Page 94 of Resurrection

“The only thing I care about, the only thing I want, is for Finn, Lucas, and me to end up together.” My face is tight with suppressed emotion. “I’m close to having that. So close. But there’s this knot in my stomach that won’t ease.”

“Eric thinks he’s got you on the ropes.”

Lucas quiets, and I sway again. “I used to watch Finn fight when we were younger. Want to guess my favorite part?”

Jay’s lips quirk up. “No idea.”

“How unpredictable he was. If you go to enough fights, you find patterns in fighters. They favor certain combinations or skills. Not Finn. And he always won. No one could figure him out.” A piece of my hair comes loose from my ponytail and falls into my face. “That’s what scares me. We’re on the cusp of a knockout, and someone is going down. Who’s going to hit the mat first?”

Every time the front door opened or a car door slammed, I couldn’t help peering out the window, staring at the entrance with raw longing. Eric only kept his distance until he realized Finn wasn’t anywhere in the house. A few times, Jay redirected a conversation or stepped in the path of Eric’s straying hands.

In a moment of weakness, I texted Finn. That was hours ago. While the message has been delivered, it hasn’t been read. When I glance up from checking my phone again, my father is frowning. Eric is outside talking to a security guy about a video game they play in their free time. Occasionally, their voices drift through an open window. It’s almost midnight.

When I stand up, tired from waiting, I tuck my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. “I’m going to bed.”

My father rises and so does Jay.

“I’m flying out in the morning,” Dad says. “It seems like Finn’s come to his senses and gave you and Eric time to work on being a family. I can see how hard this transition has been for you today. But give—”

“He’s coming back.” I stare at him, wondering how he could get it so wrong. “Eric and I willneverbe a family. We’ll raise Lucas as co-parents, but otherwise, we won’t have a relationship. I’m not leaving Finn. He’s not leaving me.”

“That’s a mistake. Eric will never—”

“He doesn’t control me. Neither do you.” As I head toward the kitchen and the stairs at the rear of the house, Jay keeps pace beside me. “You can leave if you want. I couldn’t care less,” I call over my shoulder.

Not completely true. Even though he isn’t exactly protective, he blocks Eric’s snider comments. Eric can switch facets of his personality to suit his audience, and he never showed my father the sides of himself I saw. In some ways, I can’t blame him for thinking Eric is better than he is—after all, Eric fooled me too for a while. Once the veil fell from my eyes, he could never get me to replace it the way he wanted.

When we get to my bedroom door, which is the first one at the top of the stairs, I turn to Jay and say, “You’re off the hook. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He chuckles. “Off the hook? I’ll be here outside your door until the sun rises or Finn comes home.”

A protest mounts in my throat, but then I remember how Eric behaved last night, his lewd comments today before Jay could intervene. The smart choice is having a form of protection. He’s always charmed me in the past, and now it isn’t working. There is a chance he’ll resort to force.

I swallow my words and nod. “Okay. I’ll get you a pillow and a blanket in case you get tired.”

“That’s okay. I’m under strict orders to stay awake.” Jay waves me off. “I’ll be fine. Not the first all-nighter I’ve pulled.”

“Thank you.” I turn the handle to my bedroom door.

“That’s why you pay me the big bucks.” His grin is fleeting. “Lock the door.” His gaze connects with mine before I close the door. “Make sure you’ve got your gun somewhere you can reach it.”

I frown. “Is there something I should know?”

“Desperate, arrogant men don’t make smart choices. If I go take a piss and come back to find Eric’s knocked down the door, I want to be sure you can shoot him.”

“Finn told you what happened last night?” I press my hand into the frame, remembering the spark of panic when he tried to push the issue.

“None of us wants a repeat.” Jay adjusts the gun in the holster under his arm.

It makes me wonder if the gun was supposed to serve as a visual warning to Eric today. Normally he keeps his gun concealed.

“I don’t think—”

“Has any of this been something you would have thought possible?” Jay’s tone is kind even though his words slice through me.

“None of it.” I shake my head. “If you’d told me six months ago I’d be with Finn, that Eric would deliver a secret baby to me, that my father would have a hand in the deception, I would have thought you were out of your mind.” I sigh and prop open the door so I’m framed in the doorway. “Why do the best things and worst things seem to happen together?”

Jay mirrors my sigh. “Finn will return with answers or solutions, no matter what he has to do to get them.”

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