The Billionaire's Weakness

Chapter Two

The next morning I was sitting on the floor of our family room watching Bria roll around and play with some of her toys. Having not slept at all when I got back to bed I was pretty zoned out. I kept thinking back to when I was outside and how I could have sworn I was being watched. Logic would state that it was all in my head, but my gut instinct told me it was something else. 

“How much do you think guard dogs cost?” I said more out loud than to anyone specific. 

Dominic and Paul were sitting on the couch watching the morning news and drinking their coffee. 

“That’s a random question, love. I’ve never looked into a guard dog. Why do you ask?” Dom kept a straight face but I could detect a little bit of humor behind his eyes. Paul simply looked at me like I had lost my mind. 

“I thought I saw someone walk by Bria’s window last night. Out of the corner of my eye, maybe. It was probably just my imagination.  I went outside to see what I could find but there wasn’t anyone there. Except I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.” 

“Wait, you thought you saw someone so you went outside to check it out? By yourself?” Dom’s humor was definitely non-existent now. 

“I wasn’t sure what I saw, which is why I went out there. It ended up only being a raccoon. Nothing happened.” 

“This time. What if it wasn't an animal, Quinn? You have two men living here who always have a gun easily accessible to them. If anything like that ever happens again you need to come and get one of us.” I fought the urge to roll my eyes at him. I was too tired to be lectured. 

“Ok, obviously it wasn’t the smartest thing I could’ve done. But nothing happened and no one was there. Let’s just forget I brought it up, ok.” He and I continued to stare at each other. 

“I can pull up the video footage from last night and see if I can find anything.” Paul chimed in breaking up Dom and mine’s stare down. 

“Yeah, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Dominic relaxed back into the couch. 

That was when I remembered Jonah. Crap. “Paul, I had a bad nightmare last night and it was just me freaking myself out. We’ve been here for six months and with how many times Dom and I are up in the middle of the night with Bria, nothing has ever happened. I let a cute but rabid masked furball get the best of me. That’s all.” Looking back and forth between both of them my eyes finally settled on Dom. “I promise if anything like that happens again I will go and grab the closest, gun-toting, badass Italian man I can find to protect me and Bria.” I pushed myself off the floor and walked over to give Dom a quick kiss before plopping myself down next to him on the couch. 

“That’s all I ask.” Dom wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. 

Dominic

Sitting on the chair in our room, I mindlessly flipped through channels on the television. Even after all this time I never slept well the nights that Quinn worked. It was easier for me to stay up until Bria’s nighttime feeding and then try and go to bed. There were so many times I wanted to try and convince her to quit her job and just stay home. But I could never bring myself to take away something that she actually enjoyed doing. 

I shut off the television and threw the remote, watching it land on the bed. I rubbed my hands over my face and decided I would make my way downstairs. It was getting closer to Bria’s normal wake-up time so I might as well start getting everything ready. 

Walking down the hallway I decided to pop in and check on her. This was something I often did even though we had the video monitor and I could see her any time I wanted. It always made me feel better when I did a physical check. I looked down at her in the crib and let out a soft chuckle. She was in her normal position, sprawled out on her back with one knee bent and the opposite side arm draped over her head. This was the exact position that Quinn slept in most nights. I had even been able to catch a couple of pictures of the two of them side by side in this pose. 

Glancing over at the windows I remembered our conversation from earlier. I know my wife, she is tough as nails. A nightmare wouldn’t have messed with her mind enough to where she thought she was seeing things. She was always careful, especially with Bria around. Something must have made her feel the need to investigate on her own. 

Quietly, I walked back to the hallway and made my way to the room that acted as the central hub for the house. It contained all the hookups for our security cameras, internet, etc. I turned on the large monitor and six individual boxes illuminated on the screen. This was the live feed. I sat down and clicked out of that screen opening up the program where our saved feed was located. 

Scrolling through the footage there was nothing out of the ordinary that stood out to me. Well, maybe one thing. Jonah’s truck pulled up around eleven and there was Emilia. She greeted him outside, very eagerly I might add. Good for Jonah, now maybe I could say with some certainty that he was completely over Quinn. Although it appears beautiful brunettes are his type. Who am I to judge, I know from experience they are hard to resist. This must have been why Quinn didn’t want Paul to see the video from last night. 

I switched to the camera that was on the deck and made my way through that footage. I tried to remember what time it was that Quinn went downstairs. I moved slowly from frame to frame. The sky was clear last night so the images were of excellent quality. I was almost about to close out of it until … What is that? 

It was hard to make out but it did in fact look like there was a shadow. It started where the stairs are and it walked the length of the deck. It could have been an animal but I wasn’t sure. 

As I continued to watch and rewatch something occurred to me. The way the figure was moving it was skillfully avoiding being seen. Almost as if they knew where the cameras were and where the blindspots would be. Something that would be very difficult to judge in the darkness or randomly. 

I sat back in the seat and rubbed my hand along my jawline. After the article came out about the opening of Abriana’s there had been a couple of weird pieces of mail that showed up to the restaurant. Every time there is some publicity it’s to be expected. As was protocol I turned everything over to Seattle PD so that they were aware in case anything became a serious threat. But nothing ever did. I never mentioned it to Quinn because I didn’t want her to worry. However, the fact that someone could have been here at my home changes things, drastically. 

Jonah

A little bit more than halfway through my shift I finally sat down to take my lunch break. Not because we were busy, but because I was purposely trying to go around the same time as Quinn. Tonight was not your typical Saturday. No one in the emergency department ever likes to use the dreaded “q” word, but tonight had actually been quiet. 

I unwrapped my protein bar and took a bite. I looked up at the television and the food network was on. It was always either this, the news, or HGTV. I heard the door open and turned to find Quinn walking in. She swiped her badge in front of the time clock and rolled her eyes at me. 

“You are so predictable. I knew you would want to corner me to talk about last night. Don’t worry Romeo, your secret's safe with me.” She walked over to the soda machine and stood there trying to make a decision. 

“I knew you wouldn’t tell on me. Maybe I just wanted to hang out with you because it’s been a while since we’ve had some one-on-one time.” I watched as she agonized over her decision of which drink to choose. “Quinn, will you just press the damn Diet Coke button. It’s the only thing you ever drink at work.” 

“You don’t know me.” She gave me the side-eye but then pressed the button, slightly defeated. She sat down next to me and then looked up at the television. 

“Oh my god, change the f*****g channel. I can’t stand that asshole.” She cringed at the screen as a shiver ran through her. I looked up trying to see who she was talking about.

“Alistair Throne? That dude’s funny. He and Guy Fieri are like the two celebrity chefs I’d want to sit down and have a beer with.” 

“I don’t know about Fieri, but trust me, you don’t want to know Throne.” She looked down and began tracing the letters on her soda can. I reached over for the remote and started flipping channels. 

“Have you met him in person or something?” I glanced at Quinn and watched her face pale. In the almost year that I’ve known her, we had grown pretty close. It definitely started out with me wanting more than friendship but when it didn’t turn out that way I still couldn’t let her go. Honestly, she had become my best friend and there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her. But despite how close we were it always felt like there was a part of herself that she kept hidden. 

“Unfortunately.” She took a sip of her soda. 

“Oh come on. I deserve to hear the celebrity gossip. How did you meet him?” 

“Well, prepare to be disappointed because the story isn’t all juicy like you’re imagining. He has a restaurant in one of Dom’s hotels in Vegas. He’s an ass and definitely not as charming in person.” She shrugged at me. I could tell there was more to the story she just gave me, but I didn’t pry. 

“I still don’t know why the f**k you chose to live in Tacoma. It’s hard to rub elbows with the rich and famous out here.” I was continuing to flip through the channels still trying to find HGTV when suddenly Quinn shot up out of her seat. 

“Wait, go back.” 

“Go back to what?” I looked up at her but her eyes never left the screen. 

“To the news channel, you just passed it.” I did as she asked and waited for her to stop me. “There, that one.” 

I looked up at the screen wondering what she saw that made her freak out a little. Then the news reporter started talking. “Once again we are here in Las Vegas just outside the home of infamous madam Lianna Murphy. Almost four hours ago police received an emergency call from someone on Murphy’s security team. Upon arrival, police found Murphy and three men dead from apparent gunshot wounds. Police want to assure the community that this appears to be an isolated incident and a full investigation will be conducted.”