Page 9 of Finn

“There will be no cock between you two,” Cole states like his word is everything.

I step back from my brother, studying him to find the guy who left more than five years ago. Sometimes, it’s as if he’s right at the surface. Other times, it’s as if he’ll never come back.

“It’s for your safety,” Cole pleads, staring at me. Some of the tension leaves his shoulders as he implores me with his eyes.

“Unless Finn’s cock is going to kill me, I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”

Finn smirks. “I mean...”

Cole pushes past me. I try to grab his hand, but he yanks out of my grip, meeting Finn nose-to-nose. Cole is slightly shorter, but what he lacks in height, he makes up with the dark aura that follows him around everywhere. It seems to swallow Finn up as they stare each other down.

“Do you find my sister’s safety funny?”

“It was just a joke,” Finn and I say at the same time, my voice with a lot more edge to it than his.

I reach out and grab Cole’s hand, tugging him back. At this point, I’d rather just leave. I’m obviously not going to take things further with Finn like I wanted. Once again, my gang leader brother saves my reputation.

Finn sighs at my brother’s hostility. “I didn’t know she was your sister, but that doesn’t change anything. I don’t treat girls like shit, so there shouldn’t be an issue.”

Cole runs his hand over his head. The move is so forceful it comes across as barely restrained anger. “I can’t deal with this right now,” he snaps. “Colleen, say goodbye to Finn. I’ll have one of my guards take you home. I assume Jaz is somewhere out there?”

Finn uncrosses his arms. “I can take her.”

Cole stops what he’s doing, lifting a hand. “Finn, as of this moment, you’re just an annoying gnat. Don’t test me tonight.”

His threat is clear. I start to shake my head at my new friend. He’s taking this farther than I imagined. A lesser man would’ve shit his pants when the three of us stepped in here alone. I’m sure my brother has at least three weapons at his disposal at any given moment, and he has a reputation. The man who helped take the Heights Crew down is someone to be feared, that’s for sure.

“Don’t take your anger out on him,” I tell Cole, sighing. “I’m sorry I wasn’t completely upfront with you.”

Cole presses a kiss to the top of my head. “We’ll talk about it later, okay?”

I nod, knowing he’ll give me the biggest guilt trip when we do talk about it, and all we’ll end up doing is going round and round in circles with me explaining to him that I need space while he counteracts that with every reason why he can’t give it to me.

Finn kicks off the lockers, and the two of us face him. “Can I see you again?” he asks, looking right at me. Just like when we were back in the club, the rest of the world fades away for him. He doesn’t care that my brother’s in the room.

Cole obviously does. “Unless you want to lose this business, forget you even met her.”

My mouth drops. “This...business? Wait. You own the Ring?” I ask Finn.

Cole answers for him. “Yes, and he’s allowed to operate it out of the goodness of my heart, but that can be rescinded just as easily as it was given.”

Finn’s furious gaze turns on my brother. “Are you joking?”

“I don’t find anything about my sister a laughing matter.”

Finn darts his gaze between the two of us. He runs a steady hand through his dirty blond hair until it falls right back into place, teasing the tips of his ears. His expression is one of complete desolation. The conflict running through him now is as clear as day.

My stomach churns. For once, someone was sticking up for me. Not even Mom and Dad do that anymore. For a few blissful minutes, I had someone else in my corner. “Fuck it.” I march toward the door and throw it open. I eye up the guard waiting for us. “Looks like you’re taking me home.”

As dutiful as always, the guard looks over the top of my head to the real leader in the family. Whatever he sees there, he nods, and we both start toward the maze of hallways.

“Leenie,” Finn calls out.

I ignore him. I know it’s not his fault. My brother does have pull, but dammit, it was just so fucking nice to not be Cole’s sister for a few hours. Even more, to have someone who teamed up with me instead of him.

“Don’t fucking call her that,” Cole growls.

While we walk, I take out my phone. I find a slew of texts from Jaz who obviously thinks Finn and I made it somewhere private to take out all of our sexual tension. There’s a whole line of eggplant emojis lined up with doughnuts.

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