Her hips began to buck under him, and this time the big wedding portrait of the Quinn great-grandparents bit the dust, the old glass cracking on impact with the wood floor. He shuffled a bit to avoid the splinters.

"Oh! My! God!" Audie cried. Her mouth searched for him. He welcomed her tongue as it slid over his, tangled with his, begged for more. Then he forced her mouth wider and invaded her.

Everywhere.

His thumb flicked at her stiff little nub, then rubbed it without mercy. His penis hammered into her, big and rough. His mouth devoured her.

It gave him a great deal of satisfaction to feel her jerk so harshly, scream from deep in her chest the way she was, going on and on like she'd never stop. And when he grabbed on with both hands and exploded into her harder than he'd ever come in his entire goddamn life, the big Chicago cityscape fell off the wall and crashed to the floor in a shattering blast of glass.

A moment later, Quinn could barely remain upright, his knees were shaking so badly and his heart was so full. He didn't risk moving yet, because he'd have to be surefooted in all this glass. Quinn sighed-like most things pertaining to Autumn Adams, this last bit was going to take some very careful maneuvering.

Audie's head lolled on his shoulder and she was breathing fast, mumbling as if in a trance. He loved her so much. And he knew this was going to hurt him more than it would hurt her. But it had to be done.

He cautiously stepped back, separated their bodies with agonizing abruptness, and found a spot to set her feet on the floor. He yanked the T-shirt down over her trembling body' providing a bit of dignity. She was going to need it.

"Don't move," he said, turning back toward the bedroom.

He appeared an instant later, her clothes, purse, and car keys piled in his hands. "Here you go, Homey," he said, guiding her by the elbow to the stairs, watching to make sure she made it down safely.

"Lock the kitchen door on your way out, would you?"

Drew was on a roll. It was late, but he was almost done with the final chapter, and he couldn't remember the last time he had felt so electrified, so alive!

This had certainly been liberating-so much better than therapy ever was. Soon he would deliver the manuscript to his agent and she would send it to the publisher and his advance would be in the mail.

Thank God. Audie had been right-he had some serious cash-flow problems.

But the real joy would be walking into the Chestnut Street office tomorrow and hand-delivering a copy to that miserable little fiend. Then afterward maybe he and Audie could go out and get a cup of coffee. They needed to talk. He needed to prepare her for the fallout.

It probably wouldn't hurt to apologize for being the world's worst brother, either. Better late than never.

It was long past time he told Audie the truth-at least the part he knew of it. He was fourteen years old the day he had walked in on his mother and Marjorie and his life was ruined.

Marjorie had looked up from what she was doing-and what she was doing scared the living hell out of him-and glared until he silently closed the home office door. And from the age of fourteen on, that woman owned him. She set him up for a marijuana arrest that she hid from Helen in exchange for his silence. Then she seduced him-a fifteen-year-old kid who had no idea what was going on with his body or his brain-and told him he was sick and twisted. She screwed him up but good.

Well, fuck you, Marjorie Stoddard, you lying, manipulating, poodle-loving lesbian control freak! Andrew Adams has finally grown a spine, and it's going up the middle of four hundred pages of shocking, lewd, in-your-face truth about Homey Helen!

Hope you like it.

Man, did this ever suck.

Griffin was out on a date. Marjorie wasn't answering her phone. Stanny-O hadn't returned his page. Some uniformed cop Audie had never seen before was asleep on a straight-backed chair outside her door, the poor man.

Audie was so desperate for someone to talk to that she'd even briefly considered calling her brother-then she remembered there was a chance he was a psychopath.

It hardly mattered. Because contrary to all common sense, the one person she needed the most right then was the very same person who'd made her miserable in the first place! Stacey Quinn just threw her out of his house! Out of his life!

Audie paced up and down the hallway, absently batting the soccer ball between her feet.

What a jerk.

How could he have been so wildly, unbelievably, fabulously carnal with her and then just send her packing like that-like she didn't mean anything to him? Like he didn't love her? Like he'd never given her his grandmother's handkerchiefs?

How could he do that to her?

Audie stopped. She felt her heart plummet to the soles of her feet.

Well, duh! That's exactly what she'd wanted all along.

Wasn't it?

No promises she couldn't possibly keep. No pain. No words she didn't mean. No chance of failing.

She gulped down a mouthful of air, and despite the fact that she was nearly dehydrated from two hours of crying, she feared she could start up again at any moment.

This was ridiculous. He was testing her, of course, the cocky bastard. He wanted her to come running after him, like she had on the lakefront that day. He wanted her to beg for it, like she had the first night they'd made love.

He was giving her a taste of her own medicine. He wanted her to break down and say she loved him. Loved him!

He wanted it all!

Who did he think he was?

Audie smacked herself in the forehead.

Oh, God! Stacey Quinn was her man, that's who he was!

He knew her! He knew how her mind worked and what made her laugh. He knew exactly what scared her the most. He knew how to make her feel so damn good she screamed!

He loved her! He was patient with her. He told her his most painful secrets. He cooked for her and rubbed her feet and sang to her. He held her when she cried.

And the most amazing thing of all was that he'd asked her to marry him! He'd offered his family to her! Sure he asked for everything, but that's exactly what he offered her in return, wasn't it? A family, belonging-love?

Love.

Oh, crap.

Audie kicked the hell out of the soccer ball and it went whizzing across the apartment until it hit the built-in refrigerator and pinged around the kitchen, finally rolling to a stop in the middle of the Italian marble floor.

She stood in the hallway, blinking back the latest rush of tears, and wrestled with the monster-sized ball of stubbornness and terror that stuck in her throat. She wondered how she'd get through the rest of the night without hearing Quinn's laugh, seeing his smile, and feeling his caress.

Let alone the rest of her life.