Page 102 of Exile and Embrace

We’re going to be able to build a future together.

The life that I used to spend time dreaming about in prison is finally within my grasp.

I drum my fingers against the wheel as I pull into a gas station a few miles from home.

The bright lights shining from the gas station make the stars look dull in the sky.

My phone rings as I get back in the car.

With a sigh, I grab it, hoping that it isn’t Cillian calling me to come back to the warehouse.

I slide my thumb across the screen and connect the phone to the car’s stereo system. “Hello.”

“Finnigan, interesting that you would answer.” Dad’s chuckle is dark and dangerous, reminding me of how he used to laugh when I was young, and he was about to hit me.

I need to pretend that everything is alright. If he thinks that there’s even a chance I’ve turned against him, I’m fucked.

“Why’s it interesting that I would answer?” I turn down a side street as headlights appear in my mirror.

Is he having me followed?

I wouldn’t put it past him to have a car tailing me, especially if he’s about to attack.

Dad clicks his tongue. “I know that you’re turning against me, boyo. Did you think that I wouldn’t find out?”

I scoff, my knuckles turning white on the wheel. “What would make you ever think that I was turning against you? I wouldn’t do that. I’m loyal to our family. I always have been. I just got out of jail for being loyal to the damn family.”

Though I did just serve three years on a charge that wasn’t mine, it’s not going to matter to him.

He’s only going to see what I’m doing right now. And while he’s right, I need to know how much he knows.

It’s the only way that I might be able to turn this back in my favor.

Dad sighs and something slams in the background. “Here’s the thing, Finnigan. I don’t believe that you wouldn’t turn against me. You may have been loyal, but you’ve always been sneaky and idealistic.”

The greatest accusation he could ever make against me.

Idealism.

I shift in my seat, rolling my shoulders back and trying to release some of the tension in my body.

He’s always thought that treating people with respect instead of property is beneath him.

“And idealism is wrong?” I glance in the mirror, the car still trailing behind me. As I take another corner, the car keeps going straight, and I relax a little.

Dad might not be following me right now, but that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t had me followed before. For all I know, there’s been someone following me in Oregon the entire time I’ve been here.

“Finnigan, I know you’ve made a deal with Cillian O’Reilly. Did you think that it wouldn’t get back to me?”

My heart plummets as I take another turn, weaving through traffic. “I don’t know what deal you’re talking about.”

“Funny.” Dad slams something else, glass shattering with whatever he’s done. “I’m tired of this game. You turned against me, and we both know it. You will die for your betrayal.”

I swallow hard, stopping at a red light. “And you think that killing me is going to be the answer to your problems? You would kill your own son?”

“I will. This is the last time you betray me, Finnigan.”

Declan shouts something in the background before static comes down the line. “Little brother, what the fuck do you think you’re doing out in Oregon?”

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