He sighs deeply. “I wanted to see you. That’s all.”
“I’m on my way out, so unfortunately, I don’t have time to reminisce about the time you tried to kill me because I wouldn’t give you forty grand.”
He at least has the grace to look ashamed. “I’m sorry about that.”
“No, Bean,” I say, shaking my head. “Apologies are for forgetting about someone’s birthday or spilling your drink on them. You don’t say you’re sorry for trying to kill someone…someone who trusted you.”
He nods in acknowledgement. “I went back to drugs when we got to Mexico. Didn’t plan to, but…” He looks away and sighs again. “It just happened.”
“I trusted you to take care of Bethy.” All the anger I felt that night when I found my sister in a shack, scared and alone, comes rushing back. “You betrayed both of us.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be like that, you know. After all that time…” He shakes his head. “We spent a couple years together, you and me and Bethy. And you went for the rich, hot guy as soon as he hired you as his whore.”
His narrowed eyes are full of contempt now.
I step closer to him. “You’re a liar, Bean. You never had feelings for me.”
“The hell I didn’t. I wanted to be with you, Quinn, but I didn’t have nothin’ to offer you. I wanted to get us off the streets and make a better life together.”
“Bullshit. You would’ve killed me that day in Mexico if you could have.”
“Yeah.” He shrugs. “Only ’cause you fucked me over. Left me and Bethy while you carried on with that rich asshole.”
“I did not fuck you over. I did the best I could under the circumstances, Bean.”
“You crushed me. Falling for some rich prick—”
“Don’t speak about my husband that way,” I say, pointing at him as I close the distance between us. Andrew has more honor than you ever did or ever will. He’s never let me down, not once.”
“I thought it was our way off the streets. But then you changed everything. And I shouldn’t have gone back to drugs. I know that now. I’ve been clean for almost a year.”
“If you came here to ask for my forgiveness, I forgive you,” I say. “But only because I’ve moved on and Bethy has, too. I don’t want you in our lives.”
His expression is forlorn. “When I’m using drugs, I’m a different person, Quinn. That wasn’t me. Hell, how do you think I got in so deep with a cartel that I lost my hand?” He holds up his arm without a hand. “All I could think about was that money. If I’d lost my chance with you, having enough money for drugs was all that mattered.”
“I’m sorry you felt that way, but it’s over now. It’s all over and we all have to move on with our lives.”
He shakes his head and I feel his eyes sizing me up, the way I saw him do with so many people on the streets.
“Bethy’s eighteen now,” he says. “Shouldn’t she get to decide for herself?”
My heart pounds and I have to hold myself back from attacking him.
“She feels the same way about you as I do,” I say. “You’ve been dead to both of us since that night.”
“Dead? So it’s like that?”
“Oh yeah, it’s like that. Dead—just like I’d be if I hadn’t fought you off that night.”
He holds my gaze in silent challenge for a few seconds before I speak again.
“Listen, Bean. Listen well. I could have killed you that night, but I chose not to. I chose to give you another chance. It was a one-time thing. If you go anywhere near my sister again, I won’t make the same choice next time.”
“Got a lot more to lose now, though,” he says, looking around the warehouse.
“Only if I get caught.”
“You’re threatening my life? I may need to talk to the cops about this.”
“I didn’t hear any threat.” I look at Don. “Did you hear a threat?”
“No, ma’am,” he says emphatically.
“Get out,” I say to Bean. “Not just out of my house, but out of this city. I never want to see you again.”
Don gestures towards the door and moves his hand to the gun he wears in a waist holster. Bean looks like he’s burning to say something else, but starts walking towards the front of the warehouse. In the doorway, he turns and looks at me.
“Was there ever a chance for us? Before you met…him?”
“No, Bean,” I say softly. “I loved you like a brother, but there was never anything more.”
His eyes fill with tears and he leaves. For just a second, I feel a stab of remorse. I hate that things ended up this way, but he chose this, not me.
Once Bean is gone, I walk out to the garage and get in the waiting town car. Roy always wanted to drive a Lincoln Town Car, and as soon as Andrew found out, he bought two—one as a gift to Roy and another for Roy to drive us in.
“Everything okay, Mrs. Wentworth?” Roy asks, looking at me in the rearview mirror.
“Yeah, it’s fine. Just got an unexpected visit.”
“Ah.” He looks out the windshield as he drives out of the garage. “Well, you look mighty disappointed.”
“This trip couldn’t be coming at a better time,” I say, looking out the window.
“Mr. Wentworth just texted and said he’s got a chilled bottle of Ruinart waiting.”
“He’s on the plane, then?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I sit back against my seat and exhale deeply. “I can’t wait to get there and see him.”
It’s another forty-five minutes of traffic and airport inspections before that happens. Andrew is standing at the top of the private plane’s airstair, waiting for me. He’s wearing a pale blue dress shirt with the top button undone and pressed khakis.
“You okay?” he asks, jogging down the stairs to meet me as I approach.
I mumble that I am and practically fall into his arms, closing my eyes and breathing in his warm, familiar scent.
“Don called me,” he says in my ear. “It must have been a shock to see Bean after all this time.”
“It was.”
“I put a man on him.”
I pull back and look up at Andrew. “To follow him?”
“Yes. Actually, it’s more than one man because it’s around the clock. Just to keep tabs on him. I don’t want you worrying about anything on our trip.”
I smile. “Thanks. I can’t wait to get there.”
He takes my hand and leads me up the stairs. “Let’s get in the air, then, Mrs. Wentworth.”
“I still look for your mother every time you say that, even after a year of marriage.”
Andrew takes a bottle of gold champagne from an ice bucket, opens it and pours us each a glass.
“Here’s to many, many more,” he says. “I love you, Quinn.”
“I love you, too.”
The flight attendant closes the staircase and tells us to put on our seatbelts. We’re sitting side by side, hand in hand, as the plane’s engines fire up.
“You sure you’re okay?” Andrew asks me, his brow furrowed with concern.
I lean over and kiss him. “Yes. I’m good. I actually feel a sense of closure now that I didn’t have before.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“You know what’s funny?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m not scared of him or worried he’ll do anything. I just felt sorry for him.”
“Sorry? The bastard tried to kill you, Quinn.”
“I know. But he has nothing and no one. I have you and Bethy. I just feel extra grateful for you both right now.”
“I’m grateful for you, too. You helped me change for the better. We’ve got many more memories to make together.”
The pilot announces our takeoff and I squeeze Andrew’s hand.
He leans close to me. “Like sex on the beach. I’m looking forward to making that memory.”
“You mean the drink?” I arch my brows and grin. “I’ve always wanted to try that one.”
“I sure as fuck do not mean the drink. But we can try that too, if you want.”
“They both sound pretty amazing.”
I tip back my glass and finish the champagne, then settle in against Andrew’s side for the long flight.
I don’t think I’ll ever stop celebrating what we have. He makes me feel safe and cherished, but I also know he respects my mind and my tenacity. With him, no dream seems unreachable.
This life is the rainbow after my storm. And I’ll always see and appreciate every vibrant color in it.
About the Author
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Susan Stoker
Rescuing Emily bonus chapter by Susan Stoker - See what happens when a Delta Force Operative, Fletch, takes single mom, Emily, and her daughter, Annie on an all-day date.
Renting out the apartment over his garage shouldn’t be a life-changing decision, but when Delta soldier Cormac “Fletch” Fletcher meets Emily Grant, he feels an instant connection. He can’t stand the thought of Emily and her young daughter living anywhere unsafe. Offering cheap rent is a small price to pay for their safety…and Fletch’s peace of mind.