Chapter 20

“Well, this is a sight for sore eyes,” Seamus said, sliding his glasses down his nose and peering over them. “Haven’t seen you in this office since…before the accident.”

Quinn nodded, leaning against the doorframe of the Legends mixed martial arts gym back office. “Been a while. It’s good to be back.”

And he meant that—or he was trying to. Walking into Legends was comfortable and familiar—like visiting a piece of himself he’d once thought defined him. Even if he wasn’t sure this was what he wanted for his professional life anymore, he still loved this place. It was where he’d first felt successful and competent, and taken charge of his life. It was where he’d first stood out from his family, becoming someone they could depend on. He’d made the contacts and convinced top fighters to sign under their management. He took the careers of athletes and boosted them to fame and fortune, taking the Legends brand with them. He’d done it for his brothers and for dozens of other mixed martial arts fighters and boxers, as well.

“Does this mean you’re ready to start work officially?” Seamus asked, motioning for Quinn to sit in the chair across the desk from him. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m doing great,” Quinn said, tilting his cane to the side as he looked down at it before seating himself across from his father. “Barely need this thing anymore.”

Seamus’s shoulders dropped slightly, seemingly relieved. “That’s great, kid.”

“Yeah. I won’t be running marathons anytime soon or getting in the cage with Kane just yet, but normal life…yeah, it’s good.”

Seamus inhaled deeply. “Well, you haven’t really been in the cage seriously for years anyway.”

“Never really my thing,” Quinn agreed. He loved to spar with his brothers for fun, but that was about the extent of it. It was their passion, not his.

His father shuffled a few papers around on his desk, clearing room to drop his elbows on its surface. “You’re dodging my question, son. Are you ready to come back?”

Quinn wavered, considering the day before with the gallery owner. “I…”

“We could really use you, Q. You were the best.” His father seemed to sense his waffling and doubled down. “I know you’re still healing, and we’re fine to work around that, but you’re a staple in this place. Hell, the business is only still running thanks to you.”

“Not me.” Quinn evaded the compliment. “You’re the backbone of this place, Pops. Plus Rory and Kieran.”

Seamus tapped his hand against the desk. “There wouldn’t be a gym for any of us to work in without you, and you know that. Don’t doubt yourself, kid. We can’t wait to have you back—but only when you’re ready.”

Quinn inhaled slowly. Technically, he could do both—work at the gym during the day and have his art be a side hustle. Sure, that wasn’t ideal and it would give him less time to work on his sculptures, but he would manage. Plus, the exhibit might not go any further than that, and Quinn had never been one to make a rash decision based on a dream that might never happen.

This was his family. He was needed here.

“Yeah, of course, Pops,” Quinn agreed, pushing away the weight in his stomach at his decision. “I’m ready to come back.”

Seamus’s face lit up, and he reached a hand forward. “That’s my boy.”

They shook hands as a tall, muscular man with shaggy blond hair walked into the office.

“Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting something?” the man asked, pointing back toward the exit as if he should leave.

“No, Flynn, come on in.” Seamus waved him over. “Meet my son Quinn. Quinn, this is Flynn Gallagher.”

Quinn stood, pushing up with his cane. He reached a hand out to the man who looked like he’d been a bouncer at a club in his youth, but was in his thirties by now. Chiseled, muscular—he commanded the room the moment he walked into it, and Quinn was not a fan.

Flynn shook his hand—almost crushed it, actually. “Good to meet you, Quinn. Heard a lot about you.”

Seamus walked over to them to explain. “While you were out, we hired Flynn to keep us from falling behind.”

“I’m Quinn 2.0,” Flynn said with a laugh, stretching his arms out.

Quinn immediately hated him. “Nothing wrong with the original, guy.”

“Oh.” Flynn’s face fell, his green eyes widening. “I didn’t mean that as a bad thing. You’re a legend around here, so it’s been an honor to temporarily fill your shoes.”

Quinn said nothing, lifting his chin slightly and staring his competition down. But is he competition? Honestly, Quinn wasn’t sure why he felt such a fire in his gut over this. All he knew was he didn’t like this man.

“He’s been a big help, Quinn,” Seamus said, defending his new right-hand man. “And the two of you will probably need to work together for a while so he can bring you up to speed. Once you’re on board, Flynn will work with me on the business end, while you take back the talent end.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Quinn agreed, despite the churning in his gut.

This blond giant looked like he’d spent more time in the cage than on the sidelines, and there was a harshness to his features that looked like he had some stories to tell. None of that really bothered Quinn, but, rather, it was the way Flynn was so friendly with his father that irked him. He didn’t like the feeling of being so easily replaced, and that seemed to be exactly what had happened.

“I’m going to go find Ma. She’s here, right?” Quinn headed for the office door, sidestepping the new Neanderthal.

Seamus nodded. “Yeah. Last time I saw her was at the smoothie bar.”

“We have a smoothie bar now?” Quinn frowned, unsure how that could have happened when his father had always been against it.

“Don’t ask,” Seamus grumbled. “Kieran’s idea. It was that or a tennis court.”

Quinn laughed. “Enough said.”

It took him a few minutes to find the new smoothie bar, but once he did, his mother was right where Seamus said she’d be. Heading in her direction, he took a long look around Legends. Aside from the smoothie bar, he also noticed some new training equipment and weight machines.

He spotted Kane and Rory training in the center ring, but they were way too focused on beating the shit out of each other to notice him.

“Hey, Ma,” Quinn greeted Dee.

Her head popped up from the deep freezer, a bowl of berries in her hand. “Hey, Quinny. Question—would a blackberry–peanut butter smoothie taste good?”

He grimaced. “I don’t know…doesn’t sound great. Maybe leave out the blackberry?”

“Good call.” She nodded. “What about strawberry? Strawberry and peanut butter protein powder—we could call it the PB & J Smoothie!”

Quinn laughed and shook his head. “Why not?”

“Want to taste our first one?” Dee asked, already pouring strawberries into a blender.

“Sure,” Quinn said, hoping he wouldn’t regret it.

The whirring of the machine filled the air, and several gym-goers shot them irritated glares. Quinn leaned his elbows against the counter, ignoring them. “So, Ma, I have a question.”

“WHAT?” she shouted over the blender. “I CAN’T HEAR YOU, SWEETHEART.”

Quinn waved his hands and waited for her to finish. He glanced back around at the gym, feeling a slight flush in his cheeks at the interaction. Not really the way he wanted to make an impression on people his first day back.

“Okay, try this,” Dee said, pouring the contents of the blender into a tall cup and handing it to him.

He took a sip. “Actually, not bad. I think you’ve got a hit.”

“Ha!” Dee clapped her hands. “And Kieran told me I didn’t know anything about smoothies—like he hasn’t enjoyed my cooking for his entire damn life.”

Quinn laughed. “Kieran’s certainly doing a lot around here.”

He’d barely paid attention to all the changes they were making to the gym, despite his family endlessly talking about it at every dinner. Looking around the main floor now only made him realize how much he’d checked out of this business, and how uninterested in it he was now. Not that it mattered. This was his job, and he did it well.

“Well, sure. Kieran’s the floor manager and wants the gym to thrive.” Dee shrugged. “Honestly, membership has been increasing, so he’s got some great ideas.”

“I wanted to ask you something, Ma,” Quinn started again, shifting his weight slightly as he felt a small pain in his leg.

“Anything, mo mhac, my son.” Dee leaned forward over the counter, grabbing his chin gently for a small squeeze. “What do you need?”

“Secrecy,” Quinn told her. “That’s what I need.”

“Oh, I’m not good at that one, baby boy,” Dee said with a laugh, leaning back slightly. “I’ll give it a try, but tread carefully.”

Quinn chuckled, but considered his options. He wanted his mother to attend the gallery exhibit. Kiera’s mention of his mother had gotten under his skin, and the moment he found out the exhibit was actually happening, he knew he couldn’t exclude the woman who’d given him everything. She was his biggest supporter—she was for all her sons. She would be devastated if she heard about this from anyone else, and he couldn’t do that to her. However, he definitely didn’t want his brothers and father there teasing him. They were a family of alpha males interested in sports and business and money…there’d never been any focus on arts or creativity. While no one had ever really said anything against it, it still felt like it would make him the odd man out.

“Well, I’ll chance it, I guess.” Quinn took a deep breath. “But if you can keep this between us, I’d really appreciate it. Please, Ma?”

Dee chewed her bottom lip. Then a sunny smile spread over her face. She glanced around and lowered her voice, leaning closer. “Are you going to propose to Kiera?”

“WHAT?” He shook his head adamantly. “Ma, no. Jesus, where’s that coming from?”

“My desire for more grandbabies, obviously.” Her head tilted to the side, her expression saying that should have been obvious.

“Focus, Ma.” Quinn laughed, feeling a small pang of guilt over the fact that he knew about Clare’s pregnancy and his mother didn’t yet. Still, that wasn’t his news to tell. “I’m trying to invite you to a gallery exhibit that will be showcasing one of my sculptures in a few weeks.”

Dee blinked once, twice, her head tilting to the side again. “I have questions. I have a lot of fecking questions, Quinny.”

“I knew you would.” He grinned at his mother. “You know the mechanic shop I bought and fixed up?”

“You mean the one no one is allowed to go inside?” Her nostrils flared, and she folded her arms across her chest. “No, I actually don’t know it, at all. I’m one week away from breaking in just to see what the feck you’re hiding in there.”

He grimaced, guilt tugging at him again. Damn, he felt guilty a lot…maybe Kiera had a point. He should include his family more in his life and open up. “I’m sorry, Ma. The truth is it’s because I fixed up the shop area under my apartment as a studio. I’ve been building metal sculptures from pieces of motorcycles and stuff.”

There was a pause as she stared at him, and he stared back at her. He could see the wheels turning in her brain as she tried to put together everything he’d just told her. Then suddenly, the pause was over and his mother was bouncing up and down behind the counter.

“I KNEW IT!” Dee pumped her fist in the air. “I told Seamus one of our babies would be an artist, and he said there was no way. Your grandmother was an artist, you know. My mother. And I paint some—not well, but still, I paint. Finally, I can brag I have an artist son.”

Quinn’s face twisted in confusion. “Not the reaction I was expecting. To be honest, I thought you guys might think it’s dumb.”

Dee’s mouth fell open, emitting a very loud huff of annoyance. “Don’t be an arse, son. I would never think that about anything my children love. If that’s your passion, I’ll love it, too. I’ll be at that exhibit with bells on bragging to everyone there about my son the artist.” Her voice trailed off at the end, choking slightly on her words as she began to sniff and tears welled in her eyes. “My son…the artist. Oh, Quinn, I’m so happy for you.”

He grinned as she came around the counter and wrapped her arms around him.

“I’m proud of you, Quinny. This is such an accomplishment.”

“Thanks, Ma.” Warmth spread in his heart at her acceptance. Her approval meant the world to him, and seeing not only that, but enthusiasm? It was everything he could have hoped for.

Stepping back, she gave him a big smile, then suddenly frowned. “Oh, fecking hell, this is going to be a hard one to keep quiet.”

“Ma, please!” Quinn groaned. “There’s no way my brothers are going to be as understanding as you were. Or Pops!”

“Well, I warned you I’m not good with secrets,” she said, shrugging lightly. He knew she would try, but he also knew that this might be a losing battle. Dee quickly changed topics. “Hey, what do you think about chocolate-caramel protein powder with kiwi and mango?”

He grimaced, sticking his finger in his mouth as if he was going to vomit. “No. Just no.”

“Hmm.” She tapped her lips with her index finger. “I’ll keep brainstorming.”

“Please,” Quinn agreed before saying goodbye and kissing her on the cheek.

Walking out of Legends, he felt a lightness rising within him. He was back at work, but he was still enjoying his art, and he’d even let his mother in on his secret.

Life was changing, and he was ready for it.