Chapter 2 Finn
TWO
FINN
Finn’s head hurt like a motherfucker. Truly and honestly, he was going to kill Dante.
He didn’t even need to open his eyes to know that he was back in New York. The plush of the couch under him gave it away. That, and the different sets of eyes he could feel staring into him from all angles of the room made his skin crawl.
Luna was the first person he saw when he finally decided to come to life.
She looked the same way she did when he left, maybe a little older and more mature.
Her eyes still had that same kindness toward him that they always did.
The only difference was the big ass diamond ring on her lefthand ring finger that glimmered and likely gave her wrist problems from holding it up.
She gave him a warm smile, sitting on the couch across from him, but her guard dog of a husband still didn’t leave her side.
“Welcome home,” she said. “I was wondering when you were going to wake up.”
“That rabid asshole didn’t have to knock me out,” Finn said, motioning to Dante who sat on one of the decorative chairs lazily.
He shrugged. “You resisted.”
Luna shook her head. “Either way, I’m glad you’re home.”
“This isn’t my home.” He didn’t have one anymore.
“Then take this as an opportunity to start over,” she said. “Maybe get yourself a nice home, finish your degree, start working to establish yourself as the Kingsley—”
“Those are things you want, not me.”
Her face fell immediately. That seemed to have insulted Valerio.
“Those are things you should want for yourself,” Valerio growled. “What did you think you were going to do? Ride around America on that fucking bike for the rest of your life without a care in the world? Stop fucking running.”
“You don’t fucking know anything,” Finn hissed, nearly leaping off the couch.
Valerio’s eyes narrowed mockingly. He didn’t even attempt to hide the malice on his face. “Oh, I don’t? You’re not the only one whose daddy dearest died. We all lost someone, but you’re the only one who’s still running instead of dealing with everything.”
“I’m not weak,” he spat out.
“He didn’t call you weak,” Luna cut in. “You’re not weak, but you don’t have to run either. We’re here for you; I’m here for you. And as your sister, I’m not going to see you throw your life away.”
He fought the urge to roll his eyes. Of course that was what they thought he was doing.
Neither one of them would understand. Luna was the perfect daughter, and Valerio was the perfect son, and together they were the perfect couple.
Finn tried too hard to be that person, but all he ever did was disappoint his father.
Nothing he ever did was good enough. He was always too weak, too careless, too hot headed.
He would never be the person they wanted him to be—the perfect heir capable of leading the empire that the multiple generations of men before him had created. With him, it would all crumble.
“And what if that is exactly what I want to do? What if I want nothing more than to throw my life away, drink until I can’t remember anything? What then?”
Luna’s face hardened, showing the viciousness she hid inside her. “Then I’ll have no choice but to seriously intervene.”
“You’ll force me? You’ll do exactly what you said you wouldn’t do?
Become exactly like our father?” he bit back.
Watching her face fall should have been satisfying, but it wasn’t.
It only reminded Finn of how much of an asshole he was for throwing such low blows at the one person in his life that actually gave a shit about him.
Valerio’s hand was around his neck instantly, pressing him into the back of the couch with such force that Finn wondered if his neck was about to break.
“Don’t you ever speak to her like that, do you fucking understand?
You should be lucky that there’s one person left on this fucking planet that still gives a shit about you.
One more word and I won’t hesitate to rid her of your undeserving presence.
One more word and you’ll wish you never learned how to talk in the first place. ”
“Val,” she called out. As if he was in some sort of daze, her voice seemed to snap him out of it.
Valerio pulled away, leaving Finn gasping for air. His throat burned and ached, but he wasn’t going to voice it while the douche was still there. Not while he deserved it either.
She cleared her throat, standing. “I think it’s best that you stay at the other house for now.
I’ll visit when I can, but there you’ll be surrounded by familiar faces to hopefully bring you back to yourself.
You have the option of going back to school if you want, but we’ll give you a few days to acclimate before you start getting introduced to the business side of things. Dante will walk you there.”
Dante walked over to him, cracking his knuckles. “Let’s go, asshole.”
The dismissal was final. Luna walked out of the room with Valerio following her immediately.
Finn felt the apology clog his throat. The urge to just spit it out overwhelmed him, but he kept it buried instead.
He followed Dante out of the house, trying to ignore how much he felt like a stranger since being back.
So much so, he didn’t even realize that Luna’s new mansion was next door to the one they lived in not too long ago when they worked together to plot against their fathers for a brighter future. It seemed like everyone was living in that better future, all except for him.
Despite the houses being beside each other, the walk still took a couple minutes due to how much land stood between them. It left Dante and him in an awkward silence.
“What happened to my bike?” he asked finally.
“We brought it back because Luna told us to, only because she’s such a wonderful person,” Dante said. “Should have crushed it with a bulldozer to break your heart the way you broke hers.”
“I get it. I’m an asshole.”
“No. Asshole is an understatement. You’re just bitter.”
Finn clenched his fists, fighting the urge to hit him. He needed to plan an escape as soon as possible. “And you’re not bitter about a single thing in your life?”
“I got my revenge. I did what I had to. Now, I get to move on,” Dante said with a shrug.
How the hell was everyone so nonchalant about everything?
“How do you just move on from killing your father?” he asked.
Dante gave him a hard look. It seemed like Finn finally got under his skin, but it was a valid enough question. He was the Vitali brother who landed the final blow to their father. There was no way he was able to just move on from it that easily, even if it had been five months.
“Do you consider yourself naive, ignorant, or just plain fucking stupid? I didn’t just move on from anything.
I suffered my entire life and expelled my demon.
Now, I’m learning to live without the constant abuse, trauma, and hatred I had known from my father my entire life.
I grieved him, I grieved myself, and I grieved the boy I was before.
Do you think any of that was easy? It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life,” Dante spat out. “Moving on is a fucking blessing.”
Finn didn’t say a word. Dante was the closest he had come to truly feeling understood—or more correctly, to understanding himself. It was confusing as hell figuring out what the hell he felt when for his entire life he had been told to feel nothing.
“Sorr—”
“Don’t apologize to me,” Dante snapped. “Apologize to the person who actually gives a shit.”
They were all on Luna’s side. Why wouldn’t they be? She was good and loveable and had built support around herself. She deserved it. Which was why Finn needed to leave. She didn’t deserve to deal with his bullshit, not when her life was finally good.
They stopped at the gate so Dante could tell the guards that Finn was permitted in and out.
Everything from then on out was a wicked case of déjà vu.
The lined driveway with perfectly trimmed bushes and grass on either side.
The opulent home for college kids that once again had maids and cooks running through it, though significantly less than before.
Most of them must have gone over to the other house to feed Valerio’s massive ego.
Once again, Finn felt completely out of place.
Everything was the same, but still completely different.
It was the vibe that had changed the most. Gone was the depressing and hopeless feeling that once surrounded every inch of the house.
Instead, it was replaced with a new lightness and energy that he couldn’t describe.
“Do you remember your old room?” Dante asked.
“Hard to forget,” he said.
“Then go to it. Shower and shave. You look like shit.”
He walked away without another word, leaving Finn standing in the corridor alone. He took the same route from months ago, walking through the long hallways to his old bedroom. They had changed the sheets and bedding for him, dusted months of neglect off the furniture.
His clothes remained—in fact, everything did.
His cologne, his books, shoes, and toiletries.
The backpack he had on the road was also there, placed on the floor by the bed instead of on top of it.
He walked over, opening the bag and retrieving the one item he had grabbed from his old childhood home before he set it ablaze: a family photo.
The picture held Luna as a newborn, his mother, his now deceased father, and him only a couple years old.
Finn was the only one smiling. His eyes still held a childish innocence he couldn’t remember losing.
He stood beside his father who sat on a grand chair fit for a king.
His father held a single hand on Finn’s shoulder, tight and firm, and he swore he could still feel the ghost of it holding on like an anchor.
His touch had never felt comforting. That was Reece Kingsley. A merciless man.
Finn placed the picture frame on the side table face down, unwilling to feel their haunting stares any longer. He got up and made his way into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.