By the time we pull into my driveway, my hands are shaking and my jaw aches from clenching my teeth to keep the scream at bay.
“I’ll go get my sister,” I whisper to Tate before jumping out of the car and running up the front steps as my stomach rolls. Alice pokes her head out of the kitchen as I burst in the door.
“What are you doing back so soon?”
I meet her gaze as the tears start to fall. “Alice…”
“Oh my god, Quinn,” she gasps, dropping her plate on the island and rushing over to me. “What the hell happened?”
“Brooklyn is in the car and I need you to give Tate a ride back to the clubhouse.”
She scowls. “Who the hell is Tate?”
I point over my shoulder and she peeks through the window.
“Please, Alice. I’ll explain everything when you get back but I need you and Brooklyn to not be here right now and Tate needs a ride back to the clubhouse.”
She studies me for a second before grabbing her purse. Before she walks out the door, she lays her hand on my arm. “Are you okay?”
“No. Please go.”
She nods, her gaze lingering for a second before she steps outside and I watch her get in the car. As soon as they drive away, a deep aching sob tears through me and I sink to my knees, gasping for air. Tears pour down my face and my hands shake as I press them against my racing heart and pain overwhelms me. It feels like a thousand dark hands, reaching up from the depths of hell. They grip my clothes, my arms, my legs, fighting desperately to drag me back into darkness and finish me off.
And this time, I might just let them.
Chapter Seventeen
Lucas
Sighing, I glance over at the bed in my room at the clubhouse and sigh as Clay rolls away from me, snoring loudly. When he showed up here last night during the baby shower, looking for money, I wanted to get him out of here as soon as possible but it became clear, pretty quickly, that he was in no state to go anywhere. Kodiak and I hauled him up to my room and got him into bed. I was so fucking preoccupied that I didn’t even notice Quinn was gone until Tate came upstairs to tell me that she hadn’t been feeling well so she took her home. I glance at my watch and sigh again. It’s only eight in the morning so I doubt he’ll be awake anytime soon and I need to try and call Quinn. Tate said she wasn’t feeling well at the party but I get the feeling that she might be mad at me for ditching her to take care of my brother. Time to do damage control.
I leave Clay in my room and step into the hallway before dialing her number. As it rings, I lean my shoulder against the wall and tuck my hand into the pocket of my jeans. Truthfully, she has a right to be a little mad. Clay showed up and it’s like I forgot all about her until Tate reminded me. He became my sole focus and it pisses me off that I let him.
“Hi, Lucas,” she answers but her voice sounds different.
“Hey, darlin’. You okay?”
There’s a pause and then she whispers, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I’m sorry that I disappeared yesterday. My brother showed up at the clubhouse and I was taking care of him.”
“It’s okay,” she answers but something is still off. She’s normally so warm and affectionate but there’s none of that coming through this time.
“You sure you’re okay? You sound off.”
She coughs. “Yeah, I’m just really sick.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, babe. Let me deal with my brother and then I’ll come over and bring you some soup.”
“No.”
I scowl. “You want something else? I could grab some ice cream or medicine or whatever you want.”
“No, I don’t want anything.”
Worry eats away at me as I push off the wall and walk down the hallway. “Maybe you should go see the doc, Quinn. You really don’t sound good.”
“I’ll be okay. I just need sleep.”
“Okay,” I say, running my hand through my hair. “Well, give me like an hour or two and then I’ll come hang out with Brooklyn so you can get some sleep.”
“No. I don’t want you to catch it.”
“Babe, I don’t give a shit about me,” I tell her. “I’m worried about you.”
She sighs. “I’ll be fine, Lucas. Just worry about your brother.”
“I’ll deal with him and then I’m coming over.”
“No!” she practically shouts and I pause, my eyes widening. “I really just don’t want to get you sick, okay? Promise me you won’t stop by the house?”
I stare at the wall for a second before sighing. “Okay, but you gotta text me and let me know how you’re doing or I will come over there.”
“Okay, I will.”
“I’m serious, Quinn. I want hourly updates and if you need anything, you better call me. It doesn’t matter what else I’m doing, you come first.”
“I love you,” she whispers and I swear I hear her voice crack just a little, but before I can say anything else, she hangs up on me and I pull the phone away from my ear, gaping. I don’t care how many times she tells me she’s fine. There is definitely something wrong.
I stare at my phone for a minute before dialing Tate’s number.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“How was Quinn when you took her home last night?”
She sucks in a breath. “I mean, she was acting like she didn’t feel very well.”
“Tate, come on. I have this feeling that something is going on but no one is talking about it.”
“Look, I’m sorry but I really don’t know anything. She said she wasn’t feeling well and asked me to take her home. You had disappeared so I agreed.”
I still can’t shake the feeling that she’s not telling me everything but I have no proof so I sigh and try to forget it.
“Yeah, okay.”
“Sorry I couldn’t be more help.”
I shake my head. “Naw, it’s okay. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Sounds good.”
We hang up and I shove my phone in my pocket before stopping in front of my door and leaning back against the wall across from it and before my thoughts can even fall down the rabbit hole of why my woman is ignoring me, something crashes inside my room. Sucking in a breath, I push off the wall.
“Here we go,” I whisper to myself before stepping forward and opening the door. Clay is in the corner of the room, looking through the books on my bookshelf and his head snaps up as I walk in the room.
“Looking for my cash?”
He tosses the book in his hand down on the floor and glares at me. “Come on, big bro. I just need a little bit.”
“No, you don’t,” I answer, grabbing his shirt off the chair and tossing it at him. “Get dressed.”
“Why?”
“There is somewhere I want to take you.”
He takes a step back and shakes his head. “I’m not going to rehab.”
“Believe me, Clay, I’d love nothing more than to drag your ass to rehab but that’s not where we’re going today. Now, get dressed.”
“Aren’t you going to give me a little privacy?”