Alyssa sighed and set her glass down. She really didn’t know what she was going to do with him. It was bad enough he had his men on her during the day, but now at night too? She grabbed her jacket from the rack and wrapped it around her. Trying to put it on would take far too much time. She slipped on her canvas shoes and grabbed her keys.
She soon was out in the cool night air. She was just glad that it wasn’t winter. Knowing how stubborn he could be, she wouldn’t have been surprised to find him there.
The streets were silent as she walked across and peered into the window.
His head was turned toward her, and his eyes were closed. Lately, he seemed so tired. If he was spending his nights moonlighting as her body guard, it was no wonder he looked like he might fall over most days.
She tapped quietly and watched as he jumped awake, his hand reaching for his side.
Alyssa waved at him through the window. His eyes widened in surprise as he rolled down the window.
“I was just…” He looked around.
It was a first for her. Usually, Finn had an excuse for everything.
“Turn it off and come inside,” she said in her most no-nonsense voice.
Finn looked from her to her apartment window. Uncertainty flashed in his eyes, but he rolled up his window and stepped out.
Alyssa turned and walked toward the door, her arm wrapped around her body. He raced to keep up with her and slipped behind her. They rode in silence up the elevator and to the door of her place. Once inside she turned to him.
“So how long?” she asked.
She watched as he looked around the place and tried to remember if he had been there before. It seemed like he must have been since his men were constantly coming and going, but she couldn’t actually remember him coming over. In fact, the last time they had been anywhere outside of work together was during her stay at the hospital.
The first week she had fought so hard to keep him out, but by the second week, she had given up. During that time they said very little, but he stayed nearly the whole time. It was also the first time in what felt like ages that she’d slept through the night without waking up. Maybe it was the nearness of him in the room, but she felt safe. That meant something.
“Since you left the hospital,” he said quietly.
“Just you?” She hung her jacket up and slipped off her shoes.
“Jesus,” Finn said. His eyes sparked with irritation. “You wore that outside?”
Alyssa looked down at her tank and blushed.
“It hurts to wear things over it at night.” She looked back at him. “I saw you outside and just went.”
Her face burned. It was clear she wasn’t wearing a bra and with the cool night air, her nipples were pointed right at him. She slipped her good arm over her breasts and under the other arm.
Finn stepped forward, concern on his face. He cupped her cheek and brushed a thumb just under her eyes.
“You’ve been crying.” He frowned.
“Nightmare,” she said and turned out of his hand. She was ashamed that Mike was still able to get to her even from prison.
“I’m sorry I scared you earlier,” he said.
She turned her head back to him. Shame and fear were written on his face as he looked down. Her heart hurt. He might drive her crazy, but he tried more than anyone she ever knew.
She pulled her hand out from under her arm and placed it on his chest.
“You don’t scare me,” she said quietly.
His head snapped up. “But earlier.”
“Earlier you were trying to boss me around like you would one of your men,” she said. “I’m not one of your men, and I’m not intimidated by you.”
He looked back down, and she stepped forward. “I’m not intimidated by you because I know you’d never hurt me.”
Slowly, his eyes came up to hers, and she felt her heart hammer in her chest under his intense gaze.
“What kind of nightmare was it, Alyssa?” he asked.
She stepped back and looked away. It seemed so wrong to talk about it.
“Him,” she said quietly.
She could feel the anger radiating off of Finn.
“That will never happen to you again,” he said with such force that she took a step back.
He stepped forward and placed a hand on her good shoulder.
“I will always be here for you,” he said, his voice raw with emotion.
“I know.” Alyssa leaned into him. For a brief moment, she thought he might kiss her.
He stepped back, leaving the air cold between them again.
Rattled from his nearness, she moved, slightly unsteady, around the room. She pulled a pillow from her bed and a few blankets from the closet.
When she came back in the room, he was unbuttoning his shirt. The white sleeveless undershirt was mostly visible. She licked her dry lips and ducked her head.
“Pillow and blankets,” she said and deposited them on the couch.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. She paused at the door to her room and looked back.
“Good night, Finn,” she said and closed her door behind her.
She settled into her bed and listened to sounds of him in the living room. She heard him make a quick call to Conor, so he would know where he was and then the light under the door flicked off. It didn’t take long before she heard his steady breathing from the other side of the door.
She smiled and was happy to know he would be getting sleep tonight. He kept her in the dark about things that were going on, but she knew that the incident with the Russians wasn’t going to just go away. If he was going to fight a war, he was going to need to get more sleep.
Maybe she would take him up on sleeping at his house. It couldn’t be that bad, and at least they could both sleep easy. She yawned and glanced at the clock. Nearly five.
Another hour, and the sun would be up. She closed her eyes. Better to get back to sleep while it was still dark out.
Chapter Four
The sun poured in through her window when Alyssa woke the next day. She was still tired and sore but far less than they day before. And she’d been able to get to sleep and stay that way. That was a relief right there.
Alyssa wondered if Finn was awake yet. She couldn’t hear him moving or sleeping, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t messing with his phone. She twisted in the bed, so she could get up. It was always hard first thing in the morning. The muscles were stiff and needed to be worked a bit, something she loathed doing.
She massaged her right shoulder, working her fingers deep into the muscle like they had taught her. She groaned when she hit a knot. This was the worst part. Slightly loose, she rose and peeked out the door.
The couch was empty. He had carefully folded the blankets and stacked them onto the pillow. A part of her was a little sad that he had left without saying goodbye. She was even looking forward to making him breakfast.
She shook her head. That wasn’t what she should be thinking. A man like him wasn’t interested in someone like her. He had made that more than clear over the months she had known him. No, Finn liked women like Claire. Tall and sophisticated and pretty much perfect.
She sighed and went to lock the door. When she got there, she found it was already locked.
Her mouth dropped open for a moment as her mind tried to catch up. There was only one way the door could be locked and that was if Finn had a key to her apartment. A place he had only just been to and was never given a key to.
Her face went hot as she thought it through, but no matter how she tossed it, Finn had a key to her place.
She fumed as she paced the living room. He was always butting in. He had no idea what personal space even meant.
Alyssa marched to her room and picked up her phone. Angry, she scrolled through the numbers and hit send.
“Hello?” her friend said on the other end.
“Sorry to call so early, Haley, but I’ve got a favor to ask,” she said, her anger just in check.<
br />
“I was up,” Haley said, just as chipper now as she would be in the afternoon.
“I’m still up for shopping later, but I need to swing by the club first,” Alyssa said.
“Okay,” Haley said. “But are you sure that’s a good idea? You sound a little mad right now.”
“Oh, I am mad,” she said. “And I plan on letting a certain man know that.”
Her friend sighed on the line. “Okay, I’ll stop by a bit early as moral support.”
“Thanks.” Alyssa hit end.
She went to the closet and looked around. Her plan appeared to be harder than she anticipated. Instead of spending her morning fighting, she was supposed to be doing her laundry. It left her choices a little limited. Especially since she wasn’t even able to buy nice clothes until recently. It was either the fancy dress for special occasions or her off the shoulder dress.
It seemed like her avoidance of showing her scars was about to come to an end. She didn’t have time to debate what to wear if she wanted to get in a shower. Not caring, she ripped the dress off the hanger and tossed it on the bed for later. So be it.
* * *
“Is this it?” Finn asked as they lined up the recent shipment: a pathetic number of pistols, shotguns, a few rifles and a small number of ammo boxes.
Noel nodded. “They said that supplies are low recently.”
“I might as well just go to the fucking gun store, even with the serial numbers.”
Finn looked up from the table with irritation. “That prick tell you why supplies are low?”
Noel shook his head.
“We’re being shut out,” Liam said. “The Russians are limiting the pool, and all these small fries are trying to get what they can, so they can make it through till this is all over.”
Finn knew it was true. Over the last six months, things had dwindled to nearly a trickle. He still wanted to get out of the business, but that wasn’t going to happen if he couldn’t make sure they had a presence. In the end he might have to go through some alternative sources. It wasn’t ideal, but something had to be done.
“We’ll keep getting what we can until those sources run dry,” he said. “Any movement with the Russians?”
“Everywhere,” Conor said. “But nothing that makes much sense.”
“Mind games?” Finn looked at the three men and knew his answer.
“Think they are working with Ennis?” Liam asked.
Finn thought for a moment. “Could be, but after the fall with Viktor, I doubt my brother is keen on getting back in bed with the Russians.” He tapped the butt on one of the guns. “But Boris is a smart man. He might just be exploiting an opportunity.”
The click of the front door reached his ears, and his head snapped to the door.
“Fuck,” he grunted and pulled out his gun.
The others followed suit as the door to the back room opened.
“Stop right there,” he shouted.
Alyssa and Haley stood frozen in the door for a moment before Haley screamed and slumped to the floor, her auburn hair a halo around her.
Noel swooped in and carried her out of the back room, everyone else close at his heels.
“What the fuck?” Alyssa said when they laid Haley on the couch in the office. “Is that that how you fucking answer the door?”
Adrenaline still pumping in his veins, Finn fired back, “It is when someone comes barging in.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Noel barked, glaring at them both.
Haley’s eyes blinked open, and she tried to focus for a second.
“You pointed a gun at me,” she said in shock to Noel.
He brushed a thumb against the small bump on her head. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
She blinked a few times as if she was trying to remember something.
“I don’t like having guns pointed at me,” she whispered.
Finn nearly choked when Noel gave a genuine smile. “Me either.”
“Here’s some ice,” Conor said and handed over a towel with ice in it.
“Hales, are you okay?” Alyssa asked, stooping down next to her friend’s head.
“Fine.” She gave a weak smile. “Just give me a minute.”
“You just rest,” Alyssa said and looked back to Finn. “I’m just going to go have a talk with Finn.”
Haley rolled her head to the side to look at Finn and smiled.
“Good luck.”
He nearly snorted when Alyssa stomped from the office back into the stockroom. After following, he closed the door behind them.
“What’s with all this?” she asked.
Finn sighed and stood next to her. “The latest shipment.”
She walked around the table and stared at him until he looked up.
“Are they coming?” Fear laced her voice, and he wished he could comfort it away.
“Eventually,” he said. “We started a war, and eventually the real battle is going to have to take place.”
She was quiet for a moment, taking in what he had said. It all sounded so surreal. Weren’t wars fought overseas? But the evidence was right in front of her. There was going to be a war, and she needed to decide if she was going to be involved.
Alyssa looked at Finn. Aside from Haley, he was the only other person who had been totally consistent over the months.
She watched as his eyes wandered over her, settling on the scars. He frowned deeply before looking back up.
It shouldn’t have hurt, but it did. He didn’t seem to care last night, but she guessed that the lighting wasn’t right, or he was too tired. Her stomach twisted as she thought about how she didn’t seem to measure up. Would never measure up.
She shook her head, trying to wipe the doubts clean.
“How the hell do you have a key to my apartment?” she asked.
He stared for a moment in silence before speaking. “I have a key because I own the building.”
Alyssa stepped closer to the table.
“You what?”
Finn cleared his throat. “I bought the building,” he said and glanced down at the guns.
She wondered if he was regretting having this discussion in a room with so many guns.
“When?” she asked.
“You wouldn’t let me help.” He shrugged. “So I helped in the only way I could.”
“By buying the building I live in?” she said in disbelief. “And then what? You run out and make a spare key?”
“It wasn’t like that,” he sighed.
She tossed her arm to the side. “Well then, enlighten me.”
Finn scrubbed his hand on his face.
“I had to know you were safe,” he said and glanced at her. “You were being so stubborn I didn’t have a choice.”
Alyssa rounded the table and stood right in front of him. “There’s always a choice.”
Finn stepped closer, and she could smell his soap. “Not when it comes to your safety. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you’re safe.”
She groaned and leaned back against the table. “I’m all ready to beat the crap out of you, and then you say something like that.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. The way he was staring at her made her insides tighten.
“Well,” she said, her breath catching as she spoke. “I should go.”
“Yeah,” he said and stepped a little closer. “That would probably be best.”
Alyssa leaned toward him, drawn by the almost hypnotic look in his eyes.
“Where are you going?” Finn said.
She licked her lips and watched his eyes flick to her mouth.
“Haley and I are going shopping,” she said absently.
He frowned and leaned back.
“Do you really think that’s a good idea? You couldn’t even make it through work yesterday without your shoulder hurting.” He crossed his arms over his chest in irritation.
She watched as the soft blue t-shirt stretched across his muscles.
“Wait,
what?” She shook her head and looked at him. “Seriously?”
Alyssa put her good hand on his chest and pushed back.
“Don’t treat me like I can’t handle things on my own,” she said. Her voice was low and full of emotion. “You don’t get to spend a few months with me actually caring and make up for everything that you did.”
“I wasn’t trying,” he said and tried to take her hand.
She pulled away from him. “I know what you were trying to do,” she said quietly. “But I’m not a child.”
Alyssa turned and walked to the door, her heart hurting more than it should over one person. With a sigh, she left him to his thoughts and hurried to the office.
Haley sat on the couch, openly watching Noel as he stared out the window.
“You ready?” she said to Haley.
Haley nodded and turned back to Noel.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
He grunted, not bothering to look back at her.
Still stunned by the unusual morning, they made their way outside and into Haley’s car. The two sat silently for a moment before talking.
“Dessert,” Haley said. “Something chocolate and about a million calories.”
Alyssa grinned. “That sounds about right to me.”
Chapter Five
It wasn’t until they hit the second shop that Alyssa was certain they were being followed. They had just come out of the shoe store near the ice-cream shop when she turned to fix the strap on her sling. Just beyond the sign across the way, a heavily tattooed man leaned in the shadows staring at the watch on his arm. He turned his shaved head and revealed a large cross on the side of his head. When he turned back, his cold eyes fixed on her. They locked eyes, and she knew they were in grave danger if he got his hands on them.
Alyssa linked arms with Haley and moved them down the busy hall.
“Don’t look back,” Alyssa said in her friend’s ear. “We are being followed.”
Finn Page 3