Page 98 of Shattered Hearts
“No.” He yanks my mouth back to his and kisses me hard, until all the ferocity in his lips starts to die down. When he pulls back, he doesn’t let me go, but he won’t look at me either. “You say everything’s going to be all right, but you don’t know that. There’s a very real possibility the De Lucas could either have Harper, or they’re pursuing her.”
“No.” I close my eyes, heaving a breath. “Finn, listen to me. I’m fine, and so is Harper.”
“We can’t be certain. Until we find her?—”
“She’s not missing,” I promise him. “She hasn’t been abducted. Harper is completely safe.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Harper’s hiding out.”
Finn’s eyebrows knit together. “What?”
“She needed some time to figure out what she wants to do with her life. That’s why she ran away.”
The words spill out too fast for me to consider whether telling Finn the entirety of Harper’s secrets is something I should do.
“How do you know this?” The force behind his voice surprises me. My hands release his face. I don’t expect him to snatch one and squeeze. With his other arm around me, I’m cemented in place.
“Finn, you’re—” His rage and iron grip frighten me.
“Tell me how.”
My heart slams against my ribs, afraid and uncertain. Why is he so angry?
“She called me the day after the wedding.” I try to step back, but Finn won’t let me. “We were probably on the phone less than a minute, because she seemed like she was in a hurry. I agreed to help her keep up appearances for a month, while she got her shit together. When she returns, I don’t know what she’ll want to do, but?—”
“So you’ve known this from the beginning and kept it from me all this time.” Finn shoves away from me, forcefully releasing me from his rigid embrace.
I regain my balance and give him some space as he begins pacing in his living room, footsteps laden with rage. My heart pounds. I feel like a child who’s broken the rules.
Panic gathers at the back of my head. This is just like what happened with Troy. This is how I felt whenever I angered my dad.
“Not from the very beginning! I didn’t know on the day of the wedding.” I bite my lip. “I thought you’d be relieved to know?—”
“Relieved!” He barks at me. “Relieved to learn you’ve been lying to me?”
My heart drops like a cannonball.
“Relieved to know you and your sisterhoodwinked mefrom the very beginning?” Finn slings his arms across his coffee table. Papers, files, and knickknacks clatter to the floor.
He’s not even mad at the coffee table stuff, and look what happened to them.
What I want to know, as fear spreads like ink under my skin, polluting my blood…is what exactly Finn plans on doing to me.
Chapter 23
Riley
Finn prowls toward me like a shark, eyes flat, dark, and murderous. The unforgiving glimmer in his gaze steals my breath.
My system spurs into flight mode. I back away from him on instinct yet am unable to tear my eyes from his heavy, dangerous stare.
When I hit the wall, I jump.
Finn stalks my way until he has me cornered between his bookcases. Then, he glowers down at me, his hot, livid breaths heating the bridge of my nose.
Eyes trained on his sharp collarbones, fear wobbling in my belly, I stand there in the shadow of his towering form, speechless.