Page 121 of Open To Negotiation

My black dress was fitted around my chest and waist and then loosened at my hips, flaring out to my knees. There was a V-neck slip underneath, a delicate lace floral appliqué covering the dress that also created the cap sleeves. The lace finished a few inches below the end of the slip. It was simple and classy, a pair of classic black pumps finished the outfit.

I’d left my hair down in loose curls and kept my makeup simple. My stomach felt like it was eating itself, my nerves had kept me up for most of the night.

A knock sounded at the door. I took a deep breath, grabbed my small purse and went to open it.

“You look nice,” Asher said. He was in a simple black suit with a white dress shirt, something I’d seen him in a thousand times. Except today, rather than the confidence he normally exuded, he seemed subdued.

“Thanks.” I stepped out to the hallway where everyone else was coming out of their rooms. “How was your night?” I asked as we all made our way to the elevators.

“Do you really want to know?” Oli asked skeptically.

“I don’t know…” No one said anything as they gave me time to decide what I wanted. We walked quickly through the lobby to the waiting SUVs.

“He’s not doing well,” Noah started as he climbed into the car beside me. “He was quiet and sullen.”

“Isn’t that how he always is?” I tried to joke but Noah’s face stayed serious.

“He hasn’t been that way in months and you know that.” I hated the glare on his face so I turned to look out the window, Asher sitting quietly in the front. I knew I should have gotten in the car with Oli, Will, and Jaxson. At least they might’ve left me alone.

“Stop acting like I’m the one in the wrong here,” I said finally. “This wasn’t my decision. I didn’t do this. He broke up with me.” I turned to look at Noah. “So how he’s doing or how he feels isn’t on me, he made sure of that.”

“He’s an idiot.” Noah sat up straighter.

“Noah,” Asher warned from the front seat. “It’s not your place.”

“If he doesn’t tell her—”

“Enough,” I cut him off. As much as I was dying to know what they all keep dancing around, I couldn’t do it. Because unless Theo was the one who told me, not a damn thing would change once I knew whatever it was. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s get through this service and then I’m moving on. That’s what he wanted me to do anyway.”

I turned to look back out the window, shutting them out, letting them know that I was done with this conversation.

35

Theo

“Theodore.” I turned to see my stepmother, Grace, sauntering toward me in my father’s study. Like my father, she always addressed me by my full name. He thought it sounded more dignified.

But when Quinn said it, it felt different. It didn't bother me anymore.

Like she’d taken the power back from them.

Grace was in a tight dress that was too short for a woman her age who was supposed to be burying her husband today. I hadn’t seen her all that upset since she called me. She was cold on the phone, delivering the news like it wasn’t her husband she was speaking about.

We weren’t close, I hadn’t seen Grace in almost six years. I wasn’t fond of her, and she didn’t like me either. She married my father a few years after I was born, never met my mother and never spent more than a few days with me. I didn’t care. I didn’t need a mother and after we settled Warren’s estate, there was no reason for us to see each other again.

“People are arriving. You need to come down.” She didn’t wait to see if I would join, she turned and walked away.

I looked back over my father’s desk. I’d only been to this house a handful of times and almost every time I had, it was in this room. It was where he died too. But I wasn’t in here to be sentimental, I would not miss that man.

I needed to know if he had the files on Quinn’s dad. I needed to know who else knew about them or had access to them.

The first thought I had when Grace called was that maybe I was free. I could go to Quinn, beg her to forgive me for hurting her and walking out, beg her to be with me. But I couldn’t do that if I wasn’t sure she was safe.

Jaxson had gotten more information than I ever could have and now Will was running things but he needed to work faster, I needed to protect her from any fallout. After she was safe, I was prepared to grovel, but it didn’t mean she would forgive me.

After my forced conversation with the guys, I realized that I couldn't let my fear of losing her win. That Noah had been right, I'd been running scared but to fuck with that. Being without her wasn't working for me. My life was infinitely better with Quinn in it. I’d arrived back in Calgary a few days before I got the call about my father. I just needed to be near her, in the same time zone as her, even though I couldn’t see her. Not yet at least.

I made my way down the stairs of my father’s home, although nothing about it seemed like a home. There were marble tiles covering the floor, white walls with minimalist expensive art and none of the furniture was welcoming. Hardly a place to raise a child.