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“Why? Scared I’m kidnapping you?”

“Are you kidding me with that shit? You are kidnapping me.”

“Emberleigh.”

“What?”

“That’s where we’re going.”

I follow Finn to the stairs of the plane, climbing up and nodding to the flight attendant. I take a seat in the center of the plane in a large chair, Finn sitting directly across from me, when he could have gone anywhere since the entire flight is just us. The door is brought up and locked, and then it hits me that I’m really doing this.

“Where’s Emberleigh?”

“Maine.”

Finn’s beach house isn’t a fucking beach house. It’s a goddamn mansion with private access to the beach. After a long-ass day of traveling and not moving my body, the energy in me is buzzing. I claim one of the guest rooms on the bottom floor and drop my bag on the ground, quickly changing into a pair of running shorts and shoes. I don’t bother with a shirt, hoping that I can soak up some of the sun that this part of the country seems to get. We left Seattle early enough that even after losing a few hours to the time difference, it’s only late afternoon.

The bottom floor of the house is a large, open floor plan, with tall, vaulted ceilings, too many rooms to count, a deck that spans the length of the back of the house, an in-ground pool, a hot tub, a sauna, and who the fuck knows what else. I find Finn sitting at the wraparound bar that splits the fucking enormous kitchen from the dining room.

“Here,” he says as he throws me a bottle of water with a green label, and I uncap it, taking a few large chugs and wincing.

“Got an issue with Poland Springs water?”

“Damn good water, except it’s cold.”

“What the fuck is wrong with cold water?”

“It’s bad for you, and I don’t like it.”

“Noted. Where are you going?”

“A run.”

“How about ice cream and a walk downtown?” Finn asks, as if we’re on a fucking family vacation and I haven’t been blackmailed into coming here against my freewill. At least, that’s what I’m trying to convince myself happened.

I grumble, and it reminds me of Sawyer. When the hell did I turn into the grumpy-ass older brother? I’m the goddamn fun one, always up for a good time, happy as shit. But here I am, stewing in a massive beach house, owned by the same asshole that is holding me hostage.

“How about no and we cut the shit, Nash. The hell do you want from me?”

A devilish smirk fills his face, his dark eyes squinting as he roams over my body, settling on my crotch. Heat sparks, traveling up my spine like an annoying itch I can’t fucking scratch.

“Fuck no. Not gonna happen.”

“You can fight it all you want, lover, but I know you want me.”

“The fuck I do,” I lie. “Whatever shit has happened before was a slip of judgment. I’m here for the story.”

“You could say that for the first time, maybe even get a pass for the second. But anything after that?” He takes a step into my space, and like an idiot, I take a step back, like a cat playing with his fucking prey, I let him back me right up against the wall. Finn’s hands press against the wall next to my head, caging me in. Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I know I could push him away. I’ve been fighting my entire life with my three brothers, and they’re each bigger than Griffin Nash. But Idon’t. “Nah, you want whatever this is between us. You just don’t want to admit it.”

He strikes a chord.

“You think this is because you’re a man? I don’t give a shit about that. I care that you hold something my family desperately wants in the palm of your hands and are using it to blackmail me to get what you want. You want me to fuck you? Fucking is easy. Sex is what I’m best at, and I’ve been doing it unattached for years. You’re not getting anything else out of me.”

His eyes search mine as I spew the venom from my mouth. The close proximity is fracturing the walls I’m trying to hold in place. Fuck, everything about him easily crumbles them. But then he goes and says something that confuses me further.

“Nah. As much as I like your cock, Carter, I want more than that.”

Is he insane? What the hell is he even saying right now? Based on the look on his face, he’s just as confused.