Quinn (The Beck Brothers #3) (8 page)

Quinn’s beater was soaked with sweat, as was his hair. When
he was done here, he was calling Peter and telling him to get him a plane
ticket home. He wasn’t staying another three days. This trip just kept getting
worse and worse, and he really didn’t want to stick around for it to go really
down the shitter. Quinn hit five miles, and a two-minute cool down, before
hopping off the treadmill. He pulled his beater off and wiped his face and
chest with it before slinging it over his shoulder and heading back up to the
room.

Quinn just got out of the shower when his cell phone rang.
He walked out of the bathroom and over to the bed where he tossed his phone
when he walked in. He looked down at the screen and saw that it was Margot.
Ugh!
He almost didn’t answer
but something told him that he should.

“Hello?” Quinn answered.

“Quinn!
Dieu
merci
!” Margot
breathed in relief.

“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked, his whole body tensing at the
frightened tone in her voice.

“There have been two men following me for about fifteen
minutes. I have a bad feeling; I think they might want to...” Margot said
quietly, trailing off at the end.

“Where are you?” Quinn asked and started hastily pulling on
clothes.

Margot told him where she was. She wasn’t too far from the
hotel, which was good.

“Keep heading towards the hotel and stay on the main road,
I’ll meet you as fast as I can,” Quinn said quickly and hung up.

He pulled on his shoes without socks, grabbed his room key
and wallet, and shoved them both into one of the pockets of his jeans. He
grabbed his coat and ran out the door. Quinn went for the stairs as he pulled
his pea coat on. He raced down the stairs and through the lobby, something in
the pit of his stomach telling him he had to hurry. He asked a bellhop where
was the street that Margot had said she was on; the boy gave him directions and
then Quinn was out the door. Once outside, he headed as fast as he could to get
to Margot.
 

Quinn ran down the sidewalk, brushing past tourists as he
scanned the opposite side of the street. He had maybe gone about a mile when he
stopped and looked around. He should have seen her by now. He spun in a circle,
eyes scanning. That’s when he heard a muffled scream, and his head whirled
around. He didn’t see anything, but he knew that he heard her. Quinn moved
forward, scanning the little alleys between the buildings. That’s when he saw
her…Margot was down a shadowed alley with two large men; one was pinning her
against the wall, with one large hand covering her mouth. Margot’s terrified
gaze met his and Quinn saw red.

“HEY! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Quinn
shouted as he started toward them.

The two men swung their heads in Quinn’s direction, shocked
expressions on their faces. The guy holding Margot immediately let her go and
backed away. She let out a ragged sob and started for Quinn. His heart pounded
furiously as he looked her over. As he got closer, the more he could see that
her mouth was a bit swollen, as if they had been kissing her hard and rough.
Her coat was gone, and her shirt was ripped open down the front, which she was
trying to hold together as she limped toward him.
Jesus Christ!
He almost didn’t make it in time.

Quinn pulled Margot into his arms when he reached her. When
he looked back to where the men were standing, they were already gone, probably
ran out the other end of the alley. Quinn was too focused on Margot to notice.
He didn’t even realized he was shaking until he cupped her face in his hands
and tilted her it up so he could look at her.

“Jesus, Margot...” he breathed. God, he has never been so
scared in his life.

Margot’s whole body trembled. Quinn immediately shrugged out
of his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. She tried to zip it up but her
hands were shaking too badly. Quinn gently brushed her hands aside and zipped
it up for her.

“Are you hurt?” Quinn asked.

“I twisted my ankle trying to fight them off,” she croaked.

Without a word, Quinn scooped Margot up into his arms and
headed back toward the entrance of the alley. She clung to his neck and cried
softly against his chest. As he walked with her in his arms, they got a few odd
looks from people, but Quinn ignored them. The only thing he cared about at the
moment was Margot. She had almost been raped!
Could this trip get any worse?

Back at the hotel room, Quinn set Margot down on the bed. She
was still shaking, but at least she stopped crying. He helped her take off his
coat and her torn shirt. He went over to her bag and found a T-shirt for her to
put on. While Margot was pulling the shirt on, Quinn looked at her ankle.

Margot pointed to her right ankle, so Quinn rolled up the
bottom of her jeans, gently removing her shoe and sock. She hissed in pain, her
ankle and top of her foot already started to swell.

“You might have done more than just twist your ankle, I
think you sprained it,” Quinn murmured. “We need to put ice on it. I’ll go get
some, be right back.”

Margot just nodded as he grabbed the ice bucket and left the
room. Five minutes later, Quinn had the ice in a bag and on Margot’s ankle. She
rested back against the headboard and closed her eyes. Quinn watched her for a
moment, his mind going back to when his eyes had first met hers in that alley.
She had been so scared - absolutely terrified. At least someone was there to
save her, unlike for him.

“What were you thinking going out by yourself?” Quinn asked,
trying to keep the anger he was feeling about the whole situation out of his
voice.

“I wanted to see London. You were so caught up in your own
problems that I figured you would not want to come, so I went by myself, I
thought it was safe.” Margot sighed without opening her eyes.

Quinn frowned. He knew that she didn’t mean to, but she
almost made it sound as if it was his fault. She went out on her own, almost
raped, because he acted like an asshole.
Great job, dickhead!
Quinn hung his head.
He was such an
ass
.

“I’m going to call Peter. We need to go home,” he muttered
as he pulled out his phone.

Margot opened her hazel eyes and nodded. “Oui. We do,” she
agreed.

~~~~~

Margot sat on the bed and watched TV while Quinn went out
into the hall to call Peter. Her ankle was throbbing so badly. She did not
think she has ever injured herself like this before, but she panicked, and
those men were much stronger than she was.
 
She did whatever she could to get away. Never in a million
years did she think that could have happened while walking the tourist-filled
streets of London, but she guess it could happen anywhere. The sun started to
go down and they grabbed her so fast. She didn’t even have the chance to
scream; she tried once they were in the alley, but the big oaf smashed his
disgusting lips against hers.
Brut!
She really needed to brush her teeth and scrub the skin off
her lips.

Thank all that was holy that Quinn showed up when he did
because there was no way she was going to get away from those two men. She for
sure would have been raped, if not worse. Margot shivered, she could not even
think about it. Quinn returned a moment later looking more sullen than normal.

“Did you talk to Peter?” she asked.

“I did, he is getting tickets for us as we speak,” he
murmured.

Margot sighed in relief. “Good.”

Quinn nodded and checked the ice on her ankle, before he
climbed onto the bed next to her and settled against the headboard. After watching
a few shows, and half of a movie, Quinn decided he was going to go to sleep.
First, he removed the ice and put it in the bathroom sink, and then he grabbed
the extra blanket from the closet and lay on the floor again. She didn’t even
bother arguing with him because she knew there was no point; he would not
listen to her.
 

Margot turned the light out, settled down, and tried to fall
asleep. It was not easy, but eventually exhaustion took over and pulled her
under. She had no idea how long she had been asleep before she started having a
horrible nightmare, and she just could not seem to wake up. She was back in the
alley with the two men, they tore all of her clothes off, she was screaming and
fighting, but her arms and legs were so heavy that she could barely move them.

“Margot!”
 
Quinn’s
voice came from somewhere, but she could not see him. “Margot, sweetheart, wake
up.”

Margot’s eyes flew open but it was dark in the room and she
could not see who was hovering over her. She screamed and tried to fight off
whoever it was. Strong hands clasp the sides of her head.

“Margot, calm down, it’s me,” Quinn said sharply.

Margot panted as she forced herself to relax. She grabbed
onto Quinn’s wrists to make sure that he was real and she was not still
dreaming. His concerned gaze raked over her face.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Oui, sorry, I was having a nightmare,” she whispered in
return.

He nodded. “I know, you were screaming and thrashing in your
sleep.”

Quinn released her head and laid his body out next to hers.

“I am sorry for waking you,” Margot said. She took a deep
breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

“It’s okay,” he murmured.
 
He wrapped his arm around her waist, snuggling his face into
the pillow he laid down.

“What are you doing?” asked Margot curiously.

“Going back to sleep?”

“You do not have to stay here with me if you do not want
to.”

“Shh, go back to sleep,” was his reply.

Margot shrugged to herself then turned so that she could
press her back against his front. Quinn tugged her closer and nuzzled his face
into the back of her neck. She sighed and relaxed even further. It felt so good
to be in Quinn’s arms again; hopefully, having him close would help her sleep
better and ward off further nightmares.

~~~~~

Christian and Shea were sitting at the bar in their favorite
hangout spot, Mac’s Tavern. It was pretty dead in there since it was a
Wednesday night. They liked it that way, though. Shea came right from work and
looked like it. His clothes were dusty and stained, but at least he washed his
hands and face in the bathroom. Christian wanted so badly to shove his nose
against his neck and take a big whiff. He loved how Shea smelled after a day of
hard work.

They were talking quietly about their day when someone
bumped into Christian’s side. He glanced over to see who it was, and man sat
down on his other side. The man was cute and obviously gay. Christian could
tell right away just by the way the guy sat and carried himself. He would be
what some people would call flamboyant. The guy smiled seductively at
Christian.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bump into you, handsome,”
the guy said with an effeminate lisp.

Christian smirked and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’m Blake,” the guy said and held out his hand.

“Christian,” he replied and shook Blake’s hand.

“Can I buy you a drink, Christian?” Blake asked, his eyelids
lowering as his voice dropped to a sultry purr.

Blake made no attempt to hide his reasons for why he came
over. Christian looked him over. Blake was attractive with reddish-brown hair
and hazel eyes. He had a very slight build and was somewhat short. He was
definitely not the kind of guy Christian went after. He wanted a guy who could
actually manhandle him a bit, and that guy was not Blake. That guy is Shea.