Go to her! Is she okay?
Even if he hadn’t received the text messages from Analise, Elias wouldn’t have been able to ignore the sound of Quinley’s broken sobs.
He shoved the phone in his pocket and tore out of the kitchen, racing across the cabin and barging into her room without so much as a knock. “Quinley? Hey, hey, hey, Quinley, come on.”
He fell to his knees on the floor beside of her and wrapped her in his arms, the heart he’d thought immune to such things as a woman’s tears feeling battered by the raw sounds ripping out of her chest.
The pain she expressed was…more, bigger and magnified, pushed from deep within her body with such force he didn’t know how she had time to get enough breath before the next one.
He spied the phone on the floor beside of her and the button indicating a live call. He held her tight while picking up the phone. “What happened?”
A woman—he assumed Ana since she’d texted him to go to her—sobbed on the other end of the call and called Quinley’s name until she heard him speak.
“Death threats a-against her. Cole’s on the phone with Rhys right now. I know she doesn’t want to, but she needs t-to call him. Keep her there, Elias,” Ana said, the words sobbed and laced with fear. “Keep her safe. Please,pleasekeep her safe.”
“I’ll call Cole when I can,” he said grimly, ending the call with the hard press of his thumb.
He tossed the phone aside and wrapped both arms around Quinley once more, using his hold to pull her into his lap. Fierce, balcony-leaping Quinley would’ve swatted at his hands and mouthed off, but this Quinley didn’t. Which told him more than anything else.
He leaned his back against the bed and just held her, letting her bury her face in his neck and cry, because he remembered a time and a place when he’d done much the same thing.
He’d gone into shock when he’d learned of his parents’ deaths, and it had been weeks after their funeral that he’d finally broken down and raged like this. Hurt, angry and bitter that someone had taken them from him. From all of them. That life could be so cruel, and he was stuck living without them.
He heard Quinley’s rage, felt her defeat at the unfairness and judgment of people who didn’t have a say in her life. She’d chosen what was right for her, and in return, people threatened her. Threatened toendher. Her very existence. And the scariest part of all was the awareness that, in today’s world, there were people unhinged enough to see the threat through.
It wasn’t right or just or moral, and on top of all that she was already dealing with, this addedmore. Too much more to a woman already broken by her decision because she’d hurt people she cared for.
He ran his hands up and down her back, soothing her as best he could. After a long, long time, her sobs lessened to strained shudders and sniffles and gasps, but she slowly calmed.
He pressed his lips into her hair, not kissing her but simply making another point of contact. Making sure she knew she wasn’t alone. She had people who cared for her, wanted her safe. He was now one of them.
His back began to spasm from the uncomfortable position, but he ignored it. She’d move when she was ready. When she felt able. And until that time, he’d hold her together.
His mind flashed on the image of Aunt Rose’s red hands from where he’d clutched them too tightly as a young man and cried like Quinley, and to this day he honored the woman who’d let his anger rage when he hadn’t been able to block out the pain a moment longer.
Aunt Rose hadn’t told him to hush, hadn’t lied and said it would be okay, becausenothingwas okay about their deaths. She’d just held him, comforted him as best she could, until he’d emptied like a popped balloon. His goal right now was to do the same for Quinley.
Her life being threatened wasn’t okay, and he’d like nothing more than to get hold of the idiots who thought they had the right to take away her sense of safety. But since he couldn’t, he focused on her.
On helping her regain control so she could face what was now her reality and figure out whatever came next. To hold her and help see her through.
She quieted more but still he didn’t move. Didn’t force her to speak. He cuddled her close and didn’t press her for anything more, offering comfort and security in the only way he could. After long, long moments of silence as she pieced herself together, he felt her body soften and twitch. After more time spent simply holding her, she eventually sagged slightly against him, and he realized that in her exhausted state, Quinley had literally cried herself out and then fallen asleep.
Something else he’d done as that kid, fearful of the future and what it would bring to him and his family. What they’d face, all the while wondering if they’d face it together or alone in the homes of strangers.
Seeing as how Quinley hadn’t rushed to call her parents or even Ana for that matter, though he knew she was closer to Ana than anyone, he knew Quinley felt alone. Alone and obviously terrified. But safe enough in his arms and his hold to allow herself to rest.
When she slept deeply, so deep he was able to lift her against his chest and use his back and legs and the solid, wood bed frame behind him to slowly push up and get to his feet, he carefully turned and lowered her atop her bed.
He stayed close, like he used to do when Isla was a baby and he helped by rocking her and putting her down for a nap. The move gave Quinley time to adjust to the new position and cool sheets while still sensing him nearby and maintaining that sleep bubble of safety.
Once he believed she wouldn’t awaken, he tugged a blanket over her and stared down at her tear-ravaged face and swollen eyes.
She looked bad yet was still beautiful. Naturally so. The ravages of the last few days, weeks—maybe months? Those were visible as well, and he had to rethink his opinion of her. Her decision, while badly timed, hadn’t been easy for her. He’d been a jerk to think it was.
He still felt bad for the guy she’d left at the altar, but realistically he knew it would’ve been worse to wind up in a divorce case later. She’d done the guy a favor, however hard it was to see in the moment.
Elias stepped away from the bed and picked up the prepaid phone to take with him to the living room. Quincy needed rest more than anything right now. She was exhausted, and no one had ever made good decisions when in such a state.
