Finn and Cormac hugged again, smacking each other’s backs with tight fists.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” Finn said, to both me and Cormac. He then pointed to the gun. “If she does anything out of line, shoot her.”
And that was my goodbye.
Finn walked away and Cormac leaned against the kitchen doorway, grinning. The gun in his hand.
If she does anything out of line, shoot her.
Maybe it was a joke, but the way Finn said it and the way Cormac looked at me, it wasn’t a joke.
I was a goddamn hostage.
21.
(Finn)
It’d been too long.
Way too fucking long.
If I had been the one to make dumb promises for everlasting romance and bullshit, I would have made it known that I’d always visit. I never made that kind of promise because I never got the chance. We weren’t in that part of our lives.
It all happened so fast.
Funny how Cormac always told me I’d fallen into my own grave. From the legal, straight fights to the underground world. I didn’t do it for money or fame or even to just disappear. I did it because of the hunger to kill. Never before had I wanted to kill… and I needed to get away from anything legal. Because if I killed someone, I’d be punished. With Fiore, if I killed someone, it would be swept under the rug. Or better yet, he could set up bets for death fights and we could make money off it.
I never did that though.
I never killed anyone during a fight.
I slowed my truck down and pulled to the side of the road. I couldn’t look left.
Someone once told me that looking side to side or back was a waste of time. Life was about looking forward, moving forward.
If it were only that fucking easy.
This thing with Shayna was bad. Very bad.
I never expected Fiore to do what he did. To just barge into the cabin and put a gun to my head. The look in his eyes told me either he wasn’t sleeping or he was snorting powder up his nose. Watching him go into the bedroom left my heart pounding and my nerves shaking. I feared he was going to do something bad to Shayna.
Then he wanted me to fuck her while he watched.
It didn’t bother me… but Shayna deserved more than that. Better than that.
My mindset in the situation was what scared me. Because I cared.
I drove forward and then turned left. Yeah, I needed to go forward, but I needed to visit her. My Carrie. I passed through the cemetery gates and felt the anger and emotion rise up in my chest and throat.
My Carrie. Gone. All gone.
22.
(Shayna)
“So, are we going to break the ice or what?” I asked.
“You can start by getting naked,” Cormac said without hesitation.
“I can see why you and Finn are friends.”
“Aye. More than friends, Shayna. Brothers.”
“Real brothers?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you blood related?”
“No,” Cormac said. “Blood ain’t family.”
“I’m not going to try and run away or anything,” I said. I pointed to the gun. “You don’t look comfortable holding that.”
“Truth be told, I don’t like guns. I don’t like any of this shit. I hate that Finn is in this world. But I love the bastard and would follow him into the fire.”
Cormac then put the gun on the kitchen counter.
I truly had no intentions of doing anything stupid. I had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. And after Fiore’s visit earlier, it was pretty crystal clear that this situation was going to get worse by the second. Leaving would only strip me away from Finn’s protection and I’d end up with Fiore and his men.
“Do you know why I’m here?” I asked.
“Finn looking for a little romp,” Cormac said with a grin.
His eyes were bright blue and when you mixed it with his smile, I could see women dropping for him easily. But he didn’t have the rough edges that Finn did. Cormac was maybe too good. Yeah, big and strong, but he walked a different path. He probably ate vegetables because they kept your heart healthy. For Finn, keeping his heart healthy, meant avoiding bullets to his heart. Big difference between a carrot and a bullet.
“I wish,” I said. “This is…”
“The fact he has you here is amazing,” Cormac said. “Either he loves you or you’re really wanted dead. No other choice.”
“Oh?”
Cormac gave a nod. “Tell me your version of the story then.”
“No story. You were there. Shit got crazy. My boss wanted him dead and I helped him survive. Now his boss wants something from me.”
“What’s that?”
“A baby.”
Cormac raised an eyebrow. “Say that again?”
“You heard me the first time,” I said. “So Finn and I are trying… trying to figure out something.”
“Aye, Christ,” Cormac said. He looked around the kitchen. “So, have you two…?”
“What?”
“You want me to say it?”
“Yeah.”
“Has he fucked you?”
“That’s a personal question.”
“I have a gun,” Cormac said.
“You win,” I said. “No, we haven’t done that.”
“Doesn’t shock me.”
“It’s because of the woman, right?”