Motioning for me to sign, my father pours himself a glass of amber liquid, Bourbon, his favorite drink. Quickly looking over the paperwork for any loopholes, I sign my name across the page, “What about Devin?” Scoffing he turns to me and rests against his desk, “Devin doesn’t know how to run this company. He’s good with computers but he doesn’t have the personality for the other things. Now that you are married, it’s time you take on more. Be ready to leave in three hours, we have a business dinner in the city.” Nodding, I leave the room and shoot Quinn a text delaying our date night for the next day.
The time passes, forms upon forms being shoved at me in every direction from the Human Resources department head. I don’t understand my father’s rush in everything, nor do I want to. Letting Devin know that I need to meet with him soon, I pull on my jacket and climb into the black SUV. The dinner goes by painfully slow, the man from a business in Red River. It’s not far away, and I know I’ve heard of the town before, yet I can’t place it. Shaking hands with the men, we leave and head home. Pulling into our driveway, I look around for Quinn’s car, but don’t see it. She must still be with Harlyn, I think to myself as I glance at my watch.
Chapter Eleven
Quinn
I didn’t go home after my appointment; I left Harlyn at her house and drove around for hours. The shock of the news still holds me captive. Pregnant. I want children, Sebastian does too, or at least I hoped he did. Stopping at the local craft fair, I blended in with the nobodies of Silvercrest, for once glad that hardly anyone knew me. As I walked through the booths, I felt like someone was watching me, and it set me on high alert, if they knew who I was, would they take me, or would they leave me be? Meeting the smiling face of a vendor, I pause and purchase one thing, a children’s stuffed animal. It’s an elephant, the thing bigger than my head, but I don’t care.
The hand on my arm causes me to stop as I move away from the smiling woman, “Don’t you think Katy would have loved a place like this?” Looking at the man, I try to place him, wondering how he knows anything about her. “Detective,” my tone is short, and I narrow my eyes until he moves his hand.
“I know you did it. I could prove it too, if your family hadn’t paid off someone to cover it up,” he accuses. Clicking my tongue, I pat his shoulder, “Oh, I wish you could find her killer. I’m scared I could be next, you know since you couldn’t do your job and he got away with it.”
I almost want him to react, to hurt me in some way, my conscious guilty of wanting her dead. “I’m watching you Ms. Raynor,” he snaps. Leaning into him, I whisper, “It’s Mrs. Johnson, and if you want to keep your job, you would do well to remember who the fuck I am.”
Sebastian
I haven’t told anyone that Quinn is pregnant, not until after my father’s death. It signified her place as the matriarch of the Johnson family. Honestly, as both a Raynor and a Johnson, she was the most powerful female in our society, and she didn’t have to do a thing to earn the respect.
The guards had called me moments ago from the guard post to let me know my mother had arrived, demanding they listen to her as she was still Nathaniel’s wife. Too bad for her they didn’t work for him anymore, not since he was dead at my brother’s hands. Sitting back in the chair, I wait for her to walk into the house. I don’t wait long before I hear the click of her heels on the marble floor. Stepping out of the office, I motion for her to follow me.
I warned her not to come back, and my father’s funeral isn’t a reason to show her face no matter what she thinks. “Josephine,” I bite out. Tears well up in her eyes, threatening to fall, but they won’t, she’s not that kind of woman, “Sebastian.”
I watch the confusion flash on Devin’s face as he follows us to the office. “Sit down Josephine,” I command and she listens, just like the bitch she is. “Pretty sure I said never come back, or there would be consequences,” she opens her mouth to speak, I don’t let her, however. Her words mean nothing to me, and from the look on Devin’s face he’s more curious than anything. He thought dad killed her, believed it all these years when I knew the truth. Not even dad was sure where she disappeared to.
“Sebastian, listen. I needed to be here for this. Just give me the weekend and I’ll leave again,” she begs.
Unlike my ten-year-old self, I don’t believe in rainbows and butterflies, I sure as shit don’t believe her. Shaking my head, I pull out the gun that my
