Page 41 of The Golden Hour

Ellie waves and flounces from the room.

Finn’s brows lift, lips twitching as I stalk past him out the front door. He beats me to his car—a sleek BMW—and opens the passenger door.

“She’s a feisty one, isn’t she?” There’s laughter and male appreciation in his voice, which makes me see red. “She wants new headshots, like every twenty-something in L.A. Like I’d waste my time.”

I yank my door closed, then close my eyes and focus on breathing as he slips into the driver’s seat. He doesn’t speak again until we’re cruising through the open gates.

“Where are your stepmother and uncles this evening? I expected an inquisition and was all geared up to charm them.”

“A photographer, no matter how rich, isn’t important enough to warrant an introduction unless he comes with a dynasty.”

“Ouch.” But he doesn’t sound offended. “I will, though. Be introduced to your family. Soon.”

I bristle, my gaze sliding to his profile, shadowed as night descends. “Why don’t you just lay it out for me so I know what to do, huh? The terms of the blackmail.”

He laughs like I’m not dead serious.

I growl, “What the fuck is wrong with you? This is my life we’re talking about! How is this funny?”

His mirth dies, eyes slicing to me and away. I’m glad the darkness disguises their beautiful blue color. “I don’t think any of this is funny, princess. And it’s not just your life on the line. I’m well aware I could see the inside of a coffin for this.”

“Then why are you here?” I cry, my voice shrill in the confines of the car.

The following silence is thick, the only sound the hum of the road beneath us. At length he answers, “My aunt considers you family, and there’s nothing more important than family. Isn’t that what you were taught, too?”

Sinking into my seat, I cross my arms defensively over my chest. Everything hurts—my heart, head, and body.

“I don’t want my sisters to get hurt,” I say finally.

“I’m not sure there’s a way around that,” he answers with surprising compassion. “No matter what, if we put their mother behind bars, their lives are going to drastically change.”

Not for the first time, doubt rears its head, sharp teeth dripping venomous confusion and fear. “Lizzie asked me earlier why I came back, and then said if she were in my shoes, she probably wouldn’t have.” I’m not sure why I’m telling him this, but it feels necessary. “I told her I came back for them—my sisters—but that’s not the truth.”

“Then why?”

I look out the window, noticing we’re on the freeway headed east and not caring. “I’ve been trying to convince myself it’s for them, or for Uncle Ant, or for your father and everyone else who’s suffered because of my family, or because I want to do the right thing…”

“But?”

“What if the only reason I’m here is to rub Vivian’s face in how she treated me as a child? To gloat as everything is stripped from her, no matter the collateral damage to my sisters?”

“Why can’t it be a little bit of all those things?” he asks softly. “I don’t know details about what you went through, but I’m pretty confident you’ve earned the right to resent Vivian.”

“If that’s true, then I’m no different than her. Motivated by hatred, greed, and pride.”

From the corner of my eye, I see his fingers clench on the steering wheel. “You’re nothing like her, Callisto. Trust me.”

The conviction in his voice barely reaches me, my thoughts haunted by Lizzie’s sad smile, the defeat in her young eyes.

I don’t have to explain it to you, do I?

Why did you come back here?

“You’re not doing this alone.” Finn’s voice wraps around me, deep and smooth.

“Not by choice,” I mutter.

He sighs. “Forget the blackmail for a minute and the fact you can’t stand me. I’m a pretty smart, capable guy, and I’ve been on this track for a long fucking time. Somewhere in that house, on a computer or in a file, is the information we need. And if not, then there’s someone out there who has it.”

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