Chapter 16

Quinn

Me and my big mouth. I did it again. I pushed Troy’s buttons simply because I could. I used to do the same thing to my mother. It was almost as if I got some kind of sick enjoyment from pissing her off.

The slap Troy gave me didn’t hurt that much. It was the warning that I shouldn’t push him any further that closed my mouth for me.

Troy deposited me on a sun lounger next to the pool and stripped off his t-shirt.

I should really be quiet and not say anything, but if I were going to stay here, I needed to know what I was in for so I could prepare myself. “Do you…beat women?” I asked, my voice shaky.

Troy bundled his t-shirt into a little ball and threw it on the lounger. “Beat? No.”

“You hit me.”

He laughed humourlessly. “I smacked you on the ass.”

“To…silence me or to hurt me?”

“Christ Almighty,” he murmured. “Neither…to stop you from squirming out of my arms. I was about to drop you down the stairs. If I truly wanted to hurt you, you would be on the floor bleeding.”

My