurry, sidestepping chairs and rushing around Olivia’s desk.
If she wanted me out, she would tell me right now.
She would stop what she knows is coming.
But she's silent as she watches me stalk toward her like an animal about to pounce on its prey.
I give in to my darkness, and she lets me.
As I take steps forward, she takes a single step back until she hits the wall behind her. Then we’re chest to chest, looking into each other’s eyes just before our mouths come together, and our worlds turn upside down.