Page 12

North

My cell phone vibrated, and I cursed, putting it on silent as I answered the latest message.

***

Connor: You’re out of your goddamn mind. You screwed her? Like, for real?

North: Yeah, I did.

Connor: What the fuck is wrong with you? Her father ruined everything, North. He ruined my brother’s life. Are you really going to forget that because you wanted to get your dick wet?

North: Don’t push it, Connor. You know this isn’t about forgetting.

Victor: Stop it, both of you. North knows what he’s doing.

Connor: Does he? Because it looks to me like he’s lost the fucking plot. Who the hell screws a murderer’s daughter? Are you trying to get your dick cut off in your sleep?

Victor: How does a car accident end up with her being good with knives? Besides, Quinn trusting him is exactly what we need. She’s in his pocket now, which makes her easy to control.

Victor: She’s just leverage, Connor. That’s all. With her wrapped around North’s finger, she’s going to tell us everything we need to know about Robert and Lauren Harley. Do you want your brother’s case solved or not?

Victor: Unless you’d rather keep beating your chest and whining about Aiden instead of doing something about it.

***

The soft morning light filtered through the curtains, the room bathed in a golden glow that felt at odds with the storm brewing in my chest. Quinn lay beside me, her cheek resting against my chest, her arm draped over my stomach like it was the most natural thing in the world. Tangled red curls lay across my pillow and hers in that just fucked way that made my heart race, and her lips still faintly swollen. Her breaths came slow and steady as if she had no clue what she'd done to me.

I should’ve felt satisfied. I should’ve felt victorious. Instead, I felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff, staring down at something I didn’t understand.

She stirred, her eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks before her hazel eyes opened, blinking sleepily at me. Her confusion melted into realization, and a soft pink spread across her cheeks as she pulled the blanket up higher, trying to hide from me.

“You’re awake,” she said softly, her voice still heavy with sleep.

“Couldn’t sleep,” I murmured, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. The action was too tender, too revealing, and I hated myself for it. “You snore, by the way.”

Her eyes widened in horror, her lips parting as she sat up. “I do not!”

I laughed, the sound more genuine than I expected, and shrugged. “Relax, rabbit. I’m messing with you. Go back to sleep, I’m going to run down to the kitchen to make us something to eat.”

Her pout was adorable, and for a moment, I forgot about everything else. About the texts I’d sent to Connor and Vic while she was sleeping. About the plan. About the gnawing guilt that was settling in my gut like a weight.

I slipped out of bed before I could think too much, leaving her tangled in the sheets as I grabbed my phone.

***

North: Don’t bring Aiden into this. Not like that.

Victor: I’ll say what needs to be said.

Victor: Stop hesitating. Keep her close, make her talk, and finish the job. You already have her where you want her. Don’t let it go to waste. I’m sure she knows what happened.

Connor: He’s right about one thing—you’ve gone soft. That’s what happens when you let someone like her get under your skin. She’s playing you, North. Do you think she doesn’t know exactly what she’s doing? She’s just like her parents. A liar. A fucking manipulator. You’ll see.

North: Shut the hell up, Connor.

Connor: No, you shut up and wake up. I trusted you to handle this, and now you’re fucking her? Jesus Christ, man. Do you think Aiden would be okay with this? Huh? Think about him before you start acting like she’s some victim in all of this.

North: This has nothing to do with Aiden. Or you.

Connor: It has everything to do with him. With all of us.

***

The texts blurred in front of me as I leaned against the counter, my hand tightening around the phone. Connor and Vic had no idea what they were talking about. Or maybe they did, and I just didn’t want to admit it.

I gripped the edge of the counter, staring at the sunlight streaming through the kitchen window. Connor was wrong. He had to be wrong. Quinn wasn’t like her father. She wasn’t some calculated monster, weaving lies and deceit. She didn’t even know the power she had, and that’s what made her dangerous—not to me, but to herself.

Whether she was like her mother, or not, was another thing entirely. Somehow, I didn’t see her breaking up a man’s marriage just to get the life of a spoiled wife but how the hell would I know?

But then Connor’s voice echoed in my head again: Think about Aiden.

Aiden, who’d been unstoppable. Aiden, who could’ve gone pro if Robert Harley hadn’t ended it all in a single reckless moment. The image of him limping with that cane, his dreams stolen from him, made my stomach churn with anger.

I straightened, exhaling slowly, but it didn’t help. There was no escaping the weight pressing on my chest, no way to reconcile the two warring parts of me—the part that hated her for who her parents were, and the part that wanted her anyway.

The phone buzzed again, but I didn’t look. I already knew what it would say.

Victor would tell me to stay the course, to use her until she had nothing left to give. Connor would tell me to cut her loose before she ruined everything. And both of them would be right in their own way.

Quinn wasn’t some game piece on a board, no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise. She wasn’t her father. She wasn’t responsible for what he’d done to Aiden and Lila, and she wasn’t her mother. But none of that changed the fact that she was here, in my house, her trust handed to me on a silver fucking platter.

I had no choice but to use it.

The kitchen was quiet as I went through the motions of making breakfast—coffee, toast, jam. Something simple, something that wouldn’t betray how my hands were shaking as I spread the strawberry jam over the bread. I took a deep breath, steadying myself before heading back to my room.

Quinn was still sitting in bed, wrapped in the blanket, tangled waves of red hair falling around her face. She looked at me with a mixture of surprise and hesitation as I set the tray down beside her.

“Breakfast in bed?” she asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.

“Don’t get used to it,” I said with a smirk, settling beside her. “You were a lot of work last night. Figured you earned it.”

Her cheeks turned crimson, and she looked down, biting her lip to hide a smile. It hit me harder than I wanted to admit, the way she softened at something so simple. “Toast and jam,” I added, pushing the plate toward her. “You like strawberries, right?”

She nodded, her eyes wide. “I do,” she murmured, almost shyly. “Thank you.”

I watched her eat, the way she took small, delicate bites, her fingers brushing the edge of the plate. It was such a simple, ordinary moment, and yet it felt significant. Too significant.

After breakfast, I convinced her to stay in bed with me. It wasn’t hard.

She laughed when I suggested it, her defenses crumbling under my teasing. We spent the morning wrapped in blankets, her picking movies and me pretending to care about anything else other than the way she fit against me.

She let me touch her under the guise of affection—my hand on her thigh, my lips brushing her temple. She melted into it, into me, and I hated how easy it was.

“You’re too trusting, rabbit,” I murmured at one point, my voice low. Felt like shit, but I had to say something.

She looked up at me, her hazel eyes wide and unguarded. “Maybe I just trust you.”

The words hit like a punch to the gut.

By the time evening rolled around, she was asleep again, her head on my chest, her fingers tangled in my shirt. The room was dark, the only light coming from the faint glow of the moon through the curtains.

I stared at the ceiling, my thoughts a chaotic mess.

I’d gotten her right where I wanted her—completely dependent on me, completely trusting. And yet, the idea of following through on Vic and Connor’s plan made my stomach churn.

She stirred against me, mumbling something in her sleep, and I tightened my hold on her without thinking.

What the fuck was I doing?

The question echoed in my mind, relentless and unforgiving.

For the first time in a long time, I didn’t have an answer.