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Chapter 12
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2024-10-29 19:42:56QUINN
"Stupid Gunnar," I yelled, throwing a blouse into my suitcase, "asshole, dickhead, cactus of a man," I cursed, throwing a few more items of clothing into the bag, "he's such an ungrateful, pompous fool," I complained, facing Venus who had her ears perked in my direction, "I should have let him bled out. No loss to mankind."
"Then why didn't you?" Ace quizzed, glaring at me with interest shining in his hazel eyes that had stunning flecks of green swimming in them. I had almost forgotten he was here. He sat so perfectly still and silent.
My eyes caught the sight of his glock tucked into his waistband and I gulped. I couldn't reply to him, not when he was intimidating as Hell. It pissed me off that he took away my phones and other devices, daring me to fight him for them with a stupid smug grin.
"You grow awfully quiet when someone speaks to you," he murmured, voice too slick and charmi
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QUINNWe arrived at the hotel late last night which meant I didn't get a chance to speak to Priyanka or Jaxon. Gunnar made sure not to give me a chance to speak to them anyway, keeping a close eye on me the entire flight. He had even gone to the extent of escorting me to my room, leaving me with one last warning and a glare that probably could have turned Medusa to stone.On the brighter side of things, the room he had me in was built for comfort. The place was washed in warm colors — royal red wallpaper, brown bedposts, and beige decor. It smelt like fresh flowers on a spring morning and gave you a sense of bliss. It was a five-star establishment so I expecting nothing less from the place.Dinner had been brought up to my room. If it wasn't obvious, it was Gunnar who ordered the meal — a piece of steak cooked medium rare with a side of fries. I allowed myself to eat it even though I was on a strict diet beca
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QUINN After my phone call, Gunnar didn't allow me to leave. He had the audacity to make me wait until he had a shower, strolled out in nothing but a towel, and made me watch him get dressed. Well, he didn't make me. I could have turned my head or closed my eyes, but looking came free and I had to appreciate a masterpiece when I saw one. I had to keep reminding myself that one: he had Katie and two: I just couldn't stroll down that road because it was a collision course, one that obviously would not end well. He wasn't good. He was far from it. But the attraction between us was there. We weren't blind to it and we could obviously feel it. With every touch, with every breath, each time I found myself wanting to be near him no matter how much his presence pissed me off. Even as a complete asshole, he still managed to draw me in. I hated him, but I craved him. His touch from earlier still lingered on my che
Gunnar Chapter 15
GUNNAR I was livid as I watched Eddie and Mickey leave the room. All I could see was red, enraged by what I had just heard. I hated losing. Whether it be in my day job or this, losing never sat well with me. My father didn't raise a failure and yet all I seemed to be doing recently was failing, all thanks to the Harper fucking name. My arm burned as it tightened around her. The mere sight of her had my blood simmering. The very second the door shut, I pulled away from Quinn. With a menacing growl, I picked up the crystal glass and sent it flying across the room. From my peripheral, I caught the sight of Quinn wincing as the glass shattered against the far wall — the sound reverberating through the room. I had no healthy way to deal with my anger besides taking it on the people around me verbally. But a single glance at her had my jaw locking. I had never seen such raw fear grace someon
Gunnar Chapter 16
QUINN I woke up this morning highly disappointed with myself. To be perfectly honest, all I wanted to do was sleep in with a tub of Ben and Jerry's while I relived the embarrassment of what happened last night over and over again in my head. If I had alcohol in my system I at least would have had something to blame. But no. That was just me letting a lustful haze cloud my judgment. And I was fully ready to give in to him because fighting the sexual attraction between us felt like fighting a war. With his hands all over me, I already knew I would be losing that war. Something about the way he touched me had me feeling like the missing piece to his jigsaw puzzle. Only, he seemed to be functioning just fine without the missing piece. I shifted in my seat, gazing at the tangerine hue that lit up the sky. The day had been spent helping Jaxon with a few sketches and ideas for the proje
Gunnar Chapter 17
QUINN "Venus, stop it!" I chided, covering my head with the comforter so she could stop licking my face. And then realization hit me, "Venus?" This time I said her name as more of a question as my body shot up in shock. She looked at me with confusion on her adorable face and a smile split my lips, "Hey, mommy's missed you," I laughed, scratching her soft fur. "Good morning, little one," a deep voice cooed and my body responded with an instant shudder. I wasn't afraid though, I should have been but I wasn't. My eyes flew to the entrance of my bedroom to find Gunnar leaning against the door frame. He was shirtless and when my eyes betrayingly moved down his frame I discovered he was pants-less too. I felt my mouth run dry as I took in his body that looked to be perfectly carved by a scalpel. Why was he so naked in my apartment? This wasn't good for my hormones! In a de
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QUINN I was beginning to realize that no matter how tolerable Gunnar could be, no matter how nice he seemed, deep down he would always look at me as a way to get back at my family. After sharing the little information he did this morning, he had me come into work with him and still pretend to be his loyal assistant. I thought of spiking his coffee with laxatives more than once today. That would have taught him a good lesson and maybe I'd take away all the toilet paper so he would suffer even further. My diabolical plan was sounding more and more appealing in my head. I forced myself to refocus. Gunnar had dragged me to yet another meeting for the day and I was mentally exhausted. For some strange reason, the board members wanted the company to go public, allowing anyone who wanted to buy shares in the business to buy. That didn't sit well with Gunnar. To him, he worked too hard to allow strangers to rea
Gunnar Chapter 19
QUINN"What are we doing here?" The redbrick warehouse we were parked in front of looked vacant from the outside. Small square windows lined the upper portion of the building, murky with dust which made it difficult to see inside — those windows were too high up anyway."You'll see," I didn't appreciate how cold Gunnar's response was. It was colder than the chill gracing the night. We were near a river, the sound of water should have been soothing but it only added to the eerie atmosphere.He got out of the car and gestured for me to do the same. Of course, it would be asking too much of him to open the God damn door for me. Snorting under my breath at the thought, I stepped out of the car. The cool breeze tousled my wavy locks from one side to the other. I shivered for a beat not because of the temperature but because of fear of the unexpected. Gunnar was being vague and I wasn't sure what I was about to wal
Gunnar Chapter 20
GUNNAR"She's a fucking Harper and you're protecting her?" Ace's voice bellowed. Luckily, Quinn's bedroom was at the other end of the house. I hoped she wouldn't hear him."We're protecting her," I corrected, meeting Jericho's eyes before settling on Ace, "All three of us because it's in our best interest," I stressed the word our so they knew how important this was, "Mickey wants her and we want Mickey.""So you want to use her as bait?" The corner of my brother's lips quirked into a coy smirk. He wasn't always this morbid but he apparently embraced the darkness wholeheartedly. Ace still wasn't one for torture. It allowed his guilt to creep in on him so he chose to kill without a thought because, with the job already done, there was no way to convince himself to back out."No," I growled out the word, grip tightening around the crystal glass holding my whiskey, "I've done that to her already.
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QUINN"He's in a meeting at the moment but he should be done soon," Priyanka informed me while we both shot Gunnar's secretary a glare that could kill.She was getting on my last nerve. I had been trying to get into Gunnar's office for the past half an hour and she refused to let me in. Since she wasn't part of the meeting, I figured that it had little to do with Astor Architecture and a lot to do with another arms deal. Gunnar had told her not to let anyone in while he was busy but I was almost certain that didn't apply to me."He won't mind if I go in but I'll wait since I'm apparently not permitted entrance," I sarcastically muttered, propping my hands on the curve of my hips."Forget it. Talking to her is like telling a brick wall to move," Priyanka snarled but that quickly turned into a grin when she turned to me, "you've got to tell me everything. Did you finally get that Vitamin D t
Gunnar Chapter 40
GUNNARThis was the last place I wanted to be, the last place I expected to be. I had to exercise every bit of my restraint. Last night I had let Quinn down. I wasn't about to do it again. She would completely hate me if I decided to make my way down the hall to do to her father what he had done to mine. But I couldn't take it. Knowing that he was only meters away from me had my palms itching with vengeance. He deserved everything he had coming to him and more. So much fucking more, and I wanted to be the one who delivered his punishment. I wanted to deliver him to his maker so he could suffer for the sins he committed.Quinn shuffled beside me. She had been tossing and turning for the entire night. I had returned to find her asleep and decided not to disturb her by waking her up. She may have been asleep but she was restless, mumbling incoherent words in her sleep while tears slipped out of the corner of her eyes. I manag
Gunnar Chapter 39
QUINN I looked into Mickey's dimming eyes and then dropped my gaze down to the blood coating my hands once more. My entire body felt cold, every hair standing on end. I watched Mickey open and close his mouth but I couldn't hear anything. Matter of fact, I couldn't hear anything past the ringing in my ears. The ringing began to dull down and someone's deep, frantic voice cut through. They were clearly shouting my name but it sounded muffled — so far away. Someone's rough hands tugged my body away from Mickey's. Another gunshot sounded, causing the ringing to pick up yet again. The bullet entered Mickey's skull, blood splattering everywhere. A scream filled with utter terror ripped from my lungs and — because of my reflexes — my hands flew to my mouth, smearing blood all over my face. "Shhh..." The person behind me cooed in an attempt to calm me but he was failing. Hot
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QUINN I had watched many movies where the protagonist found themselves in life-threatening situations. Usually, they would watch their life flash right before their eyes. But of course, it was different for me. I just blankly stared down the barrel of the gun Mickey had pointed at my chest. My warning bells weren't ringing anymore. I simply took in a deep breath, feeling as calm as the ocean before a storm. Honestly, if I knew this was how things were going to play out, I would have probably not gone along with Eddie's plan. All I was meant to do was seduce him, the way I was meant to do with Gunnar. I figured I could play the part. Once he made his move, I was fully ready to off the son of a bitch. It would have been self-defense. According to Eddie, Mickey had cameras all over his home. If that was where we ended up, then this night would have played out differently. Mickey would have been dead and I would have had foo
Gunnar Chapter 37
GUNNAR I glared at the man sprawled on the floor with my brother's foot lodged against his throat. Crouching down beside him, I gave him more incentive to follow my instructions by pressing the cool metal of my gun into his temple, "Call your men off on my brother." "Vaffanculo figlio di puttana," he sputtered, trying to push my brother's boot off his throat. The bastard's face began to turn bright red, beads of cold sweat tricking down his hairline. I shook my head. Pathetic. This was a waste of my time but I had to make sure Jericho was safe first before I could take another step. He was my priority at the moment because I knew Quinn was safe — for now, at least, "Kill him." I rose to my feet dismissively, engaging the safety on my gun and tucking it into my waistband. My psychotic middle brother grinned, excitement lighting up his hazel eyes when he pulled the trigger. A loud bang r
Gunnar Chapter 36
QUINNReflecting on the past, actually thinking about the majority of my childhood, I was slowly beginning to realize that my brother had prepared me for this life as best as he could without actually giving anything away. When I was young he used to play-fight with me and while doing so he taught me how to throw a perfect punch and a few kicks.When in doubt, always aim for the crotch.That was the advice he had given me on multiple occasions. I never thought that any of that information would come in handy but things always worked out in the most unexpected ways. In all fairness, I really wished I had more training to deal with what lied ahead. Maybe some knife-throwing classes. I had good aim so I could see that working out.It was dark and there was a distinct chill in the air that had goosebumps littering the exposed flesh of my arms. I wore a spaghetti strap body con dress that ended
Gunnar Chapter 35
QUINNI watched Venus run around in the garden. It was early. The morning sun kissed my face as it rose into the sky, offering it an orange-red blend. I inhaled the crisp air, the breeze carrying sweet notes from the flowers surrounding me."You're out here by yourself?" Ace sat down beside me, draping an arm behind me on the wooden bench. He sounded a little surprised by me being alone."Your brother is asleep," the corner of my lips twitched upward at the thought, "I didn't want to wake him." I turned to Ace, looking him up and down for a quick beat before saying, "you just came home?"He hummed in response, mouth opening into a massive yawn. Ace blinked his eyes, trying to hide his fatigue but he was failing, "I've been busy," he brought two fingers up to his lips, tracing the seam in deep thought, "I'm doing a job for Gunnar, and let's just say, I need to be thorough with my recon beca
Gunnar Chapter 34
GUNNARI couldn't concentrate. Not on one fucking thing. The entire day was a waste. Every meeting I had was a blur, my thoughts constantly going back to this morning. I wouldn't have minded the thought of fucking Little one senseless replaying itself in my mind on a constant loop. But it wasn't. It was our conversation afterward. She wanted to see her father. Deep down, I knew I couldn't stop her. She had a right to see her family. I just wished I knew what bullshit he was feeding her.Ace was with her so I knew she would be safe. I trusted my brother not to let me down. He knew how much this meant to me, how much she meant to me. I was done trying to understand it — done trying to convince myself that I felt nothing for her. All I knew was that I slept better at night with her in my arms. I could breathe easier knowing that I would be going home to her. My heartbeat thrummed a little harder knowing that she was saf
Gunnar Chapter 33
QUINNI had never felt so intimidated before, that too, at the sight of my own home coming into view. Part of me wanted to turn back, run for the freaking hills, and then some. Another part knew I deserved the answers I was searching for. If there was a chance for my life to return to anything close to normal, I needed this."Remind me again why I'm here?" Miranda scowled in the back seat of the SUV. Ace had the driver's seat and I took the passenger seat, "I'd prefer to be miles away from this guy," she pointed her finger at Ace's head."Don't look at me," I shrugged a shoulder but offered her a sympathetic smile. Miranda honestly shouldn't have been here, "I'm not the one who brought you along.""No you weren't," she huffed in agreement, "it was this tyrant of a man that dragged me out of bed and brought me here," Miranda shoved Ace's head but he barely even flinched."I
