Deception (20 page)

“Blah.” She definitely did
not
feel honored by him.

“No matter,” he dismissed. “Now that I have you, I won't consider it time lost. Anyway, I learned about the scuffle between your parents and the Unforgivables, which bound us tighter than even I knew. We both deserve justice.”

“Justice,” she harrumphed.
He
calls
this
justice?

Finley ignored the derision and kept talking. “It took me about a week to find you once I reached Oklahoma, and when I saw you, everything fell into place for me. For years I contemplated my purpose, wondering why I was put on this piece-of-shit planet. Then I saw you, and I realized – I’m here for you. Or rather – we’re here for each other. But I needed a plan. I couldn't just walk up and ask you to come away with me. I needed to show you what would become of you if you didn't go with me. I needed to present your options clearly so you would understand I was the obvious choice.”

He went silent, and Layla heard him rise from the ground. She stiffened and opened her eyes, watching the grass flatten beneath his invisible soles. Then he sat a few feet in front of her.

“I formed a plan,” he continued, “and the path I chose is going to make you angry, but there’s no point in fighting. I’ve blocked your magic, and I have a pretty harsh spell ready in case you put up a physical fight. Do you understand? Don't make me use it.”

She watched his position closely, wondering what he could possible say that would make her angrier than she already was. “I understand.”

“Good, because I don’t want to hurt you, and I’m only telling you this to clear the air, so we can start fresh. I want to be honest with you and gain your trust, and I want you to know how hard I’ve worked to get you.”

“Whatever,” Layla mumbled, wishing she could rub her pounding temples. “Just say it.”

He shifted then continued. “After seeing you in person, I left Oklahoma in search of an antagonist, someone who could show you how hard and dangerous your life will be without me. I had the perfect person in mind, and when I found him, all I had to do was alert him to your presence to get the wheels spinning.”

Layla squinted, trying to decode his cryptic confession, but her brain was too rattled.

“So I made my way back to Oklahoma,” he went on, “closely tailing the Unforgivables.”

“No,” Layla gasped.

“Yes,” Finley confirmed.

“This is all your fault,” she shrilled. “This hell I've been going through is all your fault.”

“It wasn't supposed to be hell on you.”

“Are you kidding me? You sic Agro on me and think everything's okay?”

“It would have been fine if things had gone according to plan. You leaving Oklahoma changed everything. But it's fine now, Layla. Don't you see? You don't have to worry about Agro anymore. The Unforgivables can't touch you as long as you're with me.”

“They've already touched me, and they'll still touch my family.”

“Those people are no longer your family. As much as you want them to be, they’re too weak to fulfill the role, so it’s a good thing you got me. And I do regret you had to be touched by the Unforgivables. My original plan was to keep you away from them. You were supposed to see them and feel threatened by them, but they weren't supposed to touch you.”

“You told Agro I was alive just so you could play the hero?”

“Pretty much. It was a brilliant plan really, and it would have worked if you’d stayed in Oklahoma. Agro would have come for you, and I would have swept you away to a magical world full of security and unlimited possibilities. Under those circumstances, your willingness was guaranteed.”

Layla shook her aching head. “You're wrong. Your efforts are wicked and wasted. I see right through you, and no amount of danger would have changed that.”

“I don't believe you,” he challenged. “But we'll never know, will we? When the Unforgivables and I arrived for you, you were gone. I scrambled to figure out where to, and Agro and his brute started torching buildings. Before the smoke cleared, I’d left for Oregon, because I knew Agro would eventually do the same, and I needed to be there to keep you safe. It was just bad luck that Quin came along. He made things worse on everyone.”

“Quin's my true hero.”

Finley took a deep breath then sighed it out. “I'm not going to punish you for that right now, but you should know you're mine now, and I'll not tolerate you speaking about another man that way. If it continues, there will be repercussions.”

“You're intimidated.”

“Quin doesn't intimidate me. He just annoys the hell out of me, and he contributed to my ruined plan, but none of that matters anymore. This is the new plan, and there isn't anything Quin can do to ruin it. You can't ruin it either, Layla. Your defiance is pointless.”

“Quin ruined your plan, huh? He'd be happy to know that.”

“He already knows, but believe me, he's far from happy right now.”

His words were true, and they pierced Layla with a vengeance, clenching her stomach and curling her into a ball. “You're horrible.”

“I'm really not,” he countered. “I don't understand why you can't see that.”

“You're mean and greedy and wicked and . . . ” A zap of electricity cut her off.

“That was a taste,” he noted. “Don't make me serve you the rest.”

A heavy sob rattled her aching chest, and she turned her face into the grass.

“Good,” he continued. “Now I can finish clearing the air and explaining how hard I've worked for you. When I got to Oregon, you'd already found your birth family, which was unexpected and inconvenient. I know you care about them, but you aren’t safe with them, and you know that as well as I do. I give them credit for trying, but their efforts served no purpose but to keep me out, and without access to you, I couldn’t protect you from Agro, so I decided to introduce myself to you. I meditated and begged for ten hours for a vision of your future…”

“Begged?” Layla interrupted. “Whom?”

“The souls guiding me.”

“What souls?”

“It doesn’t matter, they’ve forsaken me now. They abandoned me the minute I took you, just another example of the sacrifices I’ve made.”

She rolled her stinging eyes, but didn’t say anything, so he resumed his insane tale. “Anyway, I foresaw you on the beach and arranged to be there. Then, when I saw your aura, I thought luck had finally shifted my way. Quin broke your heart, and I was there to pick up the pieces. You were distant, but I knew I could remove Quin's blindfold if given a chance. It was the only thing keeping me from getting your full attention, and I had every intention of sticking with you until it came off, but as you know, I didn't get my chance. Quin showed up and pulled you from my company within an hour of our meeting. That's when I knew I needed to show you what I could offer you, and what Quin could not.”

Layla half-choked half-laughed into the earth, prepared to tell him there wasn't anything Quin couldn't provide, but another burst of electricity slapped her body and slammed her mouth shut.

“Just relax and listen,” Finley suggested. “Stop making me hurt you.”

She clenched her teeth, imagining what it would feel like to dig her nails into Finley’s face, and he continued talking, as if he hadn’t just shocked the hell out of her.

“I was still foolishly set on being your hero, thinking it would prove how dangerous your life is while speeding up the process of making you mine, so I contacted Agro again. Now this is going to make you angry, but you must know I never meant for you to get hurt. My plan was foiled yet again, and the result was unpleasant for everyone.”

She turned her head, running her narrow gaze from the smashed grass to what she guessed was his face. “What are you talking about?”

“An unfortunate turn of events I never intended.”

“Say it,” she demanded.

He sighed then shocked her again, but this time it was his words that rendered her breathless, not his magic. “I received another vision of you walking alone then summoned Farriss to the scene.”

“You bastard,” she sputtered. “You had that piece-of-shit beat me.”

She was fuming, but Finley’s voice remained calm, which pissed her off even more. She had no idea she could be so mad without bursting.

“It wasn't supposed to be that way,” he claimed, “and I'm truly sorry it was. Farriss was supposed to get close to you, but not hurt you. I stayed ahead of him the entire time, so I could be there to monitor the situation and keep you safe. I was going to kill the slimy bastard before he could raise a hand against you, but a tiny detail I didn’t foresee changed everything. When I got close, that damn dog charged me. I couldn't stand there and let him attack me, nor could I kill him in front of you, so I fell back and dealt with the inconvenience as quickly as I could. By the time I returned – and I swear you were out of my sight less than a minute – Farriss had already done his damage. I panicked and shot him in the back, not even thinking about him falling on you. Then I continued my rescue, as flawed as it was, without my desired results. I was pissed, Layla. You have to know that. Not only were you hurt; it had been in vain. You were unconscious and had no idea I was your savior. I considered taking you then. I could have left the area and healed your wounds with ease, but I knew you still wouldn't accept me. You could have roused from that attack feeling like a million dollars, and you still would have demanded I take you home.”

“You got that right,” she seethed.

His voice changed, losing its hard edge, and for an instant, his normally cocky tone sounded childlike, laced with insecurity and regret. “I wanted you to love me, Layla, not hate me, so I took you home and made the move into your community. It was the only way I could protect you from Agro, and I hoped I could thaw you out enough to show you I can give you things the others can’t, no matter how well-intentioned they are. And it’s a good thing I stayed, because Agro showed up that night, and if I hadn’t been there, he probably would have found you. He had soldiers moving in through the forest ahead of him, trying to keep you from running, but I received a vision of his approach before his soldiers reached the property, and I went straight to your house, not only to protect you, but to win you over.” He paused and spit at the ground, and hatred oozed back into his voice. “Imagine my dismay when I found Quin in your bed with your naked body.”

Despite Layla’s rage, pain and fear, she laughed. She was imagining his dismay and loving it.

“I knew Quin was staying with you,” Finley bristled, “for safety reasons if nothing else, but I figured he was crashing on the couch or in the guestroom. Not for one second did I believe he'd be in your bedroom, let alone in your bed. You’d known each other less than a week, and I was under the impression you were a prude, damn near a virgin, definitely not the girl who sleeps with someone within a week. Quin's a damn mama's boy, so I knew he wouldn't push the issue, but apparently you're not the blushing virgin I thought you were, because you were pressing your naked body on him like a coke whore on a dealer. Things only got worse from there. I hadn't expected Quin to take flight with us that night, and the fact that he did unraveled my scheme.”

“I wouldn't have left with you anyway,” she mumbled, picturing herself naked in Quin's arms.

“You would have,” Finley disagreed. “I'm sure of it, but Quin was there, so once again, I didn't get a chance to prove it. Our departure did, however, give me the opportunity to make my very fair offer, and I was shocked and displeased by how quickly you turned it away. Quin's presence depreciated my proposal.”

“I would have turned you away no matter what.”

“Maybe,” Finley conceded. “Your dismissal was convincing, and it made me realize I might have to forgo the part of my plan where you willingly fall for me. Nothing I did changed your attitude, so I accepted the possibility of taking away your free will. I didn’t like it. I still don’t. I want you to be with me because you want to, not because I’m making you. That’s why I devoted an entire day to changing your mind – one more day to put a dent in that icy shell of yours.”

Layla huffed. “You expected to win me over in a day?”
Yeah right
. He couldn't win her over in a million years, and the arrogant fool had only given himself a day.

“Not completely,” he countered, “just partially. I spent all day yesterday at your beck and call, but you refused to beckon, wasted my gifts, and treated me like trash. Had you entertained the idea of being civil to me, we wouldn't be in this situation. All I wanted was a hint of acceptance, a small sign you might eventually care about me. If I’d gotten it, I would have waited for you. I would have stayed in the community and kept you safe while doing whatever I could to win you over, but you didn't give me an ounce of hope to work with. Not one inch, Layla, which left me no choice. This is the way it has to be for us. This is the way it's meant to be. If I must force you to see that, that's what I'll do. I’m not giving up everything our relationship will provide because you're stubborn and blind. We deserve everything this world has to offer, and the only way we’ll get it is together. The sooner you realize that, the happier we'll be and the more fulfilled our lives will become.”

The sun was gone, and the only thing proving Finley’s location was his voice, so when he stopped talking, Layla froze, listening for the sound of rustling weeds. Sure enough, he moved closer, and her heart raced as she tried to wiggle away.