Page 13 of Temptation
“Maybe,” She acknowledged with a slight nod. “But Quill insisted. Joel and I almost divorced a few years ago, and it got really nasty before it was dropped. Joel realised he'd be screwed without me and begged for a second chance. He did a complete one-eighty regarding how he treated me; up until four months ago, things were great. Quill doesn't trust him and wanted to make sure I'd be okay if I decided to leave down the road.”
“If it's your brother - big brother? Is he older than you? - Looking out for you because he's worried, that's different.”
“Quill is a whole five minutes older, and if you think he hasn't lorded it over me my whole life, you'd be very wrong.” Quinn laughed. “How did you two meet?”
Tenn swallowed his mouthful of custard. “He needed insight on a historical building he was restoring and reached out. I'm an Art Historian, but my specialty is historical architecture. He reached out again while recreating another historic house for the Municipal government. I got really involved in that one, and we became friends. We're not the type of friends who hang out at pubs watching sports or anything like that, but we'll grab lunch or meet up to discuss work-related things and end up talking about other stuff for hours.”
“If he talks about anything personal, you guys are much closer friends than you think. Quill doesn't do traditional friendships. He only has a few people he considers friends, and everyone else falls under either acquaintances, co-workers, or family.” She smiled at him. “He's very private and prefers to do his own thing. Growing up, Dad made him his best friend and lived vicariously through him. He made Quill do all the same sports he did growing up but expected him to go pro, something Dad never accomplished. They were constantly together, always away at some tournament or sports meet, and Quill hated it. He just wanted to draw and design buildings, not play sports despite how athletically gifted he is.”
Tenn paused as he considered what she told him. That warmed him to his very core. Over the years, he and Quill had spent lots of time discussing personal things; he hadn't gone into detail about Quinn since her hospitalisation, just mentioned her in passing, but he knew all about their family and what it was like for them growing up and knew Quill had been diagnosed late in life with a mild form of OCD and high-functioning autism. Quill also would listen to him vent about his wife or other issues and offer his two cents, including encouraging him to hire Ron. He looked up at her and saw her watching him with a grin.
“So, you're besties with my brother and didn't know it?” She teased. “He spoke very highly of you when he gave me your contact information.”
“I didn't, but now that I think about it, I've told him things I've never told anyone else, and I would consider him one of my closest friends.” He paused and tilted his head at her. “He doesn't mention you very much. I knew he had a twin sister, and he even showed me a picture of you years ago, but that's it. When my PI showed me your picture, I knew you looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on why until you said Quill was your twin.”
Quinn chuckled. “Oh, that's kinda sweet, actually. He wasn't ready to share you.”
“What do you mean?” Tenn didn’t know what to make of that. Share him?
“Quill and I complement each other, two sides of the same coin type thing. I'm emotional, he's logical, he's very precise and goal-oriented; I'm a “let's see what happens if we do this” type of person. But we're very close and share many of the same hobbies, passions, and friends. Our best friends from Uni, Rilla and Bishop, married each other. It's not very often we get something or someone that's just ours. We both have issues with sharing.”
“Huh. I wonder what changed.” Tenn mused as Quinn shrugged. “He's the one who convinced me to hire a PI to look into Viki.”
“Yeah, he told me to give Joel the ultimatum. It's his logical point of view; emotions don't play into his thought process very much.” Quinn collected their containers and spoons, put them in the bag, and stood up, offering him her hand. “Come on; the flies are coming out. Why don't we go back to my place and start working on the outline?”
Tenn smiled and let her pull him up. “Sounds like a plan. Are you sure Joel won't mind?”
“I don't really care if he does.”
Chapter Seven: An Unexpected Encounter
Tenn followed Quinn back to her place. He was thinking about what she said about Quill not being ready to share, his comment about it being too bad Tenn was married because he felt Tenn and Quinn would like each other, plus the fact that he gave Quinn his contact number after he told Tenn to hire a PI and Quinn to give Joel an ultimatum and that it all happened within a few days of each other after he told Quill about his wife's behaviour and that she started at the Porsche dealership.
His thought process was interrupted when he noticed his wife's fuchsia pink Porsche Boxster Convertible parked several houses down from Quinn's place. He had been livid when she came home and proudly showed him her new car. But she insisted that it was like a loaner; she didn't pay for it, and she was expected to drive it as an employee of the dealership. He had combed over their finances that night but couldn't find anything to say she had bought it and let it go. Now, he was wondering if Joel had gotten it for her.
When he pulled up and parked behind her, he jumped out and caught her arm. “My wife is in your house.” He pointed up the street. “That's her car.”
Quinn looked at her house for a minute and then turned back to him. “Can you follow my lead?”
“What?” Tenn stared at her. “We're about to potentially catch them red-handed!”
“Yeah, I need more time to look into some things, and so do you. Can you follow my lead and not lose your temper?” She gazed at him imploringly.
Tenn looked into her emerald eyes, saw the determination, and nodded. “Yeah. I can.”
“Are you sure? No matter what we might hear?”
“We also might see.” He pointed out, bile rising in his throat. He may not want to be with Viki anymore, but the thought of walking in on her getting railed by Quinn’s husband filled him with disgust.
“No, Joel believes sex is a bed sport only.” She shook her head. “And my office is the first room off the hallway, and the bedroom is the last. Just follow my lead.” She took his hand off her arm and squeezed it. “Ready?” He nodded and let her lead him into the house.
He heard his wife making high-pitched, breathy moans when she unlocked the door, moans that he’d never heard her make. They almost sounded… Child-like? He felt his stomach twist. Was that why she was cheating? He would have stopped immediately if she had made that sound with him. Quinn's house was a one-level bungalow, and the hallway to the bedrooms was just to the right of the entranceway. Quinn met his eyes, and while he could see hurt and anger in them, he could also tell she was trying not to laugh. Somehow, the situation became funny to him as well, and he snorted. She put her finger to her lips, and they crept into the hallway. His wife was amping it up, and he saw the door was left open at the end of the hall.
“Just wait in here, Tenn, while I tell my husband to turn down his porn. I'm so sorry about this.” Quinn spoke at a normal volume, and suddenly everything got quiet, and there was a soft thud and a muffled curse.”
“Don't worry about it.” Tenn watched as Quinn walked down the hall and was met by Joel, wrapped in a blanket, in the doorway.
“Quinn! I wasn't expecting you home so early or for you to bring company.” He glanced at Tenn. His face was so red, you could have lit a match on it.