Page 116 of Open To Negotiation

I let out a frustrated growl and narrowed my eyes on him. “Did you not listen to anything I said? He’ll turn his information over to the fucking Mafia. I. Will. Not. Risk. Her.”

“We have more money and more influence than he does, between all of us, we could handle this. Might take some time, but we can,” Jaxson fired back.

“He’s tried fucking with you before,” Noah pointed out.

“Yeah, remember when he was pressuring Guzman to break their contract with us and allow the Kane Group to invest instead,” Oli said.

“It didn’t work then, Knight, we had that shit dealt with in less than a day. Guzman never even got around to calling his own lawyer to discuss options.” Will had a dangerous smile on his face as he shook his head.

They were right, Warren had tried to backdoor us in business deals before but it never worked. I’m fairly certain most of his attempts hadn’t even made their way up to me because our teams handled shit like that all the time. When you were the best, people tried to come for you.

Asher leaned on the table, pinning me with his knowing gaze through the screen. “Why did you cave to him, Knight?”

I sagged in my chair, shoulders dropping, my hands curled into fists and my nails dug into my palms. They were pushing me, I’d been trying to sort through my own feelings and I hated that they were making me say them out loud. “Maybe this is for the best.”

“Explain,” Will demanded.

“I’m not fucking good at this.” I threw my hands up in frustration. “You all say I’m grumpy and have called me an asshole more times than I can count. I shouldn’t taint Quinn’s life with that, because eventually she’ll see that I’m not good enough for her. I also got a taste of what it was like having someone in your life the way Quinn was and if I let it go any further and she left or something happened to her,” I let out a breath and shook my head, “what the hell would I do then?”

“Do you know why we all let her in our group?” I frowned at Noah’s change in topic.

“Because you needed a female perspective on things.” That comment got me a few dirty looks and some eye rolls.

“Sure, she was nice and funny and not at all impressed by any of our money. But it was because of you, because of how you were so intrigued by her,” Oli pipped up.

“I’d never seen you that interested in a person, so we paid a little more attention. You frowned less, even on that first night with her. It’s like she calmed you, grounded you. It’s hard to describe,” Noah said as he ran a hand through his blond hair.

“We don’t trust people easily,” Asher spoke next. “I definitely don’t. But she had this light and fire, that for some reason, matched with you perfectly. The way you cared, asked for help to plan your first date, you started opening up after years of closing yourself off. And that was all Quinn.”

“You centered yourself around her, orbiting her like she was your sun. It happened so fast we discussed the possibility of you being kidnapped and replaced with a Knight look alike.” Jaxson smirked.

“We’re her friends now because she’s a great person, but we first let her in because you settled around her and we all noticed it. It was like the weight of the world wasn’t so heavy on your shoulders with her there.” Noah lifted any eyebrow. “You may be a grumpy asshole sometimes man, but you were a really great boyfriend, and I think you’re running because you’re afraid, not because of these threats Warren is throwing out.”

“It’s done, Noah.” My tone sharp. I really didn’t want to talk about my feelings anymore, especially because Noah was hitting dangerously close to the truth.

I also didn’t need to hear any more about how great she was. I was well aware.

“So you won’t just say fuck it, and go to Quinn,” Jaxson summarized after a pause.

I shook my head. “Not now. I need to know being with me won’t put her in danger.”

“Why not just talk to her about it?” Oli threw out.

“She doesn’t understand the lengths my father would go to. He hates the success I have, but this isn’t about business, not really. This is about me, he wants me to suffer and he wants me under his thumb, which means he’ll make good on his threats if I push him. She would tell me it’s fine and it’s her risk to take but I disagree. So I took the decision out of her hands.”

“And if it’s too late when you resolve all of this and beg her to take you back?” Noah asked with a raised eyebrow.

I ground my teeth and rung my hands together. “I need to focus on dealing with the threats, Noah, then I’ll sort the rest out. I’ve dug into her dad’s crimes but it’s more complicated than I expected.”

“Then thank fuck you finally talked to us,” Will said as he sat up straight with a sly smile on his face. This was the version of him that I needed. He was ruthless bastard that didn’t let anyone fuck with his family.

“Even if it was forced,” Noah muttered. “And I want it on the record that I may be helping but I’m still pissed off.”

Jaxson grabbed his laptop before looking up at me, ignoring Noah. “What do you need from us?”

34

Quinn