Loving Quinn Novel by North Rose
Chapter 51

(Quinn)

What the F**k! That b**d from the hospital earlier? The one who gave Annora

sh on her for who knows the lustful eyes? The same motherf**r who has had a

how long? After we report this to the police, he is so get…g fired.

I watch Annora’s eyes go round in surprise. Her face pales as she connects the dots. It means that Paulson must have gotten off work and went straight for his date with Rylan. I can also imagine where her thoughts are going.

Paulson was angry before his shift ended. We p***d him off. Did how we spoke to him push him to take out his frustrations on Rylan? I f** hope not. If that caused this, then I will strike fear into him and he will regret ever meeting Rylan

and Annora.

“You were dating Jake?”

Rylan’s head shoots up off my shoulder and her eyes snap to Annora’s face. Her hazel eyes are round as she stares at Rylan. Her lower lip trembles. Yes, her mind went where I thought it did. The two women stare at each other in shock. I move away from Rylan to get up off the bed. Annora’s face is pale, and I don’t like where her thoughts are heading, even if mine went down the same path.

“Hey, look at me. What that b**d did to Rylan was not your fault. He is sick.”

“What are you two talking about?”

“I was in an accident earlier and Paulson was on duty in the E.R. He was my doctor.

When he came in to check my charts, the look he sent me was not very

professional. Jake has had a crush on me for about six months. I turned him down

every time he asked me out.”

“What does that have to do with me and what he did?”

I can see the rage building in Rylan’s eyes. She is connecting the dots. This could end badly if she sees it the way I did. I just hope she doesn’t blame either of us for Paulson’s actions. Before Annora can say anything, I give Rylan a brief rundown on what happened. I need her to know that I am as much to blame as Annie is if that pushed Paulson to attack her.

“You think you **d off enough, and he took his rage out on me?”

Annora looks down at the floor while I look straight at Rylan. “I don’t want it to be

true. If it is, I am so sorry.”

“Stop it. Both of you stop it right now. You had no way of knowing what he was capable of. Neither of you even knew I was dating him. This isn’t your fault. It is all on his sick shoulders. I also highly doubt that I am the first woman he has done this to. Mark my words, though, I will be the last.”

I nod my head. Relief that my friend is going to stand up for herself. “When do you

want to go to the police?”

“Now.”

“What about Aaron?”

A pained look crosses her face, then it is like a shutter comes down over her emotions. Her eyes go blank like those of a soldier who is trained to not show emotion. My best friend fought too hard to keep Rylan from breaking down his defenses. He fought so hard that he lost his chance and she built walls of her own.

What a sad loss for them both.

“Fair enough. Come on then, and I will take you to the police station.”

“Annora, can you stay with me when I talk to the police?”

Annie nods her head then walks to grab her medical bag. “The DNA swabs I collected with be helpful. Though I am not sure if they will not want to collect their own.”

Rylan nods her head and then the three of us walk downstairs. Aaron is waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. His eyes go straight to Rylan. I watch as he battles with himself before he steps forward. Surprise flashes through his eyes when she steps away from him rather than towards him.

2/8

Chapter 51

Rylan glances at me before she gives Aaron her full attention. Annora and I move away to give them space. If Rylan really is done with waiting for him to come around, this could get ugly. I doubt it since she looks resigned to her decision, but with her temper, I always expect violence,

“Are you ok? What happened to you? Who did this to you?”

ze she

Aaron peppers her with questions. Rylan looks at him with that same flax did when I mentioned his name. Oh yeah, she is over it. My best friend f***d,

“I will be fine. The pr***k didn’t rape me. So, your knight-in-shining-armor duties are over. Thank you for being home when I needed you and for bringing me to

Annora.”

“Who is he?”

“Why? So that you can go scare him? Why bother? I am going to the police now. Thank you for helping me.”

Rylan turns to walk away, but Aaron reaches out for her arm. She jerks away from him. If looks could kill, my friend would be ashes on my floor. He opens his mouth to say something but closes it. Something close to pain flashes through his eyes.

before he looks away from her.

When he looks back at her, his eyes are blank and emotionless. “I hope you make

him pay for what he did to you.”

She steps up close to him, leans in, and whispers something in his car. His face falls when she steps away. Without a second glance, she walks to the door, then waits with her back straight and her head held high. My heart breaks for my friends.

I understand his reasons for pushing her away. Yet I also know that she could be the one person to give him a reason to fight the darkness within his mind. If only he would let her. For now, however, it seems like he has lost his chance.

“Rylan…” his voice is soft when he calls out to her.

“Goodbye Aaron.”

3/8

She opens the door and walks out into the hallway. Annora follows her and closes the door behind her. Aaron looks at me for a moment, then walks to the cabinet f keep my liquor in. He has a key, so he uses it to unlock the door. Silently he pulls out a bottle of vodka, opens it, then drinks straight from the bottle.

“I guess I deserved that. If you don’t mind, I am going to go uses your s**ng room, and drink until I pass out.”

“What about dinner with your parents?”

“Mom canceled dinner tonight. Their flight was delayed so they will get in late tonight. Dad booked a return flight for Monday afternoon.”

Before I can say anything more, he turns away and heads towards the gym. I have been in a similar dark frame of mind. Aaron was there for me the whole time. All I can do now is take Rylan to the police station, then take her home.

I will come back and stay up with Aaron until he falls asleep. Then in the morning I will make sure he is cleaned up, sober and clear minded enough to spend time with his parents. If he isn’t sober enough to meet with his parents, his mother will never let him hear the end of it.

Nor will she let me off easy.

With a sigh, I go to grab my keys off the hall table, but they are on the floor instead. Memories of what Annora did to me against that table earlier tonight make me smile. I shake those thoughts clear and rush out of the penthouse. I lock the door behind me and rush after Annora and Rylan.

I am not sure I how I feel about the two of them becoming friends. One the one hand, Rylan could use a friend out here in California. She is from Montana and her family isn’t close. Though I hired her half-brother recently as the hospital’s CEO. Their relationship has always been a little strained.

The two of them becoming friends will also be good for Annora. Having her get to know more of my friends from my Army career will make it easier for her to get to know that part of my past. To put faces to the names of the people I will tell her about as we move forward in our relationship.

Chapter 51

Rylan is a good start. What happened tonight makes me want to kill Paulson. However, the man isn’t worth more of my time than I will give him tonight. This report is grounds to suspend him from his duties. When it is proven that he did what Rylan says he did, then it will cost him his job, and some jail time.

I hope.

(Three hours later)

“Where did Aaron go when we left to take Rylan to the hospital?”

Annora glances at me as we get off the elevator on penthouse floor. I forgot to tell her he stayed behind after we left. My first order of business when we get inside is to check in him. It has been three hours since we left and if my guess is correct, he

has finished that bottle of vodka.

“He stayed here to work off some energy in the gym.”

“Is that what we are calling it now? Energy? I was thinking flat out frustration of the heart. Why is he fighting his feelings for Rylan?”

I stop in my tracks and look at her in surprise. “How did you know? Did she say

something?”

Annora laughs, then nudges me to keep walking. “I caught the look in his eyes when he placed her on the bed.”

I did too. Aaron is in trouble. My best friend is drowning, and I have no idea how to help him. He did so much for me when I was at my lowest point. Now it is my turn to keep him from giving in to the darkness that lurks under the surface.

“Head upstairs and I will talk to you about it after I make sure he is ok.”

After I unlocked the door, she gives me a kiss then goes up to our room. I make my way to the in-home gym where Aaron said he would be. When I open the door, the smell of blood and vodka hit my nose. It is like I just stepped into a fight club after hours.

Aaron’s steady snoring is coming from where he is laying on the mat under the now destroyed punching bag. There are bloodstains on the bag and as I get closer, I can see he didn’t use hand wraps. He bare-knuckled the hell out of that bag.

“My friend, you are a mess.”

I bend down to pull his a** up off the floor. In his unconscious state, he is dead

weight against me. I throw one of his arms over my neck and brace my shoulder up in his armpit. He is heavier than I thought.

“Been packing on the muscles, huh? Let’s get you to the couch. Then I will clean

those knuckles.”

Aaron grunts, then goes back to snoring.

After I get him onto the couch, I cover him with a blanket, then leave to get the

first aid kit out of the cabinet by the mini fridge. I have used this room for almost

the same reason he did tonight. To chase the darkness of our past away. The pain of

knowing that we lived while others didn’t make it home.

While I am cleaning his knuckles, Aaron opens his eyes. I can feel the heavy weight

of his stare, so I glance up at his face. His eyes are glassy with sleep and the

amount of vodka he drank.

“I am scared, Quinn. How did you make it out of this hell?”

“Slowly and with your help. I am with you until the end of the road, brother. You are not in this alone. You have me, your family, and all our brothers and sisters in

arms. Let us be your light.”

Aaron hisses when I put antiseptic cream on his knuckles, then shudders as he leans up on his elbow. “Quinn, I am so f***d up. I have been hiding it from you for too long and I am scared.”

This makes me frown at him. “Why hide it from me?”

“You are in a better place now. With Annora and Grace, you have something to stay positive for. I don’t want to drag you back into the dark sh**t with me.”

I put all the medical supplies back in the case, then look up at him. “That s****t never fades from my mind. After you left my office today, it was back, because I know why you keep pushing Rylan away. You feel unworthy of her love because of all the s**t you did. I had a dark moment or two and went to Dr. West.”

His eyes go round, then he looks down at the couch. “Did my rant push you to that?”

“No, it was already in the back of my mind from a memory I shared with Annie. You are not responsible for anything there.”

“Why am I so f**d up, Quinn? I **g blew my chance with her, didn’t I?”

“Maybe. Give her time. Get yourself in a better frame of mind. Then, when you are ready, talk to her. Explain it to her. Rylan may not have seen a lot of combat, but

she saw some awful s**it too. I think she will understand.”

Or she will be mad as hell that he didn’t think she could handle his demons too.

Aaron doesn’t respond, which makes me tilt my head to look at his down-turned face. His eyes are closed, and he is snoring again. Gently, so I don’t wake him, I move his elbow, so he is now laying on his side. Just in case he is sick later.

Once I am sure he is still asleep, I stand up and leave the room, turning the light off before closing the door behind me. I have failed my best friend in the worst way. I was selfish. Now guilt swamps me. I was too focused on my dark feelings that I missed the battle he was going through right beside me.

He hid it well. Now the c**ks h*ave formed in the wall he hid behind. Now, as my lovely Annora told me recently, I will be the wall between him and his demons. I will be my brother’s shield in the battle coming war.

You are not alone, Aaron. You are worthy of love, just like the rest of us. One day, you see that for yourself. Until then I will give you be right here with you.

I will have your back until the day I die.