Chapter 11 #2
Falling back a step, I looked into his eyes while praying lightning didn’t strike me where I stood. “Okay.”
“Thank you. Now let’s go back out there and get to work.”
“You’re being an asshole again.”
He shrugged, walking toward the door. “I can live with that.”
We ended up having pizza delivered to my office for dinner, since no one wanted to leave until every last detail of the op was hashed out.
It took hours of back-and-forth before plans C and D were devised in case A and B went sideways.
I still wasn’t gung-ho about using Finn, even with the knowledge that every possible scenario had been meticulously covered.
It wasn’t sitting right with me, but I was in the minority.
“When you said you’d take me shopping, I didn’t think you meant tonight.”
Finn and I were the last to leave. It wasn't until we were a mile away from his rental when he informed me about our upcoming evening excursion.
Shopping was the last damn thing I wanted to do; however, a little retail therapy might take my mind off the days ahead.
I was confused when instead of continuing toward downtown, he pulled into his driveway.
“While you were busy with your team, I was busy activating Sloane and Noreen.”
I shifted sideways in my seat as he put the SUV in park. “What does that mean?”
“I knew you wouldn’t want to go back out once we got home, so I solicited the help of my sister and my assistant. They brought the store to us.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“I’m also selfish.” He unbuckled his seat belt, then leaned across the center console, caressing my inner thigh with his thumb. “I’ll take every opportunity to get you alone and naked.”
“How about we skip right to the naked part?”
“Why? Are you aching, baby?”
My core throbbed with need as his hand drifted higher, dipping under the hem of my skirt. Any farther, he’d feel the evidence of my desire dripping from my core. He’d also figure out I’d gone commando that morning. Panty lines with tight dresses were distasteful, in my opinion.
“Yes,” I groaned when he reached my center. Without warning, he thrust two fingers inside me.
“Come on my fingers first. After you pick out a dress, you can come on my tongue.”
It wouldn’t take long, not with how expertly he played my body. Every time his fingers drove deep, the heel of his hand brushed against my clit. It was maddening and intoxicating all at once.
“I’m close,” I panted, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Fall, Waverly. I’ve got you.”
His words, along with a well-timed twist of his wrist, set off an orgasm worthy of a standing ovation.
“Beautiful.”
He withdrew his fingers from between my thighs, putting them straight into his mouth. The act itself was absurdly carnal, yet deliciously satisfying to watch. Then he kissed me so thoroughly I tasted myself on his tongue.
“Time to find a dress.”
Finn
Opening the door to the house, I was immediately greeted by the unexpected. Shouts of “Uncle Finn” rang out as I was taken out at the knees by two seven-year-olds. My arse was sore from how I’d landed on the ground.
“What are you two––oh fudge brownies.” My sister strolled into the living room from the kitchen. “You’re early. Noreen didn’t think you’d be home before eight. I was making dessert.”
Waverly helped me to my feet, looking equally amused and overwhelmed. Obviously, we weren’t expecting guests, let alone three of them.
“Sloane, stop babbling and tell me what the H.E.L.L you’re doing here? I thought you were staying with your mom for a while.”
“Why are you spelling out words?” Waverly asked under her breath.
“It costs me cash whenever I curse in front of the twins, and I refuse to substitute ridiculous words.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“They can’t spell yet, so I’m taking advantage while I can.”
“They’re seven, right?”
“Yeah.” I exaggerated the word. Sloane chuckled. So did Waverly. I was the only one who seemed oblivious. Looking at my sister and my girl, I held out my arms in surrender. “What am I missing?”
It wasn’t either of them who answered; it was the youngest woman in my life. “Ro and me been able to spell forever, Uncle Finn.”
“Well damn”
“Swear jar,” the twins shouted.
“Bean Sprout.” I picked Reagan up, settling her on my hip. “You’ve been tricking me and now you want money?”
Her little fingers cupped my cheeks. “I need monies for the puppy.”
“You got a puppy?”
“Not yet,” my nephew chimed in. Turning up the charm and the wattage on his little grin, he added, “Momma said we need lots of monies first. You gots any we can have?”
Those two could have anything they wanted, including every cent I had in the bank.
They had me wrapped around their little fingers, just like their mother.
She’d taught them exactly how to exploit the hell out of me.
Too bad for her, I would be showing up at her house with a dog soon. Paybacks were coming.
“I’ll see what I can do, Bubs.” I mussed up his hair and set his sister down. “Hey, did you guys see the backyard? There’s a bunch of trees and dirt, so you know what that means?”
“Bugs!” they yelled.
Turning to Waverly, I asked, “Do you mind watching them for a bit so I can talk to Sloane?”
She looked nervous, but nodded anyway. God, I loved this woman.
“Okay, kiddos, let’s see how many creepy-crawlies we can find.”
Rogan grabbed one of her hands, practically dragging her toward the back door, while Reagan slowly shuffled behind them.
Once they were out of sight, I took a good look at my sister.
She looked beautiful, as always. Her medium-length dark hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, highlighting the light coating of makeup on her face.
I’d told her time and again she didn’t need it, but she never listened.
What wasn’t visible to most was glaringly obvious to me.
They wouldn’t see how dull her sapphire eyes were or notice the puffiness underneath them.
Someone had upset her, and I was about to find out who.
“What’s going on, Sloane?”
“The dresses are here and they’re gorgeous. I’m sorry we crashed your night.”
“I don’t give a feck about that right now. I care about you.”
I followed her into the kitchen where she picked up a glass of wine from the counter, tipped it back, and drained it.
Pulling out a chair from the table, I sat and waited while she poured a second, then filled a tumbler with two fingers of whiskey from the cabinet.
This was worse than I thought. Sloane wasn’t a drinker.
In fact, I was the one who got plastered on her twenty-first birthday.
“We couldn’t stay with Mom any longer.”
“I’d assumed that was the case since you’re here.”
Where my mom was distant, Sloane’s was the opposite. Maeve Beckington hovered like a helicopter. She was involved in every aspect of her daughter’s and grandkids’ lives. Whatever she’d done to stir up my sister enough to leave couldn’t have been good.
“She’s still in love with him.”
“Dad?”
“From what I could tell, shortly after the twins were born, they started”––she made air quotes––“hooking up. It’s been going on for years behind my back.”
“I hate to say it, but they’re consenting adults.”
“I wish that’s all it was.”
“Then tell me.”
My sister took another healthy swig of wine, then slammed the near empty glass on the counter; thankfully without breaking the stem.
Sloane had a soft heart. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen her pissed.
None of those held a candle to how she was right then. Fuming was an understatement.
“She knew.”
“What do you mean she knew?”
“Apparently, she was with him at his doctor’s appointment when he got the diagnosis.”
“You’re not making sense, sweetheart. Take a breath. What does all of this have to do with your fight?”
“You know how I got tested to see if I could donate one of my kidneys?”
A small part of me understood why she did it, while the rest of me was feckin’ furious.
She was a single mom, for feck’s sake. The twins needed her. So did I, for that matter. Clenching my teeth, I stowed my anger. Sloane didn’t need her overbearing brother to make an appearance. I’d save that for another time.
“What I didn’t tell you––because I knew you’d overreact––was Mom encouraged it.” She joined me at the table; placing the tumbler of whiskey on the table as she settled into the chair next to me. Pointing to the glass, she said, “You’re gonna need that.”
My hackles were officially raised. Not only did Sloane not drink, she hated when I did. If she started cursing next, I’d rain down hell on my father. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he was somehow behind whatever had upset her so badly.
After a beat and another drink of wine, she continued, “When the results showed I wasn’t a match, I was devastated.”
“I wish you’d come to me then.” Reaching over, I laid my hand on top of hers.
“Mom was the one who bought me the DNA test. It was a few weeks later, and I stupidly thought she was trying to cheer me up. I told her how we used to joke about having another sibling out there somewhere.”
“I’m lost.”
“She knew, Finnian.” Wetness pooled in her eyes. “All this time she knew about Shannon; not her name or where she was, but she knew Dad had another kid. They both did.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. I picked up Mom’s phone yesterday, thinking it was mine. When I went to set it back down, a text came through from Dad asking if she’d found his ‘spare donor yet.’”
“Jesus, Sloane. That’s fecked up.”
“It gets worse.”
I hated how dejected she sounded. Our father was a self-absorbed arse, always had been. It was one of the many reasons why I started Lachlan Industries. I couldn’t work for a man who thought the world revolved around him. Sloane knew it too; she just chose to love him through it, for the most part.