Page 56 of Finn

“It served your family as well. And our marriage has been anything but convenient.” He sends me a challenging stare as he sips his red wine.

“If you wanted a little house mouse, then sorry to tell you, you picked the wrong girl.”

Finn smiles, ignoring the ire in my tone. “I’d say I picked exactly the right woman.”

My attempt to hide the smile fails miserably.

“How about you? Any hearts you left broken on our wedding day?” he asks, taking another bite of the delicious cuisine.

“I dated a few men here and there. There was only one serious relationship, but that ended badly.”

Finn’s gaze darkens. “Define ‘badly.’”

This isn’t exactly what I’d consider polite dinner conversation, but Gemma said we need to get to know each other. Maybe if Finn knows a bit about my past with Orlando, he’ll understand my reaction to certain situations at the beginning of our marriage.

“He was part of this life. It was the typical story of a rich mobster’s son thinking he could do anything he wanted, so he did. Late nights with his friends, though I have a strong suspicion he was with other women long before he admitted it. A lot of drinking and erratic behavior.”

“Did he hit you?”

I swallow hard and nod. “He did.”

Finn clenches his fork and takes a breath. “Give me his name, Alessia.”

I quickly shake my head. “Absolutely not. It was years ago, and my brother took care of it.”

“If he’s still breathing, then he didn’t finish the job. I want his name.”

This could go one of two ways. Either I tell him he’s being absolutely ridiculous and he can’t possibly avenge something that happened before he knew I existed, or I can try to calm him down.

“Finn,” I say, covering his tight fist with my hand. “Please. Let’s drop this. Gio handled it the only way he could at the time. It’s best for everyone if you let it go.”

Finn stares into my pleading gaze for a few moments and takes several breaths while I hold mine in my lungs.

“It goes against every part of who I am to not get revenge for a man putting his hands on you. So when I say this, I hope you understand what it means—I will drop it for you. I trust you have your reasons for not wanting me to react and leaving this in the past. But that means you have to leave it all in the past. No more not trusting me, no more closing yourself off to me, and no more comparing me and our relationship to whatever you had with that piece of shit. You are my wife, and that means more to me than a signed piece of paper and a couple of rings.”

Tears threaten to erupt with his sweet and slightly violent declaration. I hold them back, but just barely. “Thank you.”

It’s not that what happened with Orlando still makes me want to sob my eyes out, though that was the case for a long time. It’s that every time Finn says things like this to me, the fact that he’s so different from what I was prepared for smacks me over the head. I don’t know how to process all of it. Unfortunately for me, the emotions come out as tears. It’s so damn annoying.

Finn smiles and lifts our hands to his mouth, kissing the back of mine. “Anything for you.”

We move onto lighter topics, him telling me about the antics he and his brother got up to as kids and me telling him all the ways I used to love annoying my older brother.

“Gio would get so frustrated with me. There was one time when he was in high school and had a girl over. They were in the theater room watching some scary movie. Now that I think about it, it was probably so she would hide her face in his arm when something would jump out.” I laugh at that realization. “Anyways, I had just been to a sleepover, and we snuck out of my friend's room and watched that movie with the girl crawling out of the well or something with her hair in front of her face. You know the one?”

“I do,” he replies with a shudder.

“I thought it would be hilarious to sneak into the room and reenact that scene. I didn’t have a well, obviously, but I wore a long nightgown and did this ridiculous crab walk from around the back of the couch.” I’m in near hysterics as I remember the girl’s terrified scream and my brother hollering at me at the top of his lungs. “I ended up falling over in a fit of giggles, and his date laughed a little, too. I never did see her again, though.”

Finn’s laughter is booming, and his face is as relaxed as I’ve ever seen it as he leans back, those dimples of his on full display.

“It must have been a younger sibling thing. I swear my brother came out of the womb with the singular purpose of tormenting me.”

Finn finishes his wine, the bill taken care of and sets his napkin on the table.

“We should get going,” he says, checking his watch. “The main event is about to begin.”

That piques my interest, and an excited smile spreads across my face.

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