Our Love

Quinn

My ears were ringing, I could see Wade's mouth moving, but I wasn't hearing him anymore. Grant was rubbing his hand up and down my back, but I didn't really feel it. I couldn't quite describe the way I was feeling as Wade sat across from us and did his best to lay out the details of everything. The details of everything with Ben Stevens. I was unnerved by his behavior that I hadn't even realized.

"Are you okay?" I finally heard Grant's words as he leaned over to me. Wade sat with his head in his hands as if he felt guilty for bringing this all to light. He had no idea how much he was my hero; from the very first day we met until now, he was always saving me. I could only nod at Grant, not wanting to attempt to speak just yet for fear my voice would crack.

"So you're saying that Ben Stevens has been stalking our girl here since before you met her before we met her? I'm just... I'm blown away. How did you find out? Figure it all out?" Grant was bemused by the whole thing. I wasn't too confident I understood everything, either.

"I was already kind of looking into him before this, with the pictures sent to Quinn when you all were in Boston. I just had a feeling about him, and I asked a few people I know who could help investigate further. I had no idea the lengths he was going to, though, and I'm so sorry, Quinn. I'm so sorry you had to deal with all of this bullshit because of him." Wade leaned forward, taking my hand in his and giving me a half smile. Before anyone could say another word, Carrie came barging through the door in typical Carrie fashion.

"Hold up the family meeting; I need answers too." She called out, holding up a bottle of wine. I couldn't help but laugh at her entrance; she was always just bursting into rooms. I loved it, though, and I was so thankful for her friendship. I held up my glass of wine that I'd barely touched, showing her I was prepared while she poured herself a glass and then joined Wade on the couch. "I'm ready now. Catch me up real quick." She raised her brows in excitement.

"Carrie, this isn't fun," Wade growled.

"Oh, taking Ben Stevens down and ridding us of Denise, it's most definitely fun."

My eyes went wide; Wade hadn't been able to go into much detail yet, so hearing that Denise was gone and Ben was taken down in some way definitely had me perking up to finally hear the truth. Wade rolled his eyes at Carrie but cleared his voice to continue.

"Ben has been stalking Quinn. I had some suspicion about him after the pictures were sent to Quinn when they were in Boston. I started asking around, and the more digging I did, the more I uncovered. When I learned from Ben that his Uncle is the COO of Scholts, I started finally piecing things together." He spoke quickly, catching Carrie up with what we knew at this point. "Ben met you at the diner, Quinn. You must have served him a time or two, and he became obsessed."

"At the diner?" I was utterly lost. I didn't remember serving him during my time there, though so many people came and went, faces eventually blurred together.

"Yes. At the diner. From what I've gathered, he pulled Rex over on a random traffic stop because he was indeed following you as you thought, but the whole apartment vandalism? That wasn't him, Quinn. Rex had been pulled over on the traffic stop and arrested for violating his parole by leaving the state. He was already shipped back out West by the time your apartment had been trashed." Wades' words hit me like a tidal wave. Nothing he said made any sense. Rex had been following me; he trashed the apartment, trying to get to me. How or why would Ben have been involved in any of that? He was one of the officers who responded at the clothing shop, for Christ's sake!

"Are you fucking kidding?" Carrie gasped, watching my face for a reaction.

"I wish I were." Wade drew his hand down over his face, the emotions of the day clearly taking a toll on him.

"The apartment vandalism was Ben; he somehow organized it with one of the skanks living in the complex. He did it as a way to draw your attention to the police, to him. He wanted to step in as your hero. He didn't expect me to be there, and when I was, well that's how Scholts and Denise came into play."

"I need another beer for this." Grant stood and quickly headed toward the refrigerator. He just kept shaking his head in disbelief. I was still stunned into silence, watching Wade and waiting for every word that came out of his mouth.

"They said they arrested him, though, right there in the clothing shop. I heard them. Both officers, Ben and the other guy, said that they had arrested Rex." Carrie argued.

"They lied. When I started digging, I met that officer and found out he was no longer working as a partner with Ben. I was able to find out that he had requested a partner change right after that incident. When I looked into why I found out that Ben had bribed him into setting that whole scene up; again, he wanted to be the hero."

"He delivered a restraining order, the documents. All of the paperwork, though?" I finally bit out, feeling lost in this sea of information.

"All fabricated. As I said, Rex was long gone by then. It seems when Ben made the connection between you and Rex, well, he ran with it and used it. When he saw that you were staying here and whatever was going on, well, he took it a step further and reached out to Denise. He began playing her to come to the company. While she's not entirely innocent, she wasn't aware of the specifics of what he wanted."

After Wade had thoroughly explained everything, we all sat in silence. Processing the information dump, we'd just received. My mind was reeling, and I felt overwhelmed, so I excused myself and snuck out to the back deck for fresh air and a moment alone.

Ben had met Rex when he arrested him at the traffic stop; he made the connection between Rex and me, despite my attempt at a fake identity. After watching me at the diner, he saw this as an opportunity to get close to me. When that plan backfired because it ended up sending me to Wade, he started looking at other ways. That's when Denise entered the picture; while she wasn't opposed to getting back together with Wade, that whole idea was put into her head by Ben. I suppose it worked briefly since I went on the date with him. He wasn't able to hide his crazy long enough, though, since he showed his true colors by the end of the night.

I gripped the railing, taking a deep breath. It all just seemed unbelievable. My past caught up to my present, and this man, this one man, Ben Stevens, was the mastermind behind these frustrating events. I looked up to the sky, looking at the stars from the unobstructed country view. I felt a hand on my lower back as I pulled my gaze down, turning over my shoulder to see Carrie smiling at me.

"You okay?"

"I think so. It's a bit overwhelming and just strange, no? What is this life of mine?" Awkward laughter filled the space between us, and she shook her head.

"I have no idea, but I'm super grateful it brought you here." She engulfed me in her embrace, holding me tight. "It's all done and over now, though, all of it. Rex, Ben.. they're gone for good." She held me at arm's length, grinning ear to ear. "Not to mention, you've got two hot guys in there who are crazy about you. I'd say your life is crazy good."

"It's definitely crazy." We laughed together before returning to the house with those two hot guys.