page27 (1/2)
What the hell?
“Mo with Dante, nibbling at a croissant and sipping a cup of coffee
She smiles at me and she honestly looks happy
My mother
Happy
It’s a crazy concept, I know
But it seems to be true
“Don’t look so surprised,” she tells ht about it a lot last night when I was supposed to be sleeping You id and set ina witch” She pauses here, presu to have sohs “I’ so hard So, I’ve decided to take a page froes will be made”
I’m stunned
This is a
I gulp, then nod
“Thank you,” I tell her “I don’t knohat to say”
“There’s nothing to say,” she tells ht, Mia”
And once again, I believe that to be true Everything really will be okay
“Have you seen Quinn?” I ask My mother nods
“He was here for breakfast I think he went outside”
I chat for a o outside to find him Reece stays inside to talk with my mom and wait for Dante
It doesn’t taketo find Quinn I just head down to the stables and there he is He is truly in his element with that horse That is for sure I walk up to the fence and call out a goodHe turns and I inhale sharply It looks like a truck has hit his face
“Holy cow,” I breathe “Your face”
He smiles “Gee, thanks,” he says “Just the kind of reaction I was looking for”
He’s joking and I smile
“Does it hurt?” I ask hesitantly He rolls the eye that isn’t swollen
“It doesn’t feel wonderful But I’m okay,” he assures me
I gaze at him, at his handsome, sexy face that is noollen and distorted He smiles Or I think he does With his cheek swollen like that, it’s hard to tell And then he rolls his eye The un-swollen one
“Way to make me feel unselfconscious, tiny tot,” he tells me wryly
I wince “I’m sorry It just looks painful I’m so sorry that this happened to you It’s ize, I mean”
He stares at roo heads
“The last I knew, Gavin was the one who attacked uilty at all, Mia It’s not your fault”
“If I hadn’t been so confused, Gavin wouldn’t have felt led on and this entire thing wouldn’t have happened,” I tell him sadly “It is my fault”
He shakes his head “Well, we’ll have to agree to disagree But on the off chance that you’re right and this is your fault, there’s so you can do to make it up to me”
He pauses here and grins Or I think he does It’s hard to say at this point with all that swelling I choose to believe it is a grin and so I grin back
“And ould that be?” I ask
“You can finally teach me to swim,” he answers “If I’m here in Caberra, surrounded by the sea, I think it’s so I should know, don’t you?”
I smile and start to nod
Unfortunately, I don’t have tiree because a car rolls to a stop next to the stable A police car from Valese I’m startled as two officers clih I don’t knohy We haven’t done anything wrong
“Quinn McKeyen?” one calls out in English
Quinn nods “Yes, that’s me” He’s unconcerned because he knows that he hasn’t broken the law
The officer pulls out a pair of handcuffs “You’re under arrest for the assault of Gavin Ariastasis Son, you picked the wrong boy to pick a fight with Don’t you knoho his father is?”
The officer snaps on the cuffs and I a in asted that it takes a
“Don’t you knohose property this is?” I demand as I chase after them “This is Dimitri Giliberti’s property, as I’ out that you’ve just arrested his house guest”
The officer levels a gaze at me
“Miss, there’s one thing about our prime minister He’s always fair If his own son broke the law, he wouldn’t step in to pull any strings He believes that the law is the same for everyone”
I gulp because I know he’s right Dimitri is known for that
“But Quinn was only protecting himself,” I attempt “I was there I saw it It was self-defense Gavin started it And I can’t believe Gavin would press charges”
The other officer interrupts “It wasn’t Gavin who came down to the police station today It was his father You’ll have to take it up with him”
Eff
Gavin’s father does have a temper No one likes to cross him In fact, it’s probably one of the reasons why Gavin has always chosen to be so laid back He wants to be the opposite of his high-strung father
Eff again
“Quinn, don’t worry,” I call to hiet Dante And my dad, too”