The bridge of her nose wrinkled with revulsion. “I can’t speak for her, or what was going through her mind,” she said, like she was forcing her voice to remain steady. “But Whize had said she’d been stalking you. I have no idea where she would’ve even met Preston if she hadn’t run into him when he was at the bed-and-breakfast the other day. Preston was pissed that I’d rejected him—I wouldn’t put it past him to fall into someone’s bed after that.”
Even thinking about Preston had my nerves on edge. “Why would she want to sleep with him if she’s supposed to be obsessed with me?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know why she slept with him. Maybe she wanted to feel like she was punishing me. Maybe she wanted to see if she could get any information she could useon me from him. Or maybe she just wanted to punish Jake for catching feelings that she couldn’t reciprocate.”
I pushed my hair back, frustrated. “That still doesn’t explain why she saw you as a threat that would need this much force to eliminate. If she merely wanted me for herself, there were other options…”
Her shoulders slumped a little. “Isn’t it obvious?”
I blinked at her. “Is it?”
She gave a half shrug. “She saw me as a wedge between you and her, yes. But I don’t think that was her main focus. I was a threat to you, because she saw me as a monster, Graham. I defend people who hurt other people. People like her. That was enough to want to get rid of me forever.”
I shuddered, though she said it like it was nothing more than a simple fact. She looked away, staring off into the distance. I wasn’t sure what was going through her mind.
I hadn’t thought of it like that before. That Mara saw Quinn as something so…dangerous. With Mara’s history, though, I supposed I could see it.
I reached for Quinn’s chin, and forced her stare back to mine. Her eyelashes fluttered as our eyes locked, as if she were coming back to herself.
“What are you thinking?” I asked her softly. I needed to know what thoughts were churning in that brilliant mind of hers.
Her lips gave the slightest tremble before she said, “I’m wondering if she was right.”
It felt like she’d driven a spike right through my heart. I resisted the urge to grab her and hold her so tight she couldn’t possibly doubt herself. I wanted to pluck every horrible thought from her brain and soothe it into something beautiful. Like her.
I squeezed her hand again. “She’s not, Quinn. Don’t think that for a second.”
She tried to jerk her chin from my grasp, but I held on, forcing her to meet my gaze. “I have seen true monsters, Quinn. I have looked them in the eyes and glimpsed into their minds. You are not that. You are loyal and fierce in defending what you believe in. You have the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known, even though you try to hide it under all your armor. I’ve seen it, and it is beautiful.”
Her eyes closed, like she was too overwhelmed to look at me any longer. “I don’t know if I believe that…”
I almost growled as I placed her hand on my chest, right above my heart. “Look at me, Quinn,” I commanded.
She flinched, but gradually, her eyes opened and focused on me.
“Do you feel like you know me? Know the kind of person I am?”
She hesitated, confusion stirring in her expression, but then she nodded.
“Do you think I would fall in love with a monster?”
Quinn stared at me like I’d struck her, shock rippling across her features.
“Graham…” Her voice wavered, and for a moment I thought she might break—fall apart right there in front of me.
“What?” I pressed, refusing to look away. “Tell me you don’t feel something for me, too.”
Her skin flushed, blooming warm under the harsh hospital lights. She glanced away, but only for a second. When she met my gaze again, her eyes weren’t ice anymore. There was heat there—like pale smoke rising from smoldering embers.
“I didn’t want to,” she whispered.
The words stung more than I expected, sharp and unguarded. She must have seen it, because her palm returned to my cheek with a tenderness that nearly undid me.
“I didn’t want to fall in love with you,” she said, breath shaking, “because you’re someone who sees me. You’ve always seen through my hardness, somehow. You found the soft parts I’ve kept hidden for so long.”
I swallowed hard, every muscle pulled tight as she exhaled.
“I never wanted to be with anyone as much as I’ve wanted to be with you, Graham.”
