Brian raised a brow. “Look, I’ve known you for a very long time, and I’m worried. Something’s changed, and I don’t like it.”
Quincy had thought that he was being discreet, but clearly, he wasn’t as good an actor as he thought he was. “I’m still me,” he pointed out.
“Then you won’t mind if me and some of the other men finally had a taste of Sarah.”
Quincy saw red. “Nobody touches her!” he roared. “She’s mine.”
Brian held his hands up, showing that he wasn’t looking for a fight. “See, you’ve changed. I know you don’t like sharing, but you’ve never acted like this before.”
Quincy felt like punching Brian but managed to control himself. “She’s with child,” he confessed. The men were going to find out sooner or later anyway.
Brian’s eyes grew big. “Oh, wow, sorry, man, I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay,” Quincy replied, slowly relaxing. “Just don’t even think of touching her.”
“I won’t, and I’ll make sure the others know that it is still hands off when it comes to her.”
“Good, now help me make something decent out of this.” Quincy waved at the food. “She wants beef stew.”
Brian burst out laughing, and Quincy couldn’t help but join in. The fact that he was even considering making a meal for Sarah was ridiculous, yet there he was.
Brian picked up a potato and tossed it at Quincy. “You’d better get peeling.”
Quincy groaned but grabbed a knife and got to it. If nothing else, they were all going to eat well.
***
The men were being exceptionally loud—more so than usual—and Isabelle was starting to get nervous. Rowdy outlaws were never a good thing.
“What do you think they’re doing?” Sarah asked, worry clear in her eyes.
More laughter and yelling echoed through the cave.
“No idea.”
It took a while, but finally, they found out what had the men so worked up. Quincy arrived at their door with a serving plate stacked with food.
“Don’t say I’ve never done anything for you,” he said as he made his way inside and placed the tray on the small desk.
Brian stood at the door but did not enter. He had a strange look on his face, and his eyes drifted from Quincy to Sarah and then back again.
Sarah quickly got up from the bed and walked over to where Quincy was standing. Isabelle stayed where she was, not wanting to get in the way and anger Quincy. Sarah was trying to get on his good side, and Isabelle did not want to ruin it. They were hoping that Sarah could somehow get Quincy to allow her more freedom so that they could try to find a way out. Both of them knew it was dangerous and probably a horrible idea, but they had no other choice. It was that or stay prisoners until Quincy got tired of them and killed them.
For a while, after he had said that he wanted to marry Sarah, they had been worried that Quincy wanted to separate them, but he hadn’t done it yet. He also hadn’t mentioned marrying Sarah again, and they were hoping that he had forgotten about it. Being with child with his baby was bad enough. Being married to him would only make things worse.
“This looks delicious,” Sarah said, causing Quincy to smile.
“For our baby,” he replied, placing his hand on Sarah’s growing belly.
Isabelle’s stomach contracted, and bile rose in her throat. She knew how difficult it was for Sarah to pretend aroundQuincy. As a mother, it was horrific to watch. She wanted desperately to kill the man and to save her daughter.
“Thank you.” Sarah returned his smile. “I can see you went through a lot of trouble to do this.”
Quincy let go of her stomach and placed a kiss on her forehead. “No trouble at all.” He took a step back and glanced at Isabelle before returning his attention to Sarah. “Now eat and enjoy. I have things to do, but I’ll be back later, then we’ll spend some quality time together, and I’ll tell you about my plans for us.”
Isabelle sucked in her breath, refusing to say anything that would make Quincy angry. What plans was he talking about? Was he still planning to force Sarah to marry him? All the possibilities spiraled through Isabelle’s mind as she watched the man who had ruined their lives leave the room.
Once he was gone, Sarah picked up the tray and walked over to Isabelle. “This actually looks really good,” she said, placing the food on the bedside table between their beds.
