Heartless Legacy (Heartless Heirs of Canyon Falls #4)

37. Finn

Chapter 37

Finn

W e all have things that we have to do, even though we don’t want to. This group meeting is one of those things. I guess calling it a meeting isn’t the right word. It’s more like a meet and greet. A poor reenactment of the first time we met Thea. I would have preferred to talk to her alone, but this is one of those times where I have to pretend there’s nothing wrong. Basically, I’m standing next to Pax pretending like I’m not imagining slicing his fingers off.

Holden thinks we should be patient. Feel things out with Thea. I think we’ve done that for almost a week, and it’s gotten us nowhere. My guess is it’s the Eloise funk on Pax’s clothes. I’m repelled by it, so she’s gotta be too.

When Thea steps into the hall, I grab her around the waist, lifting her off her feet, and drag her right back inside the classroom. She screeches, kicks and screams bloody murder. I ignore her antics, putting her back on her feet, then turn to lock the door. When I turn back to face her, I realize that the door should have been the least of my concern. She’s holding a very sharp-looking knife in the hand Holden’s gripping. Was she about to stab me in the back?

“God, Finn. Are you fucking crazy? I could’ve killed you?”

She could have. She literally could have killed me just now, if Holden hadn’t of been in the room. I flinch, realizing just how fucked everything is, because I’m not sure Pax would have intervened. Pushing that unsettling thought to the side, I say, “No, I’m not crazy. I’m just confused about what’s going on.”

She wrenches her arm free from Holden, but doesn’t re-sheath the onyx hilted, serrated blade. Where’d she get that from? It’s not one of the ones I gave her.

“Confused? Don’t you have this backwards?” She huffs. “I should be the one confused, since I was happily minding my business until you dragged me in here.”

“I’m confused about what I did to upset you.” Holden arches a brow. Oh right, it’s not just about me. “What we’ve done to upset you.”

Her voice is flat, her face devoid of all emotion when she says, “I’m not upset.”

“You’re not?”

“Not at all. What could I possibly have to be upset about?”

The sarcasm slips through and I realize just how idiotic this line of questioning is. Of course she’s upset. She’s been in jail and comes back to everything being different with her status in The League and her relationship with Pax.

Thanks, mom . Because hadn’t she warned me about this reaction when I mentioned Thea was back? Hadn’t she said that for us life continued, but Thea may feel stuck in one place and struggle to figure out where she fits now?

“I get it, Pet. You’ve been re-acclimating, and we’ve been giving you space.”

“Have you? Do you call this giving me space?”

“I do. Not giving you space would look a lot different from this.”

“Oh, forgive me if I can’t tell the difference between this and leaving me alone.” That snippy little comment is accompanied by an exaggerated eye roll.

“The difference is I haven’t moved into the dorm room next to yours and put myself in every one of your classes.”

“Again, I can’t tell the difference. You are in one of my classes, Finn. In fact, you’re each in one class and you’re playing football with my friends and eating at my table when I’m not around.”

I’m happy she’s noticed the effort I’ve been putting in. “That’s because I want to be close to you. But when you show up, I sit at the legacy table to give you space. So, I get it. I get that your time in solitary confinement may have made you a bit more… moody. Or overly sensitized to stimuli. But that doesn’t explain why you’re outright ignoring us. We say hello. We smile at you, and you look at us like…” I glance over at Holden for help.

He supplies, “Like you’re not seeing us. Like you’re looking through us, as if we’re not truly here.” I nod, because that’s a perfect description for it.

“Stop being so damn sensitive, Finley.” She snaps. “I’m not ignoring you.” Me sensitive? That’s a pretty dismissive take on my feelings. She continues, “I’m living my life. I’ve moved on, just like the three of you.”

Did her time in jail make her doubt my feelings for her? Is it because I didn’t come visit her? I would have if I’d have known she was there. Doesn’t she know I would have broken her out of jail and gone on the run with her?

“There is no moving on, Pet. We are your life, and we’re not dropping the plans we were making.” I don’t even know how Holden didn’t laugh in her face when she called herself dumping him.

She looks away from me, staring at the wall as if it holds the answers to all her problems. Holden pushes off the desk he’s sitting on and comes to stand next to me. Staring down at her, he asks, “What’s going on with you?” That means he’s seen something I didn’t. I love that he’s basically a human lie detector test.

“Isn’t it clear? I’m over you guys.”

“It’s clear.” Tilting my head to the side, I say, “What’s muddy is why? Why are you over us?”

“Why?” She laughs. It’s a hollow sound that sends chills of unease down my spine. “Why do you think? It’s taken nine months, but I have a second chance to do something with my life, and so do you.”

Her gaze strays to Pax. “Maybe I should amend my statement. It’s been nine months for me, but you guys moved on before the ink was even dry on my fingerprints.”

Holden nods. “There’s a lot that happened while you were gone. Pax’s engagement to Eloise being the worst. But I’ve already told you his choices aren’t mine or Finn’s.”

“Yes, they are. All for one and one for all.” She drawls, sounding a bit more like herself.

“Awe, Pet. Are you mad at us? Do you think we’ve been with Eloise? Because I swear we haven’t. We would never-” She arches a brow at me. “Okay, I have, but that was way before I ever met you and I’d rather pretend it never happened. In fact, let’s pretend I was a virgin until you.” I beam at her. “So if you want to argue and fight about one third of my Trium hooking up with her, we can. We’ll come up with a system to make sure you don’t have to be around them.”

I take in the heavy pinch of her brows and the way her shoulders slump. “I’m not mad Finn. I’m just tired. Tired and exhausted, and I don’t wanna fight.”

In this moment, she looks and sounds exactly like she says she feels. Exhausted. “Then we don’t fight. Just talk to us.” I say, moving closer. “Tell us how you’re doing. How you’re feeling? We just. We missed you, and we’ve been worried sick about you.”

She throws up her hands. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I was in jail and now I’m not.”

“Okay, then talk to us about that. How did you wind up getting arrested in Palm Springs?” It’s the question I had but didn’t ask when Holden and I confronted Deacon.

She hesitates before saying, “I wish I knew. I thought it was a joke, or a part of a league challenge, but then…”

“Then?” I press.

“Then, as I was shoved onto the hood of the cop car and my arms nearly pulled out of my sockets, I realized it was r eally, really real. They mirandized me.” She looks at me, and before she says anything, I know my hunch was correct. “I guess Michael told the cops I stabbed him.”

Holden says, “But they released you because there was no record of a police report or complaint?”

“I can’t explain that anymore than you can. You’ll have to talk to Mikey about that.”

We would if we could, but he’s all clammed up and in hiding. “So you called Coach Wolfe for your one phone call?”

“My lawyer did.”

My head whips around when Pax asks, “Why him?”

She looks at him with deadened eyes, and says, “Because I needed someone who would come get me with no questions asked.”

I read the subtext. She needed someone she could trust, and she didn’t trust us. I think a part of her did trust us. Or was beginning to, but there’s no chance that it’s there anymore.

“Your call should’ve been to me!” He growls. “I’m your companion. I’m the one assigned to you.”

“Exactly.” That flat tone is back in her voice. “Your assignment. Not a person. Not someone you care about. So why would I have called you Paxton, when I was just the job you’d been ordered to do?”

I look from Pax to Thea. There’s a hidden meaning in her words. By the look on his face; he knows what she’s alluding to. More secrets Pax?

“Pax is an asshole, but you weren’t just a job, Thea.” I say, needing her to know that.

“And you’re blindly defending him again.” Anger creeps into her voice as she says, “Covering for his fucked up behavior. Again. Supporting his bullshit. Again. ” Her hands clench at her sides. “So where in any of that should I believe you weren’t playing me too? Was there ever even a plan for us to be together, or was that a lie?”

She holds up a hand. “Wait. Don’t answer that. Of course, there was a plan. You’re probably still following the plan. Get me agitated and lashing out so he-”

She shoves past me. “I’m gonna say this one. Last. Time. Leave me. The. Fuck. Alone!” The door slams behind her, leaving me reeling at the sudden shift in her mood. Turning to Pax and Holden, I ask, “What the fuck was that?”