Page 82 of Heir of Fire
Valerio was the only one who was able to rip him off, and thankfully Finn was able to take in mouthfuls of air just as his vision had begun turning blurry. The fucking asshole had nearly killed him, and for what? Because he thought Finn did something to Gianna? What the hell did she tell them?
“What are you talking about?” Finn muttered, still coughing.
Allister pushed Valerio off, but he didn’t approach again. Instead, he stayed a few steps away, keeping his hands at his sides in tight fists. “I’m talking about how you managed to get her to lie to me, to everyone she fucking cares about. She would never date someone like you, and she would never fucking destroy the relationships she has with us for you either. So, what did you do to her to get her to this place? Did you threaten her? Bribe her?”
Finn’s face contorted into one of disgust. He couldn’t believe the accusations being thrown against him. For the first time in his life, he finally understood why Gianna had wanted to keep them a secret. Every single one of them was out of their fucking minds.
“Do you really think I would do something like that to her?” Finn asked.
“You tell me.”
His jaw clenched in anger. The ropes that were keeping him tied up were the only thing stopping him from launching at Allister, at everyone in that room. For such a fucking smartass, he truly was the biggest idiot Finn had ever met.
“You want to know how I got her? I was there for her. I listened, I cared, I fucking took the time to make sure she was appreciated and understood. I wasn’t the one that got her to lie to everyone; she was the one who got me to lie. I wanted to fucking scream it from the rooftops, but she commands every fiber of my being. She says walk, I walk. She says run, I run. Hell, if she says bark, I’ll fucking bark. She wanted to keep it a secret and she didn’t want anyone to know. Why? Because she was scared of your reaction.” Finn shook his head, letting out a mocking laugh. “And how is that going, by the way? For a girl who struggles so much with her family already, how do you think it feels when she can’t come to you, her own brother, with her own love life?”
Allister opened his mouth to say something, but Valerio cut him off. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”
The question was so direct it hit Finn square in the chest. It had been a question he was so sure he would never be asked, a question he was sure he would never answer. But as soon as it came, he knew his answer immediately, as if it were second nature.
“Yes. I am.”
The silence in the room was suffocating, nearly worse than when Finn was getting choked out. At this point, he might have actually preferred that over the way Allister stared at him with that calculating look. It made his skin crawl, and as the moments ticked by, it only got worse.
“Did you all die?” Augustus asked, breaking the silence. “What the hell just happened?”
“Way to kill the moment,” Dante muttered, rolling his eyes.
“Do you actually love her?” Allister asked this time, testing out the words as if he couldn’t believe them himself.
“I do.” And it was the honest truth.
“Fucking hell.” Valerio huffed, running a hand through his hair.
“Does she feel the same way towards you?” Allister asked.
Finn exhaled loudly. “I think she does. That’s something you’ll have to ask her yourself. She’s too stubborn to come out and admit it to me.”
There was a small pull at the corner of Allister’s lips, almost as if he wanted to smile. But as soon as it was there, it was swiped away. Gone without a trace.
“Well, this is just great. They’re in love. Good luck trying to break that up now and remaining the best brother in the world,” Dante said, shaking his head.
“It doesn’t fucking work. You can hate the asshole all you want, but as long as she loves him, seeing her happy is what matters,” Finn said, looking at Valerio. “Believe me, I tried.”
“And failed,” Valerio said.
He rolled his eyes. It was true. No matter how much he could have hated Valerio and wanted Luna with anyone else in the world, there was nothing he could have done. It wasn’t his say to play in her love life that way. Not back then, not now either. He just kept the thoughts of destroying Valerio inside his head now instead of letting them out into the open.
“It’s not for you to understand why anyone falls in love with anyone. Fuck, it was the last thing I thought would happen to me, but it did. Hate me all you want, but I’m not going anywhere. As long as Gianna wants me here, I’m hers,” Finn said.
“I’ll talk to her about it,” Allister said, seeming to finally wrap his mind around it. “If she gives a shit about you, then I’ll consider keeping you breathing. The minute you fuck up and hurt her, you’re out. I’ll make her think you ran away again, only you’ll be buried six feet under a slab of concrete where I’ll have a new gazebo set up. Understood?”
“I would never hurt her,” he said. “Ever.”
The threats didn’t intimate Finn in the slightest, but he would play along only because it was her brother. He would never dream of hurting Gianna. Quite frankly, he was over the entire situation. He wanted a shower and his girl out in the open now.
A look of acceptance passed through Allister's eyes, and for a second, Finn swore he saw his body relax if even for a moment.
When the three of them finally left the room, it was Augustus who came over and cut the ropes off him. His arms were numb, and the tingling was a bitch when the blood started rushing back into them.
