Quinn (The Beck Brothers #3) (20 page)

“Margot, are you okay?” Christian asked quietly.

Margot’s big hazel eyes lifted to meet his. “I miss him,”
she whispered. “And I am so afraid that something has happened to him.”

Christian nodded in understanding.

“I feel like I am never going to see him again,” Margot
rasped, her eyes welling up with tears.

 
Christian wished
there was something he could say to reassure her, but he had nothing. He
reached over and squeezed her hand where it rested on the table. Margot quickly
regained her composure and swiped away the tears that were falling.

“Let’s not talk about Quinn right now, tonight is about
Sebastian and Raelynn,” Margot said quietly and picked up her menu.

Christian followed her lead and tried to put Quinn out of
his mind. It wasn’t too hard when he had Shea’s hard thigh brushing against his
own. Oh what he would give for one night with Shea. Even if it was just to hold
him while they slept. They’ve shared a bed many times over the years for
various reasons, but they always stayed on their respective sides. Shea leaned
in toward Christian, breaking his thoughts.

“Share an appetizer with me?” Shea asked.

Christian caught a whiff of his cologne and had to stifle a
groan. Damn, he smelled good. “Yeah, sure,” Christian replied.

Christian was living in Hell, he was sure of it.
 

~~~~~

Quinn stepped out of his car and into the rain. It was
pouring, but he didn’t care, he needed to see his family. He knew that they had
to be furious with him, but he had to get away; away from everything and
everyone so that he could pull himself back together. That bed and breakfast
was exactly what he needed, and he needed to hear what Helen said, also. He was
able to think and make decisions without anyone there constantly asking if he
was okay.

Quinn wove his way through the cars in the parking lot as he
started towards the restaurant where the rehearsal dinner was taking place. He
was sure everyone was still there because he caught sight of Henry’s car and
Sebastian’s truck. Quinn just stepped out from between the cars and into the
driving lane of the parking lot when the restaurant door opened and his family
and Raelynn’s family poured out. He froze when he saw Margot among them. He
didn’t expect her to be here, but his family must have not wanted her to be
alone. He stood there in the pouring rain staring at the love of his life.

Margot just happened to be the first one to spot him, too.
She did a double take before taking a couple of hesitant steps out from under
the awning that covered the front door. The rain immediately drenched her, but
she didn’t seem to notice. She burst into tears and ran for him. Quinn stayed
where he was and waited for her to reach him. She threw herself into his arms,
wrapping her arms and legs around him. Quinn held her, tucking his face in her
neck. Shit, he missed her so much, and being away from her made him realize
just how much he loved her and needed her in his life.

Margot relinquished her hold on him and stared up at him for
a moment, her mascara running in streaks of black down her cheeks from her
tears and the rain. Then out of nowhere, she slapped him hard across the face
and started screaming at him. “HOW DARE YOU LEAVE AND NOT TELL ANYONE!” Another
slap. “HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME? I THOUGHT THAT SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU!” Another
slap, which was even harder than the first.

Quinn was so shocked that Margot was hitting him that he
didn’t even trying to stop her. She continued her yelling in French because she
was obviously too upset to think in English. She started pounding her fists on
his chest and shoved him a couple of times. Quinn didn’t know what to do, so he
just let her go. He let her take her frustrations out on him because he
deserved it - every smack, punch and shove. She was soaked to the bone, her
hair was plastered to her head and shoulders, and her dress clung to her
curves; she was the most beautiful woman he’s ever laid eyes on.
 

Christian came up and grabbed her. “Margot! Margot, calm
down,” he soothed and pulled her into his arms. She completely broke down and
started sobbing as she clung to his shirt.

Quinn tore his eyes away from her just in time to see
Henry’s fist coming at him. He didn’t have time to duck or block it as it
connected with his cheek. Pain exploded through Quinn’s face as his head
snapped back.
 
He stumbled and fell
to the ground, landing on his ass in a puddle. Holy shit, Henry hit hard! Quinn
saw stars as he rolled to his hands and knees. He blinked a few times and shook
his head to try to clear it. A hand firmly grabbed his bicep and yanked him
back to his feet. He was suddenly face to face with a very livid Henry. He
expected Sebastian to be the one to hit him, not Henry!

“Don’t you ever fucking pull that shit again. You hear me,
asshole? If you need to get away, you fucking tell somebody,” he snarled, his
green eyes flashing furiously.
 
 

“I’m sorry,” Quinn said hoarsely.
  

“Hey! Shit-for-brains! We have the goddamn police out
looking for you!” Sebastian yelled as he stormed over.

“Please don’t hit me again,” Quinn said, holding his hands
up in front of him to ward Sebastian off.

“If you didn’t have to look half decent for my wedding
tomorrow I would definitely be punching you in your fucking mouth,” Sebastian
snapped and shoved Quinn in the shoulder.

“You really scared the shit out of us, Quinn,” Christian
said tightly as he rubbed Margot’s trembling back. Quinn didn’t like seeing
Margot in Christian’s arms but he knew she was too upset to be in his right
now.
 

“Quinn! Oh my god, where have you been?” came his mother’s
frantic voice as she shouldered his brothers out of the way.

Anne hugged him and kissed him, and hugged him again. His
father was next to hug him, but he also threatened him before they all decided
to move out of the rain. They all walked over to the front of the restaurant
where the large awning was. Quinn got a few more hugs, and some handshakes,
before his mother asked her question again.

“Where have you been?”

“I was in Lancaster staying at a bed and breakfast. I needed
to be alone to get my head back on straight,” Quinn replied quietly.

“You couldn’t have let someone know?” Claire snapped. Yeah,
she was angry, too.

“If I would have told you guys that I was leaving and I
didn’t know where I was going or when I was coming back, do you really think
you would have let me go without a fight?” Quinn asked.

No one replied, instead they all looked somewhat guilty, and
that was all the answer Quinn needed. They would have argued with him and
wouldn’t have let him go. He really needed to go, and he felt like a different
person now - a better person.

“I’m really sorry for everything I put you all through,”
Quinn said sincerely.

Quinn looked to Margot, who was now standing on her own,
arms hugging herself. The hurt in her eyes as she looked at him turned his
stomach. He never meant to hurt her; he was only trying to save himself from
losing his mind. He needed to figure out how to go on with his life now that he
no longer had to hide what happened to him from everyone. He also wanted to
make certain that he was with Margot for the right reasons, and he was.
 
He loved her with his whole heart and
soul; she has done so much for him without even trying. Quinn never understood
the love that his older brothers felt for their women, but now he got it...he
absolutely got it, and this love he has for Margot has helped change him. The
time away gave him some perspective with what happened to him, and time to come
to terms with the new person that he was becoming.
  

 
After a few
minutes of Quinn answering some questions, the crowd started to disperse.
Everyone left but Margot.
 
She
stood a few feet away from him, her arms still wrapped around herself, but now
she was shivering slightly. He wanted to pull her into his arms and never let
go, but he didn’t know how she would react at the moment. He hoped that she
wasn’t thinking about ending things with him because of this. Please, god,
don’t let her be thinking about leaving him. That was one thing he hadn’t
thought about.

“Margot? Sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” Quinn rasped, stepping
toward her.

Margot brought her eyes up to look at him. What he saw in
them made him freeze...agony and regret...Quinn’s heart stopped beating and he
found that he couldn’t breathe. Please, no!

“I thought that something horrible happened to you,” she
whispered. “Do you have any idea how scared and worried I have been? I have not
slept in days because I could not stop thinking about all the terrible things
that could have happened to you.”

“I’m so…” He started to apologize, but she cut him off.

“I do not want to hear that you are sorry!” Margot snapped
angrily, cutting him off.

“Margot, please...”

“No, Quinn! You had your time to think, and now I will have
mine. Please tell Sebastian and Raelynn that I am sorry, but I will not be
coming to their wedding tomorrow,” Margot said tightly and started for her car.

Quinn started after her...
no, no, no
... “Baby, please don’t do this! Margot!
Come on, can’t we just talk about it? I understand you’re upset...”

Margot whirled around, her hair sending water flying in an
arch behind her. “Upset?
 
I am more
than upset! I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere! Do you really expect
me to just accept your apology and go on as if you never left me? Non! That is
not how I operate,” she said, shaking her head furiously, her cheeks still
streaked with black from her makeup.

“I don’t expect you to just go on like it never happened,
but you don’t have to leave me.”

“I am not the one who is doing the leaving,
you
left
me
when you disappeared last week,” Margot
said, poking him hard in the chest. “Do not call me, Quinn. If I want to talk
to you, I will call,” she said sadly, turning to get into her car.

Quinn watched her drive off completely dumbfounded. Holy
shit, Margot just dumped him! This couldn’t be happening! The pain was so sharp
that it doubled Quinn over; he put one hand on his knee while the other rubbed
at his aching chest. Jesus Christ, what was he going to do now? He couldn’t
just let her go; he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with
her!
 
Time - he would give her some
time, let her calm down, and then he would talk to her and tell her how he
felt. He could not lose her, not like this! Dammit, he was such an idiot! How
could he have thought that he could go away without even leaving a note and
come back with his life still waiting for him? He probably didn’t have a job
either. So he got closure about his past, but lost his girlfriend and his job.
Wow, what a loser.

Quinn trudged back to his car. He was soaking wet but he
couldn’t find it in himself to care. Just a few months ago he didn’t even want
to take Margot to Sebastian’s wedding, now he was dreading going without her.
She had to go tomorrow; he wanted her with him at the wedding, not only as his
date, but as his girlfriend, too. He had to get her to talk to him tonight. She
didn’t want him to call? Fine, he wouldn’t call. She didn’t say anything about
showing up at her door, though. Quinn smiled to himself; fuck time, he was
going to get his woman back tonight, and he was not taking no for an answer. He
would do whatever it took to get Margot back. He would camp outside her door if
he had to, but she will talk to him tonight, he had no doubt about that.

Chapter
10

Margot was so angry with Quinn. She could not believe he
just showed up like that and expected everything to be fine between them. She
stomped into her bathroom and started yanked her dress off. The sound of fabric
tearing made her even angrier; Margot screamed in frustration as she finally
got out of the dress and slammed it to the tile floor. She turned on the shower,
took off her bra and panties, tossed her headband into the sink, and stepped
around the curtain and into the tub. She stepped into the warm spray, letting
the water beat down on her.