“Selena! It’s nice to see you again!” Luna Rhoades, Killian’s wife, greeted her.
Behind her, sitting on the couch, was a blond woman Selena recognized as Meredith, Quinn’s adopted sister and the only female member of their family. “Selena! Long time, no see.”
“Hi, Meredith, Luna,” she said, surprised to see both women as she stepped inside the office. “You’re back. How was the honeymoon?”
Luna blushed. “Amazing. We went to this private island in the Caribbean that the Alpha owns.”
Selena whistled. “Private island, huh? Sounds nice! And it looks like you got some tanning done! Naked hopefully?”
“Well, there was lots of naked time …”
“Eww, no details please,” Meredith said, sticking her fingers in her ears.
Selena laughed. “Wow, I’m surprised.” She looked down at Luna’s pregnant belly, and she estimated she was six months along now. “But, you go girl! Glad you got some!” She raised her hand, and Luna heartily high-fived her.
“Pregnancy hormones, don’t you know?” Meredith quipped, rubbing her own pregnant belly.
“Good thing that’s not contagious,” Selena joked as she sat next to Meredith.
“Are you here for lunch?” Luna asked.
“Uh-huh.” Selena looked around. “Where’s Evie?”
“She’s in the office with Killian and Quinn, just giving him a rundown of what happened while we were away.”
As if on cue, Killian, Quinn, and Evie walked out of the office.
“I’ll get that done for you, Boss, no worries,” Evie said brightly. “Oh, hey Selena!”
“Hey Evie!” she greeted back and nodded at the two men behind her. “Killian. Quinn.” She tried to keep her voice as even as possible, but Quinn and his damned smile were making her heart thud loudly against her ribcage.
“Hey, Selena,” Quinn said.
“Hello, Selena,” Killian said as he walked to his wife. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Lunch with Evie, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, have a good one. We have to be off for a meeting at Fenrir Corp.”
Luna frowned and let out a sigh. “We’re not going home yet?”
“Sorry, sweetheart. It was unexpected, but the Alpha could only meet us today,” Killian said. “Are you feeling sick?”
“It’s just …” she sighed. “It’s getting harder to move around, you know, and I don’t want to get stuck in the Alpha’s waiting room while you have your meeting.”
“I’m sorry.” Killian let out a deep breath. “Maybe we can reschedule.”
“Don’t be silly, Killian,” Meredith interjected. “Why don’t you boys get to your meeting and come back here to pick up Luna? We can all stay in and have lunch here.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Luna said. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all, sweetheart.” Killian leaned down and kissed his wife on the forehead, then patted her belly affectionately. “I’ll be back. Quinn,” he called. “Let’s go.”
“Yeah, sure,” Quinn shrugged. “See you, girls.” His eyes flickered to Selena briefly before he left. She stared at them, her eyes transfixed on the door as it shut. When she woke up this morning, she was disappointed that she was all alone. The only evidence he had been there at all was his delicious aftershave that seemed to linger in the air. He had been so sweet the whole night, watching the movie with her. And he had tucked her in, too.
“Selena Merlin!” Evie exclaimed, jolting her out of her reverie. “Oh no. Don’t you dare!”
“What?” She gave Evie her best “who me?” look.
“Girl, I’m warning you!”
“What’s going on?” Meredith asked.
Selena’s eyes darted from Evie to Meredith. “No, don’t you dare.”
“Quinn was over at our place last night,” Evie said smugly. “Snuggling on the couch with Selena.”
“We were not snuggling!” Selena protested. “Are you getting back at me for what I told them about the night you met Connor?”
“Shut. The. Front. Door.” Meredith shot to her feet, a miracle considering her advanced pregnancy. “You were making out with Quinn? At your house?”
“We were not making out!” Selena corrected. “We were just watching Fellowship of the Ring.”
“Was it a date?” Luna asked.
“It was not a date. We are not dating,” Selena said. “We had dinner and then watched the movie.”
“Sounds like a date to me,” Evie said, crossing her arms and raising a brow at her.
“It was a … friend date,” she said, emphasizing the friend part.
“I didn’t know you and Quinn were friends now,” Meredith retorted. “You guys are always at each other’s throats.”
“Are you sleeping with him?” Evie asked.
“Jesus, Evie, no,” Selena answered.
“Really, now?”
“I’m not sleeping with Quinn. I’ve never even slept with anyone!” She slapped her hand over her mouth as three pairs of eyes zeroed in on her.
Evie was the first to react. “Wait … Selena … you’re a …”
“Yes, I’m a virgin!” she blurted out. “Jeez, you guys should see yourselves. You all look like you’ve never seen a virgin before.”
“It’s just that … you know …”
“What? You think someone like me couldn’t possibly be a virgin?”
“Well, yes,” Evie replied.
“What the hell does that mean?” Selena huffed.
“I mean, look at you.” Evie waved her hand up and down. “Selena—news flash—you’re gorgeous. Guys are always checking you out.”
“What?” Selena looked at her strangely. “No guys look at me.”
“Are you blind?” Meredith added. “There are lots of guys totally into you. I mean, your tits alone are enough to launch a thousand ships.”
“Meredith,” Luna warned.
“What?” The Lycan shrugged. “They are. Hey, if I batted for the other team, I’d be all over you. Why have you never bumped uglies with some hot dude? I thought you liked going to male strip clubs. And you were drooling all over Dante Muccino that time we ate at his restaurant.”
“Well, I guess you can say I’m all talk,” Selena said with a sigh. “And I don’t know … it just never seemed like the right time. I’ve never even had a boyfriend before.”
“And you want to sleep with Quinn?” Evie asked. “Talk about bad ideas.”
“Excuse me?” Selena shot back. “I’m supposed to be taking dating advice from you?”
Evie’s shoulders sank in defeat. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be the one talking, considering the asshole parade that is my love life.”
“It’s all right, Evie,” Luna said. “We’ve all been there. I’m sure between all of us, we could fill an entire book of assholes. I’ll start: Chapter One, cheated on me while I was at a business conference.”
“Chapter Two,” Meredith added. “Slept with me to get back at his ex.”
“Chapter Three,” Evie said. “Texted me ‘It’s me, not you’ and then started dating my best friend the next day.”
“Chapter Four,” Luna continued. “Had a girlfriend.”
“Chapter Five,” Evie added. “Had a boyfriend.”
“Really?” Meredith asked.
Evie shrugged. “I’m into theater. It was bound to happen.”
“Chapter Six, has mommy issues,” Luna giggled.
“Chapter Seven—”
“All right, all right, I get it,” Selena added. “Men are awful, and I should be glad I stayed away from them.”
“Look, Selena, it’s not that you should stay away from guys entirely,” Evie said. “I’m just saying … be careful.”
“I’m not going to sleep with Quinn. It’s not like that. He doesn’t want a relationship, and he’s made that clear.”
“Do you want to? Boink him, I mean.”
Meredith’s question caught her off guard, and whe
n Selena didn’t answer fast enough, the blond Lycan let out a laugh. “Oh my God. You do.”
“I don’t!” she said defensively. “Besides, you guys have to remember there’s another party in the equation. Even if I wanted to sleep with him—which I don’t—Quinn doesn’t want me. He said so himself. He doesn’t even find me attractive. I just … ugh, my lunch hour’s going to be over soon, and I haven’t even eaten yet. I’m gonna grab a sandwich or something and head back to the library.”
“Aww, don’t go, Selena,” Meredith pleaded. “We won’t talk about you and Quinn anymore.”
“Just … don't rush into anything, okay?” Evie said.
“Jeez, Mom, I won’t. Are you going to give me the sex talk, too?”
“I can give you the sex talk, if you want,” Meredith offered.
“Uh, no thanks,” Selena said. “So, food?”
“How about Chinese?” Evie asked. “I’m sure we could get Emerald Dragon to send over enough food to satisfy two pregnant women.”
“Sounds great,” Selena said, hoping the subject of sex and Quinn was finally going to be put to rest. Truth be told, the realization that Quinn was not interested in her like that stung. But that’s what he’d been telling her all along, right? He said—after that goddamn kiss—he didn’t do relationships or commitment. Of course he wouldn’t be interested in that kind of stuff. Quinn was attractive, and he probably slept with a different girl each night. The thought of him slinking into some girl’s bed after he left her last night sent a stab of jealousy through her, but she pushed it deep down inside. She should listen to her friends.
“Hello, Earth to Selena,” Meredith said, waving her hand at Selena.
“Huh?”
“I was asking if you wanted fried rice or noodles.”
“Uh, yes. I mean, rice, please.”
Meredith raised a brow at her but said nothing. Thank goodness there wasn’t any alcohol around, or she really would have been spilling her guts.
Chapter Seven
“So, you think some of the Lone Wolves are ready to be reunited with their families?” Killian asked Grant Anderson, Alpha of New York, as they sat in his office for their meeting.
“Dr. Faulkner’s been doing some work with them, and I’ve also hired a very good psychologist,” Grant replied. “They both agree that there are a few candidates who might be ready. How are we on locating their families?”
“Quinn’s been working on finding them based on the interviews we conducted and facial recognition software,” Killian said. “Quinn, let us know what you have. Quinn. Quinn?”
“For fuck’s sake, are you with us?” Sebastian snapped at Quinn.
“Huh?” Quinn started, looking at the three men staring at him. Killian seemed curious, while Sebastian Creed looked annoyed. The Alpha, on the other hand, had a confused look on his face. “Yeah, sorry. Late night, you know.”
“Gotta keep those women happy, right?” Killian joked.
“You do what you want on your own time,” Sebastian growled. “But when you’re on the job, you keep your head straight.”
“All right, all right,” Quinn huffed, wondering why the hell Creed kept him around if he hated his guts. Sure, he made a bad impression on the boss when he hit on his mate the first time they met, but he thought that was in the past now. He shrugged. “Anyway, yeah, I’ve been working on the info we have and cross referenced it with the Lycan High Council files of shifters around the world. I’ve compiled a list of possible remaining family members for most of them, and I can grab addresses once we’re ready.” He took out his pad and handed it to Grant. The Alpha took it and began to swipe through the files.
“This is good work,” Grant said. “You put all this together, just from the interviews from the Lone Wolves?”
“We didn’t have much to work with,” Quinn said. “Most of them had spotty memories; some don’t even remember their real names or how old they are. I had to guesstimate for the most part and used some de-aging software to try and see what they would look like at different ages. Then it was a matter of figuring out how to get the information we needed.”
“Excellent work.” Grant looked at Sebastian. “I should have snapped up your Lone Wolves before you did, Creed. You’re good at spotting talent. I bet Quinn here could have made millions in my tech department.”
Sebastian laughed. “Yeah, well next time, don’t be so slow, old man.”
Grant chuckled. “I’ll try to keep up with you whippersnappers. Now,” he stood up, “I have a teleconference in five minutes. Would you mind showing yourselves out?”
“Not at all Alpha,” Killian said, standing up. The three men left the office and headed to the private elevators that would take them to the garage.
“Next time we’re in there, you stay focused,” Sebastian told Quinn when they were alone inside the elevator car. “I know you like to screw everything that moves, but think about pussy on your own time.”
Quinn felt the anger boil inside of him at the insinuation, but Killian shot him a warning look. “Yeah, yeah. You’re just jealous because you’re both boring old married men now.”
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed, and Quinn felt the rumbling of the beast inside the other man. Shit. Well, it was a nice life. Good thing Killian’s here and can identify the ashes. However, instead of turning into a giant dragon, Sebastian did something unexpected. He laughed.
Killian and Quinn looked at each other, confused.
“Motherfucker,” Sebastian chuckled. “You weren’t thinking about getting your dick stroked. You’re thinking about a girl. The girl.”
“What?” Quinn exclaimed.
“So, Quinn,” Killian snickered. “Who is she?”
“Forget what I said, you’re not boring old married men,” Quinn muttered. “You’re more like old women who love to gossip. Take your quilting circle and go find someone else to hassle,” he said gruffly, turning away from them.
He ignored Killian’s call and walked to his car. It had been a while since he drove anywhere, and Quinn was glad he took his Range Rover today, if only so he didn’t have to ride back with Killian. He had it shipped over from Portland when he moved here, but the damn thing was hard to drive in Manhattan. Still, he missed driving, something he never got to do anymore. He maneuvered it out of the garage and headed back to Lone Wolf Security.
Okay, so fine, he had been thinking about Selena the whole damn time they were in the meeting. How could he not when she was looking so fine today in that dress? The top part clung tightly to her breasts, then tapered to her small waist, and flared at the hips, the skirt ending just above her knees. He thanked several gods for the warm weather because he finally got to see Selena’s shapely legs—so perfect and pale—and the image of them wrapped around his waist popped into his head.
“Motherfucker!” Quinn exclaimed as he slammed on the brakes. An old lady was crossing the street, and he had been so caught up in his fantasy that he didn’t see her. The hood of his car must have stopped inches from her. The old lady glanced up at him, flashed him a dirty look, and then gave him the finger before proceeding.
Quinn banged his forehead on the wheel. He had to stop thinking about Selena that way. He had just resolved to stay away from her last night. At least he did, but his dick wasn’t listening.
Clearing his head, he drove the rest of the way to Lone Wolf without any other incidents. He parked the car in the garage and went to the office. Maybe some work would help keep his mind off the redhead. Yeah, that should help.
As he opened the door to the office, he could smell the faint scent of butterscotch in the air. Damn. Couldn’t even get any peace at work. Evie was at her desk and Luna and Meredith were sitting on the couch, but there was no sign of Selena. He nodded a greeting at both women and stalked to his office.
Quinn sat in his chair, contemplating what to do next. He thought about his conversation with Selena at the pizza shop. Was he curious about his past? Maybe. But he already knew most
of the answers. His mother told him the truth, after all. Not directly, but when he grew older, he understood. The truth was Quinn was the product of an affair between his mother and her married lover.
Anna claimed to have been in love with Quinn’s father, but he already had a wife and couldn’t leave her. Why, he didn’t know. Weren’t all Lycan children cherished? Being Lycan, he should have been welcomed into his father’s clan. But he wasn’t. Instead, he and his mother were tossed out like garbage. Left to fend for themselves with no clan to call their own and no one to support them. When Anna died when he was ten and the authorities couldn’t find any living relatives to take him in, he went into the system.
Quinn bounced around from foster home to foster home. They were all a blur to him or, at least, that’s what he told himself. Any mention of the past had Wolf on edge, but still, some memories couldn't be forgotten. But he learned to survive. That was what mattered. Learned how to run away, cover his tracks. He got better each time, dodging cops and social workers who thought they were helping him by putting him back in those homes. It was only after Archie found him, huddled in some warehouse with a bunch of other delinquents, that he finally felt safe and let his guard down.
Swallowing the pain, he grabbed the handle of the bottom desk drawer and pulled it open. The envelope lay there, his name right on top. With a deep sigh, he took it and laid it on top of his desk.
***
Quinn slumped back in the seat of his Range Rover, looking at the large house in front of him. It was a beautiful home, done in a classic Italianate style with tall arched windows and ornate decorations, low hipped roofs, and a central tower with a cupola. The brick exterior made it look warm and inviting, and he wondered if the same would be true of its occupants.
As if his life wasn’t full of enough ironies, the envelope containing his past brought him to Upstate New York. Albany to be exact. Archie had been thorough in his investigation, and the address written on the first paper inside jumped at him immediately. It was only a three-hour drive from Manhattan. Quinn spent the whole night wondering if he should go. He didn’t sleep at all, and, finally, it was five a.m. and he was exhausted. By the time he woke up at noon, he had decided. Curiosity had pricked at him, and he had to find out for himself.
Loving Quinn: The Lone Wolf Defenders Book 2 Page 5
