Quinn I (Undaunted Men #1) (23 page)

“Hey,” Lexi says sleepily. “I was starting to get worried about you.”

“You don’t ever have to worry about me.” I pat Kimber on her head and ask her, “Have you been a good girl?”

Lexi grins as I near her. “She's the best guard dog ever. She even kept the creepy crawlies away.”

I lay down beside her and prop my head up in my hand, returning her smile. She rolls onto her side, mimicking me.
 

“How was your scouting?” she innocently asks.
 

“Good. I found a few places I think would be good for hunting.”

“What?” she asks surprised. “Hunting? We have food.”

“I want to conserve what we have. Besides, I’m missing my meals of real meat and potatoes, not freeze dried packaged meals.”

“Just don’t bring back any snakes, okay?”

I chuckle at the grossed-out expression she has on her face. “All right, Sweetheart. Any other grocery store requests from the AT trails?”

Wrinkling her nose and mouth together, she makes another animated expression. “I don’t know what's on the menu or what kind of fricassee you’re planning on making.”

“Such a city girl,” I tease, and tap the tip of her nose.

“And proud of it,” she retorts.

We stare at each other, both falling silent, and it’s time for her to give me some much-needed answers. “I think now is as good a time as any to have that discussion,” I prompt.

She takes a deep breath, and then surprises me with her opening line. “I was framed for a murder I didn’t commit.”

“Whoa.” I try to act surprised, and I somewhat am for her confessing this from the get-go. “That’s pretty damn heavy.”

“Yes, it is…pretty damn heavy.” She looks up at me with those soft brown eyes of hers, and her voice wavers. “I’m so scared, Quinn. I hope you believe me, because I truly didn’t do it.”

“Yeah, sweetheart, I believe you’re innocent.” I reach out and touch a tendril of her hair in a show of compassion. From the moment I first laid eyes on her, I knew she wasn’t a killer. “So is this why you’re out here? You’re on the run?”

“I’m not on the run from the police, if that’s what you mean.” She sits up, and I follow her lead, doing the same. She speaks as she looks down at her hands, intertwining her fingers in a knot.

I lift her chin to meet my gaze, and she frowns. “I feel sick about it, Quinn. I’m all twisted up inside.” She whimpers in distress, and then her voice cracks. “I’m fairly certain this girl was...”
   

“Shh, take a deep breath for me, Sweetheart.” I cup her cheek and rest my forehead against hers, giving her time to catch her breath. She grabs a hold of my shirt and twists the fabric in her hands, inhaling deeply.
 

Her voice has turned shaky as she forges on with her story. “It’s set up to look like a love triangle. I’m marked as the jealous ex-girlfriend.”

“How is this provable?”

“It would be easier to ask how it’s not. My fingerprints are all over the murder weapon.”

“Which is what?”

“A gun,” she admits. “I have no alibi either. It was perfectly orchestrated down to the hour.”

“Who’s doing this?”

“Another ex-boyfriend,” she sadly admits.

“Oh, hell,” I breathe. What a mess. “Why is your ex doing this, Lexi?” She closes her eyes as if in pain, and then places her face into her hands. “Lexi, look at me.”

She lifts her head, her eyes shimmering. “My ex-boyfriend wants to make certain he has my undivided attention. He not only wants to marry me, but he wants to ensure he has my full compliance.”

I arch a brow in astonishment. “Wait a minute. This guy jumps through all these hoops just to gain your hand in marriage? Why is he forcing this marriage on you?” I gently ask, but inside I'm vibrating with anger.

She leans back to swipe the fresh tears from her eyes. “Well, there’s more he’d get out of the deal besides me, but I don’t want to say.” I already know what the guy had to gain, but I’m not letting her get off that easily.

I shake my head. “Lexi, I said to spill all of it, and I meant it,” I sternly warn.

She swallows down the emotions, and then faces me stoically with her glassy eyes, her voice coming out hard and gritty. “This asshole was a childhood friend of mine, who wanted to marry into my family for power and prestige.” She takes another deep breath, and then spills the rest. “My family is part of the mafia, and who better to choose for a wife than a mafia princess?”

Her coming clean with me just propelled our relationship forward by light years. I want her more now than I ever did before, if that's even possible, because it took a lot of guts for her to confess everything. She not only came clean with the truth, but she didn't hold anything back.

“Vince used to be a good guy, Quinn.” She drops her chin to her chest, sounding defeated. “Somewhere along the way, he changed. In his own sick twisted mind, I believe he does love me, but his affections are severely misplaced.”

I lift her chin, making her look into my steely gaze as I speak with resolve, “I won’t let him have you, Angel.” Her brows furrow, and her watery eyes silently question me. “I think you already know you’ve pretty much captured my heart, but I’m willing to spell it out for you.”
 

I lean forward and breathe over her lips, “I think I’m falling for you, Angel, which is something I don’t do, and to be honest, it's scaring the hell out of me.”

There is a long moment of silence, her wordless reply weighing heavy on my heart like a lead brick. I’ve just put my fucking heart on the line, and she says nothing. I can’t take it anymore. I break eye contact, looking away from her. Don’t I feel like an absolute imbecile?

“Quinn?”

“Yeah,” I gruffly respond, looking out into the darkness.

“Look at me, please,” she softly pleads. Feeling like a fool, I shift only my eyes to look at her, and I clench my teeth tightly together. “I’m only speechless because I never thought I’d be worthy of someone like you. What you just said to me…it feels surreal. It’s hard for me to believe that you'd want someone like me, but you should know I had already fallen for you thirty miles back.” A short laugh escapes me, and relief consumes me. I think I can feel my heart beating again.
 

She cracks a small grin and remarks, “Are
you
speechless now, Quinn?”
 

I shake my head and flash her a small smile. “Negatory, Sweetheart. I’m savoring it.” I lean in, brushing my lips against hers.
 

“I’ve never met anyone who is as genuine and sincere as you. I value honesty, Lexi. I’m a “say what you mean, and mean what you say” kind of guy, and when I say you’re worthy, I’m not feeding you a line. I don’t play games; I never have. I’m too old for that shit.”
 

“I...I don't know what to say.” She's truly bewildered. I turn my body to fully face her and hold her hands, threading my fingers through hers.

“Say you'll give us a chance.”

“With everything I just told you, I can't believe you're not running the other way already.”

I shake my head, my lips curving upward. “Baby, there's not much on this earth that can scare me. I will fight your demons, Angel. I promise.”

She squeezes my hands and pleads on in a whisper, “Please don't get yourself hurt on my account.”

“You let me worry about that. I want to know more about this guy who's framing you. Does he know your dad very well?”

“He used to.” She shrugs her shoulders. “We used to date, but when we broke up, my dad kind of lost respect for him.”

“Why?”

“I don’t really know. It was my decision to break it off. Maybe he didn’t think he was good enough for his baby girl? I have no clue.”

“I can totally see that, especially if your dad had the foresight of him stooping so low as doing something like this. Besides, any loving father would think no man could ever meet the high standards they’ve placed over their daughter.”

I’d love nothing more than to ask Lexi pointblank if she’s pregnant or not, but over the years, I’ve learned the hard way that one just doesn’t come out and blatantly ask those sorts of questions. It’s a touchy as hell subject, and I never know which way a woman will respond.
 

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what?” I ask, tilting my head.

“I don’t know. It’s like you went all quiet and introspective.”

“I’m thinking you got a raw deal.” She nods in agreement, and then takes a deep, shaky breath. “So after running away, where were you headed? Besides the trails, of course, what was your end plan?”

She looks up to the sky and gazes at the stars as if they hold all the answers, and sighs, “I don’t really know. All I knew was I had to get away.” She drops her chin, leveling her gaze to mine. “I needed to go off-grid first in order to shake Vince off my tail. Connor gave me some money and set up a safe house for me to run to, but I—”
 

“Wait a minute, you’re confusing me with these names.” I shake my head as if it would rid me of all the jumbled names.

“I’m sorry,” she says, and then slows down her dialogue as she tries to shed some light on the matter of who is who, “Vince is the guy who wants to marry me, and Connor is my other childhood friend. He’s the one who is helping me get away from Vince.”

“Why did this Connor guy want to help you so badly? Does he love you?”
God, I hope not.

“Yeah,” she whispers sadly. “Yeah, he does.” Well, hell, maybe I’m stepping between something I shouldn’t. She said she didn't have a boyfriend, but that doesn't mean anything. What if she loves him? And then I begin to wonder if she’s pregnant with Connor’s baby. This isn't good, not good at all. She sits up on her knees and takes my face in both her hands, studying me as if she can read my mind. “Quinn, I don’t love him.”
Yeah, but you could be pregnant with his child.
 

“Was Connor the friend? The one who packed your bag?” I ask, curious.

She nods her head, and then says, “It’s all so complicated to me. I don’t get why I was being tracked, and I don’t know what those men wanted.”
 

That’s been my question all day long, and now I think I have a few educated guesses to work with. Connor could've had his men watching her, ensuring she gets to safety while he puts up a front, acting as if he doesn’t know anything like the rest of them. I bet he didn’t bank on dear old dad stepping in, or better yet, me.
 

She lets go of my cheeks and sits back on her heels. She's been carrying around some heavy burdens, and it's evident it's taken a toll on her. Another angle to consider is if this Vince guy found out about Connor’s plan. Vince could've gotten a hold of the tracking information and now he’s after her. Sounds like a complicated love triangle if I ever heard of one.
 

“Did you want to disappear? With Connor, that is?” I hold my breath, waiting for her answer on pins and needles, because damn, I feel my jealousy surfacing.

Her forehead wrinkles in confusion for a moment until my question registers. “What? No. God, no.” She shakes her head profusely. “I love my family, my friends, my job, my horse. I’d never willingly want to leave that, but Vince was crazy and out of control.”

“What would’ve happened if you married him?”

“I couldn’t, Quinn. I just couldn’t even contemplate the thought of marrying him. It's not even an option. He’s turned into a monster, because who does those things?” Her voice rises in aggravation. “Who frames someone they supposedly love for a murder they didn’t commit?”

“Someone who’s desperate.”
 

This morning, I woke up a very thankful man for all my waterproof gear and tarps. Whoever invented all this type of gear is a genius. It rained relentlessly last night. I was glad I had a moment to myself yesterday to check the weather on my SAT phone to get the heads up. I had arranged the top and bottom tarps in such a way all three of us were able to stay bone-dry.
 

This morning, the sun is shining brightly, but the rain has left for a muddy day ahead. I’m amazed I have spent the better part of an entire week intimately sleeping with the sexiest woman I’ve ever known, and we haven’t had sex. I have no words for that, especially after having my fingers and tongue in places I shouldn't have, and then yesterday, seeing her fully naked body stand before me as I roamed my hands over every square inch of her. I'm already hard just thinking about it.

Lexi stirs in my arms, and I kiss the top of her head and breathe in her sweet fragrance. Being near the river, we've been spoiled with having a daily bath, and whatever soap Connor had packed her compliments her pheromones. I tamp down the jealous feeling that wants to surface, because I think you’d have to know someone on a deeper level to be picking out scented soaps for them.

I refocus my attention on her curvaceous body as she sleeps in my arms. She's with me now, and I plan on keeping it that way. She’s my vision of how I always thought a relationship should be, built on trust and honesty, and she gave me both of those things from the get go. She really bared her soul to me last night and didn’t hold back. I want to know all the intricacies that make up this woman, and I know that will take time, but right now, we're off to one hell of a start.