Page 56 of The Getaway Guy
Elias nodded but said nothing, so she left her bag for the second bodyguard to grab for her since he now waited next to Axel, and left the truck. Axel’s hand found her elbow, and then he fell into place behind her as she hurried up the steps into the house and Ana’s waiting arms.
Quinley had Ana to comfort her even though she should be the one comforting her best friend. She had protection from anyone intent on doing her harm or who was overly curious.
She hated that Elias had to go home alone, face the mess of helping heralone, just like he’d been alone as a sick child.
Ana shoved her back after a very long, very tight hug.
“I’m going tothrottleyou.”
Quinley blinked back the sting of tears and nodded. “Have at it. I deserve it. I’m sorry I ruined your Easter. Are your parents upset?”
“No, they understand. It’s fine. No worries there.”
Ana’s gaze softened, and she turned to Cole. Quinley caught the look the two exchanged before he cleared his throat.
“I’m going to Elias’s house in case he needs security. Let me know what you decide,” he said to Ana.
Quinley watched as Cole headed out the door and past the guards now standing outside on the porch. Axel and whatever-his-name-was didn’t go to the road to join the others but would stay within feet of her until things settled. “Decide about what?”
“Dinner with his family.”
Quinley winced. “I’m sorry. You should go.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Ana said. “Come on. Sit down. What happens now?” Ana gently shoved Quinley toward the seat Quinley preferred when visiting. “I made coffee. I figured you could use a cup after wading through that.”
Quinley nodded. “Thank you. Has it been that way all week?”
“It had thinned out a lot,” Ana said, raising her voice as she walked to retrieve two mugs from a cabinet in the kitchen. “But something kicked in today, and the numbers surged again, like they knew you were coming.”
“We were seen,” Quinley said. “Elias had to stop for gas on the way, and…we were seen together. At a gas station and during the drive home.”
“Social media makes hiding difficult.”
“You’ve got that right,” Quinley said.
Ana fixed the coffee the way she knew Quinley liked it and handed it over upon her return.
“Why not ride back to town with the guards? Wouldn’t that have been better?”
Quinley sipped the hot brew with a hint of chocolate and more than a little cream and reveled in the taste. “Probably. I guess I thought things would be better now after I released the statement. Hoped it would be anyway.”
“Quinley…what happened?”
Ana took the couch, curling up in the corner closest to where Quinley sat. The blinds were closed despite the beautiful midday sun shining outside, to shut out the risk of cameras. She’d done this. Forced her best friend to hide away in the dark. “First, how’s Ben? With all of this? Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. There have been a few things said at school, but he held his temper. Since he didn’t react, the kids let it go.”
Quinley exhaled. Ben’s temper had been an issue for a while, but Cole’s influence had done wonders for the kid. Ana’s son had blossomed having a male role model, and the Blackwell brothers, not necessarily Elias but Dawson, Alex, Brooks and Gage, had taken the kid under their wings and were teaching him the art of being a man.
The thought made her picture Elias with a child, and she faltered when that image morphed into Elias as a boy, scared and lost after losing his parents. Sick, too. His brothers had been there for him in the best way they knew how, but they had all suffered. They’d grieved and been forced to make ends meet at such young ages. It made Quinley admire them all the more. Even while she hated the thought of Elias struggling so badly on his own.
Facts that needed to be noted and made to be part of Elias’s advertising for his restaurant, she mused distractedly.
She blinked away the thought and shifted her gaze to Ana’s to find her best friend studying her with sharp intensity. Her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. I should’ve talked to you months ago. And I’m sorry for asking you to return the ring. That was awful of me. Please forgive me.”
“You know you’re forgiven. Just—tell mewhy.”
“You and Cole,” she said simply, taking the easy way out. “I…saw how you are together and realized something was missing. I mean, Rhys and I were okay—we were—but you know it wasn’t perfect.”
