Irrefutable (The Apprehensive Duet Book 2) (30 page)

Quinn’s just pushing the eggs around her plate at this point, so I get up from my chair and head into the kitchen. Grabbing a glass, I pick the first bottle of wine my hand touches from the small wine rack on her counter and open it.

Full glass in hand, I hand it to her and say, “Come on.”

She readily obeys, following me to the living room. I quickly settle myself into the corner of the couch and tug her down next to me. She’s already managed to drink half her wine.

Setting her glass down on the coffee table, she molds her body against mine, tucking her feet underneath. My arms wrap around her and she rests her head in the crook of my neck. Combing my fingers through her hair, I break the silence. “Talk to me, angel.”

Her body slides down mine until her head rests in my lap as she sighs, “Not yet. I’m not ready.”

Understandable, so I respect her wishes for the moment and don’t push. But I’m not going to remain silent either. “Okay, that’s fine for now,” I tell her. “But while you have all that vile shit he said to you rolling around inside your mind, remember this: none of what he said is true. You are one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. You are brilliant. Beautiful. Loyal. Fierce. Don’t let anything he said to you seep too far in because it’s not true. And you are nothing like him.”

She doesn’t say anything but then again she doesn’t have to. She only needs to listen.

“I love you,” I remind her for what feels like the hundredth time today. After everything, it’s what she needs most. Love. She just needs to feel loved.

A LOUD BANGING on the door rouses me from my sleep and I’m not happy about it. I feel like shit. My head pounds as if someone stabbed an ice pick in it, which means I can count on having a full blown migraine by the time I finish brushing my teeth.
Fuck!
My body aches worse than the day after running the obstacle course my sorority hosted for charity.

“Ugh,” I groan trying to push myself up as the knocking sounds again. I fail miserably, my arms and legs feel like they weigh a ton.

My bathroom door opens and Alex walks out, a cloud of steam surrounding him, wet and in nothing but a towel. “I’ll get it.”

I get a quick glimpse of his nicely toned ass when he drops the towel and pulls on a pair of sweats. He heads back over to me, a sympathetic smile gracing his lips, and leans down to kiss my head. “You killed two bottles of wine last night and slept like shit, so I’m guessing you need some Tylenol. I’ll bring you some after I deal with whoever’s at the door.”

I bury my face in my pillow as my body flops back down in the bed. I could sleep for the next two days. Mixing that much wine and emotion yesterday wasn’t my brightest idea. Closing my eyes, I try to block out the voices wading in from the living room through the slightly ajar bedroom door.

Just as the blackness is about to suck me back in, Alex returns bringing bad news.

“Angel, your mom is here.”

That can’t be right, I must have heard him wrong, “My mother?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure what you wanted me to do. We haven’t spoken much about everything from yesterday,” he says, linking his fingers behind his neck drawing my attention to the way his abs become more defined with the motion.

My eyes blink rapidly as I try to get my muddled brain to focus. “I’ll talk to her. I’ve got to start getting this mess wrapped up. The sooner, the better.”

“You sure?” Alex confirms.

“Yes,” I reiterate pushing myself up, successfully this time. “Just let me brush my teeth and wake up a little bit before I talk to her.”

“Okay…” he says hesitantly. “I’ll go get your mom some coffee.”

Alex’s confusion is justified. I didn’t want to talk to him last night, but today I’m willing to speak to my mother who is high up on the list of people I really don’t like. But I have to know why yesterday of all days she decided to speak up.

By the time I drag my stiff, sore body into the bathroom, I’m feeling a little more human. The woman staring back at me from the mirror looks exhausted and sad. I’m so over being this shell.

Turning on the hot water, I bend down and splash some on my face. It’s an instant pick me up. My mouth has the most terrible taste in it so I reach for my toothbrush and get to work brushing the grime from it.

The shower is screaming my name and I’m very tempted to say fuck it and jump in, but I can’t leave Alex out there alone with my mother for that long. I know the minute I climb in, I won’t want to get out.

Finished in the bathroom, I head to my closet and grab a hoodie before joining the party.

“Feeling better, angel?” Alex checks as I emerge from the hallway.

A small smile forms on my lips and I give him a quick nod. “For now.”

“Okay,” he says handing me a cup of coffee and two white tablets. “I’m going to run home and grab some stuff. I’ll pick up some greasy diner food on the way back. Sound okay?”

“Perfect.”

With a kiss to the temple, Alex grabs his coat and heads out the door.

“That man loves you,” my mother says. Her icy, weathered voice coming from the living room behind me.

“I know,” I reply turning to face her. “Alex said you wanted to speak to me. I have to say this is something new. Must be important.”

“I wasn’t lying yesterday,” she begins. As usual her blonde hair is tied into a tight knot at the nape of her neck. Her makeup camera ready. The only difference today is the velour track suit she’s wearing. I’ve never seen my mother ever wear anything that could be classified as casual. “I had no idea what your father was actually doing to you. Honestly, I thought he wanted you to marry Jordan because he’s a good man who’d take care of you.”

I cock an eyebrow at her, silently asking “You really want me to believe that” and turn back into the kitchen.

Mom follows me, pleading her case. “I didn’t, Quinn. He told me that we should push you to marry Jordan because it would be best for you in the long run. Jordan could give you everything you could ever need and keep you in the lifestyle you’re comfortable living.”

“The lifestyle I’m comfortable in, huh?” I huff, slamming the cabinet closed after pulling out the loaf of bread. “The lifestyle I’m comfortable in is the one where my own parents don’t set me up for embezzlement. Or tell me how they have no use for me because I wasn’t a boy or whatever stupid reason he said. Because I unwillingly walked in on him having an affair and told my mother about it. A life where my family actually gives a fuck about me is the lifestyle I wanted. And in case you didn’t notice, I’m more than capable of providing myself with everything I could ever want or need. I never needed a man for that.”

How could she possibly believe I’d think she didn’t know what he was doing? That she didn’t play a part in it. I’m not entirely convinced she’s not playing a game.

“I do care about you. Why do you think I’m here?”

“I think you’re here because the timing is right, mother. You barged in yesterday just before the FBI stormed through your front door. Coincidence? I don’t think so. If you want me to believe this is an act of kindness and love, you’re going to have to work to prove it to me,” I tell her, stepping away to put a slice of bread in the toaster. I can’t wait for Alex to come back with food, my stomach is ready to revolt at any second and my mother isn’t helping with her fake sadness.

“Well, I came here straight from my lawyers’ office,” she offers up. “I’m divorcing your father.”

“Good for you,” I nod. “It’s long overdue.”

“He won’t be able to hurt you,” she says, her voice remorseful. “Between all the different fraud charges and the embezzlement, your father is looking at twenty to thirty if they run all the charges concurrently. I’m not bailing him out, and he has no access to funds to do it himself because they’ve all been frozen. I’ll get all the assets in the divorce after his fines are deducted. He’ll have no access to come after you from here on out. And the company is yours.”

A gush of something I can only describe as relief flows through my body, down my arms and legs, and bursts. It’s finally over. I’ll wait to hear from Hailey before I let myself fully believe what my mother is claiming, but it still comforts me. “Thank you.”

“I want to be the mom you deserve, Quinn,” she says, her hazel eyes glistening with moisture. “I know I checked out on you a long time ago. I’m going to work on being there for you.”

“If you want a relationship with me, Mom, that’s great,” I tell her. “But like I said, you’re going to have to earn it.”

Her head nods in understanding and she retreats from the kitchen. I watch as she grabs her coat off the back of the couch and heads to the front door. “I’ll see you soon, Quinn. Please call me if you need anything. Anything at all. Give me the chance to prove that I want to change.”

MRS. TAYLOR NEARLY runs me over on her way out of Quinn’s building.

I reach out, grabbing her arm just before she fully goes down on the icy ground.

“I’m sorry,” she apologizes as soon as she has her footing. “Oh, it’s you, Alex.”

The tone of her voice reminds me so much of her husband’s. Cold. Stuck up. Uninviting. I wonder if she’s always sounded this way or it’s just something that’s rubbed off on her after many years with the asshole.

“Please do me a favor,” she asks. I can see the emotion in her eyes and it makes me want to run upstairs and check on Quinn. “Take care of my daughter. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I do really care for Quinn. I wish I had been a stronger person to prevent all of this, but I wasn’t.”

There’s no time for me to say anything about the fact she said “care,” not “love,” before she scurries away down the busy sidewalk. I loop the bag I picked up from the diner around my wrist and make a dash for the elevator. I’m worried about Quinn. This is all too much too fast for her, or at least I’m worried it is.

Last night she drank like a fish and didn’t utter more than five words before I carried her to bed after she passed out. Her less than pleasant awakening this morning wasn’t that big of a surprise for me.

The ride up to Quinn’s floor is quick and as soon as the door opens, I sprint down the hallway to the last door on the left.

“Angel?” I call out as I breeze through her front door.