Page 49

“I’m not leaving her,” Finn argues, standing right up to the leader of the Dragons.
“Really? Because it seems like you were sneaking out of the suite when I got here, but you got caught. So, you just fuck my sister and leave? Fuck you.”
Finn turns toward me, not even bothering to give my brother an explanation. “I just thought it would be easier, considering...” he says, drifting his gaze toward my brother.
I nod. I’m with him one hundred percent. We both knew Cole was coming here, and it was stupid to fall asleep with each other. When he woke, he probably freaked out about this very scenario occurring and decided to leave before it got this far. “It’s fine,” I tell him with a small smile.
“Have more respect for yourself, Leenie!” Cole growls.
“Don’t talk to her that way!” Finn yells back, jaw so hard it could cut glass.
I move toward Finn. “It’s fine. Just leave, okay? I’ll talk to you later.” I burn my gaze into his, trying to convey everything I’m feeling inside. How I so badly want to kiss him, to give him a proper send-off, but I don’t want to poke the beast either.
He heeds my unspoken warning and gives me a slight nod before walking toward the door and exiting out the apartment without looking back. I sit on the couch, my head in my hands as Cole wears a trail in front of me. He keeps sighing, grumbling to himself. After a few minutes of this, he moves to the kitchen and grabs two waters before setting one on the coffee table in front of me and opening the second. The snap of the plastic seal sounds before he exhales. “I’ll take care of Finn.”
I glare up at him. “For being so smart, you’re kind of dumb.”
He recoils like I just smacked him.
I groan. “You’re not going to take care of him because I like him, Cole. Ireallylike him. And not just physically. If you stopped being so worried about me, you’d realize he’s a good guy, too.”
“Stop being so worried about you?” he spits. “Are you kidding me? I’m supposed to stop being worried about you even though it’s my fault you’re being targeted in the first place? We can’t trust anybody, Leenie. No one. Not even Finn. Or his brother. Hell, I don’t even trust most of my guys with you.”
I frown up at him. “But Dempsey...”
“Dempsey and I have been together for a fucking long ass time. I trust him with everything. I have an inner circle I entrust with my life. They’re all here in the tower, which is why you’re in the fucking tower.” He squeezes the bottle of water and the plastic protests. “I tried to give you space. I didn’t know what kind of relationship you would want when you realized what would happen with me returning. I didn’t want this exact thing to happen. I didn’t want you to resent me but I want a relationship with you more than anything because everything was taken away from me. Everything.”
I stand, moving toward him. He crushes the water bottle in his hands, and the water explodes like a volcano. Spinning, he throws it into the kitchen. The bottle bounces around the sink, but not before leaving a trail of water between him and the kitchen.
“We can trust Finn,” I hedge.
“You don’t know that.”
“Give me a little credit,” I mutter. “I’m a good judge of character, and I’m asking you to trust me on this one.”
“It’s hard to do that when he put your life in danger.”
“How? By fucking me?”
He closes his eyes. “Don’t fucking say that.” His throat works. “This is why my guards aren’t allowed to get involved with their charges, remember? I explained that to you. The fact that he put his base needs before your safety proves to me the kind of man he is.”
“It wasn’t like that,” I tell Cole, shaking my head and praying he’ll just fucking listen.
“You should’ve taken this more seriously, too, Leenie Bear. I ran home because of how big this is, and then I find you in here with him.”
I steel my shoulders, reminding myself that he means well. Yes, he’s overbearing and protective. He always was. The threats are even more real now, so of course he would respond in kind. It’s just...fuck. “I wish you trusted me,” I confess, all fight leaving me. I don’t want to argue about Finn. Hell, I don’t want to argue with my brother at all. “I want the same things you do, Cole. I want to stay in your life regardless of who you are. I get all the pressure you’re under, but right now, Finn’s non-negotiable.”
Cole shakes his head. “Someone who would sneak out of your bed?”
I swallow, the area behind my eyes heating with unshed tears. “He was avoiding you. Not me.”
“Great. So, you’re hiding him from me.”
“No, Cole. We were fighting itbecauseof you, but we could only both fight it for so damn long.” Tears track down my face. Damn stupid hormones. I’m mad, I’m not sad. For whatever reason, whenever I’m frustrated and there are no right roads to take, I bawl like a baby in a display of weakness, instead of staying strong.
Cole’s face falls. He moves around the coffee table and hugs me, bringing me in close. Kissing my temple, he rubs my shoulders soothingly. We don’t talk for the longest time. He just waits until the tears dry up before separating again. “I have to go figure this stuff out. Please just stay in here where it’s safe. Don’t let anyone else in. I’m going to fix this.”
He kisses my temple again and then strides from the room. Somehow, I think his promise to fix this isn’t about Finn at all. It’s about the threat, of course.