Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
FINN
I’m fully aware that I can’t kill a dead person, so I’m being facetious when I make the threat.
Unfortunately, J takes me literally.
Her face drains of color, and her watch is screaming at me. I back away from her before she faints again. The last thing I want is Dr. Kenji raking me through the coals after he just warned me not to do anything to make her heart race.
Should I apologize or something? J looks genuinely unsettled. She scoots as far away from me as possible, her eyes flinging unspoken accusations.
Is it fear I see in her face? Is it anger?
It’s definitely not desire.
Her nostrils are flaring, and her chest is pumping up and down. That sexy-as-hell red flush is creeping up her neck. I fold my fingers into fists because whether it’s fear, anger, or desire, I can’t touch her. She’s in a bad state right now.
Tasting my way across her slim body is not on the menu.
Dr. Kenji bursts back into the room. “J, I have a patient—”
J turns her attention to him.
Strangely, I realize I couldn’t breathe when I was looking at her.
She smiles for the doctor, and it reaches her eyes. “I’m fine, Dr. Kenji. Go.”
“Call me if—”
“I will.”
Dr. Kenji runs a hand through his black hair, and it sticks up in all directions. “I need to discuss something with you the next time we meet. I saw a strange reading in your test results. When you return to the hospital, I’ll ask the lab techs to run the tests again just to be sure, but you must—”
“Avoid stress, over-exertion, and adrenaline rushes,” J recites in a dry voice.
Dr. Kenji swivels to look at me. “It’s imperative.”
“Got it.” I gesture for him to walk ahead.
We take the stairs.
“Dr. Kenji, can you take a look at this pill and tell me what it’s called?” I hand over a plastic bag with one pill that I stole from J.
Her whispered words when I tried to get her to the doctor have been bothering me for a while now. Why didn’t she want anyone finding out about her medication? If it wasn’t given by the hospital, who gave it to her?
“Is this something Kurosaki wants to roll out?” Dr. Kenji brings the bag to eye level and studies it.
“Something like that,” I grunt. Right now, I want him working on finding out what exactly are inside those pills, and if thinking it’s Kurosaki’s order will make him prioritize the task, then he can think what he wants.
Dr. Kenji pockets the bag. “What are you going to do about the Grave City Crew?”
“I’ll handle it.” I asked Ren and Hayato to take Ace and his friends to a location where they won’t be found. They’re still there, waiting for my next order.
“You’ll kill them?” Dr. Kenji asks pointedly.
I stare at him.
He adjusts his glasses and stammers. “A-as a doctor, I cannot condone harm to human life.” He glances around and then leans in. “But as an old man who watched J grow up, I…” His Adam’s apple bobs. “I wouldn’t fault you for dealing with the problem permanently.”
My right eyebrow arches. Dr. Kenji always struck me as a bit of a coward, even though he’s working for the yakuza. If he’s willing to bend the rules for J, it’s a testament to how much she means to him.
“I’ll handle it,” I say again and show him to the door.
Dutch, Zane, and Sol are waiting in the living room. Dutch is leaning against the wall with his arms folded.
Zane is sitting cross-legged on the rug, twirling his drumstick in one hand.
Sol is lying flat on the couch, flicking a lighter.
“Gentlemen.” Dr. Kenji addresses them with a nod.
Sol waves.
Zane lifts his drumstick in goodbye.
“Doctor,” Dutch says, dipping his head too.
Dr. Kenji’s eyes slide over all of them. At the door, he whispers to me, “What’s the name of your crew?”
Funny. He thinks Dutch, Zane, Sol, and I are in a gang.
I stare him dead in the face. “The Kings.”
“Oh.” He blinks a few times.
I slam the door behind him and face my brothers and Sol. “Let’s talk. Somewhere private.”
We file into the garage where we made the song that went viral.
Zane plunks on top of his drum seat. “So, that was an actual mafia doctor?”
When I called Dr. Kenji over, I told my brothers that I met him through Kurosaki.
“Not mafia, yakuza,” Sol corrects with a shrug. “And what do you expect gang members to do? Walk into a hospital every time they get a bullet wound?”
“I’m sure they can buy private rooms in the hospital or something,” Zane says with a shrug.
“Doctors and nurses have the right to call the police. Imagine one person keeps turning up every few weeks with bullets in him. Somebody’s gonna ask questions.”
Zane rubs his jaw. “He has a point.”
Dutch straightens away from the wall, eyes narrowed. “You sure having her in the house is a good idea?”
“I thought you were cool with Jinx now?” Zane asks.
“Just because she does one good thing—”
“Two,” Zane reminds him. “She was the first person to get in contact with Mom.”
“—it doesn’t mean her intentions are good. She could be trying to win our trust.”
“Well, she’s winning it.” Zane grins. “I’m on cloud nine after getting that message from Grey.”
Sol points out, “Jinx hasn’t reported anything about you guys since the kidnapping. Maybe she’s changed.”
Dutch snorts as if to say, “I doubt it.”
“Jinx isn’t the enemy,” I growl. “There’s a human being behind that app.”
The entire room goes still.
Zane, Sol, and Dutch watch me like I’ve grown two heads.
Dutch adopts a challenging tone. “How do you know that she’s not the enemy? Do you even know the reason she was stalking us, reporting on us, extorting us? We know nothing about her, but you keep trusting her and looking out for her.”
“To be fair,” Zane says, “she helped us take down those guys on The Grateful Project list.”
“For a price.” Dutch clenches his teeth. “The only thing Jinx cares about is herself. She’s not afraid to ruin someone’s life to gain leverage. She’s a snake, and now she’s a snake under our roof.”
“Is that what’s bothering you? That she’s here?” Zane clarifies.
“It’s over the line. She should never have come here.”
“Sorry, Dutch,” I grind out. “I should have left her to have a heart attack on the floor and get kidnapped by the guys who were after me. I’ll remember that next time.”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist just because you’re screwing her, Finn. Oh, wait. You can’t screw her, right? Or she’s going to choke. I heard the doctor.”
The fury that I unleashed on Ace was never returned to its cage. I feel it bubbling up now, demanding I quiet Dutch with my fists.
“All right. All right. Enough. Geez.” Zane steps into my line of sight with one arm raised to me and another raised to Dutch.
“Finn, no one is coming for your girl, all right? Dutch has some concerns and he’s right.
They haven’t been addressed. We still don’t know why Jinx was gathering all that information on us.
Can you at least see where he’s coming from? ”
I glare a hole into the wall.
“And Dutch,” Zane coaxes, “I know you hate Jinx, but she’s helped us out. Big time. That counts for something.”
Dutch looks away.
Sol laughs nervously. “Damn. What’s gotten into you two? Making Zane the referee?”
He’s right. I’ve never felt these chaotic feelings before. Usually, nothing ever bothers me. But for some reason, I want to take down anyone who comes after J—whether that’s physically or emotionally.
The only one allowed to threaten her is me.
But I can’t ignore the truth in my brother’s warnings.
I don’t know anything about J’s motivations. She hasn’t even admitted to being the anonymous gossip blogger or confessed what she gained by stalking us.
She got involved in our relationships and kicked us around like pieces on a chess board, and she still shows that manipulative, secretive behavior now as she toggles between her feisty personality and that sweet, submissive facade.
This very moment, she could be listening in, gaining intel to extort us even more.
“Look.” Dutch’s tone loses some of its bite. “I just don’t like that Jinx is the only link between us and Cadence. It bothers me.”
“I get it. It bothers me too. But can’t we be grateful that she’s on our side?” Zane pins his blue eyes on me, a deep wrinkle in his brow. “Maybe Finn’s got it right. Maybe our strategy should be to keep her happy.”
Sol snorts. “Zane knows a thing or two about keeping women happy.”
“What? I’m a happily married man.” Zane points his drumstick in accusation.
“Exactly. The number of Redwood Prep girls who’re crying because they found out you’re married is… insane.”
Zane rolls his eyes.
Sol forces a laugh and glances between me and Dutch.
No one else is laughing.
“Jinx can’t be controlled.” Dutch’s gaze is laser-focused on the floor, but those words are for me. “You know that. She never trades for free.”
I bristle, but I don’t have a comeback because he’s right.
“Okay. Okay. Bottom line, we all need to be more careful around J. Can we agree on that?” Zane lifts both brows to emphasize his point. “Finn?”
Everything in me is fighting to tell them to screw off, but I trust my brothers with my life. And I don’t trust J, even though it looks like I’m arguing with my own family to stick up for her.
I dip my chin in understanding.
“And Dutch, maybe we can get the answers we want by, I don’t know, being nice? Smiling every once in a while?”
Sol chuckles. “Finn never smiles, and Jinx is in his bed, so maybe that part is optional.”
Dutch visibly glowers.
I fold my arms over my chest, acting nonchalant when I’m still holding my temper back with a snapping leash.
The room goes quiet.
Shoulders slumping, Sol complains, “What’s with the mood?”
“On to a different topic.” Zane twirls his drumstick. “Finn, we need to update you. We’ve been investigating Mom to find a lead from that angle. Her receptionist keeps saying she’s away on a business trip, so we’re thinking of flying out there and looking for clues ourselves.”
“When are you leaving?” I ask.
“Not sure. Dutch?”
Dutch frowns and doesn’t say a word.
Well, screw him.
“We’re still working out the details.” Zane shakes his head. “Oh, Dad called us yesterday.”
Sol, Dutch, and Zane wait for me to react.
“I know.”
Sol looks surprised. “I thought you guys said Finn wasn’t there?”
“He wasn’t.” Zane eyes me up and down.
I tell my brothers everything, starting with Kurosaki inviting me to his acreage and ending with the tense breakfast where I ordered Jarod to pour out his wine.
“Poisoned wine?” Sol shudders. “That’s next level.”
Dutch chews the inside of his cheek. “I thought Dad was acting weird, but I didn’t know why.”
“That explains so much,” Zane mutters, his eyes glazing over.
Dutch’s hands pull into fists and his knuckles are white.
“You okay?” I ask my brother.
“He could have killed us. He could have killed all of us. We had no idea,” Dutch whispers painfully.
Silence drops on the room like a bomb in the ocean.
“Are you talking about Finn or Kurosaki?” Sol asks.
Zane curses. “What kind of stupid question is that?”
Sol throws both arms up, eyes darting away and a nervous smile on his lips. “Just clarifying.”
Dutch’s eyes lift to mine. “Finn would never hurt us. I’m not talking about him.”
The knots in my chest loosen, and I breathe out for the first time since we started this discussion.
Sensei teaching me martial arts wasn’t the only reason I kept my anger locked up. Eventually, every kid who bullied me returned to school with a black eye. Whispers raged that if Dutch and Zane found out someone was bothering me, they took care of it.
And no matter where we went or who we spoke to, they always introduced me the same way.
This is our brother.
Anger returns to its cage, and I lock it tight.
These are my brothers. I fight for them, not with them.
Dutch’s frown turns a little less severe.
I glance away, hiding my own smile behind a bored expression.
Zane sets his stick aside, looking seriously between each of us. “Now that I’m seeing the full picture, I’m one hundred percent sure about one thing.”
“Whenever you need us to come fight, we’ll fight.” Sol slams a fist into his waiting palm. “I’ll bring my bombs.”
“Bombs?” Dutch grunts.
Both my eyebrows climb.
“No, that’s not what I was going to say but yeah. I totally agree. We’ll fight with you, Finn. No questions asked.” Zane gives Sol a “what are you on” look. “But the second thing I’m sure of is this.” He swallows hard. “I’m starting to think Mom was right to take the girls away.”
Sol’s grin disappears.
My shoulders slump.
Dutch walks over to me, his eyes imploring. “Finn, whatever plan you have with the yakuza, you better make a move quick. I’m not bringing my wife and baby home to die.”