Lost the Handle (Nashville Assassins: Next Generation #8)

Chapter 39

Chapter

Thirty-Nine

Emery

My whole body is vibrating with the urge to rip Ava limb from limb for telling the man I love that I don’t. But when Quinn’s lips touch my fingers, nothing else matters but us. I gaze into his gorgeous blue eyes that remind me of the screen of one of my favorite tracking programs, and I know I’m where I’m supposed to be.

In his arms. Under his gaze. In love with him.

“You’ll lose everything!” Ava spits, and why is she still talking?

I don’t look at her because Quinn doesn’t. He kisses my palm again, and my heart sings in my chest. This man. I can’t believe I got him back. I thread our fingers together, and he gives me a wink before looking over at her. “I won’t be. I have everything right here.”

He squeezes my hip, and I lean closer into him. I don’t want to talk to Ava since I really do hate her, but I can’t help beating a dead horse. “You know, if you tell, you’ll be caught too, and you could lose your license as well.”

Ava’s eyes go wide, her face full of rage as she goes to spew something I’m sure will be a lie, but before she can, Yvette steps forward. “Stop, Ava.”

Ava’s lips are pressed together, and she blows out a long breath. “Yvette.”

“No,” she says, shaking her head. “We’re taking the money, and we’re going to leave this life. I can’t keep doing this. I’m tired of this hold your family has over us. I want to love you freely.”

Ava shakes her head. “No. They won’t accept us.”

“Then fight for us,” Yvette sobs, her face tortured as she holds the gaze of the girl she loves. “Make me enough. Fight for me.” She looks away, her voice breaking as she continues. “I have never watched someone fight so desperately the way Emery has for Quinn. She has done everything to atone for her mistakes and has done nothing but prove how much she loves him. Do that for me, Ava. Fight for me .”

Silence falls over the room as I watch Ava’s face scrunch up in dismay. I feel Quinn’s lips at my ear as he whispers, “I don’t know how I feel about you teaming up with her.”

I grin before turning to meet his eyes. “I would do anything for you. I had to work with someone close. She was it.”

“I’m sorry about all this.”

I shake my head. “There is nothing to be sorry for. I messed up, and I had to fix it. I had to prove to you that I never stopped loving you.”

“You didn’t have to prove anything,” he insists, shaking his head. “I should have been patient. I should have fought?—”

“Quinnifer, we both know I am hell on wheels, and when I have my mind set, it’s a problem.”

He tries to hide his grin. “I know that firsthand since you dug up everything I told you not to and tried to fix it for me.”

I nod. “Yeah. So?”

“So? I told you I had this.”

“But why do it alone when we can do it together?” I raise my brow in challenge, and he can only chuckle.

“And you were going to pay her off?”

I nod. “I’d pay her twenty times over for you. You’re worth every single dollar.”

“Emery, that’s ridiculous.”

I scoff. “I’d give her the Bugatti for you.”

He feigns shock. “Not my car.”

I lean into him, cupping his jaw. “Don’t you know I would give up everything for you?”

“You don’t have to.” He kisses my nose. “I’m yours.”

“I know, but I wanted you to be free from all she had over you. I want you to decide for yourself if you want to walk away from being a doctor or not. No matter what, I support you.”

He swallows, his throat bobbing as he holds my gaze. He shakes his head. “I’ve missed you, Em.”

Emotion clogs my throat as I run my thumb along his jaw. “You’ll never have to miss me again.”

His eyes shine with love as he leans down to kiss my nose once more. “Promise?”

“Promise. I won’t ever walk away again.”

“I wouldn’t let you anyway,” he says before taking my mouth with his. He kisses me hard, his tongue brushing mine as he squeezes my hips, pulling me tighter to him. Neither of us cares that there are currently two people fighting in the room with us. All that matters is us.

Against my lips, Quinn whispers, “My heart is yours.”

“I know,” I quip with a wink.

His deep chuckle runs down my spine and warms the pit of my belly just as Yvette says, “I want you to love me like that, where nothing else in the world matters but me.”

“But I do,” Ava stresses. “My family?—”

“Then we leave. We start over somewhere else. Together,” Yvette tries. But I know Ava isn’t going for it, and my heart aches for Yvette.

“No, I can’t. I need him.”

“You don’t,” Yvette says just as I remind Ava, “Nope. You can’t have him.”

Ava closes her eyes, shaking her head, and I can tell she feels the defeat. I would feel bad, but she hasn’t been the nicest and she tried to steal my man.

“I can’t do this,” Yvette says then, and I look over as she locks eyes with Ava. “Either we take the money and start our life together, or I walk away.”

Ava’s mouth falls open. “What?”

“You heard me. I have been patient, but I can’t any longer. Not after I’ve witnessed what real love is. The fight, the need, the passion. Ava, I want that. I deserve that.”

Ava looks at us then back at the woman who is currently holding her bloody heart out for Ava to take. Ava’s eyes are full of shock and fear, and I hope she makes the right decision.

Quinn slides his hand into mine, our fingers threading, before he says, “We’re gonna go. You two need some privacy, and we do too.” He kisses the top of my head. “Send me your banking information, and I’ll transfer the money.”

I hold up my hand to stop whatever Ava wants to say. “Don’t worry, I have it, and the money will be deposited within the hour.”

Ava’s eyes narrow. “You have my banking information?”

I grin the way I do when I want someone to fear me. “I have everything. So, remember that, okay?” I pause then hold up a hand. “If you decide to ruin his career, I’ll ruin you, Ava Mettison. You don’t want to fuck with me.” Ava stares at me in disbelief, and I give her a sugary grin. “I’ll also send you a list of some more secure offshore account options. You picked the worst one, and I wouldn’t want to be able to steal my money back.”

Yvette snorts as Ava gawks at me. Meanwhile, Quinn laughs as he wraps his arms around me, kissing my ear. “It’s so fucking sexy when you go full dangerous hacker on people.”

I look up at him, my lips curving up. “If you’re a good boy, I’ll sit in your lap while I hack away.”

His eyes burn, the blue turning to sapphire as he squeezes my hips, pressing his raging hard-on against my stomach. “Oh Em, you’ll be in my lap, but hacking will be the last thing you’re going to be doing.”

We share a long, delicious look full of desire, before we smile blissfully at each other. The rest of the world falls away, and all I see is him.

My best friend.

My lover.

My forever.