Wayward Son (Jensen Family #3) (28 page)

“Can’t say I’m surprised to see you here, I’ve done a little digging and
from what I’ve heard your son appears to be a serial bully and repeat offender
.
”

“You two
know each other?” Julian asked
standing at Paul’s side.

“We’ve come across each other from time to time
.
” Paul answered.

“Don’t think you’re getting Quinn off for this Simon
.
” Julian warned “My daughter has been
beaten senseless at his hands
.
”

“From my u
nderstanding, Angel did her best to
lead Quinn on and drove him over the edge of good sense
.
” Simon scoffed.

“How dare you
.
” Julian
exploded and took a step forward, only Paul’s hand on his arm stopped him.

“He’s not worth it Julian,” Paul said quietly bef
ore turning back to Simon
.
“Even if Angel did lead him on which I seriously doubt, any man who hits
a woman is the scum of the earth and should be treated as such
,
” Paul snarled.

“You aren’t so squeaky clean yourself you know
.
” Simon shot back.

“Something
which I have never covered up
,
so if you are planning on trying to
ruin my reputation go ahead
,
” Paul shrugged
.
“You have nothing on Angel or Gavin
,
whereas I’m sure once the police get a
good look at your son’s knuckles, they will find all the evidence th
ey need
.
”

“By the time I’m done here, Gavin will be firmly on the hook for this, I
will insist on a sentence so severe that it will have the entire Jensen family
on their knees begging for leniency
.
” Simon hissed.

Paul laughed
,
he’d seen Gavin
and Angel on their way through reception and knew, legally, nothing could touch
his son
.
“If you pursue
a case against my boy I may just have to make public my affair with your wife,
after all, that
in no way is going to harm me,
my wife k
nows all about it.
”

   
 “You wouldn’t stoop so low
.
” Simon frowned.

“Try me
.
” Paul warned
.
“Come to think of it, the last time I
saw your wife she was on her knees
,
begging me to
stay
,
” he mused
.
“Are you sure
Quinn is your son? That temper of his is a ty
pical
Jensen trait,” he enjoyed watering the seed of doubt he knew must have always
been in the other man’s head. Then he caught himself, “actually ignore that,
he’s no Jensen. We are hot headed, but we would never sink so low as to assault
a woman.” T
hen
turned to
the two waiting youngsters
, “
let’s
get you two home
.
”

Simon Masters was furious, he’d been well aware that his wife Eleanor had
had an affair with Paul and the only reason he was sure Quinn was his son was
down to the paternity test he’d insisted
on.

Paul taunted him with the affair on the few occasions they met which
would spark yet another argument with his wife
,
as not only did she still look at Paul
longingly but she would encourage Simon to do some of the disgusting things
Paul had done to h
er during their fling. Paul would
insist on taking Eleanor for a spin around the dance floor on their social
meetings, something he hated but would allow to prevent his wife from causing a
scene. Simon had been even more insulted when Paul’s luscious wife
had looked at him as if he were something she had stepped
in and steadfastly refused to dance with him and now he was kicking himself for
not being able to taunt Paul further with threats of incarcerating his son.

Sitting in the back of Paul’s Jaguar, Ange
l by
his side, Gavin bit down on the tirade of insults directed towards Quinn that
were urging themselves forward, instead he occupied himself with cleaning his
sunglasses and slipping them on.

“I’m so sorry
,
” Angel spoke
quietly, Gavin hadn’t looked at he
r once in the
police station or in the car, he turned to face her now, his expression
inscrutable behind the dark shades.

“It’s not your fault
,
” he told her
but he didn’t smile or make any effort at further conversation, he did however,
place his hand, pal
m up on the seat between them, his
long fingers wrapping around her hand and squeezing
,
when she placed it in his.

On reaching Angel’s house, Gavin climbed out of the back seat, intending
on taking Julian’s place in the front passenger seat.

“Gavin, I owe
you an apology, I jumped to the
wrong conclusion
,
” Julian offered
his hand, Gavin grasped it firmly.

“I would have reacted the same but like I told you on our first meeting,
I would never hurt Angel. I may be many things Julian
,
but being a woman beater is
n’t in my repertoire
.
” Gavin replied.

“I know that, I shouldn’t have judged you
,
” Julian apologised again
,
he had a few quiet words with Paul then
followed Angel into the house.

“Do you want to go for a drive?” Paul asked
,
easing the Jaguar out of the driv
e and onto the road.

“I just want to go home and grab a couple of hours sleep. I have work
this afternoon
.
” Gavin shook
his head.

“I’m sure Linda will understand if you took the day off
.
”

“She would
,
but I made a
promise to a little girl that I’d be there
and I will
,
” he answered before lapsing into
silence.

Paul only put up with his son’s brooding silence for a few minutes
.

“Promise me nothing will happen to Quinn
.
”

Gavin looked at his father
.
“I
can’t
, I think you know that. I can promise
you I
won’t
go t
o prison for that dick head
.
”

“That’s not all together comforting
.
”

“If I do anything to Quinn, I
won’t
get caught, or I
won’t
be in the country long enough to get caught
,
” he answered, then sighed
.
“What kind of man beats a woman? I just
don’t get it
,
” he
finished.

“Me
either, I never have and I never will
,
” Paul agreed
.
“Try to avoid any sort of confrontation
with Quinn but if you can’t, make sure he throws the first punch
.
”

“I’m really not stupid Dad, I know how it works
,
” he smiled for the first time th
at morning, “I hate him, I really do
,
for what he’s done to Angel
.
”

“That’s understandable but I think your feelings toward him are fuelled
by your involvement with her
.
”

“Or lack of. This is going to put a big crimp in our relationship; it’s
going to be a
while before she can trust anything
remotely male
.
”

“Oh I don’t know
,
” Paul mused
.
“She seemed fairly comfortable with
you, she didn’t hesitate when you held out your hand
,
” he grinned when Gavin tutted.

“You don’t miss a trick do you?”

“Rarely boy,
rarely, plus, you were the one who
picked her up and kept her safe. Her trust in you is intact
,
you  just
need
to be very careful how you handle
things going forward
.
”

“Yeah, baby steps, that’s ok, I can go at whatever pace she dictates
.
”

“Just don’t try
to rush her
.” Paul warned
.

“I
won’t,
” Gavin paused
,
“
d
id you really boink Quinn’s Mum?”

“I certainly did, it was a long time ago though
.
”

“Obviously still a sore point
.
T
hanks Dad,
now
I have ammunition
,
” Gavin smiled.

Pulling into their garage and switchi
ng off the
car, Paul put his hand on his sons arm.

“Angel told me everything you did for her. I’m proud of you
.
”

“What was I supposed to do? When she couldn’t get hold of her parents she
called me. I’ve told her everything Dad and she still called me. Ther
e’s something between us, it’s strong and it draws me in
like a magnet, it scares the shit out of me but I’m not going to let that stop
me. I think she’s the one
.
”

Pleased that his son was actually opening up to him, Paul recognised what
he was going throu
gh.

“That’s how it was with Suzie
,
” he said a
little sadly.

“You got the girl in the end
.
” Gavin
answered.

“Yeah, but I wasted a lot of time, don’t make the same mistakes I did
.
”

“I don’t understand. You and Suzanne have been together for years
.
”