Twist of Fate (The Donovans Book 1)

by Callie Quigg

  Quinn cast a quick glance his way, and he couldn’t decipher if she was annoyed or indifferent. If his shoulders didn’t still ache with the scratches from her nails, no way would he have thought the standoffish woman in front of him was the same one who’d begged him not to stop not more than thirty minutes ago.

  “So, Quinn.” Lily smacked her lips together. “What have you done to fix this mess?”

  “Is there a mess? I wasn’t aware there was one.” Quinn gripped her fingers together and gave Lily a smile worthy of a saint.

  The urge to come to her defense swelled inside Ronan, but he bit his tongue. Quinn wouldn’t thank him for his interference.

  “You think I don’t know what’s been going on around here?” The slur in Lily’s voice lessened by the second. Perhaps she wasn’t as drunk as she seemed.

  Ronan caught the startled look on Quinn’s face and was about to say something when Brendan spoke up.

  “Don’t you worry, Lily dear, we have everything under control. The airport’ll be open by Friday, and doesn’t Ella have her own private plane to fly her here?”

  Lily meandered over to the fire by Brendan, followed by Max. “I suppose.” She bent down and picked up the cowering dog, who seemed to sense the tension. “The rooms?”

  “Ronan and I organized most of the rooms today,” Quinn said. “The kitchen will be well stocked for the guests, and I think I’m right in saying the plumbing and heating in the entire castle are in working order. Right, Brendan?”

  “They are,” he replied. “Gary and the lads sorted everything today.” He picked up a few pieces of peat and threw them onto the fire. “So no problems there.”

  Lily rocked back and forth on her icepick heels. “The food? Wasn’t the chef supposed to come here today?”

  “The weather… But I promise the food will be perfect.” Quinn reached into a cupboard and secured four wine stems between her fingers. “Why don’t we all have a glass of wine, sit by the fire, and go over the rest of the itinerary?”

  Ronan wanted to laugh. Trust Quinn to come up with a way to pacify Lily.

  “I guess you could persuade me,” Lily said with a sniff.

  “And,” Quinn continued, “let’s FaceTime with Ella to keep her in the loop.”

  “She’s at a charity ball in New York.” Lily picked up Max and nuzzled his neck. “Ella’s lost interest. She just wants to turn up, put on her dress, say ‘I do,’ and wait for her picture to appear on every magazine cover in the world.”

  “Be that as it may, we still have lots to do.” Quinn uncorked a vintage bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. “Let’s make this the best wedding the media’s ever seen.”

  For hours, they sat around the fire and figured out what jobs needed finished before the guests arrived, and whose responsibility it was to finish those jobs. It was after 2 a.m. by the time Brendan and Ronan wrestled a half bottle of Shiraz from Lily’s hand and lugged her to her room.

  Chapter Seven

  Quinn yawned and sat by the fire in her bedroom, warming hands. The sound of Ronan’s whistles echoed from bathroom. Had she ever survived on less than four hours sleep before? She couldn’t remember.

  Almost Three days. That’s how long he’d been in her life now. Seventy-two hours wasn’t long enough to fall in love with someone, but it was long enough to decide you wanted someone to stay in your life for a whole lot longer. Not that Quinn would ever admit as much to Ronan. When the wedding was over, he’d go back to his life in New York, and she’d focus on building her career again without the distraction of a relationship.

  His apology for running out of the tower room yesterday was a good one, and every orgasm-filled minute was worth the tiredness. If every night was as deliciously draining, she wouldn’t complain about the lack of sleep—she’d welcome it. As for today, on top of everything else, she was sure she could find plenty of other rooms and closets that needed cleaning.

  Her phone beeped, and immediately rocks dropped to her stomach. Brady hadn’t texted in a few days, but that didn’t mean he was done with her.

  Find that wolf yet? B.

  Her fingers hovered over the keyboard to type a reply that told him to get lost, but before she could, the room door opened a crack.

  “You awake in there?” Lily didn’t wait for Quinn to answer before she pushed the door open and leaned against the doorjamb. Max peeked out from an oversized handbag and watched his adopted owner with puppy dog eyes. He had it bad. She knew how he felt.

  Lily smiled, but it wasn’t a friendly smile; it was how a wolf might smile after devouring a deer. “Have you checked your emails?”

  “Not in the last ten minutes.”

  “You’re in for a surprise. I’ll meet you in the dining room in ten so we can discuss Ella’s latest… requests.” Lily disappeared before Quinn could question her. Apprehension settled in the pit of her stomach. Whatever news was waiting in her inbox wouldn’t be good.

  She refreshed the emails on her iPad. Three from Ella all sent within a minute of each other. None with a subject line. This didn’t bode well. Ella rarely contacted Quinn directly.

  My bridesmaids can’t be as thin as me on my wedding day. When they arrive, serve them nothing but carbs. The tighter their dresses, the better I’ll look. I want their stomachs bloated in the pictures. If you have to, steal their Spanx. Especially Sierra Winter’s. That bitch beat my box office record last week. She needs to look as if she’s four months pregnant.

  Every girl needed a friend like Ella. Quinn opened the next email.

  All bridesmaids must be the same height. I want to be the tallest. Since I’m five-four, you need to make sure they all wear heels that make them at least three inches shorter than me. I’m wearing four-inch heels so make sure they’re all five-five. I will measure their height.

  Not at all demanding. She clicked on the third email.

  I don’t want to pay for anything. Make sure I don’t have to. That includes you. Your payment will be the publicity you get from being in every magazine in the world. You’re welcome.

  The words distorted in front of Quinn’s eyes and blurred. No payment. Free. No way could she work for free. No one could. Too many people depended on the revenue this wedding would bring in. She sank back in her chair. Ella’s demands were ridiculous. How wonderful to live in a world where you earned a fortune and still expected people to give you freebies.

  Ronan sauntered out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and droplets of water sticking to his skin. If Ella’s emails hadn’t stomped all over Quinn’s good mood, she’d have whipped the towel off and licked him dry.

  “Something wrong?” he asked, warming his back by the fire. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, which wouldn’t surprise me in this place.”

  “The grim reaper paid a visit.” Quinn handed Ronan her tablet. “Read my emails.”

  His brows lifted higher by the second. “I’ve worked with some shites in my day, but this… Jesus. Does Lily know?”

  Quinn bit the inside of her cheek and nodded. “She practically flew away and cackled when she asked if I’d read my emails.” She held her head in her hands. “I can’t work for free. I know this job will bring in lots of clients, but they’re not going to pay my current bills or pay the contractors’ bills. I can probably negotiate a lower fee, but I’m already at rock bottom.”

  Anxiety hopped between her synapses. If she had money in the bank, she’d consider doing what she could for free, because, yes, a job as prestigious as Ella’s would bring in hundreds of thousands in revenue for years to come. But most of those jobs were months away, and she needed money now.

  She stood and paced around the room. “I’m meeting Lily in a few. Maybe she knows how to change Ella’s mind. I’m worried about Brendan as much as anything. Getting him to agree to this wedding in the first place wasn’t easy. There’s no way his bank account will cover all the
repairs done to the castle.”

  Ronan knelt in front of her and caught her hands with his, and the softness in his eyes soothed some of her jangled nerves. His sweet smile almost made her problems disappear.

  “Let me talk to Lily.” He smoothed his hands over her shoulders. “I’ve been through negotiations with tougher people than her.”

  “I’ll handle it, thanks.” She stared over his shoulder, not focusing on anything. “I need you by my side, but I have to figure this out by myself.”

  He clasped her chin and turned her face until their eyes met. “I’m not the enemy. Not anymore. They’re going to take advantage of you.”

  She blew out a breath and met his eyes. “I can take care of this. I need to.”

  “I’ll try to keep my mouth shut, but I can’t promise.”

  She lowered her gaze and focused on a droplet of water above his taut nipple. “So last night was—”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “How do you know what I was going to say? Maybe I was going to say it was the worst night of my life. That I faked every orgasm.”

  He pulled her close until his still damp chest pressed against her blouse. His towel slipped and fell to the floor, revealing an impressive erection. If only there was time to enjoy it.

  “You’re a bad liar.”

  “It was the worst night of my life.” She ran her fingers over his tight butt and around the crease at the top of his thighs. “I insist on a repeat performance and this time, try… harder.”

  “Harder?” He clasped a hand around hers and guided it lower.

  “Much.” She laughed and curled her hand around his width.

  He touched his lips off hers, and she all but fell at his feet. But she had to remember, this was purely physical—nothing more.

  ****

  Brendan sat at a mahogany table big enough to feed an army and laughed at something Lily had said. Max sat between them, scratching his ear. The stoic and pinched-faced paintings lining the paneled walls mirrored Quinn’s feelings. As did the fire roaring in the hearth. Now was the time to show Lily she meant business. She wouldn’t give in, she wouldn’t back down, and she wouldn’t beg.

  Brendan reached over and patted Lily’s hand fondly. “You’re a hoot and a half, you really are.”

  When Lily noticed Ronan and Quinn standing at the threshold, a scowl replaced all previous signs of happiness. “So you’ve read the emails?”

  “I have.” Quinn went into the room and placed her briefcase and laptop on top of the table. “You know how many people are depending on the money this wedding will bring. I won’t agree to her childish requests.” Ronan pulled out an antique chair for Quinn. She thanked him and sat. “Ella’s demands are ridiculous.”

  “She said she doesn’t want to pay.” Lily shrugged. “I look after her public relations, not her decisions.”

  Ronan, who sat opposite Quinn, opened his mouth to speak, but she glowered in his direction, warning him not to say a word. The thin line of his lips showed his annoyance, but he took the hint and said nothing.

  “For someone who looks after her publicity,” Quinn said, “you should know how disastrous this could turn out. She’s already gaining a reputation as being a diva. Do you want to add more fuel to the fire?”

  Brendan stretched for a crystal decanter in the middle of the table and poured a drop of whiskey into Lily’s coffee. “Here’s something that’ll warm your cockles.”

  “You spoil me.” Lily beamed at Brendan, and Quinn half expected her to curl up on his lap and purr.

  “A sweet lady such as yourself is worth spoiling.” Was she hearing things or did Brendan call Lily sweet? If by sweet he meant sarcastic, snarling, and sharp, then she’d agree.

  Lily gave him a low and husky laugh and patted his hand before turning her attention back to Quinn. “Hundreds of others would cut your throat for this kind of opportunity.”

  “Perhaps.” Quinn pushed a manila envelope toward Lily. “She signed a contract agreeing to my terms. People who work on her wedding will get paid. Let’s not make this ugly.”

  Lily set down her cup but didn’t reach for the envelope. “Ugly? Oh, you poor deluded girl. Ella’s lawyers will shred the clothes off your back. The men and women who work for Ella—me included—have degrees in skinning people alive. Our client is number one no matter what her demands. And it’s our job to make sure she gets what she wants.”

  Walking away from this event could cost her everything, but rolling over and playing dead on Ella’s command wouldn’t happen. Quinn gripped her pen, willing herself not to lose her nerve.

  “Even if her actions will put people on the street? Even if it puts people on the verge of bankruptcy? How do you expect Brendan to pay his bills once it’s over? The contractors to pay their staff for Christmas? Too many people depend on this.”

  Lily’s eyes flickered toward Brendan. “Tell someone who gives a crap.” She stood and walked toward an oil painting depicting a garden in full bloom and ran her fingers over the peeling paint.

  Quinn released the grip on the pen. “You’re an intelligent woman, surely you can see how unacceptable it is.” She pushed away from the table, her chair scraping along the floor, and stood tall. “If she refuses to pay, I’ll take everyone with me. Good luck finding someone who’ll organize her wedding with just over two days to go. She’s already getting my expertise and this castle for a pittance.”

  “Lily, dear,” Brendan said, joining her by the painting. “Quinn’s right. Too many people need the money this wedding will bring. With the economy being banjaxed, there’s no way they can afford to give things for free. I can throw in a few guest rooms, but other than that… She’ll have to pay for the castle hire.”

  Quinn’s heart palpitated and shifted from her chest to her throat and back again.

  Lily sniffed and eyeballed Ronan. “You’re awfully quiet.”

  Ronan leaned back in the chair and fiddled with Quinn’s discarded pen. “Nothing to add. If you let Ella get away with this, you should be fired for enabling a brat. What kind of woman, or girl, is she?”

  “She’s the kind of woman who can demand twenty million per movie,” Lily said. “The kind of woman who has an opening weekend of over a hundred million.”

  Quinn made her way to the head of the table and pressed her palms onto the polished surface. “Then she’s the kind of woman who can afford a few hundred thousand to cover the cost of her wedding. What does Kai have to say about this?”

  “Kai?” Lily laughed and wheezed so hard she sounded like she might have an asthma attack. “He’s so out of it, he probably doesn’t know he’s getting married.”

  “I mean it, Lily,” Quinn warned. “If she doesn’t agree to pay—as in there’d better be money in my account by midday tomorrow—I’ll walk.”

  Lily sneered. “Empty threats don’t work with me. You signed a contract, too.”

  “There’s nothing empty about my threats.” She mentally crossed her fingers. Russian roulette wasn’t a game she’d ever played, or ever wanted to, but Ella had forced her hand. “Another thing, I won’t fatten her bridesmaids up like sacrificial lambs.”

  “And I didn’t think you had a backbone.” Lily picked some flaking red paint off the painting and rubbed it between her fingers. “I’ll talk to her. Don’t expect miracles.”

  “I’m sure you’ll do what you can. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.” Holding her head high, Quinn strode from the room and pleaded with her feet not to trip over themselves. Her dramatic exit wouldn’t be as effective if she ended up on the floor.

  ****

  Keeping his mouth shut was tough, but Quinn did a good job without his interference. He was impressed, and he wasn’t easily impressed. Lily was right, she had a backbone—one forged from steel.

  When he found her, she was in the kitchen leaning against a wall with her eyes closed.

  “Nic
e work.”

  “Did it look as if I was nervous? Because I was so fucking nervous.”

  “You didn’t look nervous.”

  “Good.” The constant worry line between her eyebrows creased. “Let’s hope she makes Ella see some sense.”

  “Listen,” he said, rubbing her biceps, “how about we get out of here for a while. Walk around the grounds… talk…”

  She curled her arms around herself and shuddered. “It’s freezing. We can talk in here.”

  “I’ll keep you warm.”

  “And how do you plan on doing that?”

  “I have my ways.”

  She smiled, and all of the tension lines on her face faded. Not for the first time, her beauty took his breath away.

  “I’d like to see those ways. Let’s go.”

  ****

  “Warm enough?” Ronan asked and laughed.

  Blinding snow carpeted the grounds, and their feet squeaked over the fresh covering. Quinn wrapped a scarf half way around her face until only her eyes were visible.

  She nodded. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, and she curved her arm around his. Such an insignificant gesture shouldn’t make his heart jump, but it did. It was something a real couple would do, and in spite of what was happening between them, they weren’t a real couple. Although… No. Some ideas were too dumb to entertain. That was how hearts got broken, and a broken heart wasn’t something he ever wanted to experience again.

  He took out his phone and checked to make sure it wasn’t on silent. Brady hadn’t been in touch since yesterday. Shane, his partner, and a few squad cars were hidden on a neighboring farm, ready to pounce. He wanted to get his meeting with Brady over with so he could stop worrying about him showing up at the castle and telling Quinn all about his connection to Ronan.

  “You’ve checked your phone every minute for hours.” Quinn gave him a playful nudge. “You expecting an important call?”