19. Percy & Finn
CHAPTER 19
Percy & Finn
“Interesting fellow,” Richie said as he lifted the glass, red wine swirling against the crystal walls. “Charming.”
“He is,” I agreed, unsure if Richie’s tone had a hint of resentment. “I’m very fond of him.” As I said those words, I realized just how tepid they were. Fond? No. I was fond of hot baths. Finn was in a stratosphere of his own. But I didn’t correct myself aloud.
“You just met him,” Richie said after tasting the wine. “Oh, that’s the good stuff.”
“Feels like it’s been longer than a couple of weeks,” I said.
Richie put on a smile that carried a hint of mockery. “Is Percy Davenport in love?” We shared a little laugh and I said nothing.
He had no business knowing that all I could think about was going upstairs to join Finn in the shower. I wanted to run my fingers through his wet hair and press our bodies together. I wanted to pin him against the tiles and kiss him until we melted away.
We settled into our seats to watch the last glow of the setting sun and enjoy Dimitrios’ wine. “Thanks for coming, Richie,” I said after a little while.
“You sounded like it was an emergency,” Richie said.
“It was,” I admitted. “I was coming here with someone I didn’t know.”
“Smart,” Richie chuckled.
I snorted in reply. It couldn’t have worked out better if I’d planned it. “And you know how my family gets.”
“How does your family get?” Mother asked from inside the house.
This made Richie laugh his ass off.
Feeling the rising heat, I hoped she hadn’t heard me admit that Finn had been a perfect stranger just two days before arriving here. “They eavesdrop,” I told Mother.
“We exist, darling,” she explained, passing through the thin curtains and stepping onto the terrace. She wore a loose summer dress that bared her arms and back. It was ochre yellow with a sprawling pattern of large red flowers, making me think of August sunsets. “It’s not our fault we have ears.” She settled herself near me and as far from Richie as she decently could. Her dislike for my old friend and one-time boyfriend was plain as day, but Richie was not someone who let those things bother him. He had never needed anyone to like him. It made him impervious.
“Where is Muffinn?” Mother asked.
“Upstairs,” I said. “He’ll be down in a minute.”
“Good,” Mother said. “He is delightful, darling. Don’t you think so, Richie?”
“Absolutely,” Richie said in a slightly tightening voice. Father joined us a minute later, sitting next to Mother and conversing with Richie about business. My old friend liked nothing more than to talk about his successes and part of me thought it was well-earned. If anyone had the right to brag, it was the man who had dragged himself up the ladder with hard work and sacrifice. It had turned him into a workaholic, and some found him full of himself, but if Richie couldn’t be proud of his achievement, I didn’t know who could. I sure as hell couldn’t because, for all my tech skills, it had been Richie who made us wealthy.
Minutes dragged on. Emily and Aunt Judith joined the dinner table. Aunt Judith was in incredibly high spirits, talking about dodging a bullet and having immense fun with Benny Tupper rowing the boat. The poor guy had put in so much work only to realize his odds were better serenading the wealthy widow next door. This caused an uproar of laughter that only made Finn’s absence more acute.
It was only when Dimitrios began bringing Nektaria’s dishes out to the terrace that I decided Finn needed rescuing from the shower. “He might have fallen asleep,” I said. “We had a pretty tiring day out.”
Mother leaned close to Father and they spoke something in quiet tones that made them both look proud when they next glanced at me. Both needing to see if Finn was alright and to escape the inevitable sex talk my parents tended to bring up just before we all began eating, I excused myself and climbed the stairs to check in on Finn.
My Muffinn , I thought idly, then tapped the door gently with the tip of my finger. When there was no reply, I turned the knob and entered our room. The open window drew a draft that lifted its curtains. The bed was made perfectly, bearing Nektaria’s military tuck that was much smoother and crisper than what I had achieved this morning. “Finn?” I called, but it made no sense that he was still in the shower. There were no sounds coming from there.
I walked toward the bathroom merely to call him a little louder, but as I neared the closet, the gap was immediately clear to me. On the floor, next to my suitcase, Finn’s backpack was no longer sitting. And just above my suitcase, where the spare linens were, the safety box was wide open and empty. Empty except for one golden bracelet with the pattern of infinite waves of the sea that rested in the middle.
Oh, Finn , I thought. My heart cracked at the sight of it as soon as the momentary confusion passed. Had I been so careless not to prepare Finn better? I had invited my ex, a billionaire like myself and a man I had repeatedly and loudly credited with my wealth, and it had never occurred to me that Finn might see him as competition.
Richie had mistaken Finn for an employee and it hadn’t crossed my mind that Finn might see that as an insult.
But I had invited Richie long before I fell for Finn.
Some distant voice whispered, what could you have done? But I knew. Deep in my heart, I knew I shouldn’t have let things unfold on their own. I should have talked to Finn sooner.
All our shared moments since the marble village in the mountains had left little room in my head to think about much of anything. I thought of Finn in all my waking hours. I thought of my Finn . And then I let him run away, never once thinking to reassure him that my feelings for Richie had long faded away into nothingness.
I didn’t realize that I had been standing in the little hallway, holding the bracelet in one hand, for an endless while. It was only when Emily stepped behind me that I realized the shadows had deepened significantly in the room, and my cheeks were wet with hot, devastating tears.
I’d let him run away.
No. It was worse than that. I had done nothing to remove the reasons for his decision.
“Oh, Percy,” Emily whispered softly, her hand on my shoulder.
“Gone,” I said, surprised at the dullness of my voice. “He’s gone.” My fist closed around the bracelet. Why hadn’t he kept it? Perhaps he didn’t want anything to do with me. Perhaps he didn’t want to be reminded of me.
Had I done it so badly that he would have a reason to hate me?
Insensitive, selfish, careless old me, taking him for granted and never once thinking about the consequences.
Emily hugged me gently but persistently. There was no pulling away, even if I could get the hang of using my feet. I was stuck here, being hugged warmly and kindly by my sister as new tears welled in my eyes.
Finn
I trembled as I kicked up the sand with each step. My hand clutched the flash drive in a steel-like grip. As I moved through the crowd of people enjoying the sunset on the beach, I imagined that each and every one of them saw right through me.
Maybe I’d made a terrible mistake fleeing without thinking, but it was better than putting my trust in Richard and hoping that Percy and his family wouldn’t turn on me. They’d known Richard for much longer. No matter how some of them felt about him, they had known Richard for years, and they had known me for only a few days longer than Benny Tupper.
I fled aimlessly, thinking I would figure it out when I got lost in the bustle of the busy town. I had gone down a few narrow streets and took a few misguided turns before finding that I had walked for over half an hour only to end up on the beach. But I knew my way from there. The beach connected Percy’s house to my distant left and the much nearer town to my right. And right, it was.
The many street lamps were on, as well as the endless canopies of lights covering the terraces of the many bars and restaurants around the harbor. Percy’s yacht was there, tilting left and right with the rising tide.
I looked away from it in shame. After everything, I still couldn’t make myself trust him. But it wasn’t as simple as that. I would have trusted him with my life. I just wasn’t sure I could trust him with Richard’s freedom.
The man would haunt me and taunt me. He would out me to the Davenports, who had more than enough reason to be suspicious of strangers. And however much I told myself that Percy and his family weren’t like all the other people of the upper echelon, I failed to bridge the gap between the thoughts and the fears that lived in my heart.
I slipped deeper into the town and away from the harbor after a few minutes and searched for hostels that might take a lonely traveler for a night or two. I was dipping deep into my pitiful savings and running out of options. So when some higher power led me through warmly lit allies to Hermes’ Hearth, a clean, cool, rustic inn with a hostel upstairs, it felt like the god of travelers and thieves had looked down on me with something like kindness.
The lady who ran Hermes’ Hearth showed me into my room. Once I shut the door and turned the key in the lock, I discovered just how trapped I felt. The room was cozy, snug, and wonderfully decorated in the same Aegean aesthetic as Apollo’s Lantern, but it was much smaller and much closer to Richard Harrison, who was barely three miles south of here.
I lay on the bed and stared at the white ceiling. I tossed, turned, huffed, and sat up as anxiety battered on the thinning shield I had put around myself. I didn’t even dare look back on the snap decision to flee. I had left Percy behind. Maybe there was a way to…
What? Fix it? Have him forgive you? Be redeemed for theft and lack of trust?
I didn’t want to argue with this voice. It was completely futile.
Fumbling with my phone in my hands, I wondered if Percy had my contact. I wondered if Kim had given it to him. Would he call me if she had?
Kim…
God, but I needed a friend. Even before I made a conscious decision, Kim’s profile was up on my screen, and my thumb was reaching for the call button. As soon as it started ringing, I pressed the phone hard against my ear and waited for the eruption of fear to thunder through me.
“Finn?” Kim’s voice crackled through the speaker and I squeezed my eyes shut. It was good to hear her voice. There were so few people left I could turn to and she had never judged me before. But there’s a first time for everything , some cynical voice reminded me.
“Hey, Kim,” I said.
“What’s up? How’s Greece treating you?” her conversational tone suggested she had no clue that I had left Percy on his own. “If you don’t bring me a fridge magnet, we’re no longer friends.”
A short, sudden chuckle burst out of me and I choked up a moment later. “God, I missed you,” I said.
“Hey,” she said soothingly, running out of comfort words pretty quickly. “Has something happened? You don’t sound alright.”
“No, I…” I fucked everything up, Kim , I thought. My objective had been achieved to a stellar degree until today, but I had fucked up everything else I had touched. “Kim, I did something bad.”
My friend choked, wheezed a breath of air into her lungs, and ground her teeth before asking me if she would wake up unemployed.
“No. I don’t think so,” I said.
Kim was quiet for a short time, then softened a little. “Tell me, Finn.”
“You have to swear,” I said urgently. “You have to swear you won’t just call Percy and tell him.”
“I can’t possibly…”
“Promise me, Kim,” I said.
“I promise, alright. I promise.” A moment of silence followed and I decided I could trust her. Tough love or not, Kim was always true to her word.
So I drew a deep breath of air and said, “The man I ran away from, the one I called Dickcoin…”
“Yes?” I could almost hear Kim leaning in.
“He’s here, Kim,” I whispered.
“Oh, God, Finn, are you safe? Is Percy? What about his family?”
“Stop,” I said. “They’re all safe. He wouldn’t harm them. They’re so close, dammit, and he’s like family to them, even if they don’t like him too much. See? It was a stupid pun. Like Bitcoin because he stole everything from my family with his crypto schemes and big promises. Dick. Richard, Kim. Percy’s ex-boyfriend.”
My friend gasped and choked nearly at the same moment. “You went after Harrison? The billionaire investor who helped Percy build his first company? God, Finn, did you slap his mother and spit in his father’s face, too?”
“I didn’t know,” I moaned. “You can imagine my shock when I turned around and saw the fuckface that ruined my family standing in the house, waiting for me to carry his luggage upstairs.”
“What did he say?” Kim urged.
“Erm, nothing, he just pointed at it. I don’t see how that…”
“Not about his luggage, dumbass,” Kim snapped. “What did he tell them about you? Did they throw you out? I swear to God, Finn, if you don’t start calming me down in a minute, I’ll cartoon-strangle you through the goddamn phone.”
“Richard said nothing, Kim. He pretended he didn’t know me until we were alone and he demanded that I return the drive. So…so, I ran away with it.” Admitting that I had left Percy behind was harder than I could have imagined.
“You ran away?” Kim whispered in disbelief. “If you have the damned drive, Finn, how can he threaten you?”
I shut my eyes. “It’s locked.”
Kim was silent for a short while. “Are you sure those files are incriminating?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’m absolutely sure. I saw him, Kim. He thought I was just some stupid golddigger, so he never bothered with precaution. I saw the emails, the spreadsheets, and the shady holding companies that all went back to him . Listen, Kim, I have to ask. Do you think Percy was involved?” A crack ran right through my heart when I asked this. I knew deep down that it was impossible.
“He wasn’t,” Kim said resolutely.
“Good,” I said. Relief washed over me warmly. “I didn’t think he was, but they’re so close…”
Kim interrupted me. “And the drive is locked?”
“Deadlocked, and I can’t break into it. I’d need a really good hacker to even stand a chance.” I frowned as I thought about it. My tech skills equaled that of a six-year-old. Worse, possibly, because six-year-olds could learn this shit and I was hopeless.
“Did it ever cross your mind that the man you spent two weeks with might be able to solve that problem?” Kim asked.
“What? To hire a hacker to help me deal with his ex?” I asked.
“Think, Finn, think. Their first company,” Kim said. “It was an encryption software. Percy was a cryptographer before he was rich. That was his first calling. And then he got sick of it. Who better to help you than the man who created the encryption our government relies on?”
The man I left behind when I ran, thinking he couldn’t possibly be a good guy after all? “Oh, Kim,” I whispered. “I gotta think.” My heart pounded quickly in my chest. “Do you think Percy would turn against Richard?”
Kim inhaled as if to answer, then hesitated.
She didn’t know either.
Nobody knew for sure.
I got tangled in such a freaking mess that nobody knew where it began and where it ended.
“I gotta go, Kim,” I said. I needed to close my eyes and pray for a piano to fall on me and knock me out. That way, I might be able to sleep on this. “And remember what you promised.”
“I’ll remember,” Kim said. “Love you, Finn.”
“Love you, too,” I whispered before hanging up.
Going back to Percy for help was not an option. I wasn’t the kind of guy that would use others. I hadn’t left because I didn’t want Percy to be mine for the rest of the days but because I feared he would hate me when he found out the whole truth.
I didn’t doubt whether or not Percy was a good guy.
I doubted whether or not I was.