Now she knew that she'd miss Quinn. Just the thought made her throat thick with grief. The crush she'd felt for him as a kid had been nothing compared to how she felt now. It had been just kid stuff. Cute in retrospect.
Now she was truly, deeply in love with him. She'd imagined herself in love with other men over the years. High school boyfriends, the creep who'd roped her into working for the Company, and even the evil wizard she'd made the mistake of falling for while on assignment. After his death, she'd sworn off men. Sworn off the chance of having her already cold, hard heart break any further. It just got in the way of doing business.
Until Quinn came back into her life. She couldn't deny her attraction to him. He was very handsome and had a smile—when he chose to use it—that turned her inside out. She couldn't even pinpoint the exact moment when that infatuation had turned into love.
But it had. She loved him. Enough that she cared more about his safety than her own. He was safe. He was gone, and he had the stone. The Boss could do whatever he wanted to her now. She was at peace with her decision and sacrifice.
Well, not completely, but she was working on it.
She wondered if Quinn felt the same for her.
I guess I'll never know, she thought.
At least her sister was safe with Lenny. Her sister who didn't remember her. But it didn't matter. Janie rememberedher , and she was safe and that's all that mattered.
There was a knock on the door.
The Boss motioned for his drone to answer it.
The drone opened the door and was met with another mindless drone. They nodded pleasantly at each other.
"Hey, Joe."
"Hey, Steve."
"Come on in."
She craned her neck to look over her shoulder, and her body froze at what she saw.
It was Lenny. A very worse-for-wear Lenny. He was pushed into the room, and he slumped forward.
His face was covered with cuts. His upper lip was swollen. His shirt torn and bloody.
"Lenny!" she exclaimed.
He looked up at her, and she saw that one eye was swollen shut. "Janie!"
The drones had Lenny's notebook, and they flipped through it, pointing at page after page, tittering like schoolgirls. Then they tore pages out of it. Lenny's beloved poetry.
The sight of it was enough to make Janie's blood boil.
The Boss approached and looked up at Lenny. "From her I would expect betrayal, but from you? I didn't think you were smart enough to be concerned about."
He said nothing.
She was worried about Lenny. He looked very defeated. And what about her sister?
She didn't have to wonder very long, because Angela was the next person to be shoved into the room.
She glared at Janie.
"Everything was great in my life until I met you," she snarled. Then she turned her head to look at Lenny and her expression softened. "Lenny! What have they done to you?" She ran over to him and threw her arms around the big guy.
Janie frowned.
Angela tenderly kissed his lips and his injured face. "Are you hurt?"
Lenny didn't pull away. "I've felt better."
Angela glanced at Janie with tear-filled eyes. "You're the one who sent him to me?"
"Didn't work out quite the way I expected, but yeah. What was what, a whole half hour ago?"
"It doesn't matter. He's the only good thing that's happened tonight." She kissed his lips. "He's the man
I've been dreaming of all of my life."
"Let's not get dramatic."
"No, I'm not being dramatic. I've literally dreamed of him. My big, beautiful mystery man who fills my nights with true love and erotic pleasure. I thought he was only a dream, and then all of a sudden there he was."
"You've dreamed of him all of your life? Erotically?Lenny ?"
"Yes. At least the last few years I have. I don't remember anything before that."
Janie let out a long sigh of frustration. "That's because you have amnesia. Like I was telling you? God,
you're so annoying."
"Don't talk about her like that," Lenny protested. "I love her."
"Let me guess, you've been dreaming of her, too?"
"No. But it doesn't matter. The moment I saw her, I knew. We were meant to be together. I even read her some of my poetry… before we were…interrupted … and she loves it."
"You were reading her poetry when you should have been leaving town? Great. Just great."
Angela glanced at Janie. "The man has a talent with words. He really should get an agent."
"If I may interrupt," the Boss said as one of his drones brought him a martini. "You may wonder why I've gathered you all together here tonight. Well, it is quite simple. I plan on torturing you"—he nodded at
Angela—"as part of my punishment to her"—a nod at Janie—"and then I will kill you all."
"Can't we talk about this?" Janie asked.
"No."