“Fuck!” I screamed out loud in the empty elevator. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuuck!”
The door opened to the ground level and Tom was at the entrance.
“Quinn? Are you okay?” he asked when he saw my disheveled state.
“No, but Tom, do you have a car? I need to get to mama. They’re going to wake her up. I need to be—”
“I’ll drive you,” he said before I could finish.
Hot tears rolled down my cheeks. “Thank you,” I managed to get out.
Back at the hospital, I couldn’t stop pacing around the waiting room. My heart was divided in too many directions. Mama. Lucy. Weston. Dahlia’s. Cedar Grove.
It was all too much.
“Maybe you should try to sit down,” Tom offered.
“No, I can’t sit down. I can’t sit down until everyone is okay,” I said between hitched breaths.
“Quinn, I really think you need to take it easy. It looks like you might be having a panic attack.”
“Is it hot in here? It’s hot in here, right? Ugh, why is it so fucking hot in here?” I shrugged my sweater off and grabbed a nearby pamphlet to fan myself.
“Quinn, you don’t look so good. Please, sit down. Quinn!”
The last thing I remembered was my knees buckling and Tom’s face hovering over me, calling for a doctor before I went blank.
I woke up to the sound of nails clicking on the screen of a phone.
“Mama. Where’s mama?” I tried to ask, sitting up.
“Oh no, you don’t. You need to stay still,” ordered Lucy with a death stare.
“What happened?” I asked her.
“What happened is that you lost your fucking mind,” she snapped at me.
I stared at her like she was the one losing her fucking mind.
“Sorry, it’s the hormones,” Lucy confessed. “I can be a total bitch without even trying. You fainted, Quinn. You had a panic attack and fainted. Hit your head on a chair on the way down, but you’re going to be okay. God, you had us so worried.”
She stood up and grabbed my hand. My fancy green ring sparkled in the light. “I just don’t understand why you guys did it?’ she said, eyeing the ring.
“Your father,” I said as I slumped back down.
She nodded. “Jax told us about the ultimatum he gave Weston. Could this have something to do with his disappearance?”
Our earlier conversation caught back up to me, and I nearly lost my breath. “They can’t find Weston?” I asked.
Lucy shook her head. “Not yet, but they have every security detail available on this. Not a good look for the world’s most reputable private security firm to have its CEO and founder kidnapped.” She dropped her head. “That was a stupid statement. I’m just so nervous. I don’t know what to do.”
“What if they come for you next?” I asked, still reeling over the fact that Weston was missing. Where was he? Was he okay?
“I’d like to see those fuckers try. Drayven’s got a whole team with eyes on us. They won’t get to us.”
I looked around the hospital room. “Like we’re being watched right now?” I asked, pointing to my sheets.
Lucy chuckled. “Yes, Quinn, that’s how private security works. They’re here, but you and anybody trying to get to you won’t see them.”