Finn (Blue-Collar Billionaires #2) (15 page)

“You didn't always want me. You wanted
him
. How did that work out for you, angel? Did he buy you whatever you wanted? Could he give you all those gifts that I couldn’t afford?”

She’s watching me with those sad eyes. Those eyes that remind me of all my flaws. It makes me angry.

“And now I’m here, rich as fuck and I can’t even enjoy it because you’re still here. I hate you and I want you. Why can’t you just get out of my head?”
 

The pressure behind my forehead is enormous. I press my hands on both sides of my temples and squeeze. Maybe if I push hard enough I can crush all the dark thoughts. But when I open my eyes, she’s still there. This demon that looks like the woman I loved.

“Just get out of my head!”
I scream and keep going until everything goes dark.
 

RISSA

I race out of the building, ignoring John’s concerned call. Tears are streaming from my eyes so fast that I can barely see but somehow I find my way to where my car is parked on the street. With shaking fingers I hit the button to unlock it. Once I’m inside, I just sit there willing my heart to stop beating so fast.

I’m not even sure what just happened. Rain pounds the windshield and the sound is comforting. It feels like the rain is insulating me against the outside world. That’s what I need, something to act as a buffer until I can get my equilibrium back. Whatever that was … I think back to what just happened upstairs. I’m not even sure what to call that, a rage? I’ve never seen Finn like that before. He didn’t even look like he was in his right mind.
 

And the things he was saying.
As bad as the raw physical violence I’d sensed in him was, the vile, mean things spilling from his lips were even worse.
 

Finn is the last person that I ever thought I’d have to be afraid of.
 

After a few minutes my pulse rate has slowed a bit so I turn on the car and pull out into the road. There’s a loud screech and then a horn blares on my left. Just like that my heart is back in my throat as I look over at the truck that almost smashed into my side.
 

The man behind the wheel makes an angry gesture and then speeds off. I'm too shaken to pull out right then so I wait a few minutes with my head on the steering wheel. Then I look both ways carefully and make a turn in the opposite direction.
 

At first my thoughts were just go home but that’s not what I need right now. I don’t want to sit alone in my house worrying that Andrew might show up. I could go to my mom's house but she'll ask too many questions, things I’m not ready to talk about yet. Right now I just need my girls.
 

I arrive at the office and let out a small sigh of relief to see the lights are on. Someone is here.
 

As soon as I walk in, Daphne looks up. Her mouth forms an O. “What happened to you?”

I look down. It’s only then I realize that I’ve walked through the rain and am now dripping on the floor, my hair plastered to my head. "Finn … I had to get out of there."

Daphne jumps up and helps me to her chair. I sit, shivering while she bustles around me. She produces a sweatshirt from somewhere and helps me pull my soaking wet T-shirt over my head. Once I have the warm sweatshirt on, she leaves briefly to bring me a cup of tea. When she returns, Tara is with her.

"What did he do?"

"He was screaming at me and he was so angry. I've never seen him like that." I take a sip of the hot tea and the warmth slides down my throat and spreads through me.
 

"I knew we should have refused that contract. Who the hell does he think he is?"

"Tara, he was so angry. I just can't go back there. Not again." Our eyes meet and I know she understands that I'm talking about a lot more than a cleaning contract. I raise my hand to my head, feeling through my hair to the raised scar a few inches back from my temple. I threw away years of my life thinking that if I just held on, if I just forgave Andy one more time that things would be better. I can't go back to that. Not for anyone.
 

Not even for Finn.

Her eyes linger on my damp hair. "We need to get you home, honey." She helps me out of the chair and Daphne follows behind us. She locks the door as we leave. Then I realize what time it is. It's early morning and they both have clients. In fact, they're both late.

"You guys don't have to babysit me. I know we're stretched thin. You can go and we'll talk this evening."

"Oh no. We're not leaving you alone. As soon as Daphne told me what happened, I called Tracy to cover for me."

"And I was scheduled to do some paperwork this morning anyway," Daphne chimes in. "So it's fine. It's more important that we take care of you right now."

Tara holds up her cell phone. "Cooperate or I'm calling your Mom."

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I cuddle up on my couch while Daphne and Tara pace the floor. As soon as we arrived, they ushered me into my room to clean up. When I saw my face in the mirror I almost scared myself. Half of my hair was sticking up on the side and my eyes look hollow and gaunt in my face.
 

"Bastard!"

"Jerk!"

"Neanderthal!"

The insults fly back and forth as they take turns cursing Finn up one side and down the other. Daphne in particular is really getting into it. She rarely curses and never has a harsh word for anyone so I'm surprised to see her so furious. I think she must have some residual frustration built up from over the years that is finally finding an outlet.

"We should sue his ass." That was Tara. I was surprised she hadn't mentioned it before now. Daphne is hurt on my behalf but Tara, she's pissed. I can see it in her tense stance and the way her eyes keep darting back and forth. Her sharp mind is looking for some way out of this situation. She wants to do more than just curse Finn's name. She wants to go after him. She wants blood.

"The contract states that all disputes must go through arbitration."

Tara growls at that. “That damn contract. He's a snake but he's a smart snake. That's a scary combination."

Daphne finally abandons her pacing and sits next to me on the couch. I lean over and cuddle against her. She strokes my hair.
 

"I still can't believe that he did this. He seemed so nice that day. Now I wish I'd kicked him in the balls while he was standing in front of me."
 
Daphne seems to be taking it hard that she didn't see through Finn's charm. I already told her that she's in good company. There aren't many women who are immune to Finn.
 

"Are you upset that I didn't tell you about our past?" She hasn't said anything or done anything that makes me think she's mad at me but in her position, I would be a little hurt. After all, I confided the whole story to Tara right away and deliberately kept Daphne in the dark.
 

Daphne shakes her head. "It's your story to tell. You shouldn't have to share it with anyone if you don't want to. I just hope you don't think that I would have judged you."

"No, that was honestly the last thing I thought." I struggle to find the words to explain. "It's just that you guys know this version of me. The one who has herself together. That girl that I was before, well I like to leave her in the past."

Daphne sits on the other end of the couch and tucks her feet beneath her. "I understand that."

The doorbell rings and I immediately tense. I took a risk coming back here knowing that Andrew has been sniffing around. I glance over at Tara. "Can you get rid of whoever that is? And if it's Andrew, I'm calling the cops."

Tara looks slightly guilty. "It's not Andrew." She jumps up and walks to the door. After peering out of the peephole, she pulls the door open. My mom sweeps in with her arms outstretched. "There's my baby. What did he do to you?"

Normally my mother's interference would drive me crazy but right here and now, I find that she's exactly what I need. She sits on the couch next to me and when she opens her arms again, I lean into her embrace.
 

She wipes away my tears with her thumb and then squeezes my shoulders. "Let's get you into bed, sweetie."

"Okay." The events of the morning are catching up with me and I let out a huge yawn. Being tucked into bed by my mother actually sounds like heaven.
 

The girls walk ahead into my room. Daphne turns back the covers and I slip beneath fully dressed. I can't seem to get warm enough. Mom tucks my covers beneath my chin the same way she used to do when I was a child.
 

"Go to sleep, sweetie. It'll all look better after you've had some rest."

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I wake up a few hours later. Mom is still downstairs but the girls left. Slowly the whole story comes out and she holds me as I sob. She doesn't say anything or offer any advice but just tells me to get my things.

"I don't want you staying here alone."

Even though I really want to stay in my own bed, I agree that it would not be a good thing if Andy were to show up here when I'm in this frame of mind. It took everything I had to stand up to him the last time and part of me knows that I'm not that brave. I was only able to do that because I knew Finn was there. So I pack a bag and we ride over to my mom's modest three-bedroom rancher.
 

She ushers me into the second bedroom right across the hall from her room. When I helped her buy the house, we decorated this room with my favorite colors, soft lavender with hints of yellow in all the accent pillows. It's a very cheerful room and even though I didn't grow up in this house, my mom's warm presence makes it feel like home anyway.

"I'm sure you just want some time alone to think but I just want to say this sweetie. I never liked Andrew. He's one of them
my-shit-don't-stink
types. But Finn, he was always a good boy. I don't know what's going on with him but I think we should find out."

"I wish I'd listened to you about Andy."

"Well, I hope I'm right about Finn this time. He was a sweet one and boy was he stuck on you."

After she leaves, I sit on the edge of the bed. Suddenly it seems so quiet. I've never had an issue being alone before but seeing Finn like that has left me shaken.
 

After double-checking the locks on the front and back door, I slip into the bathroom and remove my clothes. I run the water as hot as I can stand it and then get in. The steam curls up all around me and I rest my head on the ledge of the tub. My eyes close and I let the tears flow.
 

What happened between us? Where did things go so wrong? It feels like a double betrayal because after how awful he was to me in the beginning, over the last few weeks he's been so different. The man who helped me clean and waited outside just so I wouldn't have to walk to my car alone at night cannot be the same man who just terrified me.

I look at the faint white lines on the back of my arm. Andrew hadn't liked the way I was talking to one of his colleagues at his company Christmas party. When we got home that night, he backhanded me so hard that I fell into a glass table.
 

I cringe thinking about that time in my life. Things were never great between us but that had marked a turning point when I could no longer rationalize the things he did and said to me. The ways he put me down and tried to undermine my confidence.
 

Tonight, for the first time in years I felt completely helpless all over again. Finn has taken away my sense of safety and that's not something I can easily forgive him for.

FINN

When you love something, it has power over you. I knew Rissa had me by the balls but I never knew how tight her grip was until she didn't come home.
 

"Yes, I know she's not at work today. I'm asking if anyone there can tell me why. Has she called?"

"Sir, we can't give out that kind of information."

"I know you can't give out information about her but I'm just asking if anyone there has actually talked to her today."

I let out a groan when the person on the other end hangs up. "
Damn it
." The people at her company are just doing their jobs but that's little consolation when she could be hurt somewhere. Alone and scared.

Fear makes my chest so tight I almost can't breathe. If something happened to her, no one would even know to notify me. After driving by her house and looking in the windows, I'd eventually given up and come back here. Her car was still parked on the street outside of her office. It was like she'd gone to work and then vanished into thin air.
 

I pull out my phone again. "Jonah, I need the car."

I walk into my office and then pull out the file Patrick Stevens assembled on Rissa last month. I'd asked him to find out everything about her which was why I had information about her business partners. But there was one person that would always know how to find her.
 

I run my finger down the page until I find the address for Gloria Blake. Then I take the elevator down to the first floor. By the time I walk out of the building, Jonah is just pulling up to the curb. I get in and tell him the address.
 

When we pull up, I recognize Daphne's sporty little green car. Rissa must be here.
 

I look at Jonah. "I'm not sure exactly what I'm walking into so this may take a while."

He nods. "Of course, sir."

I climb out and then walk up the driveway. The front beds are planted with cheerful pansies that add wild splashes of color to the otherwise plain yard. I knock on the door and then step back to wait. The door swings open.