Tell Me True

by Ally Blake

  Finn had nothing to say to that.

  “As to what’s on the horizon, you can count on me, my boy. For anything. Support, money, a pillow to sleep on. Ammunition of any kind necessary. Any kind.”

  Finn shoved his hands in his pockets. And nodded. He knew. But, “You saved my life once already, Frank. Took a chance on a kid who could just as easily fallen into a dank, deep, ugly place. It’s time I return the favour.”

  “By leaving.”

  “There’s heat heading this way. I leave, it goes with me.”

  Frank scoffed. “Risk is my business. My bliss.”

  Finn laughed; the sound rough and raw. “Financial risk is not exactly the same thing.”

  “I’d beg to differ.”

  “He’s a bad man, Frank. Dangerous. Selfish.”

  And he wasn’t the only one. It was selfishness that had kept Finn in town. Banking every last moment so that he might bring them out later, piece by piece, an elixir against whatever happened next. Doing so put people who deserved better in jeopardy.

  Finn thought of his father’s letter. The apology. The contrition. And knew it meant nothing if not backed up by action.

  “My father would have no compunction hurting you in order to hurt me.”

  “I can handle myself.”

  “You have to think of Hazel.”

  “She’s a tough old boot.”

  “Of your staff, then. Your kids. Your grandkids.”

  Frank puffed out his chest as if it didn’t matter, but Finn saw the flicker in his eye.

  April thought herself quite the master of body language. But she’d studied in a clinical environment. Finn had lived it. Learning the meaning behind every eyebrow twitch, every eye flicker, and every cracked knuckle had been a matter of survival.

  Frank’s pause, the way he scratched nose and crossed his arms, spoke volumes.

  Then Frank turned and pulled a thick file from beneath a pile of papers on his desk and held it in both hands. “This dossier began the day we met.”

  Finn’s eyes dropped to the folder to find his father’s name type-written across the front.

  “It includes information on his health. His behaviour. His associates – past and current. His legal efforts. And goes back to reports from my investigator after he interviewed police and witnesses regarding the day Cillian Wardell was arrested for armed robbery and manslaughter of his youngest son.”

  Frank held the folder out to Finn.

  Finn took it. Hesitated half a breath, then opened it up.

  Frank hadn’t exaggerated. It was detailed. Acres of information jotted down in small neat handwriting. The most recent pages reported on Cillian’s hospital stays, classes taken, cellmates, requests to visit the chapel. A newfound lactose intolerance. Medications to curb anxiety.

  It lined up with everything his father had said in the letter. Could his father be telling the truth?

  Thus distracted, when Finn turned the page he felt like he’d been hit in the gut with a mallet.

  Police tape. Broken glass. Scattered bullet casings numbered for evidence. His father in handcuffs, his hair wild, his eye bruised from his earlier altercation with Finn, spittle flying from his mouth as police dragged him away. And Bradan, fourteen years old, lying beside the getaway car, a spilled can of Coke beside his curled fingers, a bullet hole burned into his chest.

  Finn had seen those photos before. In his police interview. In court. But it didn’t dissipate the horror. The sorrow. The guilt. The potential of it all going that wrong again.

  Frank cleared his throat.

  Finn looked up to see him holding another folder.

  “I don’t even want to know what’s in there.”

  Frank’s mouth flickered with a quick smile. “Partnership offer. Stakes, shares, balance of power.”

  “You’re serious about that.”

  “Damn right, I’m serious.”

  “Current events haven’t forced your hand?”

  A beat. Then, “They may have contracted the timeline. But you know me better than that.”

  Finn did. Frank was serious about Hazel, horses, and Hamilton Holdings.

  He threw the contract so Finn had no choice but to catch it, then he prowled back behind his desk and sat. “It’s your life. Your decision. If you need to go, I’ll help. Take Sally up on her offer, I’ll fly you right to the ranch on my own plane. Or I’ll set you up in Iceland, or the Caymans, or Timbuktu if that’s what you need. But before then I will do everything in my power to keep you here, my boy, because you are not only the most talented son of a bitch I’ve ever known, you are family. Now get out of here. I’m a busy, important man and I have work to do. And so do you.”

  Finn walked out of Frank’s office... and kept on going. Down the lift, through the lobby, and outside, blinking against the sunshine of a glorious Sydney day. He walked and walked and walked until he found a seat on a bench in a random park.

  Still gripping the files.

  In one hand he held his past. Rough, devastating, ugly.

  In the other hand he held his future.

  No. Only one possible future. He had choices. Roads leading off in all directions. He simply had to pick.

  A partnership in one of the most successful, well-respected, private financial institutions in the country? A new life in America, working for a pair of loved up horse ranchers who he liked a lot? Or a life on the run? No ties. No responsibilities. And enough money to keep him comfortable for the rest of his life.

  From one breath to the next, everything shifted, revealing a truth so sharp it cut.

  Not furnishing his apartment, squirreling away money, keeping friendships at arm’s length – he’d been preparing for a clean getaway for years. In short supply as a kid, complete freedom was within his reach.

  All he had to do was go.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Long, strapless, floral dress hitched in one hand, April wove her way down the hill leading to the bay at the rear of Hazel’s Cinderella Project headquarters. A smattering of misty rain leant a hazy prettiness to the encroaching twilight and April turned her face to the sky and let it cool her.

  Out of sight of JJ’s tropical-themed engagement party raging beyond the fairy garden above, the sounds of the party – clinking glassware, the strains of a Beach Boys tribute band and laughter – floated on the air.

  It was a great party. Wild, raucous, fabulous – with lots of JJ and Kane’s crazy cruise ship mates and a slew of Kane’s seriously handsome and rather famous football buddies. But for a moment back there, all the noise and merriment –all the love – had become too much and April needed a little breathing space.

  As the sun began to edge below the horizon, glimmers of gold reflected off the hulls of yachts bobbing in the perfect blue water of Vaucluse Bay.

  April ambled out onto the concrete jetty. A brisk, early evening breeze whipped across the water. She twisted her waves into a quick topknot. And breathed.

  It was funny how things had come full circle. That she was attending a party here right as her tenure with the Cinderella Project drew to a close. For all its craziness, her capricious, three in the morning whim had been worth every cent.

  After the way her year had begun she felt like she could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

  Finn had done as promised and couriered over the contract along with her box of “goodies”, which he’d had someone organise into date order and colour-coded yearly folders, good man.

  Erica had turned up again—mostly because her clothes were at April’s and she had a hot date for JJ’s party, but still it was progress.

  And—shock of shocks—Jase had given official notice to Stan that he would not be putting his name up for the promotion.

  Her mother was still screening her calls, but April couldn’t be sure if that was on the good or bad side of the ledger.

  Then there was Finn; the last, great variable left in her life.

  She pictured the barely-bank
ed heat in his eyes as he’d lounged on her couch the other night while she – in her Wonder Woman t-shirt, undies, and red knee high boots – stood beside the TV and quoted her favourite Wonder Woman episode line for line. Until he’d leapt from the couch and divested her of said t-shirt, pressing her against the wall, teeth scraping her collarbone, her ribs, the growl in his voice as he’d insisted she keep on the boots. Then tucked behind her in bed, his breath tickling her hair, one hand proprietarily on her breast, his big, warm body at rest as the birds outside her window announced the coming of morning.

  She’d fallen in love with the man. Of that she had no doubt. Even though he amplified the insistent tug in her belly that wanted her to leap, risk, and live large. Probably even partly because of it.

  And she had every intention of telling him just that, the very next time she laid eyes on him.

  The final step in her reinvention was upon her. She was finally ready to bare her heart.

  “April.”

  April spun on her heel.

  As if she’d conjured him out of thin air, Finn walked down the hill towards her. Her heart leapt into her throat at the sight of him... and the promise she’d made to herself still echoing inside of her head.

  In jeans, a light blue shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, an umbrella swinging from one hand, he still he looked like he could run the world or destroy it on a whim. Not her type? What had she been thinking?

  Finn hit the jetty, his eyes creasing as a smile tugged at his mouth. He squinted against the rain and opened the umbrella until she was protected from the drizzle. She wrapped her arms around his waist and lifted to her toes and kissed him. Her skin shimmered. And her heart sang. She pulled away slowly. Took a shaky breath.

  “Hey, stranger.” No point leaping straight to I love you. Finn was a man who needed to be eased into such things.

  “Hey, yourself.”

  “Am I remembering correctly – when I invited you to this party you said you had to work.”

  “You’re remembering correctly.”

  “So why did you come?”

  “I knew you’d be here.” He lifted a hand and ran his thumb over her bottom lip, bending in for another kiss. Deeper this time. Gentle and slow and achingly sweet.

  April’s impulses became very specific. They included the nearby boat shed and less clothing. She wondered if it needed a key.

  Her hand crept up his shirt, tracing the rain drops. “Did you go through the party? It’s crazy.”

  “Mm-hmm,” he said, planting a kiss on the end of her nose.

  “Did you see Erica on your way down?”

  Finn shook his head. Moved to nuzzle at her jaw.

  April closed her eyes and let her head fall sideways to give him better access. “She’s punch drunk. Literally. She took one look at some redhead friend of the groom-to-be and swung at him. She missed, thankfully.”

  Finn frowned. “What did Guy do?”

  “Guy. That was his name.” Through the warm haze of sensation, something twinged in April’s subconscious, but her senses were all swimmy and she couldn’t pin it down. “Turned out he’d hit on her once before at some party of Hazel’s only he didn’t remember. Erica isn’t much of one for being forgotten. JJ, the bride-to-be, put Erica to work behind the bar where she could share her tipsy grievances with other angry souls.”

  Speak of the devil, there was Erica now, ambling down the hill towards them. Except something in the way she moved had April disentangling herself to stand between them.

  Erica slowed, dark gaze stuck on Finn. “Finn.”

  “Erica.”

  “How’s tricks?”

  “Tricks are fine.” Finn’s pause before answering had been infinitesimal.

  But April felt it.

  Erica said, “That’s what I hear.”

  The niggling feeling in the back of April’s head began buzzing like crazy.

  But she didn’t get the chance to figure out why as then she saw Jase coming down the hill too. How on earth had he wangled an invitation to this thing?

  Erica followed April’s gawping gaze. “April, you know my date.”

  April blinked at Jase. “Him?”

  “Thanks a lot,” Jase said, smug smile slipping from his face.

  “I didn’t mean... You’re fabulous, I’m sure. Deep down. But Erica? She will eat you alive.”

  Jase glanced at Erica. Clearly he’d come to that conclusion already.

  “How did this even happen?”

  “I wasn’t going to tell you till after the party, then I saw your friend here slink in. Turns out asking me on a date wasn’t Jase’s idea. It was Finn’s.”

  April’s gaze skimmed over Jase, over Erica, and landed on... “Finn? Is that true?”

  A muscle beside Finn’s eye twitched and she knew he was curating his answer. The urge to demand “truth” hovered on the tip of her tongue, but something – instinct, apprehension, a sense of impending doom – made her swallow it whole.

  Maybe he had free time on his hands and thought he was being helpful. Yeah, and maybe Stan would show up at the party and offer her the job right before Hazel gave her a full refund.

  Nevertheless, her voice was pretty rough as she joked, “Please tell me you didn’t marry off my mother and have my father hobbled.”

  Erica muttered, “Now that I’d pay to see.”

  But April’s words had hit their mark. She could see them imprinted on Finn’s dark gaze.

  While she had been busy bathing in the blush of falling in love with the guy, Finn had been busy tying up loose ends.

  In the silence that followed, a cheer wafted over the hill as the band finished the final flourish of California Girls. And April’s heart really began to race.

  “April?” That was Erica. “Are you okay? You look like you’re about to faint.”

  But nothing more was said as suddenly a crowd crested the hill. The entire party, in fact, led by JJ and Kane. Marcy was there. Serafina with her rugged Prince Charming from the internet ad. Ginger-haired Guy, checking something on his phone.

  And Hazel, who took one look at the scene on the jetty and blanched.

  “Darling,” she said, arms open to April even as her gaze kept flitting to Finn. “We’re about to take a group photo. Why don’t you head over here with the girls so we can get the boys done first.”

  But then Kane called out, “Finn. Mate! You’re here. Good timing. Guy, Murdoch. I need you three all at the front. Groomsmen shot.”

  JJ’s laughter cut through, a staccato at the edge of April’s fuzzy subconscious. “You haven’t even asked them yet.”

  “That was me asking,” Kane said.

  “Come on, kitten,” said Hazel, taking April by the arm and attempting to drag her away. But since every ounce of blood in her body had rushed to April’s head and she could no longer feel her feet she wasn’t going anywhere.

  Which was how she had front row seats to the moment JJ walked right over to Finn, kissed him on the cheek, and said, “Finn, I apologise on my finance’s behalf. The man has no sense of timing at all. In case you didn’t catch his drift that was him asking you to be his best man.”

  April clung onto Hazel to stay upright. “Wait. Just wait. Everybody stop talking, and kissing, and wait.”

  JJ looked over. “April?”

  “You know Finn?”

  “Sure. He’s a friend of Kane’s.”

  April breathed, reminding herself that even while she felt like life as she knew it was crumbling beneath her feet, this was JJ’s day.

  It took everything to keep her voice bland as she said, “Does that mean that Finn and Hazel know one another too?”

  “Of course. Finn’s Frank’s business manager. Or he manages his business. Or something. All very mysterious. I never quite understood it. Anyway, Hazel”—JJ shot Hazel a grin—“introduced Kane to all the boys. Finn, and Murdoch and Guy – the talented builders who refurbished the gorgeous building in which we are partying. And they ar
e all so besotted with one another I wouldn’t be surprised if they have a secret handshake by now. Hang on, you know Finn? I had no idea. How funny!” JJ looked from Finn, to Hazel, to April. “Only now I realise I’m the only one laughing.”

  April tried not to look as shell-shocked as she felt. Not easy when her head was busy reliving the past few weeks of her life as if through a new pair of glasses.

  The Chaser bar. Pick a man, darling, any man, just makes sure its a real man. That one? That one.

  The Burrow. When you mentioned this place last night it must have stuck.

  The North Sydney pool. Why did you come? Because I knew you’d be here.

  She closed her eyes tight.

  Hazel’s program couldn’t possibly have run that deep. Her “if you are wanted by one man you’ll be wanted by all” argument couldn’t be so deeply, wholly contrived. Except Finn knew Hazel. Hazel knew Finn. And April had been kept completely in the dark.

  “Kitten,” Hazel said, looking worried as she took a step April’s way.

  April held out a hand, only to find it shaking like crazy. “That first night, did you put Finn in that bar in the hopes I’d choose him?”

  “No, darling.”

  A flicker of hope lit April’s insides that she’d somehow misread everything and—

  “I put him in that bar knowing you’d choose him. I mean, look at him darling. He’s magnificent.”

  April did not look. If she looked, she might fall apart. Instead, she spluttered like an old car on a cold morning; so shocked, and angry, and hurt her mental spark plugs wouldn’t fire in order. “I... I have no idea how to respond to that.”

  “Thank you might be nice.”

  But April had no words.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw JJ and Kane herding people back up the hill, telling them dessert would be served; photos taken after the drizzle let up.