Give Me Strength (29 page)

“Hello?”

“Quinn. Next time answer your damn phone,”
Travis said irritably.

“I beg your pardon?” I said, giving him time to
think about what he just said and consider revising it.

“Your phone. Answer it,” he repeated.

It was tempting to hang up on him in the
interests of throwing that rudeness back in his face. “You know
when you speak to me like that it makes me not want to answer it in
the future.”

“Quinn—”

“I’ve spent all day holed up in your godforsaken
loft…” It wasn’t really godforsaken. I actually loved being there,
and I
had
made a minor escape to go shopping with Casey for
my dress, but he didn’t need to know that. “…trying to deal with
the final preparations for Evie’s party from afar, and I haven’t
heard from you once. The minute we make a move for the door and I
have an armload full of crap is the moment you ring.”

“Quinn—”

“No, Travis. The past three weeks I’ve been
doing everything you asked. Is this how it’s going to be? Because
Casey’s taking me to this party and when it’s over,
he
can
take me home.”

Casey raised a brow.

“Drop me off,” I added. “At home. My home.”

Silence.

I cleared my throat, wondering if Travis was
still on the line.

“I was worried about you,” Travis said
softly.

I flinched because the sweet words had more of
an impact than his angry ones.

“Every second your phone rings and you don’t
answer, I imagine all sorts of scenarios. None of them good. I saw
the evidence of what David is capable of, and with shit going on
right now, I need to know I can get hold of you and that you’re
safe. I’m sorry I can’t take you to the party. I’d rather be with
you than stuck here.”

“Where’s
here
?”

“At the office. Just winding up a few small
things and I’ll be done. I’ll duck home for a shower and meet you
there, then you’re coming home with me,” he added firmly.

“Okay,” I replied, surprised at the ease of my
agreement.

It’s because you’re happy, Quinn.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I
wasn’t happy, but I was almost happy. So much so I could taste it
on the tip of my tongue.

“So…you’re all dressed and ready to go,
huh?”

“Uh huh.”

“What are you wearing?” His voice turned
husky.

“A long silk dress.”

“Yeah?” he murmured. “What colour is it,
sweetheart?”

“It’s deep rose. And backless,” I added.

“So I get to see every inch of your creamy skin
all the way to your ass?” Travis exhaled loudly. “I’m imagining
tracing every inch of it right now with my tongue.”

I moaned. “Trav—”

The phone was snatched from my hand by an
annoyed looking Casey.

“Travis,” he spoke into the phone impatiently.
“We’re on our way out the door, unless you want me to take over
with Quinn where you just left off?”

I laughed and fiddled with the strap of my
clutch as I heard him end the conversation.

Soon after, we arrived at the Florence Bar, and
Carol and I delved into final preparations with Casey glued to my
side.

“Wow, look at you, Quinn, you belong at the
Oscars!” I turned from talking to Vince at the bar to see Mac
bearing down in her usual fashion.

Dressed in a shimmery floor length gold number,
she said hello to Casey and Vince before sweeping her gaze around
the private function area.

“Vintage glamour. How did you manage this
without me knowing?”

I snorted. “I can be sneaky.” She raised a brow,
obviously remembering the suitcase incident. “Sometimes,” I added.
“But Evie almost caught Jared and I talking about it. Don’t ask,
but Evie now thinks the upcoming Jettison Records party is fancy
dress.”

Mac shouted with laughter. “Oh this is too
good!”

She called Henry over and when he got close she
told him, and then they were both standing there gasping for
air.

“You’re gonna help her pick her costume out,
right, Mac?” Henry asked.

Casey shook his head at both of them as Henry
gave a brief wave to Vince and asked for a beer. “You three are
like an episode of
Gossip Girl
.”

Vince placed a wine for me and a beer for Henry
on the bar while Mac gaped. “You watch
Gossip Girl
?”

Casey narrowed his eyes on her.

“I was stuck in the loft all day,” I offered.
“Travis was out on a job. We…” Casey turned those eyes on me.
“
I
had a
Gossip Girl
marathon.” Henry and Mac were
watching me. “Then we...” I glanced at Casey “...then
I
dragged Casey shopping so I could get a dress and shoes. And
earrings,” I added.

“Wow.” Mac grinned. “Sounds like you had a busy
day playing big sister, Casey.” Henry laughed as Casey handed me my
wine. “Tim’ll be pissed he wasn’t there for that. I’d avoid him
tonight if I were you. In fact, I see him heading this way right
now. Can you see your life flashing before your eyes?”

“Thanks for that heads up, Mac,” Casey muttered
while everyone laughed. He grabbed hold of my elbow and muscled me
away from the group of people forming around us.

I leaned in closer to be heard. “Am I ruining
your badass reputation, Casey?”

“I can handle it,” he said, eyes carefully
scanning the crowd.

I was quite certain Casey could handle just
about anything. “How about I get you a drink?” I started back for
the bar.

He grabbed my forearm and hauled me back to his
side. “No. Not while I’m looking after you without Travis here.
Later.”

I didn’t mind. I wasn’t exactly the expert at
working a crowd. Relieved, I stood by Casey as people came over to
chat to us. Mac and Carol worked the room for me, and Casey pointed
out who was who as I sipped at my wine.

“How the hell do you know all these people?”

“He doesn’t. Jared gave us the guest list,” came
the voice behind me.

I jolted when a hand touched the small of my
back. Lips brushed my ear. “You’re not gonna tip your wine over me
again are you?”

“You made it,” I murmured with pleasure, and
holding tight to my glass, spun around to face Travis. My body
flushed as I took in his navy dress pants and matching jacket. His
collared shirt wasn’t buttoned at the neck, and my eyes rested
where his blood pulsed visibly. “Not this time.”

“Pity. I kinda liked how our night ended up the
last time you did that.” He trailed his fingers lightly down the
naked skin of my back to where it dipped a little dangerously
low.

“So…” I cleared my throat and aimed for safer
conversation. “Jared gave you the guest list? I thought the party
was a surprise.”

“It is.”

“So you know?”

“Know what?”

“About the…thing.”

“What thing?”

I pressed my lips together. “Oh. Nothing.”

Travis raised a brow at me.

“Really,” I insisted, averting my eyes and
fiddling with the backing of my earring. “There’s no thing.”

Casey nodded at Travis. “There’s definitely a
thing. Jared rang Quinn at least five times today.”

I frowned at Casey. “How do you know how many
times he rang me?” I faced Travis. “It’s a surprise.”

“What’s a surprise?”

“Ouch.” I winced when my earring backing jammed
in with force.

“Here.” Travis handed his drink to Casey and
swatted my hand from my ear. “I’ll fix it.” He turned me so he had
my back, and he started fiddling with the clasp of my earring.
“What did you do to it?”

“If I knew, I could fix it, couldn’t I? I can’t
tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“About the surprise. Then it’s not a surprise
anymore.”

I felt the backing of my earring loosen and I
sighed. “Thanks.”

Casey handed Travis back his drink and left us
alone to go and chat with Mitch and Coby.

“You mean about Jared proposing to Evie?” said
Travis.

My eyes widened. “You know?”

He ignored my question and ran his eyes over me,
making sure to take his time. “I need an excuse to drag you from
this party, take you home, and fuck you until neither of us can
move for a week. You sure about not tossing that drink at me?”

“I…” That sounded like a really good plan. I
actually found myself eyeing my glass with consideration. “Your
brother would kill me if I ditched this party and left it all in
his hands.”

Travis ducked his head and nibbled lightly on my
bottom lip. “Let him try,” he said against my lips before pulling
away. “I can take him.”

Carol approached me from the right. “Caterer
crisis,” she advised. I made a grab for my colour-coded folder and
clutched it to my chest. “Excuse us,” she said to Travis.

Travis slipped his hand in mine and laced our
fingers together, not letting me budge.

“He knows,” I told Carol.

She eyed me cautiously. “Knows… what?”

“About the proposal.”

“Oh. Well, no caterer crisis then. It’s a Jared
crisis.”

Following Carol, we detoured the kitchens until
we reached the back room and a pacing Jared. He looked similar to
Travis in a dark suit, but whereas Travis was relaxed and smiling,
Jared’s face was pinched in fear. Travis leaned up against the
doorjamb and folded his arms while Jared ceased his pacing at our
arrival.

He ignored Travis. “Thank God you’re here. I
need to get this over with. Right now.”

My eyes widened as he resumed his back and forth
motion. “You can’t!”

He stopped his pacing again and looked at me,
eyes rounded with panic. “I can’t? Why not?”

I bit down on my cheeks to hold back the
laughter. “Well, because Evie isn’t here yet.”

“Right. I knew that.” Jared cleared his throat
and resumed pacing. “That’s good. I need a few minutes to-to…” He
took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “God. I thought I’d be so
much cooler than this.”

Jared’s shoulders were broad, his biceps flexed
under his jacket as he clenched his hands together in a fist, yet
the vulnerability rolled off him in waves.

Not sure what else to do, I grabbed at his arm
to stop his pacing. I wasn’t really the mother hen type and found
myself suddenly floundering in the new found role. “Well…” I licked
my lips. “I guess you don’t need to be cool, just…be yourself.” I
eyed Travis warningly. “Right, Travis?”

Travis nodded. “Absolutely.” The firm assurance
warred with the smile he was visibly fighting.

“You’re not Superman after all,” I added.

“I am.” Jared pointed at me. “My nerves are
hardcore fucking steel.” He resumed his pacing. “Except when it
comes to Evie,” he muttered. “Then I turn into a giant douchebag. I
can’t help it. Being with Evie is like being on a roller coaster
ride that I don’t want to ever get off.” He stopped and looked at
me. I stared back, thinking that maybe he’d gone a little around
the bend. “What the fuck am I talking about?”

“That’s a good question. Maybe I should go get
you a drink.”

I made to leave when once again my arm was
grabbed, and I was hauled to Travis’s side.

“I don’t want a drink. I don’t want her thinking
I needed it to get through asking her to marry me.”

“Okay,” I agreed.

Jared stared at me a moment. “Maybe just a beer.
That won’t hurt. Right?”

Travis slid his arm from around me. “I’ll go get
you a beer,” he offered and with a soft kiss at my temple, he was
gone.

“So you and Travis, huh?” Jared watched him go
then turned back to me. “I know we haven’t really had a chance to
talk—”

“We had our chat the other week,” I told him.
“I’m all out of chats right now. If I had a dollar for all the
chats I’ve had these past three weeks, I could retire. I could buy
a boat and spend my days drinking champagne and cruising the
harbour.”

“Quinn, stop.” My breath caught at the anger in
his tone, and he grabbed both of my hands in his. Then he paused.
“Wait. You wanna buy a boat?”

“Well, not really. I’ve never thought about it.
Doesn’t everyone buy a boat when they’re rich?”

“Who’s everyone? Jesus. Just…never mind.” Jared
frowned at me. “You think about running again, don’t.”

“I got your sister involved. She could’ve been
hurt. You should be mad at me. All of you should be pissed as
hell.”

“She handled herself pretty well, and so did
you.”

Jared looked over my shoulder and saw Travis
returning with his drink. He let go of my hand and took a step
back, his green eyes changing instantly from fierce to teasing.
“Anyway, welcome to the family, Quinn. Mac’s always been the runt
of the litter, but that crown passes to you now.”

“Thanks for the talk.” I folded my arms, a
little irritated at having to listen to another lecture and then
getting called a runt on top of all that. “Just remember, I did all
this for you.” I waved my hand around, my attempt at encompassing
the whole venue. My eyes narrowed. “You owe me.”

“Interesting,” he murmured.

“What is?”

“Well when the crown passes, apparently so does
the attitude.”

I gasped. “You…”

He cocked a brow. “I...”

I let out a weak laugh. “Oh my God, you’re
right.”

“Shut your mouth, Quinn. Rule number one of
surviving the Valentine family, and you can consider this little
piece of advice payback for the party, never and when I say never,
I mean
never
, concede defeat. You do that, you’ll get walked
on. And no Valentine gets walked on.
Ever
.”

“But…I’m not a Valentine.”

Travis reached my side and handed the beer to
Jared.

Jared looked at Travis and then at me. “Yes you
are.” I watched in amazement as he gulped down half the glass in
one go. Then the hand holding his glass pointed at me. “There’s no
escape for you now.”

“No escape from what?” Travis asked, taking my
now empty wine glass and replacing it with a full one.