Page 28 of Open To Negotiation

“Club,” Jaxson corrected. Asher and I shared a look, they’d been having this disagreement for a while, and no one could get them to stop.

“Bar,” Noah insisted.

“Club,” Jaxson threw back.

“Why don’t we let Quinn here decide?” Noah said as everyone turned to look at her.

I moved my arm to rest on the couch behind her. I didn’t know if she realized it, but she sat back a little, leaning more toward me. I would only have to move my fingers to touch her and it was so tempting, but I had worked hard to get her here. I wasn’t going to ruin it by creeping her out.

“You want me to decide if this is a bar or a club?” Noah and Jaxson both nodded at her seriously. “I saw very little on my escorted walk up here.”

“Go with your gut,” Jaxson encouraged.

“No one gets to be mad at me for whatever I decide. Got it?” She raised her eyebrows at Jaxson first, who nodded. She looked at Noah who also nodded eagerly, the light in his eyes made me believe he really thought he would win. He’d been easy to read since we were in high school. “Noah,” she said with a sweet smile, “this is one hundred percent, without a doubt… a club.”

Jaxson and Will laughed as I shook my head and Noah’s face dropped into a sad frown. “Can we put this stupid argument to rest for good?” I asked, knowing that Noah wouldn’t ever let this drop. It was just how he was, something got in his head and it got stuck, so I needed to change the topic if we had any hope of moving on for now. “I had an interesting chat with Arthur while you were on your way up,” I said loud enough for the others to hear.

Quinn turned her shoulders so she could see me better. “Oh yeah…” Her face went blank as she blinked innocently up at me. Even sitting down she was small. Arthur wouldn’t tell me what they talked about on the drive over. Wouldn’t even take a pay raise for it. I’d offered and he’d just laughed at me.

“He said you tried to pay him.” I saw Asher’s gaze lock on her while Oli frowned.

“Why would you pay Arthur?” Jaxson asked.

“Because he drove me here!” Her neutral face breaking in a frown.

“He’s paid a yearly salary,” Noah replied.

“Well, how was I supposed to know that?”

“He also said he found the cash you left behind.” I raised an eyebrow at her and she winced.

“Damn, I hoped he wouldn’t find it for a while and then not know it was me.” She scrunched up her nose which was fucking adorable.

“You tried to pay him and when he said no you left the money behind anyway?” Asher sat forward to look at Quinn; she looked over at him, holding his gaze.

Which was impressive on its own. Most people flinched quickly when they met his intense, cold stare. We had that in common.

“Yes,” Quinn said evenly, squaring her shoulders.

“Why?” Asher asked while the rest of us watched.

“Because he drove me here and I told Theo that I wasn’t going to let him pay.” I loved how she said my name, everyone else in my life called me Knight, had been since I was a kid. But for some reason I loved hearing my name on her lips.

“He’s on the Knight Enterprises payroll.”

“Ash,” Will said on an exhale at his harsh tone. Will was our peacekeeper most of the time. It’s partly what made him a good lawyer. But turn on one of us and he was a cutthroat bastard with no remorse.

“Like that explains anything.” She started to sound annoyed as she crossed her arms over her chest. I tried really hard not to notice how it showcased her boobs. I cut Noah a glare when I caught him looking too, asshole just winked.

“It explains a lot,” Asher shot back. He wasn’t one to back down. “Most women throw themselves at us and not just because we look good in a suit. People want our money, so yeah. Knight Enterprises should explain a lot.” I was close to stepping in because when Asher took this tone, it was right before he turned into a real jackass, but Quinn didn’t hesitate.

“Oh please, I don’t give a shit about your money. And for the record, other than what you all have told me and what I gathered from the expensive suits and watches you wear and the fact that Theo has a personal driver, I have no other information about you. I didn’t google you but you seem to have enough resources to find out if that’s true if you wanted.”

“I could easily confirm that,” Jaxson stated as he leaned back.

“What do you mean?” Quinn asked, keeping her glare on Asher.

“I run security for our companies. All the security and bouncers here work for that part of the business. I can find information out about anyone. I could see if you googled us.”