Chapter 36 - Quinn
THIRTY-SIX - Quinn
“What the hell was that?” Olivia barks the second we’re outside of the East-World Bank building. I knew she was uncharacteristically quiet on the elevator ride down, but I was hoping she was keeping her excitement bottled up. Clearly, I was wrong.
Olivia places a hand on my shoulder and pulls me back, spinning me around and forcing me to face her. We’re in a parking lot again, and I can't help but think about what we did the last time we had an argument in a parking lot. Something tells me things won't end up that good this time.
“What are you talking about?” I ask, trying to keep my feelings subdued. “I just saved Obsidian.”
“You hacked their system.”
I shrug. “So?”
Olivia’s face fills with rage that turns her cheeks red. “So? Are you out of your fucking mind, Quinn? What don't you understand about hacking being illegal? You can't do that? You could've gotten all of us arrested.”
I glance over at Eden, who is standing by Olivia’s car watching us with a painful look on her face. I wonder if she feels the same way Olivia does. I thought I had just done a good thing back there. Or am I unable to do anything good in Olivia’s eyes when it comes to this company?
Everything I've been feeling since the second Olivia walked out on me in the playhouse comes to a boil in my belly.
I'm hurt, frustrated, confused, and pissed the fuck off by how I've been treated over the last few days.
At some point, it becomes about what you deserve, and I don't fucking deserve this from anybody.
Even though I have strong feelings for Olivia and I credit her for helping me accept myself, I won't take this from her either.
“But I didn't get us arrested,” I snip. “I did what I had to do to save Obsidian. You shot your shot and it didn't work. He turned you down, so I took fucking action and it got the job done. You should be thanking me, Olivia.”
“It is not your company to save,” she yells, and hear her voice echo down the street. “My father built Obsidian and he left it to me. Me! I was supposed to be the one to save it.”
“Goddamn, Olivia. You tried. You gave it your best shot and it didn't work, so I helped you.
He didn't go for that bullshit about decreased prices because it didn't scare him enough. With a guy like that, you have to make them believe that they are already in danger—that everything they love, which is their money, power, and so-called supremacy, is already under threat. Even if it’s not true, you have to make them believe it, and people like him are the exact reason that the world is in the shit hole it’s in now, because they believe the lies being spewed about being threatened or something being stolen from them.
You see the way he didn't care about the Palo Alto PII breach because it didn't affect him personally?
It didn't matter how many others were hurt by it.
He was safe and knew he never had to worry.
So I made him believe that it could happen to him.
I told you that I was ready for this pitch because I'd been studying Joel Epson, and I knew the kind of person he was, so I did what I had to do.”
“Oh my god,” she whispers, turning around in a full circle with her hands on her hips. “And what if it didn't work, Quinn? What if he would've called the cops?”
“He didn't.”
“But what if he had?”
“Then it would've been worth it,” I bark, losing my cool.
“I did it protect you and the company you love so fucking much.
Even with you treating me like shit, I still cared enough about you to risk being thrown in jail to give you what you wanted.
I don't regret it, so if you're looking for an apology you're not going to fucking get it. I did it to save you. You needed me in there and I stepped up, consequences be damned.”
“Needed? You think I need you?” she says, her brow so furrowed I'm not sure it will ever recover.
“You see? This is why I don't get serious with anybody.
You fucking men always think someone needs you, but I accomplished everything I have on my own.
I don't need anybody. I'm not some damsel that needs a savior.
You've clearly let this Dom shit go to your head.”
“Oh, is that what I've done? Now I've let all of it get to my head because I stopped your ship from sinking? I should've let every employee at Obsidian drown just so you could say that you were the only one who tried because it’s your dad’s company?
I know that you're still dealing with issues about your father's death, and I get that, Olivia.
But you can't let those issues make you like this.
You think Diego would be upset that Joel Epson shot you down and somebody else had to assist you?
He wouldn't. He would just be glad that his daughter tried her best and that the company ended up being saved by this deal that is bigger than his dreams could've imagined.
He would've been proud of you. He would've been proud of all of us for making this happen.”
Tears begin to stream down Olivia’s face, and I know that her emotions are getting the best of her, so I do my best to be understanding.
I'm enraged by how all of this has turned out, but I'm starting to understand that maybe this is bigger than me.
Olivia was so good at pushing me to be myself and accepting who I really am, but I'm not sure she's able to do it for herself. I was able to resolve my issues with my dad’s incarceration, but it’s clear she's still struggling with her own daddy issues. I understand, so I choose to back off.
She wipes her face and steps closer to me, pointing her finger at my nose. “You don't know shit about my father. Don't even say his name.”
“Fine,” I say, nodding. “So you're going to stay mad about the deal you've been hoping for all this time?”
“I'm mad at you, not the deal,” she says. “You risked burning my father's company to the ground, but you got lucky. That stunt you pulled could've cost us everything my father built.”
I nod again, understanding that this moment may be our last. “Okay.
Yeah, I did. I risked them saying no and calling the police.
I risked getting blacklisted all across the east coast for hacking.
I risked my career and my livelihood. I risked my fucking freedom.
You're absolutely right, Olivia. But when it all boils down to it, I hope you realize that I risked all of that … for you.” I look over at Eden who is still frozen in place, and nod to her.
“Congratulations on the deal,” I say to them both, then I turn my back to Olivia and get in my car.
Out of my peripheral vision, I see Olivia place her hands on her hips and lift her head to the sky before covering her face with her hands. Eden walks over to her and says something before the two of them embrace. Good. At least she has Eden there to comfort her. Eden and Obsidian.
Shaking my head, I start up my car and drive out of the parking lot.