“No. I wanted to show her I was serious about making a new life. I don’t know what she’ll want to do with this place.”
“I know a great real estate agent. You can get the listing ready. Wait for her to sign off?”
“Great idea. Any other tips?”
“Yeah, we’re not defined by who raised us, you know?”
Gabe met Quinn’s piercing azure gaze and nodded.
“Copy that. You know, Jordan was the first one to call me Doc.”
“After you bandaged that kid up.”
“He had a metal spike in his shin. Yeah, like I cared I was off duty.”
“You’re never off duty, dammit. And then we all followed him.”
“Yep, that’s what we do.” Gabe came around the counter. “Got some time to help me with a few more boxes?”
“You got it,” Quinn said.
Damn, he was going to miss this place, but he also felt peace for the first time.
“Hey, does Simone make more than you?”
Quinn grunted. “Right now, she’s teaching at one of the art schools, so no. But she makes more than a soldier’s pay, that’s for sure.”
“It’s been an issue between Ivy and me. It was the deciding factor in signing on with Axis Management.”
“I always thought that was the reason. Why do you care?”
Gabe pounded on his chest. “One of those fucked-up ideas about me being the man.”
Quinn laughed and threw a cushion at him. “That’s bullshit.”
“I know. You’ve met my father. Money is everything to him. She was making double what I was as a medic.”
“Did she ever care?” Quinn cocked an eyebrow.
“No. She thought I was being dumb about it.”
“Yeah, you were. You’re her Dom, not her banker.”
“I guess,” Gabe mumbled, packing the box up.
“It wouldn’t bother you?”
Quinn snorted. “My mother is an artist, my father is a carpenter, and I was practically raised by the nurse across the street. No doctors or tech gurus in my DNA. Her parents have a farm?”
“Yeah, a berry farm. They do okay. Money never seemed to be a thing when I was around them. They never mention it, you know? My dad always does. I always felt uncomfortable.”
Quinn taped up a box, stacked it on another and taped up another.
“Simone’s folks had money, and she had the most sheltered life I’ve ever heard of. People can be dumb with money. I’m lucky to have Simone. It’s just her, and I in our four walls and nothing else matters.”
“What if she doesn’t forgive me?”
“You’re a stubborn bastard. She stuck with you through a lot of stuff. Are you ready for what comes next?”
