Under the Gun (CEP Book 3) Page 11

  “Jesus Christ,” Oz murmured.

  “She didn’t say anything about a knife,” Gunner pointed out.

  “No. When we got there, I hid it in my jacket. Didn’t want to alarm Ms. McDonnell any more than she already was,” Brandon explained.

  “Good thinking. Thanks,” Gunner said.

  “You got the knife?” Oz asked.

  “Yeah, right here.” Brandon opened a drawer and pulled it out by a handle wrapped in a cloth handing it to Oz. “Didn’t know if it has prints but I doubt it ‘cause the guy’s wearing gloves.”

  “You call the police?” Gunner asked.

  “Yeah. Detective Jared said he’d be over later to check things out.”

  “Weird fuckin’ knife,” Oz commented. “It’s like a chef’s knife or something. Look.” He handed it to Gunner. “See the weird shit etched on it?”

  “I’ve seen these before,” Gunner said, looking at the blade. “Friend of mine in the Army had one. Said he trained to be a chef before enlisting and got it as a gift. It’s Japanese. Something like this would cost around two grand.”

  “No fuckin’ way,” Oz and Brandon said at the same time.

  “Whoever this belongs to is serious about cooking,” Gunner declared. “I’ll call Tommy’s dad and see if they’re missing a knife by any chance.”

  “What about Vance?” Oz asked.

  “Been thinkin’ about it and I’m not sure it’s him. Not letting him off the hook but I’m not sure.” He then told him what the kid had said to Quinn at the funeral.

  “Jesus. And his parents were standing right there?” Oz asked.

  “Yeah, but they were pretty distraught. Don’t think they heard him.”

  They thanked Brandon for the help and going back into the lounge, Gunner saw Quinn had settled down and she and Tilly were talking quietly.

  “Hey,” he said. “I’m gonna take you back upstairs to get some things then we’re going to my place.”

  She shook her head. “No, Gunner. This ends now. I’m gonna stay with Tilly.”

  “No, you’re goddamned not, Quinn,” he said through gritted teeth so tired of her always resisting shit.

  “I am.”

  “No.”

  She and Tilly both stood, Tilly going to Oz and Quinn facing off with Gunner.

  “I said I’m staying with them! God! Do you ever fucking listen?”

  “You’re not.”

  “We’ll never work! We’re both too stubborn! It just won’t work.”

  “We’ll fucking work, Quinn,” he bit out.

  He could tell he’d pushed her as far as she’d go because without warning, she let him have it. “I am! I’m so sick of this shit! You acting like you like me when I gave you a year to do something and you did nothing! You turned me down for coffee then went on about your life as if it was nothing, like it was no big deal! Well, it was a big deal to me, Gunner! I liked you! A lot!” She glared at him then started pointing her finger from herself to him then back again a few times. “And I don’t know what’s going on between us now but I’m putting an end to it right now because all you’re gonna do is break my goddamned heart!”

  “Missed it a-fucking-gain, Quinn,” he ground out.

  “And what the hell does that mean anyway?”

  She was screaming hysterically now, which she had every right to do because of the circumstances, but all her yelling was riling him up right along with her.

  “I’ve been giving you fucking clues this whole time and you’ve totally ignored them!” he rumbled.

  “Clues? What are you talking about?” she snapped right back.

  “Jesus Christ, if I have to point them out they mean nothing!”

  “That’s just great, Gunner! Just fucking great! So glad you could help me out here! So you know what? I’m done! We’re done!” With her fingers gathered together at the tips, she used them to touch herself in the head a few times as she said the next part. “I’ve got to get it into my stupid head that you mean nothing to me!”

  “I mean nothing to you? Seriously? You fell asleep with my fucking cock in you last night, Quinn! Fucking twice!” he fired back.

  Quinn gasped as did Tilly, and Oz hustled his wife out of the room PDQ leaving Gunner and Quinn to battle it out.

  “I cannot believe you said that!” Quinn hissed.

  “Well, get over it because I did.” She was glowering at him now and he’d reached his breaking point now too. “Here’s what’s gonna happen, Quinn. Are you listening because it’s not going any other fucking way. We’re going up to your apartment and getting your things. Then we’re going to my place and that’s where you’re staying until we can get all this shit cleared up. You got that?”

  Her glower turned even darker and he braced himself for what else she had to say.

  “Why do you even fucking care?” she said through gritted teeth, her green eyes flashing at him.

  He bent low to get in her face making sure she heard what he was about to say so there’d be no question about it. “Because I think I fucking love you.”

  That took the wind out of her sails.

  He knew she’d been ready to throw something right back at him but now he watched as she went from bending at the waist primed to tell him off to standing straight.

  “What?” she asked, eyes huge.

  “You heard me.”

  She shook her head slowly. “No. Say it again.”

  God, he was pissed. But for her, he’d do it. “I said I think I love you.”

  Eyes still big, she repeated, “You think you love me.”

  “Let’s go get your shit,” he said semi frowning down at her. She continued staring at him. “Babe. Let’s go.”

  That woke her up. “Gunner?”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “I—I think I might love you too,” she confessed.

  He bent and grabbed her up, her legs going around his waist, arms around his neck, as she yelped. Then he gave her the kiss to end all kisses and still holding her, pulled his head back and told her, “Good. Then let’s get your things so we can go back to my place so I can fuck you. Show you how much I think I love you.” He waggled his eyebrows.

  She giggled then leaned in for a quick kiss. “Deal.”

  Chapter 15

  “After that, well, I think my think has turned into a know,” Quinn said dreamily, breathless after Gunner had shown her three times what he thought about her.

  They both lay naked, heads at the foot of his bed, trying to catch their breath.

  Gunner chuckled. “Again, in English, please.”

  She turned to look at him and burst out laughing. “That was about as English-y as I’m gonna get right now, honey.”

  He reached an arm out and pulled her on top of him, holding her face in his hands as he looked at her.

  “What?” she asked smiling.

  “So goddamned beautiful,” he said, pulling her down for a kiss.

  “You’re pretty handsome yourself, honey.”

  He kissed her again. “I’m starving.”

  She laughed. “Me too.”

  “Stay here, gorgeous. I’ll bring you something.” He kissed her once more then got out of bed as she turned on her stomach, hands under her chin watching as he pulled on a pair of well-worn low-slung jeans.

  “What’s that tattoo on your arm?”

  He glanced down at her then sitting on the edge of the bed, reached a hand out to tangle in the hair that sprawled across her back. “I was in the Army. Flew choppers and was a Night Stalker. That’s the emblem.”

  She came up on her elbows. “Night Stalker?”

  “Special ops team.”

  “So dangerous stuff?”

  He nodded.

  “How long were you in?”

  “Eight years.” She saw him hesitate before he continued. “Got out right after a major fuck-up.”

  “What happened?”

  “Somehow the enemy got intel on where we were going in.” He appea
red to be uncomfortable talking about it, so she remained quiet, giving him time. “They ambushed us right after we landed. IED’s going the fuck off everywhere. Gunfire.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “I lost my best friend, Nate, that day. He…he died in my arms.”

  She got up on her knees and wrapping her arms around him from behind clasped her hands in front then kissed the side of his neck. “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. I’m really truly sorry.”

  He put a hand up to cover hers. “I was fucked up for a while after that,” he said quietly. “Wasn’t sure if I wanted to live.”

  She held in her gasp, not wanting him to stop talking but paying the price for it as her heart clenched in her chest for him. God.

  “Almost got court martialed for arguing with my superior officer. Came home, didn’t give a fuck about anything. Crashed my car.”

  She closed her eyes taking in all his pain and laying the side of her head against his, held him tighter.

  “Finally, Dad got fed up and put me in counseling. It helped. A lot. But I still have nightmares sometimes. Guess I always will.”

  “You went through a lot.”

  He squeezed her hands then turned and kissed the side of her head before getting up. “I’ll be back.”

  She nodded and watched as he left the room then lay down pulling the sheet back over her.

  “Hey," she heard and felt a depression in the bed when Gunner sat. She felt his hand on her back where he rubbed it a couple times. “Wake up, sleepyhead. I’ve got something for you.”

  She hadn’t realized she’d fallen back to sleep and now popped an eye open to see him in all his hotness sitting there smiling down at her.

  “You got something for me?” she asked sleepily.

  He chuckled. “Sit up, baby.”

  It took her a moment but she did what he said, pulling the sheet up as she leaned back against the wall.

  “Here.” He held a fork out to her to take a bite of something.

  She leaned forward and ate and good lord what she took into her mouth was amazing.

  “Oh, my God. What is that?” she asked, chewing.

  He smiled. “Crab omelet.”

  “It’s delicious!”

  He chuckled and handed her a plate then grabbing his own plate from the nightstand, went to the other side and sat in bed, eating with her.

  “I need some water,” she said. He reached over and grabbed one of the unopened bottles he’d brought in, opening it and handing it to her. “You thought of everything.”

  “Yep. My motto is ‘Be Prepared.’”

  “Oh. You were a Boy Scout too?”

  He laughed. “Nah. Just thought it sounded good.”

  When they finished eating, she said, “That was great. What other tricks you got up your sleeve?”

  Setting his plate on the stand then taking hers and doing the same, he proceeded to show her several tricks he’d kept a secret until then and she loved every friggin’ second of it.

  Thursday morning Gunner again went with her to work staying throughout the day, but he had to leave at four telling her he’d be back around six and that he’d let security know she was alone.

  Everything went off without a hitch.

  When he picked her up, they went to dinner at a sports grill where he told her what he’d been doing the last part of the day.

  “Oz and I went to talk to the Edwards.”

  She frowned. “You did? Why?”

  He sighed but feeling she had a right to know, told her about the knife that’d been stuck in her door.

  “What?” she asked, feeling her stomach drop at hearing that. Holy fricking frick! She’d been scared before but now, good God!

  He reached a hand across the table and covered hers. “It’s okay, baby. Creeped me the fuck out too, but that’s why I’m here. To protect you.”

  “Was the, uh, knife one of the Edwards’s?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Okay, and?”

  “Tommy doesn’t live with them anymore, so we got his address and hit him up. And that was pleasant, let me tell you. Kid’s a punk if I ever saw one.”

  She nodded, remembering what a jackass he’d been in their session a couple years before and then here lately too, of course.

  “After we got past his macho, ‘I don’t give a fuck who you are’ bullshit, and maybe after Oz put the kid in a headlock,” he chuckled, “he swore he’d never seen the knife before.”

  “Oz put him in a headlock?” she asked, shocked.

  Gunner laughed. “Thought the little bastard was gonna piss himself.” He shrugged at her open mouth and tilted his head almost apologetically. “It worked. We got our information and left him alone after. I also got his schedule. Works at some vintage vinyl record store. So we swung by there and he was working on the dates your stalker showed up at your apartment. So I’m thinking we can rule him out.”

  She frowned. “Then who is it?”

  “Gotta be Vance.”

  She shook her head. “I still don’t see him doing this. He’s a grown man.”

  “With a Ph.D. in psychology. Babe. He knows how to fuck with people.” He took a drink of his beer. “Don’t get mad but Tilly said he has a history of messing with your head.”

  Her brow wrinkled. “Tilly always says that but honestly I don’t see it.”

  “He give you ultimatums?”

  She thought for a moment. “Well, yeah, on occasion, but everyone does that at certain times.”

  “He twist shit around and make it look like it’s your fault?”

  He did do that too but, again, she felt that was something every person did at one time or another.

  “Make you feel guilty for living your life while he was living a lie?”

  Damn.

  “Yeah,” she whispered.

  “There you go.”

  She watched as he ate the rest of his burger then reality set in. “He did. He did do all those things.” She looked at him in surprise. “I guess I didn’t see it because I honestly didn’t care.” She frowned in realization. “He didn’t really mean anything to me, so I never took the time to analyze his actions.”

  “Kinda like you didn’t analyze mine until I mentioned it?”

  Her brow wrinkled. “God. What’s wrong with me? I’m a psychologist who doesn’t analyze people!”

  He chuckled. “Babe, you’re busy with your clients. Your brain probably shuts down at times after hearing all the shit you hear all day long.”

  “I need a vacation.” She popped a French fry in her mouth and shook her head. What the hell? She totally needed to get a grip.

  “How about we go somewhere when I get all this figured out?” he asked.

  She perked up at that because, hell yes! She was all for going away with him. “Somewhere warm? With water?”

  He nodded and grinned. “You in a bikini? Fuckin’ count me in.”

  She giggled at this as they finished their meal, and after going by her place to collect some things then back to his apartment, she gave him a sneak peek of what their vacation would consist of, including a preview of her in the bikini she’d bought on sale just the month before.

  He’d lunged at her making her give chase around the apartment then finally catching her, he showed her his own idea of a what their trip would be like, not letting her leave the bed once. Which so totally worked for her.

  Friday was a good day with Gunner staying with her at the office the entire day. That night they went to see Quinn’s sister Jodi’s off-Broadway play.

  As they sat in the crowd, she could tell Gunner was uncomfortable.

  “Never been to a play before?” she asked, bumping his shoulder.

  “Not since I was The Beast in the fifth grade play,” he answered.

  Her mouth dropped open. “You played Beast? Aw! That’s so cute!”

  The look he gave her made her giggle.

  “So did you have to kiss Belle at the end?”

  “Fuck no. Katrina Ry
les was a snotty little thing. I told our music teacher no way in hell was I gonna kiss her.” He snorted.

  She grinned. “So what’d you do?”

  “Shook her hand.”

  At that she burst out laughing. “Oh, my God. That’s the sweetest thing ever. Please say your mom has pictures.”

  “She does. I’ll show ‘em to you sometime. Just be careful, though.” She looked up at him, puzzled. “I was a good looking kid. Might be too much for you to handle.”

  She snorted as she smacked him on the arm. “Behave,” she uttered as the lights flashed that the play was about to begin.

  “You were amazing!” Quinn told her sister for the hundredth time after the play. Jodi had given her backstage passes so she and Gunner could come back and talk with her afterward.

  “Thanks! Supposedly, there was a Hollywood casting director in the audience tonight!” Jodi squealed.

  “Oh, my God! That’s awesome! You think they’ll give you a call?”

  Jodi shrugged and rolled her eyes. “I have no idea. You know how all that goes. Ninety-nine percent luck and the other one-percent is, well, luck.” She laughed.

  “I’m so proud of you, though! This play is nothing to sneeze at but you make it even better!”

  Jodi gave her a quick hug. “Thank you. That means a lot. I called Mom and Dad. They said they’ll try to make it down to see a show soon.”

  “Good! They need to. I’ll call them and tell them how amazing you are, maybe get them down here sooner.”

  “Then I can introduce them to Sebastian!”

  Quinn smiled, not wanting to say anything to hurt Jodi’s feelings. She’d met Sebastian two times before and he’d come off as an arrogant asshole both times, talking to her as if she was clueless. She’d tried to keep their conversation engaged by asking him questions about his job but he’d presented himself as bored so she’d let it go.

  “Speaking of, where is Sebastian?” Quinn asked.

  Jodi shrugged. “Oh, he had to run over to another theater and help with something.”

  “Gotcha. So what do you think of Gunner?”

  “He’s fucking hot!” her little sister gushed.