Quinn wasn’t the same woman. She had ice in her veins. She might have the same blonde hair and honey-colored eyes, but that was all that stayed the same. No one would dare spit in my face. I would have killed them without hesitation for disrespecting me like that, but all I wanted to do was bring my lips to hers and fuck her senseless, to show her that she could not defy me like that again.
She fought it, what she felt for me. Her body betrayed her, and she wanted me, I saw it in her eyes behind the anger and hate.
There was no mistake that whatever was between us was still there after all these years, just waiting to be unleashed.
It couldn’t. The old emotions had to stay trapped.
This wasn’t about pleasure or rekindling an old flame.
This was a business transaction. This was revenge. This wasn’t about finding a happy ending. I’d lived through hell because of these two people, and the realization of the world I have now was happy endings didn’t exist.
That was a fool’s wish hoping for gold.
I downed the rest of the scotch and pour
ed myself one more glass while I stared at an unconscious Quinn. I placed my elbows on my knees and leaned forward, enthralled by the rise, and fall of her chest, her even breaths, her body in the same space as me.
I could hardly believe it.
Out of all the heists I had ever done, this one had way more layers than a regular snatch and grab. I couldn’t sell Quinn for money like I could the diamonds from Peru we stole from Hugo Juarez. A man who set fire to entire villages and killed women and children execution style. He was one of our first jobs and extraordinarily successful. We sold the diamonds to a jeweler, donated a few million, and kept a few million.
Well, I guess I could sell her, but I didn’t want to, and sex trafficking was an industry I fucking despised and refused to get involved with. I knew one day, in my line of work, I’d come across it and have to do something about it, but right now, I hadn’t, and I planned to keep it that way. That was too messy of a business, and right now, my focus was on Quinn and Brian.
My plan might be a long shot. I wasn’t too sure how much Quinn loved Brian and how devoted she was to him, but I had to make her see the kind of man he was. A liar. A murderer. He was using her. And he didn’t plan on staying with her either.
See, Quinn wasn’t just a woman or a sexy nurse, but a trust fund baby. Her family had a stake in oil, and she had a long line of zero’s attached to her last name. Something Brian knew. He had a ticket and divorce papers already set up. There was no prenup. Brian was going to take her for everything, just like he took me.
Just like the conman he was.
I was doing her a favor; she just had no idea yet.
“Sir? We are arriving at the hanger,” my driver, Louis said over the intercom an hour later as well pulled into my private airstrip. My crew and I based ourselves in Trinidad, California, only a quick flight from Napa Valley, where we were right now.
Trinidad was a small town, surrounded by redwood trees, cliffs, and the ocean. It was beautiful and peaceful, which was what me and the guys wanted after the shit we had been through and what we go through with each heist. We live inside a mountain. Our entire mansion is a panic room, so if work ever found us, we would be safe. I had Quinn for the next ten years, so investing in such a home was a good thing. She might be my prisoner, but I wouldn’t have her living in a cell. She would be treated like a queen, at the side of an Underground King.
Then, when her ten years ended, she wouldn’t want to leave me. She’d have no choice but to stay. That was what I really wanted to do. I wanted to take away every choice she had, so the only choice left was me.
At least it was an option. It was better than absolutely zero choices, plus, I wasn’t that bad of a catch. A little rough around the edges, but what merciless man wasn’t?
I pressed the button of the intercom, never taking my eyes off Quinn. “Thanks, Louis.” I lift my finger off the switch as the car rolled to a stop, the tires crunching over the gravel. We were in the middle of a wooded area I bought six months ago. We always kept a jet here. California brought a lot of business, and since the damn state was so big, it only made sense to always be prepared.
Louis opened the back door, and the dry air of California breezed inside the car. I breathed in the familiar pine and saltwater from the Pacific and relaxed. I bent down and gathered Quinn in my arm’s, lifting her until I had her tucked against my chest. I almost felt bad for chloroforming her.
Almost.
I wasn’t in the mood for her wicked tongue and quick spit that she liked to threaten me with. Her defiance turned me on as much as it pissed me off. The next ten years were going to be a challenge. And there wasn’t anything I liked more than conquering a challenge.
The second car came to a stop behind us, nearly hitting the back bumper of the car I just got out of, and I sneered at the driver, giving him a look that I made sure could kill if it were possible. I watched the coward’s throat bob with fear, and as he got out of the car, he debated telling me he was sorry but thought better of it when I narrowed my eyes. I didn’t know his name. My only driver was Louis. He was the only one I trusted with who I bring into the car and who I drag out of it.
This guy was a rented driver, and I wasn’t afraid to get rid of loose ends.
The untrustworthy guy finally opened the backdoor for the rest of the guys, and one by one, they came pouring out. Owen, the gruffest of us, had a hold of Brian’s arm and dragged him out of the car, his body hitting the ground with a hard thud. Brian was knocked out cold, and Owen dragged him by his wounded arm, the shoulder where the bullet went through and through.
That would hurt Brian later, but I didn’t care.
“This fucker wouldn’t shut up,” Owen said. “Going on and on about how he could give us so much money if we turned against you.”
“So you punched him?” I asked, not bothering to check if we were alone out here. I knew we were, and the only people that saw what we were doing were the ones here right now.