Chapter 13 #2
“I don’t plan on spending it twice,” I said, watching Rusty and his men melt into the shadows.
Finn finally raised his eyes to meet mine, “Cole, I’m…”
“Shut up. I don’t want to hear a single word from you. If I hear even one word, you get to walk your sorry ass home,” I gritted out, turning to leave the lumberyard.
He caught on and shut up. He watched each stack of lumber as we passed, like they might jump him if he didn’t stare them down. I didn’t need to look. I could feel the eyes of Rusty’s men on my back as we left. I always assumed at least three more sets of eyes were out there whenever I met with him.
“Where’s your bike?” I asked.
Finn gestured to where he’d parked his bike a little down the road under a broken streetlight.
I kicked my bike to life and watched Finn as he climbed on his and fumbled to start it.
I guessed his hands were still shaking, even though he had tried to act tough.
The engine coughed like it thought about dying before finally turning over.
We pulled out slowly and took the path that was clear of all street cameras.
The road home gave me nothing. Not the relief I was hoping for or the reflection that I needed.
I’d let the kid walk into a den of wolves just because I’d had my eyes drawn to the other end of the bar.
The bar was empty when we got back. It was just like Maddox to make sure everyone was out exactly when the bar closed.
He was behind the bar helping Ronnie close up for the night.
Gage was in his usual spot, leaning on the doorframe between the bar and the shop, his arms crossed against his chest. Finn walked into the bar behind me, head still down.
I could see the relief on Gage and Maddox’s faces as the kid walked in with nothing more than a busted lip.
“Office,” was all I said to him.
He didn’t argue, and walked back to the shop without meeting anyone’s gaze. Finn hovered in front of the old couch in my office. He paced silently in front of it. I closed the door behind me, enhancing the smell of cigar smoke and whiskey still left from when it’d been my dad’s office.
“So you decided it was your job to run my accounts?” I asked, my voice low, daring him to argue with me.
He flinched. “I just thought that we were getting shorted. Last time…”
“You don’t know what happened last time.
You weren’t there because you aren’t a Hound.
You don’t understand the fine line that we walk with men like Rusty.
You don’t know what he respects. I don’t send you away from the auto shop, or the bar.
You could work there, learn the ropes, help the mechanics.
Learn a proper skill, instead of hanging onto this dream of being a Hound.
I’ve said no to you being involved in this shit a hundred times.
If you can’t handle a simple no, and understand it, how are you proving yourself to be someone I could trust in the future? ” I said through clenched teeth.
“I can learn,” he said, lifting his head and meeting my eyes.
“You need to learn by listening, Finn. You can’t improvise. You pushed a man who doesn’t bend. Do you know what that kind of mistake buys you?” I asked.
He didn’t answer me, but held eye contact. His eyes flashed with anger. I didn’t know if it was anger at himself or anger at me.
“A hole in the dirt,” I said sharply.
Finn flinched at my directness.
“I get it,” he finally said.
“No, I don’t think you do get it. You hear it, but you don’t get it. At least not yet.”
He stood still, very still, and at that moment, he looked seventeen. He was seventeen, but it was easy to forget just how young he really was. Hell, I felt older than I was by a decade.
“I told you last week to go ahead,” I said, finally admitting my fault in the whole thing.
“You asked a question and I didn’t hear you.
I agreed without knowing what you had planned.
That’s on me. I’m sorry I put you in that position.
” His eyes snapped to me like I had thrown him a life vest. “That doesn’t make what you did smart.
It makes me distracted, but distracted or not, the only reason you’re alive tonight is because I paid for my end of the mistake. ”
He nodded and opened his mouth to speak.
I shook my head. “I’m not done. If you ever bring my name up in a negotiation that I did not directly authorize, you’re done.
If you try to make yourself look taller by standing on my name, you’re done.
That doesn’t mean I yell at you again; that means you don’t get to come through this door again. ”
His eyes watered, and I thought I might see him cry for the first time since his old man died.
“I want in the Hounds,” he said quietly.
“Then shut your mouth and learn,” I said before pointing to the door. “Go home and get some sleep. You have an early shift tomorrow.”
“Shift?” he asked, clearly confused.
“You’re going to do everything I ask, without complaint, for the next six months, and then maybe I can forgive you for the stunt you pulled tonight, or better yet, go back to school and beg them to forget you dropped out.”
Finn avoided my gaze and I knew that wasn’t an option.
“Ok then, I want you to sweep out the back alley tomorrow. I don’t want to see a single shard of broken glass or piece of garbage when you’re done.”
He nodded hard and added, “Thanks, Cole.”
“Go,” I said, because mercy starts to taste bad when it’s on your tongue for too long.
I slumped into my desk chair and ran a hand through my hair, jumping when my entire desk vibrated with a call from the burner tucked away in the drawer. Only one person called that line. I picked up the call.
“Bailey?”
I didn’t say a single word.
A sigh. “Still not ready to talk?”
I held my tongue longer.
“Ok, fine. But answer me this… if you’re never going to talk to me, why keep the phone?”
I hung up.