The Billionaire's Weakness

Chapter Three

I sat there watching Quinn react to every word the news reporter was saying. She placed her hand over her mouth in shock and seemed distraught over the news. True, it was a horrible thing that had happened but it almost seemed like it affected her personally. 

“Quinn, are you ok?” I asked slowly since I wasn’t really sure how to respond to her reaction. She didn’t acknowledge my words or look at me, but she did sit back down in her seat. 

“I don’t understand how this could have happened.” Her eyes were still glued to the screen and she was shaking her head. 

“Did you know her?” She glanced at me briefly but then the news reporter took her attention once more. 

“It has just been confirmed that the three men found with Murphy were members of her security team. Their names are Christopher Johnson, Terrence Williams, and Michael Whitlock.” 

Quinn let out a sigh and closed her eyes. “Oh god, Mike.” She said. 

I turned off the television which caused her to snap out of her grief. “What’s going on Quinn? Did you just know that one guy or what?” She folded her arms around herself. Something I knew she did when she felt unsure or defensive. 

“I knew all of them.” She whispered while glancing at the door to make sure no one was coming into the breakroom. 

“How?” It may sound like a stupid question but this is not something I wanted to assume the answer to. 

“Jonah, there is so much you don’t know about me.” She chewed on her lip and then took in a deep breath. “Lianna, she was... I mean, I used to work for her as an escort. Those men, Chris, Terry, and Mike, mostly Mike for me, were our protection when we were out on a job.”

A small laugh escaped me before I had the chance to stop it. My reaction caused Quinn to flinch and look at anything except me. Quickly, I tried to backpedal. “I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you. I’m just having a hard time trying to figure out when you could have possibly had the time to be an escort. I mean you and Dominic have been together for what, two years? Were you like a freshman in college when you worked for her?” 

“No, it was much more recent than that. I met Dom at a private poker game inside a suite at the Bellagio. He was a guest of the man who had hired us. Our love story isn’t one you’d want to write a fairytale about. In more ways than one.” She muttered the last part under her breath.  

“All of this time, you could’ve told me. I don’t know why you felt you had to hide any part of yourself from me.” She finally looked me in the eye, they were dark and not filled with their usual sparkle.

“Because I never wanted to have you look at me the way you did just now.” I c****d my head to the side in confusion which caused her to sigh. “It’s a cross between shock, pity, and curiosity. Even though you’re my friend and I trust you to support me regardless of knowing about this part of my past, it was still there. Even if only for a brief moment.”

Not knowing how to respond I just stared at her. There was the part of me that wanted to pull her in for a hug and tell her everything would be fine. Tell her how lucky she was to be out of that life and not be anywhere near what had just transpired in Vegas. But then there was the stupid egotistical male part of my brain that wondered if Dominic hadn’t come back and she and I had moved forward with our relationship, would she have ever told me. Just then Quinn’s alarm went off signaling the end of our break. She stood up from the table without saying a word to me and I knew I had screwed this up. 

“Hey,” I said, but she didn’t turn around. “I’m pretty sure I could have handled this better. I’m sorry if I didn’t make you feel safe enough to be able to share this part of yourself with me. But I’m not judging you or your past.” Closing the space between us I grabbed her elbow and spun her into a bear hug. I gave her a tight squeeze and didn’t lessen it until I felt her arms finally wrap around me in defeat. “Are you going to be ok?”

“Yeah. It’s been almost two years since the last time I saw any of them. Once the shock of it all wears off I'll be good. I know they all had families, that's who I feel bad for.” 

“Me too.” I kept her hostage in my hug until I could feel her relax. Now to try and lighten the mood. “So, there is one question I just have to ask.” 

 Quinn grumbled into my chest. “I’m scared to hear it, but what?”

 “Out of all the men you got to, uh meet, old man Dominic was the one you chose, huh?” She let out a laugh and pulled away from me. 

“What can I say, that cocky bastard had my heart from the beginning.”

After my shift, I headed straight home. Emilia was working an open house today so she was coming by now to spend a couple of hours with me. When I pulled into my driveway I saw her sitting on my front stairs. All dressed up wearing her signature black she looked sexy as hell. Now all I could think about was how fast could I get those clothes on my bedroom floor.

When I walked towards her she looked up from her phone and gave me a huge smile. “You’re late. If you would have kept me waiting any longer I would have been forced to eat your egg and cheese bagel out of spite.” I glanced to her side and saw a brown paper bag and two coffees sitting in a drink tray. 

“You brought me breakfast and coffee?” I gave her a smug grin because I knew this was slightly out of character for her. 

“It’s one of those London Fog things you like. I know you don’t drink coffee after a shif-'' My kiss cut her off before she could finish her last word. It had been a long time since I had someone in my life who cared enough about me to remember the little things. To the outside world, this woman put up a good front. Often she could come off as cold and unfeeling to those who didn’t know her. Luckily I was able to see the real Emilia. 

When I removed my lips from hers she kept her eyes closed and I watched the corners of her mouth turn up in a smile. “You’re welcome. Now let’s go inside before it gets any colder. 

While Emilia set up my breakfast I went to my bedroom to change out of my scrubs and into a pair of sweatpants. I sat down next to her and took a bite out of my bagel. 

“Were you able to talk to Quinn about the other night? Work has been kind of crazy for me and I haven’t been able to get her alone since it happened.” 

“Yeah, we’re good. She’s not going to say anything to Paul or Dominic. Speaking of Dominic she told me the story of how they met. Pretty weird huh?” If Emilia didn’t know the story I’d make something up, but I was a little curious to see if I was the only one kept out of the loop. 

“Oh you mean because of how Quinn’s dad was best friends with Dom and Paul growing up?” She took a sip of her coffee and waited for my answer. My eyes widened as I processed her words.

“Quinn’s dad?” 

“Yeah, Anthony was his name. Growing up, the few times I was around him he was always nice to me. You know before everything happened.” 

“Before what happened?” 

“Before he killed Dom’s mother. I mean, technically no one knows for sure if it was him or Quinn’s mom who shot her because they were both there.”

“Wait a damn minute, Jennifer may have shot Dominic’s mom?” What the f**k was going on today? How did I know so little about the people I had spent the majority of my time with over the past year. 

“Jennifer isn’t Quinn’s mom. I mean, not biologically anyway. Wait, if you two were talking about how they met how do you not know any of this stuff?” 

“Obviously I was getting a different version. I was told they had just met in Vegas a couple of years ago. I didn’t know Dominic knew Quinn since she was born.” That thought alone kind of grossed me out. 

“It’s not like that. He didn’t know her. See after the incident her parents ran, they left New York. None of them knew who she was when they met her in Vegas. After her parents died Jennifer, who was her mom's best friend, ended up raising her as her own. They have fake identities and everything. Quinn isn’t even her real name, it’s just all she’s ever known. When everything was found out it almost ended their marriage. Paul didn’t go into specifics with me but I heard it was really bad.” Emilia reached over and took a bite of my bagel that had gone untouched since she so casually started telling me this story. 

“No wonder she said their love story wasn’t a fairytale.” Emilia let out a snicker.

“She got that right. More like a Lifetime movie or a true-crime documentary. Maybe Paul’s mom did me a favor by keeping me the dirty little secret as much as she did.” 

“And now I’m your dirty little secret.” I leaned forward and looked directly into her eyes, giving her a knowing smile. She licked her lips and I watched as her eyes traveled over my bare chest and arms. Her breath quickened ever so slightly. 

“You haven’t finished your breakfast.” Finally, her eyes made their way back to my face. 

“Oh I’m still going to eat, I’m just craving something a little bit sweeter.”