Loving Quinn Novel by North Rose

(Annota)

My moming started off terribly. Grace was being extremely petulant. When I asked her what was wrong while I made her breakfast, all the did was glower, I tried to get her to tell me what was bothering her while I drove her in school, but she sat in the passenger seat in sullen silence.

She was in a great mood bef we left the penthouse to head to my parents’ last night. I suspect that had to do with Quinn’s suggestion about our living arrangements for the next six months. Her mood continued to be good during dinner and extended to the drive home.

ol, or my mom can get her to talk about it

Since my mom is picking her up later, all I can hope for is that her mood improves at school, or my tonight. Grace is tarely like how she was this morning. Her mood dumbfounded Quinn.

He tried his best to get her to talk to him, but he failed just like I dll. have the urge to just pick her up from school myself so that wo can talk. However, she is eleven years old. I have to allow her to tell me what is bothering her when she is ready.

baby is growing up! I don’t like it, but she is. It

1. It is time for me to stop hovering and let her have a bit of room

The rest of my day has been going well. The three surgeries I had on my schedule went better than I expected. All three of my patients will make full recoveries, but I will monitor their progress as they heal.

Now I am sitting in my office updating their files. When my cellphone rings. I glance over at the screen to see who is calling. It is a number I don’t recognize, so I send it to voicemail, then go back to my files. A few minutes later, the same number calls again. I growl in frustration at being interrupted but answer the call’despite my better judgement.

“Hello?””

“For a woman who thinks she has it all, you are about to learn a lesson. The voice on the other end of the line is deep and artificial sounding. “The harder your hold on to something, the caster it is for you to lose it. What you have isn’t yours to keep. The sooner you learn that, the better. Pain is coming for you.”

“Who the hell is this?”

“The who is not important. How is that daughter of yours? It would be a shame if anything were to happen to her.”

The line goes dead before I have time to speak again. Fear like nothing I have ever felt before propels me to my feet. I grab my purse and rush out of my office. The only thing going through my mind is getting to Grace’s school as fast as possible.

on the

Whoever just called me may not have directly threatened my child, but what they said was enough for me. I barrel out of the elevator once it reaches the parking garage. My heels slow me down, so I stop briefly to take them off. The sound of my feet sl concrete echo off the walls of the garage as I run.

My hand trembles as I pull my keys out of my purse. I grip the keys in my hands tight while I unlock the dont. Fear for my daughter causes my adrenaline to s**e as I toss my purse into the passenger seat. With jerky movements, shove the key into the ignition, then

turn the car on.

once I get to

the

As I pull out of my parking spot, my mind briefly thinks about calling the police and then Quinn, However, I can do that school to confirm that my child is safe. Another thought flashes through my mind as I pull up to the guard shack to exit the garage.

This is Dionne,

She must have gotten out on bail. Will that woman kidnap my child to make a statement? Does she think it will nmke me leave Quinn? If she is responsible for that call, will I leave him to keep my daughter sale?

It will break my heart to leave him, but if our daughter’s life is on the line, then I might.

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Chapter 44

The drive to the school goes by’in a blur, hut when I pull into the parking lot, nothing seems out of place. It takes all I have to calm my emotions so i can go inside. I don’t seem like a crazy woman looking le she is storming into the school to hurt someone.

I run my hands down my head to smooth my hair down, then I grab my purse and get out of the car. My emotions are going crazy as I walk to the entrance of the school. My heart and mind are screaming at me to run inside, rush to the admittance office, and demand to see my child.

Mrs. Morgan smiles at me as I walk up to her desk. “Hello Dr. Winters. Are you here to sign Grace out early?”

“Yes. She

e has a dentist appointment that I forgot about. We will be late, so if you can call her now, that would be great.”

She nods her head then looks up what class Grace is in right now. When she picks up the phone to call the classroom, I glance around the hallway. Whoever made that call knows where my daughter goes to school. The security here is tight. I have never once been afraid of sending her to school until today.

“She will be right down.” Mr. Morgan says.

“Thank you.”

I walk away from her desk so I can see the main hallway for the school. My emotions are going haywire as I wait for her. I can’t help but tap my foot nervously the longer it takes for Grace to join me. However, a few minutes later, I let out a sigh of relief as I see her walking towards me with a frown on her face.

When she opens her mouth to ask me what is wrong, I shake my head, then take her hand. We walk silently to the car and the moment we are both secure inside, I pull her into my arms. Grace stiffens at first before she hugs me back.

“Momma?”

“Did you see anyone at school today that you didn’t recognize?”

Grace frowns again but shakes her head no. “What happened?”

“Promise me that if you see anyone in or around the school that you don’t recognize, you go to a teacher and tell them. Promise”

“I promise.”

I let her go then sit in my seat telling myself that everything will be alright. Grace is safe. That is all that matters right now.

“Let’s go. I need to get you to grandma’s house so I can go run some errands. I am sorry I scared you, Grace. Something happened at work that made me emotional, so I need to see you.”

It is a lie and I feel bad about it, but she doesn’t need to know what really happened. It will only scare her more th She will be safe with my parents tonight. My first stop after I drop her off will be the police station to report that call.

Tready did today.

With the way the person masked their voice, I have a feeling there will be no number to trace. They probably used a prepaid bumer phone. At least that is what happens in situations like this in movies. The bad guy always uses a bummer so it can’t be traced back to them.

Dinge is smart, but is she smart enough h to think of that?

Unless it wasn’t her. There is one other person who hates me enough to scare me this way. Kyle Wells. My crazy ex-husband. He hates me. However, this doesn’t sound like something he would do. He is currently in jail for violating my restraining order.

My mother waits in the doorway as I get out of the car. She looks surprised that we are early but is happy to see Glace. She hides her worry well. Her keen eye for knowing when her children are upset makes me squirm internally as I walk Grace to the door.

Grace gives my mom a hug, then walks into the house.

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Chapter 44

“What has you looking so pale, Wanle?”

I stick to the same lie I told Grace. “Work stress, I will be line, mom.”

“Maybe you should take some time off?”

sat isn’t a bad idea, but my patients need me right now. “Maybe in a low works. We shall see.”

That

“Ok. You have a good night with Quinn. First official date night in twelve years is a big deal?”

She gives me a knowing smile then walking to house, closing the door behind her, Date night completely slipped my mind. After the fear that phone call cause, my date with Quinn tonight is the last thing on my mind.

It is on my mind new.

I was looking forward to whatever he has planned. Should we still have a date night after what happened? I ball my hands into fists as pull up to the police station. If this is Dionne and I let her get to me like this, then she wins. However, if I don’t take her veiled threat against Grace seriously, then my daughter could get hurt.

That b**h will not win, and I will take her more seriously from now on.

Taking a deep breath, I get out of the car, then head into the station. An hour later, I leave again in frustration. The same detective that Quinn spoke to before took my statement and promised he would do all he can to find out who made that call. He understood that my first instinct was to make sure my daughter was safe. However, he low-ley insinuated that their tech team would have had better chances if I had come to the station first,

I know that, but my heart and mind were only concerned with Grace. So, if they find who is responsible, I will press charges. If they don’t, then there isn’t anything I can do but be more vigilant.

Now that I know my daughter is safe with my parents, and I have done all I can to put the incident on record, I leave the police station to head to the mall. I will go through with date night. So, I need something nice to were and something s**y to wear underneath for later

tonight.

A trip to Victoria’s Secrets is in order.

So, a few hours later, I leave the store with more bags than I intended I couldn’t help myself once I was inside. I looked over lingerie, tried more on than I bought, then walked out with more satin and lace than I have ever owned before,

To pamper myself further, I head to the spa on the bottom floor of the mall Getting a manicure and a pedicure will relax me. The wax I will get afterwards will be all for Quinn. That man has a way with his fingers and tongue that just makes my toes curl in pleasure. The

least I can do is make sure he has a nice field to play on.

By the time I leave the mall, I have a smile on my face. All my earlier fear and anxiety are still in the back of my mind, but I am sure once I tell Quinn about it, we can figure out what to do from there. Now, all I have left to do is head back to his place to get ready for tonight.

I am so wrapped up in thinking about what Quinn has planned for our first date that when my phone rings: It causes me to jump in surprise. Since I am driving, I ignore the call until I get to the next traffic light. Briefly, I glance over to where my phone is on my center console. With one eye still on the light, I reach over and press the side button on my phone to see who called.

It was Quinn. The light turns green, so I have no choice but to wait until I get home to see what he wanted. Unless I pull into a parking lot to check my messages. After glancing into my side mirror, I switch lanes, then pull into the first parking lot I come to.

Quickly, I park the car, then dial my voicemail. His deep s**y his voice makes my heart flutter.

ery voice sends thrills

thrills through my veins like it always does. However, the fear in

“Annie, Grace called me. She told me about what happened at her school, how you picked her up early. Are you ok? I am on my way to

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21.29 Fri Sep 13)

Chapter 44

meet my lawyer. Dionne is beinde arraigned on Monday, I will talk to you more about it when I get home later, I just want to make sure you are ok. I love you.”

1 end the call with a mixture of emotions going through me.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

The worry in his voice was so sweet. I should have known that Grace would call him. It just didn’t occur to me, since this is all still so new. I am too used to being her only parent. That will take some time to change that.

Then there is the knowledge that my fear induced car ride to Grace’s school today was not caused by who I assumed it was.

Dionne is still in jail. She didn’t make that call today, I am not sure how that makes me feel. Could she have had someone do it for her? There are too many unknowns right now and nothing I can do about it in my car. So, I start the engine, then pull back onto the road. I really need to talk to Quinn. Only he can help me figure this out.

I haven’t gone very far from the parking lot when I hear a loud engine from somewhere behind me. Brielly, I glance in my rearview mirror to see a large black truck with tinted windows speeding up behind me sport up to switch lanes.

The truck follows

My heart beats faster as fear courses through my veins for the second time today, I try one more time to switch lanes to get out of the way. I am now on the outside line by the curb. Again, the truck follows me. I could be imagining things, but I feel whoever is driving that truck has an agenda.

A few seconds later, I am proven right when the truck rear ends my car hard, then backs up, sideswipe the driver’s side door, sending my car up onto the concrete curb. The last sound I hear as my vison blurs is the sound of tires squealing.

I can to avoid passing out.

When there isn’t another impact, I take a deep breath. Pain radiates through my entire body. I try as hard as I can

I fall.

Mrs. Morgan? The next paragraph says her desk, not his…