Up for the job? Was that a joke? If it involved Ariel it was our only job. He damn well knew that. So why was he purposefully trying to get under my skin here?
I had to push my words out past gritted teeth. “Simon and I will be there. And, if it’s what Ariel decides she wants, we’ll gladly take her and keep her safe.”
“It’s what she’ll want,” he said before hanging up on me.
I gritted my teeth so hard they almost cracked.
Thankfully, shopping didn’t last much longer. I called my brother on my way back to the Alexander place.
He was more than happy to meet me there.
5
I Loved Me Some Quinton Alexander
Ariel
Being called into Quinton’s office always felt a lot like being called in to see the principal. I always wondered what exactly I’d done wrong this time and I felt about seven years old again.
It was a pity he never spanked me though. That might make these little trips in here a whole lot more enjoyable.
I eyed Trenton and Simon’s bulky frames where they leaned against the bookshelves. Okay, maybe we could save the spanking for another day. My bodyguards might frown upon that.
Pity.
I wiped that thought from my mind almost as soon as it entered it.
I was struggling because I was turning into a serious pervert where my bodyguards were concerned.
It made it worse because I knew they didn’t mind in the slightest.
They had genuine feelings for me. And I was downright terrified of them.
How much was too much of a good thing? Because, all I had in my life right now was an overwhelming abundance of good things.
When did the scale tip again and come crashing down around me?
I wasn’t ready for anything more bad in my life. I was enjoying this break that I seemed to be on far too much.
I needed it. Dammit, I’d rightfully earned it.
I sat down in the chair across the desk from Quinton’s giant desk. Trenton and Simon moved as one so they were standing at my side.
I didn’t know why we had to do this here. There were no secrets in this house and everyone would know what happened in this room, likely before the sun went down for the night.
Quinton usually wasn’t one to put on show for anyone. At least, not intentionally. Sometimes he did weird shit though just because he was crazy.
“What’s this about, Quint?” I asked as I sat back in my chair snd crossed my arms over my chest. I didn’t care if I looked like a petulant child. I could be one from time to time. He already knew that.
“Your…” he hesitated and I watched him carefully search for something to say and none of it seemed to make him very happy. “Aunt. I found a storage locker with her name on it a couple of states away. I thought I’d give you the opportunity to check it out before I let Rain loose on it.”
I blinked at him slowly as I gripped the arms of the chair in a painful grip.
My aunt… the woman I had grown up for so long thinking was my biological mother. Really she’d just been Rain’s jealous, psychotic sister.
She’d kidnapped me when I was little and managed to keep me from Rain until, unfortunately for her, we’d moved here so she could sleep with Marcus Cole.
She was dead now and never coming back. The dirt in the basement of this very house had consumed her.
