Page 44 of Ever After Between the Lines (Montgomery Ink Legacy)

Chapter Two

FINLEY

“I take it that’s not exactly how you wanted it to work out.”

I looked over at the very large man who I had known for a few years and had done my best never to be jealous of. That was all a lie.

Because I had definitely been jealous of Ben for far too many years.

However, it was my own damn fault for my jealousy after all.

If I’d ever followed through with any of my chances at reaching out, maybe the only woman I had ever loved in my life wouldn’t be standing in this cloud of hurt and anger.

“No. Not at all. From the look on her face, do you really think it did?”

“Since I don’t know what the hell just happened, I’m not going to blame either one of you right now. And honestly, you’re lucky that I know you. Because if I didn’t, we would have a problem with the way she looked at you.” Ben narrowed his gaze. “Are we going to have a problem, Finley?”

I didn’t back down from the narrowing of Ben’s eyes. It grated that he was the one who was allowed to be so protective of Everland after all these years. However, this was Ben’s job. I was just the one to pick up the pieces for a few hours.

Because she wasn’t the girl that I had fallen for. The person who was all my firsts just like I was hers.

She was the woman who had taken over the world. The woman of grace, elegance, and power.

And I had watched her rise from the ashes of her childhood like a phoenix aflame. Part of me had always wanted to rise with her. To stand alongside her as she shone brightly.

Only I had needed to find a grounding of my own or I would have ended up as burned embers in her wake. Never on purpose. She would never have done that to me.

But I would have pulled her down.

We both had needed to grow up. To find our paths. And by the time I had gotten back from making far too many mistakes, and after far too many deployments, she had been in the arms of another man.

And to the outside world she had looked so damn happy.

And that was why I could not understand why she was here for the man’s wedding.

“We are not going to have a problem. Although I would love to know why she’s here.”

Ben’s brows rose. “You are on her security detail for the weekend. You damn well should know why she’s here.”

“That part I know.” I began to pace, running my hands through my hair that was far too long now. I had been forced to cut it short for so many years, so my hidden rebellion had become a fashion statement. Now the rest of the guys on the team poked fun at me, but it was all in good humor.

But I didn’t look like the man that Everland had known. Just like she didn’t look like she had when I had left her. Or rather when we had left each other.

“I take it you know her. You’re the guy from when she was a kid, right? Her high school boyfriend?”

I raised a brow. “Maybe.”

Ben sighed. “The press doesn’t know much about her childhood.

She’s done damn well at hiding all of that.

She wanted her privacy. And Laura spends most of her time making sure whatever parts of Everland’s life she could keep to herself she can.

However, I’m going to need to know if you can deal with this if you want to work with her. ”

“Do you really think you can stop me?” I asked the man who I had once called friend.

“That doesn’t sound like a great introduction,” my boss Trace said as he came forward, a curious expression on his face.

However, I knew beneath that curiosity was downright anger.

Because I was not acting like the man he had hired.

The stone-cold remote guy who could do what was needed.

Who could stand on the sidelines and help whoever was in my charge.

There was no way I could be stone cold or anything like that when it came to Ever.

“Finley is Everland’s ex-boyfriend. And we didn’t know that. And now I’m worried.”

Trace’s gaze shot to me at Ben’s words. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

I bristled. “It’s not really any of your concern.”

Trace growled. “That’s a lie. I should have your job for this.”

I sighed, running my hands over my face. “It was a long time ago. We broke up because she went to New York to start school, and I went to the Academy. It wasn’t a bad breakup. It just is what it is. We were childhood friends. And that means I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”

“What if you are the one who puts her in danger just by being there?” Ben asked softly.

I shook my head, rage coursing through my veins.

“No one is going to get her when I’m around.

No press, no busybodies who want information they don’t have the right to have.

I didn’t tell you that I knew her because it’s been so damn long, I just wanted to see if she was the same.

I’m not going to make a big deal about it. ”

“I really don’t believe you,” Ben said as he crossed his arms over his chest. I opened my mouth to say something, but he shook his head.

“But I saw the way she looked at you. I saw the way she reacted. I’ve known her long enough that I have a feeling if I were to take you off this case, she wouldn’t like it either. ”

I straightened. “Really?”

“I’m not going to interfere. But I am going to be watching you.”

“We are going to have a long talk once this is over,” Trace warned.

I nodded tightly, knowing I might lose my job because I’d kept her a secret. But she had always been mine to protect. Secrets and all.

And now I needed to see exactly who she was now, and if she wanted to see the man I had become in the end.

Ben led me towards her cabin, and I was grateful it seemed that she had a little bit of privacy.

“We set this up so she has full cameras everywhere. And no guest can walk past this area unless they have a key card. Bethany has land out here that we use for guests who need space,” I explained to the other man.

“We went over everything as we set up, but I’m grateful. She needs space.”

I gave Ben a look, furrowing my brows, worry coursing through my veins.

“You’re going to have to ask her.” He answered my unasked question but I decided to ask anyway.

“I don’t understand why she is attending and participating in a wedding between her ex and her former friend.”

Ben just raised his brows. “I thought you knew her.”

I paused, confused, until I realized that maybe not all was as it seemed. “Well shit.”

“I’m not going to say anything. You should talk to her.”

“I will never understand celebrities and their culture.”

“You think I do? I was here to make sure that she can have a semblance of a normal life. With the peer social relationship that fans have with her? She doesn’t get that life.

She gets to go from secluded home, to private dinners, to private planes, not because she’s full of it.

But because people constantly touch or interrupt her.

They want a piece of her, even if she doesn’t have anything left for herself.

So if you hurt her, I’ll bury you on this land and they’re not going to say a damn word about it. You understand me?”

I wanted to lash out. The man was far too overprotective of Everland. But I knew he was doing it on purpose. Because I had seen the new stories about her. I knew she didn’t get the privacy and life she needed. He was doing his job.

And I would never fit in. I never had.

“I’ll talk to her.”

Trace snorted. “Good. Don’t screw this up. Because I’m tired, and I’m not in the mood to get a shovel.”

I barked out a laugh. “I’m pretty sure the Wilders have a backhoe to help you with that.”

“Good to know.” Trace gestured toward the cabin, and I rolled my shoulders back, making my way in the direction of the only woman I ever loved.

I didn’t even have to knock before Everland opened the door and stared at me with wide eyes.

“Ben just let you come here? Without a word to me?”

“I’m pretty sure I can feel his eyes on my back. So if you gestured toward him, he could probably kill me with his pinky.”

“Maybe.” She stared at me and shook her head.

“Why didn’t you write me? You never answered a single letter.

After all of these years, not a sound from you.

I never saw you at home. I never saw you in any part of the world that I was in.

It was as if you didn’t exist. It was as if you didn’t want me to exist in your life at all.

And I hate the fact that the first words I’m saying to you after all these years is that you didn’t write me back. ”

I moved forward then, hating myself. But she didn’t pull away. “If I would’ve written you back, I would’ve dropped everything to see you. Or you would have done the same. And we never would have been able to figure out who we needed to be as adults.”

“That’s a bunch of shit. You know it.”

I raised brow. “I didn’t know you knew how to curse, Ever.”

She stormed away from me into the cabin, and I followed her. Thankfully I didn’t think Ben was on my tail.

“I’m not a child. It’s been over a decade. I’ve seen the world. I’ve done so much. And I couldn’t share any of it with you.”

“I saw the world too, just not the same way you did.”

Her eyes filled before she blinked her tears away.

“I only heard tidbits about where you went. Whispers of your deployments. I waited for years for you to write me back. For a single note that you were okay. And I had to hear it from my mom who heard from your parents that you were even alive. And finally they stopped asking because it hurt for me to hear. All I knew was that you were alive and getting out of the military. And I did not want to know anything else. Because you cut me out of your life. And now you’re here acting as if no time has passed. ”

“We were crazy for each other, Everland. We were so consumed in one another we didn’t have other friends.

We had our lives, in the future that we made up in our heads without any planning.

How were you supposed to become who you are if you were tied down to me in my constant moving and deployments.

I never got to stay in the same place for longer than two years until recently.

And I’m still living with my company. Getting a job with Trace is the most stability I’ve had since I left you at the airport. ”

“So you didn’t write me back for my own good? That’s bullshit.”

“I didn’t write you back because I was dying inside.

And I wanted to leave. To drop out of the Academy, which would have stained my record and my life for the rest of my days because I needed to see you.

And I knew I would drag you down with me.

And I was a coward. For not writing back.

Because I loved you. Damn it, Everland. I still love you.

Watching you soar has been the most achingly painfully beautiful thing I have ever done in my life.

You are so talented and the world has seen it. ”

“And I’m lonely!” she yelled.

I took a step forward, knowing I was putting my life in her hands at this moment. “I’m sorry. But you know if we would’ve found a way to stay together, we would’ve stopped trying to grow. And I was selfish enough to want to see you do amazing things.”

Tears fell down her cheeks then, and I wiped them away with my thumbs.

“I want to hate you. But every time I’ve tried to fall in love on-screen it was you. And every time I try to do the same in real life, it was never you.”

“Ever. I’m so damn sorry. I didn’t know how to make our futures work if I didn’t go cold turkey. And it was the hardest and most moronic thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

“How are you here, Finley?”

“I was already here. Trying to find a way to get the courage to come to you. And then I saw your name on the guest list and everything clicked. This was the time.”

“So you waited for me? But you never tried?”

I winced before letting her go, beginning to pace her small living room. “I came to your house.”

“No you didn’t,” she snapped.

“I did. You were with Dean. And the two of you looked so damn happy. I knew I was too late. I watched the world fall in love with you, and you go from relationship to relationship. Or at least the media said you did. They made up things about you, and maybe some of it was real. And I never saw that light in your eyes until you looked at Dean. I knew it was too late.”

“You weren’t. He’s my best friend. And he needed time away from the spotlight just like I did. We never even had sex,” she spat.

My chest tightened. “I hate the fact that I’m so fucking excited to hear that.”

“I should’ve let you squirm some more. You really came all the way to LA?”

“Of course I did. I tried to stay away for so long because I thought it was what was best. I was wrong. And now I’m here, not asking for forgiveness.

Not asking for your heart. I’m just here, needing to see you.

Because I missed you, Ever. I miss you every day that we were apart.

Even when I knew I should’ve stopped long ago. ”

“You were always more romantic than me,” she said, her arms crossed over her chest.

“I can go. There’s someone else that can take my spot, and I’ll walk away. But just know that not writing you killed me inside.”

“I hate the fact that I know if you would’ve written me back I wouldn’t have been able to move on. Even though I really haven’t. But I would’ve been a shell of myself. And I hate that you were right. Because you’re never wrong, Finley. You’re always so certain you’re right that it kills me inside.”

I moved forward and cupped her face again. “Let me protect you. Just for the weekend. Relax. Breathe. Take some time for yourself. Maybe I’ll let you see the letters I wrote to you all those years ago.”

Her eyes widened. “No. You did?”

“Every single one. I kept them. Because I’m a sap. I loved the woman that you were when we left. I would love to get to know the woman that you are now.”

“I don’t have any answers for you. I’m still so mad.”

“And you have every right to be.”

“But can you do the one thing that I really need you to do, even though it’s a terrible mistake?” She asked.

I froze, swallowing hard. “Anything.”

“Kiss me.”

And I was lost, the girl of my dreams in my arms and I leaned down to press my lips to hers.