Page 99 of Savage Suit

“Thoughtful of you to offer,” I said with a glare.

He chuckled. After handing Quinn her drink, he poured mine and then sat next to her. We sipped in silence for a couple of minutes.

“What are you doing here in the middle of the fucking night?”

Reid shrugged.

Narrowing her eyes, Quinn swallowed more scotch, and then answered. “Why the fuck do people go to a person’s house in the middle of the fucking night?”

Was this the same sobbing woman from earlier? “You tell me,” I snapped. Outside of family, Ryan was the only other person so unimpressed by me to talk to me as if I were human too.

“We were in the neighborhood,” she said sweetly, “and decided this was the perfect time to visit.”

“I’m busy, so tell me what you need. I’ll decide if I’m in a benevolent mood, then put you out.”

“Must be an awful existence to know you’re only sought for what you can do for people,” she shot back.

“Quinn,” Reid admonished.

“If that bitch wasn’t at your place, we wouldn’t have had to come here.” Quinn glared between us, then decided I made a better target. “You’re an asshole to treat my sister the way you did. She was stuck in a fucking garage, waiting for a tow truck, because she couldn’t even call you. You’ve fucked her now you’re throwing her to the wolves. Megan Buford especially. She’s going to tear Ryan apart.” She got to her feet and put her hands on her hips. “I’m warning you—” she pointed to me— “And you.” She jabbed her finger at Reid. “I’m dragging that bitch from the top floor of your building to the bottom and down Fifth Avenue if I can prove she sent Ingrid Warrington that information. I’m betting she did. She was texting and smiling at Ingrid. I saw Ingrid pick up her phone. You know what the fuck else I saw? Megan Buford lost every drop of fucking color when Ryan defended her. A guilty fucking bitch if I ever saw one.”

I stared at Quinn, unable to utter a sound, my mind reeling. I hadn’t been able to see Megan. The closed-circuit TV had been on the podium as had the cameras feeding the live broadcast.

“Quinn, that’s a loaded charge,” Reid said in an inscrutable tone.

Hurt flickered over her face but she folded her arms and lifted her chin. “Ryanquit, Reid.”

“Ryan didwhat?” I demanded.

“Oh, you didn’t know about that, huh?” Quinn retorted. “Ryan didn’t tell you. If Megan had done and said and threatened and humiliated me just a tenth of how she tortured Ryan, I would’ve pushed that bitch out the fucking window.”

Reid got to his feet and took her arm, but she shoved him away.

“Don’t fucking touch me. You’re defending her.”

“I didn’t defend her,” Reid fired back. “I simply said that’s a loaded charge. If she heard it and it isn’t true, you could be charged with defamation of character.”

Clamping her jaw, she sat down again and drained her glass.

Now that Reid had silenced her, I changed tactics. Quinn was pissed. Discussing Megan would descend into war. Likewise, requests for clarification on Ryan’s car not starting, and I’d never validate my theory.

“You’re Concerned Sister,” I said flatly.

She squinted at me, but otherwise her expression didn’t change. “Of course, I am,” she answered. “I have every right to be a concerned sister.”

I searched for any clues that she was being purposely obtuse but saw none. “Notaconcerned sister. You’re the one who has written toAsk Ida, confessing to lying about what happened at a ball between your sister and a stranger. Concerned Sister.” I turned a disdainful look to Reid. “And you’re the fucking asshole that lied to me about that night.”

“I didn’t lie,” Reid said calmly.

Ignoring his crock of shit, I looked at Quinn. Her expression hadn’t changed. “I don’t have time to seek the advice of a columnist over any matter. Whoever you’re referring to isn’t me.”

“It is,” I insisted, not yet ready to concede that maybe I’d gone fucking insane. Perhaps it truly was just as I’d concluded days ago. Ryan might have similarities to the girl in blue, but she wasn’t her and my fast attraction to Ryan, hell, my feelings for her, were an outlier. “You were Reid’s date at the party. There was a girl who came to my room to wait while her sister fucked D’Artagnan.”

“I was there,” she confirmed, “but Ryan wasn’t. I have no reason to lie to you,” she added with sympathy.

I studied her, wanting to see a chink, a flicker, anything that contrasted her calm words. There was nothing. She was a stranger to me, so she had no reason to not tell me the truth.

“What reason would I have to lie to you?” she asked as if she’d read my mind. “Reid might be a cheating motherfucker who can’t keep his cock in his pants even if I paid him to do so, but what reason would he have to not tell you the truth?”