Chapter 36 Quinn
Quinn
Isat on one of the lawn chairs in the grass looking out over the ocean.
It was far enough away from the house that I hoped that no one would find me, at least not right away.
I didn’t want to talk to Theo or anyone else, I needed a minute to myself.
It was cold out here though with the breeze off the ocean.
I should’ve grabbed a jacket, but the cold out here was better than the cold in there.
Theo clearly wasn’t okay. He’d gone from the hug to telling me I shouldn’t have been here. I gave him a pass for the behavior simply because of the situation and the scotch. But I was regretting coming.
Because when I left and walked out, it was going to rip off the scab on skin that hadn’t even healed.
My heart couldn’t take much more and I had to cut it off after this, no more back and forth, no more being in his life. I had to be done.
What that meant for the other guys, I hadn’t decided.
“Mind if I join you?” I looked behind me, surprised to find a woman. She was wearing a black skirt with a high slit on the side and a cropped turtleneck sweater. She had dark brown hair with rich caramel highlights contrasting starkly with her light blue eyes.
“Of course.” I waved at the empty chair beside me.
“Sorry to crash your hiding spot, but I needed to get out of there for a bit.” She let out a breath as she looked out over the water.
“Well, I could pretend I’m not hiding but…” She looked over at me.
“You know Theodore Knight?” she asked, and I frowned a little at the use of his full name.
“Theo? Yes.” I sat up straighter, unsure of who this woman was.
“Right. I forgot he doesn’t go by his full name, I think his best friends call him Knight.” She shifted a little uncomfortably. “I saw you come in with all of them.”
“I’m sorry, who are you?”
“Emma Kane,” she said as she met my eyes.
“Kane?” I frowned as she held her chin up high. “Theo has a sister.” It wasn’t a question, more of a realization, her eyes weren’t as grey as his but they were close.
“Half,” she clarified. “You don’t know about me. He didn’t tell his girlfriend.” She bit her lip and pulled the sleeves of her shirt over her hands, trying not to look hurt.
“I’m his ex-girlfriend and to be fair… I think there may have been a lot of things that he didn’t tell me.”
“I just assumed you were together.” She sat back in her seat and rested her head on the chair.
“I’m sorry about your dad,” I said, changing the subject as I sat back too.
She scoffed. “No one will miss him other than his investor buddies. He nor my mom were particularly warm so it isn’t a big loss for me personally.” She looked over at me, a little surprised about what she shared. “I know how that sounds—” I held up a hand.
“You don’t have to explain anything to me.”
“Thanks.” She blinked a few times, a mask falling over her face.
“I didn’t even talk to him much, only when I was home from school for the holidays over the last four years.
I don’t care. My life won’t change. But I have a feeling when my mom gets her money, I might not hear from her again. I won’t have anyone left.”
“You have a half-brother, that’s something.” I could hear how much I doubted my words, I just hoped she didn’t.
“I haven’t seen him in six years. Not that I blame him, Dad was a dick and my mom wasn’t warm with anyone, but she was particularly cool to Theo.
But even before that, we’ve never exchanged more than a few words.
His mom passed and he went to live with someone else and then I didn’t see him again until he was an adult. ”
“While that may be, it’s not too late to start getting to know him now.” I meant it, Theo may have created his own family, but I knew he cared deeply for the people he let close. I had no doubt he could get there with his sister.
“Enough about my sob story.” I let her get away with changing the subject. “Why are you hiding?”
“I’m trying to figure out how to gracefully leave so I can hide away and try and figure out a way to mend my broken heart in peace,” I answered honestly.
“What happened between you two?”
I rolled my head to look at Emma. “I don’t even know how to answer that question.”
“What the hell are you doing out here, Q?”
We both sat back up to watch as Noah came stomping toward me, pulling his jacket off his shoulders, grumbling something. His accent was a little thicker at the moment which meant he was pissed.
“Hiding, obviously,” I answered and stood up as he came toward me and placed his jacket over my shoulders. I didn’t argue, only pulling it closer for the warmth.
“Hiding won’t be effective if you drop dead of hypothermia.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Don’t be dramatic, Noah.” I noticed Emma staring but Noah only nodded at her, without really paying her much attention.
“Emmaline,” he said as I shivered.
“It’s Emma,” she responded stiffly.
“Do you two know each other?” I looked between them.
“I met her once when she came with her dad to our offices a while back.” Noah nodded at her again and then started to pull me back toward the house. I pulled away from him easily and went back to Emma. “Quinn, let’s go.” His voice was giving away his annoyance. That wasn’t normal for him.
“Can I have your phone?” I asked as I held out my hand. She quickly unlocked it and passed it to me. “Quinn West,” I said as I inputted my number. “Call me, if you ever need someone to talk to.” She gave me a curious look. “I’m serious. Use it.”
With that I walked back to Noah, and we make our way inside.
“I haven’t seen her in a while.” I looked up at Noah’s muttering, more to himself than me.
“Okay well, I know the burial service is coming up, you might not see me for a bit since I’ll be hiding at the back.” I wasn’t sure that he heard me as we stepped back into the room and Noah muttered about needing a drink. He didn’t wait for me to pass him his jacket back before he took off.
I looked around the room, my eyes finding Theo like I had a sixth sense for him. I took a step back when I saw him.
A woman was pressed against him, her hand on his chest, he was looking down at her, not pushing her away while my heart cracked more, if that was even possible.
I was holding out hope that maybe something else had forced our breakup, that was what everyone was trying to lead me to believe. But maybe for the last few weeks while I was heartbroken and alone trying to pick up the pieces, he was moving on like I was nothing.
Logically I knew that I could be interpreting this wrong.
That if I wanted a real answer I could walk over there and ask him.
Communicate. But what would be the point?
Because either way we were broken up. He ended this.
And I had no business being here, not now.
I also had no interest in watching as the woman leaned in further.
I spun on my heel and hid in a nearby hallway. Placing a hand on my chest, I tried to take a few breaths, pushing my tears down. I couldn’t keep crying over a man that didn’t love me the way I loved him.
“Are you okay, Miss?” I opened my eyes to see one of the servers looking at me with concern.
“I need a way out of here that doesn’t require me to walk through that room, and I need the number of a cab company.”
Something about me must have looked desperate enough because he nodded and started walking down the hall. I shoved my arms through Noah’s jacket and walked as quickly as I could behind him in my heels.
“We have cabs on standby to take guests home. Won’t be cheap,” he commented as we walked through the kitchen full of staff and out a side door.
“I don’t care.” I wrapped my arms around myself and was thankfully in a cab less than three minutes after walking out of the house.
“Where to?” the cab driver asked as we pulled around the circular drive.
“I need to go to The Plaza.” I pulled up my phone to find the first flight home out of New York. The drive back to the hotel took under two hours and I was surprised no one had blown up my phone yet. I jumped out of the cab and looked at the door man.
“Can you have a car waiting down here in five minutes for me?” The man nodded and I walked through the lobby, pulling out my phone again and dialing.
“Why the hell are you calling me? Where are you?” Asher asked as he picked up.
I’d been banking on the guys assuming someone else was with me.
That it would take them a while to notice I was gone especially because they probably wouldn’t look for me until after the service. I was just surprised it worked.
“I left.” The second I was in my room I started throwing my things in my bag.
“What the hell do you mean?” Asher said, the noise behind him quieting.
“I left, Ash. I’m going home to deal with my apartment and then I’m going to Italy like I planned.” I was grateful I hadn’t brought much stuff, not even bothering to change before zipping my suitcase shut.
“What are you talking about? Knight needs—”
“Don’t try and lie to me, Theo needs nothing from me. He made that very clear. But regardless, I can’t care about what Theo needs right now, Ash. I need to leave. I have a flight in two hours.” I left the key card in the room and got back in the elevator.
“Shit.” He let out a breath. He knew he couldn’t get to me in time. Or convince me to change my mind. “When are you going to go to Italy?”
“I don’t know. Two, maybe three days from now. Once I get my stuff out and rebook my flight.”
He was quiet for a few moments as I got in the car and asked the driver to take me to the airport. “Aren’t you supposed to be out of your apartment tomorrow?”
I was suspicious of his change of topic.
“Yeah… I have the movers on standby, I should be able to get them there in the morning. I’ll stay at a hotel until I leave.”
“Stay with me.”
“A hotel is just fine.” I didn’t trust that he wasn’t trying to pull something.
“Come on, I have an extra guest room. It’s a hell of a lot nicer than a hotel.” I chewed on my lip for a minute.
“Is he coming back to his apartment?” I assumed the answer would be no, that he would be going back to London.
“No, he’s at the house.” I blinked a few times, surprised, both that he was going to be in Calgary and at the house.
I wasn't sure if his apartment had been rented out yet and Ash didn't give me the information I wanted. It would be nicer to stay with Ash, I just didn't like the idea of potentially being next door to him. But I wouldn’t be there long. “Q, don’t argue. I need to get back in there and let the guys know I got you before they panic.” I let out a sigh. The reminder that he was at Theo’s dad’s service was the one thing that could force my hand.
“Fine.”
“I’ll be by your place tomorrow to pick you up.”
“You don’t have—”
He hung up before I even finished my objection.