Page 47 of Finn

My mom laughs, shaking her head. “Angel? I guess that makes you her devil.”

“Mom, what the hell is wrong with you?” I shout.

Finn glances at me and winks. He fucking winks.

“I spent far too long trying to escape Hell to be considered a devil. But I am her guy, and I will protect her and stand up to anyone who so much as makes her feel the least bit uncomfortable.” He blows smoke up toward the ceiling and pins my mom in a stare so hard and deadly serious that a chill runs through me. “I don’t give a shit who that person is,” he finishes.

She doesn’t falter, though. She stands her ground, lifting an eyebrow. “She deserves better.”

“Mom, shut the hell up. You don’t even know him,” I yell, moving to stand in front of her.

“I don’t need to know him. They’re all the same,” she says, moving her eyes from Finn to me. “Come home, Mia.”

Finn’s phone rings and he excuses himself, and I can’t help the tear that runs down my cheek. The woman standing here is not the mom I know. She’s cruel and cold, just like the woman who wrote that note to Porter.

“When was the last time you used?” I ask, wiping my tears.

She steps back with wide eyes. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me,” I say, crossing my arms.

“Mia Woodward, I did not raise you to be so disrespectful. If you’re going to believe every bullshit lie that comes out of Porter’s mouth, I don’t know why I’m even here,” she yells.

“I don’t know why you’re here either. To judge me? To disrespect Finn? To continue lying to me? Why the hell did you bother to come?” I scream back.

“Enough!” Finn shouts, his booming voice echoing around us. “Vic, your daughter has questions, and she needs honest answers. You won’t be welcome in this house if you’re just going to continue to avoid her questions and cause her more pain. You’ve caused enough. Treat her like the intelligent, strong, levelheaded, loving woman she is. Stop treating her like a child.”

I grin at him, and he searches my eyes. “Ask your questions quickly,” he says.

Fuck. Something is going on.

“Are you leaving?” I ask.

“Of course he is. They always go running to the damn club when things get tough,” my mom says.

Finn wraps his arms around me and moves his lips against my ear. “Porter and the others are coming to get your mom. They want her at Souls since Jim knows she’s here. Ask your questions now, angel.”

I close my eyes, once again fighting back the tears. This isn’t how I expected things to go. I thought my mom and I would sit and have a long talk. I thought she’d be honest with me, and we’d begin to rebuild the relationship. But this isn’t my mom. I don’t know if she’s high or if she wants a fix or what the fuck is going on, but I’ve never in my twenty-two years seen her like this.

Now, instead of getting answers, she’s gonna be locked away at Souls, and that is not going to go well. I’m honestly not sure how I feel about any of it.

I know they say my stepdad is dangerous, but what good is any of this going to do for her?

“Angel,” Finn whispers.

My eyes slide from his to my mom, and I walk over, wrapping my arms around her. “I love you, Mom. I don’t know what’s going on with you, but I wish you’d just answer my questions.”

“I’m not high, and I haven’t been since we moved to California,” she whispers, holding me tight.

“Why did you do it? Why did you leave Porter and take me away?”

I swallow the lump in my throat as she sighs heavily on my shoulder. “I had to,” she says.

“Dad forced you?”

“No, he didn’t force me. He offered us both more. He gave us security, safety, money, and protection,” she says.

“Protection from what?”

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