Page 109 of Exile and Embrace

Cillian shakes his head and grabs my arm, hauling me up from the couch. “You know, I didn’t think that I would have to come here and scrape my right-hand man off the ground. How is this better for either of you? Get over yourself. If you didn’t want to be with her, then you don’t get to drink yourself into a stupor.”

Becca snorts and tosses another bottle into the bag at her feet. “Don’t know why you broke up with her in the first place. Protecting her is a bullshit excuse. I can promise you right now that you’re not going to meet a better woman.”

I groan, wobbling on my feet. “I know that. Of course, I know that. She was the best thing to ever fucking happen to me, which is why I had to let her go.”

Becca storms across the kitchen and grabs me by the front of the shirt.

Cillian takes a step back, eyeing his wife.

Though Becca seems like a nice and calm woman most of the time, I would be stupid to forget that she’s the wife of a man who runs a mob.

She could probably kill me and dispose of the evidence before her husband ever knew she was up to something.

I sway as she tightens her grip on my shirt. “What do you want me to do, Becca? You don’t know her. If I tell her that my father is threatening her, then she isn’t going to leave. She’s as stubborn as a damn mule.”

I could have told Ava the truth, but it wouldn’t have done any good.

If she was standing in front of me, and I had to tell her to her face that she meant nothing to me, I would break. Telling her over the phone might have been cold, but I need her to hate me.

Ava hating me is the best solution. She won’t stay in Oregon, and my father wouldn’t dare crossing into Tennessee. Not if it meant pissing off Christian and his friends.

I glance down at her hands. “Let go of me. You know that I’m doing the best that I can right now. Ava comes first. I didn’t call Cillian and tell him that I needed a day just for the two of you to show up here and berate me.”

Becca shakes me a little, her eyebrows pulling together. “That’s exactly what you need right now. It’s time to stop being a little boy who is scared of his father and start acting like a man. My daughter is in trouble.”

“She’s not in trouble right now. That’s why I broke up with her.” I fight back the lump in my throat that threatens to choke me anytime I think of Ava. “She’s in Tennessee. It’s safe. She has Christian and Camila to protect her. Christian’s friends. They have the manpower to stand up to my father if he comes sniffing around. I have nothing to protect her.”

Becca scoffs at me. “You need to pull your head out of your ass right now.”

Cillian nods and crosses his arms. “We’re a family now, Finn. You’re part of the O’Reilly clan, and we keep each other safe. Now, get in a cold shower and then we’re going to figure out what to do about your father.”

Becca lets go of me and takes a step back. “I’ll kill you myself if you let anything happen to my daughter. Every wound that comes to her is one I’m going to replicate on you if you don’t bring her back.”

For a woman who didn’t bother with her daughter for most of her life, Becca seems to care a lot.

I know better than to say anything about it.

Cillian would break my jaw in an instant if I dared to snap at his wife.

“Fine.” I lumber down the hall toward the bathroom. “I’ll go get showered, but there is nothing we can do about my father. He’s always going to hold Ava over my head.”

I disappear into the bedroom, stripping out of my clothing.

Before I can step into my bathroom, the phone on my nightstand starts ringing.

With a groan, I grab the phone.

My dad’s number is on the screen, making me want to throw the phone across the room and watch the entire thing shatter into a thousand little pieces.

Instead, I slide my thumb across the screen and let out a deep breath. “Hello, Dad.”

“You know, I thought I made myself clear the last time we spoke.”

“If this is about Ava, you have no reason to go after her. She meant nothing to me, and I meant nothing to her. She’s back with her family where she belongs.”

His chuckle has me bristling.

The last of the haze from the alcohol fades as I root through my drawers, looking for fresh clothing.

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