17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Finn
E rik is in my sights.
He’s laughing with his wife like nothing could go wrong for him. My eyes land on the baby in Anya’s arms. Their daughter is walking and talking now but she’s still a baby. For a moment, a flash of uncertainty hits me. Should I be doing this?
Yes. I can’t let Erik and Dante win. This is the only way.
I grip the knife in my sleeve that those idiot security guards didn’t even notice and lunge for Erik right as Aria jumps in front of me.
“Don’t!” she shouts.
But my knife is already moving towards Erik.
Aria gets right in front of my knife and it cuts her arm, making her gasp. The sound of her pain makes me stumble back in shock.
People start to look in our direction.
It’s then that Erik notices us. “Finn? Security!”
Shit, shit, shit.
I never expected Aria to try and stop me. She stares at me while she grips her bleeding arm. Blood is pooling onto the floor. I cut her deep.
I cut her.
Anya screams and shields her daughter with her body while Erik shields them. Dante comes running over. My eyes find Aiden in attendance too. Of course he’s joining Dante and Erik’s side.
The security guards are getting closer and closer. If I don’t leave now, they’ll grab me and throw me to Erik who will torture me until I’m dead.
“Aria, come on,” I say, holding out my hand. She hesitates. “I didn’t mean it. It was an accident. You weren’t supposed to get in the way.”
“Finn,” she whispers.
“I have to run, princess. I have to go.”
She nods. “Go then. You have to. If they catch you, you’re dead.”
God, I could kiss her but there’s no time. With one last look in her direction, I take off running. Multiple guards give chase but I’m faster. I’ve been running and fighting my entire life.
I don’t head for the front door as there will be too many guards out there. Instead, I run down one of the museum hallways, looking for a back exit that won’t be as heavily guarded.
It’s ironic. Dante once ran through these exact halls with Nadia at his side as he escaped Erik and now they’re business partners. I guess anything can happen.
Except, I’m not a sell out like Dante is. I’m not going to make peace with men who fucked me over. I hold a grudge.
I find a back door and burst through it. The guard outside tries to grab me but I slip through his grasp. I don’t stop running till I make it to my car parked down the street. I’m driving away by the time the guards reach me.
Shit. I was so close to stabbing Erik. He wasn’t even looking in my direction as I approached. If it weren’t for Aria, I would have stabbed Erik and made a run for it.
But Aria got in my way. She stopped me.
Once I can get her back, I’ll spank her for getting in my way.
Unless…
Maybe she stopped me in an effort to save me. That’s wishful thinking though. I can’t even go there. Aria may care for me but she always wanted to go back to her family. Guess now she gets the chance.
Fuck. I didn’t mean to lose her. Viktor is going to be pissed that I failed at killing both Dante and Erik when I had the chance and that I lost Aria, my one bargaining chip.
I have nothing and no one.
I don’t have my brother. My wife. No allies. All I have left is my mom but even she won’t come to my rescue on this. Not when she’s torn between me and Aiden.
I have to regroup and get Aria back and then I’ll focus on killing Erik. It’s the only way.
Killing is all I know how to do.
Aria
Nadia rushes to my side as I hold onto my bleeding arm. “Aria? Is that you?”
“Yes.” I feel… numb. Finn tried to kill Erik and I stopped him and now he’s on the run again. Without me.
It’s what I wanted… right? I wanted him to go so he wouldn’t get caught. I would have just slowed him down.
Now I get the chance to see my dad again. That’s wonderful.
But…
“Aria,” Nadia says, wrapping her arm around my shoulders. “You’re here. You’re ok. We got you.”
Nadia and I met when Dante first brought her over to my house, back when she was still Dante’s prisoner and not his wife.
I was just sixteen at the time. I was so mean to her until she showed me, an Italian, compassion.
Even though she had been kidnapped, she was still so kind to Dante and to me and my dad.
We’ve been close ever since she married Dante.
The sight of her makes tears well up into my eyes and I break down into tears. I’m not one to cry but that’s all I can seem to do right now.
“You’re hurt,” Nadia gasps.
Dante gently nudges her to the side. “Let me see.” He grabs my arm. “That bastard. He cut you.”
“He didn’t mean to.” Even though my lips move, I don’t feel anything. I’m defending Finn on autopilot.
“What do you mean?”
“He was…” My eyes find Erik. “He was going for him.”
Erik stands up straighter, still holding his arms around Anya and their daughter. “Of course he was. Finn will never stop. You know that, Dante. That’s why I tasked you to kill him so many times.”
“Enough,” Dante snaps. “Let’s not fight about that now. Finn is gone. Again. But we will find him and when we do, I will kill him.”
“No,” I gasp out.
That makes everyone in our immediate circle look at me in shock.
“What did you say?” Dante asks in a low voice.
“Don’t kill him. Remember when we came to you? Finn didn’t hurt you then. He could have. You were weak but he didn’t hurt you. Because of me.”
Erik tenses. “What is she talking about, Dante? When did Finn come to you?”
Dante looks around the crowded room. “Let’s go somewhere more private to talk. And we need to get Aria’s arm looked at.”
“He’s right,” Nadia says. “We need to get Aria to the hospital first and then we can talk.”
Erik nods once. “Ok. Let’s all go.” He turns to Anya. “I would ask you to stay but I know you won’t listen to me.”
“You’re right,” she says with a small smile. “I won’t. I’m coming with. I want to know what’s going on just as much as everyone else does.”
I go with Dante and Nadia in their car to the hospital. “Where’s my dad?”
“At his house,” Dante explains. “He didn’t feel like coming tonight.” There’s an unspoken part to his words. He didn’t come because you were gone .
My father must be missing me terribly.
“You need to call him and tell him I’m ok.”
“Nadia,” Dante says.
With a nod, Nadia pulls out her phone and calls my dad. “Here. You can talk to him.”
I take her phone with shaky hands and wait as the phone rings. My dad answers on the third ring.
“Yes?”
“Dad, it’s me.”
He’s quiet for a long moment before he gasps. “Aria? Where are you? Why do you have Nadia’s phone?”
“I’m with Nadia and Dante now. I’m on the way to the hospital. I’m fine,” I say before he can freak out. “I just got cut. We’ll meet you there.”
“Got cut? How?”
“Dad, I just need to get to the hospital. We’ll talk there.” I hang up before he can ask more.
“What was that about?” Dante asks, looking at me through the rearview mirror.
“What?”
“Why didn’t you tell him it was Finn who cut you?”
“Because it would just make him more upset. And Finn didn’t mean to cut me. He was trying to kill Erik and I got in the way.”
“Still on our side then.”
A flash of anger hits me. “What do you mean by that?”
“I just mean that the last time we spoke, you wanted me to forgive Dante and now he showed up to kill Erik tonight. You got in his way. That means you’re on our side. Not Finn’s. I’m glad. If you actually liked him, it would have made everything that much more complicated.”
“I do like him.” I don’t know why I say it. To spare Finn’s life perhaps?
Dante goes still. “You can’t like him. He kidnapped you.”
“And you kidnapped Nadia before you two fell in love. Don’t be a hypocrite.”
“Are you saying that you love Finn?” The incredulousness in his voice tells me everything I need to know.
“I didn’t say I’m in love with him. I just… didn’t want him to die, ok? He’s technically my husband, you know.”
“And he won’t be for long. Not when I kill him. Then we can find you a suitable husband after that.”
I scoff. “One that will benefit you and Erik, I assume?”
“Yes. Is that a problem? You always knew you would marry someone that would benefit my position in life. Don’t act like that’s changed.”
“I never said it did. But I have changed. I was kidnapped, Dante. I was taken by an insane hitman who tortured me. Finn saved my life from him.”
“I thought it was Finn you were talking about.”
“Sal Alvin. He hurt me and Finn saved my life. That has to account for something.”
“Not when he kidnapped you. I can’t forgive him for that.”
“You fucking hypocrite,” I seethe.
“Ok, that’s enough,” Nadia interrupts. “Let’s just get you to the hospital. Ok?”
I slump into my seat. Sometimes Dante feels more like an annoying older brother than my dad’s boss.
We get to the hospital and I’m taken into a room where a doctor and a nurse fix my cut for me. It’s easy and fast and I’m fine.
I come into the waiting room where Dante and Nadia, Erik and Anya and their daughter, and Aiden and Elena are. Elena is heavily visibly pregnant now. I wonder what Finn thinks of his brother becoming a dad one day.
Even Matteo is there, looking distractingly handsome. I used to have a little crush on him when I was younger – before Finn entered my life.
“Good. Let’s talk,” Erik says. “There’s a private room we can use.” He takes us to a small staff lounge with no staff in it. Guess Erik pulled some strings. A man like him gets everything he wants in life. I’ve grown up with men like that. Dante is one of them.
Even Finn is one of them.
“Now,” Erik says, “what did you mean when you said you and Finn when to meet Dante?”
I look at Dante. “You didn’t tell him?”
“Of course not.”
“It would make you look bad,” I say, then laugh. “Of course it would. Because you couldn’t kill Finn either when you had the chance.”
“What is she talking about?” Erik asks.
Nadia rubs Dante’s arm and he sighs. “Finn and Aria came to see me last week when I was recovering from the attack on Viktor. Matteo was there with me.”
Erik whirls around on Matteo. “And you didn’t kill Finn then?”