The fight with my sister seemed endless, and by the time she stormed out of my room I didn’t have the energy to do anything else but flop down onto the couch. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, listening and waiting for Finn to get back. But, when I didn’t hear him after a little while, I shot him a text.
Me: Summer was here. Not a big deal. She’s headed back to the house now.
I wasn’t sure what telling him would do, but if Tanner was upset or whatever that she had left then he could field that asshat. I drew in deep breaths through my nose and out through my mouth, hoping with all my might that Finn wouldn’t use my room key to come looking for me to figure out why Summer had been here in the first place.
Because the last thing I needed was Tanner breathing down my neck for the things I was saying.
I have to prepare for tonight.
I hadn’t meant to do anything about Barron Street this evening, but the fight with my sister forced my hand. So, after drawing in enough breaths to calm my heart down, I leaned up and got to work. I opened my laptop and connected to the internet before I started fishing through the digital police files, pulling up everything I could on Beth Carter.
“Who are you, Beth Carter?” I murmured to myself.
The more I fished around and looked up her name, the more I learned about her. She had a rap sheet five miles long scouring everything from possession with intent to sell all the way down to, you guessed it, prostitution. And when I found pictures of her and Chops walking around this Baron Street area, I knew I had my girl.
“Sloane?”
In the middle of my research, I heard Finn’s voice filter through the door that connected both of our rooms. I groaned and rolled my eyes, planning on ignoring it, but he kept incessantly knocking and saying my name that I didn’t have a chance but to get up and open the door.
And when I did, I saw immediately that something was off with him.
“You okay?” I asked.
His nostrils flared. “Just wanted to check on you. Had to be gone for a little while due to a church meeting.”
I nodded slowly. “Ok.”
He chewed on the inside of his cheek. “Yeah, well, just wanted to let you know that I’m back. And I’m not going anywhere.”
I searched his eyes. “Right. Well, thank you for letting me know.”
He’s angry with me.
“You need anything?” he asked curtly.
I shook my head as I leaned against the door, trying to play it cool. “Just looking over files and trying to connect some dots.”
His gaze drifted down my body. “I’m sure you are.”
Yep, definitely upset. But, why? “There something on your mind?”
His eyes whipped back up to mine. “No. Just checking in. Expect it every hour, on the hour.”
My eyebrows rose. “How long have you been back from the meeting?”
He answered me a bit too quickly. “Just walked through my door.”
“I didn’t hear it open.”
His eye twitched. “I move quietly.”
He heard my conversation with Summer. “All right. Well, if there’s anything I can do, you let me know.”
“Yeah. Same goes for you, too.”
He gave me one last glare before he closed the door in my face and I came to two conclusions: one, Finn was a shit liar; and two, I had to keep my guard up around him at all times. I drew in a sobering breath and stood there with my door still open, trying to process what had just happened.
Finn was lying to me after overhearing a private conversation with my sister.
Well, argument, but the premise still stood as he ripped his door back open.
“Actually,” he said, trying to keep the growl in his voice down, “you can do something for me.”
I smiled softly. “What can I do for you?”
He leveled me with his stare. “Everything isn’t fine, is it?”
I shrugged. “Depends on your definition of ‘fine.’ Right now, I’m just preparing for some more work tomorrow on the case.”
“Well, what are you preparing for? What are you planning to do?”
I grinned. “You know I can’t tell you that.”
His face darkened. “You can, and you will.”
“Why? Because you overheard me and Summer arguing and now you want to know what she knows? Or, were we acting like you lying was genuinely convincing?”
His jaw clenched. “You’re right, I did overhear you two talking.”
I shrugged. “Not a big deal. Just a sisterly fight because she’s unjustly put my niece in harm’s way and I’m not a fan of how selfish she’s being.”
“Spoken by a woman who’s clearly never been in love.”
I tried not to show the hurt his words caused. “Anyway, the argument isn’t any of your business, and I really need to get back to–.”
“Is it my business when you’re trying to take Summer away? Because I know what that’ll do to Tan.”
I swallowed in order to keep my cool. “Like I said, what I do to protect my family is none of your business, since you aren’t family.”
“I’m Tan’s family.”
“Tan isn’t family.”
“He’s Summer’s family.”
I snickered. “He’s Summer’s sperm donor, and until recently she didn’t even know he was alive. And he sure as hell hadn’t been looking for her.”
He shrugged. “Well, they found each other again. I’d say that’s fate.”
I kept my smile on my face. “And I’d say that’s bullshit.”
“So, what you’re really upset about is the fact that she doesn’t like the fact that you’re going to bust the club in the process. You know, put her sperm donor behind bars?”
Anger bubbled up within me. “What do you think I’m supposed to do, then? I’m a cop, Finn. It’s my job to arrest bad guys. And judging by the open case files you all have with the department, once I do what I’m going to do with the Black Flags, they’ll have just as much of a case on you as they will on them.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Do you honestly believe we’re the bad guys? That I’m the bad guy in this situation? And you better dig deep for that answer, because a hell of a lot in everyone’s lives are at stake with this.”
I didn’t like the way he was looking at me and I sure as hell didn’t like the fact that my knees were growing weak. The longer he stared at me the more I felt the answer slowly creeping up my throat, except I didn’t want to say it. I didn’t want to admit it, because admitting it meant letting Tanner off the hook.
Finn crossed his arms over his chest. “You have no fucking clue who the bad guys are right now, and that’s fine. Just be big enough to admit it instead of always playing the tough guy before getting your ass handed to you. It’s unbecoming of your expertise.”
The growl in my voice rose up. “You don’t get to assume what I know and how I know it. I’m the detective. I’m your last shot at getting out of this. I’m your last bet on taking those guys down, and if that’s what you want? You and your fucking crew better play nice.”
“Or, what? You’ll take us down? I thought you were already planning on doing that.”
Before I knew what I was doing, my hand flew through the air and cracked him across the face. I was so fucking tired of everyone undermining me and everyone breathing down my neck, assuming I’d turn out to be just as dirty as every other fucking cop that I’d ever put behind bars. The thought made me sick. Everything about this made me sick. And when I went to go slap Finn again, he grabbed my wrist quicker than I’d ever seen any man move.
Before he backed me into my hotel suite.
“I get it, you know,” he glowered as he pinned me to the opposing wall of the door, “you don’t want to be the dirty cop. The one who helps out the bad guys. The one who likes the criminals. You don’t want to tarnish the reputation you had to fight for, tooth and nail, while every other woman around you was sucking their way to the top.”
I raised my other hand to slap him. “Let go of me.”
But, he caught that other wrist in his hand and pinned both of them above my head. “But, you’re the one who knew the risks and decided to take the task anyway. You’re the one that decided to work with the bad guys in order to protect your sister, who very well could go down with us if you decide to jail the Dirty Misfits just like you want to jail the Black Flags.”
I felt his leg pressing between my thighs. “Get the fuck off me. Now.”
He leaned in closely. “Like you told me before, not everything is as black and white as you think it is. So, start acting like it.”
I stared deep into his eyes, and something inside me snapped. My skin flushed as my desire for Finn that I had been fighting this whole time bubbled over.
I leaned forward and captured his lips, ignoring all the warning signs that were going off in my head.
But, the second our tongues collided, all of the warning signs disappeared.
“Mmmmm,” he growled down the back of my throat.
With my hands pinned above my head and his knee rubbing against my clothed pussy, I tried my best to keep my cool. His tongue softly slid across my tongue, causing my entire body to shiver as his chest pressed against my tits. My body took control, rubbing softly against his thigh to try and find a friction that had long since become unfamiliar to me.
And after he released my hands, he cloaked my back with his arms.
“Come here,” he growled.
He picked me up against him and my arms blanketed around his neck. I wrapped my legs around him, locking them as he stumbled me over toward the couch. We fell against the cushions, with my body straddling his as our kiss deepened. My head fell off to the side and my fingertips curled against the swell of his chest, reminding me of the etched muscles beneath his clothes that I had dreamt about the other night.
I wanted him more than I could stand.
He’s the enemy, Sloane.
Finn leaned up, sucking my lower lip between his teeth as his hands grasped the hem of my shirt.
You’re going to be putting him behind bars.
I felt his fingers against my bare skin and I moaned softly against his mouth.
You’re chastising Summer for being with Tanner, and here you are about to fuck one of the crew members. Is that the kind of legacy you want as a detective?
And that snapped me out of my trance. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.”
Finn paused with the hem of my shirt in his palms. “What?”
I pulled back softly and cleared my throat. “I can’t do this.”
He chuckled. “What? Can’t have a bit of fun?”
I slid off his body and stood to my feet. “No. I can’t get involved like Summer has. It’s counterproductive.”
He groaned before he stood as well. “You know there’s no way she’ll leave him. I’ve seen them together. They’re really in love.”
“Stop it,” I murmured.
“They care for one another. And Tanner cares for Cheyenne.”
I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes. “Just shut up.”
“And he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her at his side. Even if it means taking you down. I’ve never seen two people meant for one another. It really is a sight.”
I whipped around and started yelling at them. “If he really, truly cared for my niece or my sister he wouldn’t be putting them in such fucking danger! Can’t you see that!?”
He sighed. “It’s safer for them to be together than apart. Just like it’s safer for me to be breathing down your neck than to leave you alone.”
I shook my head. “He will leave my sister alone.”
“No, Sloane. He won’t.”
My lower lip quivered. “He has to leave her alone. It’s for her own good.”
His voice softened just a tad. “You and I both know that isn’t true.”
I closed my eyes and fought back my tears. “Why can’t he just leave her alone? Why can’t he just accept the fact that he fucked up when it was time to fight, and now it’s too late? Why can’t he see what he’s doing to his own damn family?”
“Well, why can’t you leave her alone? Why does she have to mold to your expectations of her life rather than living her life the way she sees fit?”
My eyes snapped open. “Get out.”
He shrugged. “Can’t take the heat?”
I charged him and wrapped my hand around his throat. He went to reach for my wrist, but I was much too quick and I used my leg to swipe his from beneath him. He tumbled to the ground as my fingers dug into his jugular, causing him to gasp as his back hit the ground. And when I placed my knee into his chest, his eyes bulged.
“I said, get the fuck out of my hotel suite before I put a bullet between your eyes.”
He struggled to swallow as he choked out his response. “Fine. But, I’m going with you tonight whether you want me to or not.”
His words shocked me so much–even though they shouldn’t have–that my grip loosened around his neck. “It’s police business. I can handle this operation on my own..”
In a flash, he shoved me off him and stood to his feet. He picked me up by my shirt and hoisted me into the air before pinning me against the sliding glass patio door. He glared as me, suspending me in midair as his leg pressed back between mine. And as he leaned in closely, I wanted nothing more than to kiss him again.
I’m just as fucked up as my sister.
“Do you have police backing you up?” Finn growled.
“N-no,” I stuttered. “But like I said, I can handle my own.”
“You are going to get yourself killed,” he growled.
Then, he dropped me to the ground, stormed back to his hotel room, and slammed the door behind him.
Leaving me wondering if he was right.
