Page 58 of Break the Ice
A flush burns across her cheeks with an adorable gnaw of her lip. “Umm, I was wondering if I could use your phone to call Christina?”
“Still don’t have a cell?”
Finley shakes her head. “I got a job, so it’s on my list of to-buy.”
I know Eli wants to protect her and keep her in a bubble he can control—I do too—but isolating Finley from everything isn’t going to keep her safe.
Leaning over the island counter, I brace myself on my crossed arms while studying her downturned expression.
“What kind of job?” I ask.
“One of Christina’s friends needs an assistant, and I can’t just sit around all day every day. I think I’m going crazy, and the incident outside the hotel... the photos are making it worse. It’s all I’m thinking about and?—”
“What incident?” The question blurts from my mouth as her eyes fill with tears.
“Oh,” Finley murmurs, shaking her head down at the counter. “It’s nothing.”
“Finley,” I dip my head so I can see her face, “you can tell me.”
Blue eyes lift to mine, uncertainty clouding their usual vibrancy.
“Eli told me about Havenview.”
“He did?”
I nod. “About what they did to you. How you got the marks on your wrists and ankles...”
“Oh.” The sound is choked as she pulls back, and instantly, my hand clasps hers.
“What happened, Finley?”
Gnawing her lip roughly, she focuses on my hand holding hers. Trepidation is written all over her face as she slowly sits up straight.
You can tell a lot about a person by the way they react to uncomfortable situations. The fact that she’s obviously scared and unsure, and she’s still sitting tall, tells me she’s tenacious. A fighter. And I like it.
“They’ve come for me.”
“Havenview?”
“The Fellowship. Our parents.” Nodding, she leans forward a tad, whispering, “Elijah’s noticed a random car sitting out on the road. Sometimes outside here, others outside the practice facility. He thinks we’re being watched.”
“Could be nothing,” I tell her, trying to calm the panic brewing in her eyes. “Once in a while we get reporters or over enthusiastic fans following us.”
“I wish it was, but I know they’re waiting for me.” She shakes her head, focusing on the wall behind me. “They’re waiting to drag me back.”
The thickness in her voice and the teary swell of her eyes hauls me to her.
“Fin—”
“I thought… I thought that everything was going to be okay. Summer offered me a job, and everything seemed like it was about to become better.”
“It is.”
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, it is. Eli won’t let anyone hurt you or make you do anything you don’t want to... and neither will I.”
“Jayden,” Finley whispers, spinning her stool to face me.
