“I need to piss.”
“Ever the eloquent gentleman,” she muttered as she led me inside, and I headed to the bathroom. I knew her well: she would have the boots off in seconds, and then she would take off the scarf and, depending on her state of tiredness, her sweater.
Giving her a few more minutes, I flushed the toilet and then exited to find her exactly as I predicted. Bootless, socks off, and in the middle of taking her sweater off. I saw the dark bruises on her upper arm before she had the sense to hide them from me.
“What happened?” I asked her casually as I leaned against the door, watching her face.
“When?” Her look of confusion cleared when she saw me look at her arm, and she immediately tried to hide it.
“Horse has already bolted, bit late to lock the stable door.” My voice was calm, which was unlike me. “Who was it?”
Giving up any pretense, Quinn dropped her hand and shrugged as she sat on her bed. “Not sure. I thought he was hitting on me, and I told him to fuck off.”
“I’m sure you handled him with care and compassion.”
“He called me Queen and said that my Devils weren’t there to save me.”
Pushing off the doorframe, I crossed the room to her, andcrouching down to be eye level, I reached out and traced the bruises. “You don’t know him?”
“No. Older than me, sleazy looking, but I guess some people would think he was good-looking,” she said as her eyes tracked my fingers as I gently caressed her skin.
“And you wanted to walk home alone?” I snarled as I stood. “You’ve lost your mind.”
“I can handle myself, Gray.” Quinn looked up at me, her gentleness gone. “I throat punched the asshole, and the bouncers threw him out.”
“Well, that was stupid, now you’re even more on his radar.”
“I’m fine.” Angrily, she stood, her hands on her hips. “You can leave now.” Quinn’s eyes closed for a brief moment as she tried to calm her temper. “Thank you for taking me home, but it wasn’t necessary.”
“Yet again, we agree to disagree.”
“Gray . . .” Quinn tipped her head back before she looked at me. “Let’s just call it a night.”
“Sure.”
I was out the door without another word, but I did wait until I heard the door lock. The walk home was quick, and I took the stairs two at a time to the top landing where our rooms were. Hesitating at my brother’s door, I listened for signs of him and Ava going at it. Hearing nothing, I tapped the wood lightly. He must have been waiting for me, as the door opened quickly and he followed me into my own room.
“She okay?”
Quickly, I told him what she told me and about the bruises.
“You know what this means?” Jett said to me thoughtfully.
“She needs watched at all times.” I felt the heaviness settle on my shoulders.
“It could be nothing,” Jett tried to reason.
“Yeah, or it could be a whole lot of something.”
“She’s going to resist,” Jett warned me as if I hadn’t known her as long as he had.
“So? What else is new?” I pulled my own hoodie off. “Isn’t that what you told me recently?”
Jett grinned, but it faded as he walked over to my desk. “You have a long night ahead.”
“Don’t sleep much anymore anyway.”
His look told me he knew, and he headed to the door. “We’re getting closer to a breakthrough. I know we are.”
